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From the Bible
ENDTIME
PROPHECIES
Isaiah
13:6-11
"Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand;
it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's
heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs
and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be
in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be
amazed one at another; their faces shall be as
flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel
both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof
out of it. For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light:
the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and
the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I
will punish the world for their evil, and the
wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low
the haughtiness of the terrible."
Mary Baker Eddy
tells us: "The manifestations of evil, which
counterfeit divine justice, are called in the
Scriptures, 'The anger of the Lord.' In reality,
they show the self-destruction of error or matter
and point to matter's opposite, the strength and
permanency of Spirit." ("Science and Health," p.
293)
Daniel
12:1-4
"...There shall be a time of trouble, such as
never was since there was a nation even to that
same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in
the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And
they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of
the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But
thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the
book, even to the time of the end..."
The "little
book" described in Revelation 10 is the same book
which appeared to Ezekiel (2:3, 7-10; 3:1-4) and to
Daniel (10:1, 10, 11, 14; 12:2-4, 8, 9). Daniel was
instructed to seal the book "to the time of the
end." Thus it is logical to understand that in a
prophetic revelation pertaining to "the latter
days" this book should appear. We believe the
Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures," by Mary Baker Eddy is
this "little book."
Malachi 4:1
"Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an
oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that
it shall leave them neither root nor
branch."
This final
chapter of the last book of the Old Testament
finishes with a prophecy of the end of the world.
Are these conditions being fulfilled today by
global warming? An Associated Press report (6/8/98)
stated: "So much research effort is going into
temperature change because of the fear that Earth
will warm up to such a degree that our very
existence might be threatened."
Luke
17:26-30
"...As it was in the days of Noe
[Noah], so shall it be also in the days of
the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they
married wives, they were given in marriage, until
the day that Noe entered the ark, and the flood
came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it
was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank,
they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it
rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the
day when the Son of man is revealed."
Jesus compares
the endtime with the days of Noah and
Lot.
Luke
21:33-36
"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words
shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this
life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For
as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on
the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore,
and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of man."
The end of the
world will come "as a snare" to "all them that
dwell on the face of the whole earth." Jesus
plainly foretells a collective
experience.
II Peter
3:3-7
"...There shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is
the promise of his [Christ’s Second]
coming? for since the fathers [prophets]
fell asleep [passed away], all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation [i.e., no Second Coming and no
destruction of the world]. For this they
willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God
the heavens were of old, and the earth...being
overflowed with water, perished [in the
flood]: but the heavens and the earth which are
now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved
unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men."
Peter compares
the coming cataclysm to the flood of Noah's
day.
II Peter
3:10
"...the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up..."
The end of the
world will come "as a thief in the night," that is,
— most people will not be expecting
it.
II Peter
3:11-12
"Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation [manner of living]
and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat?"
How shall we
live our lives, knowing the world is to be
destroyed?
II Peter
3:13-14
"Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing
that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye
may be found of him in peace, without spot, and
blameless."
Peter speaks of
"new heavens" and "a new earth." They are
spiritual, not material.
From Mary Baker Eddy
ENDTIME
PROPHECIES
"I
clearly foresee"
"If
Christian Science is not adopted and demonstrated
by the people, I clearly foresee that this planet
will be dissolved." [When
asked how this would occur, she replied,] "By
fire, I think it is."
This privately
circulated account throws light on Mrs. Eddy's view
of the end of the world.
Mrs.
Eddy's Warning
"...All must learn they cannot sin and escape
punishment, as they think they can...Those who work
out now will be saved; ...all the woes Jeremiah
predicted will come to pass. God is making demands
upon us..."
From
"Notes on Mary Baker Eddy's Course in Divinity," p.
21. Recorded by Lida Fitzpatrick, C.S.D. and
others).
Science
and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp.
96-97
"Before error is wholly destroyed, there will
be interruptions of the general material routine.
Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer
and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed
forms), will continue unto the end,
—
until
the final spiritualization of all things. 'The
darkest hour precedes the dawn.'
"This
material world is even now becoming the arena for
conflicting forces. On one side there will be
discord and dismay; on the other side there will be
Science and peace. The breaking up of material
beliefs may seem to be famine and pestilence, want
and woe, sin, sickness, and death, which assume new
phases until their nothingness appears. These
disturbances will continue until the end of error,
when all discord will be swallowed up in spiritual
Truth...
"As
this consummation draws nearer, he who has shaped
his course in accordance with divine Science will
endure to the end... Those who discern Christian
Science will hold crime in check. They will aid in
the ejection of error. They will maintain law and
order, and cheerfully await the certainty of
ultimate perfection."
Mrs.
Eddy clearly foretells a literal, collective
experience.
The
First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,
p. 160
"Physical science has sometimes argued that the
internal fires of our earth will eventually consume
this planet. Christian Science shows that hidden
unpunished sin is this internal fire, — even
the fire of a guilty conscience, waking to a true
sense of itself, and burning in torture until the
sinner is consumed, — his sins
destroyed."
Mrs.
Eddy related the destruction of this planet to the
destruction of sin.
Science
and Health, p. 83
"[Christian] Science only can explain
the incredible good and evil elements now coming to
the surface. Mortals must find refuge in Truth in
order to escape the error of these latter
days."
Mrs.
Eddy confirms that these are the "latter days."
Miscellaneous
Writings, p. 113
"Christian Science shows that there is a way of
escape from the latter-day ultimatum of evil,
through scientific truth; so that all are without
excuse."
In
the Bible we read, "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
(Romans 8:1)
Science
and Health, p. 446
"To understand God strengthens hope, enthrones
faith in Truth, and verifies Jesus' word: 'Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the
world."
The
Christ idea is always with us, but we must
demonstrate it by overcoming sin, disease, and
death.
No
and Yes, p. 45
"The spiritual status is urging its highest
demands on mortals, and material history is drawing
to a close."
Another
endtime reference.
Science
and Health, p. 97
"'He uttered his voice, the earth melted.' This
Scripture indicates that all matter will disappear
before the supremacy of Spirit. ..."
Heat
is often associated with the end of the world.
Miscellaneous
Writings, p. 214
"...Jesus foretold the harvest hour and the
final destruction of error through this very
process, — the sifting and the
fire."
In
Bible prophecy, fire has both a literal and
a symbolic significance.
Science
and Health, pp. 291-292
"No final judgment awaits mortals, for the
judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and
continually, even the judgment by which mortal man
is divested of all material error. As for spiritual
error there is none.
"When
the last mortal fault is destroyed, then the final
trump will sound which will end the battle of Truth
with error and mortality; 'but of that day and
hour, knoweth no man.' Here prophecy pauses. Divine
Science alone can compass the heights and depths of
being and reveal the infinite."
Annie
M. Knott writes, "Mortals have...chosen to ignore
the judgment of all human thought and action by the
Christ, concerning which our revered Leader says,
'No final judgment awaits mortals; for the
judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and
continually, even the judgment by which mortal man
is divested of all material error' ("Science and
Health," p. 291). This perpetual judgment by Truth
does not lessen present human responsibility, but
rather increases it, for repeated transgressions of
divine law are like an accumulating debt which must
sometime be paid." (Editorial, "The Christian
Science Journal," October, 1906)
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