Expert: Mel and Guyna Horne - 7/6/2008

Question
Hello Mr. and Mrs. Horne. I'm Laura. I am a 24-year-old Protestant who prays daily and goes to church as many Sundays as I can.
I love Jesus and I talk to God all the time. I believe He loves us and has nothing but Goodness planned for us and that all bad and evil come from below.
Lately I've been made foolishly nervous about the Mayan prophecy that everyone else is talking about lately. I know that when the world ends, it ends and no one will know about it beforehand. When and if it will happen is something only God knows. We are not meant to know these things. So why are people thinking that just because an ancient people wrote a calendar that ends on december 21st, 2012 that the world is going to end on that date? It's so silly and yet so troubling at the same time. I don't really believe it will happen, but yet the date frightens me now. Will you please offer me some advice? Thank you!
~Laura

Answer
Hi Laura,

  Calendars used for timekeeping are based on math and planetary movements.  For a serious discussion of actual Mayan calendars (plural) see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar

 For an exhaustive list of all the speculation, superstition, opinions, theories, and wild-eyed hysteria about the year 2012, see:
http://www.greatdreams.com/2012.htm
(or just skim the titles and do something more constructive with the time left over)  ;-)

For information on Jose Arguelles, who has a degree in art (not math, not astronomy and not religion), and whose book is credited with starting the New Age superstitious hype about the Mayan calendar and the year 2012, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Arg%C3%BCelles

Note the discussion of his "Dreamspell" calendar under the heading "Criticism".

Regarding the end of the world as we know it:

"The apostles did not have the benefit of the information given through John in Revelation until 90 AD and many or most of them were dead by then.  The events of Mat. 24, that Christ gave in answer to the time of the end, had already started in their time.
Christ clearly said, no man will know the day or the hour (except the Father, Mat. 24:36), but he told us to “watch” (v. 42) and that those in Jerusalem could recognize the time to flee out of Jerusalem (v. 16) which would indicate that, if we are watching world events, we can recognize the year and perhaps the month or week. He gave specific signs by which we would know that “it is near, even at the doors” (vs.32-33)."

This is an excerpt from an article we are writing about recognizing the time when Christ shall return.  We will be posting it on our web page after it is finished, probably within a week.  If you are interested, we can send the url.

Fear can result from a lack of faith.  A lack of faith can result from a lack of knowledge. God spoke through his prophet Hosea to say, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. . . " (Hos. 4:6).

We hope this helps.  If you have further questions about this or other topics, feel free to write anytime.
Sincerely,
Mel and Guyna