Mayan End Time Prediction 2012 is Just Another Meaningless Event in the Cycle of Human History

Man's fascination with the future throughout human history is relevant when it is viewed through the lens of a Cristian understanding of history. Since the Christian God, who created all things for Himself, is the only true God, it makes sense that all men have an interest in the things that God revealed in His word. God's word is full of substance about the future of man. It is testimony to the truth of scripture that even pagan civilizations demonstrate an interest in the doctrines of Christian scripture. The recent phenomenon over the feature film 2012 is a case in point. Not only was the pagan civilization of the Mayans interested enough in end times predictions, the pagan culture of America is still interested in their understanding of end times doctrines. Any cogent thinker is asking the question; how much confidence should be placed in the Mayan end time predictions?

Mayan ruins were first studied by John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood in the middle of the nineteenth century. Although archeology has unearthed much about Mayan culture, there is much that is still a mystery.

The Mayans seemed to be highly advanced in many ways. They had advanced knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, and their architectural ability allowed them to create great shrines to their gods and other massive structures for government, recreation, and the study of astronomy. Their grasp of mathematics gave them the ability to design wonders into their buildings that they could attribute to the gods, such as shadows crawling down the steps of their temples that resembled the snake god.

Despite the evidence of the Mayans' advanced knowledge in many areas there is much evidence about the Mayan culture that raises doubt about their ability to predict the future with any accuracy. The prediction of the end of the world in 2012 is based as much on the pagan beliefs of the Mayans as it is on the hard data found in astronomy. What is known of the religion of Mayan culture is very disturbing indeed.

There is conjecture that the recreation of the Mayans, at least near the end of their culture, was centered in their religion. There is evidence that their ballgames were as much a religious right as a form of recreation. At the end of each game it is evident that one of the teams would be sacrificed to the gods, and there is some evidence that it was the winning team that was sacrificed. In other words they believed that there was great spiritual benefit in winning the ballgame and then being sacrificed to the gods. Furthermore the Mayans sacrificed literally thousands of their children in their temples every year. The remains of these sacrificed humans are being found in the bottom of there cisterns, which were the source of their drinking water. This may very well be the answer to the mystery of the demise of the Mayan civilization. It seems that they were poisoning themselves with the decaying bodies of their human sacrifices.

The Mayans' understanding of life seems to be based on the meaninglessness of the cyclical view of history. It may be that what the Mayans were predicting for 2012 is just one more end time event in history among an endless series of such events. This would answer a lot of questions about the bloodletting ceremonies that dominated their lives and culture. If life is meaningless, then to be the object of the sacrifices to the gods is release from the cycle of purposelessness. The self destruction of their culture does not seem so far-reaching of a theory.

This should lead one back to the question, how much confidence should be placed in the Mayan end time predictions? It seems that they were not able to predict the demise of their own culture. What makes you think that they would have any greater ability to predict the demise of the world? As was just stated the Mayan end time prediction of 2012 is just another meaningless event in the cycle of history, not an event based on an understanding of transcendent truth revealed by the personal creator of the universe.