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"Behold, the day cometh, that
shall burn as an oven"
ENDTIME
PROPHECY
"Think not that I
am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am
not come to destroy [the law], but to
fulfill [prophecy]. For verily I say unto
you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
[prophecy] be fulfilled."
Christ Jesus
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The disciples of Jesus believed that
after his departure, he would come again
in their lifetime, and soon after his
return the world would end.
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According to the
Bible
The disciples of Jesus believed that after his
departure, he would come again in their lifetime,
and soon after his return the world would end. For
that reason, the Gospels were not written until
late in the life of their authors, as they had felt
there was no need for a record to survive them.
The content and
style of the four Gospels was intended to provide a
practical guide that would give the student a way
of escape from the material world. In the book of
II Peter, we are asked:
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?
(3:11-12)
Miscellaneous
Statements
Below are a collection of miscellaneous
statements concerning prophecy and the end of the
world.
"The
Second Coming of Christ," by Frank H. Sprague
Christian Science Sentinel, June 23,
1917
"We may well
imagine his hearers' astonishment when he whom they
had learned to know as 'The Prince of Peace'
associated the coming of the Christ with scenes of
turbulence and disaster of the most terrible
description. What logical connection could there be
between occurrences so diametrically opposite in
their nature?
"...In this drama
of unreality the material belief of tranquillity
passes for true peace, which is spiritual, until
corporeal sense, urged to the limit of
self-deception by the judgment of Truth,
experiences a reaction in the aggravation of peace
disturbing beliefs.
"Metaphysically
understood, 'the end of the world,' or 'the
consummation of the age' (Revised Version, marginal
rendering), signifies the passing of this
suppositional, false concept of existence and all
that it implies in the way of a material
environment. ...
"Because he is so
drugged with the beliefs of ignorance and apathy
mortal man does not realize the necessity of
escaping from the mesmerism of the senses until the
situation becomes intolerable. It sometimes
requires a terrific shock to rouse the dreamer to
the point where he cries out in sheer desperation,
'What must I do to be saved?' In many instances a
tragedy of the senses is the means of stripping off
the mask of material illusions most unexpectedly
and bringing mortals face to face with the
spiritual facts of being. ...
"Never has mortal
mind experienced such a general and thorough
shaking up as is taking place today, and never
before have channels for the word of Truth opened
up with such amazing rapidity and in such
unforeseen directions. The traditional order is
suffering radical changes, and material
calculations are being upset at every turn. The
very belief of material law and order which has
served to give a degree of stability to human
concepts and institutions is beginning to disclose
its inherent lawlessness and disorderliness in
sinister ways. The suppositional forces of mortal
mind are passing beyond the bounds of self-control
and restraint and spending their counterfeit
potentialities in self-annihilation. The inwardness
of the fleshly mind is coming out in diabolical
exhibitions of hate, cruelty, treachery,
sensuality, as Truth brings latent forms of evil to
the surface and compels error to show its hand.
'Wars and rumors of wars' bear witness to the chaos
of sensuous beliefs as the spiritual issue is
forced upon mankind.
"Mrs. Eddy says:
'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.' (Science
and Health, p. 96) In this crisis the student whose
thought has been instructed in the letter of
Christian Science and who has grasped something of
its spirit, is prepared, like the five wise virgins
in the parable, for the coming of the bridegroom;
while the individual who is engrossed in the
pursuit of sense-illusions is all at sea and at the
mercy of crumbling beliefs. As in 'the days of
Noe,' the reaction comes as a thunderbolt to the
unprepared world of the senses, intoxicated with
the lusts of the flesh, 'eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage.'"
"Christian
Science," by Alfred Farlow, CSD
The Christian Science Journal, February,
1904
"[Christian]
Scientists believe that in our present unspiritual
condition our concept of things is erroneous; but
that our perception will improve as we advance
spiritually, until we shall finally awake in the
likeness of God. Then shall we see as He sees
heaven and earth in all their beauty, perfection,
and spirituality, and the false human view will
have passed away forever. Scientists believe that
the end of the world is not the end of God's
creation, but the end of erroneous concept and
abuse thereof, as indicated in John's statement, 'I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away.' When
the erroneous view (the first heaven and earth)
shall have passed away, the true heaven and earth
will be seen. When we see these as they are, the
false perception will have passed away.
"Christian
Science teaches that by pure and holy living we are
to hasten the end of the world, not the end of
God's creation, but the end of error, darkness,
evil. All that is opposed to God, all that obscures
the true concept of His creation, will be consumed
by the 'fervent heat' of divine Truth."
"The
End of Material Things," by Willis F. Gross,
CSB
The Christian Science Journal, February,
1891
"Mortal
man, in attempting to preserve the seeming good in
materiality, retained also the evil; and 'error of
every form emerged from the ark.' [No and
Yes by Mary Baker Eddy (1891)] The error
was soon manifest, and still continues its seeming
existence. The flood did not prove to be the
remedy, hence the world now looks forward to the
final destruction of all material things by
fire."
"Winter:
A Type of Life," by Zoe Seymour Loveland
The Christian Science Journal, July,
1889
"Prophecy
points to heat as the agent of earth's final
destruction. 'The elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up.' Science and Health
gives the key to this in the declaration of the
hypnotic conflagration in which mortal mind and all
its projections will be finally
destroyed."
"The
Second Coming of Christ," by Ezra W. Reed
The Christian Science Journal, October,
1897
"'Peter,
in his second epistle, divides human history into
certain periods, which he designates 'The world
that was;' 'The heavens and the earth which are
now;' and the 'New heavens and new earth.' Here are
three distinct divisions: That which was,
was destroyed by water; that which is now,
is to be destroyed by fire; that which is to
come, is that wherein dwelleth righteousness.
The discussion as to whether or not the
water and fire are to be understood
literally, can properly be omitted from this
article. Jesus gives us to understand that there is
a similarity between the two (Matthew, 24: 36-40):
'As in the days that were before the flood...they
knew not until the flood came and took them all
away; so shall also the coming of the Son of
Man be.' As has been already stated, Jesus coupled
the coming with the end of the world.
We are thus confronted with the fact that there is
to be something sudden and unexpected."
"The
Ark," by Annie M. Knott, CSD
Christian Science Sentinel, September 1,
1917
"After
the deluge Noah was assured by ever present wisdom
that a flood of waters would never again cover the
earth; but as the history of the human race unfolds
we find distinct reference to another sort of
deluge, that of fire, which has undoubtedly come
upon mankind at this very hour [i.e., World War
I]. Some of the Scripture writers saw this as
meaning the entire destruction of everything on the
human plane; but Isaiah, whose clear spiritual
vision never lost sight of the divine idea, wrote:
'When thou passest through the waters, I will be
with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame
kindle upon thee.'"
"Editor's
Table," by Judge Septimus J. Hanna, CSD
The Christian Science Journal, March,
1896
"To
the sincere Christian Scientist the Kingdom of God
is come, not shall come, all that
remains being its recognition by the people and
their acceptance of it. God's Kingdom the
realm of infinite Truth was never absent in
fact; it has been absent only in the sense that
mankind have not known and accepted its
presence.
"...It needs but a
casual glance at the condition of the world to-day
to see the fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy as found
in Matthew 24:
For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and
shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars
and rumors of wars. . . . For nations shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes in divers places. All these are the
beginning of sorrows.
"But over against
such seemingly gloomy forebodings are these glad
assurances:
But he
that shall endure unto the end, the same shall
be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come. And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.
"Let us then hail
the upheavals both in the external world and in our
own consciousness as happy omens, for they betoken
the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Surely the
coming of the Son of man in power and great glory,
all appearances to the contrary nevertheless, is
cause for gratulation and rejoicing to all who have
their armour on and their lamps trimmed and
burning. The only cause for apprehension is the
failure to be prepared for the coming."
"Editor's
Table," by Judge Septimus J. Hanna, CSD
The Christian Science Journal, September,
1894
"...As
additional evidence of the misuse of the word
world, and of the error of interpretation to
which its misuse has led, we call attention to Eph.
3:21. The Old Version thus gives it: 'Unto him be
the glory in the church by Christ throughout all
ages, world without end.' The Revised
Version thus: 'Unto him be the glory in the Church
and in Christ Jesus unto all generations forever
and ever.'
"Thus
it will be seen that the meaning of the passage as
rendered in the Old has been completely reversed in
the New. Instead of having an endless world,
we have a forever and ever. The authority
therefore for an eternity of human error or false
conceptions, otherwise sin, no longer exists so far
as this rendition is concerned..."
"Editor's
Table," by Judge Septimus J. Hanna, CSD
The Christian Science Journal, December,
1898
"The
Divine purpose moves certainly forward, even though
it seems at times to be in ways the opposite of
those generally expected. It is manifest to the
discerner of the signs of the times that the
horizon is brightening. The day of humanity's
redemption draws nigh. What if the clouds seem
dark? What if there are wars and rumors of wars?
These were prophesied by the Nazarene prophet as
preceding "the end," the dawn of the
brighter day, the new era, which is surely coming,
else the Bible promises are vain and Jesus' words
idle."
"Impressions
of Our Leader," by Bliss Knapp, CSB
We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, First
Series
"Today
people are greatly troubled over world conditions.
We are taught in Christian Science that such
conflicting forces indicate the breaking up of
mortal mind's long-cherished beliefs, and we can
rejoice at the overturning of error."
"Identity,"
by Zoe Seymour Loveland
The Christian Science Journal, May,
1888
"It
is mortal mind which fears annihilation, because of
the dissolution of matter. Truth, Spirit, does not
require the garb of error, matter, in order to
express individual forms, and give identity to each
individual.
"We
are nearing the fourth watch of the night. Already
Truth, Spirit, stands on the shore, coming to
greet, and guide into a safe haven, the children of
the Father..."
More About this
Topic
The
following links explain in further detail different
aspects of prophecy and the endtime.
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Prophecies
Study
the prophecies of the Bible and Mary Baker
Eddy concerning the end of the
world.
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Millenarianism
This
article explains how Christian Science
differs from millenarianism.
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