Critically examining the "End of the World"
Does the Mayan calendar actually end in 2012, or does it just start over from the beginning?
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Question:
Related posts:
- Is the world going to end in 2012 or Is the Mayan Calendar just going to end and start over?
- Who believes on the Armageddon happening/beginning on December 21st, 2012 as per Mayan calendar?
- will the world end in 2012 or will the calander of Mayan just start over since the mayans calander is cylical?
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about 1 year ago
Neither.
It merely reaches a round figure in the Mayan counting scheme. Written with our numbers, the calendar will reach day number 13.0.0.0.0 (following day number 12.19.19.17.19 and before day number 13.0.0.0.1).
Just because most modern people don’t understand any numbering scheme other than base-10, it is easy to pretend that the calendar ends.
But it does not.
Actually, there are numbers before the 13, so that the calendar will also continue after the calendar reaches n.13.19.19.17.19 and switches over to (n+1).0.0.0.0.0
(actually, there are more than one number before).
Compare with our calendar which also does not really ‘just start over from the beginning’.
When we go from Dec. 31 (the end of the calendar) to January 1 (the beginning), we actually go from 08.12.31 to 09.01.01 and even more precisely from 2008.12.31 to 2009.01.01 (we do not use symbols to separate our centuries from the year within the century).
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Mayan astronomers (the ones who designed this day-count calendar) use it to date events that will be visible from Earth well after the year we call 2012. Obviously they expected neither the world nor their calendar to end.
about 1 year ago
can everyone stop posting 2012 questions geez
about 1 year ago
that is a really good question! some guy on youtube made a video to clear things up and he said that it starts over.
about 1 year ago
have you ever heard of a calendar that ‘ends’? i mean, just plain stops and says “no more”?
of course not.
we go on (after a small party) with what? year 14.0.0.0.0?
about 1 year ago
Since their civilization no longer exists I don’t care about superstitions with their calendar
about 1 year ago
One of several Mayan calendars is the Long Count calendar, which is reset to day 0 every 1,872,000 days or 7057.5 years. The next reset date, by some calculations, is December 21, 2012. This is not a prediction of the end of the world.
Ever since the Y2K and 6/6/6 (June 6, 2006) End of the World scenarios did not pan out, the scare mongers, conspiracy theorists, book sellers, and television executives have been touting the 2012 End of the World scenario. When 2012 does not happen either, I am sure they will think of something else.
“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” (Mark 13:32-33)
Jesus told us in no uncertain terms that we were not to know when the end of the world would come but that we were always to be ready.
The early Christian Church thought that Jesus was going to return at any moment. Only after a couple of centuries did the Church realize that it may be 2,000 or 4,000 or 8,000 years before Jesus returns.
The Catholic Church wisely follows Jesus’ advice and teaches that each of us should live as if we will meet our maker in the next ten minutes and that we need to work to make the world a better place for our 100 X great-grandchildren.
Do not worry about the end of the world. Trust God to make sure everything happens to plan. Just be ready to meet God at any time.
For more information, about what Catholics believe about the end of the world, see: http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0993.asp
With love in Christ.