Matthew 24, Prophecies of the End Times

[rikuoamero]

The problem with your 'wizard' story is that unlike your wizard story there is verifiable data in the way of facts that the events and the reports of such events foretold in Matthew 24:7-14 did increase in the past century.

So from another thread, there is the claim that Matthew 24 is a prophecy of the end times, that it somehow speaks to and describes the past century (1900's AD onwards).

For consideration, here is a link to Matthew 24
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se ... tthew%2024

I will copy and paste what I myself deem to be anything even remotely close to a prophecy. If anyone wishes to add in anything else from Matthew 24, they are free to do so.

1) Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 Do you see all these things? he asked. Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

2) Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

3) Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

4) Immediately after the distress of those days

the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
30 Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

5) But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father.

6) Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

-----
Topic for Discussion
What in Gospel Matthew Chapter 24 is an actual prophecy?
Which of those have been fulfilled?
How are any of those descriptive of the 1900s AD onward, and not any other period in history?
Even within the theology of Christianity, how can these prophecies be tied to a particular time period, given that Jesus apparently says not even he knows what day or hour?

[2timothy316]

Research on natural disasters in the past 100 years as well as famine, disease and spread of war. Its all there. Here are a few to get get everyone started. By themselves I wouldn't be worried either but the Bible says they will increase at the same time.

Worldwide displacement hits all-time high as war and persecution increase
One in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum.

http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/ ... rease.html

Increase to the spread of disease.

https://journalistsresource.org/studies ... -outbreaks

Natural disasters are on the rise.

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 2 by 2timothy316]

Ah. So you did post it. Okay, let's have a gander at it...

Research on natural disasters in the past 100 years as well as famine, disease and spread of war. Its all there. Here are a few to get get everyone started.

I can already see a giant gaping hole in the logic. What was the original claim?

there is verifiable data in the way of facts that the events and the reports of such events foretold in Matthew 24:7-14 did increase in the past century.
That was yourself I believe.
What you have there from UNHCR is the reporting of natural disasters. That is, the discovery of and transmission of knowledge of disasters, and only for the past one hundred years.
In order for myself (and others) to consider Matthew to be talking about the 1900's AD onwards up to today, we would need a point of comparison.
We would need to have data on events and the reporting of events for multiple periods in history.
All you supply us with is 1900 onwards.
I am not going to argue the actual data you provide, although I will point out that there is much contention with how the UN collects and reports data. There are controversies regarding the refugee crisis, about who exactly counts as a child refugee for example (more than one story about families in Europe agreeing to house what they are told are children by authorities, only for the refugees to turn up and are clearly adults).

The journalistresource link you gave only gives us numbers since the 1980s.

So at this point in time, I regard the claim found in the OP as being unfounded. You have not explained your epistemology, nor why you think this century is the one Matthew talks about.

[2timothy316]

[Replying to post 3 by rikuoamero]

I'm not surprised by your answer. Whatever you need to tell yourself is fine with me. Have a good day!

[rikuoamero]

[Replying to post 3 by rikuoamero]

I'm not surprised by your answer. Whatever you need to tell yourself is fine with me. Have a good day!

It's not just for myself, I say these things. I say them for any readers I might have. A good day to you as well. Just so you know, I consider this as you forfeiting the initial claim (that Matthew describes/prophecies the past century in particular).
tips fedora

[Tired of the Nonsense]

The problem with your 'wizard' story is that unlike your wizard story there is verifiable data in the way of facts that the events and the reports of such events foretold in Matthew 24:7-14 did increase in the past century.

So from another thread, there is the claim that Matthew 24 is a prophecy of the end times, that it somehow speaks to and describes the past century (1900's AD onwards).

For consideration, here is a link to Matthew 24
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se ... tthew%2024

I will copy and paste what I myself deem to be anything even remotely close to a prophecy. If anyone wishes to add in anything else from Matthew 24, they are free to do so.

1) Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 Do you see all these things? he asked. Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

2) Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

3) Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

4) Immediately after the distress of those days

the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
30 Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

5) But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father.

6) Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

-----
Topic for Discussion
What in Gospel Matthew Chapter 24 is an actual prophecy?
Which of those have been fulfilled?
How are any of those descriptive of the 1900s AD onward, and not any other period in history?
Even within the theology of Christianity, how can these prophecies be tied to a particular time period, given that Jesus apparently says not even he knows what day or hour?

Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism
"The Frashart, of final rehabilitation of all existence means literally the 'making excellent', and this means that evil in all it's forms are destroyed."

"Before the joyful consummation comes to pass, however, each individual soul has to answer for itself and has to undergo an individual judgement after death."

The Soul's Fate at Death

"For three days and nights the soul sits on the head-stone [of the slab on which] the body [is laid]. On the fourth day at dawn, accompanied by Sraosha, the blessed, the good Vay, mighty Vahram, (Verethraghan), and opposed by the loosner of Bones, the evil Vay, and the demons of Frehzisht and Vizisht, and pursued by the malevolence of the evil-doer Wrath who bears a bloody spear, [the soul] will come to the Bridge of the Requiter, lofty and dreadful, for thither must saved and damned alike proceed. There does the enemy wait."

"And when the soul of the saved passes over the bridge, the bridge appears to it to be parasang broad; and the soul of the save passes on accompanied by the blessed Srosha."

"Then with its first step it treads [the heaven of] good thoughts, with its second [the heaven of] good words, with its third [the heaven of] good deeds;and with its fourth step it attains the Endless Light where all is bliss."

"But when the man who is damned dies, then for three days and three nights does his soul hover near his head, weeping [and saying]; 'Whither shall I go? and in whom shall I now take refuge?' And during these three days he sees with his eyes all of the sins and wickedness he committed on earth. On the fourth day the demon Vizarsh comes and binds the soul of the damned in the most shameful wise, and despite the opposition of the blessed Sraosha drags it off to the bridge of the requiter. Then Rashnu, the just, will unmask his soul as damned indeed."

"Then does the demon Vizarsh, eager in his wrath, seize the soul of the damned, smite it and despite it without pity. And the soul of the damned cries out with a loud voice, groans, and in supplication makes many a piteous plea; and desperate will be his struggle. When all of his struggling and lamentations have proved of no avail, no help is proffered him by any of the gods nor yet any of the demons, but the demon Vizarsh drags him off to nethermost hell." (Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism, by R.C. Zaehner; pgs 302-304)

BBC
Zoroaster
The Prophet Zoroaster The Prophet Zoroaster
Zoroastrianism was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.

The precise date of the founding of Zoroastrianism is uncertain. An approximate date of 1200-1500 BCE has been established through archaeological evidence and linguistic comparisons with the Hindu text, the Rig Veda.
BBC - Religions - Zoroastrian: Zoroaster

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... er_1.shtml


The question becomes one of which is the more striking. The very clear similarities between Christianity and Zoroastrianism? Or the fact that people are still subscribing to this ancient make believe after MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND YEARS?