The end of the world with a sinking heart was expected by humanity at all times. So what exactly is the apocalypse? Why is there a reference to the end point of time in many religions? And when will it finally come - this very end of the world?
In a broad sense, the end of the world means the interruption of the existence of all mankind as a whole. There are actually many versions of the apocalypse. Some of them are quite logical and are associated with real threats - man-made disasters, hunger, wars, etc., others are too fantastic and can only cause a smile.
Christians about the end of the world
The most understandable and intelligible about the apocalypse is told, of course, in the most readable book in the world - in the Bible. This issue is considered in the "Revelations of John the Theologian". It is in this part of Scripture that the last large-scale battle between good and evil is described, the final result of which should be the judgment of people and immortality for the most righteous.
The events leading up to the end of the world are described in the Bible in full detail. These are “bloody rivers”, and “clouds of locusts”, and horsemen, etc. But when exactly the end of the world will come, in the Holy Scripture, unfortunately, is not indicated.
In principle, statements about the approaching end of the world are usually allowed only by representatives of various kinds of Christian sects. Warnings about this from the lips of representatives of official confessions can be heard quite rarely. But sometimes this still happens. For example, in November 2017, the Patriarch of All Russia Kirill expressed his opinion about the end of the world. In the opinion of the Metropolitan of Moscow, a sign of the approach of Armageddon in our time is primarily the demonstration of sin through cinema and theater. However, at the same time, in his sermon, the patriarch added that the specific date of the end of the world depends on humanity itself, which is able to both postpone and bring it closer.
Pagans about the end of the world
There are legends about the end point of human history and the pagans. For example, there is a mention of the end of the world in the ancient Viking legend about Ragnarok. According to the beliefs of the ancient Scandinavians, at the end of time, winter will descend on the earth for three years. People will forget the norms of morality and the race will go to the race. The forerunner of the imminent end will be the death of the light ace Baldar. After his death, terrible monsters will rise from the primordial chaos - the wolf Fenrir and the serpent Ermungad. It was then that the battle between the armies of the All-Father Odin and the evil cunning god Loki, together with the leader of the dead, Hellyu, will take place.
The battle, according to ancient Scandinavian beliefs, will take place in the Vigridr valley, and it will end with the defeat of the light gods. However, the very heart of Asgard will survive this massive disaster. It is here that the surviving people will find shelter. It is they who in the future will be destined to revive humanity.
Sects and Doomsday Diviners
Like Christian legends, pagan legends also do not indicate when the end of the world will come specifically. But representatives of various sects and all kinds of psychics make such frightening prophecies quite often. So, for example, the end of the world was supposed to come:
- in 1998 - according to the Chelyabinsk forecasters, due to the change of poles;
- in 1999 - according to the astrologers Priyme and Proskuryakov, shepherds of the Aum Shinrike sect, as well as the predictor Shevchenko;
- in 2012 - according to the predictions of the Mayan culture researchers.
The calendar of the future ends of the world looks something like this:
- 2021 - inversion of the Earth's magnetic field;
- 2029-36 - collision of the asteroid Apophis with the Earth;
- 2042 - according to the prediction of Ibn Ezra;
- 2892 - according to the predictions of Abel.
So when will the end of the world be and will there be any?
Thus, in recent decades, the end of the world has been predicted more than once. But fortunately, he never came (well, perhaps, we did not notice it). So we can hope that there will not be any global cataclysm on the planet in the coming years. However, in any case, people should certainly reconsider their attitude to the environment and war. Otherwise, at one fine moment, humanity can really become a quick victim, for example, a nuclear war, or slowly perish due to climate change, land impoverishment and hunger.
