|
Post by Pietro on Dec 29, 2004 14:48:59 GMT -5
I hear people saying that the recent disaster means that the end of the world is very near and I call them doomsters. It seems to me a periodic occurance of nature.
|
|
|
Post by stevec on Dec 29, 2004 14:53:34 GMT -5
Maybe, maybe not. We can't tell from just one such occurrence.
|
|
|
Post by Traffic Demon on Dec 29, 2004 16:57:19 GMT -5
As bad as the quake was, there have been three stronger ones since 1900, and countless quakes of equal or greater strength occurred before we were capable of measuring them. To anybody who is taking this one as a sign that THE END IS NEAR, tell ya what, you go back into the basement with your tinfoil hat, the rest of us will sit back secure in the knowledge that things like this happen from time to time, and when the stench in that basement becomes too much to bear, we'll welcome you back into the real world after you've showered off.
--Traffic X Selling the Drama
|
|
|
Post by Jan on Dec 29, 2004 18:06:48 GMT -5
No, I don't believe so. <><
|
|
|
Post by stevec on Dec 31, 2004 0:27:02 GMT -5
To anybody who is taking this one as a sign that THE END IS NEAR, tell ya what, you go back into the basement with your tinfoil hat, the rest of us will sit back secure in the knowledge that things like this happen from time to time, and when the stench in that basement becomes too much to bear, we'll welcome you back into the real world after you've showered off. That is the most presumptuous, insulting, moronic and ignorant thing you have ever posted! I am absolutely beside myself with righteous indignation. I have stood beside you as a brother in Christ while you were being attacked and you repay me with this sort of insult!? They're aluminum foil hats! The tinfoil hat is a conspiracy between the Illuminati, the Masons, the CIA and the Catholic Church to track down pre-tribbers and register them in the B.E.A.S.T. computer at the Hague. Tinfoil hat indeed! I'm on to you.
|
|
|
Post by Traffic Demon on Dec 31, 2004 2:09:12 GMT -5
You know, your first paragraph was convincing to the point that I really thought I had offended you. Brilliant writing. Brilliant!
--Traf Rabbit Go too far
|
|
|
Post by stevec on Dec 31, 2004 3:04:45 GMT -5
You know, your first paragraph was convincing to the point that I really thought I had offended you. Brilliant writing. Brilliant! --Traf Rabbit Go too far Gotcha! ;D But what do you think of my conspiracy theory?
|
|
|
Post by Traffic Demon on Dec 31, 2004 3:19:12 GMT -5
As far as condensed insanity goes, pretty good.
--TDv2.0 1:4:9
|
|
|
Post by stevec on Dec 31, 2004 9:45:13 GMT -5
Seriously, is this disaster an indicator of the End Times? Could be. On the other hand it could be just one more in a long line of disasters that has struck mankind since the beginning of time. Only hindsight will tell.
|
|
|
Post by Traffic Demon on Dec 31, 2004 14:02:32 GMT -5
Seriously, aside from providing an answer to the age-old riddle of "What happens when you put hundreds of thousands of people living in abject poverty on tiny islands in one of the most geologically active places on the planet," there's no reason to see this quake as being anything special.
--TDv2.0 1:4:9
|
|
Kathy
Junior Member
Take no man's opinion, study God's Word for yourself.
Posts: 99
|
Post by Kathy on Dec 31, 2004 15:40:10 GMT -5
Seriously, aside from providing an answer to the age-old riddle of "What happens when you put hundreds of thousands of people living in abject poverty on tiny islands in one of the most geologically active places on the planet," there's no reason to see this quake as being anything special. --TDv2.0 1:4:9 Nothing special? The day has been shortened by 3 microseconds causing the whole earth to "wobble" and that's nothing special? And the scientists are saying that the earth's rotation was changed, the tectonic plates shifted, maps now require updating because the geographical area changed and that's nothing special?. Is this usual with any earthquake, is the earth's rotation subject to such change often? I don't think so. It seems disturbing to me and very well may be a sign of End-times birth pains getting closer. An earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently altered the regional map news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041228/wl_asia_afp/asiaquakeusmapshift_041228013319
quake off Australia, 8.6, on the 24th, one wonders if there will be more setting the stage for the tribulation earthquake to come.
Put your Trust in Christ, today!
|
|
|
Post by Traffic Demon on Dec 31, 2004 16:36:50 GMT -5
Kathy - "Nothing special? The day has been shortened by 3 microseconds causing the whole earth to 'wobble' and that's nothing special?"
No, not really.
"And the scientists are saying that the earth's rotation was changed, the tectonic plates shifted, maps now require updating because the geographical area changed and that's nothing special?."
Again, not really.
"Is this usual with any earthquake, is the earth's rotation subject to such change often?"
Yes and yes.
The only reason these things seem significant is that they happen rarely on a human time scale, but on a geological time scale, events like this are not uncommon. We have had the technology to accurately measure events like this on a global scale for less than a century, and have existed as a species for less than 200,000 years. Compare that to the 4.55 billion year age of the planet, our existence is just the blink of an eye. What we see as unusual or significant is just another day at the office for the Earth, it's seen these things before and much worse.
"It seems disturbing to me and very well may be a sign of End-times birth pains getting closer."
Sure, it could be. So could any of the three stronger quakes that occurred within since 1900. Take that frequency and extrapolate, and you get 77 such quakes since the birth of Christ. The only reason that this quake is "disturbing" is that it was measured and reported around the world, while most of the others went unnoticed by most of the world's population. Yeah, the sky could be falling. But it probably isn't.
--Blood Sugar Sex Traffic Chicks dig me
|
|
|
Post by stevec on Dec 31, 2004 21:03:59 GMT -5
Sure, it could be. So could any of the three stronger quakes that occurred within since 1900. Take that frequency and extrapolate, and you get 77 such quakes since the birth of Christ. The only reason that this quake is "disturbing" is that it was measured and reported around the world, while most of the others went unnoticed by most of the world's population. Yeah, the sky could be falling. But it probably isn't. You beat me to it, Traff. This has happened many times before, so why is this one such a big deal? The last quake we had anywhere near this big was in 1964. There was no GPS system to measure the earth's movement and the first stable cesium clock (capable of accurately measuring in nanoseconds) wasn't invented until 1968. There were no 24 hour cable news networks scrambling for a story, any story, or dot com news services trying to make a name for themselves. Not to minimize the loss of life but geologically speaking, in the grand scope of things three nanoseconds and a barely measurable wobble are just one more insignificant "bump" in the history of this planet. The press loves to titillate a gullible and ignorant public with pseudo-scientific "facts" and half-truths--Global Warming comes to mind.
|
|
|
Post by SonWorshiper on Jan 4, 2005 19:16:42 GMT -5
Obviously, the tsunami by itself would be a flemsy piece of evidence for anyone to use as a reason to believe the end is near (or more accurately, that the beginning is near, that is, the rapture and Christ's return to earth).
But, the tsunami is not by itself. Let's look at the other signs The Lord said to look out for:
Great Deception (Matthew 24:5 and 11) -- The Lord said there would be great deception and many false prophets in the last days, even many who would claim to be Christ. Is that happening today? Yep, it sure is. Check.
Wars and rumors of wars (Matt. 24:6) -- No comment needed on this one. Check.
Famines (Matt. 24:7) -- Check.
Pestilences (Matt. 24:7) -- This one is the one that really astounds me. With all the scientific progress made in the last few decades you'd think diseases would be pretty much eradicated. Are they? Nope. In fact, new strains and viruses are being discovered regularly. Check.
Earthquakes (Matt. 24:7) -- I don't have the numbers or the links, but I've read reports that earthquakes have increased dramatically in the 1900s. Check.
Cold, loveless hearts (Matt. 24:12) -- Ahem, let's move on. Um, check.
Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Luke 21:25) -- Any astronomers out there? I bet it wouldn't take a whole lot of research to prove this one is occuring. Check?
Distress of nations, with perplexity (Luke 21:25) -- Check.
The seas and the waves roaring (Luke 21:25) -- Check.
And, of course, the most obvious, unmistakeable sign is (drumroll please):
Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3) -- "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people...)
The tsunami by itself is hardly compelling evidence for the end of the world. But there are many things happening in the world today that seem to indicate that creation is indeed going through birth pangs and the contractions are getting more and more frequent.
I do believe Christ's return is near, even at the door!
|
|
|
Post by Traffic Demon on Jan 6, 2005 1:42:17 GMT -5
SonWorshiper - "But, the tsunami is not by itself. Let's look at the other signs The Lord said to look out for"
Ooh, this ought to be fun!
"Great Deception (Matthew 24:5 and 11) -- The Lord said there would be great deception and many false prophets in the last days, even many who would claim to be Christ. Is that happening today? Yep, it sure is. Check."
And not only that, but it's been happening ever since He ascended. Not much of a telltale sign there.
"Wars and rumors of wars (Matt. 24:6) -- No comment needed on this one. Check."
I'd like to see anybody point out any significant period of time at any point in history that didn't meet this one. Another airball.
"Famines (Matt. 24:7) -- Check."
See above.
"Pestilences (Matt. 24:7) -- This one is the one that really astounds me. With all the scientific progress made in the last few decades you'd think diseases would be pretty much eradicated."
Um, why exactly should we expect them to have been eradicated. Perhaps that might be the case if it weren't for the fact that disease-causing organisms can quickly mutate, evolving into new strains of a disease, or even a new disease altogether. As with the others above, when has disease not been a part of our species existence?
"Earthquakes (Matt. 24:7) -- I don't have the numbers or the links,"
You're a young Earth creationist, so nobody's surprised.
"but I've read reports that earthquakes have increased dramatically in the 1900s. Check."
No, our ability to detect and measure earthquakes has increased since then, but there exists no evidence to support a claim that there has been any increase in their frequency. Again, the technology to detect earthquakes only became widespread in the 1900's, from being practically non-existent. With that technology unavailable in earlier times, there is no basis for any claim regarding the frequency of earthquakes then. You're not doing so good here.
"Cold, loveless hearts (Matt. 24:12) -- Ahem, let's move on. Um, check."
Again, are you really trying to claim that this has only recently become a problem? Try finding something that's out of the ordinary if you're going to go Chicken Little on us.
"Signs in the sun, moon and stars (Luke 21:25) -- Any astronomers out there? I bet it wouldn't take a whole lot of research to prove this one is occuring. Check?"
Nor would it take a whole lot of research to show that they have been occurring all along.
"Distress of nations, with perplexity (Luke 21:25) -- Check."
Nations have been in distress ever since the first nations came into existence, no news here.
"The seas and the waves roaring (Luke 21:25) -- Check."
See above, par for the course.
"And, of course, the most obvious, unmistakeable sign is (drumroll please):
Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-3) -- 'Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people"
Trouble in Israel? Oh, say it isn't so! Unmistakable couldn't be farther from the truth.
"The tsunami by itself is hardly compelling evidence for the end of the world."
Nor are any of the other run of the mill happenings that you shared with us.
"But there are many things happening in the world today that seem to indicate that creation is indeed going through birth pangs and the contractions are getting more and more frequent."
Except that you just can't come up with any. I've heard this tune before.
Check your pantry, I'll bet there's a nice fresh sheet of aluminum foil waiting for you. Enjoy your bunker, as for me, it's a beautiful night out, I think I'll go for a drive later.
--Traffic X Strong like bull
|
|