Apocalyptic Fervor

When I was in college, the hot book in the evangelical Christian world was Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth. This was not the first time that end of time fervor had hit Christians. There have been any number of occasions since the First Century CE that the 'person in the street' just knew the end of the world as we know it was around the corner. Certainly, in more recent days, the immense popularity of the "Left Behind" books has shown that the public's interest in the topic has not waned. And, many conservative pundits - both religious and political - have joined the discussion with dire predictions of the end of the world as a result of the election of President Obama.

In 2006, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life asked about people's understanding of the Return of Christ. The results were interesting for a nation filled with people who constantly read about the Second Coming in popular fiction and supermarket tabloids.

** 79% of the Christians polled affirmed their belief in the Second Coming of Christ. [I am surprised the % is not higher, given the influence of the religious right.]
** Yet, only 20% believed that this would happen in their lifetime, with 39% saying it would not happen in their lifetime. [The rhetoric of many in the Christian world is that, while no one knows precisely when this will happen, all the signs are in place for an imminent return.]
** Amazingly to me, only 33% of Christians believed that the time of the Second Coming was revealed in Biblical prophecies, which is a cornerstone of the premillenial dispensational theology, with 40% saying it was not.

So, what do you think? Or, do you think about it at all?