Key Takeaways
Among blanched , evangelistic Christians in the United States , 58 percent believe that Jesus Christ will return to Earth by the year 2050,according to a 2010 Pew Research survey . If you guess that ’s a fringe position , Pew says that 41 pct of all Americans ( not just evangelicals ) consider that the Second Coming is not only literal , but that it ’s go to happen by 2050 — in other quarrel , in their lifespan .
What innovative Christians may not know is that innumerable other generations have believed that theworld was endingin their lifetimes and that Christ ’s counter was therefore imminent . Indeed , Matthew 16:28ends with Jesus state to his disciple , " There be some standing here , which shall not taste of death , till they see the Son of man coming in his realm . " ( There arediffering interpretationson what this enactment really means . )
The Second Coming cite to a host ofbiblicalprophecies prefigure Jesus Christ ’s triumphant reappearance to Earth to defeat the forces of evil and establish a 1,000 - twelvemonth reign of serenity before the Final Judgment of all humankind . The school of thought of the Second come forms the bedrock of Christian eschatology , a word that means the study of the " last things , " otherwise known as the " death time . "
While Christians from various denominations might share a general feeling in the Second Coming , there are significant disagreements over the details , say Richard Kyle , an emeritus prof of religion at Tabor College in Hillsboro , Kansas , and author of " Apocalyptic Fever : End - Time Prophecies in Modern America . "
" Some would say that ' spiritually speaking , ' Christ has already come , " suppose Kyle . " Others would say no , he ’s pass to come physically at a finical period in fourth dimension . Then there are differences about when and how and everything in between . "
Seven Years of Tribulation, 1,000 Years of Peace
The book of Revelation in the New Testament is the main origin of prophecies concerning the Second Coming , but it ’s not the only revelatory text in the Bible ( an " apocalypse " is a divinely revealed vision of thing to add up ) . Jesus and his fellow Jews would have also been familiar with the book of Daniel , the most revelatory text in the Hebrew Bible ( hump to Christians as the Old Testament ) . The modern Christian conception of the Second Coming is a combination of snippet from Daniel , Revelation and Jesus ' own divination of the last day as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew .
From Daniel , it ’s understood that the Messiah will only total after a seven - year period of " visitation . “In Matthew , Jesus account this tumultuous period as being dominated by " war and rumors of wars , " plus " famines , and pestilence and earthquakes , in plunger ( sic ) places . " The " Antichrist " will also make himself known halfway through the stop of tribulation , a sour prophet who , according to Jesus , " shall hail in my name , suppose , I am Christ ; and shall deceive many . "
Attempts to identify the Antichrist have always been a big part of predicting the timing of the Second Coming .
" Anytime you get a highly undesirable number in history , manifestly the Hitlers and the Mussolinis , they ’re at least seen as servants of the Antichrist , " say Kyle . " The Antichrist is a sneaky guy who comes across as being OK , but halfway through this seven - year visitation , he shew his dependable colors . "
When Jesus finally returns , according to Revelation , he and his United States Army of angels will defeat the Antichrist and lock up Satan for 1,000 year . During that 1,000 - yr period of peace , known as the Millennium ( from the Latinmillefor " thousand " ) , Christ himself will rule on Earth in the " Golden old age " of peace and prosperity long awaited by the Jews . After the Millennium , Satan will be released for one concluding fruitless rebellion before the Final Judgment .
Does the Bible Give a Time Frame for the Second Coming?
The bad relieved point in Christian eschatology is the timing of the Second Coming . Specifically , will Christ return to Earth before the Millennium or after it ? Those who think that Jesus will amount backbeforethe Millennium and in person reign over the 1,000 years of peace are called " premillennialists . " Those who trust Christ will only come backafterhis Church has created a Golden Age on Earth are call " postmillennialists . "
In the Bible , when the Apostles ask about the timing of Christ ’s return , Jesus famously answers , " No one have a go at it about that day or hour , not even the angels in heaven , nor the Son , but only the Father " ( Matthew 24:36 ) . That has n’t cease contemporaries of Christians from guessing , though .
Kyle says that for the first C after Jesus ' excruciation , Christ’s Resurrection and ascension to heaven , most Christians were premillennialists who believed that his Second Coming was unaired at hand .
" They had a surd time believe they were going to die before Christ ’s return , " says Kyle .
Even as the promise day fail to appear , former Christian writers like Clement of Rome and Tertullian held to the premillennial belief that Jesus would deliver in person to curb evil and sovereignty as the preach " King of Kings . " Gradually , though , that impression evanesce and a new interpretation of the timing of the Second Coming was popularized by the fourth - century theologian Augustine of Hippo .
In his well - known work , " The City of God , " Augustine contend that the Millennium had already commence ( postmillennialism ) , or more accurately , says Kyle , that the 1,000 - year reign of Christ was a " spiritual kingdom " rather than a strong-arm kingdom . Some theologian call Augustine ’s coming " amillennialism " because it ditches a genuine meter reading of Revelation , Daniel and Matthew , and interprets the prophecies as figural spoken language describing how Christ act through his Earthly Church to prepare the man for His triumphant return .
" Through the Middle Ages , the Church saw itself as fulfill much of [ these millennian prophecy ] , " say Kyle . " The Church was seen as working out God ’s will on Earth . "
Premillennialism Makes a Big Comeback
Augustine ’s emblematical reading of the Second Coming govern the Church for most 1,500 age , but then came a 19th - hundred preacher man namedJohn Nelson Darby . The Irish reformer was convince that the Church was in ruins and that the end times were upon us . In his literal reading of the Bible ’s apocalyptic texts , Darby found that God ’s creation was divided into seven discrete ages or " dispensation , " the final one being the Millennium .
Darby teach a fiery premillennial doctrine that Christ would undoubtedly return in someone to vanquish the Antichrist , tie Satan and reign over his Earthly realm for 1,000 years . But first , the righteous and faithful would be " caught up " to heaven during the " Rapture , " an event prophesied in the New Testament book of1 Thessalonians 4:15 - 17 . Darby ’s originative interpretation of the Second Coming and end of days became do it as " premillennial dispensationalism " and finally came to harness the apocalyptical worldview of evangelistic Christianity .
" The Late Great Planet Earth " was a bestselling book in 1970 that popularize Darby ’s system for a new generation of Christians . The Holy Writ , written by Hal Lindsey , was one of the first tolink biblical prophecies of the Second Coming explicitly to current world eventslike the Cold War and the restoration of the Judaic state of Israel .
More than 35 million copiesof " The Late Great Planet Earth " have been sold , a inviolable indication of the on-going urgency and plangency of the Second come with modern Christians . The bestselling " get out Behind " series by Jerry B. Jenkins , which fictionalized the Rapture in our sidereal day , is further proof that the Second Coming is alive and well in the Christian imaginativeness .
