‘End of the World’ theorists were quite excited about Friday’s black moon phenomenon. Having occurred just a few days before the Jewish Festival of Trumpets, doomsday believers put the two things together and concluded that the phenomenon is a sign the world is coming to an end.
Friday’s phenomenon is a rare one, creating excitement among Christians and followers of pagan religions alike. For Christians, the black moon occurring ahead of the Festival of Trumpets was a confirmation of the numerous end-of-times prophecies mentioned in the Bible. The main minds behind these theories had given a call to devout Christians to keep their Bibles at hand because there was no saying what would happen. The occurrence of the black moon was also taken as a sign of Christ’s second coming.
The irony in the issue, pointed out by critics, is the contempt Christians otherwise hold for astrology and planetary predictions. Critics were quick to claim Christians are very biased in their beliefs, in that they fully endorse beliefs that are astrological if they are somehow connected with the Bible, even though they call it ‘satanic’ and ‘evil’ when other systems of beliefs use astrology.
The Black Moon is a phenomenon occurring once every 32 months. It is nothing but a new moon occurring twice in a month rather than once. During a black moon, the earth’s shadow falls on the moon, rendering it invisible. As such, it is a phenomenon that is routine, normal and has absolutely nothing new about it. Critics mocked Christians saying if the black moon really had any of the ominous connotations Christians have attributed to it, then Christ should have been returning to earth again and again.
Christians cite verses from the Bible where prophets have mentioned various astrological signs that will herald the end of the world and the coming of Christ. As such, events such as the blue moon, blood moon and now even the black moon have been taken as fulfillment of these prophecies. However, critics say these phenomena have always been occurring and there is nothing new about them. They say authors of the books in the Bible have only mentioned phenomena they themselves have seen happening in their times. As such, there is nothing special about these rare phases of the moon now.