In Reply to: Contemplating Sin & Forgiveness posted by Born Again Systemite on May 27, 2005 at 17:00:46:
You say: "Maybe Jesus will come back in my lifetime, and maybe he won't. Many, many, many generations have looked at the signs of the times and thought they were the last."
I came across this very interesting NY Times Op-Ed piece today http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/28/opinion/28tierney.html?th&emc=th
It discusses the fact "that the number and intensity of wars and armed conflicts have fallen once again, continuing a steady 15-year decline that has halved the amount of organized violence around the world."
I was quite surprised to learn that "war between countries is much less likely than ever, and civil war is less likely than any time since 1960." Apparently, and the article contains a small bibliography at the end, there is real possibility this trend will continue.
If the number of wars does continue to decline, how would those who believe these are the final days interpret this trend in relation to the biblical prophecy that wars and rumours of wars are one of the signs of Jesus' imminent return?
I'm not asking this to be antagonistic, but am sincerely curious, because for many years I did believe we were in the end-time.
My former Christian faith was completely tied to Berg's teachings; I have not studied Christianity prior to or since my involvment with TF. If I had come across this information when I was a believer, I likely would've stacked it up on my growing pile of doubts. My guess is that those with a strong faith that these are indeed the last days would just shrug this information off and ignore it, or interpret the information in such a way that the sign remains a valid indicator of Jesus' return soon.