Armageddon

{{christianity}}
{{cquote|The wicked cry alack, alas<br/>
When Jesus comes to kick their ass.<br/>
With a full hogshead of pure whoop-ass,<br/>
The whole wide world will be ta'en to task.|||Poxy Boggards, ''When Jesus Comes''}}
In Christian [[mythology]], '''Armageddon''' is the term for the final battle between the forces of [[God]] and [[Satan]].  Different [[Christianity|Christian]] [[denomination|denominations]] teach variously on what exactly would happen then.  

==Biblical use==
The name specifically refers to the place at which the final eschatological battle would take place, the Hill of Megiddo (הר מגידו, ''har megiddo''). Several [[Old Testament]] battles allegedly took place around Megiddo.  Some Christians believe that a literal battle will take place at or near Megiddo while others see the relevant text as metaphorical.<ref>[http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/armageddon.html];[http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0993.asp]</ref>

Armageddon is more commonly (but slightly incorrectly) used as a [[Bible|Biblical]] term for the actual battle/event between the forces of [[God]] and [[Satan]].  [[Improbable things happen|Rare planetary alignments]] may indicate the start of events leading up to Armageddon, notably the rise of [[Antichrist]].<ref>http://www.countdown.org/faq/</ref>

==Common use==
Figuratively, any battle that would bring about the end of the world can be considered an "Armageddon".  With the advent of [[nuclear weapon]]s and the threat of [[nuclear war]], this has become a real possibility, one that keeps many defense analysts awake during the night and well-paid during the day. It is sometimes used for natural causes of the end of the world, such as in...

==Movie==
''Armageddon'' is also the name of a 1998 [[Science fiction|sci-fi]] action film by Michael Bay, which details a fictional account of a potential [[asteroid]] impact.<ref>IMDb: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120591/ ''Armageddon'' (1998)]</ref>  It is so notorious for its utter defilement of science that [[NASA]] uses it in their management training program, challenging staff to see how many inaccuracies they can spot. And by "inaccuracies", we're not just talking about things that are unlikely to happen in real life — we mean stuff that's downright impossible. In the words of [[Phil Plait]], "''Armageddon'' got some astronomy right. For example, there is an asteroid in the movie, and asteroids do indeed exist. And then there was... um... well, you know... um. Okay, so that was about all they got right."<ref>Bad Astronomy: [http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/armpitageddon.html "The Astronomy of Armageddon"]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Last Judgement]]
*[[RationalWiki|RationalWiki's]] Guide to [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] (the book where 
[[Apostle#John son of Zebedee|John the Apostle]]
 
John the Baptist
 
John the Fisherman
 "John" gets a ''really'' bad trip). See also the [[RationalWiki:Annotated_Bible/Revelation|annotated]] version.
*[[Millennialism]]
*[[Predictions of the end of the world]] (a list)
*[[Ragnarok]]
*[[2012 apocalypse]]
*[[Rapture]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Christian mythology]]
[[Category:End of the world]]

Categories: Bible, Christian mythology, End of the world