Jesus is going to return soon...always soon...just wait, you'll see...

https://people.howstuffworks.com/second-coming.htm

Among white, evangelical 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 think that's a fringe position, Pew says that 41 percent of all Americans (not just evangelicals) believe that the Second Coming is not only real, but that it's going to happen by 2050 — in other words, in their lifetime.

What modern Christians may not know is that countless other generations have believed that the world was ending in their lifetimes and that Christ's return was therefore imminent. Indeed, Matthew 16:28 ends with Jesus saying to his disciples, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (There are differing interpretations on what this passage really means.)

The Second Coming refers to a host of biblical prophecies foretelling Jesus Christ's triumphant return to Earth to defeat the forces of evil and establish a 1,000-year reign of peace before the Final Judgment of all mankind. The doctrine of the Second Coming forms the bedrock of Christian eschatology, a word that means the study of the "last things," otherwise known as the "end times."

While Christians from various denominations might share a general belief in the Second Coming, there are significant disagreements over the details, says Richard Kyle, an emeritus professor 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," says Kyle. "Others would say no, he's going to come physically at a particular point in time. 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 source of prophecies concerning the Second Coming, but it's not the only apocalyptic text in the Bible (an "apocalypse" is a divinely revealed vision of things to come). Jesus and his fellow Jews would have also been familiar with the book of Daniel, the most apocalyptic text in the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the Old Testament). The modern Christian conception of the Second Coming is a combination of snippets from Daniel, Revelation and Jesus' own prophecies of the last days as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

From Daniel, it's understood that the Messiah will only come after a seven-year period of "tribulation." In Matthew, Jesus describes this tumultuous period as being dominated by "wars and rumors of wars," plus "famines, and pestilences and earthquakes, in divers (sic) places." The "Antichrist" will also make himself known halfway through the period of tribulation, a false prophet who, according to Jesus, "shall come in my name, saying, 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 figure in history, obviously the Hitlers and the Mussolinis, they're at least seen as servants of the Antichrist," says Kyle. "The Antichrist is a sneaky guy who comes across as being OK, but halfway through this seven-year tribulation, he shows his true colors."

When Jesus finally returns, according to Revelation, he and his army of angels will defeat the Antichrist and lock up Satan for 1,000 years. During that 1,000-year period of peace, known as the Millennium (from the Latin mille for "thousand"), Christ himself will rule on Earth in the "Golden Age" of peace and prosperity long awaited by the Jews. After the Millennium, Satan will be released for one final fruitless rebellion before the Final Judgment.

I should be dead by then........whooo hoo.

I think I will just enjoy a bagel with Strawberry Cream Cheese on it with a cold glass of milk watching from the front porch of my humble cottage in the lower kingdom. I can see it now as the horseman rides around smiting the wicked, and the Q15 has bushels of oats to feed the hungry steed with funds used from Ensign Peaks.

While all the second anointings arise and Christ gives them the keys to their planet.

Silence is Golden Wrote:
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> I should be dead by then


NOT IF I HAVE ANY CHOICE IN THE MATTER...

I'll be in charge, but whom am I going to seat next to him & close?


Will his brother Stan be invited? how about Mary & Joseph??

World & Religion leaders? O my, that's a challenge!!

How about people like Jimmy Carter & Millard Fuller from Habitat, I don't wish to offend them!

Buckminster Fuller? JFK? Roosevelt? George Washington & other Constitution Founders?

Mohammad, the Dalai Lama (which one?) Buddah? Ghandi?

Last & Least, LDS / ChurchCo leaders, IF they're invited...


on second thought, this is giving me a Giant Headache, PLEASE someone else take this job!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2023 08:19PM by GNPE.

Charles Taze Russell, founder of Jehovah's Witnesses, predicted that Armageddon would occur in 1914, in October to be exact.

Of course, for some it would seem like Armageddon as they got swept up in WWI.

There have been several other precise date predictions by The WatchTower Society (JW organization) through the years, all of them obviously incorrect so far (although some conflagrations could certainly seem like Armageddon if you're caught up in the middle of them - i.e. WWII).

A rock solid tenet of the JW faith used to be that people alive in 1914 would live to see Armageddon but they have gradually had to slide away from that prediction also as that generation is pretty much petered out by now (1914 being 109 years ago by my calculations).

I believe they used to say (but I couldn't swear to it) that the 1914 people had to be of "the age of reckoning" (i.e. old enough to understand the prophecy and world events and hopefully to convert to The WatchTower Society) so that would make the cut-off date even further back than 109 years ago.

Some predictions are right on the money. Many miss the mark. It seems unproductive for a religion to try to guess time periods. They haven't seemed to have a great talent for accuracy so far.

Well, Jesus didn't come in the year 2000, so what makes people think that he will come by 2050? Did he RSVP for that date?

And what makes them think that he was very much interested in the gentiles during his lifetime, anyway? Why would he come back for us? We were never his target audience.

  
  

"One. Miiilliyuun. Dollars."
- Dr Evil

Those of us who are of a certain age (I’m in my 60s) grew up in a Mormon church where we were constantly reminded that the Savior’s return was nigh, even at the door. Every significant event in world or church history was a “sign” of Jesus’ return.

I personally think that Y2K was the point where church leaders realized that they had cried wolf too many times.

I always thought from what they taught us that it would be 2000. Then like you said the Y2K. OH MY! My husband had left me not too long before Y2K. He had filled up drums of water and put them in the basement and I thought that was stupid as I really didn't believe anything would happen, BUT on New Year's Eve I sat on the sofa with my dog and counted down to New Year's. One of the very few times I've counted down. I wanted it to all end, but I knew it wouldn't. And here I sit 23-1/2 years later.

My home burned down and I went to church leaders for some kind of help. Instead, they told me to count my blessings and to stop bothering them.

I sat outside of a burned hulk and taunted God to burn me up alive. If Jesus was coming, I didn't care to be around.

And Y2K arrived with Jesus as a no-show.

are bad, aren't they!!! How can they possibly put it off until 2050? I'll be 93. Oh come on. Let's end this joke.

Sounds like you had a great welcome into Y2K, too. I'm sorry you lost your house. One of those nightmares most of us worry about.

Isaac Newton said 2060

https://www.express.co.uk/news/history/1716805/isaac-newton-predicition-end-of-world-2060-spt

Gotta give Mormon leaders a bit of credit on Second Coming predictions. They figured out long ago that it was a losing game to put a specific date on Christ's return. Just much better to say "Pay your tithing, read your scriptures, say your prayers, obey your leaders because the Second Coming could happen any time."

Well, there was that verse in the D&C and also all those patriarchal blessings saying that people would live to see the Second Coming.

Those didn't age well.

Yup. That's how those leaders learned that vague is best when putting a date to the great and terrible day.

And now patriarchal blessings are almost exactly the same across the board.

I'm a bit hazy about which year exactly. But I'd wager a bet that it will be on a Sunday. Ole Jesus will ride down on his chari, no, wait, I think it will be on a Monday, during Family Home Evening. Yeah, that's a prime time when all good mormons will be home praising the mighty mormon church.

Won't happen on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Nothing happens on those days except for a few missionaries getting their mission calls.

Thursday is still open but I doubt Jesus will pick that day. No reason.

Or, it could be on a Friday when the bar patrons start to unwind and celebrate the end of a work week. Yeah, Jesus might decide to drop in and sing some Karaoke with the gang before slaying them for wickedness.

Saturday is out. Too many hangovers for people to even notice or care.

Okay, I'm back on Sunday. That is my Second Coming time pick. Yup, sometime around 10:30.

sunbeep Wrote:
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> Okay, I'm back on Sunday. That is my Second Coming
> time pick. Yup, sometime around 10:30.

a.m. or p.m.?

Why don't U tell us Where?

In Salt Lake or in Rome? How about at JW HQ, Joel Osteens church, or perhaps Mecca after lunch in Jerusalem???

Details on this are Very Important!!!

You forgot Jackson County, MO. I know people who bought land there, because, you know......

J. Fielding Smith would agree with you.

Back in the 60s, J Fielding came to dedicate a new building in my stake. During his talk, he paused and said, "When do you think the Saviour will come again? I think he will come on a Sunday afternoon." He repeated that again and then continued with his talk.

The date of the second coming is like treasure buried in the ground. It moves every time you get close to it.

As long as LDS Inc keeps selling 99 year leases for their condos at City Creek Centre, we're safe.

Of course it would be just like them to sell a 99 year lease knowing full well the Millennium would arrive long before then, and they would not have to honor the lease.


Aren't two missionaries supposed to die of heat stroke or something like that in Jerusalem? What with the current heat waves, I expect that day may be coming.

Seriously, I wonder if mishies get to stay indoors when the heat index gets into the "Extreme Caution" or "Dangerous" categories. I certainly hope so.

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
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> Seriously, I wonder if mishies get to stay indoors
> when the heat index gets into the "Extreme
> Caution" or "Dangerous" categories. I certainly
> hope so.

Or at least give them water.

Central Maryland was so awful today that you really did not want to spend more than a few minutes outside. I hope the local missionaries are using their best good sense to find a safe way to stay cool.

I seriously doubt we've got 27yrs.

"It is 90 seconds to midnight" according to the 2023 Doomsday Clock Statement by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

I'd be very surprised if the world doesn't see some sort of nuclear war in the next 25 years or so.

I’ve spent my whole life hearing about the second coming of Christ and nuclear destruction. When I was a kid I heard all the protest songs like Eve of Destruction.

Rinse wash repeat. Nothing new folks and we are still here. We probably will die from illness, old age or in an accident of some kind. I ride motorcycles so I have increased my probability of leaving this life sooner but damn am I having fun! You can worry or live and have fun. Your choice.

There were only two countries with nuclear weapons when Barry McGuire wrote Eve of Destruction. Now there are 9 countries, with a couple more right on the cusp, over 10,000 weapons total. Rest assured, sooner or later, and it might be after you and I pass away, nuclear weapons will be used somewhere on Earth. The detonation of just two or three would make the fear, panic, and social shockwaves that accompanied September 11th seem trivial.

I wished I saved the article, but 10-15 years ago the L.A. Times ran a story of not if, but when, a terrorist or militant group explodes one or two nuclear bombs in a major city.

Playing devils advocate, the U.S. nuked Japan "to shorten the war and save American lives", maybe Russia should nuke Ukraine to "shorten the war and save Russian lives".

As a pop music trivia geek, I feel compelled to point out that Barry McGuire didn’t write Eve of Destruction-it was P.F. Sloan.

Of course, that doesn’t change your point about the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

If Jesus were to show up, I think church leaders would faint.

How are they going to explain why LDS Corp values don't align with what is recorded in scriptures?

If Jesus were to show up, the Q15 would do exactly what the Grand Inquisitor did in the Brothers Karamazov. They would welcome him into their Thursday meeting, ask him some questions, tell him they were honored to meet him and then inform him that he was no longer needed and would now be executed.

After all, that unwashed peripatetic rabbi has no idea how to run a major religious institution let alone a portfolio worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

One of my favorite stories

"The Grand Inquisitor" (1975) with John Gielgud
https://youtu.be/om6HcUUa8DI

The entire book is a trip, one sardonic revelation after another; a tome that puts the scriptures to shame.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2023 05:50PM by Lot's Wife.

I always wondered what would happen if Jesus came back, performed miracles, etc. then when the fundies saw Jesus Christ was the exact opposite of what they expected, Jesus left and rejected them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2023 05:05PM by anybody.

long but worth it.

"...for nothing has ever been so unbearable to man as freedom."

And there you see the dialogue between the religious genius Dostoevsky and the atheist genius, Nietzsche.

Both saw that freedom is terrifying to almost all people. Humans want a group to which to belong, a movement that gives them company and society, a leader who tells them what to do. Dostoevsky sees them as willingly sacrificing their autonomy to organized religion because that is easier than doing the hard workd of seeking God within. Nietzsche sees them as sheep who have lost their shepherd, who now "is dead". Both thinkers feared that society, having lost its organizing force, will now embrace newer and more dangerous shepherds; Dostoevsky witnessed that possibility in the roiling rage of The Underground Man and the consequent budding totalitarianism of late 19th century Russia while Nietzsche predicted that the new gods will arise in that same Russian homeland and in Germany.

Nietzsche accepted Dostoevsky's treatment of Jesus as a great if naive spiritual leader in The Idiot and in fact used the word "idiot" to describe Jesus, the Ubermensch whose spiritual culture had subsequently been lost to The Church, in his own atheistic writings. Dostoevsky reflected on his time in a Siberian prison camp and his realization there that humans are irrational and desire nothing so much as absorption into a group, and Nietzsche wrote of the herd mentality and the sheer terror of the honest individual who "stares into the abyss" of lonely reality.

Does organized religion suffocate the soul? If most humans are sheep, who and what will be the next shepherd? Will he promote art and culture and spiritual growth or will he form a populist political cult under his own charismatic rule and lead his followers into the furnace of nihilistic violence?

History led the two men, who never met each other, to see and address the same questions at a time when European civilization was grinding to a halt. They prophesied the rise of 20th century totalitarianism and would be saddened to see that even today the world is still in thrall to those demons, having failed utterly to find a new Ubermensch capable of persuading humans to embrace their better angels.

There are prophets in this world. But they are not religious leaders: they are individuals with the intellectual and emotional skills and training to see where social juggernauts are rolling and to predict their catastrophic ends.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2023 08:14PM by Lot's Wife.

Thank heavens that according to some on the board "fundies" do not believe in climate change or global warming or they might be looking at Malachi 4:1 as an indicator giveb currtent events.
"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace." NIV. Most believers I know spend litte time on the subject, Perhaps because like me they can see a tangible end catchging up in the rear view mirror.

Why does climate change matter if Jesus is going to come and fix everything?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2023 11:25AM by bradley.

Wait a cotton-picking minute here!!

I have Confirmed Reservations for Tomorrow, July 31st, 2023 at sunrise Pacific time zone, at a clothing optional location which I promised not to disclose !!