How Gullible Do They Think We Are?

(from an article by Cosmicbear published in 2002)

Imagine, if you will, going on a blind date set up for you by a dear and trusted friend. You arrive on time at the specified restaurant, dressed to kill: new clothes, fresh haircut; you are looking sharp and feeling good…and no one shows up. The next day you call your friend who is quick to explain your date’s reason for not showing, whether it was work or traffic or whatever. But the person is truly sorry and wants to meet you tonight, at the same place and time, if that meets with your approval. Lets say you agree, and you are there on time ‘dressed to the nines’ once again, and again your date is a no show.

How many times would you put yourself through this scenario before you began to question this person’s veracity, or your friend’s integrity, for that matter? In a very real sense this was the position the early Church found themselves in concerning the promise of the return of their leader, Jesus. In the study of the Gospels we see the early followers expecting him to come back soon, and the longer it took the more elaborate the later writers explanations became, until finally they had to strip the Old Testament Scriptures of all sense and reason in order to establish a time frame for the still eminent return of their hero.

Down through the centuries there have been multitudes of Church leaders that have set hundreds of dates, and each and every one has been wrong. To name a few:

1889-The Jehovah’s Witnesses claimed, “The ‘battle of the great day of God Almighty’ (Rev.16:14) which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth’s present rulership, is already commenced.” The Time Is At Hand pg. 101.
1897-also, “Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874 A.D.” Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 4, pg 621, 1897 ed.
1916-“The six great 1000-year days beginning with Adam are ended, and the great 7th day, the 1000 years of Christ’s reign, began in 1873.” The Time Is At Hand pg. 2.
1920-“Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old.” Millions Now Living Will Never Die pg. 89.
1931-it seems some had come to their senses, as stated in the publication Vindication pg. 338 and 339; “There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1914, 1918 & 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time…and they also learned to quit fixing dates.”
Or did they?
1966-“Six thousand years from man’s creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975 C.E. (Common Era).” Life Everlasting pg 29.
1968-“There are only about 90 months before 6000 years of mans existence on earth is completed. The majority of people living today will probably be alive when Armageddon breaks out.” KM 3/68

One has to wonder, how can there still be so many Jehovah’s Witnesses. I don’t care how much I love my friend; if that ‘date’ has not shown up in over a hundred years, chances are my friend is a liar.

However, this line of thought isn’t strictly limited to this little section of Christianity. It has become a focal point of most fundamentalist theology since J.N. Darby took the first wobbly steps toward modern day dispensationalism in the nineteenth century. The majority of Christian Denominations today have developed rather extensive doctrinal statements concerning the end times, many of them disagreeing on nearly every point. It seems the only point they agree on is that Jesus will return to earth. In the clouds? Maybe. On the Mount of Olives? Perhaps. When? Your guess is as good as mine…literally. Aside from the Seventh Day Adventist’s of the nineteenth century and the ‘pre-tribulation rapture’ movements that have filled the Christian bookshelves and airwaves since the early 70’s, this ‘date setting’ trend has become popular in any religion that is based on an eschatological (1) basis, including many aspects of the New Age movement.

For instance, in a magazine called Connecting Link, in issue 22, dated January/February of 1994, we find on pgs. 24 and 25, an advertisement by I AM AMERICA out of Payson Az., which publishes a bunch of books concerning earth changes prophesied to occur some time in the future which were channeled from St. Germain, Sananda, and an army of other masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy through Lori Wilkins Toye and her husband Len. They have also created a map of the United States showing the end result, including a new shoreline just above Phoenix. In the ad the question is asked, “When will this happen?” The answer they give is, “The unique message of this map goes beyond predicting earthquakes, volcanoes and sinking lands. It isn’t concerned about when this is going to happen, rather what are we going to do with our choices now.” This would seem to be the appropriate response to any question regarding the timing of ‘god’, or the Universe, or anyone claiming to speak for them. But let’s hold our applause. In their book New World Atlas, which was published in 1991, we find very specific timelines for very specific catastrophes. For instance, on December 17, 1988, concerning the sinking of central Oregon, it is stated, “They are indicating the first event occurring in the year 1992…and the final events are in 2000.” In a session on December 21, concerning the sinking of the Rockies near Denver, “Q-So that mountain range will not be there by 2000 then? A-No.” There are several other predictions with precise times stated, but these two will make my point. It comes as no surprise, then, that between the time the book was published and the advertisement came out in the magazine, about three uneventful years, the authors had to scale down the importance of the dates for the sake of credibility.

In 1986 Yvonne Cole began channeling a group of ET’s known as the Ashtar Command. In the early 90’s they (or ‘she’) made it known through an endless succession of articles in the Connecting Link that in the latter part of 1994 they would be unveiling themselves to humanity using the latest technology. As they were already in contact with the national leaders throughout the world, this coming out party would be broadcast with their full approval on every TV and radio station worldwide. These messages were carried for a couple of years in the Connecting Link magazine. The excuse they gave in 1995 was that we weren’t ready for such a grand event.

This next article, also from the January/February issue of Connecting Link, is under the title ‘News Bulletin from Mission Control.’ Now mind you, this is a direct quote from a person that expects you to take this seriously, although if I wrote a comical sci-fi novel I would have included this as part of the plot line. “The governing extraterrestrial councils of this planetary mission have interceded in the official schedule of catastrophes and have changed the changes. Instead of catapulting California into the ocean, a decision was recently made to keep it. In a close vote it was decided to preserve California “as is” and turn it into a theme park-a place to take your children on a tour of the old civilization and scare them, after you explain to them what “being scared” means.” Alright, so maybe Ashtar Command and Mission Control couldn’t decide what to do with California and therefore neither did anything and they both decided to take a vacation with Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

These are some of the questions we need to ask ourselves: How many times do we allow someone to lie to us before we no longer trust them? If someone is channeling information that proves to be false, could they simply be hearing voices in their heads? If thirty people channel thirty energies and get thirty totally conflicting sets of facts, do we just pick a name out of a hat to see which is right? Is there a right or wrong? Do we have to give up our reasoning faculties to be spiritual? Can someone you trust in most things simply be wrong about something without losing your respect?

I will leave you with this quote from a little book called The Key, published by A Center for the Practice of Zen Buddhist Meditation. “A rat in a laboratory learns very quickly not to go down the tunnel if there is no longer cheese at the other end. A human being will continue to go down the tunnel even though there’s never been any cheese at the end.”

Note (1) - (es·cha·tol·o·gy n. 1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind. 2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.)

For a Catholic take on the Rapture go here.