Film discusses end of world prophecies

Armageddon, apocalypse, rapture; people have been predicting the end of time for thousands of years.

On April 17, the Adventist Campus Fellowship (ACF) held a screening and discussion of "Final Events of the Bible," a documentary that looked to the Bible to justify a fast-approaching end.

"The Bible reveals that we are obviously living in earth's final days," said Pastor Dour Bachelor, the narrator of the documentary.

"The biblical prophet Daniel clearly predicted that just prior to the end of the world we'd witness a dramatic increase in knowledge," Bachelor said.

Bachelor points to the computer revolution and advancement in transportation as examples, showing changes in transportation from the horse to train, car, airplane and space shuttle.

"For sixty centuries, man could travel no faster than the horse," Bachelor said in the film.

"This movie was made in 2006 so I found that part interesting with the recent earthquakes in Haiti, South America and China," said Geneva Mayne, a UConn alumna and member of ACF.

"A Red Cross report says that crises are so close together that people have ‘compassion fatigue' and have nearly stopped donations," said Pastor Skip Johnson.

"The beginning of sorrow was the most interesting to me because that is what the birth pangs are called," Johnson said. "They will get more painful and more frequent until birth."

UConn history professor Lawrence Langer gives another view. "Groups like these pop up every so often throughout history; all sorts of millennial groups during the 15th century, Salem and the witch trials."

As for how the end would come, the documentary mentions an increase in natural disasters, plague and war, but also said there will be the rise of the anti-Christ. It is explained in the movie that this figure will preach peace but is nevertheless intending to draw people away from God's word.

The movie went on to say that there will be those that ascend to heaven and those that are left behind, based on their past actions and intents.

"Just as the door on Noah's ark was sealed right before the flood, so the door of mercy is finally shut to the world and God's grace is no longer available to the lost," the movie said.

The audiences' reaction to the screening seemed positive; students had things on their mind they wanted to talk about.

"I think it brings up some interesting points," Mayne said. "No one knows the hour but there are signs that show."