Oxford and Cambridge academics are claiming that the end of civilization could be closer than many think.
According to the Daily Mail, Oxford’s Toby Ord, an expert on artificial intelligence, says the odds of humanity being wiped out within 75 years are the same as a game of Russian roulette—“one-in-six.” His colleague Nick Bostrom is even more pessimistic, estimating a one-in-four chance of extinction by the next century. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond gives humanity no better than even odds of survival beyond 2050.
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Cambridge researcher Luke Kemp, in a chilling new book, argues that civilizations always collapse. “Every civilization in human history has been ‘self-terminating,’” he writes, pointing to a recurring pattern of greed, inequality, corruption, over-expansion, and environmental ruin. He warns that the modern “globalized Goliath” is far more fragile than empires of the past—when it falls, there may be nothing left to replace it.
The article lays out a litany of existential threats: nuclear weapons, climate change, pandemics created through biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and even solar flares capable of destroying modern infrastructure. It also notes how billionaires such as PayPal’s Peter Thiel and OpenAI’s Sam Altman are preparing luxury bunkers and escape plans. Yet Kemp warns that such measures are futile, since societies built on coercion and inequality always fail.
The Bible as the Authoritative Voice
While scientists describe frightening scenarios and the wealthy scramble to prepare, Scripture has already revealed how history will unfold. Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 that there would be “wars and rumors of wars… famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” These align with the very threats scientists fear today—nuclear war, pandemics and natural disasters.
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The Daily Mail highlights the danger of viruses engineered to spread rapidly through air travel. Revelation 16 speaks of plagues that will strike the nations in the last days. Climate change is described as unfolding at unprecedented speed, but Revelation 16:8-9 foretells a judgment where men are “scorched with great heat.” Even the fear of artificial intelligence echoes the prophetic warning of Revelation 13, where the Antichrist will use a system to demand global worship and control.
God, Not Man, Decides the End
Scientists warn that humanity’s destruction may be inevitable and imminent, but the Bible declares that the end does not rest in human hands. Acts 17:31 reminds us that God “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.”
The Daily Mail compared the threats facing mankind to a revolver loaded with bullets of nuclear war, climate catastrophe, artificial intelligence, and pandemics. But Scripture reminds us that no weapon or invention will decide the fate of creation—God alone will.
Fear or Faith?
The world may tremble at predictions of annihilation and billionaires may build bunkers, but Christians know the truth: these warnings echo the prophetic words given nearly 2,000 years ago. Revelation tells us plainly that the kingdoms of this world will collapse, judgment will come, and Jesus Christ will return to establish His eternal reign.
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While the world’s experts frame the end in terms of chaos and chance, the Bible shows us it is neither. It is the outworking of God’s plan. And though these events cause fear in the hearts of many, for those who trust in Christ they are reminders that the pages of Revelation are unfolding exactly as God said they would.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
