| The Second Coming of Christ By Charles Rose Introduction As I noted in my essay The Darwin Fish, Spirituality, and Me, I was once a Christian. I became an atheist after reading about and carefully considering some philosophical issues related to faith in God. Later, I went back and studied the Bible. As an atheist I found that to be a truly liberating experience. I wrote this essay in part to show to Christians who wish to �save� me, as an alternative to tedious and usually pointless religious discussions. It will hopefully also be useful for other people who haven�t read much of or about the Bible but want to know more. You will need only an open, thoughtful mind and a Bible of your own to verify most of what I say, and I will only be discussing a few very basic issues that any serious student of the Bible will already be familiar with. The Bible that I will be quoting from is the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). This is one of the more accurate translations available, and it is written in modern English for ease of comprehension. Although the King James Version (KJV) is quite popular and poetic to read, it is a less accurate translation and is not as good for serious study. There are no substantive differences between the two translations with respect to the verses that I will be referring to, however, so a KJV will be good enough for verifying my interpretations. I have inserted links to the Bible Gateway online Bible to allow you to check the context of verses online. You may also want to see The Skeptic's Annotated Bible for additional commentary. What Jesus Said about the Second Coming It is widely accepted that Jesus promised to return at the end of the world, but that when that will happen is a mystery. Although this idea is very popular, it contradicts what is written in the Bible. Let�s start with Matthew 16:24-28. These passages read as follows: Then Jesus said to his disciples... �For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.� Jesus is addressing his disciples. In verse 27 he speaks of coming with angels in the glory of God to dispense justice. This can only be a reference to the Second Coming. In the next verse he promises that some of the disciples will live to see �the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.� Clearly, then, the Second Coming was to occur in their lifetimes. Of course, some Christians have their arguments against this interpretation. They contend that the phrase �Son of Man coming in his kingdom� in verse 28 refers to something other than the Second Coming. They might claim that it is a reference to the Transfiguration, the Resurrection, The Pentecost, or even the establishment of the Christian church. All of these claims share the same fatal flaw, however. They all rely on taking the phrase out of context. As I have already pointed out, verse 27 can only be interpreted as a reference to the Second Coming. Therefore the next verse, which is a continuation of the same discourse, must be referring to the Second Coming as well. Similar passages can be found at Mark 8:34-9:1 and Luke 9:23-27. More of What Jesus Said: The Olivet Discourse Next let�s look at chapter 24 of Matthew, in particular verses 3,29,30,33, and 34. This passage is known as the Olivet Discourse. In verses 1 and 2 Jesus prophesies the destruction of the temple, and then (verse 3): When he was sitting at the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, �Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?� Jesus describes a series of signs and tribulations, and then states (verses 29,30,33,34): �Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light: the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 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... So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.� The cataclysmic heavenly events can only indicate the end times, and since �all the tribes of the earth� will be distressed to see �the Son of Man� come �with power and great glory�, it is clearly a prophecy of the Second Coming. But then Jesus proclaims, �Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.� And throughout the discourse, Jesus directs his prophecies to the disciples as follows (emphasis added): Beware that no one leads you astray (verse 4). Then they will hand you over to be tortured... (verse 9) So when you see the desolating sacrilege... (verse 15) Pray that your flight may not be in winter... (verse 20) So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates (verse 33). So again, Jesus promised to return within the lifetimes of some of the disciples, or at least their generation. Not surprisingly, some Christians dispute this interpretation as well. One argument is that Jesus simply meant that the events he described will take place within the span of a single generation, but when this will come to pass is unknown. And when he said �you�, he did not mean the disciples, but instead Christians in general. But again, this does not make sense in context. As you will recall, verse three states that the disciples asked Jesus in private about the matter, and they specifically asked when the events would occur. Since Jesus never indicated otherwise, they would have naturally assumed that the �you� referred to them personally, and they would have thought that the �generation� in question was their own. If Jesus didn�t mean what he plainly seemed to be saying, then the only other explanation is that Jesus deliberately misled (lied to) the disciples, while speaking in a sort of code meant to be understood only by future generations. If you can accept that Jesus was deceitful, then I suppose I can�t argue with you. But that is a trait that is rarely considered divine. Another argument is that the word genea in the original Greek texts, which means generation and is translated as such in verse 34, was actually intended as a synonym for genos, or race. Therefore Jesus, who presumably spoke Aramaic, actually said that the Jewish race would survive until the end, and the Gospel writers just translated his words poorly. This scenario is not plausible, since the word genea is also used in the other versions of this account in Mark 13 and Luke 21. How likely is it that they would all use the same unusual and easily misinterpreted word to represent �race� instead of the logical, easily understood genos? And of course it is irrelevant anyhow. Since Jesus still implied throughout the discourse that the disciples would be witnesses to these events, we must conclude again that he either meant that they would see them, or else that he was deceitful. What Other New Testament Writers Said about the Second Coming It is important to note that the idea that the Second Coming was imminent is echoed throughout the New Testament. See for example Matthew 4:17; I Corinthians 7:29,31; Hebrews 9:22,25,26; James 5:8-9; I Peter 1:20; and The Revelation 3:11. These passages say that �the kingdom of heaven has come near,� that the time until the end �has grown short,� that Jesus was crucified at �the end of the age,� that �the coming of the Lord is near,� that Jesus lived at �the end of the ages,� and that he is �coming soon.� These passages indicate that their writers thought Jesus would return within their lifetimes. So not only do the attempts to rationalize away Jesus� repeated promise fail, but there is also a strong convergence of evidence that these prophecies do, in fact, mean what they seem to mean. Conclusion It seems that we are left with three possibilities: One: Jesus made these prophecies, and he got them wrong. If so, it would seem he was not divine at all. Two: Jesus made these prophecies, but he deceived his disciples (and through them, all early Christians) and did not mean what he seemed to be saying. If so, then he was dishonest, and dishonesty is not considered by most to be divine. Three: Jesus never made these prophecies at all, and the Gospels cannot be trusted. Regardless of which of these possibilities is actually true, I simply cannot accept the claims of the divinity of Jesus. If what is recorded in the Gospels is accurate, then Jesus was not really divine after all. But if what the Bible represents as the teachings of Jesus is false, then the Bible cannot be trusted, and there is no sensible reason to believe in Jesus. Either way, the Bible will not permit me to accept Jesus as my savior. For more on these issues, see Basic Issues Relating To Atheism on my main atheism page. Back to My Essays |