Jesus isn't coming back?!

[XxDeadlyNinjaxX]

There is a question on Yahoo Answers that read, "Why can't Christians accept that Jesus is not coming back?"

Here is one response I found interesting.

[b]
"We don't accept that Jesus is not coming back, because it says He WILL come back in the Bible, and He also told of the signs before the 'end of the age' or when He comes back.

Check out Revelations when you can (quick note- it is very symbolic)- i don't actually have the time to explain it all... and i'm not fully capable of it either.

Also, in the things Jesus predicted in the Bible, many of them have come true- many point towards His return e.g. the below Bible passage:

Matthew 24.

3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.

26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29"Immediately after the distress of those days
" 'the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'[c]

30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.


As you can see, much of the above so far is true (earthquakes, wars, nations against nations etc., in fact, the rate of earthquakes, wars, etc. have increased a lot in the last few years.). So you can see that eventually Jesus will return. That's why Christians don't accept that Jesus is not coming back- because Jesus IS coming back.

Jesus coming back is not a false hope."

I think all of this stuff has happened MANY times over the 2000+ years that people have been waiting.

[AvalonXQ]

A lot of the early part, there, is actually a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

[joobz]

Originally Posted by AvalonXQ

A lot of the early part, there, is actually a prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

It's funny that something called a prophecy when it most likely was written years afterwards.

[Hux]

That's a hell of a response for someone who didn't have much time.

[Marduk]

Originally Posted by XxDeadlyNinjaxX

As you can see, much of the above so far is true (earthquakes, wars, nations against nations etc., in fact, the rate of earthquakes, wars, etc. have increased a lot in the last few years.).

I keep hearing this one, theres been no increase in that stuff, just an increase in the ability to report it

[Fnord]

Meh ... it'll happen when it happens ... so eat, drink, and be merry!

[AvalonXQ]

Originally Posted by Fnord

Meh ... it'll happen when it happens ... so eat, drink, and be merry!

... or, be ready for it and look forward to it. Either way.

[Arkyrion]

I think there's a passage in the Bible somewhere that states: "The generation which sees the rebirth of the nation of Israel shall see the coming of God."

So. Israel was reformed in...what, late 1940s or so? So, according to the Bible, God has another thirty years or so to make good on the world blowy-uppy.

[AvalonXQ]

Originally Posted by Arkyrion

I think there's a passage in the Bible somewhere that states: "The generation which sees the rebirth of the nation of Israel shall see the coming of God."

Citation please?

[Mark6]

Originally Posted by XxDeadlyNinj

As you can see, much of the above so far is true (earthquakes, wars, nations against nations etc., in fact, the rate of earthquakes, wars, etc. have increased a lot in the last few years.).

No, it just seems that way -- actually wars have DECREASED a lot in last few years.

This artilcle explains why as violence goes down, our perception of it goes up:

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pink...r07_index.html

Quote:

On the scale of decades, comprehensive data again paint a shockingly happy picture: Global violence has fallen steadily since the middle of the twentieth century. According to the Human Security Brief 2006, the number of battle deaths in interstate wars has declined from more than 65,000 per year in the 1950s to less than 2,000 per year in this decade. In Western Europe and the Americas, the second half of the century saw a steep decline in the number of wars, military coups, and deadly ethnic riots.

Zooming in by a further power of ten exposes yet another reduction. After the cold war, every part of the world saw a steep drop-off in state-based conflicts, and those that do occur are more likely to end in negotiated settlements rather than being fought to the bitter end. Meanwhile, according to political scientist Barbara Harff, between 1989 and 2005 the number of campaigns of mass killing of civilians decreased by 90 percent.

The decline of killing and cruelty poses several challenges to our ability to make sense of the world. To begin with, how could so many people be so wrong about something so important? Partly, it's because of a cognitive illusion: We estimate the probability of an event from how easy it is to recall examples. Scenes of carnage are more likely to be relayed to our living rooms and burned into our memories than footage of people dying of old age. Partly, it's an intellectual culture that is loath to admit that there could be anything good about the institutions of civilization and Western society. Partly, it's the incentive structure of the activism and opinion markets: No one ever attracted followers and donations by announcing that things keep getting better. And part of the explanation lies in the phenomenon itself. The decline of violent behavior has been paralleled by a decline in attitudes that tolerate or glorify violence, and often the attitudes are in the lead. As deplorable as they are, the abuses at Abu Ghraib and the lethal injections of a few murderers in Texas are mild by the standards of atrocities in human history. But, from a contemporary vantage point, we see them as signs of how low our behavior can sink, not of how high our standards have risen.

So I would not count on Jesus coming back any time soon.

For that matter, how do you know Jesus had not come back already? Perhaps during his disciples lifetime, since he explicitely prophecised that? Perhaps he did, and few virtuous were saved, and we all live in the "Left Behind" aftermath, and do not even know it?

[XxDeadlyNinjaxX]

Originally Posted by Mark6

For that matter, how do you know Jesus had not come back already? Perhaps during his disciples lifetime, since he explicitely prophecised that? Perhaps he did, and few virtuous were saved, and we all live in the "Left Behind" aftermath, and do not even know it?

That is very interesting

[Fnord]

Originally Posted by AvalonXQ

Originally Posted by Arkyrion

I think there's a passage in the Bible somewhere that states: "The generation which sees the rebirth of the nation of Israel shall see the coming of God."

Citation please?

The closest I can find is this:

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (King James Version)


15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Another is referenced by Wikipedia:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

In his popular book, The Late Great Planet Earth, first published in 1970, Hal Lindsey argued that prophetical information in Matthew 24 indicates that the “generation” witnessing the “rebirth of Israel” is the same generation that will observe the fulfillment of the “signs” referred to in Matthew 24:1-33 — and that would be consummated by the second coming of Christ in approximately 1988. He dated it from the “rebirth of Israel” in 1948, and took a generation to be “something like forty years.” Lindsey later stretched his forty-year timetable to as long as one hundred years, writing that he was no longer certain that the terminal "generation" commenced with the rebirth of Israel.

As far as I can tell, there is no explicit and unambiguous Biblical passage that supports Arkyrion's claim.

[icerat]

Originally Posted by Hux

That's a hell of a response for someone who didn't have much time.

ctrl-C ctrl-V doesn't take long

[arthwollipot]

Originally Posted by Fnord

As far as I can tell, there is no explicit and unambiguous Biblical passage

Fixed it for ya.

[Ron_Tomkins]

I'm Jesus.

Sorry I'm late. I took the wrong detour.

[parky76]

Originally Posted by XxDeadlyNinjaxX

There is a question on Yahoo Answers that read, "Why can't Christians accept that Jesus is not coming back?"

I'm sorry, are you suggesting he was ever here in the first place????

[tyr_13]

One guy thought I was ninja Jesus for Halloween this year. (I was an oni.)

[XxDeadlyNinjaxX]

Originally Posted by parky76

I'm sorry, are you suggesting he was ever here in the first place????

I am not suggesting it, the guys who presented the question to the Yahoo community was.

[bobcarp]

Given enough time, any prophecy will come true.

Wars will increase
wars will decrease
There will be an increase in earthquakes
There will be a decrease in earthquakes
The economy will improve
The economy will struggle
The climates in each reagion of earth will change
In the next several thousand years Isreal will cease to be, and then again become a nation.
The Cubs will win the World Ser..... well, maybe not ALL prophecies.

[edge]

"Watch out that no one deceives you."

Why all the fear about it I'll never know, the bottom line is no one can say when.
Do the best you can love your neighbor and your God the father.
Some one pulled the triger for the big bang, it is all about moving forward, do it the best you can.
What ever it takes for you...

[MattusMaximus]

Jesus will return to Earth right after Santa Claus, Muhammed, Vishnu, Thor, and the Easter Bunny get done spreading joy & good cheer to all the children of the world.

Give me a break folks. Don't people ever get tired of playing the same damned broken record over and over and over again?

Bottom line: live your life, because this is the only one you've got. Even if you believe in a hypothetical afterlife, why not give this life (you know, the real one we all agree exists) the best shot possible?

Sheesh

[godless dave]

People don't come back from the dead. It's that simple.

[XxDeadlyNinjaxX]

Originally Posted by MattusMaximus

Bottom line: live your life, because this is the only one you've got. Even if you believe in a hypothetical afterlife, why not give this life (you know, the real one we all agree exists) the best shot possible?

Very true, some waste their lives worrying about the afterlife >.<

[CurtC]

Originally Posted by joobz

It's funny that something called a prophecy when it most likely was written years afterwards.

For Matthew, yes. The consensus view is that Mark was written during those years, so the bit about the destruction of the second temple would have been written very soon after it was destroyed.

[edge]

Originally Posted by godless dave

People don't come back from the dead. It's that simple.

Not true.

[MattusMaximus]

Originally Posted by edge

Not true.

Evidence?

And please, don't quote the Bible to me, or I'll start quoting the Koran to you

[godless dave]

Other than people being revived after a few minutes of no heartbeat, I, too, would be interested in seeing evidence of people coming back from the dead, Edge.

[Eyeron]

Duncan McCloud.

[squareone]

I sense something about this jesus
a blue car
trees
no wait
he is near a body of water

[Ausmerican]

Originally Posted by CurtC

For Matthew, yes. The consensus view is that Mark was written during those years, so the bit about the destruction of the second temple would have been written very soon after it was destroyed.

Which would make it reporting, but again, not prophecy.

[Ausmerican]

Originally Posted by Eyeron

Duncan McCloud.

MacCleod.

[RandFan]

Thank you Jesus. No.

[Hokulele]

Jesus has left the house.



Uh-uh-huh.

[fuelair]

Heard he sent a message: Hell with this nailing up crap, I'm going for a bunch of virgins!!

[godless dave]

Originally Posted by godless dave

Other than people being revived after a few minutes of no heartbeat, I, too, would be interested in seeing evidence of people coming back from the dead, Edge.

Edge?

[kurious_kathy]

Originally Posted by godless dave

People don't come back from the dead. It's that simple.

Your right there are not ghosts. But people who are saved do in fact go on to the second life which will be for all eternity, and everyone else who denies Christ will suffer a second death in hell.

Everyone has a soul which will go on after our flesh dies. It's heaven or hell for everyone. So basically it's, "Turn or burn!" If we confess our sins then he is faithful to forgive us, but if you deny you are a sinner, woe to you.

[Hokulele]

Originally Posted by kurious_kathy

Eveyone has a soul which will go on after this flesh dies.

Evidence?

[kurious_kathy]

Originally Posted by XxDeadlyNinjaxX

There is a question on Yahoo Answers that read, "Why can't Christians accept that Jesus is not coming back?"

Here is one response I found interesting.

[b]
"We don't accept that Jesus is not coming back, because it says He WILL come back in the Bible, and He also told of the signs before the 'end of the age' or when He comes back.

Check out Revelations when you can (quick note- it is very symbolic)- i don't actually have the time to explain it all... and i'm not fully capable of it either.

Also, in the things Jesus predicted in the Bible, many of them have come true- many point towards His return e.g. the below Bible passage:

Matthew 24.

3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.

26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29"Immediately after the distress of those days
" 'the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'[c]

30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.


As you can see, much of the above so far is true (earthquakes, wars, nations against nations etc., in fact, the rate of earthquakes, wars, etc. have increased a lot in the last few years.). So you can see that eventually Jesus will return. That's why Christians don't accept that Jesus is not coming back- because Jesus IS coming back.

Jesus coming back is not a false hope."

I think all of this stuff has happened MANY times over the 2000+ years that people have been waiting.

Has this happened yet?
Isaiah 13 9-13 is clear...
9 See, the day of the LORD is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.

10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.

11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the LORD Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.

[Elizabeth I]

Originally Posted by kurious_kathy

Has this happened yet?
Isaiah 13 9-13 is clear...
9 See, the day of the LORD is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.

10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.

11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the LORD Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.

Oh, look. She quotes the Bible to prove that the Bible is true. How...repetitive. And boring.

[kuroyume0161]

kurious_kathy:

Evidence! Not human words printed in a book. Does the concept of EVIDENCE (as in scientific data) stretch your brain too far?

Prove to me, everyone, using observation, repeatable experimentation, and data thereof that after a person is dead, no more, bereft of life, kicked the bucket, etc and so as the dead parrot goes, there is another living form they take as a soul in an afterlife.

I'll check back in about two thousands years.