LIHU‘E — Local religious leaders offered some insight into the frenzy that the world would end today. Pastor Thomas Iannucci of Breath of Life Church in Lihu‘e said people get worried and want to know how and when it all ends.
LIHU‘E — Local religious leaders offered some insight into the frenzy that the world would end today.
Pastor Thomas Iannucci of Breath of Life Church in Lihu‘e said people get worried and want to know how and when it all ends. In January he is offering a series of classes on the Book of Revelations and the Book of Daniel.
Jesus taught that the end times begins with a seven year period of wars, rumors of war, famine, earthquakes and disease, he said. It is fruitless to predict the end because Jesus said that no one would know the day or the hour.
“Jesus said to be mindful of the signs of the times,” Iannucci said. “The philosophy of any Christian is to live each day as if it was the last day. It is not something that should invoke fear in the Christian faith, we look forward to it and expect it.”
In order for final judgment and Jesus’ return to occur, there will have to be an Antichrist who commits the abomination that causes desolation in the temple of Jerusalem, he said. This would require rebuilding the third temple on the site of the Holy of Holies.
The last temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.
“We know that it has to be in place when the end times happens,” he said. “God deals specifically with the nation of Israel and Jerusalem in those last seven years.”
The clock started ticking again in 1947, when Israel became a nation after 2,000 years, he said. The Temple Mount currently rests on the site and when the Israelis won the battle for Jerusalem they didn’t destroy it, he said, and there would need to be an agreement with the Islamic nations to build.
Iannucci said there is disagreement among the Christian faiths with interpreting the end times passages. Some believe they are prophesies of things to come, while other believe they describe events that already took place. Others say they offer allegorical meaning to our lives
As a pretribulationist, Iannucci said be believes that the church will be raptured before the great tribulation of seven years.
“We believe our judgment was carried out with Jesus on the cross,” he said. “The final judgment will be for those who are left behind and become Christians.”
The apocalypse means the revealing of Jesus in the last days, he said. The Book of Daniel reveals the new kingdom to come.
Be ready for his coming and don’t to be caught off guard, he added. Do good now, do right now, and you don’t have to worry about it later.
“Do I know when the world is going to end? No I don’t,” he said. “I know that my life can end at any second, and as per Jesus’ warning is to always be ready because we don’t know the day or the hour.”
The Venerable Kazunori Takahashi, abbott of Kapa‘a Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, said that it is important to respect the beliefs of people who talk about predictions. It is also important to live with peace of mind and this is difficult when we thoughtlessly absorb the massive amounts of information available to us today, he said.
“From the perspective of Buddhism, it would not be sensible if we are troubled by the information, which doesn’t have absolute foundation,” Takahashi said.
“Make yourself light, and make the law your light,” he said, quoting the Sakyamuni Buddha.
The Dec. 21 prediction reminds us that everything is impermanent and is changing all the time, Takahashi said.
“Therefore, nobody can tell what will happen in our life the very next moment on not only Dec. 21 but also everyday,” he said.
Rennyo Shonin (1415-1499) who is the 8th abbot of Hongwanji wrote that “Though in the morning we may have radiant health, in the evening we may return to ashes. When the winds of impermanence blow, our eyes closed forever, and when the last breath leaves us, our face loses its color.”
The truth may confront us with severe realities, but there are different ways to see it, Takahashi said.
Some people look away from reality or try not to think about it. Others try to listen to the truth of human lives and how to live it, he said.
The Sakyamuni Buddha teaches us not to chase after the past or place expectations on the future, he said. What is past is left behind, and the future is as yet unreached. The lessons help us develop quality and heart, he said.
James “Kimo” Rosen of Kapa‘a, is a member of the Jewish Community of Kaua‘i, and served on its Board of Directors from 2003 to 2009. The community does not have a full-time temple and utilizes lay leaders, which is currently Marty Kahn.
Rabbi Michael Goldman visits from Honolulu about four times a year. The Chabad (orthodox) Rabbi comes to help unify the Jewish community.
“Shaloha (a combination of Shalom and Aloha) is a popular word among Hawai‘i Jews,” he said.
Rosen said that Judaism teaches five important events which occur before the “end of times.” Put simply, he said God will return the Jewish people to the Land of Israel; the nations will recognize the God of Israel as the only true God; the dead will be resurrected; and God will create a new heaven and Earth.
It is also believed that history will complete itself, and the ultimate destination will be reached as all mankind returns to the Garden of Eden, he added.
“I believe there are many roads to achieve the same end factor,” Rosen said.
Judaism, like Christianity, has many sects from the ultra orthodox Chabad, to the messianic new age Jews that believe in Jesus (Yeshua), he said. There are reform, conservative, reconstructive, humanitarianism and many sects of orthodox that have totally different doctrines, he added.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
