"If a cell can only come from another where did the first cell come from." - That would be a neat point if, you know, it were true that cells can only come from other cells. But there is no rule that says that. It's just exceedingly unlikely for it to happen under existing conditions. In artificially created conditions which resemble earth in a much earlier stage, scientists have seen things that could be called a kind of proto-cell spontaneously developing. It's really quite interesting.

@elfboy - The specific word 'rapture' doesn't. But then neither does the word 'love'. The Bible wasn't written in English, but in Hebrew and Greek. However, references to the rapture as an event can be found...

Matthew 24:40-41
Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Ah, Paul's letters, one of the best places to find any random crap you want in the Bible.

Matthew is *not* one of Paul's letters though. I suggest you rethink your attack on my quotes as they were not all by the same person. Epic fail, SD.

And elfboy wanted Biblical quotes. I provided them. If you don't accept Paul's writings, that's your choice. But you are in a minority of believers if you don't.

Right, but Matthew's is the vaguest of the three.

I'm actually not Christian at all, but I know enough about it to know that Paul's letters deviate pretty significantly from the rest of it.

I created a Facebook event for this, so it's official.

Also, it's hilarious to see the disparity of people not attending. Some aren't attending because they take it seriously and want to show off their awesome atheist ideals. Others are really religious Christians not attending because they know it's a joke.

Well, it is a joke and a stunt to get attention. You know what they say. There's no such thing as bad press.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

I wish I had said that.

I heard about this at school a week and a half ago. Apparently just over 7000 years from Noah's ark was suppose to be the rapture

'"but how will you determine for certain?" I put it to you, that if, in an event in which people disappear, was supposed to have occurred and yet, no one had disappeared, that we can say "this event never occurred." '

you're missing the point, will this be enough to convince everyone? Or are there still points of view which can conclude that the rapture has infact happened perhaps by twisting their understanding of 'the rapture' to suit the facts.

"Adding a book to the bible would is a sin" - then all the authors of the bible are sinners? i'm not sure why you trust such people with your beliefs...

Well, if the Rapture occurs, at least I'm going out on a Mets win today (and won't have to do all these papers for the last couple weeks of class...) :p

You're jewish, the the rapture happens you'll still be here!

obis a jew?

what are you talking about?
what is that rapture?

@Fasces:

Yes...a bacon-and-pork-eating, Bible-bashing Jew who never has gone to Temple in his life. ;)

But I still honor the traditions like Yom Kippur and Passover and all of that, and I'm more of an ethnic Jew than a psiritual one, anyway, even if there are a few aspects here and there of Judaic theology I like and think works for good living.

@Mafialligator:

Great, then I can catch the Mets/Yankees game on Sunday for sure! ;)

hey obi!
greetings from israel
stop eating pork

I'm Lutheran, which no doubt makes me excluded from the rapture.

But anyway, this guy ignores...normal reading methods. When our Lord Himself says, "No one knows the day or the hour," you can probably pretty safely bet that no one knows the day or the hour.

@SD - "Right, but Matthew's is the vaguest of the three."

There are four.

Oh, damn. You were talking about Draug's quotes. Not the Gospels. I'll take care of this...

"FLAME, FLAME, FLAME"
"Triumvir is so stupid."
"FLAME, FLAME, FLAME"

My bad.

LOL.

Yeah, I mean, really, I'm not disputing rapture seriously. I'm sure I believe in things that would seem just as wonky to people who don't share my belief system...and rapture actually doesn't seem that wonky to me to begin with.

I just have a serious hate for Paul's letters, based on a history class I took. In this class, we had to role play historical situations, and I drew being the governor of Massachusetts Bay colony trying to get someone exiled for blasphemy. And the sheet even mentioned that the actual person was first and foremost a politician playing along to the religious fervor to get personal power (which, looking back on it, I don't think we could know with any certainty). Paul's letters were absolutely my bread and butter.

Hey taos!
Greetings from the LA area!
Why?

;)

(Historically, yes, I suppose it makes sense not to eat unclean meat when you're a people in the middle of the desert 5,000 years ago or so, probably pretty unclean and you're just asking for disease...but why now? Don't know if there is a God or not or how one might operate, but he probably has more important plans and ideas than making sure a certain kind of food isn't eaten...so yeah, as you can tell I'm about as loose a Jew as they come, FAR from Orthodox, but I really do respect you guys down there...hoping to visit Israel someday.

Shalom!) :)

I could never be Jewish (religiously speaking, of course). After all, everything is better with bacon.

Draug +1

Especially the diseases it can carry.

obi, in keeping with the teachings of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, I fall to my knees and pray for our Lord, Jesus Christ, to remove the hardness from your heart, so that you may be converted to Christianity.

Draug, you have the wisdom of a Bacon-Eating Rabbi! XD

...

Um...thank you, maple? I won't become a Christian--and I mean EVER, granted I like "The Merchant of Venice," but I won't convert as Shylock did...hey! The Rapture's tomorrow, gotta get those last Shakespeare references in!--but I don't hate Christians, so different strokes for different folks.

And if I DO go to Hell...

Well, at least I know I'll have some pretty interesting company and hey! I'll be able to make tea without a stove or microwave! ;)