Why isn't Christianity a Doomsday Cult?

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If Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet, then why isn't mainstream, modern Christianity an apocalyptic religion? Was the move away from apocalypticism deliberate, and are modern doomsday preachers actually closer to preaching Jesus' message than other churches?

Listen to hear Megan ask Bart:

-Jesus’ apocalypticism isn’t something that modern churches talk about an awful lot How soon after Jesus’ death do we start to see this movement away from his more overt apocalyptic teachings?

-Do we see a shift away in Paul’s own writings, and do we see the same changes in the canonical gospels?

-With the canonical gospels that are trying to preserve Jesus’ own words, do we see the author trying to shade or change the apocalyptic ideas?

-In the later, non-canonical gospels, do we see the same shift away from the apocalyptic message?

-Were they replaced with other themes or teachings, or were they simply phased out?

-Do we see any heretical groups that stick with apocalypticism after the proto-orthodox tradition moved away from it?

-One of our early podcast episodes was on modern end of the world prophecies; are these doomsday writers and preachers actually mimicking Jesus’ own ministry more closely than more mainstream churches that stick with emphasizing care for your fellow human?

-In some modern settings you see people trying to bring about the apocalypse through their own actions; is this a purely a modern reaction to Jesus’ teachings, or do you see similar behaviour in early Christianity too?

-You mentioned that deapoclayptisation was kind of a necessity to deal with the fact that the world didn’t end when it was supposed to. Why do you think this modern shift back towards apocalypticism happened?

Видео Why isn't Christianity a Doomsday Cult? канала Bart D. Ehrman