Don’t Drink The Kool-Aid

Gary Pollard

There has been much talk over the last decade or so about potential devastation from celestial impactors. From Firestone, et al’s infamous paper¹ to 3i/ATLAS to reasonable concern over the tens of thousands of “planet killers” in our cosmic neighborhood, doomsday predictions have come back. Not without precedent, either. It’s very difficult to spend time in any text from the great myth-making epoch (during which all archetypes were established) and not see how the events in heaven shaped the earth and its ages. 

I have been interested in comparative mythology for some years now, and have always wondered why there was so much fear among the ancients at the appearance of a comet. The craters all over this earth are incontrovertible proof that this planet has experienced its fair share of super-nukes from space. The connection between some of the language used of heavenly beings and celestial objects is interesting, if confusing, in the ancient stories. 

So the concern is legitimate…for people outside of Christ, anyway. Luke 21.25ff employs some language that sounds remarkably like ancient descriptions of world-age-ending cosmic catastrophes. It seems — if that’s what Luke is actually talking about — that the next big impact will be the last. We have no idea when that will be. Every space agency has freely admitted that we’re totally blind to the many thousands of potential planet-killers. It’s not as uncommon as we’d like for us to discover a new celestial body as it’s passing between us and the moon. Twice a year we pass through the debris stream of some ancient celestial body (Taurids), and we’ve likely experienced a regional cataclysm or two in our past because of it. 

It’s possible that Jesus was talking about an impactor serving as the tool of earth’s destruction in Luke 21.25ff. The language used in those verses implicates the entire world (not just some tiny city in a tiny Middle Eastern country), making it unlikely that the events of AD 70 were intended in those verses. “People of this age” is a reasonable translation of vs 32, and the “powers of heaven” weren’t disrupted in AD 70. The whole earth wasn’t gripped with anxiety at the fate of the planet. The sound of the sea and its crashing waves played no role in the siege of Titus. Everything in the sky was not changed. The whole planet “earth and sky” was not destroyed. What we don’t learn from this passage is the date — and we’ll never know the specific day and hour.

Near Earth Object (NEO) 99942 Apophis is the one most concerning to the world, projected to come within 20,000 miles of the surface of the earth — 2,000 miles closer to us than most of our satellites in geosynchronous orbit. ² That its flyby date is Friday April 13, 2029 is mildly interesting. But it’s “only” about 1,400 feet long, probably not large enough to rip atmosphere from earth and reduce everything to atoms.³ More importantly, we know Apophis is coming and we know roughly when, so that disqualifies it from being the harbinger of earth’s demise. Besides all of that, it is very likely going to miss the earth entirely, assuming nothing moves it from its path. 

I’ve referenced Luke 21.25ff a couple of times, and for a reason. Popular figures have injected knowledge of this cosmic danger into the Zeitgeist (the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time).⁴ Peoples’ reactions range from anxiety to anticipation. There are two very important things for the Christian to keep in mind as hype over 2029 (or any other potential celestial impact) ramps up: 

1. Whatever happens, live right. Both Luke 21 and II Peter 3 encourage us to live like Christ, regardless of what’s happening around us. 
2. We won’t be stuck in a state of terror like the rest of the world. “When these things begin to happen, stand up tall and don’t be afraid. Know that it’s almost time for God to free you!” 

We may see some fear-mongering on this topic in the near future. It’s not unique to our century by any stretch! And while I find the topic utterly fascinating, I also find encouragement and courage in Luke 21 and II Peter 3. Earth’s destruction is the beginning of a perfect eternity for all who are in Christ, and not “the end” as the world sees it. “Waiting for and hurrying” that day — whenever it goes down and by whatever means — is the appropriate mindset every Christian should have! 

 ¹ Firestone, et al. (2007). Evidence for an extraterrestrial impact 12,900 years ago that contributed to the megafaunal extinctions and the Younger Dryas cooling. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 104(41): 16016-16021. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0706977104

 ² science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/apophis

 ³ II Pt 3.10-13

⁴  e.g. Graham Hancock’s Magicians of the Gods, Randall Carlson’s presentations, popular YouTube channels like The Why Files, people like Carolyn Shoemaker, Mark Rober, and Brian May, and many, many others.