khaosworks | (Reply)

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There's a lot of really nasty stuff in Revelation. In Chapter 19, Jesus comes across as a super-villain, riding forth on a white horse, his cloak "soaked in blood."

"But the beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had worked miracles on the beast's behalf and by them had deceived those who had accepted branding with the mark of the beast and those who had worshipped his statue. These two were hurled alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. All the rest were killed by the sword of the Rider [Jesus], which came out of his mouth, and all the birds glutted themselves with their flesh."

Well, as least Jesus feeds the birdies. :)

I don't know exactly what the doctrine of the Rapture is based on. Some Web pages refer to passages by St. Paul on the resurrection of the Christian dead and the calling of the Christian living into heaven, but this doctrine adds the assumption that there's a significant passage of time between this and the end of the world.