Judgement Day and the future

[db44]

We've often discussed the past here, let's look forward.

One thing we all agree about is that the Earth will one day cease to exist, right?

To people taking the science route, I think there's consencus that while the Earth may not always be inhabitable, it will continue to exist until our sun dies.

Different religious groups have different ideas about the end of the Earth: From the ancient Mayans (a semi-scientific deduction) saying we have one year left to the Christian notion of Judgement Day, there are numerous tales about how our ultimate end will come.

In the cas of Judgement Day, if we no longer inhabit this planet, does that mean human life will one day totally cease to exist (I feel like I've asked that one before)...

Are we waiting for any other Biblical (including the Koran) predictions or prophecies to come true now?

[Java]

A bit on a tangent here but a thought just occurred to me - If life on Earth was the only life in the entire universe and the Earth and all its life were to be wiped out completely, would the universe still exist if there was no life within it to witness its existence?

[Lt.Dallas]

Mormons believe that Heavenly Father made many, many worlds, with many, many people on those worlds, and that Jesus was/is the Savior of those worlds as well.

I believe that we won't know when the end is coming, but I believe we are at the End of Days, with all the things that are going on in the world now.

[db44]

That's one I've asked about before: Do religious doctrines allow for extreterrestrial life?

With all what going on in the world now? Scientists would say the number and magnitude of earthquakes are at normal levels: It's just that some are happening closer to populated areas.

[Lt.Dallas]

Everything. Not only the earthquakes and tsunamis, but just watch the news.

Matthew 24:6-8

6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Again, I don't believe we'll be aware until the time comes, but I believe that we've been going pell mell through the End of Days for a few generations, at least. There probably isn't an end in sight, but my personal feeling on it is we're heading to the end. May not be in my lifetime, it probably won't be in my lifetime, but I believe we're headed there any way. The more I read of the Scriptures [the Holy Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearls of Great Price and Doctrines and Covenants (obviously the last three Mormon scripture)] the more I see our world problems described within those pages.

I know that other generations felt the same way, so I'm not completely delusional. Haha.

[db44]

My question would be why is now different from even the times of Jesus? Famine, pestilences, earthquakes, volcanic erruptions, floods... Not to mention, when has there ever been a time where nations weren't fighting each other?

It all sounds too broad to me, like you could point to any part in human history, even before Jesus, and say that passage has already come true.

[Lt.Dallas]

It's only been the last hundred years (give or take) that we could actually wipe out life as we know it on the face of the planet with human made bombs and chemical warfare. And shoot, what happens if there's an earthquake that disturbs some government compound with germ warfare and that gets out and wipes out most of the planet?

We are far more able to assist with the end of times than we were even a hundred years ago. Look at the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It caused nuclear/radiation problems that I know half of Washington State is freaking out about radiation winding up over here from there. Not to mention all the nuclear plants here that could be affected by an earthquake and wipe out communities. Chernobyl anyone?

[db44]

You are mixing apples and oranges now, it seems to me. Quoting scripture about natural disasters, then turning around and saying it's about potential man-made catastrophies.

[pinky]

That's one I've asked about before: Do religious doctrines allow for extreterrestrial life?

Dave, I'd have to say that it seems that the Judeo-Christian tradition (and, by extension, Islam) would not allow for the possibility of intelligent extraterrestrial life that was not human, if one were to take things literally. Since it's held that God made man in his image, there almost could not be other sentient life forms.

Of course, if you don't read the Bible literally, it's much easier to say that man made God in his image, which would certainly allow for extraterrestrial life forms that are radically different from us.

For the record, knowing something about their intelligence, I've lately begun to wonder whether whales and dolphins have a sense of a deity, and, if so, whether they've also had a savior. Weird, no?

[db44]

You've got me extremely curious: What about whales and dolphins?

[pinky]

It's pretty widely accepted that dolphins are the second most intelligent life forms on earth. They have been known to indicate self-awareness (to the point of recognizing themselves in a mirror), they communicate on a very sophisticated level, and have often shown a desire to interact with humans. I know of at least one case in which a small group of dolphins (not a whole pod) coordinated to protect a group of 5 humans from a shark that was stalking them.

Humpback whales, while not a social species like dolphins and orcas, do communicate by singing (only the males do this). Every year the song changes, and the entire population learns the new song and repeats it. Linguists have studied the patterns, and while they're not really able to determine the information that's being communicated, there are obvious patterns to the song. Humpbacks have also shown compassion by protecting other species from attacks by predators. Other whale species are known to communicate as well.

It seems to me that if animals are this intelligent, and demonstrate communication, compassion, and self-awareness, then they might have the rudiments of a general belief system; if they have that, they might also perceive some form of spirituality.

And maybe that's all just a load of bunk, too.

[db44]

My counterpoint to that is that your hypothisis is that spirtualality is a byproduct of intelligence. It would even seem to me the way you word your post hat you are suggesting a spiritual faith is the logical next step in intelligence?

[Java]

There's one thing I've noticed especially in English speaking countries is that our creator seems to be given a name that in many Scandinavian countries, this same word simply means 'good'. But there are other names that people claim to be formal names, many of them, but are they really formal names or are they simply names that people have been taught from one generation to the next without any clear origin? Personally I would suspect that our creator, since there is one and only one does not require a formal name as there are no others that would make having a formal name useful for distinguishing our creator from some non-existent imaginary other.

OK, so I'm having difficulty putting my thoughts into words... hope what I tried to express makes sense.

[pinky]

My counterpoint to that is that your hypothisis is that spirtualality is a byproduct of intelligence. It would even seem to me the way you word your post hat you are suggesting a spiritual faith is the logical next step in intelligence?

No, all I'm really suggesting is that a certain degree of intelligence is needed to even contemplate concepts such as spirituality and/or a deity. I would not expect animals like squirrels, or even dogs and cats, to be capable of thought processes as sophisticated as that.

[tiger_rascal]

I was going to make a new thread, but this seems like the perfect place for this.

Why, oh why, are so many conspiracy theorists and doomsday predictors always talking about a pole shift these days? Oh look, a major solar flare, it might cause a pole shift. Oh no, a comet will be 25 million miles from the earth near the end of 2011, it must mean a pole shift is going to happen. Oh no, I had pizza for lunch, pole shift!

Anyways, it would be amazing and sad to find out that humans on earth was the only life in the universe. So many things to think about. So many questions. How lonely. How amazing. Maybe God wanted it that way. Maybe we really are his great and only creation. If you think about it, we've only been monitoring the heavens with high powered eyes and ears for about half a century now. Surely if we were going to find something we would have, but maybe not. The universe is so huge we cant really fathom it. Our technology is only as advanced as our minds will allow it to be.

Lots to think about.