Lol. Well, at least you were honest.
And, they said thank you!
Where do you get that knowledge, enough to be able to trust it? And why is acquiring that knowledge important -- why do you need to know it, as opposed to not bothering? What's the appeal?
Hummm, good questions, hard to answer though! It is pretty apparent with the number of people constantly trying to find themselves, find purpose, etc. Apparent in how many people pursue love, relationships, and marriage only to find themselves more lonely in the relationship than they were when they were alone, apparent in how many pursue wealth only to find that it is meaningless, and apparent in how many people do not have simple peace in their lives.
Getting the knowledge comes from trying to fill that hole with everything but Christ, and realizing that Christ created the hole for Him alone - you know, all those other things are round pegs, and it's a square hole
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Finally, coming to that realization, having that relationship with Him, and His giving the 'peace that passes all understanding' regardless of what is happening is really it. He just gives the other things, just like He said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." I found this to be true, but it only happened when I belonged to Him.
Ironically, this is not a given within mainstream Christian circles. You even quote Revelation later in this post, and it's the book of Revelation where many Christians acquired the idea of a full-body rapture.
The body is not separate from the soul, they believe. God will restore the body from a mortal one to an immortal one. People are holistic according to some flavors of Christianity. The mortal body dies, but God will "fix it" and give an immortal body.
Again, as Lark asks, why do we even care? What is so appealing about immortality that we actually have religions that claim we can be immortal in some way, shape, or form? Why not just accept death as an irrefutable ending, accept we can't see beyond that veil, and then focus on the present life? Why is that so often not acceptable or desirable to people?
Eternal life itself is a fundamental belief of Christians. While Christians may discuss immortality, they mean eternal life. Since immortality means other things secularly, I defined it for crossover purposes. Too, not all Christians know that God said He is giving them a new body.
Why do we care? Back to the previous question, that hole needs filling and you can't not search, it's ingrained in every soul.
I would have trouble basing a theology on a few verses in one book that was essentially metaphorical post-apocalyptic literature for its time, meant to give people a vision to cling to in a day when the church was being heavily persecuted and on verge of being wiped out.
It isn't a few verses. It isn't just metaphorical, it is also literal. It also isn't just one book. The bible is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 authors over a period of some 1,500 years —39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. It is proven authentic, the prophecies in it almost completely fulfilled. There were more than 2,000 highly specific prophecies contained in it about Christ alone, and He fulfilled them all - including His place of birth.
There are differing opinions on rapture because people get confused between scripture about the rapture and scripture about the second coming - two different events.
But anyway, check out my questions earlier in this post responding to your points... maybe that clarifies better what Lark seemed to be looking for?
I'll take a look!