I've been re-reading a very interesting book by Carl E. Olson, Will Catholics be "Left Behind"?: A Catholic Critique of the Rapture and Today's Prophecy Preachers and am finding a lot of it to be quite intriguing. So here are a few questions here for people:

1. Do you believe in the Rapture? Yes

2. Why or why not? Tricky question. Short answer: I believe in the Bible, and the Bibles states it will happen.

3. If you answered yes to #1, are you a Pre-Tribulation(it'll happen before seven years of horrible stuff) or Mid-Tribulation (3.5 years in)? Pre

4. Do you know who is credited with starting the modern Rapture movement? Ho..hadn't given it much thought.

5. If you answered no to #1, do you believe in the Parousia of Christ (Second Coming)? Yes.

6. The Left Behind series: a lot of truth mixed in with the fictional account or a lot of dangerous bunk that undermines Christianity? Don't know - haven't read it.

7. (Because I know some will want to say it anyways ): Is all of the above a bunch of hooey and not worth believing, whether it's Rapture stuff or Christianity in general?

8. Those Rapture bumper stickers:

a) I laugh when I read them, then shake my head in disbelief I can't remember any to date

b) I smile and agree with the sentiment See above

c) I proudly display one on my car Nope

d) What the hell is a Rapture? Prolly that one thing, where that other thing happens.

9. Should the Apocalypse of John/Revelations be viewed literally or metaphorically? Hmmm...the reality of how it will affect the earth should be very literal. The rest is sort of a gray area. The four horsemen for example, well...no one can say for sure what they are...but I'm pretty sure they won't be actually horsemen. I guess we'll find out though, won't we?

Bah, I'll just stop at 9 and see what answers are given. I just hope that people can agree or disagree civilly, but is that asking for too much here?


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