41% evangelicals/32% catholics expect Jesus w/in 40 yrs

[BwhoUR]

(AP) A new survey finds that Americans are divided over whether they believe Jesus Christ will return by the year 2050.

Among respondents to the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and Smithsonian Magazine, 41 percent said they expect Jesus' Second Coming in the next 40 years, while 46 percent said it probably or definitely won't happen.

The poll suggests that 58 percent of white evangelicals believe Jesus will return by 2050 compared to only 32 percent of Catholics, and respondents with no college education were three times as likely as those with college degrees to expect Christ's Second Coming in the next 40 years.

A majority of all respondents, meanwhile, say they expect there to be nuclear terrorism against the U.S. or another world war by 2050. (bold/underline emphasis mine)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/ ... 8867.shtml

Why do so many white evangelicals, catholics and those lacking in college degrees believe that Jesus will return by 2050? What is this belief based upon? What is the correlation between those that believe Jesus will arrive within 40 years and those that believe nuclear terrorism against the U.S. will also occur within 40 years? Is the "Jesus is Coming" belief based on fear of nuclear war?

[McCulloch]

I expect that at any time during the past nineteen hundred years, there has been a significant proportion of the Christians who expected that the return would be within the next 40 or so years. Why should now be any different?

[BwhoUR]

I expect that at any time during the past nineteen hundred years, there has been a significant proportion of the Christians who expected that the return would be within the next 40 or so years. Why should now be any different?

Not so much that I expected the belief to end, but the statistics are allarming (to me) for this day and age. The ramifications of a large number of people who believe that the end of the world as we know it will end in their lifetime speaks to how they must, in turn, live their lives. Can people who don't see much of a future be a threat? Can their numbers contribute significantly to the demise of our resources, to a future of uneducated people, to a self-fufilling war? I know this sounds a bit Christopher Hitchens, but I feel the need to shake them hard.

[Furrowed Brow]

It is sad to think. Toe curling . Slightly chilling too. Fortunately it is likely the percentage in the UK is nowhere near US levels.....well one can only hope. I like that part of America that produces Family Guy and South Park. It is difficult to square that America with the 41%.

What is the percentage of South Park fans that believes this?

[ChaosBorders]

(AP) A new survey finds that Americans are divided over whether they believe Jesus Christ will return by the year 2050.

Among respondents to the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and Smithsonian Magazine, 41 percent said they expect Jesus' Second Coming in the next 40 years, while 46 percent said it probably or definitely won't happen.

The poll suggests that 58 percent of white evangelicals believe Jesus will return by 2050 compared to only 32 percent of Catholics, and respondents with no college education were three times as likely as those with college degrees to expect Christ's Second Coming in the next 40 years.

A majority of all respondents, meanwhile, say they expect there to be nuclear terrorism against the U.S. or another world war by 2050. (bold/underline emphasis mine)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/ ... 8867.shtml

Why do so many white evangelicals, catholics and those lacking in college degrees believe that Jesus will return by 2050? What is this belief based upon? What is the correlation between those that believe Jesus will arrive within 40 years and those that believe nuclear terrorism against the U.S. will also occur within 40 years? Is the "Jesus is Coming" belief based on fear of nuclear war?

The nuclear terrorism thing is a fair possibility from what I've read. Some are even happily amazed it hasn't happened yet. So for those who give in to fear mongering and believe that it WILL happen, opposed to merely being a fair possibility, and additionally think it will be widespread and associate the U.S. in their minds as 'The World' it feels like the end of the world is coming.

And in their minds, what happens when the world ends? Jesus comes back. Thus, nuclear terrorism = Jesus coming back.

Others are just giving in to the age old tradition of believing your generation is the generation Jesus is coming back in. Period, end of story. No real good reason for it.

[Cedar Tree]

(AP) A new survey finds that Americans are divided over whether they believe Jesus Christ will return by the year 2050.

Among respondents to the survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and Smithsonian Magazine, 41 percent said they expect Jesus' Second Coming in the next 40 years, while 46 percent said it probably or definitely won't happen.

The poll suggests that 58 percent of white evangelicals believe Jesus will return by 2050 compared to only 32 percent of Catholics, and respondents with no college education were three times as likely as those with college degrees to expect Christ's Second Coming in the next 40 years.

A majority of all respondents, meanwhile, say they expect there to be nuclear terrorism against the U.S. or another world war by 2050. (bold/underline emphasis mine)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/ ... 8867.shtml

Why do so many white evangelicals, catholics and those lacking in college degrees believe that Jesus will return by 2050? What is this belief based upon? What is the correlation between those that believe Jesus will arrive within 40 years and those that believe nuclear terrorism against the U.S. will also occur within 40 years? Is the "Jesus is Coming" belief based on fear of nuclear war?

As a Catholic, I believe in the Second Coming of Christ. But I have no idea if that's in my lifetime, the near future or a thousand (or more) years from now. I'm a little surprised at that statistic of "32 percent of Catholics" thinking the Second Coming will be by 2050. It's not really on our radar -- meaning, it isn't something we normally concern ourselves with because it isn't for us to KNOW.

[Miles]

I would bet that since the inception of Christianity the return of Jesus has been just around the corner. As McCulloch said, why should now be any different?

Why do so many white evangelicals, catholics and those lacking in college degrees believe that Jesus will return by 2050?

Because those denominations that stress the event, and other fundamentalist views, are those that attract this demographic. Educated people tend to think more for themselves and not give into rhetoric, whereas the opposite holds true for the less educated. Nothing new here, just how it all washes out.

What is this belief based upon?

A literal reading of the Bible and a willingness to turn over one's thinking to an "authority"---a preacher or such.

[geospiza]

...and respondents with no college education were three times as likely as those with college degrees to expect Christ's Second Coming in the next 40 years.

What a perfect example of why we desperately need to address the inequalities in our educational system.

[Kathie Bondar]

Suppose, dressed in a business suit, Jesus walked into a room full of people with college degrees. What would be an acceptible way of identifying himself?

[LiamOS]

"Hi, I'm Jesus; the son of God."
Then perhaps performing some miraculous things, proving whether or not P=NP and so on.