In further proof that everything can be, has been, or is being quantified, check out this quantification of the end of the world. No, I don’t mean MacKenzie’s fascinating work on “the end of the world trade” (insurance against massive economic collapse), but rather The Rapture Index. Billed as “the prophetic speedometer of end-time activity”, the index adds up measures of 45 variables including “False Christs”, “Moral Standards”, “The Economy”, “Mark of the Beast”, and “Volcanoes”. In case you’re worried, the index currently measures 182, up one point as of the most recent tabulation. Here’s the full description of the purpose of the index:

The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we’re moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.

Submitted by Carl, with this note: “My interpretation is that God plays dice, but His probability distribution is conditioned on Jimmy Carter’s latest public statement on the one-state solution.”