     Raage | Friday, January 05, 2001 - 07:05 am
Like christians and Jews,MUSLIMS also see an an apcalyptic END to the world:There will be natural calamities ,followed by the WAR OF ARMGEDDON led by the "hidden"IMAM,a decendant of muhammad ,and jesus against the forces of evil,led by dajjal,an ANTICHRIST figure.After millenium of peace,both jesus and imam will die and final judgement will take place.
for HINDUS and BUDHISTS: time is cyclical,
and so the world renews itself after each cycle but never ends.
JEWS, of course, have their own apocalyptic traditions built around the coming of the messiah(ciise).This year,the jews calender is 5764,leaving 242 years in which messiah would come.
THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE(injiil) begins with the creation of the world,before time itself began.It closes with a harrowing vision of the world'end,when time will be no more.
CHRISTIAN apocalypticism:The vision of the endtimes comes from a mysterious book written by john(jesus'apostle).His intention was to warn the fledgling christian communities of ASIA minor against compromising with the roman empire and it's cult of the divine emperor.JOHN prophesie:
"much suffering would come to the world before christ(ciise) himself would return to defeat his human adversory,THE ANTICHRIST,in the battle of ARMAGEDDON.Christ would then establish a millenial kingdom on earth for the just.Then,after a final clash with satan,CHRIST would pass judgement on all the living and the dead.For the just,there would be a heavenly jerusalem-a new heaven and a new earth.
THE ANTICHRIST is satan'secret acomplice,a powerful human being who takes control of the world before the second coming.
CHRISTIANS believe ANTICHRIST as muhammad or turks in general,whose armies threatened to devour europe,napoleon,hitler,stallin,mikhail
gorbajev (they seemed to have the mark of the beast of his head) entered the list of ANTICHRIST.
In the 12 centuary, for example,the chrusaders saw the recapture of jerusalem from the muslims as a defeat of the ANTICHRIST.in also explains why the creation of the state of israel in 1948 excited fresh expectations that the count down to ARMAGEDDON had surely began.
But the gosple of MATTHEW (jesus'apostle) reflecting views of christians some 6o years later,has jesus warning his deciples to look out for signs of the endtimes-among them,
WARS and FAMINES and EATHQUAKES.But he also warned that THE END IS YET TO COME. |
