Apocalypse | A Pastor, A Rabbi and an Imam | The Story of God

Okay, so stop me if you've heard this one: a rabbi, a pastor, and an imam walk to a bar. Okay, so it wasn't a bar; it was a diner to discuss my show, "The Story of God," about the apocalypse.

So the rabbi says, "Share with me a little bit about how the Islamic tradition and the Christian tradition understand the apocalypse."

"I think Christians should go first on this one for the New Kids on the Block," Jesus said. "Uh no one knows the time nor the hour except the Father. We are aware that something is coming, but it is not something to fear; it's something to motivate us to do our best now in preparation. The narrative of the end of days is really a collective story about how human beings will come to an end. The mountains will become like wolves and the seas will boil, and there will be great wars, and people will be scattered like dust."

In general, the term apocalypse isn't one that's used often in Judaism. We see a little bit about the end of days in the Book of Daniel, but I don't think that there's so much about the signs of the end of days. One thing that's interesting to note is that there's a passage in the Bible that says, "To God, a thousand years is a day." So we may not be talking about literal days. When we look at some of these huge events, and then you take a look at the global warming issue that's taking place, it is possible that a lot of these events are spread out over years, perhaps even decades.

So here's something to think about: if you knew that the end of days was coming, what would you do?

"I would do something that would probably fly in the face of the whole notion of things coming to an end and plant a walnut tree. It takes 80 years to grow."

"I would brace myself to meet God."

"I could see you with a placard: 'The end of days are coming.' That's how I know it's Tuesday, because there's always someone on my way to work with a sign saying 'The end of days is coming,' and I'm like, 'Oh, it must be Tuesday.'"

"I think for me one of the things I do is I start eating a lot of chocolate with my family. It wouldn't just be chocolate for the sake of chocolate, but I'd have some time with them and really savor a sweet, sweet moment with them."

So what is one thing about the apocalypse that might be surprising for someone to hear?

"It'll be the most amazing experience you can imagine, is that moment when you're meeting God. Yeah, there's not a lot of images or stories in the Jewish tradition that guide us to imagine that, but the imagination of meeting God is such a holy endeavor."

One of the surprising facts about the end of days in Islam is that although we have no idea when it will be, there is a tradition that says it will be on a Friday.

"So, not the Tuesday? I should tell the Tuesday guy holding the sign, 'Well, you still have a few more days left!"

At least, why is it that young people, in particular, are intrigued by this idea of apocalypse?

"I think it deals with all of the uncertainties about life. If you think about the apocalypse, and if you have a perspective or a path to it, there's probably a little bit of peace that you get. It seems almost oxymoronic that young people are so focused and fixated on the end of times because the whole definition of what it means to be young is to think that they're going to live forever, and they don't really think about the long-term consequences of their choices. By considering the idea that the world as we know it is coming to an end allows us to consider the personal meaning that we put into our own lives and the actions that we take in the world, so we can become accountable for all that we do."

So when's it going to happen? Tomorrow? Friday? Tuesday?