A theory

don't ask me, ask god!

seriously, tho. you could ask "why?" for anything. why did god create us?

 

I do not mean that He stays hidden from us or is not a part of our lives. But maybe His plan for the return is that we find Him, and that we can prove it to all those who do not believe.

It's kind of like a parent/child. I could easily do Filip's homework for him, but I would prefer to have him find the answers and work through it - with my help if he needs it - because by doing itself he will have a greater appreciation for the work it took and me as well.

I did not mean to portray this theory as a negative thing.

 

Jesus said that He will be returning to judge the living and the dead. No one knows when that is going to be – although my guess is still Game 7 of a Red Sox-Cubs World Series. But maybe it is not really going to be a case of Jesus returning so much as it will be a case of us finding Him.

Does that make it more clear?

 

That's kind of the point I made earlier. The Bible answers questions like that -- Why are we separated from God? Why did God create us? But if VP's hypothesis is correct, and all this is just a game, the Bible is off. Way off. Apart from that, how can we possibly find the 'real' answers?

 

Depending on how you're defining 'find', many throughout history have claimed to have already found Him. Even today, the likes of Billy Graham would tell you he has an interactive relationship with God, and he has committed his life to proving His existence to all who don't believe.

Okay, but parents teach their children to be independent because they know they won't be around forever. God will. And the Bible teaches dependence, not independence, so I'm having a hard time trying to reconcile that with the supposition that the reason for the spiritual scavenger hunt is to make us independent thinkers.

I don't see it as a negative thing, really. At least not yet. It's an interesting new perspective I've never explored before.

 

Maybe I'm oversimplifying this, but when you talk about 'finding Jesus', I get the impression you're saying He's hiding in some jungle or cave or desert somewhere, and He's been there the whole time. I don't think that's what you're saying, though. Could you talk a little more about what you mean by 'finding' God?

 

I do not mean that he is hiding from us. And while I am oversimplifying things a bit, when I say "find" Jesus, I mean that the whole return/judgment/rapture events are set into motion by our advance as a society and a race getting to a place in knowledge where it is time for Him to allow us to see Him.

And I think that He wants that so very badly, but He wants us to be ready. That is why He must wait. Maybe He wants to give as many people as possible a chance to accept Him. Maybe a reconcilliation of science and religion has some unknown consequence.

I don't know all of it, the idea just kind of popped ito my head and I thought it was interesting.

 

I don't really see how the intellegence or sophistication level of our society could have much to do with Christ's return. I don't see the relevance or the correlation. But of course, just because I can't see it or don't understand it doesn't mean it's not there.

Giving as many people as possible a chance to accept Him is one of my pet theories on His return date. But the thing I wonder is, for that to be possible, does that mean there will come a point in the future when the 'last' person will accept Him. That just seems a bit strange to me. A bit of a reach.

Your second possibility (a reconciliation of science and religion having some unknown consequence) is probably just as likely, now that I think about it. It's hard to see the 'ripple' effect of so many things that happen in our society.

This is one of the areas where I think the Bible is intentionally vague. We are not meant to know when He's coming back. The reason, I believe, is that Jesus wants us to live as though He might be coming back any minute. If we knew when the date was, or even what the trigger was that would set the sequence in motion, would we not be tempted to live by our rules until the last possible moment? IMO, it would be much more dangerous spiritually to know when His return will be than to live in ignorance.

 

Really? I mean if a guy shows up tomorrow and claims to be Jesus, you aren;t going to be even just a little bit skeptical? Now, if said guy shows up with scientific proof that He is Jesus, how many people would still be skeptical. Didn't He say that we would know it was Him? Wouldn;t He want a way to distinguish Himself from the false prophets God warned us about.

Everyone jokes that if Jesus showed up today He'd be locked up in a loony bin and that is probably true. So He needs a different method of proving He is who He says He is. Maybe science is a large part of that equation.

 

If the real Jesus -- as outlined in the Bible -- shows up tomorrow, there won't be a doubt in anyone's mind Who it is. It will be quite spectacular.

Anything less, and I will completely discount whoever it is.