Why are we divided on eschatology?

[FighterforJC]

It just makes me wonder, I know that one's stand on the end times does not determine one's eternal destination. But why is the church so divided when it comes to eschatology? I can understand how one denomination will differ from another when it comes to things like what type of worship music should be played or how one should dress up for Sunday, but why are we so divided regarding something as huge and important as eschatology? Is it God's intention? Aren't we all led by the same Spirit?

[MillennialSaint]

It just makes me wonder, I know that one's stand on the end times does not determine one's eternal destination. But why is the church so divided when it comes to eschatology? I can understand how one denomination will differ from another when it comes to things like what type of worship music should be played or how one should dress up for Sunday, but why are we so divided regarding something as huge and important as eschatology? Is it God's intention? Aren't we all led by the same Spirit?

Hey Fighter,

That's a great point you made. A little while back, some one teased me about "Pan-Millennialism" among Christians. Meaning 'it'll all pan out in the end.' The reason why I'm a strong pre-millennialist is because the successors of the original apostles were all pre-millennial. Plus, the easiest way to understand the Scriptures is pre-mil. Hey, how do you suppose Galilean fisherman and simple tentmakers understood the word of God? Most of the confusion in eschatology comes from allegorizing the SCriptures! If all just became little children and believed what the Bible said, we wouldn't have that problem.

Peace and Health,

Brian

[ParanoidAndroid]

Because, imo, it is a non-essential doctrine. I think it is great to discuss the different possibilities and debate the concepts, but basing your life around the Rapture is just a recipe for disaster. Just look how many people went into bunkers with hundreds of tins of baked beans at the turn of the Century (2000), thinking the End would come. Think of how many people did the same on 6/6/06 thinking the number of the beast signified the End.

I don't know when the next big crazy will come (maybe people will get into the whole Mayan calander thing with 2012, or maybe 2000 years after Jesus' death, 2033 - though we know Jesus wasn't born on AD 0, so people will correlate anytime between 7-4 BC as the most likely date and go into hiding from 2027)????? It's unhealthy to dwell on Eschatology and base your whole life on it. So just accept that we have different views and be done with it, because unless the Rapture happens right here and right now, it make not one bit of difference.

P.S - I don't believe in a Rapture.

~ PA

[Guest yod]

The anwer to the question is simple but the resolution of the problem is practically impossible.

The problem is that the bible is usually interpreted through lenses of greek civilization. People are too lazy to study the context and history that the Word was given to us from. We prefer nice tidy answers with no work and we want the bible to agree with us instead of accepting it for what it says.

[FighterforJC]

Personally, I'm a pre-trib rapture kind of guy. I know that there are scholars 1000 times smarter than me who hold differing views and can present the most convincing arguments based on Scripture. But one thing I do notice is that each view has its own spirit, perhaps it is one way to discern what view is correct.

Mainly I've noticed that post-trib is a stand of arrogance, usually looking down on those who are pre-tribbers. They view pre-tribbers as not only unintelligent, but that they are looking for the "easy way out," unlike the post tribbers who are ready to roll up their sleeves, take it on the chin and fight in the trenches. They tend to accuse pre-tribbers of being daydreamers who are just "wasting time" and are being lazy.

[nebula]

We prefer nice tidy answers with no work

That's a good point (in and of itself).

We are more worried about "what country is this?" and "what time frame is that?" and "what instruments of war might these illustrations be?" rather than asking, "What lesson(s) does the Lord mean for us to learn through this?"

[nebula]

Addendum:

I believe our motivation for worrying about order and timetables and places and identities and such is our desire to have a semblence of control.

Having a sense of a planned course is comforting because it grants us a sense of feeling like you have control.

However, a murky future is scary, you don't know what is ahead, and it takes a lot more faith to walk out and through.

Which path do you believe the Lord intends for us to follow - the path that grants us control or the path that forces us to faith?

[FighterforJC]

Personally, I'm a pre-trib rapture kind of guy.

Why?

I never intended for this thread to turn into a debate, but to answer your question, my small brain understands the pre-trib view and IMHO is consistent with God's character as revealed to us in the Bible.

[Rick-Parker]

Personally, I'm a pre-trib rapture kind of guy.

Why?

I never intended for this thread to turn into a debate, but to answer your question, my small brain understands the pre-trib view and IMHO is consistent with God's character as revealed to us in the Bible.

[Atonement]

Personally, I'm a pre-trib rapture kind of guy.

Why?

I never intended for this thread to turn into a debate, but to answer your question, my small brain understands the pre-trib view and IMHO is consistent with God's character as revealed to us in the Bible.

Listen, the best thing to do is ignore the questions that are derailing this thread. This is not meant to be about another rapture thread and the possibilities thereof; but a question why there is so much atomicity behind these discussions; which is a valid question because many people try to stand on a soap box and preach their view's before studding Scriptures long enough to make a accurate assertion.

But this discussion like many others (i.e baptism, tithing, once saved always saved) etc. these will always cause much adverse conflict within the Christian community. And the sad thing is, most Christians do not seem to be Christian as they answer. They have so much anger, pride or selfishness to accept they might be wrong or attempt to accept another theory. So one must take these topics with a grain of salt and look at the spirit behind the posts. Understanding that lowering oneself to be "right" by degrating, insulting, backbiting other Christians looks worse on them even if they are right. And if they are right, who would want to accept that by how that person conducted themself when answering it in truth?