Should the United States bomb Syria? Your answer might depend on your eschatology (whether Christian or Muslim).
LifeWay Research noticed how the Syrian conflict has prompted discussion of the End Times (i.e. dispensationalism) unlike previous debates over American intervention in foreign affairs. So it did a survey and found some surprising results:
Almost one in three Americans see Syria's recent conflict as part of the Bible's plan for the end times.
One in four think that a U.S. military strike in Syria could lead to Armageddon.
One in five believes the world will end in their lifetime.
Ed Stetzer (now joined by Bob Smietana, previously at The Tennessean) explores the full results—inlcuding that women (36%) are more likely than men (28%) to link Syria and the Bible—in a post worth reading. But for comparison:
Barna recently found that "41 percent of all U.S. adults, 54 percent of Protestants, and 77 percent of evangelicals believe the world is now living in the biblical end times." The online poll of 1,000 American adults found that those most likely to believe this include African Americans (54%), Hispanics (48%), married adults (46%), and families that had children living at home (47%).
PRRI recently found that nearly 4 in 10 Americans (and 65 percent of white evangelicals) believe recent natural disasters are evidence of the End Times, while 15 percent of Americans (and 29 percent of white evangelicals) believe that the end of the world, as predicted in the Book of Revelation, will occur in their lifetimes.
Reuters recently found that "nearly 15 percent of people worldwide believe the world will end during their lifetime." According to its survey of more than 16,000 people in more than 20 countries, those in the United States and Turkey believe this the most, while those in France, Belgium, and Great Britain believe this the least.
CT recently noted how American evangelical leaders took their own surprising vote on whether to bomb Syria, as well as examined whether Syria's Christian should be the top priority of American Christians.
CT also recently noted the death of the filmmaker who launched the End Times movie genre, and has regularly covered Syria, the End Times, eschatology, and dispensationalism.
