If you follow the mainstream media, you're might think the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is the end of the world. But Bible scholars here in Houston are urging you not to jump to conclusions.
[This outbreak] doesn’t necessarily mean that 24 hours or 72 hours or 2 weeks or we could even be 200 years from [Jesus’] return,” Dr. Joseph Parle, a Bible Scholar, told KTRH.
Parle, the Provost of the College of Biblical Studies in Houston, referring to the Christian belief that Jesus of Nazareth will return at the end of the world, in what some refer to as the Second Coming.
“I think the Biblical message is that we should live and be alert as if [the end] is going to happen at any minute, but we shouldn’t say that it’s definitely coming within a certain period of time,” Parle added.
Parle says the Bible has suggestions for how people should live as if the end is coming soon.
“The Church has often shined when there are plagues or when there is pestilence,” he described. “So we should be the first people that should be concerned about the sick and the elderly, and those who are in prison.”
Parle urges Christians to follow all the recommended CDC guidelines for social distancing, in order to keep the most vulnerable safe from catching COVID-19. Where they can, he says Christians can volunteer their time or effort to help in their community.