The end of the world has been foretold for thousands of years. Prophecies aimed at both the distant future and the frighteningly imminent have been shouted from the hilltops and spread throughout the lands drawing millions to believe in them. Many Christians firmly believe that the end will come within their lifetimes and that the faithful will be ‘saved’ and whisked off to heaven while the non-believers are left behind here on earth. Many believe that the Antichrist will promise to bring peace to the world but shall instead unleash the most horrific period of human history known as the End Times. There is considerable fear mounting about the end of the Mayan long count calendar, which falls on December 21st 2012. Do these biblical prophecies predict the same thing that the Mayans foretold? Are we the final generation of humans? Are the problems that plague the us today like wars, religious fundamentalism, climate change, the looming threat of a pandemic and the global economic crises setting the stage for the end of days? Those who answer this question with any degree of certitude must surely be overconfident but are those who ask it asking the right question?
Let’s first examine the Mayan prophecy if it should be called that. The Mayans simply had a different method of keeping track of time. They used several calendars; some were merely days long and others like the Tzolk’in, which lasts 260 days and the Haab, which represents a full 365 day year. Another count, known as the Baktun is the one that most are catching here say about. If we were going by the Mayan calendar than today we would be very close to the end of the 12th Baktun and thus the end of a "Great Cycle." This great cycle is believed (by some) to have begun on August 11th 3114 BC, and will end on December 21st 2012. One thought that comes to mind is that the Mayans called this a cycle; they started it over five thousand years ago and perhaps they just didn’t feel the need to start an entirely new cycle that wouldn’t begin for such a long time. This would be enough to reconsider if not dismiss the entire notion if it were just that simple.
Another argument suggesting a major event at the end of the Mayan long count calendar is that the end date (if it has been properly calculated) will fall on the same day as an astronomical event that only takes place every 26,000 years. The Earth, the sun and the center of the galaxy will all be in perfect alignment. While it is true that this galactic alignment will occur on December 21st 2012 it is not true that it only happens once every 26,000 years. In fact, it happens every single year. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. The center of the galaxy is, from the right perspective, in perfect alignment with every single object in the galaxy. All the alignment means is that from our perspective there is a straight line from us through the sun and onto the galactic center.
The Christian end times and the Mayan long count have nothing to do with each other and that is a statement which most will probably agree upon. What many may not agree on is that they are both in all likelihood equally meaningless.
Let’s start off with the Antichrist. The Christian belief in an Antichrist rising to worldwide power is a misnomer for two reasons. The first reason this claim is inaccurate is that the term Antichrist refers to anyone who doesn’t believe in Christ. Atheists, agnostics, Muslims, polytheists and Hindu’s are just a few anti-Christ according do the bible. What most people are thinking of when they speak of an evil world leader is the passage in the book of Revelation that says,
"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." This clearly calls this evil ruler The Beast, not the Antichrist.
The second reason this concept (along with the belief that the rest of Revelation is an end-time prediction) is that it was written by a man in 90 AD who starts it off by saying,
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass."
The writer of Revelation, whose name was John, was reaching out to the frightened early Christians of his time who were oppressed by the Roman emperor Nero. In addition, Nero’s name, when calculated using a numerology game that people in those days played, adds up to six hundred and sixty six.
John never intended for his writings to be perceived as a prophecy that would be left unfulfilled for 2,000 years. He meant for it to give hope and courage to early Christians so that they wouldn’t succumb to the Roman oppression and denounce their faith.
We must all face the world in which we exist today and not rely on folklore and fantasy to guide us through. The future has no limits other than what we put on it and our fate could be that of a great and peaceful people. We may one day uncover the mysteries of the universe and discover that the purpose of life is to make life better and reach levels of love and understanding beyond anything that we can imagine today. So when we ask when will the world end, the answer could be…never. What we should be asking ourselves is how do I help people and how do we as a race ensures that we carry on for thousands of generations to come.
