BorealEnd TimesThis idea [of the Rapture] rest on a dubious interpretation of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, in which he describes how, upon Christ's arrival, first the resurrected dead, and then the still-living will rise into the sky: "the Lord ... will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever." The Evolution of God, Robert Wright, Little, Brown and Company, 2009 The End Times cannot come about until the biblical Israel, at its zenith, before the Babylonian Diaspora, is recreated. It is an article of faith among Evangelical Christians that their brethren, who were not deemed Christian enough to be Raptured, i.e. float up to heaven when things heat up, both literally and figuratively, will have to prove their Paradise-worthiness by fighting the forces of evil in a delaying action until Jesus comes down to defeat the wicked, once and for all, at a place called Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley of northern Israel, and usher in Judgement Day. In Muhammad's end times scenario it is Jesus at the head of a Muslim army who will defeat the wicked at a place called Dabiq (a small Syrian town about 6 miles from the Turkish border) that is also the name of Islamic State's signature magazine. The apocalyptic magazine the Islamic State uses to recruit and radicalize foreigners Terrence McCoy, Washington Post, September 16, 2014 This is not the beginning, the magazine says. It is the end. It is the culmination of a centuries-long war that has burned and simmered but never been extinguished — that will soon grow to consume everything. It is the apocalypse. And it is coming. This is the chilling vision set out in the Islamic State magazine called “Dabiq,” published in several European languages including English. In a reel of slick graphics and chapters, it frames the war against the Islamic State not as a singular event but as the continuation of a battle of civilizations. Jesus returns not only to defeat the wicked at Dabiq but to render the Earth and its people more to Allah's liking. Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts)." Bukhari 43.656 Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said "How will you be when the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you and he will judge people by the Law of the Quran and not by the law of Gospel." Bukhari 55.658 Bernard Payeur
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