When Christ returns to you. Will you recognize him?
What do you expect to happen?
What do you expect to happen?
When Christ returns to you. Will you recognize him?
What do you expect to happen?
I shall see Him after I have been rapturedWhen Christ returns to you. Will you recognize him?
What do you expect to happen?
When Christ returns to you. Will you recognize him?
What do you expect to happen?
He already came back nearly 2000 years ago & everybody missed it, or he was a false prophet & he isnt ever coming back!
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.“ (Matthew 16: 27, 28)
“Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.“ (Matthew 24: 25-34)
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven. Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place…“ (Mark 13:26-30)
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Then He told them a parable: Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.“ (Luke 21:27-32)
None of the above has taken place. Jesus did not say that these things would happen far off in the future. He tells his disciples that "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place."
He will be born somewhere between 2020-2022 in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. I personally think it'll be 2022.
I didnt enter into any debate. I copied & pasted passages that are directly from your bible, & let them speak for themselves.1) You're new to these forums, but it's worth pointing out that the Exploring Christianity isn't an area on the forum for debate, but where non-Christians can ask questions about Christianity and get answers from practicing Christians. As per the rules sticked at the top of the board,
"This is a forum where non-Christian Seekers are encouraged to ask questions about those aspects of the Christian faith which seem hard to understand or accept, and where Christian members (see Faith groups list) can enter into discussion with them on these questions. The primary focus of this forum is Christian evangelism and discipleship, not to debate Christian Theology or challenge, attack, or argue against, Christianity. If any non-Christian member would like to challenge Christianity, they may do so in the Christian Apologetics forum. Please read and agree with this thread before posting in the Christian Apologetics forum."
Of course many Christians have no choice but to make excuses as to why Jesus never returned when he said he would. It is quite clear however from the passages that Jesus is talking about a future event, & nothing to do with the past.2) Most Christians understand the passages you've presented as not having to do with Jesus' return, but are in fact things from the past. The Son of Man coming into His kingdom is not a reference to Jesus' return, but is an allusion to the book of Daniel where "one like a Son of Man" is taken up into heaven before the "Ancient of Days" and given power and authority.
It is quite clear however from the passages that Jesus is talking about a future event, & nothing to do with the past.
And this is supposed to prove what? I am well aware that Jesus was talkig to the Apostles 2000 years ago, which is why:"I am going to the store tomorrow to get groceries" is, yes, referring to a future thing I'm going to do.
A hundred years from now it will no longer be a future event, but will have already transpired.
That's how time works.
Again, if you want to debate this, go to the appropriate debate forum.
-CryptoLutheran
And this is supposed to prove what? I am well aware that Jesus was talkig to the Apostles 2000 years ago
Jesus was talking about future events, not a single future event. And he gave a time frame of when these fuure events would be fulfilled. The future events were in the generation of the disciples he was talking to. You cannot interpret the words any other way, no matter how much you want to spin this or try to reinterpret it.Then your previous argument is nonsensical.
"It is quite clear however from the passages that Jesus is talking about a future event"
Yes, it was future from when Jesus would have said it. But it is now presently in our past. Jesus doesn't begin to address His coming until near the end of the Olivet Discourse, when He says, "Of that day and hour no one knows" and draws parallel to the days of Noah when people were eating and drinking, marrying, having their ordinary lives and--without warning--the flood came. Everything preceding that addresses not the question of when Jesus would come again, but chiefly with events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem. That's already happened. It's a matter of the historical record that during the First Jewish-Roman War the Romans attacked and destroyed Jerusalem, including its Temple.
Jesus isnt talking about leaving the earth & going into heaven. He is talking about returning to the earth. He said that he would return to the earth the same way he left the earth. He is talking about returning with "great power & glory" & gathering his elect from the four corners of the earth (jesus obviously theought the earth was flat with corners). And as 'the gospel must first be preached to all nations' before this could happen, it clearly can not refer to Jesus leaving the earth & going into heaven after his resurection.A first century audience would also have readily understood the reference to the Son of Man coming into his kingdom; it's not an accident that when Luke writes of Jesus' ascension that he specifically describes Jesus' ascension being accompanied with clouds.
You make an interesting point here. However if you are saying that the gospels had to be written after 70 AD or the destruction of Jerusalem could not have been predicted, then you are basically saying that Jesus did not predict this at all, & the Gospel writers put words in Jesus mouth, which is definately a possibility. However if this is the case, it is impossible to know what Jesus actually did or said, & what is made up by the gospel writers. So Jesus might never have claimed he was God, or the Messiah, & he might never have actually claimed he was going to be resurected, & might never have claimed he was going to return. So Jesus might never have actually said he would return in the generation of the disciples either, which means that he wasnt necessarily a false prophet, however also not necessarily god or the messiah, & definately at least partially a fictitious character. So this hardly helps your case!While there is some debate as to when the Synoptic Gospels were written, there is a general consensus that they were written sometime between about 60 and 100 AD, some preferring an earlier date (before 70 AD) and some preferring a later date (after 70 AD). To permit an earlier date one has to permit that Jesus also accurately predicted the destruction of Jerusalem. So for the sake of argument let's only allow ourselves a later date, sometime after the destruction of Jerusalem. At which point, if the text is obviously talking about Jesus' return (as you are insisting), then we have to conclude that the Evangelists, writing at a much later date, include (or insert) these words into Jesus' sayings knowing full well that what Jesus said can't be true--i.e. that there would be some standing when the Son of Man comes into His kingdom. Which, while not out of the question, is one should admit rather odd. If one, instead, chooses to argue for an earlier date this is not going to help the case much, as if Jesus quite accurately is able to predict the destruction of the Temple, then the argument that Jesus must be a false prophet seems slightly less tenuous.
Unlike the Christian belief that Jesus is gonna come down from the clouds to banish all the sinners to an eternal Hell and make Earth a paradise for Christians alone, what I speak of is very real.Do you always find new dates since it never happens to begin with?