Christian denial of the threat of nuclear war

[F1fan]

In this post I'm going to be referring to the Christian Baptist church teachings I grew up around. I recognize that these views do not represent the majority of Christianity, but it does represent the majority of Christians I know.

The Pastor says that nuclear war cannot and will not happen. "There will be wars and rumours of wars when the end is near" he touts. The Christian view is that humanity cannot destroy itself; Jesus will come back before that happens! So, obviously all out nuclear war won't happen, as that would be the apocalypse, and the apocalypse is only gonna happen a specific way.
Does anyone see the danger in this thinking? As a Christian, I think there is the distinct possibility humanity can wipe itself out before Jesus comes back, at least mostly.
I have a question for you, if you're a Christian. Do you think that all out nuclear war can possibly happen before the rapture and all that? Or do you think God will prevent it?

This sounds divorced from the Hal Lindsey books and prophesy that I just referred to to Ken.

We see a great deal of disagreement among Christians and I think the more we are exposed to the differences it only creates more confusion about Christianity and the core beliefs. Frankly I don't see how Revelations is relevant to anything today. I accept what scholars say that that book is referring to them times it was written. It almost didn't even make it in the Bible. It was a bit of a fluke. Imagine how different Christianity would be today had the vote gone the other way. No End Times.

 

[F1fan]

Yes, a little - a stronger version of the cooling effect one gets from certain extremely violent volcanic eruptions, due to fine particulates in the stratosphere, reducing sunlight penetration. But it seems extremely doubtful that that such an effect would be severe enough to wipe out mankind - more here: Nuclear winter - Wikipedia

I would think the net result of a massive nuclear war to be the destruction of cities and a lack of people knowing how to live more primitive lives. Plus the dilemma of food distribution and clear water. I would suspect a lot of death just from dehydration and illness due to lack of nutrition. Clean water is produced by treatment plants that need a lot of electricity, and if that capacity is destroyed then there's going to be a serious lack of clean water. Even gathering rain will be risky due to the water being radioactive and carrying other atmospheric debris.

 

[exchemist]

I would think the net result of a massive nuclear war to be the destruction of cities and a lack of people knowing how to live more primitive lives. Plus the dilemma of food distribution and clear water. I would suspect a lot of death just from dehydration and illness due to lack of nutrition. Clean water is produced by treatment plants that need a lot of electricity, and if that capacity is destroyed then there's going to be a serious lack of clean water. Even gathering rain will be risky due to the water being radioactive and carrying other atmospheric debris.

...in those countries subject to nuclear attack, yes. But that would not be the whole globe, in any scenario I can envisage. Africa, S America and quite likely China and the Far East would be relatively unscathed in any nuclear exchange between NATO and Russia. We would probably find even considerable areas of Europe and N America that were not utterly destroyed. So I think the human race would survive, even if it was a bit of a John Wyndham's "Chrysalids" scenario.

 

[Estro Felino]

This sounds divorced from the Hal Lindsey books and prophesy that I just referred to to Ken.

We see a great deal of disagreement among Christians and I think the more we are exposed to the differences it only creates more confusion about Christianity and the core beliefs. Frankly I don't see how Revelations is relevant to anything today. I accept what scholars say that that book is referring to them times it was written. It almost didn't even make it in the Bible. It was a bit of a fluke. Imagine how different Christianity would be today had the vote gone the other way. No End Times.

What's your denomination, if you dont mind me asking?

 

[F1fan]

What's your denomination, if you dont mind me asking?

Atheist.

But I grew up in my grandmother's Presbyterian church, with Baptist and Catholic cousins. So I had a lot of experience in the diverse types of Christianity first hand, from the conservative Baptist, to the moderate Catholics, to the liberal Presbyterians. And my mom was kind of a New Age type believer, which was even more more liberal.

 

[sun rise]

COVID bogeyman

So millions of people dead is a "bogeyman"? It really is the end times when death and suffering on a mass scale is dismissed a mere "bogeyman".

 

[Kenny]

I think it has nothing to do with geography.
The clear references of the mark of the Beast reveal it is something financial.

Yes.... definitely financial. As a Christian, seeing us move to bitcoin currencies, the centralization of banks (financial), the ability of banks to control finances such as "SWIFT" as well as the current demonstration of Canada to use the financial institutions as a weapon, we see it as a set up of things to come.

But the war that is mentioned is not a financial war... it is an actual war.

Interestingly enough, Israel was, is and will be the center-point of the conflict.

EDIT:

As a caveat, because the imagery that John had to relay with a vocabulary that was wholly inadequate, it is the reason why there are so many interpretations.

 

[Kenny]

Do you believe in the Hal Lyndsey Late Great Planet Earth books and beliefs? You surely remember those books from the 70-80's.

I have heard it but, frankly, have not read it. I have read other books.

 

[Kenny]

This sounds divorced from the Hal Lindsey books and prophesy that I just referred to to Ken.

We see a great deal of disagreement among Christians and I think the more we are exposed to the differences it only creates more confusion about Christianity and the core beliefs. Frankly I don't see how Revelations is relevant to anything today. I accept what scholars say that that book is referring to them times it was written. It almost didn't even make it in the Bible. It was a bit of a fluke. Imagine how different Christianity would be today had the vote gone the other way. No End Times.

I think it is more because of language. As I said before, imagine explaining an airplane with missiles with all your vocabulary of 2,000 years ago.

Obviously that will create big differences in interpretation but it doesn't affect at all the core beliefs.

 

[Estro Felino]

Yes.... definitely financial. As a Christian, seeing us move to bitcoin currencies, the centralization of banks (financial), the ability of banks to control finances such as "SWIFT" as well as the current demonstration of Canada to use the financial institutions as a weapon, we see it as a set up of things to come.

But the war that is mentioned is not a financial war... it is an actual war.

Interestingly enough, Israel was, is and will be the center-point of the conflict.

EDIT:

As a caveat, because the imagery that John had to relay with a vocabulary that was wholly inadequate, it is the reason why there are so many interpretations.

Revelation 13 is eschatological.
There is Satan who gives power to a very powerful entity (Beast from the Sea). Then, a holified Beast from the Land takes his place.
And this Beast creates this mark (charagma is a word used in coins marks, but also administrative marks) and imposes it to the people.


Some have interpreted that the first beast was Pagan Rome. The second was the corrupt Vatican and all the banking elites who support it.
Seigniorage, practically.

 

[Kenny]

Revelation 13 is eschatological.
There is Satan who gives power to a very powerful entity (Beast from the Sea). Then, a holified Beast from the Land takes his place.
And this Beast creates this mark (charagma is a word used in coins marks, but also administrative marks) and imposes it to the people.


Some have interpreted that the first beast was Pagan Rome. The second was the corrupt Vatican and all the banking elites who support it.
Seigniorage, practically.

Yes! Of course, it is still speculation until we actually see it.

Reading up on it, as it is with the whole of the book, I wonder where Germany stacks up on the list of the ten horns. The potential political head?

time will tell.

 

[74x12]

In this post I'm going to be referring to the Christian Baptist church teachings I grew up around. I recognize that these views do not represent the majority of Christianity, but it does represent the majority of Christians I know.

The Pastor says that nuclear war cannot and will not happen. "There will be wars and rumours of wars when the end is near" he touts. The Christian view is that humanity cannot destroy itself; Jesus will come back before that happens! So, obviously all out nuclear war won't happen, as that would be the apocalypse, and the apocalypse is only gonna happen a specific way.
Does anyone see the danger in this thinking? As a Christian, I think there is the distinct possibility humanity can wipe itself out before Jesus comes back, at least mostly.
I have a question for you, if you're a Christian. Do you think that all out nuclear war can possibly happen before the rapture and all that? Or do you think God will prevent it?

It looks like nuclear war is going to be a reality from the book of Revelation.

First of all many of the events described in Reveluation are most easily explained by nuclear warfare. For example all the fish dying in the sea. That's nuclear radiation that is capable of doing that to the fish. It could also be other things such as chemical or biological warfare. But nuclear fallout in the water is the most likely cause of an event like this in my opinion. We've already seen the damage done by Fukushima on some fish in the Pacific.

Then we see that Mystery Babylon is destroyed by fire. That's a clear indication of nuclear war.

But the most alarming sign of nuclear war in the book of Revelation is that 4 angels are released from the Euphrates that kill 1/3 of humans on earth. So that is 1 person for every 3 you see. So we're likely going to see entire countries being wiped off the map for good. That implies WMDs being used and of course nuclear weapons are the main WMDs that every (evil) country seems to want.

With the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse we see that war is going to kick it all off.

First a white horse is going out to conquer with a bow. Then comes the red horse which takes peace from the earth and he has a sword. Then comes the black horse with the scales (showing economic depression and famine) Finally the last horse is just called death and he has dominion(whatever that means, can't be good) over 1/4 of the earth's surface. So that's a lot of territory for him.

In this you can see the natural progression. First someone decides to go out and conquer, this creates war and results in economic depression and the end result is death all over the world.

Jesus taught that if God didn't shorten the days for the elect's sake then no flesh would be saved. So I do believe if Jesus did not return the human race would cease to exist.

This is due to death first of all but also it could be due to coming transhuman agendas unfolding. They're already trying to end the human race with transhumanism.

 

[Estro Felino]

Yes! Of course, it is still speculation until we actually see it.

Reading up on it, as it is with the whole of the book, I wonder where Germany stacks up on the list of the ten horns. The potential political head?

time will tell.

I think these elites are supranational.

 

[metis]

The August 1984 issue of Scientific American had a good article on the effects of even a small regional nuclear conflict. Between say India and Pakistan. Its paints a pretty bleak picture for humanity if such a thing happens.

Yep, and it even shocked the research group on this under Carl Sagan as they thought at first that they screwed up somewhere in their process when "nuclear winter" was the result. When they did it again and using different computers, it again showed up "nuclear winter".

 

[Estro Felino]

It looks like nuclear war is going to be a reality from the book of Revelation.

First of all many of the events described in Reveluation are most easily explained by nuclear warfare. For example all the fish dying in the sea. That's nuclear radiation that is capable of doing that to the fish. It could also be other things such as chemical or biological warfare. But nuclear fallout in the water is the most likely cause of an event like this in my opinion. We've already seen the damage done by Fukushima on some fish in the Pacific.

Then we see that Mystery Babylon is destroyed by fire. That's a clear indication of nuclear war.

But the most alarming sign of nuclear war in the book of Revelation is that 4 angels are released from the Euphrates that kill 1/3 of humans on earth. So that is 1 person for every 3 you see. So we're likely going to see entire countries being wiped off the map for good. That implies WMDs being used and of course nuclear weapons are the main WMDs that every (evil) country seems to want.

With the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse we see that war is going to kick it all off.

First a white horse is going out to conquer with a bow. Then comes the red horse which takes peace from the earth and he has a sword. Then comes the black horse with the scales (showing economic depression and famine) Finally the last horse is just called death and he has dominion(whatever that means, can't be good) over 1/4 of the earth's surface. So that's a lot of territory for him.

In this you can see the natural progression. First someone decides to go out and conquer, this creates war and results in economic depression and the end result is death all over the world.

Jesus taught that if God didn't shorten the days for the elect's sake then no flesh would be saved. So I do believe if Jesus did not return the human race would cease to exist.

This is due to death first of all but also it could be due to coming transhuman agendas unfolding. They're already trying to end the human race with transhumanism.

Those chapters are eschatological.
I really don't understand why they should be considered tragic.
Jesus, our Lord said that His kingdom is not of this world. And this world is chaotic because that animalistic and devilish Beast has been unleashed.

But our reward is God's justice.
To know that the angels will sever the wicked from among the Just.
And Christians' thirst for justice will be quenched.
And in Revelation...it says that those who served Satan will be following him, when they die

 

[metis]

The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

BTW, as a sidebar, do you know what "wormwood" is called today?

If you don't, don't feel bad as theologians don't know either.

Now, is "wormwood" holy?

 

[metis]

Yes, a little - a stronger version of the cooling effect one gets from certain extremely violent volcanic eruptions, due to fine particulates in the stratosphere, reducing sunlight penetration. But it seems extremely doubtful that that such an effect would be severe enough to wipe out mankind - more here: Nuclear winter - Wikipedia

Yah, but I really have no desire to find out either.

 

[74x12]

Those chapters are eschatological.
I really don't understand why they should be considered tragic.
Jesus, our Lord said that His kingdom is not of this world. And this world is chaotic because that animalistic and devilish Beast has been unleashed.

But our reward is God's justice.
To know that the angels will sever the wicked from among the Just.
And Christians' thirst for justice will be quenched.
And in Revelation...it says that those who served Satan will be following him, when they die

Although the book ends with "even so come Lord Jesus" I still think there is a tragedy because of all the lost souls and the people who don't repent because they're dead.

So I do think we should not hope these things happen even though it does mean Christ returns. We can stop them from happening by repenting of our sins. If we arethe people of God then God says "If my people who are caleld by my name humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land."

So we can change events and God says he is not willing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance and a day with him is as a thousand yeras and a thousand years as a day.

So God doesn't want to see the world burn. He's happy to wait longer if people repent then he will.

 

[metis]

Some have interpreted that the first beast was Pagan Rome. The second was the corrupt Vatican and all the banking elites who support it.
Seigniorage, practically.

Yah, but that really doesn't work as "666" must have been known by the time of its writing, and Caesar Nero fits the description and the numbers to a T.

 

[Estro Felino]

Although the book ends with "even so come Lord Jesus" I still think there is a tragedy because of all the lost souls and the people who don't repent because they're dead.

So I do think we should not hope these things happen even though it does mean Christ returns. We can stop them from happening by repenting of our sins. If we arethe people of God then God says "If my people who are caleld by my name humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land."

So we can change events and God says he is not willing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance and a day with him is as a thousand yeras and a thousand years as a day.

So God doesn't want to see the world burn. He's happy to wait longer if people repent then he will.

Surely.
It is our duty to stop these things from happening.
Unfortunately, wicked people's free will is like an invincible force that we cannot oppose.