This Generation Will Not Pass Away:

[Overcomer]

Jesus talks about the destruction of the temple and signs of the end times in Matt. 24:1-35:

1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 Do you see all these things? he asked. Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.

3 As 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?

4 Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive many. 6 You 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. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All 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. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And 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,[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel"let the reader understand" 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now"and never to be equaled again.

22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Messiah! or, There he is! do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

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

30 Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And 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.

32 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Verse 34 has been the subject of many a debate. My questions are as follows:

What did Jesus mean when he said "this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened?" Who is "this generation"?

[Athetotheist]

The problem with assuming that Jesus was talking about a generation in the future is that then you have him saying that the generation which sees all the signs will not pass away until all the signs have been seen. That would be a tautology [a statement of the obvious] and would not qualify as anything prophetic.

[Saber Bob]

Yes, I liked the previous post by one of our atheist contributors.

Atheist Bertrand Russell said the Oliver Discource was a big reason he considered Jesus a failed prophet. The great Christian Apologist CS Lewis was embarrassed by this seeming failure...

..but is it really a failure?

[Tcg]

Yes, I liked the previous post by one of our atheist contributors.

Athetotheist can correct me if I am wrong, but they don't identify as an atheist. If I understand correctly, they identify as a brand of theism of their own creation.


Tcg

[Athetotheist]

Yes, I liked the previous post by one of our atheist contributors.

Athetotheist can correct me if I am wrong, but they don't identify as an atheist. If I understand correctly, they identify as a brand of theism of their own creation.


Tcg

Right you are, but the misconception is common. It seems to be a constant struggle against the Christian-or-atheist false dilemma. (I don't really know if I originated it, but "athetotheism" is my own name for it.)

[Tcg]

Yes, I liked the previous post by one of our atheist contributors.

Athetotheist can correct me if I am wrong, but they don't identify as an atheist. If I understand correctly, they identify as a brand of theism of their own creation.


Tcg

Right you are, but the misconception is common. It seems to be a constant struggle against the Christian-or-atheist false dilemma. (I don't really know if I originated it, but "athetotheism" is my own name for it.)

Yes, thanks for the confirmation and the correction. Perhaps there are other theists who hold the same view, but may not use the same name.


Tcg

[marco]

. It seems to be a constant struggle against the Christian-or-atheist false dilemma. (I don't really know if I originated it, but "athetotheism" is my own name for it.)

Some just say "I don't really know one way or another," and I suppose this is the beginning of wisdom. Socrates endorsed that idea when he claimed to be the most foolish of men.

Meantime "this generation" is quickly sneaking away as we discuss shades of doubt.

[Avoice]

[Replying to post 480 by polonius]

Why did they wait so long? Its obvious. They thought Jesus was coming back soon. There is no other reason. Why bother he'll be here any day now. In their lifetime

[Avoice]

Predicted the destruction of the temple? No
Whaaaat you say?

I never told anyone this before but I predicted the terror attack of 9/11 back in the 80's.

Is that a prediction? No it isnt. If I would have said something before it happened THEN its a prediction. But im saying it today. I have knowledge of it.

Just like the writers of the gospels knew it when they wrote the gospels.
NO PREDICTION!

[marco]

[Replying to post 480 by polonius]

Why did they wait so long? Its obvious. They thought Jesus was coming back soon. There is no other reason. Why bother he'll be here any day now. In their lifetime

What you say is perfectly reasonable. Jesus had taught himself to believe he was not of our clay but infused with divinity that would defy death.

What is strange is that the greater nonsense of earlier Scripture, where God acts like Genghis Khan, seems remarkably acceptable. How can one distinguish nonsense A from nonsense B?

[Eloi]

[Replying to post 503 by Avoice]
That shouldn't be too difficult for a modern Jew to understand. They still are waiting for the Messiah, and somehow they think he will appear in their lifetime. They think that somehow that near-to-come messiah will lead the reconstruction of the temple of God in Jerusalem and make the Jews the liders of the whole planet.

Actually, they have been easily deceived by many "messiahs" who have appeared throughout the ages ... So, tell me, Avoice, is this the generation when the messiah you are waiting for will appear?