How will the end of the world be? What will happen at the end of the world? When will the end of the world be? These are just some of the many questions that most religions try to answer. But how does each of them specifically view the end of time and the world as we know it?
The Christian apocalypse, the Ragnarok of Norse mythology… There are many theories of various religions and beliefs for the end times, but — spoiler — usually things end with conflict and suffering before peace and tranquility come after the end. Check now how the main religions see the end of time!
What are the main religions in the world?
When we talk about the main religions of the world, what we need to take into account is the number of people who claim to be followers of that religion. Especially since there are no better or worse religions, only what makes the most sense for each of us.
Next, we will present the main religions of the world, according to the number of believers. The numbers are compiled by the Pew Research Center, which collects national census data and also conducts its own surveys. The data are from the research presented by the institution in 2020.
- Christianity — 2,4 billion believers — 31,2% of the world's population
- Islam — 1,9 billion — 24,1%
- Hinduism — 1,2 billion — 15,1%
- Buddhism — 500 million — 6,9%
- Judaism — 14,5 million — 0,2%
- Zoroastrianism — 120 thousand — 0,0001%
- Atheists/agnostics — 1,2 billion — 16%
- Local/folk religions/beliefs — 400 — 0,001%
Why are we fascinated by the end of the world?
From the oldest written records we have of the civilizations that lived in our world, theories about the end of the world are created and encouraged. And of course this started long, long before man knew writing.
But why are we so fascinated by the end of the world? The answer is somewhat obvious: because we don't know how it's going to be. The fact that we don't know nor can we be sure how the end of the world will be opens this great gap for speculation and theory creation.
Even if you are faithful to a religion and believe in the theory it proposes for the end of time, this is just a hunch, as there is no way to know if the hunch is really true.
In short, the fascination with the end of the world comes both from the uncertainty about it and from the fact that the end of everything we know is a grandiose theme, which, therefore, awakens a fascination for knowing how this end will be and what will cause it.
How do religions predict the end of the world?
Obviously, each religion has its beliefs and ways of seeing the world and predicting what will happen in the future. To explore the diversity that exists among so many beliefs, let's present how some of the world's main religions see the end of time:
Christianity
According to the last book of the Bible, called the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelations, written by John, an apostle of Christ, there will be a great battle at the end of time. The Devil will send the Antichrist to Earth, at the head of a great army. Jesus Christ, in the name of God, will battle against him.
The end of the world war will generate meteor showers, earthquakes, diseases and plagues. Besides, of course, four cruel horsemen, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who will spread pain and suffering. The combat will end with the victory of Jesus.
But does not stop there! Satan himself appears on Earth and the final battle against God takes place, in a place that is called Armageddon in the book - scholars assume that it is Megiddo in Palestine. After Satan's defeat, the Day of Judgment takes place, in which sinners are sent to hell, and the righteous and good, to paradise.
The curious thing is that, in the old days, these horrendous descriptions were not so frightening, because they were seen as a necessary evil for a better life. The fear of the apocalypse, according to many scholars of the word of God, is a modern invention that focuses on the battle before the beginning of the period of harmony and peace.
Hinduism
According to Hindu scriptures such as the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana, the end times are called Kali Yuga, which is a cycle that has four stages. We are currently in the fourth stage, which is characterized by human, spiritual, environmental, cultural, social and moral degradation.
Known as the Dark Ages, it is characterized by a great distance between men and what is divine. In this phase, the accumulation of wealth rules the world and the rulers are merciless and cruel, spreading hunger, diseases, plagues and lies. False religions and great droughts will also devastate the planet.
At the end of the Hindu world, everyone dies. When this happens, a period of renewal and purification will begin that will culminate in the Satya Yuga, the Golden Age, when only the righteous and honest will reincarnate and inhabit the planet for the next 10 years.
Zoroastrianism (Madaism)
This religion with origins in Persia (now Iran) is little known in España, but relatively popular in the Asian continent. Founded by the prophet Zarathustra (also called Zoroaster), it was one of the religions that influenced the creation of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
But why present the Zoroastrian end-of-the-world description here? Simply because it's the first record of its kind that we've had access to! The end of time, according to the prophet Zoroaster, would be an event called Frashokereti.
Rather than a major catastrophic event, Frashokereti is a process of planet degeneration, which will get worse every millennium. According to religion, the sun will be stained, vegetables will stop growing, and a few rich people will accumulate a lot of wealth.
Finally, as if all this were not enough, a comet called Gochihr will collide with our planet, creating a river of lava that we will all need to travel. Only the faithful to Zoroastrianism will feel no pain during the crossing, while the infidels will melt in agony. The faithful will eventually be immortal and live in harmony after the planet is cleansed.
Budismo
One of the end-of-the-world Buddhist theories is Theravada. It's one of the theories because there are many Buddhist schools, so beliefs vary between them. Theravada is most popular in India, where the religion originated.
The Theravada is based on the Sermon on the Seven Suns, supposedly given by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha himself. According to his prediction, six more suns would appear in our sky, and their heat would destroy oceans, lakes and rivers, practically cooking our planet.
After that, one of the suns would plummet to Earth like a great ball of fire that would annihilate everything and everyone who survived the seven suns.
Judaism
Judaism is probably the religion that presents the least tragic theory for the end of the world. According to the book of Daniel, the coming of the Messiah, responsible for saving humanity, is a matter of time and will end this period of pain and suffering that we are currently experiencing.
Much of the Jewish religion is based on the idea that, in the end, the good will be rewarded and the bad will be punished, so the end times of the Jews is simply the coming of the Messiah to Earth, who will give the righteous and the good a chance to live on a planet where peace and harmony reign endlessly.
But what year does the world end? Some Orthodox Jews even make an interpretation of the scriptures that allows for the prediction of the year of the coming of the Messiah, which would take place in the year 6000 of the Jewish calendar (approximately the year 2240 of the common calendar).
islam
The Islamic apocalypse looks a lot like the Christian one. According to the Qur'an and the Hadith, which are books that compile speeches by the Prophet Muhammad, an antichrist will come to Earth, called Al-Masih ad-Dajjal, false prophet. He will try to dominate the world, but he will be stopped by the Mahdi, a kind of Messiah of the Islamic religion.
After this battle, an angel named Israfil will blow a trumpet, which will announce the great judgment, which will last no less than 50 thousand years. At the end of this judgment, every human being will need to cross a bridge as thin as a hair and as sharp as a sword.
Only the good will be able to make this crossing and the bad will fall into hell.
Other doomsday predictions
of the Mayans
The Mayan peoples lived in territories that today belong to Mexico and other Central American countries. The end of the world in their culture became known for what is now called the 2012 phenomenon.
There is a famous Mayan calendar of 5.125 years. The last day recorded in this calendar was, compared to our calendar, December 21, 2012, so many interpreted that day to be the day of the end of time.
The truth is that there is no Mayan inscription regarding the end of time, nor does the calendar cite this date as the day of the apocalypse. All interpretations were made later, by scholars and analysts. Black holes, meteors, asteroids and many other catastrophic scenarios were predicted but did not happen.
Dos vikings
According to Norse mythology, the end of the world is called Ragnarok, which can be translated as “twilight of the gods”. It is a series of apocalyptic events and clashes between gods that will culminate in the destruction of the nine worlds described by this set of beliefs.
Ragnarok begins with the fire and ice giants dueling against the gods Aesir and Vanir, which will eventually destroy world after world, submerging everything in water. After all this, according to legend, the surviving gods will meet and find two human beings, who will be responsible for repopulating the world.
Bloody battles characterize Ragnarok. Odin, the all-father, supreme god, dies in a dispute with the direwolf Fenrir, who is murdered by Thor, god of thunder and son of Odin. Thor then kills the giant serpent Jormungandr, which circles the planet, but dies from being wounded in the battle. Finally, the demon Surtur breaks free from the place where he was imprisoned and shoots flames everywhere.
Some movies that talk about the end of the world
“The Day After Tomorrow” (2004)
During a conference at the UN, a climatologist talks about the growing dangers of global warming and global cooling, but is largely ignored by diplomats, in addition to infuriating an American politician.
The problem is that, shortly afterwards, some of the predictions he made start to happen, such as endless rains and endless floods, which could mark the end of the human being.
"2012" (2009)
Based on the prediction of the end of the world of the Mayan calendar, this film depicts a series of catastrophic events that happen in the year 2012, caused by solar eruptions.
The most shocking thing about the film is that it shows several cities and tourist spots in the world being affected by disasters. Even España appears in the film, with Rio de Janeiro being affected by the end times.
“Armageddon” (1998)
A gigantic asteroid, the size of the states of Texas and Amazonas, is on a collision course with Earth, which would simply cause our destruction. The special agencies' only hope is to send a team of mining astronauts to try to blow up this celestial body before it crashes into the planet.
A classic of science fiction cinema, “Armageddon” was quite successful and, since its release, news about asteroids and meteors on an alleged collision course with Earth has been quite successful.
“The Cured” (2017)
Many movies present an infection as the possible cause of the end of humanity, and zombies became very well known in these stories: infected humans who act in an aggressive and animalistic way.
This film shows what happens, psychologically, with humans who were infected, turned into zombies, were cured and now have to live with the horrors they committed when they were under the influence of the infection.
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The end of the world has always generated a lot of curiosity in the human being and it is likely that this will never end, since we have no idea how things will come to an end, so this subject will probably fascinate us until the day of the… end of the world !
