Gas Prices - give me a break!

[Christopher Witmer]

Richard Brekne wrote:
> By the way..the view that human kind is in the end doomed is a particularily
> christian one. It always amazed me how so many "christians" I have met through
> the years failed to understand this.

I don't think that assertion can hold up to close scrutiny. On the one
hand, you have Christians falling into three categories according to
their view of the future --
1) Premillennialists: Christ is going to return and reign on earth
(i.e., the millennium) in history, prior to the final judgment and end
of history. These people generally see history as getting worse until
the millennium.
2) Amillennialists: Christ's reign is in heaven only and Satan holds
sway on the earth until the final judgment. (In other words, there is no
earthly millennium.) These people generally see history as getting worse
until the final judgment.
3) Postmillennialists: Christ, while seated at the right hand of the
Father in heaven, nevertheless reigns on earth through the Holy Spirit,
the gospel and the collective efforts of individuals in the Church,
which gradually grows to fill the earth. These people generally see
history as getting better until the final judgment.
While the three categories vary with regard to their earthly hope, all
obviously share an ultimate hope in the future that lies beyond the end
of history.

On the other hand, there is a similar split among non-Christians. Those
influenced by the thinking of Malthus tend to be very "doom-oriented,"
while those influenced by the thinking of Adam Smith and other
laissez-faire economists tend to be very optimistic/idealistic about the
future. Of course, if you look far enough ahead (really, really far),
you see that ultimately, all that even the most optimistic of secular
thinkers has to look forward to is the ultimate heat death of the
universe: the law of entropy puts an end to all music. (I'm not worrying
about that myself -- I look forward to joining Monteverdi, Schutz, Bach
et al. for an eternity of heavenly music.)