In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation () is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end. At Revelation 7:14, "the Great Tribulation" () is used to indicate the period spoken of by Jesus. Matthew 24: 21 and 29 uses tribulation (θλίβω) in a context denoting afflictions of those hard-pressed by siege and the calamities of war. Views Christians disagree over whether the Tribulation will be a relatively short period of great hardship before the end of the world and Second Coming of Christ (a school of thought sometimes called "Futurism"); or has already occurred, having happened in AD 70 when Roman legions laid siege to Jerusalem and destroyed its temple (sometimes called Preterism); or began in 538 CE when papal Rome came to power -- popes being anti-Christs -- and will intensify shortly before the end of the world, (sometimes called "Historicist"). Futurism In the futurist view of Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation is a relatively short period of time where everyone will experience worldwide hardships, persecution, disasters, famine, war, pain, and suffering, which will affect all of creation, and precede judgment of all when the Second Coming takes place. Some pretribulationists believe that those who choose to follow God will be raptured before the tribulation, and thus escape it. On the other hand, posttribulationists believe Christians who are alive at the time of the Great Tribulation must endure the Great Tribulation and will receive great blessings. According to dispensationalists who hold the futurist view, the Tribulation is thought to occur before the Second Coming of Jesus and during the End Times. In this view, the Tribulation will last seven prophetic Hebrew years (lasting 360 days each) in all, but the Great Tribulation will be the second half of the Tribulation period. In this view, this seven-year period is considered to be the final week of Daniel's Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, found in Daniel chapter 9. It is theorized that each week represents seven years, with the timetable beginning from Artaxerxes' order to rebuild the Second Temple in Jerusalem. After seven weeks and 62 weeks, the prophecy says that the messiah will be "cut off", which is taken to correspond to the death of Christ. This is seen as creating a break of indeterminate length in the timeline, with one week remaining to be fulfilled. The time