{"id":41392,"date":"2017-08-12T06:05:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-12T10:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=41392"},"modified":"2017-08-11T14:52:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T18:52:54","slug":"eclipse-end-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html","title":{"rendered":"Eclipse of the End Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz\u2019s ambiguous comments on this subject<\/a>). Eventually, however,\u00a0people realized<\/a> that these are entirely predictable events<\/a> that result from the moon passing between the sun and Earth (in the case of solar eclipses) or the Earth passing between the sun and the moon (in the case of lunar eclipses). As you know, we have one coming up this month, on August 21st \u00a02017, that will be visible in many parts of\u00a0North America.<\/p>\n

XKCD<\/a> comic decided to do something on the subject, and the connections that many draw between eclipses and the notion of \u201cend times<\/a>.\u201d Here\u2019s what they came up with:<\/p>\n

\"eclipse_flights\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0has an article<\/a> which highlights the views of\u00a0fundamentalist pastor Gary Ray and his calculation that the eclipse, and other astronomical phenomena, indicate that the Rapture will happen soon. Here is a\u00a0quote from the article:<\/p>\n

Ray, a writer for the evangelical Christian publication Unsealed, views this eclipse as one of several astronomical signs that the day when Christians will be whisked away from the Earth is fast approaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bible says a number of times that there\u2019s going to be signs in the heavens before Jesus Christ returns to Earth. We see this as possibly one of those,\u201d Ray said about the eclipse.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0is even more interested in another astronomical event that will occur 33 days after the eclipse, on Sept. 23, 2017.<\/p>\n

The Book of Revelation, which is full of extraordinary imagery,\u00a0describes a woman<\/a>\u00a0\u201cclothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head\u201d who gives birth to a boy who will \u201crule all the nations with an iron scepter\u201d while she is threatened by a red, seven-headed dragon. The woman then grows the wings of an eagle and is swallowed up by the earth.<\/p>\n

Ray says that image will be created in the sky on Sept. 23. The constellation Virgo \u2014 representing the woman \u2014 will be clothed in sunlight, in a position that is over the moon and under nine stars and three planets. The planet Jupiter, which will have been inside Virgo \u2014 in her womb, in Ray\u2019s interpretation \u2014 will move out of Virgo, as if she is giving birth.<\/p>\n

Astronomers don\u2019t see this as a particularly unusual event. But to Ray and others, it could be the sign that the Rapture is ready to happen: \u201cWe think it\u2019s God signaling to us that he\u2019s about to make his next move.\u201d<\/p>\n

And\u00a0Ray thinks the two eclipses that are slated to travel across the United States in 2017 and 2024, together marking an X across the nation, could be the starting and ending signs bookmarking a seven-year period of awful tribulations that Revelations says waits in store for nonbelievers who are left behind on Earth when the Rapture occurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat time frame is speculative, 2017 to 2024. But it makes a lot of sense. There are a lot of things that really point us to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the eclipse preparation that Ray recommends is a bit different from the scientists\u2019 association\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy number one encouragement to people would be to just trust God. More importantly, to trust the right God,\u201d he said, warning that those who do not believe when the day of the Rapture comes will be left behind to face the tribulations. \u201cIf people want to be ready, the one thing you can do is accept what He has offered, which is the gift of grace and forgiveness. That\u2019s all we have to do to be ready.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kurt Willems has a good preemptive response to that in his blog post \u201cWhy Rapture Predictors are Always Wrong.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0But I would even more strongly recommend Ben Corey\u2019s earlier post, \u201cWhy the Rapture and Santa are Both Fairy Tales: a theological explanation.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0See also what Episcopal churches are doing for the occasion of the upcoming eclipse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also on the\u00a0topic of the eclipse, but much more lighthearted in character, there is a theme song for the occasion: Solar Eclipse of the Heart<\/a>!<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=u_exegtInbw<\/a>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, at the intersection of lunar eclipses and flat-earthism:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0746\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz\u2019s ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people realized that these are entirely predictable events that result from the moon passing between the sun and Earth (in the case of solar eclipses) or the Earth passing between the sun and the moon (in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":41393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[2949,3060],"class_list":["post-41392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eschatology-theology","tag-eclipse","tag-end-times"],"yoast_head":"\nEclipse of the End Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz's ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eclipse of the End Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz's ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-12T10:05:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-11T18:52:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2017\/07\/eclipse_flights.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html\",\"name\":\"Eclipse of the End Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-12T10:05:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-11T18:52:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz's ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Eclipse of the End Times\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eclipse of the End Times","description":"Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz's ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eclipse of the End Times","og_description":"Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz's ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2017-08-12T10:05:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-11T18:52:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2017\/07\/eclipse_flights.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html","name":"Eclipse of the End Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-08-12T10:05:44+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-11T18:52:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"Eclipses were treated as portents throughout much of history (see Anne Graham Lotz's ambiguous comments on this subject). Eventually, however,\u00a0people","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2017\/08\/eclipse-end-times.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Eclipse of the End Times"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}