The return of Christ?

[Tart]

It's a good question... People have been asking for years "why hasnt Jesus returned yet?".."it was suppose to happen 2000 years ago"....

But technically it says it is suppose to happen in the end times in Revelations...

However... I was thinking about the book of Act's, when it said Jesus would return in the same manner he was taken up to heaven... I just started pondering it, if it would ever happen before I die...

But the Book of Revelations end with

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.�
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

the end times actually play out, with Jesus never returning... Or does He?

[OnceConvinced]

[Replying to post 8 by Avoice]

Question, do the Hebrew Scriptures ever predict the Messiah will arrive "soon" the way the NT does regarding the second coming of Christ?

This is a very good point. For the prophecies of the coming Messiah, they seemed to indicate distant fulfullments and those distant fulfillments took place within 1000 years.

So any time we see "soon" or anything similar to that we should be able to rest assured that the prophecy is to be fulfilled within maybe a century at most and even that's being generous.

[OnceConvinced]

This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matt. 24:14

That is more exact information. Because end has not yet come to, we can assume the gospel Jesus is speaking, has not yet been preached in the whole world. .

That prophecy was fulfilled in Paul's time:

Col 1:23: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister

[Tart]

He had his second coming already.

When he supposedly came out of the cave after he died

Second coming already came and went. He did nothing then either. He wandered for a bit and had a bite to eat and left. Some Messiah. He can only help you after your dead. He doesn't deserve the title. Even Ive done more for Israel than he has.

That is very interesting, i never thought of it like that... Except the fact that you mocked him. I mean what good is anyone of our interactions with others? Perhaps this is just a realistic perspective of a a divine human.

But was that the second coming? I find that thought fascinating. Of course people believe it in our life time, or in end times.... It brings up a hole bunch of philosophical questions. Maybe we should just be thankful for the presence of one another? Maybe that is what his Resurrection meant? After his struggles with this life...

[Saber Bob]

[Replying to post 6 by Tired of the Nonsense]

Uh, your citation of ancient life expectancy I'd the typical distorted trope that is the dead average you get when you add in high infant mortality, and yes, the vicious nature of ancient warfare.

People could and did live to advanced ages, and many of those were sharp of mind to the end.

[Saber Bob]

Any other believers in this thread who are Amillennialist?

[Zzyzx]

.

People could and did live to advanced ages, and many of those were sharp of mind to the end.

IF one believes the tales:

Enoch – 365. ...
Lamech – 777. ...
Mahalalel – 895. ...
Enos – 905. ...
Kenan – 910. ...
Seth – 912 Years Old. ...
Adam – 930 Years Old. ...
Noah – 950 Years Old.

Salt anyone?

[Tcg]

[Replying to post 24 by Saber Bob]

You're missing the point. Even if we consider the rare individual who lived to 100, two thousand years would be twenty times their lifetime. Even a 100 year old would not consider something occurring after two thousand years to be soon.

Of course, two thousand isn't the final count given that Jesus hasn't yet returned. That is simply the current count for waiting for Jesus' soon return.


Tcg

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 22 by OnceConvinced]

QUESTION DOES COLOSSIANS COLOSSIANS 1 :23 CONSTITUTE THE FULFILLMENT OF MATTHEW 24:14?

COLOSSIANS 1:23- NWT

That good news that you heard and that was preached in all creation under heaven

MATTHEW 24:14

And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come

Jesus' words at Matthew were in answer to a question about two seperate events: the end of the Jewish temple system and the last days of the entire world system of things (see verse 3). Although there was a partiel fulfulment of events that indicated end of the Jewish Temple system in 70 CE, Jesus words also pointed forward to a time, many centuries into the future, when all the features of the composite sign would take place on a global scale, namely to our 20th century (beginning in1914 ) onwards.

Although Paul's words at Colossians 1:23 indicate the good news had reached all parts of the known world, Jesus was pointing to a truly globale preaching campaigne that would be unique in scale un unprecedented in nature, conducted by his disciples during the last days, which would signal the impending war of Armageddon. Today we can say that the good news has indeed been preached in all the inahbited earth.

In 2018 Jehovahs Witnesses preached the good news of the kingdom in 240 Lands around the globe, spending a total of 2,074,655,497 hours in the field.

source:
https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/201 ... nd-totals/

JEHOVAHS WITNESSES



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http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 31#p883531

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To learn more please go to other posts related to...

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES , THE 2ND COMING and ...THE GREAT COMMISSION,

[Tcg]

[Replying to post 22 by OnceConvinced]

QUESTION DOES COLOSSIANS COLOSSIANS 1 :23 CONSTITUTE NTHE FULFILLMENT OF MATTHEW 24:14?

COLOSSIANS 1:23- NWT

That good news that you heard and that was preached in all creation under heaven

MATTHEW 24:14

And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come

Jesus' words at Matthew were in answer to a question about two seperate events: the end of the Jewish temple system and the last days of the entire world system of things (see verse 3). Although there was a partiel fulfulment of events that indicated end of the Jewish Temple system in 70 CE, Jesus words also pointed forward to a time, many centuries into the future, when all the features of the composite sign would take place on a global scale, namely to our 20th century (beginning in1914 ) onwards.

Although Paul's words at Colossians 1:23 indicate the good news had reached all parts of the known world, Jesus was pointing to a truly globale preaching campaigne that would be unique in scale un unprecedented in nature, conducted by his disciples during the last days, which would signal the impending war of Armageddon.

JEHOVAHS WITNESS

This is like asking when does "preached in all creation under heaven" mean something other than "preached in all creation under heaven?" Of course finding a reason to excuse Jesus for not returning when he said he would can take many forms.


Tcg

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 3 by JehovahsWitness]

I thought the JW position is that an Almighty God provided and safeguarded His infallible word for us humans. What good is it if that Word is incomprehensible to the average person with words and phrases like "soon", "at hand" etc stretched well beyond commonly understood meanings?

"Peter" said "the end of all things is at hand". "All things" are currently ongoing. "At hand" was many centuries ago. Why is it so hard to admit that Peter was wrong, (and most of the other NT writers were as well) on the matter of the of the 2nd coming of Christ?