Q: How will the world come to an end, according to the Bible? I worry about things like nuclear war, asteroids crashing into the earth, and things like that. Is this the way the world will end? -- Mrs. L.T.How will the world end? Well that kind of depends on what you mean. If you mean the end of humanity, the end will probably either be due to war or climate change. But if you mean the literal end of the world, that will happen when our Sun expands into a red giant.
A: The Bible doesn't say exactly how the world will come to an end, but it does stress that someday this will happen, and when it does, the destruction will be total and absolute. The Bible says, "That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat" (2 Peter 3:12).
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.I suppose that someone never told him about a little thing called the Law of Conservation of Energy. In short, energy can not be created or destroyed. But there is also the mass-energy equivalency. All the elements can't be 'destroyed by fire' since while energy/mass may transition into different forms of matter or energy, their totals actually remain constant.
-2 Peter 3:10-12
Also, let's assume that this fire can destroy the elements. This still poses this verse a huge problem. For if all the elements were destroyed, the Earth would not be laid bare... It actually wouldn't be there at all. Actually, nothing physical would be. Elements make up just about everything (but not photons, neutrons...).
Then there is the issue of melting all the elements with fire... And that problem's name is Carbon. This robust element actually has no melting point at atmospheric pressure. It does have a sublimation pointy (the hottest one of all elements) of 3,642°C. An Oxygen and Acetylene fire burns at 3,480°C. Close, but no cigar. So that leaves us jumping to the hottest fire... Oxygen and Dicyanoacetylene. This combination burns at an impressive 4,990°C.
But does it even matter? Carbon's sublimation point of 3,642°C means that it transitions directly from a solid to a gas without ever melting. So no fire of any magnitude actually melts carbon.
And what about the Sun becoming a red giant and consuming the Earth? Well this doesn't fit either since the Sun isn't a ball of fire, and is actually plasma.
But the Bible says two other things that are equally important. First, it tells us that this will happen only at God's command, and in God's time. Wars may rage; power-hungry despots may terrorize; accidents and natural disasters may destroy, but the future is in God's hands, and He alone will bring an end to the world.It never ceases to amaze me that people can believe in a god that sits back and does nothing, just waiting to one day destroy the world, and somehow describe this god as 'good'...
Or, if he was real and gave a damn he could have just done that the first time, or just fix this one. Why allow so much death and suffering? Just stand by taking no action, watching the world burn with some apparent sadistic pleasure while just waiting to hit the reset button?Second, the Bible tells us that the end of the world -- will not be the end! God will create a new world, one that's perfect and free from sin, sickness, death and fear.
If I was an all-powerful deity, I'd just fix the world if I thought it was broken instead of just standing idly by. If you ask me, God seems pretty clueless, as well as a horrible planner.
-Brain Hulk
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