{"id":32914,"date":"2022-09-10T16:28:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/pastors-the-end-of-the-world-is-complicated\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:28:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:28:09","slug":"pastors-the-end-of-the-world-is-complicated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/pastors-the-end-of-the-world-is-complicated\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastors: The End of the World is Complicated"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Bob Smietana<\/em><\/p>\n

NASHVILLE, Tenn.\u2014Most Protestant pastors believe Jesus will return in the future. But few agree about the details of the apocalypse.<\/p>\n

A third of America\u2019s Protestant pastors expect Christians to be raptured\u2014or taken up in the sky to meet Jesus\u2014as the end times begin. About half think a false messiah known as the Antichrist will appear sometime in the future.<\/p>\n

A surprising number think the Antichrist has already been here or isn\u2019t on his way at all.<\/p>\n

Those are among the findings of a new telephone survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors and their views on end-times theology from Nashville-based Lifeway Research, sponsored by Charisma House Book Group.<\/p>\n

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End-times theology remains popular with churchgoers, says Scott McConnell, vice president of Lifeway Research. But it\u2019s not an easy topic to preach about.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people want their pastor to preach about the Book of Revelation and the end of the world,\u201d he says. \u201cBut that\u2019s a complicated task. Pastors and the scholars they cite often disagree about how the end times will unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n

No consensus about the rapture <\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers found widely varying views about three aspects of end-times theology:<\/p>\n

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  • The timing of the rapture (see 1st Thessalonians 4:15-17 and Matthew 24)<\/li>\n
  • The nature of the Antichrist (found in 1 John and 2 John and other texts)<\/li>\n
  • The millennial kingdom, when Jesus reigns for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-10)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    About a third (36 percent) of Protestant senior pastors believe in the kind of pretribulation rapture familiar to pop culture. In that scenario, Christians disappear at the start of the apocalypse. Those left behind suffer great trouble or tribulation.<\/p>\n

    One in 4 pastors say the rapture is not literal. Almost 1 in 5 thinks the rapture happens after the tribulation (18 percent). A few believe the rapture already happened (1 percent) or that it will occur during the tribulation (4 percent) or before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth (4 percent). Others don\u2019t agree with any of these views (8 percent) or aren\u2019t sure what will happen (4 percent).<\/p>\n

    Mainline Protestant pastors (36 percent) are more likely to say the rapture isn\u2019t literal. Pastors who hold this view include about half of Lutherans (60 percent), Methodists (48 percent) and Presbyterian\/Reformed pastors (49 percent). Few Baptist (6 percent) or Pentecostal pastors (less than 1 percent) hold that view.<\/p>\n

    Evangelicals overall (43 percent) are more likely to believe in a pretribulation rapture.<\/p>\n

    Education and age also play a role in how pastors view the rapture. Pastors with a master\u2019s degree (33 percent) or a doctorate (29 percent) are more likely to say the rapture isn\u2019t literal than those with no degree (6 percent) or a bachelor\u2019s (16 percent).<\/p>\n

    Sixty percent of pastors with no college degree believe in a pretribulation rapture. By contrast, 26 percent of pastors with a master\u2019s hold that view.<\/p>\n

    Pastors under 45 are least likely to believe in a pretribulation rapture (28 percent), compared to their older cohorts. They\u2019re also most likely (23 percent) to believe in a posttribulation rapture.<\/p>\n

    Most expect the Antichrist, disagree on timing<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Lifeway Research also found diverse views about the Antichrist.<\/p>\n

    About half (49 percent) say the Antichrist is a figure who will arise in the future. Others say there is no individual Antichrist (12 percent); that, he is a personification of evil (14 percent) or an institution (7 percent). Six percent say the Antichrist has already been here.<\/p>\n

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    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Baptists (75 percent) and Pentecostals (83 percent) are most likely to see a future Antichrist. Lutherans (29 percent), Methodists (28 percent) and Presbyterian\/Reformed pastors (31 percent) are more likely to see the Antichrist as a personification of evil.<\/p>\n

    Education also played a role in how pastors see the Antichrist. Two-thirds of those with no college degree (68 percent) or a bachelor\u2019s (63 percent) believe in a future Antichrist figure. Fewer than half of those with a master\u2019s (39 percent) or a doctorate (49 percent) hold that view.<\/p>\n

    Premillennialism is commonplace<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Pastors also disagree about the details of the millennial kingdom.<\/p>\n

    About half (48 percent) believe in premillennialism, the view that the 1,000-year reign of Christ happens in the future. A third (31 percent) believe in amillennialism, the view that there\u2019s no 1,000-year reign\u2014instead Jesus already rules the hearts and minds of Christians.<\/p>\n

    One in 10 (11 percent) believe in postmillennialism\u2014the idea that the world will gradually become more Christian until Jesus returns.<\/p>\n

    Most pastors were split by denomination:<\/p>\n