Great Events of the Twenty-first Century

In the Beginning

Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.—Luke 21:26

We are less than a decade into the twenty-first century, and we have already experienced a number of momentous events. These come from every area of the political, social, and scientific spectrum. Choosing eight for this cursory analysis is, at best, subjective. However, we trust these will be of interest to all our readers.

Weather affects every one of us, and The Great Climate Debate discusses this important subject from a Christian perspective. Another highly controversial scientific area, Human Cloning, is examined in the following article.

Two hotly contested elections in the U.S. with acrimonious divisions between Republicans and Democrats have fed an ever-growing rift between these two political rivals. This trend is described in A World Divided.

The following article looks at the events associated with a man whose life touched thousands of others, and whose accomplishments were perhaps more noted for their political than for their religious impact. Pope John Paul II is the subject of A House Divided.

The twin bombings of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., opened a new era in world conflict. This has, in turn, unleashed a “war on terrorism” and its leading sponsor Al-Qaeda. The cost in money and lives is the basis for A New World Disorder.

The awesome powers of nature is the subject of Biblical Earthquakes: What Do They Mean? Natural disasters such as cyclones, floods, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions have increased in the past few years and have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

The final article, The Heathen Rage, chronicles the rise of emerging nations with their powerful impact on the geopolitical stage. Highlighted are the twin economic influences of China and India.

It is not our aim to alarm our readers, but to look optimistically at these developments as “signs of the times” of the nearness of the kingdom for which we all pray so fervently (Matthew 6:10). May its nearness energize us to be faithful even unto the end.