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Post by stormwarden on Mar 9, 2009 22:56:17 GMT -5
I think there was an ep of Law and Order I saw on this subject. It was quite amusing when they showed the murderer who thought he was left behind...
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Post by alwimo on Mar 10, 2009 3:05:17 GMT -5
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Post by Redhunter on Mar 10, 2009 6:32:26 GMT -5
I suppose it depends on what region of the US you happen to be in. In the Bible Belt, of which I am smack dab in the middle of, it is very much believed in. Most everyone here is certain that Jesus is coming again, that it is happening real soon, and they just praise God because they will be caught up to heaven and won't have to experience the tribulation and all that nasty stuff Revelations talks about. In fact, only until I started going to forums such as this, I thought that the majority of Christians did believe in it since it was such a common belief here. What SC says. I was from a Lutheran church and we were told about it. Not quite the Rapture Ready mentality, but in a laid-back Norwegian stoner version of it. The "return of jesus" etc. was very much believed in but there were 'signs' that would alert us to the beginning of the end, so we didn't have to sit around wringing our hands, there would be like seven years of this and seven years of that as the world embraced the antichrist and he began mentally enslaving everyone and the world turned their back on god, yada, yada, yahweh... Then jesus would scoop us all up on his big strong shoulders and carry us away on his magic white horse to heaven where we could watch cartoons and eat pizza all day long.I think they meant that they were talking about college... But our lutheran church was pretty mild and low key in comparison to evangelicals and baptists and all, but we had that shit in there. I think our church was a big pauline text fan. We got a lot of talk about fornication and hell. Guess that's how I turned out to be such a horny devil.
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Post by Star Cluster on Mar 10, 2009 7:19:44 GMT -5
What SC says. I was from a Lutheran church and we were told about it. Not quite the Rapture Ready mentality, but in a laid-back Norwegian stoner version of it. The "return of jesus" etc. was very much believed in but there were 'signs' that would alert us to the beginning of the end, so we didn't have to sit around wringing our hands, there would be like seven years of this and seven years of that as the world embraced the antichrist and he began mentally enslaving everyone and the world turned their back on god, yada, yada, yahweh... Then jesus would scoop us all up on his big strong shoulders and carry us away on his magic white horse to heaven where we could watch cartoons and eat pizza all day long.I think they meant that they were talking about college... But our lutheran church was pretty mild and low key in comparison to evangelicals and baptists and all, but we had that shit in there. I think our church was a big pauline text fan. We got a lot of talk about fornication and hell. Guess that's how I turned out to be such a horny devil. Yeah, I was raised Methodist, and while it wasn't something we were ravenous about, it was just part of what we believed. It was just considered a part of biblical prophesy based on a combination of what Jesus said and Revelations.
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Post by deliciousdemon on Mar 10, 2009 15:10:04 GMT -5
The Catholics I grew up with didn't believe it. Some Baptists I knew did--incidently they also made jokes about Methuselah living to 800 as if he was real. They weren't pleased with my commentary 'you do know those are just stories right?'
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Post by schizophonic on Mar 10, 2009 15:39:07 GMT -5
I suppose it depends on what region of the US you happen to be in. In the Bible Belt, of which I am smack dab in the middle of, it is very much believed in. Most everyone here is certain that Jesus is coming again, that it is happening real soon, and they just praise God because they will be caught up to heaven and won't have to experience the tribulation and all that nasty stuff Revelations talks about. In fact, only until I started going to forums such as this, I thought that the majority of Christians did believe in it since it was such a common belief here. I know a decent number of Rapture folks in New England, but I could be a statistical anomaly. Behind gays and hippies, Southeast Vermont's biggest group seems to be nutjobs of any variety. Also, the "Left Behind" series sold pretty well around here, which can't be because it's a well-written and interesting story.
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Post by the sandman on Mar 10, 2009 15:43:54 GMT -5
It totally depends on what you mean by "mainstream." Amongst evangelical Christians, yes, the Rapture is absolutely "mainstream" doctrine. Amongst non-evangelical Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox, no, it is not "mainstream" doctrine.
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rhi
New Member
The day needs my saving expertise!
Posts: 24
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Post by rhi on Mar 10, 2009 16:15:13 GMT -5
I knew what it was, as a vague cultural reference, but no one I knew personally talked about it much. Recently I made a joke about Rapture Ready in a conversation with my grandfather, only to have him ask very seriously, "Do you know what the Rapture is?"
He's a Methodist, very involved in his church but his God is definitely the New Testament God and his religion is one of kindness and self-sacrifice, not fire and brimstone. Church for him is a social network and a way to give back to the community, not a place to feel better than everyone else like the Raptards. And he's Midwestern, not Southern and not Baptist. So this question made me nervous.
But I answered that yes, I do know what it is, and he said something to the effect of "It's interesting to think about, isn't it." Not a confirmation or denial of his own belief in it. So I think he is fascinated by the idea but doesn't really believe it's going to happen. And I didn't press him, because frankly, I love him a lot and I don't want that spoiled.
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Post by amindfarfaraway on Mar 11, 2009 4:53:42 GMT -5
The belief in the rapture started in the 18th century with those like C.I. Scofield and J.N.Darby. It's basically an evangelical and fundamentalist belief. It's found predominantly in the Baptist and Pentecostal churches, as well as the so-called "nondenominational" churches, and I think some Methodist churches as well. The majority of xtians, however, reject the idea. It's just that the loudest xtians in America are of the rapture believing kind, so those are the ones we have to hear the most and put up with the most.
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