Abe's thread on the history is religion has elicited a great amount of interesting and useful information. I wonder about the future. Where is the spiritual/religious climate going? What will the parameters be in 5, 10, 100 years from now? Will there be a time when religion is taken from the earth? Will Christ return? What will happen when he does (for those who believe this will happen)?

I love the history of religion. I read scriptures and other religious historical writings on a regular basis. However, the future is what ultimately intrigues me and prompts my thought processes.

Charlie

It's hard for me to project much beyond the present where I wish I had the certainty of some people regarding their spiritual beliefs. I won't know my answers until this organic body is dead. I hope there is a spiritual or soul element that continues in some way.

I have not been given a prophetic gift.

I think we have this "need to know" because it gives us some sense of control.

We seem to be in an apocalyptic time in this new century.

Personally, I prefer to focus on new beginnings rather than endings of old times.

There is much out there right now that speaks of a new, higher consciousness coming into being. Maybe that is the way to see the future.

We are learning more and more about how we co-create reality through what we think and believe is going to happen. Should that be true, wouldn't it be better for the future if we all started thinking in terms of new possibilities?

Ann

Ann,
I'm currently reading "Millennium" by Tom Holland. The anticipation of the world ending and the beginning of the anti-christ was very real. Then of course they had a dating problem which gave them an out. Should the dating begin with the birth of Jesus or his assention?
I don't buy any predictions of end times in any form, except of course for my own demise, and that is not something I wish to forecast.

I am very sad as I see organized religion inserting itself into politics.

Unfortunately the Republican party has become a gathering place for whackos.

I am a God believer, but am, increasingly wary of churches.

They are now big business and should be taxed.

If we taxed them it woud help us all. We would have money for

everything!

I think Christ will return when He gets ready to. In the meantime we should live as though it were today.

Do unto others as you would like them to do to you.

I believe churches and religion are not just a list of rules, but are about people serving Christ by caring and helping each other.

I think only God knows the end of times.

"Pseudoscience is a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to
be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which
does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology, lacks
supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific
status"

I would say this applies to people who believe a bearded man in the sky created the universe in a week. Not science.
__________________________

You do not believe in a literal creation. Fine! A lot of people don't.

I don't think I just happened. That takes more faith for me to think that than it would to think that God created me in the snap of a finger.

That is how I see it.

I think God can do anything. He is not constrained by science. He is different from me.

His superiority is obvious. I think Christ will return when he feels like it.

The division between religion and science becomes more and more blurred as time goes on and technology increases. There is no reason to believe that the evolution of species is random rather than "God-directed." We are learning more and more about the patterns of nature. Supposedly random activities have a pattern that repeats itself as it becomes more complex.

The following video on the Mandelbrot Set requires 15 minutes to watch, and if you are like me, the mathematical explanations in the beginning seem pointless until you get through the explanation of the set. Make it through to the end, and you get a glimpse of what could very well be a mathematical instance representing God's plan for an evolving universe.

The set had a profound effect on my understanding the first time I read of it. This is a relatively simple explanation, if you are willing to watch it through.

http://www.mandelbrotset.net/tutorial.html

Ann