Even if one does not believe in God/Christ or the scriptural prophecies, the findings of modern science indicate that the world (as well as the entire universe) is ultimately doomed to destruction in one way or another. Its existence is transitory, and its life span is uncertain. The end, either for our planet or for our species, could indeed come at any moment.

There is hope, however, of an eternal existence for those who are spiritually born of God and do not belong to the world, but these are very few in number- a rarity. The vast majority of people are on the road to perdition, and this includes the majority of people who claim to belong to Christ, as is indicated by such verses in the New Testament as Matthew 7:22-23 and Luke 13:24.

Certainly, one would expect that there should be a significant, discernible difference in behavior and mode of life between those who are saved and those who are lost. I believe that nonconformity to the world, in the fullest, most extreme sense, must be the norm for those who belong to God. For the sake of brevity, I will give just one illustration of what I mean. Lending money with an interest charge for its use (usury) seems to be a common and accepted practice in contemporary society. It is, however, incompatible with the teachings of Christ (it is even condemned in the Old Testament), and those who have the Spirit of Christ should not be engaging in this practice, even in an indirect manner.

In the past, professing Christians have believed in the existence of various proofs of the existence of God, the divinity of Christ, and the truth of the Bible. Most of these proofs have fallen by the wayside over the course of time. Some people still need to believe that there are such proofs, and I have seen a number of books by professing Christian authors which purport to supply their readers with, as the title of one such work asserted, "many infallible proofs". In my opinion, many of the 'proofs' presented in such books are of a very dubious quality. In recent years, there have also been claims of finding various sorts of mathematically based codes or patterns in the Bible which cannot be the result of chance or human design. Whether or not these claims are valid remains to be seen. I, for one, am not knowledgeable enough about the mathematics involved to make a competent judgment about it, and I'm sure that the same holds true for the vast majority of others. This being the case, even if these claims are true, it is not a proof that just anyone can see for themselves directly- it requires that one have special knowledge. Those who don't have such knowledge must rely on the judgments of those who do. In other words, they choose to believe (have faith in) the experts' pronouncements.