Rapture in 2026?!?

I spent several years riding the exhausting emotional rollercoaster of rapture watching. It began in 2017 with what some Christians believe was the Revelation 12 Sign. It was an alignment of stars and planets that they believe fulfilled Revelation 12: 1-5. The rapture predictions began, and they continue unabated to this day. Here we are in January of 2026, and some Christians still believe that the rapture event is about to happen.

A search on YouTube for "rapture 2026" brought up these videos.

I captured other screenshots, but you get the idea. My prediction is that 2026 will pass uneventfully just like 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 did.

The rapture is a false doctrine taken from the writings of a failed first century apocalyptic cult. It is not a real event that is based in reality, and it is never going to happen. And it is a psychologically harmful doctrine because it offers nothing but false hope to religious people who have been taught to hate this world and this life.

The Bible is not the word of God. It's ancient fiction. And the sooner people wake up to that reality, the better off the world will be.

Book Review of "The Creator and the Cosmos" Part 2

This is Part 2 of my discussion with a Christian friend named John and my critique of the book, "The Creator and the Cosmos" by Dr. Hugh Ross.

Page 22 - The Bible is perfect? Hardly. It is riddled with scientific errors, historical errors, factual errors and hundreds of meaningful contradictions, absurdities and atrocities. It contains myths and legends, known bad alleged history, and fables featuring talking animals. The Old Testament is mostly ancient myths and legends. The first eleven chapters of Genesis are known to be ancient mythology. The New Testament contains the writings of a failed first century apocalyptic cult. Bible prophecy is vague or remains unfulfilled and these prophecies have been recycled by every generation of Christians. The case for Christianity is weak at best, and modern science disproves the claims of the Bible on multiple fronts.

If the Bible was true, genetics would show that mankind was specially created just thousands of years ago and that all humans were descended from two people. There would be evidence of a global flood thousands of years ago. There would be evidence of a population bottleneck where the human population was whittled down to just eight people thousands of years ago. There would be evidence that humans once spoke a common language and that all of our many languages suddenly appeared simultaneously just thousands of years ago.

Page 25 - The Bible does not teach the Big Bang. It teaches that God spoke from Heaven and created everything in just six literal 24 hour days just thousands of years ago.

Page 26 - The biblical universe features a flat Earth covered by a solid dome firmament in which the stars are fixed. Isaiah 40:22 states that God, who lives above the firmament, stretched out the heavens across the flat Earth like a tent. Isaiah 48:13 states that God's hand laid the foundations of the Earth and the Bible does teach that the flat Earth rests on pillars.

Dr. Ross cites several scriptures in his attempt to prove that the Bible is scientifically accurate. These include Genesis 1:1 and 2:3 and 2:4, Psalm 148:5, Isaiah 40:26 and 42:5 and 45:18, Hebrews 11:3, Isaiah 45:5-22, John 1:3 and Colossians 1:15-17.

Biblical claims that God predated the universe and was actively involved in certain effects include Proverbs 8:22-31, John 17:24, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:5, Titus 1:2 and 1 Peter 1:20.

The scriptures from the Genesis creation myths do not refer to the universe as it actually is, but rather to the primitive cosmology of the Bible.

Psalm 148:5 KJV

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

This verse makes a religious assertion but doesn't prove anything.

Isaiah 40:26 KJV

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

Religious assertions but no evidence or proof of anything.

Isaiah 42:5 KJV

Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Religious assertions, references to the primitive cosmology of the Bible, but no evidence or proof of anything.

Isaiah 45:18 KJV

For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Religious assertions but no evidence or proof of anything.

Hebrews 11:3 KJV

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Religious assertions from an anonymously written book, but no evidence or proof of anything.

Isaiah 45:5-22 KJV

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: [6] That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. [7] I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. [8] Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. [9] Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? [10] Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? [11] Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. [12] I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. [13] I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. [14] Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. [15] Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. [16] They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. [17] But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. [18] For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. [19] I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. [20] Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. [21] Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. [22] Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

A long passage of religious assertions but no evidence or proof of anything.

John 1:3 KJV

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

A religious assertion and theology from an anonymously written book that was written decades after Jesus Christ died. 

Colossians 1:15-17 KJV

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: [16] For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: [17] And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Theology about who Jesus Christ allegedly is and religious assertions, but no evidence or proof of anything.

Despite claims to the contrary, the biblical God does not predate the universe. Yahweh was the tribal storm/war god of the ancient Israelites, and over time theology evolved and made him into the one true God of modern  monotheistic faith. This video makes a very compelling case for that reality:

https://youtu.be/mdKst8zeh-U?si=qQ6xGdv9xpHDB5p5

The universe is the result of a quantum vacuum fluctuation that happened 13.8 billion years ago, not the words or actions of a god just thousands of years ago.

Book Review of "The Creator and the Cosmos"

This is the beginning of what I hope will be a good and productive conversation with my Christian friend John. We are discussing the book "The Creator and the Cosmos" by Dr. Hugh Ross.

Hi John! I wanted you to know that I have begun reading the book you gave me for Christmas. I appreciate both you and Dr. Ross. However, in the space of reading just six pages, I have written two pages of notes with the issues I have with Dr. Ross's arguments. I would like to share those thoughts. But first, I would like to address the issue of Creationism generally.

Almost all religions have some form of creationism and the assertion that their god or gods are responsible for creating the universe and our world. The world is full of creation myths. The Bible contains two different and contradictory creation myths that contradict what we know from modern science on almost all points. Over the course of thousands of years, mankind has created thousands of gods. The tribal war god of the ancient Israelites, Yahweh, is just one god among many. 

This video explains the evolution of Yahweh from a tribal war god into the God of two major world religions (Judaism and Christianity very well.

https://youtu.be/mdKst8zeh-U?si=JW1nO7WQZ1mtHWjT

Before I begin sharing my notes, I would like to share some thoughts about how the Bible presents our universe and our world.

The ancient Israelites held a cosmological viewpoint that was common to the tribes of the ancient Near East. They believed that the universe was small and three-tiered. The Earth was flat and it was covered by a solid dome firmament in which the stars were fixed. God lived above the firmament, as is made clear in verses such as Isaiah 40:22.

The above picture is what the Bible teaches that our universe and our world is.

https://www.scribd.com/document/690558887/Circle-of-the-Earth-Investigation-pdf

The above PDF file is from a Christian source, and it details the scriptures that teach a flat Earth covered by a solid dome firmament. This is biblical cosmology.

I will now begin sharing my notes.

Page 16 - Life has the meaning that we give it, and morality does not come from religion. The most peaceful societies are generally the least religious. Morality is a product of evolution (evolutionary psychology) and cultural norms.

Page 16 - Dr. Ross criticizes others for looking at the world through naturalistic glasses while ignoring the fact that he looks at the world through religious God/Jesus glasses.

Page 20 - Who created the universe? There are thousands of gods to choose from, not just the Christian God. The universe is a result of a quantum vacuum fluctuation that happened 13.8 billion years ago. The Big Bang is not taught in the Bible. The Bible teaches that God spoke from Heaven and created the universe, our world, and everything in it over the course of six literal 24 hour days. Old Earth creationism does not work because the Bible specifically limits the time to six literal 24 hour days. Consider Exodus 20:11:

Exodus 20:11 ESV

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The Bible does not teach that the universe is billions of years old. It teaches a recent creation that took place just thousands of years ago.

Pages 20-21- Interesting that Dr. Ross charges the Enlightenment thinkers with the exact same issues that are present in religious apologetics! 

The Genesis creation myths are not scientifically accurate at all. 

There are two separate creation myths and they contradict each other on several important points. The Genesis creation accounts teach a creation event that took place just thousands of years ago over the course of six literal 24 hour days. The creation myths teach that light existed before the creation of the sun, that animals were created in their current forms rather than evolving over long periods of time, and that we humans were created in our current form without evolving just thousands of years ago.

Page 21 - Dr. Ross states that after 18 months of study he couldn't find any provable error or contradiction, and yet the biblical creation myths are riddled with errors and contradictions!

I will post the continuation of this conversation soon. 😀

I Went to the Bible for Knowledge and...

 I went to the Bible for knowledge and learned that all the kingdoms of the world can be seen from an exceedingly high mountain (Matthew 4:8). I learned that the earth was “created” less than ten thousand years ago (Genesis 1:1, 26; Luke 3:23-38), that it has foundations (Job 38:4 Psalm 104:5), rests on pillars (1 Samuel 2:8), but also floats upon the sea (Psalm 24:1-2), and doesn’t move (1 Chronicles 16:30). I learned that there is a firmament in place above it separating the upper waters from the lower waters (Genesis 1:6-7; Job 37:17), and that the stars are merely little lights that God graciously set in that firmament to give people light at night (Genesis 1:16-17). I also learned that these stars are so small that they can and will someday be cast down to the earth (Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:25). One of them once went and stood over a stable to guide wise men to where baby-Jesus was (Matthew 2:9-10). I learned that the moon is a lesser light than the sun (Genesis 1:16), that the sun itself orbits the earth (Ecclesiastes 1:5), can stand still in the sky (Joshua 10:13), and that Venus is a star, not a planet (Revelation 2:28). I learned that things like wind, rain, lightning and thunder come from God (Psalm 78:26; 147:8; 135:7; 77:18). I learned that earthquakes, tornadoes and the like are caused by God’s anger (psalm 18:7; Isaiah 29:6). I learned that the species Homo Sapiens is about 300,000 years younger than the oldest fossils that we possess for it (Luke 3:23-38). I learned that Adam somehow named the earth’s estimated 8.7 million species in less than 2 days (Genesis 1:20-26; 2:18-22)! I learned that 2 representatives (or 7 for clean animals) from an estimated 6.5 million land-dwelling species and enough food to feed them all for 150 days fit on a boat with a floor area equal to about one and a half football fields (Genesis 6-8). I learned that languages didn’t evolve through cultural usage but were instantaneously thrust upon people through god-magic (Genesis 11:3-8). I learned that rabbits chew the cud (Leviticus 11:6), that bats are birds (Leviticus 11:13-19), that whales are fish (Jonah 1:17, Matthew 12:40), and that the mustard seed is the world’s smallest seed (Mark 4:31)! I learned that people can live inside whales for upwards of 3 days (Matthew 12:40). I learned that neurological disorders are actually demon possession (Matthew 15:22). I learned that sickness is caused by sin and that its God-ordained treatment involves calling on the church elders to pray and use anointing oil, while the afflicted one confesses their sin (James 5:14-16). I was also amazed to learn that having your son smashed to death with rocks for disobeying you (Deuteronomy 21:18-21), selling your daughter into slavery (or to her rapist) (Exodus 21:7; Deuteronomy 22:28-28) and that kidnapping the little girls from conquered enemies to possess as sex slaves (Numbers 31:17-18) are the righteous instructions of a perfectly moral god.

Why I Am Not a Bible Believer

I used to be a devout "on fire for Jesus" fanatic fundamentalist Christian, and I firmly believed that we are living in the End Times and that Jesus Christ was going to return in power and great glory to rapture his church during my lifetime. And then there would be seven terrible years known as the Tribulation period for the world while we Christians enjoyed the marriage supper of the Lamb. And after that... HEAVEN WITH JESUS FOREVER!!

But all of that has changed now. I don't believe that the Bible or the Christian faith are actually true. I don't believe that Jesus Christ was God or that he was raised from the dead. I don't believe that Jesus Christ fulfilled any prophecies. And I don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Jewish Messiah. 

I am convinced now that the Bible is just a collection of ancient religious mythology and ancient fiction. I believe that the Bible is ancient fiction that is a product of the times in which it was written. I don't believe that the Bible speaks of the distant future or our current day at all.

I changed my mind about a lot of things and walked away from my faith -- the very faith that gave me great joy and happiness and peace and hope for an amazing future. I would like to explain why I walked away.

I have been studying the Bible for most of my adult life and I am almost 59 years old. I was taught in church that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. So right away we have a serious problem.

From the very first verse of Scripture in Genesis we have a serious problem because the two contradictory creation accounts are dead wrong. They contradict everything we know from science about biology and cosmology and the origins of our species.The universe was not created by a god, and the universe and our world did not come into being simultaneously. Our universe is 13.8 billion years old and our world is 4.55 billion years old. 

THE FLAT EARTH 

The Bible clearly teaches that the earth is flat and that it is covered by a solid dome firmament in which the stars are fixed. The biblical universe is small and three-tiered. There is the firmament, the flat Earth, and the underworld, and God lives just above the solid dome firmament, which is where the Bible locates Heaven. 

From https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-flat-earth/

Top Bible Verses about Flat Earth

Isaiah 40:22 ~ It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

Revelation 7:1 ~ After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.

Psalm 104:5 ~ He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.

1 Chronicles 16:30 ~ Tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

Job 26:7 ~ He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.

Matthew 4:8 ~ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

Psalm 93:1 ~ The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

Job 37:18 ~ Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?

Isaiah 11:12 ~ He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

I find it very ironic that Isaiah 40:22 is often used as a proof for the spherical earth when it in fact clearly teaches that the earth is flat!

GENOCIDE 

There are numerous horrifying verses in the Bible where mass murder and genocide are clearly ordered or advocated by God.

https://www.openbible.info/topics/genocide

The Bible contains hundreds of meaningful contradictions, many myths and fables (the creation myths, the global Flood, and the Tower of Babel, etc.), many hilarious absurdities, and many horrific atrocities. It also contains a great deal of non-historical history. 

So... the Bible is the inerrant and infallible Word of God? Hardly. And I no longer believe it or revere it as such. It's just a collection of ancient religious mythology and fiction. Period. End of story.

Society Flourishes Without Religion!

I have known for a long time that the less religious societies are, generally the less violent and more peaceful they are. But this morning I came across these videos on YouTube that offer sociological proof that societies where religion has freely given way to secularization are more moral and ethical and peaceful.

You can watch these videos by sociologist Phil Zuckerman here and here. 

The Rapture Is a Mythological Religious Event! It Will Never Happen!

Relax! The rapture is not going to happen today, tomorrow, on October 9th, or any other future date that rapture-obsessed Christians guess and try to make a case for.

Scripture makes it very clear that the rapture event was supposed to happen back then, not 2000 years in the future. Jesus Christ said that he would return before the people who were standing before him tasted death (Mark 9:1) and before his disciples had made it through the cities of Israel (Matthew 10:23). And the apostle Paul and all of the New Testament writers clearly expected the rapture event and the end of the world to occur during their lifetimes. The apostle Paul clearly believed that he would be alive when the rapture event happened:

1 Thessalonians 4:15 NKJV

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

And there are over 100 verses in the New Testament that make it very clear that the authors believed that they would live to see the rapture event and the end of the world.

The rapture is a false doctrine taken from an ancient, failed apocalyptic cult. It didn't happen 2000 years ago,  and it is not going to happen during our lifetimes, and it is never going to happen. It's a false hope from a demonstrably false religion.

The non-return of Jesus Christ was a serious problem by the end of the first century and it's why the book of 2 Peter was written. And the apocalyptic message in the anonymously written Gospels was toned down over time, and the message changed from the imminent apocalypse and end of the world to eternal salvation. 

The Bible is a collection of ancient religious mythology and fiction. It contains hundreds of meaningful contradictions, myths, fables (stories involving talking animals), numerous hilarious absurdities, unicorns and satyrs and cockatrices, and lots of non-historical history. And it is a flat Earth book from cover to cover, and several major Christian doctrines depend on the cosmology of the Bible, which features a flat Earth covered by a solid dome firmament in which the stars are fixed. The Bible is fiction! It is a product of the times in which it was written, and it does not speak of the distant future or our current day at all.

The Christian faith is very easy to prove false. What we know now from science about biology and the evolution of the human species proves the Adam and Eve myth false. Adam and Eve never existed, and we were not created by a god. We evolved over the course of several million years from a long line of hominid species, and this fact is easy to verify. So... No original couple, no Garden of Eden, no fall into sin and no need for redemption. There was never a first Adam, so no need for Jesus Christ to be the second Adam. In addition to that, there is no geological evidence that a global flood has ever taken place, and there has never been a time when the human population was whittled down to just eight people on a boat.

THE BIBLE IS FICTION!

Carry on! Relax and enjoy your life and stop wasting your time and emotional energy worrying about ancient religious mythology and mythological religious events.