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The End of Days: Cancelled Due To Unforseen Circumstances

Introduction: I start the story here to point out that 1) behind all mythology, including Biblical mythology lurks a tiny grain of historical truth and that 2) God isn't a supernatural deity but just one of many extraterrestrials who have arrived on Earth eons before and have divided jurisdiction over various terrestrial geographical areas among themselves. God's patch of turf to oversee and govern was of course what we now call theMiddle East. The logic behind that is too long and complicated to go into again; I've done that previously. Let's just say if you believe in God then you actually believe in extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial intelligence and ‘ancient astronauts'. Since our mob of ‘gods' are extraterrestrials, they must have arrived in spaceships, one of which, for lack of a better name I'll call the Starship Heaven under the command of Captain God (or His more alien sounding name, Yahweh).  

 

The End of Days/Second Coming was supposed to have happened by the year 100 AD at the very latest, probably earlier according to no less an authority than Jesus Christ himself. It ain't happened, so what went wrong? Well, what went wrong was probably due to that motley and rather nasty crowd of extraterrestrial cast and crew (God and His; the gods and their alien hangers-on) being arrested, tied and convicted for all those gross violations of their Prime Directive against us, as well as their planned atrocities we know as the apocalypse or Armageddon (or polytheistic equivalents).

 

Our gods, including God, now convicts, are now probably still cooling their alien heels in the slammer of whatever extra-solar planet they originally hailed from. Let's look at and trace the background to this scenario.

 

1) Wars between the Gods: The mutiny that Captain God of the Starship Heaven faced was just one of many in mythology. In the Judeo-Christian lore, we have angels loyal to God vs. angels loyal to Satan. We all know the story how those not loyal to God got the heave-ho, though it was rather more a case of a ‘Mutiny on the Bounty' where Captain Bligh won and the mutineers were exiled.

 

Mythology is full of turf disputes – wars in heaven – the second best known example being the ten years war between the Titans and the Olympians. And we all know who won that contest, and if you need a hint, think of those Olympic Games and how they are not called the Titan Games.

 

In the mythology of the Norse lands, the Aesir and Vanir War was a war that occurred between one clan of gods, the Aesir (Odin, Thor, etc.) and another tribe, the Vanir. So these two groups of gods fought a war over turf, but in this case the war ultimately resulted in the unification of the two clans into a single tribe of gods. The deities Njord (daddy to), Freyr (the son), and Freya (the daughter) were members of the Vanir.

 

In ancientMesopotamia, you'll find references to a conflict between the older and primordial gods and the next generation of younger gods. For example you have Enlil (King of the gods) challenged by his daughter, hardly daddy's little girl in this case, Inana (or Inanna), goddess of sex, fertility and war. To make long stories shorter, this older vs. younger generation conflict ultimately resulted in the epic battle between Marduk and Tiamat.

 

Even in tranquil Polynesia you had the god Tu (or Tumatauenga) who wanted to do in mum and dad – the earth mother and sky father gods Rangi (or Ranginui) and Papa (or Papatuanuku). Yet another domestic power struggle apparently.

 

2) Gods Behaving Badly: God's not the only SOB. The gods not only committed mayhem on each other but took special delight in singling out us humans for a bit of the old blood sports. Of course, based on the authority of the Old Testament, this was especially true for God.

 

God's record on human rights violations puts Him heads and shoulders above any and all human dictators, historical, recent or present that you care to name. God is a bloodthirsty, vengeful, egotistical tyrant. The authority for that statement is provided by the Bible itself which provides dozens of case studies that run counter to those who would like to persist in the fiction that God is a loving God who cares for each and every one of us. Read the Bible and learn that the phrase "loving God" is an oxymoron – a total contradiction in terms. No official representative of any monotheistically inspiredChurchofGodbased on the Bible should be able to say with a straight face that "God loves you" – the hypocrisy would be sickening.

 

However, it's rather unfair to single out God alone as bloodthirsty. We all know how bloodthirsty the Aztecs, Maya and Incas were, sacrificing thousands upon thousands of victims, not all of them POWs by any means, in honour of their gods, and in very Old Testament like fashion. And more than one deity (like Zeus) tried to drown the lot of us.

 

Fortunately for the human species, the gods (including God) left (or were dragged away kicking and screaming) before they exterminated the lot of us. The Big Question is why. We know they left because many said they would return. Second comings aren't unique to God and company.

 

3) Second Comings: However, the exact reason for the departure of the gods (including God) isn't detailed in our historical literature, but they apparently vowed many eons before General Douglas MacArthur to return.

 

So we have the Greek/Roman Astraea, a goddess of justice, daughter of Jupiter (but not Mrs. Jupiter), who got entirely fed up with humans and their violent ways, and left for the heavens, but vowing (at a time never mentioned) to return to usher in a new Golden Age!

 

According to Wikipedia, "She [Astraea] is always associated with the Greek Goddess of justice, Dike, who used to live on Earth but left, sickened by human greed. Astraea, the celestial virgin, was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the sagacious Bronze Age (the third age, after the Utopian Golden Age and defective Silver Age) in the old Greek religion's five deteriorating Ages of Man. According to Ovid, Astraea abandoned the Earth at the end of the Iron Age. Fleeing from the new wickedness of humanity, she ascended to heaven to become the constellation Virgo; the scales of justice she carried became the nearby constellation Libra, reflected in her symbolic association with Justitia in Latin culture. According to legend, Astraea will one day come back to Earth, bringing with her the return of the utopian Golden Age of which she was the ambassador."

 

Quetzalcoatl was one of the most important of ‘gods' in the Mesoamerican pantheon, starting with the Olmecs, but also the Maya, and most notably the Aztecs. Quetzalcoatl must have left promising to return one day for the Aztecs welcomed Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors with open arms thinking this event was the return of their beloved Quetzalcoatl and company. Needless to say, they found out differently and much to their sorrow that Cortes was not Quetzalcoatl.

 

And of course most relevant to most of us is THAT Second Coming, otherwise hyped as the End of Days, and boy is it ever hyped.

 

4) The Hype: It would seem that every time there is a natural disaster (even oil spills qualify), anywhere in the world, but especially in America, right-wing Christian Fundamentalists and TV Evangelists jump for joy, do high fives and are more than happy to point out, even gleefully telling "I told you so", and the more the destruction, the better the mayhem, the greater the death toll, the higher they jump, the happier they are and the more they rub their hands gleefully together. Why? It's to them yet another Sign that the End of Days are near.

 

Well they are both right and wrong. There will be an end of days when the Sun engulfs us and roasts us alive, making global warming seem downright frigid in comparison. A real Hell on Earth certainly should appeal to the Fundamentalist and Evangelist mobs. However, it's that ‘near' part that's in error. We won't be solar barbequed for another five billion years, give or take a hundred million or so years in either direction.

 

As to THAT End of Days that so many are looking forward to – and if it takes disasters to convince the faithless and bring it on, so be it - sorry to rain on your parade folks, the solar barbeque is probably going to be something only for your great, great, great (add several million more "greats" here) grandkids to look forward to and enjoy.  

 

Of course if our Fundamentalists and TV Bible Thumpers had lived 500 years ago, or 1000 years ago, or 1500 years ago, they would have been strutting out the same old line, the same old hype, the same old gloom and doom (gloom and doom for the rest of us sinners that is).

 

How long can these Evangelists go on playing the same old End of Days song before credibility runs out? - Seemingly indefinitely if you're already preaching to the converted and/or the gullible.  No doubt 500 years from now their descendents will be screaming out the same old tired tune.

 

I could of course name the names of many of these showbiz Evangelists, but you Americans know who I am talking about – those who live in opulent lifestyles thanks to your generous donations supporting their cause – the style of life to which they've become accustomed!

 

5) End of the World: When it comes to the end of the world, at least in Biblical mythology, you get various buzz phrases like: Book of Revelation; the Apocalypse; Armageddon; the Second Coming; the End of Days, etc. There's been more than just a minor industry spawned by this concept. So, we've had the hype, where's the substance?

 

Alas, no substance, because the end of the world (according to Biblical mythology) won't happen IMHO due to unforseen circumstances beyond God's (and the gods) control.

 

Jesus Christ (hereafter J.C.) said those End of Days (the end of the world as we knew it) would occur within the lifetime of those he spoke to. Here are some relevant quotes from the King James Version of the Bible that verifies Jesus stating that many of those hearing his words would be alive to see the End of Days and his Second Coming: Note: [PL] equals Punch Line.

 

Mark 9: 1

 

[PL] 1: And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen thekingdomofGodcome with power.

 

Mark 13: 23-30

 

23: But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

24: But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

25: And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

26: And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

27: And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

28: Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

29: So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

[PL] 30:  Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

 

Mark 14: 62

 

[PL] 62: And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

 

Matthew 16: 27-28

 

27: For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

[PL] 28: Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

 

Matthew 24: 29-34

 

29: Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32: Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

[PL] 34: Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

 

Now either J.C. hasn't a clue what he's talking about, or the End of Days he thought was imminent has now been cancelled (2000 years on is a bit of a stretch to call it a mere postponement). IMHO, if it hasn't happened by now, it's not going to.

 

Finally, and more than just a tad relevant, 100% of all End of Days prophecies, and there have been thousands of them, scholarly or otherwise; have failed to come to pass; so much for the Bible being the literal word of God; so much for spot-on Biblical accuracy. I hope all Fundamentalists and especially those TV Evangelists take note of this (not that they will of course).

 

6) Oops – Those End of Days Cancelled: The Gods Leave, Never to Return: The players have left (or been taken off) the field – that's the unforseen circumstances bit that J.C. didn't hit upon. Okay, the players left the field, they vowed to return, they haven't returned; the field is well and truly covered in weeds by now, if not built over for a high-rise or two. So, what went so horribly wrong? Well here's my take on things given my initial premise that the gods aren't gods but extraterrestrials behaving badly, very badly.

 

That being the case, I surmise that God and crew along with most of the other polytheistic gods who's behaviour wasn't all that much better, were recalled back to home base, relieved of duty and made to ‘please explain' their gross violations of whatever version of a Prime Directive they have. Since no amount of explaining will convincingly explain away their atrocities on our home planet, they have now been subjected to whatever justice system these extraterrestrials have – at best imprisoned (or equivalent); at worst, executed. If the latter, "good riddance to bad rubbish" applies.  

 

That recall (or forced removal) probably happened shortly after J.C.;s demise. J.C. seems to be the last of our deities. Before J.C. we were awash with deities, thousands and thousands of them – Polynesia; Asia; North, South andMesoamerica; the Norse counties; as well as the Greek/Roman pantheon we know so well. OnlyAntarcticawas deity free, though I've yet to double-check that with the native penguins. Then they all went away, probably kicking and screaming. At least to the best of my knowledge there have been no verified or historically confirmed sightings of any deities in the past 2000 years, though they used to be commonplace and walked (and raped and pillaged and strutted their bloodthirsty stuff) among men (and women).

 

7) Modern Times: Fast forward to modern times and we find that there are still a few of these pseudo-deities hanging around our turf – we call them the ‘Greys' and atrocities are still being committed. There's animal abuse and kidnapping and all sorts of unauthorised medical experimentation (i.e. livestock mutilations and alien abductions). These relatively minor atrocities (not real violations of their Prime Directive) are probably and conveniently overlooked by those alien powers-that-be on the grounds that they need some sort of presence here; an alien spy network is in order and in their interests in order to keep tabs on us least one day we unexpectedly pay them a visit and return their favours – revenge will be sweet. Meantime…

 

Conclusion: If you're eagerly waiting for the End of Days, have a nice wait. The odds are greater you'll find a pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow first; but at least you'll have something to do – search for the pot; spend the gold – while you wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, then wait some more. 

 

About the Author

Science librarian; retired.

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