The Second Coming Pdf

[Rosella Brain]

TheSecond Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christian belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven (which is said to have occurred about two thousand years ago). The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies. Other faiths have various interpretations of it.

Views about the nature of the Second Coming vary among Christian denominations and among individual Christians. Many specific dates have been predicted for the Second Coming, some now in the distant past, others still in the future.

...he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in his glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. ... We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

A 2010 survey showed that about 40% of Americans believe that Jesus is likely to return by 2050. This varies from 58% of white evangelical Christians, through 32% of Catholics to 27% of white mainline Protestants.[10] Belief in the Second Coming was popularised in the US in the late nineteenth century by the evangelist Dwight L. Moody and the premillennial interpretation became one of the core components of Christian fundamentalism in the 1920s.

The most common English translation of genea is "generation",[12] which lead some to conclude that the Second Coming was to be witnessed by the people living in the same generation as Jesus. According to historian Charles Freeman, early Christians expected Jesus to return within a generation of his death, and the non-occurrence of the second coming surprised them.[13] N. T. Wright disputes this.[14]

In most German Bibles, genea is instead translated as "family/lineage" (Geschlecht).[15] Likewise for Danish, Swedish and Norwegian (slgt, slkte and slekt, respectively).[16][17][18] The Danish linguist Iver Larsen argues that the word "generation" as it was used in the King James Version of the Bible (1611) had a wider meaning than it has today, and that the correct translation of genea in the context of the second coming is "kind of people" (specifically the "good" kind of people; the disciple's kind of people, who, like the words of Jesus, will endure through all the tribulations). In Psalm 14, the King James version uses "generation" in this wide and outdated sense, when it declares that "God is in the generation of the righteous".[19] According to Larsen, the Oxford Universal Dictionary states that the latest attested use of genea in the sense of "class, kind or set of persons" dates from 1727. Larsen concludes that the meaning of "generation" in the English language has narrowed considerably since then.[20]

Bible scholar Philip La Grange du Toit argues that genea is mostly used to describe a timeless and spiritual family/lineage of good or bad people in the New Testament, and that this is the case also for the second coming discourse in Matthew 24. In contrast to Larsen however, he argues that the word genea here denotes the "bad kind of people", because Jesus had used the word in that pejorative sense in the preceding context (chapter 23). He also lists the main competing translation alternatives, and some of the scholars who support the different views:

He makes similar predictions in five other places in the Gospels.[23] In religious sceptic Victor J. Stenger's view, when the coming did not happen within the life-times of his disciples, Christianity changed its emphasis to the resurrection and promise of eternal life.[24] A competing view is that it is Jesus' coming in power on the mountain that provides the correct interpretative frame for the "not taste death" statement. The author of Second Peter describes the event:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

Some Preterists see this "coming of the Son of Man in glory" primarily fulfilled in Jesus's death on the cross. They believe the apocalyptic signs are already fulfilled including "the sun will be dark",[27] the "powers ... will be shaken",[28] and "then they will see".[29] Yet some critics note that many are missing, such as "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."[30][31] And "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."[32][33]

According to the Catholic Church, the second coming will happen in a single moment, suddenly and unexpectedly (not even the angels, saints, or demons know when it will occur).[34] It will cause the fullness of the reign of God and the consummation of the universe and mankind.[35]

The fullness of the reign of God means God fully manifests the victory he won over his enemies (sin, suffering, and Satan) on the Cross.[36] Just as God gradually revealed himself to Israel until the birth of Jesus,[37] so also God gradually manifests his victory through the church's sacraments (baptism, forgiving sin, exorcising Satan, holy unction, relieving suffering, etc.),[38] until the moment when he will fully manifest his victory through the consummation of the universe and mankind, e.g., by granting the universe and mankind a share in Jesus' resurrection (the universe being transfigured and the dead being resurrected, judged, and recompensed).[39][40]

The church does not believe the second coming will happen via a catastrophe (such as a nuclear war or extinction event),[41] reincarnation (such as someone claiming to be Jesus),[42] social or technological progress (such as mankind abolishing slavery or curing disease), or ascendancy (such as the church having political power).[43] Nor does the church believe in double predestination.[44]

Like many Christian denominations, the church considers this second coming of Christ to be the final and eternal judgment by God of the people in every nation[51] resulting in the glorification of some and the punishment of others. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew.

It is the traditional view of Orthodox Christians, preserved from the early Church, that the Second Coming will be a sudden and unmistakable incident, like "a flash of lightning".[53] They hold the general view that Jesus will not spend any time on the earth in ministry or preaching, but come to judge mankind.[54] They teach that the ministry of the Antichrist will take place right before the Second Coming.[54]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a part of the Oriental Orthodox communion of churches, teaches that the second coming of Jesus will be radically different from his first coming, which "was to save the lost world".[55]

Orthodox layman Alexander Kalomiros explains the original Church's position regarding the Second Coming in River of Fire[56] and Against False Union,[57] stating that those who contend that Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years "do not wait for Christ, but for the Antichrist". The idea of Jesus returning to this earth as a king is a heretical concept to the Church, equated to "the expectations of the Jews who wanted the Messiah to be an earthly King." The Church instead teaches that which it has taught since the beginning.[clarification needed]

A reference to the second coming is contained in the Nicene Creed and Apostles Creed, which is recited during the Lutheran and Anglican liturgies: "He [Jesus] shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and His kingdom shall have no end." An analogous statement is also in the biblical Pauline Creed (1 Corinthians 15:23).[58]

Methodist denominations differ on the nature of the Second Coming. For example, the United Methodist Church does not teach that there will be a "rapture".[63] On the other hand, the Evangelical Methodist Church Conference teaches, with regard to the Second Coming of Christ:[64]

The standard works of the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), say that Christ will return, as stated in the Bible. They also teach that

When the Savior comes again, He will come in power and glory to claim the earth as His kingdom. His Second Coming will mark the beginning of the Millennium. The Second Coming will be a fearful, mournful time for the wicked, but it will be a day of peace for the righteous.[65]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders do not make predictions of the actual date of the Second Coming. Mormons believe Jesus appeared to his "new world disciples" in the Americas sometime after his crucifixion. This is a central tenet of the religion.[66]

Latter-day Saints have particularly distinct and specific interpretations of what are considered to be signs stated in the Book of Revelation.[67]According to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the restored gospel will be taught in all parts of the world prior to the Second Coming.[68] Church members believe that there will be increasingly severe wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other man-made and natural disasters prior to the Second Coming.[69]

The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the church, the grand climax of the gospel. The Saviour's coming will be literal, personal, visible, and worldwide. When He returns, the righteous dead will be resurrected, and together with the righteous living will be glorified and taken to heaven, but the unrighteous will die. The almost complete fulfillment of most lines of prophecy, together with the present condition of the world, indicates that Christ's coming is imminent. The time of that event has not been revealed, and we are therefore exhorted to be ready at all times.[70][71]

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