39% of Americans Believe We are Living in the End Times

 I very much doubt that 39% of Americans read their Bibles regularly and have concluded that current events are lining up with Revelation and Daniel.  However, we can be sure that God has placed a tiny bit of understanding in every human brain.  This is why Romans tell us that "no man will have an excuse."  We can clearly see through creation and nature that God was at the very beginning of it all.  You have to work very hard to reject God and start believing that some sort of massive explosion billions of years ago sparked the millions of species of life that we can all clearly see.

So this is pretty interesting what Pew Research found out when polling Americans.

A recent survey showed that in the wake of the global pandemic, the belief that we are currently at the end of days is rising. This contrasts sharply with Jewish tradition which has a far more optimistic perspective on what the final days of the world will look like.

A recent Pew Research survey found that 39% of Americans surveyed believed that they were currently living at the end of times as compared to 59% who did not. 

47% of Christians believed we are at the end of time. For Christians, the end of days marks the imminent return of Jesus. This is further divided along sectarian lines. 76% of Black Christians believe we are currently in the end of times and 63% of evangelical  Protestants believe this to be true.

49% of Christians say we are not living in the end times, including 70% of Catholics and 65% of mainline Protestants. 

29% of non-Christian religions believed we are at the end of times along with 23% of those with no religious affiliation.

This is also divided along political lines with 45% of Republicans saying we are currently at the end of times as compared to 33% of Democrats. Geography also had an influence with 48% of adults in Southern states saying that we are at the end of times as compared to 37% in the Midwest, 34% in the Northeast, and 31% in the West.

When asked if Jesus “will return to Earth someday,” more than half of all U.S. adults (55%), including three-quarters of Christians, say this will happen. Protestants in the evangelical (92%) and historically Black (86%) traditions are more likely than other Christians to say there will eventually be a second coming of Jesus. Roughly four-in-ten Americans either do not believe Jesus will return to Earth (25%) or say they do not believe in Jesus (16%).

10% of Americans believe this will happen in their lifetime, 27% responded that they are not sure if Jesus will return in their lifetime, and 19% say the return of Jesus will definitely or probably not occur during their lifetime.

29% of respondents from non-Christian religions believed we are currently in the end of days. Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and other smaller non-Christian religious groups were included in the survey and were represented in the “other religions” category, but there were not enough respondents in these groups to analyze separately. 23% of the respondents who self-identified as having no religious affiliation believed this to be true.

The survey cited an article in The Journal of Religion and Health which noted a rise in both secular and religious “apocalypticism” attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“For religious believers, the apocalypse signifies the rapture of the faithful into heaven while those on earth will undergo the tribulations,” the article explained. “For secular believers, the apocalypse signifies sociopolitical change.”

The article noted that many Christians believe the pandemic was prophesied in the New Testament Book of Revelations, written in 95 CE. For secular people, some crises (like pandemics or multinational conflicts) or Millenium mile markers raise concerns that the world is moving towards a catastrophic end. The article noted that in the wake of the 9-11 attacks in 2001, even though only 36% of all Americans believed in the divine source of the Bible, 59% said they believed that events predicted in the Book of Revelations would come to pass.

Rabbi Eyal Riess of the Tzfat Kabbalah Centre noted that the basic understanding of the end of days in connection with the “apocalypse” is counter to Jewish eschatology.

“According to Jewish tradition, the end of days comes after the arrival of the Messiah,” Rabbi Riess explained. “This can come in one of two ways. Each day of Creation corresponds to a Millenium and the Messianic era corresponds to Shabbat. So the Messiah must come before the year 6,000. This is known as b’ito, in its time. Alternatively, just as a Jew can opt to bring Shabbat in early, before sundown, the Messiah can arrive early if the Jews perform the commandments and merit it. This is known as achishena.”

HEre;  39% of US believes we are currently in the end-of-times, Pew survey suggests - Israel365 News

Please remember that the Jews, as a nation, rejected Jesus so they have NO CONCEPT of his 2nd coming.  They are still waiting for their messiah.  Also the Muslims are waiting for their messiah called the Mahdi.  What's very interesting is that the Jews will accept the antichrist when he comes and the Mahdi sounds very much like the antichrist.

So the world thinks there is something coming.  Something big.  They just disagree on what it is.  As followers of Christ we hope and pray that the Jesus is coming to snatch his bride off to the wedding and the feast.