YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM THE DOOMSDAY

Apocalyptic is faith or people’s feeling that everything will end, and no one will escape. As John the Baptist said, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?”

Is the end of the world near? In the New Testament there are chapters that tell us about events before the end of the world.

Luke 21:25-26

25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.

26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

Christianity is pervaded by the expectation of the Doomsday. That is, the Christian eschatology, the doctrine of the end of the world.

Thus, the philosophy of the history of Christianity is precisely this: Christ came, saved the world, was crucified, the Church was formed on his blood and flash/Then, in the future is the coming of Antichrist, apostasy and, finally, the Second Coming, which will end the era of apostasy. This means that there is some historical period, during which the arrival of the Antichrist is still unavailable.  And it seems, that we are living in this period of time, when we faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.

This is the Christian view of history. However, not even Christians have a sense of impending catastrophe. Many understand the end of the world as something happening to the planet or humanity. That is, like some kind of catastrophe, coming from outside. It is either natural or technogenic, but in any case represents the completion of the cycle, the existence of society and all of humanity, based on external factors. Cinematography has been exploiting this subject for decades and formed people’s of how the Doomsday will look like.

Some people, who are feared  have created their own community. Some make bunkers, some exchange information about what part of the world they’ll be yanking, if a nuclear mushroom grows above Manhattan. Some alarmed when the American nation divided after the latest presidential election. Others  are preparing  weapons, motorcycles, gold coins.

Maybe weapons are good choice. Because when Apocalypse comes, It will be Bellum omnium contra omnes -a war of all against everyone.

From the point of view of Christianity, no one knows when exactly will come the Doomsday. Nevertheless, the Bible teaches us to live as if it would happen today. But humanity has always lived in anticipation of a catastrophe. That’s why people are trying to calculate the date, believing that it is hidden in some calendar, time, in some kind of property of the objective world. However, if we look into the religious traditions – in Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism – we will see the end of the world as an internal event, consistently resulting from our being. All religions say that sooner or later it will take place. But when it does, it depends on us. This is an internal decision that we accept, which we realize, and it is the most important thing.

All traditions teach that the end of the world comes when the person finally forgets about his vertical destination. When he ceases to overcome himself and completely dissolves, relaxing all his complexes. Complexes are a very important factor. They stimulate to overcome, push the person to austerity and sublimation of internal energies in a vertical direction. The man of the tradition lives by self-overcoming – affirming the moral and spiritual vertical, constantly trying to rise a step higher above himself. And the end of the world happens when we stop doing this movement.

Not Mayan calendars or ominous external forces – we ourselves make a verdict. We say that we do not want to overcome ourselves and bear human dignity. We are not going to make any more spiritual effort on ourselves and others. We stop building hierarchical societies and in general create vertical symmetries in everything. On the contrary, we are tired. We can no longer bear the stress of culture, tradition, morality, religion – in a word, that spiritual work that was engaged with varying degrees of success throughout its activities. We want to enjoy and live one day. And thus we accept this end of the world and we carry it out ourselves.

It’s foolish to tie the end of the world to the calendar. We must tie it to the internal state of our society. Of course, the religious tradition gives us many signs that humanity is approaching this inner time of fatigue and despair. And a time of enjoyment, progress and comfort at the same time. The Gospel says that the end of the world will happen after peace and prosperity come. When we relax our vigilance, plunge into modernization in search of an improvement in material existence, open up to matter, that’s when we create prerequisites for the end of the world. The World is already in a terrible moral condition, as it was described in Bible:

Luke 17:26-29

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

The end does not come when it’s bad – the end comes when it’s good.

The Apocalypse is something inherent in human culture itself. All religions describe it differently, but the only meaning is that this event depends on our behavior. And if we compare these religious signs with the modern state of our society, then we will have to say with sociological certainty – it is close. It is already unfolding in us. We really roll, if not fall, into the abyss.

Originally published at: Katehon

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