Reply #7: My reasoning as to why "end-times" talk is ridiculous... follow me here...

[Brotherjohn]

Most Christian faiths believe that when the end time comes... Revelations, Armageddon, Second Coming, etc... you will be judged before God and sent to either heaven or Hell (or Purgatory, if you're Catholic) based on the life you've lived. Right?

Most Christian faiths also believe that at the end of your life (when you die)... you will be judged before God and sent to either heaven or Hell (or Purgatory, if you're Catholic) based on the life you've lived. Right?

Now, End-Timers scream and preach to us that we MUST repent (and basically do whatever THEY say is right), and NOW, because the end times may be coming in YOUR lifetime.

Well...

... if you're going to be judged at the end of your lifetime anyway, then your "end time" is coming "within your lifetime" anyway (just at the very end of it). And no one knows when that will be. Could be 50 years from now, could be tomorrow. In fact, the record of End-Timers predictions shows that Armageddon is likely not going to come before you die.

So my question is, "Why the urgency?" Aren't we all going to be judged at the end of our lives anyway (if you believe)? And isn't that as likely to happen as soon as the "End Times", or sooner?

The answer, of course, is that preaching "Armageddon' is much scarier and likely to convert more people. More fireworks. It packs more punch when you say it's going to happen to 5 BILLION people alongside you. Also, they can increase the urgency by saying "your time" is going to come (End Time), basically, "before your time comes" (your natural death).

But there really is no difference, if you already believe, between the "End Times" and your own "end time".