Over on facebook, GOP Gubernatorial candidate Lora Hubbel wants us to watch the skies for what might be an ominous sign from God of impending doom.
Or maybe, it’s just a natural astronomical phenomena where the moon passes between the earth and sun. You pick.
(I linked the image in case you wanted to read the same article this gubernatorial hopeful shares with her followers.)
The FX TV series “The Strain” has a solar eclipse signaling a turning point in the struggle between good and evil. Maybe there is some confusion between what is on a TV show for entertainment and just a natural occurrence.
First total eclipse over the US since 1257?
Wrong.
There have been two in my lifetime.
October 2, 1959. Dawn. My parents and all their friends, a bunch of rocket scientists employed around Boston, (George Kistiakowski was just another neighbor) had a party on hill, a drumlin northwest of Boston. Dragged us all out of bed early to see the eclipse, with the usual warnings about not looking at it or we would go blind. But it was overcast and drizzling and icky. “Don’t look at the sky, the UV rays are still coming through the clouds.” Then we all went back to my family’s home and my mother served us all breakfast on card tables set up throughout the house.
July 20, 1963 my father hauled us all up to the northern tip of Maine. He found a gravel road to view the eclipse with all the usual admonitions of “don’t look at it, you’ll go blind.”
Having a father who was absolutely fascinated by the way gravity bends light, and therefore time, was lost on me. All I knew was that I was dragged off to see eclipses I wasn’t allowed to look at, while he did whatever it was he was doing. But I knew it had something to do with physics, not religion.
If God has an urgent message for his people, the US Mail is quicker than a solar eclipse. I hear Billy Graham’s barber predicts the Vikings to win the Super Bowl too. Lora, good luck with governor thing you’re doing.
I forgot there was another total solar eclipse over the US on March 7, 1970. I was out at UMass and didn’t bother to go see-it-without-looking-at-it with my father. By then I kind of got the whole thing about the gravity of the sun bending the light from the stars. But I didn’t think it was that interesting
We put speakers in the dorm windows and the school radio station played the Beatles “Here Comes The Sun”
I think if you are going to attribute divine significance to an astronomical event you should at least get your facts straight about how often they occur.
Lora is a staunch Christian and I am not going to judge her because she has the same beliefs as Ann Graham Lotz. So is Ann graham Lotz a fake Christian? I like Lora because she has a tremendous amount of faith and fortitude. Lora reminds me of my Mom when it comes to Christianity and helping people.
Thanks Pat, for the campaign fodder! Many people who I talk to would rather associate with the Grahams rather than with principalities and Powers.
Many years ago, I went to Sioux Falls with my Mother to listen to Anne Graham Lotz. Sorry Pat, Anne and Lora are not kooks. And, I don’t think Billy Graham would think they are either.
I think Anne is getting a Solar eclipse confused with a Total Solar eclipse. This is the first total eclipse of the Sun visible from the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) since February 26, 1979. The last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast was on June 8, 1918. But it doesn’t seem by the comments that anyone posting even listened to the sermon. Did anyone? it was rather heady….so understanding it may be an issue.
Lora, the eclipses I referenced were all total eclipses over New England.
Last I checked New England was still a part of the contiguous United States.
You can look up those eclipses and see how the areas of totality passed through there.
I confess, I didn’t listen to it, but i have read a few books by Billy and his wife. They were pretty common and down to earth.
There were five eclipses in 1935. The year FDR signed welfare into law. Hitler was doing even more nefarious things but if you want to connect eclipses to the apocalypse you should be looking at 1935
1935 had 5 solar eclipses and 2 lunar eclipses. FDR signed welfare into law. Hitler announced the rearmament of Germany in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, created the Luftwaffe and the Lebensborn Program, and made the Nazi Party flag with the Swastika the national flag of Germany. You can argue that the eclipses of 1935 were a warning to mankind. But then we have to admit we’ve been there, done that.
The trouble with trying to use Biblical prophecy to predict future events is that you can easily look back and see that all of these things have already happened. Repeatedly. That is not to say history will not repeat itself, but if it does it is because mankind wills it, not God.
The real theological difficulty with using Old Testament prophecy to predict future events is that Jesus was Himself the fulfillment of all those prophecies. When he recited Psalm 22 on the cross he is recorded as ending it with “it is finished” but the text as translated often reads “He has done it.” More modern translations have clarified the meaning of the original psalm as “mission accomplished.” To argue that OT prophecies are as yet unfulfilled is to risk suggesting that Jesus’ mission was left incomplete.
“To argue that OT prophecies are as yet unfulfilled is to risk suggesting that Jesus’ mission was left incomplete.”
So you don’t believe in the Second Coming?
Every single day God’s Grace calls people to repentance. with some He needs something subtle (a whisper at the mouth of a cave) and with others He need something more ostentatious to get their attention.
Also, every single day, God blesses His creation with rain and wind etc. which to me is a lot more significant than putting one object in front of another. But, all of us define significant differently.
And, one day the Lord will come again. We just aren’t going to know what day that is just as we don’t know the day we will die. Anybody want to bet me it won’t be the same day as this eclipse.*
*Probably not a fair bet since if it is that day, who will care about collecting but if it doesn’t happen that day rest assured I will collect. 🙂
Comet Kohoutek, “Y2K,” “Doomsdayers” in general, and the Mayan calendar fear are all proof that given the law of averages, the ill informed, or ill conceived, will eventually be right….
Nobody has all the answers when it comes to religion. There are many questions I have for God, until then, that’s where faith comes in.
EC,
I can’t remember the term but is in large measure “even a stopped clock is right twice a day” with regard to such matters. And, in Britain, bookies are able to accept bets regarding the end of the world (Mayan Calender, Y2K, this eclipse). The bookie’s logic is 100% “if the world doesn’t end, I win. If the world ends, we both lose (or win if in a State of Grace). But in either case, I don’t have to pay.” Such a bet is prohibited by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Now, with this information, I am sure nobody will bet me whether the world ends with this eclipse. Dang.