The apocalypse, the rapture, and the believers pt.1

The belief that the world is coming to an end has tormented the mind of humanity ever since the first mysterious darkening of the sun during an eclipse, the first earthquake, the first volcanic eruption, and the first great flood. From 2 million BC to 10,000 BC,the first humans gouged out shelters in the rock and hilly cliffs and they sought refuge in caves against the day when the gods would destroy everything on the earth. Apocalyptic believers assumed that there will be a thousand years where they will be living in great happiness, peace and prosperity. Such probing into the future of this old world's fate, caught the imagination of religions from the ancient Aztecs to the equally ancient Zoroastrians. At the time of the Babylonian exile, some 600, years before the birth of Christ, the Hebrew people believed their God of righteousness would eventually triumph over the forces of evil. The Hebrew prophets - Daniel, Enoch, Moses, Baruch-sustained their people in the darkest hours with the light of apocalyptic hope. It was the Christians however, who gave the apocalypse its greatest emphasis.The apocalyptic writings of Daniel, Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation became the texts for a timetable in which men claimed to read the mind of God. Nor did the followers of Christ think it strange or curious that they, the most enlightened among the seekers after truth, without question taught that one day the world will end. Awed by the far-seeing eyes of their apocalyptic prophets, the early Christians pinned their messianic hope on Christ.He was their God of the Apocalypse. Less than two hundred years after His death, apocalyptic groups were flourishing wherever Christianity was preached. There were for example, the Montanists, followers of the "pagan" priest, Montanus, who had been converted to Christianity after serving for many years in the temple of Cybele (Aphrodite).He claimed he had a vision in which the Lord revealed to him that men were living in the latter days. Frequently seized by the spirit, Montanus proclaimed in a loud voice that the days were numbered. Virgins followed him, wearing heavy veils so that no man could see their faces until Jesus came and first looked on them. Wives lived apart from their husbands so that the Lord would find them pure. Men gave up all their worldly goods so so that they might meet God empty handed. Secular education, science, art, and worldly pleasures were renounced, and Montanism became a movement of fasting and prayer. Pilgrimages were made to the Phrygian hills (ancient country in Asia Minor)to wait the coming of the Lord. In the third century other enthusiasts grouped themselves around Novatian, a Roman priest, labeled a heretic, who preached that the second coming of Christ was imminent and that the church had better prepare itself and warn its people.Great crowds followed Novatian as others had followed Montanus, chanting their favorite prayer, "come, Lord Christ, clothed in all thy wrath and judgement, come with all Thy vengeance, come."