The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia ) is the Christian and Muslim 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.
106-570: Several different terms are used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ: In the New Testament , the Greek word ἐπιφάνεια ( epiphaneia , appearing) is used six times to refer to the return of Christ. The Greek New Testament uses the Greek term parousia (παρουσία, meaning "arrival", "coming", or "presence") 24 times, seventeen of them concerning Christ. However, parousia has the distinct reference to
212-570: A 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae ( Divine Institutes ): But all scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets —is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of
318-571: A 4th-century bishop of Alexandria , dated to 367 AD. The 27-book New Testament was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) in North Africa. Pope Innocent I ratified the same canon in 405, but it is probable that a Council in Rome in 382 under Pope Damasus I gave the same list first. These councils also provided the canon of the Old Testament, which included
424-629: A Gentile, and similarly for the Gospel of Matthew, though most assert Jewish-Christian authorship. However, more recently the above understanding has been challenged by the publication of evidence showing only educated elites after the Jewish War would have been capable of producing the prose found in the Gospels. Authorship of the Gospels remains divided among both evangelical and critical scholars. The names of each Gospel stems from church tradition, and yet
530-463: A corpus of fourteen "Pauline" epistles. While many scholars uphold the traditional view, some question whether the first three, called the "Deutero-Pauline Epistles", are authentic letters of Paul. As for the latter three, the "Pastoral epistles", some scholars uphold the traditional view of these as the genuine writings of the Apostle Paul; most regard them as pseudepigrapha . One might refer to
636-658: A different tradition and body of testimony. In addition, most scholars agree that the author of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles . Scholars hold that these books constituted two-halves of a single work, Luke–Acts . The same author appears to have written the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and most refer to them as the Lucan texts. The most direct evidence comes from the prefaces of each book; both were addressed to Theophilus , and
742-451: A lord over them, saith the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: 'Know the LORD'; for they shall all know Me, from
848-465: A period of time rather than an instant in time. At Matthew 24:37 , the word parousia is used to clearly describe the period of time in which Noah lived. The Greek word eleusi s, which means "coming", is not interchangeable with parousia . So this parousia or "presence" would be unique and distinct from anything that had occurred before. The word is also used six times referring to individuals ( Stephanas , Fortunatus and Achaicus , Titus , and Paul
954-511: A scholarly consensus that many New Testament books were not written by the individuals whose names are attached to them. Scholarly opinion is that names were fixed to the gospels by the mid second century AD. Many scholars believe that none of the gospels were written in the region of Palestine . Christian tradition identifies John the Apostle with John the Evangelist , the supposed author of
1060-481: 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
1166-594: A uniformity of doctrine concerning the Mosaic Law , Jesus, faith, and various other issues. All of these letters easily fit into the chronology of Paul's journeys depicted in Acts of the Apostles. The author of the Epistle of James identifies himself in the opening verse as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ". From the middle of the 3rd century, patristic authors cited the Epistle as written by James
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#17328372838321272-604: A variety of reasons the majority of modern scholars have abandoned it or hold it only tenuously. It is significantly different from the synoptic gospels, with major variations in material, theological emphasis, chronology, and literary style, sometimes amounting to contradictions. Psalm 14 Psalm 14 is the 14th psalm of the Book of Psalms , beginning in English in the King James Version : "The fool hath said in his heart, There
1378-510: 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. Belief in
1484-567: Is "generation", which led 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. N. T. Wright disputes this. In most German Bibles, genea is instead translated as "family/lineage" (Geschlecht). Likewise for Danish, Swedish and Norwegian (slægt, släkte and slekt, respectively). The Danish linguist Iver Larsen argues that
1590-555: Is a God" instead of "no God". The printers involved were fined £3,000 (a large sum of money at the time) for the mistake and all copies of the misprinted bible were ordered destroyed. There is an additional passage after verse 3 which is present in the Septuagint , the Vulgate , and one Hebrew manuscript, but missing from the Masoretic text and from Psalm 53. The passage (and verses 2 and 3)
1696-554: Is a distinction between the cosmic Christ, or Christ without, and the Christ within. According to this tradition, the Christ within is regarded as the true Saviour who needs to be born within each individual in order to evolve toward the future Sixth Epoch in the Earth's etheric plane , that is, toward the "new heavens and a new earth": the New Galilee . The Second Coming or Advent of the Christ
1802-640: Is considered to be a Messenger of God and the masih (messiah) who was sent to guide banī isrā'īl (the Israelites) with a new scripture, the Injīl (Gospel). The belief in Jesus (and all other messengers of God) is required in Islam , and a requirement of being a Muslim . However, Muslims believe that Jesus was never crucified or resurrected, instead ascending directly into heaven. Additionally, they do not recognize Jesus as
1908-448: Is foreign to the original Hebrew word brit (בְּרִית) describing it, which only means 'alliance, covenant, pact' and never 'inheritance instructions after death'. This use comes from the transcription of Latin testamentum 'will (left after death)', a literal translation of Greek diatheke (διαθήκη) 'will (left after death)', which is the word used to translate Hebrew brit in the Septuagint . The choice of this word diatheke , by
2014-476: Is in the generation of the righteous". 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. Bible scholar Philip La Grange du Toit argues that genea is mostly used to describe
2120-585: Is no God." In the Bible when something or someone is referenced to being "foolish", this means that this person is "someone who disregards God's word". He refers to them as corrupt and does work that is hateful when it says "abominable". David is making it clear that without God, man cannot do any good because we have a sinful nature. One who does not believe in God, is susceptible to hatefulness and corrupt behavior. According to some Christian exegesis , David begins to reference
2226-682: Is no God." In the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate , it is psalm 13 in a slightly different numbering, " Dixit insipiens in corde suo ". Its authorship is traditionally assigned to King David . With minor differences, it is nearly identical in content with Psalm 53 . Hermann Gunkel dates the psalm to the exile period. The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish , Catholic , Lutheran , Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It has been paraphrased in hymns such as Luther's " Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl ". The following table shows
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#17328372838322332-496: Is none that doeth good, not even one. An open grave is their throat, their tongue speaketh smoothly. Asp venom is under their tongue, whose mouth is full of cursing and deceit. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Misfortune and evil injury are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. David is telling the audience that it is foolish to not believe in God. The opening statement says, "The fool hath said in his heart, There
2438-568: Is not in a physical body, but in the new soul body of each individual in the etheric plane of the planet where man "shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." The "day and hour" of this event is not known. The esoteric Christian tradition teaches that first there will be a preparatory period as the Sun enters Aquarius , an astrological concept, by precession: the coming Age of Aquarius . In Islam, Jesus (or Isa ; Arabic : عيسى ʿĪsā )
2544-560: Is now disclosed. ... This Second Coming of the Lord is effected by means of a man to whom the Lord has manifested Himself in Person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, that he may teach the doctrines of the New Church from the Lord by means of the Word. ... That the Lord manifested Himself before me. His servant, and sent me to this office, ... I affirm in truth." In Max Heindel 's teaching, there
2650-452: Is often thought that John the Apostle is John the Evangelist , i.e. author of the Gospel of John ) or to another John designated " John of Patmos " after the island where the text says the revelation was received (1:9). Some ascribe the writership date as c. 81–96 AD, and others at around 68 AD. The work opens with letters to seven local congregations of Asia Minor and thereafter takes
2756-476: Is questioned 5:116 "Did you ever ask the people to worship you and your mother as gods besides Allah?" To which Jesus replies 5:117 "I never told them anything except what You ordered me to say: "Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord!" And I was witness over them as long as I remained among them." New Testament The New Testament ( NT ) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon . It discusses
2862-632: Is quoted in full in Romans 3 :13-18, taken from the Septuagint. The Hebrew of this passage, including verse 3, reads: הַכֹּל סָר יַחְדָּו נֶאֱלָחוּ אֵין עֹשֵׂה טוֹב אֵין גַּם אֶחָד׃ קֶבֶר פָּתוּחַ גְּרוֹנָם לְשׁוֹנָם יַחֲלִיקוּן חֲמַת עַכְשׁוּב תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנָם אֲשֶׁר פִּיהֶם אָלָה וּמִרְמָה מָלֵא קַלּוּ רַגְלֵיהֶם לִשְׁפּוֹךְ דָּם׃ מַזָּל רַע וּפֶגַע רַע בְּדַרְכֵיהֶם וְדֶרֶךְ שָׁלוֹם לֹא יָדְעוּ אֵין פַּחַד אֱלֹהִים לְנֶגֶד עֵינֵיהֶם׃ They are all gone aside, they are together become filthy. There
2968-482: Is recognized by "all of Israel", and it will be followed by a final and ultimate temptation to sin – in this case, apostasy – caused by the antichrist . Yet there are three things that hasten the second coming: the celebration of the Eucharist ; Christians living with the mind of Jesus; and Christians praying for the Second Coming. Like many Christian denominations, the church considers this second coming of Christ to be
3074-476: Is scholarly debate as to the reason why the translators of the Septuagint chose the term diatheke to translate Hebrew brit , instead of another Greek word generally used to refer to an alliance or covenant. The use of the phrase New Testament ( Koine Greek : Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη , Hē Kainḕ Diathḗkē ) to describe a collection of first- and second-century Christian Greek scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian in his work Against Praxeas . Irenaeus uses
3180-455: Is written as follows: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James". The debate has continued over the author's identity as the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. The Gospel of John, the three Johannine epistles , and the Book of Revelation , exhibit marked similarities, although more so between the gospel and the epistles (especially the gospel and 1 John) than between those and Revelation. Most scholars therefore treat
3286-559: The Age of Enlightenment ) was an age of darkness and doubt for the Christian church. Historian Marguerite Beck Block writes, Now therefore it was time for a new church to be founded upon the earth, and for this purpose it was necessary for the Lord Himself to make his Second Coming to the sons of men. "The night is followed by a morning which is the coming of the Lord. ... The prevailing opinion in
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3392-614: The Epistle to the Laodiceans and the Third Epistle to the Corinthians as examples of works identified as pseudonymous. Since the early centuries of the church, there has been debate concerning the authorship of the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews, and contemporary scholars generally reject Pauline authorship. The epistles all share common themes, emphasis, vocabulary and style; they exhibit
3498-618: The Evangelical Methodist Church Conference teaches, with regard to the Second Coming of Christ: We believe that the coming of our Lord is to be personal and pre-millenial, also that it is imminent. We must distinguish between the Rapture—His coming in the air to receive his saints, which may occur at any moment, and the Revelation—His coming down to earth with His saints, the latter of which will not occur until after
3604-434: The Gospel of John . Traditionalists tend to support the idea that the writer of the Gospel of John himself claimed to be an eyewitness in their commentaries of John 21 :24 and therefore the gospel was written by an eyewitness. This idea is rejected by the majority of modern scholars. Most scholars hold to the two-source hypothesis , which posits that the Gospel of Mark was the first gospel to be written . On this view,
3710-453: The Jewish Bible 's Book of Jeremiah , Judaism traditionally disagrees: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke My covenant, although I was
3816-623: The Mystery of Faith in their liturgies: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." Methodist denominations teach that the Second Coming is connected with the Last Judgment, as professed in the Creeds. 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 ". On the other hand,
3922-721: The Son of God , as they believe God has no equals, but rather that he was a prophet. The Quran states that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary . Muslims believe that Jesus performed all the miracles in the Gospels (with God's permission). The pertinent verses in Sura An-Nisa 4:157 reads "And for their saying, 'Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.' And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another
4028-471: The deuterocanonical books. There is no scholarly consensus on the date of composition of the latest New Testament texts. John A. T. Robinson , Dan Wallace , and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Many other scholars, such as Bart D. Ehrman and Stephen L. Harris , date some New Testament texts much later than this; Richard Pervo dated Luke–Acts to c. 115 AD , and David Trobisch places Acts in
4134-461: The resurrection and promise of eternal life . 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
4240-611: The 2nd century. The Pauline letters are the thirteen New Testament books that present Paul the Apostle as their author. Paul's authorship of six of the letters is disputed. Four are thought by most modern scholars to be pseudepigraphic , i.e., not actually written by Paul even if attributed to him within the letters themselves. Opinion is more divided on the other two disputed letters (2 Thessalonians and Colossians). These letters were written to Christian communities in specific cities or geographical regions, often to address issues faced by that particular community. Prominent themes include
4346-636: The Apostle ( Acts 16:10–17 ; arguing for an authorship date of c. AD 62 ), which is corroborated by Paul's Letter to the Colossians ( Col. 4:14 ), Letter to Philemon ( Philem. 23–24 ), and Second Letter to Timothy ( 2 Tim. 4:11 ), the gospel account of Luke "was received as having apostolic endorsement and authority from Paul and as a trustworthy record of the gospel that Paul preached" (e.g. Rom. 2:16 , according to Eusebius in Ecclesiastical History 3.4.8). The word testament in
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4452-448: The Apostle ) and once referring to the "coming of the lawless one ". Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1908) showed that the Greek word parousia occurred as early as the 3rd century BC to describe the visit of a king or dignitary to a city – a visit arranged in order to show the visitor's magnificence to the people. In Islam, the term Rajʽa ( Arabic : الرجعة , romanized : al-rajʿah , lit. 'Return') refers to
4558-437: The Apostles is a narrative of the apostles' ministry and activity after Christ's death and resurrection, from which point it resumes and functions as a sequel to the Gospel of Luke . Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and the Gospel of Luke share the same author, referred to as Luke–Acts . Luke–Acts does not name its author. Church tradition identified him as Luke
4664-504: 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. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders do not make predictions of
4770-470: The Biblical sources ( Matthew 25:31 – 46 ), the conjunction of the Last Judgment and the works of mercy is very frequent in the pictorial tradition of Christian art . 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". They hold the general view that Jesus will not spend any time on
4876-610: The Epistle to the Hebrews does not internally claim to have been written by the Apostle Paul , some similarities in wordings to some of the Pauline Epistles have been noted and inferred. In antiquity, some began to ascribe it to Paul in an attempt to provide the anonymous work an explicit apostolic pedigree. In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported Paul's authorship . The Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as
4982-437: The Evangelist , the companion of Paul, but the majority of scholars reject this due to the many differences between Acts and the authentic Pauline letters, though most scholars still believe the author, whether named Luke or not, met Paul . The most probable date of composition is around 80–90 AD, although some scholars date it significantly later, and there is evidence that it was still being substantially revised well into
5088-640: 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. The position associating the Second Coming with 1st century events such as the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish Temple in AD 70 is known as Preterism. Some Preterists see this "coming of
5194-407: The Gospels were written forty to sixty years after the death of Jesus. They thus do not present eyewitness or contemporary accounts of Jesus's life and teaching." The ESV Study Bible claims the following (as one argument for gospel authenticity): Because Luke , as a second generation Christian, claims to have retrieved eyewitness testimony ( Luke 1:1–4 ), in addition to having traveled with Paul
5300-672: The Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain ). In 1763, in Britain, a version of the King James Bible was published that had a very noticeable misprint in the first verse of Psalm 14 which completely reversed the meaning of that verse. The misprint changed the start of the verse to "The fool hath said in his heart, There
5406-513: The Jewish translators of the Septuagint in Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd century BCE, has been understood in Christian theology to imply a reinterpreted view of the Old Testament covenant with Israel as possessing characteristics of a 'will left after death' (the death of Jesus ) and has generated considerable attention from biblical scholars and theologians: in contrast to the Jewish usage where brit
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#17328372838325512-661: The Just . Ancient and modern scholars have always been divided on the issue of authorship. Many consider the epistle to be written in the late 1st or early 2nd centuries. The author of the First Epistle of Peter identifies himself in the opening verse as "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ", and the view that the epistle was written by St. Peter is attested to by a number of Church Fathers : Irenaeus (140–203), Tertullian (150–222), Clement of Alexandria (155–215) and Origen of Alexandria (185–253). Unlike The Second Epistle of Peter ,
5618-517: The New Testament were all or nearly all written by Jewish Christians —that is, Jewish disciples of Christ, who lived in the Roman Empire , and under Roman occupation . The author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is frequently thought of as an exception; scholars are divided as to whether he was a Gentile or a Hellenistic Jew . A few scholars identify the author of the Gospel of Mark as probably
5724-521: The New Testament were only a few among many other early Christian gospels. The existence of such texts is even mentioned at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke. Many non-canonical gospels were also written, all later than the four canonical gospels, and like them advocating the particular theological views of their various authors. In modern scholarship, the Synoptic Gospels are the primary sources for reconstructing Christ's ministry. The Acts of
5830-546: The New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us, made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new testament to
5936-403: The Old Testament canon varies somewhat between different Christian denominations , the 27-book canon of the New Testament has been almost universally recognized within Christianity since at least Late Antiquity . Thus, in almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books: The earliest known complete list of the 27 books is found in a letter written by Athanasius ,
6042-490: 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. Jesus told his disciples , Truly I tell you, this generation [greek: genea ] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. The most common English translation of genea
6148-418: The Second Coming. The term is most commonly used by Shia Muslims . 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. Most English versions of the Nicene Creed include the following statements: ...he ascended into heaven and
6254-400: 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 ", the "powers ... will be shaken", and "then they will see". 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
6360-414: 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. Latter-day Saints have particularly distinct and specific interpretations of what are considered to be signs stated in the Book of Revelation . According to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
6466-420: The angels, saints, or demons know when it will occur). It will cause the fullness of the reign of God and the consummation of the universe and mankind. 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. Just as God gradually revealed himself to Israel until the birth of Jesus, so also God gradually manifests his victory through
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#17328372838326572-419: The authors of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke used as sources the Gospel of Mark and a hypothetical Q document to write their individual gospel accounts. These three gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels , because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes in exactly the same wording. Scholars agree that the Gospel of John was written last, by using
6678-440: The authors of the Gospels do not identify themselves in their respective texts. All four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are anonymous works . The Gospel of John claims to be based on eyewitness testimony from the Disciple whom Jesus loved , but never names this character. The author of Luke-Acts claimed to access an eyewitness to Paul ; this claim remains accepted by most scholars. Objections to this viewpoint mainly take
6784-436: The authorship of which was debated in antiquity, there was little debate about Peter's authorship of this first epistle until the 18th century. Although 2 Peter internally purports to be a work of the apostle, many biblical scholars have concluded that Peter is not the author. For an early date and (usually) for a defense of the Apostle Peter's authorship see Kruger, Zahn, Spitta, Bigg, and Green. The Epistle of Jude title
6890-407: The beginning. 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 ). The Lutheran and Anglican churches proclaim
6996-400: The blink of an eye: the living will die, the universe will be transfigured, and the dead will be resurrected, judged, and recompensed. After this single instant or moment, the church does not know what will happen for the rest of eternity – only that the damned will continue to be in hell and the saved will continue to experience the beatific vision . The second coming is suspended until Jesus
7102-414: The church's sacraments (baptism, forgiving sin, exorcising Satan, holy unction, relieving suffering, etc.), 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). The church does not believe
7208-410: The churches at the present day is, that when the Lord shall come for the last judgment. He will appear in the clouds of heaven with angels and the sound of trumpets, etc.," but this opinion is erroneous. The Second Coming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in spirit and in the Word, which is from Him, and is Himself. ... Heretofore it has not been known that 'the clouds of heaven' mean the Word in
7314-400: The drawing up of his Antitheses, centres in this, that he may establish a diversity between the Old and the New Testaments, so that his own Christ may be separate from the Creator , as belonging to this rival God, and as alien from the law and the prophets . By the 4th century , the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius ,
7420-423: The earth in ministry or preaching, but come to judge mankind. They teach that the ministry of the Antichrist will take place right before the Second Coming. 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". Orthodox layman Alexander Kalomiros explains
7526-431: The elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." 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." According to the Catholic Church , the second coming will happen in a single moment, suddenly and unexpectedly (not even
7632-459: The epistle to the Hebrews, based on its distinctive style and theology, which are considered to set it apart from Paul's writings. The final book of the New Testament is the Book of Revelation , also known as the Apocalypse of John. In the New Testament canon, it is considered prophetical or apocalyptic literature . Its authorship has been attributed either to John the Apostle (in which case it
7738-634: The expression "New Testament" refers to a Christian new covenant that Christians believe completes or fulfils the Mosaic covenant (the Jewish covenant) that Yahweh (the God of Israel) made with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses , described in the books of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. While Christianity traditionally even claims this Christian new covenant as being prophesied in
7844-561: The final and eternal judgment by God of the people in every nation 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 . A decisive factor in this Last Judgment during the second coming of Christ will be the question of whether the corporal and spiritual works of mercy were practised or not during lifetime. They rate as important acts of mercy, charity and justice. Therefore, and according to
7950-456: The final battle of Armageddon . Other biblical expressions they correlate with this period include "the time of the end" ( Daniel 12:4 ), "the conclusion of the system of things" ( Matthew 13:40 , 49 ; 24:3 ) and "the last days" ( 2 Timothy 3:1 ; 2 Peter 3:3 ). Witnesses believe Christ's millennial reign begins after Armageddon. Emanuel Swedenborg , an 18th-century scientist turned theologian, taught that his time (that historians have called
8056-444: The five as a single corpus of Johannine literature , albeit not from the same author. The gospel went through two or three "editions" before reaching its current form around AD 90–110. It speaks of an unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" as the source of its traditions, but does not say specifically that he is its author; Christian tradition identifies this disciple as the apostle John , but while this idea still has supporters, for
8162-572: The form of an apocalypse , a "revealing" of divine prophecy and mysteries, a literary genre popular in ancient Judaism and Christianity. The order in which the books of the New Testament appear differs between some collections and ecclesiastical traditions. In the Latin West, prior to the Vulgate (an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible), the four Gospels were arranged in the following order: Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark. The Syriac Peshitta places
8268-484: The form of the following two interpretations, but also include the claim that Luke-Acts contains differences in theology and historical narrative which are irreconcilable with the authentic letters of Paul the Apostle . According to Bart D. Ehrman of the University of North Carolina , none of the authors of the Gospels were eyewitnesses or even explicitly claimed to be eyewitnesses of Jesus's life. Ehrman has argued for
8374-514: The fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation . The letter to the Hebrews had difficulty in being accepted as part of the Christian canon because of its anonymity. As early as the 3rd century, Origen wrote of the letter, "Men of old have handed it down as Paul's, but who wrote the Epistle God only knows." Contemporary scholars often reject Pauline authorship for
8480-457: The gathering of Israel, the manifestation of Antichrist, and other prophesied events. Ezek. 36:24, 37:21; Matt. 24:27; 25:13; 26-29; Acts 1:9-11; I Thess. 4:14-17; II Thess. 2:8-10; Rev. 19:20; 20:4; 22:12 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
8586-537: 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. Jehovah's Witnesses rarely use
8692-414: The house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord." ... For that which He said above, that He would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses
8798-444: The late second century, the four narrative accounts of the life and work of Jesus Christ have been referred to as "The Gospel of ..." or "The Gospel according to ..." followed by the name of the supposed author. The first author to explicitly name the canonical gospels is Irenaeus of Lyon , who promoted the four canonical gospels in his book Against Heresies , written around 180. These four gospels that were eventually included in
8904-414: The least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. The word covenant means 'agreement' (from Latin con-venio 'to agree' lit. 'to come together'): the use of the word testament , which describes the different idea of written instructions for inheritance after death, to refer to the covenant with Israel in the Old Testament,
9010-581: The major Catholic epistles (James, 1 Peter, and 1 John) immediately after Acts and before the Pauline epistles. The order of an early edition of the letters of Paul is based on the size of the letters: longest to shortest, though keeping 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians together. The Pastoral epistles were apparently not part of the Corpus Paulinum in which this order originated and were later inserted after 2 Thessalonians and before Philemon. Hebrews
9116-557: The mid-to-late second century, contemporaneous with the publication of the first New Testament canon. Whether the Gospels were composed before or after 70 AD, according to Bas van Os, the lifetime of various eyewitnesses that includes Jesus's own family through the end of the First Century is very likely statistically. Markus Bockmuehl finds this structure of lifetime memory in various early Christian traditions. The New Oxford Annotated Bible claims, "Scholars generally agree that
9222-623: The original Church's position regarding the Second Coming in River of Fire and Against False Union , 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
9328-475: The phrase New Testament several times, but does not use it in reference to any written text. In Against Marcion , written c. 208 AD, Tertullian writes of: the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two testaments of the law and the gospel . And Tertullian continues later in the book, writing: it is certain that the whole aim at which he [ Marcion ] has strenuously laboured, even in
9434-496: The post-resurrection appearances, but the emptiness of the tomb implies a resurrection). The word "gospel" derives from the Old English gōd-spell (rarely godspel ), meaning "good news" or "glad tidings". Its Hebrew equivalent being "besorah" (בְּשׂוֹרָה). The gospel was considered the "good news" of the coming Kingdom of Messiah , and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, the central Christian message. Starting in
9540-563: The preceding epistles. These letters are believed by many to be pseudepigraphic. Some scholars (e.g., Bill Mounce, Ben Witherington, R.C. Sproul) will argue that the letters are genuinely Pauline, or at least written under Paul's supervision. The Epistle to the Hebrews addresses a Jewish audience who had come to believe that Jesus was the Anointed One (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ—transliterated in English as "Moshiach", or "Messiah"; Greek: Χριστός—transliterated in English as "Christos", for " Christ ") who
9646-462: The preface to the Acts of the Apostles references "my former book" about the ministry of Jesus. Furthermore, there are linguistic and theological similarities between the two works, suggesting that they have a common author. The Pauline epistles are the thirteen books in the New Testament traditionally attributed to Paul of Tarsus . Seven letters are generally classified as "undisputed", expressing contemporary scholarly near consensus that they are
9752-585: The relationship both to broader " pagan " society, to Judaism, and to other Christians. [Disputed letters are marked with an asterisk (*).] The last four Pauline letters in the New Testament are addressed to individual persons. They include the following: [Disputed letters are marked with an asterisk (*).] All of the above except for Philemon are known as the pastoral epistles . They are addressed to individuals charged with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and leadership. They often address different concerns to those of
9858-479: The restored gospel will be taught in all parts of the world prior to the Second Coming. Church members believe that there will be increasingly severe wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other man-made and natural disasters prior to the Second Coming. Fundamental Belief #25 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church states: The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the church, the grand climax of
9964-450: The return of Christ to retrieve his people. When he discusses the salvation of Israel and bringing them out of captivity, he is saying that the Lord will bring the ones who call on his name and are his believers to safety, away from the dominion of sin on the earth. Some verses of Psalm 14 are referenced in the New Testament . Verses 1c, 2b, 3 are quoted in Romans 3:10–12 In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer , Psalm 14
10070-464: The scholars who support the different views: Jesus is also recorded as saying, there are some standing here, which shall not taste death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. He makes similar predictions in five other places in the Gospels. 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
10176-444: The second coming will happen via a catastrophe (such as a nuclear war or extinction event ), reincarnation (such as someone claiming to be Jesus), social or technological progress (such as mankind abolishing slavery or curing disease), or ascendancy (such as the church having political power). Nor does the church believe in double predestination . At the moment of Jesus' arrival, three events will happen all at once in an instant, in
10282-415: The sense of the letter, and that the 'glory and power' in which He is then to come, mean the spiritual sense of the Word, because no one as yet has had the least conjecture that there is a spiritual sense in the Word, such as this sense is in itself. But as the Lord has now opened to me the spiritual sense of the Word, and has granted me to be associated with angels and spirits in their world as one of them, it
10388-574: The teachings and person of Jesus , as well as events relating to first-century Christianity . The New Testament's background, the first division of the Christian Bible, is called the Old Testament , which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible ; together they are regarded as Sacred Scripture by Christians. The New Testament is a collection of Christian texts originally written in the Koine Greek language, at different times by various authors. While
10494-400: The term "second coming", preferring the term "presence" as a translation of parousia . They believe that Jesus' comparison of "the presence of the Son of man" with "the days of Noah" at Matthew 24:37–39 and Luke 17:26–30 suggests a duration rather than a moment of arrival. They also believe that biblical chronology points to 1914 as the start of Christ's "presence", which continues until
10600-537: 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
10706-412: The work of Paul: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. Six additional letters bearing Paul's name do not currently enjoy the same academic consensus: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. The anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews is, despite unlikely Pauline authorship, often functionally grouped with these thirteen to form
10812-517: Was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain." 4:158 continues "rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise." The Quran refers to a conversation between Jesus and God on judgement day in Sura Al-Ma'idah 5:116, 5:117. Jesus
10918-468: Was not perfect; but that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. Eusebius describes the collection of Christian writings as "covenanted" (ἐνδιαθήκη) books in Hist. Eccl. 3.3.1–7; 3.25.3; 5.8.1; 6.25.1. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth (the gospel of Mark in the original text ends with the empty tomb and has no account of
11024-604: Was predicted in the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. The author discusses the superiority of the new covenant and the ministry of Jesus, to the Mosaic Law Covenant and urges the readers in the practical implications of this conviction through the end of the epistle. The book has been widely accepted by the Christian church as inspired by God and thus authoritative, despite the acknowledgment of uncertainties about who its human author was. Regarding authorship, although
11130-405: Was the usual Hebrew word used to refer to pacts, alliances and covenants in general, like a common pact between two individuals, and to the one between God and Israel in particular, in the Greek world diatheke was virtually never used to refer to an alliance or covenant (one exception is noted in a passage from Aristophanes ) and referred instead to a will left after the death of a person. There
11236-471: Was variously incorporated into the Corpus Paulinum either after 2 Thessalonians, after Philemon (i.e. at the very end), or after Romans. Luther's canon , found in the 16th-century Luther Bible , continues to place Hebrews, James, Jude, and the Apocalypse (Revelation) last. This reflects the thoughts of the Reformer Martin Luther on the canonicity of these books. It is considered the books of
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