Jesus' Failed Second Coming Prophecy & What this Means for Christianity

[Rational Agnostic]

The central doctrine of Christianity states that Jesus will return in his Father's glory with his angels to judge the living and the dead, gathering up his elect to take them to spend an eternity in heaven with him, while casting the unbelievers into eternal hellfire. However, what many Christians do not realize is that when reading the Bible, we find that Jesus himself actually gave a very specific timeframe of when this apocalyptic event was supposed to occur. And, as it turns out, this timeframe has long expired. Jesus predicted that he would return, and that the apocalypse and final judgment, would occur within the lifetimes of his disciples, certainly no later than 100 AD.

One example Scripture where Jesus mentions this is found in Mark 13:9-30, where (referring to the final judgment), Jesus states:

“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again.
“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

“But in those days, following that distress,

“‘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.’

“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

“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. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

A common explanation that apologists and pastors give to explain away this passage is that "this generation" referred to in verse 30 is not actually referring to the generation alive at Jesus' time, but instead is referring to a future generation, or perhaps defining "generation" to mean something different than its usual sense. But when we examine other passages in the Bible where Jesus makes this same prophecy, we see that clearly, this is not the case. Jesus is in fact referring to the literal generation alive at the time he was. Let's take a look at another instance where Jesus makes this same prediction of his return, but even more explicitly states that it will be within his disciples' lifetimes: Matthew 10:17-23. Notice that the language used in Matthew 10:17-22 EXACTLY mirrors the language used in Mark 13:9-13, which is very clearly a chapter about end times, so there is no ambiguity about what Jesus is referring to here. He is very clearly returning to his Second Coming and the subsequent end of the world. Mark 10:17-23 states:

Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Here we can see very clearly that "this generation" referred to in Mark 13 is in fact the generation alive at Jesus' time, and that Jesus explicitly and unambiguously predicted that he would return within the first century A.D.

This failed prophecy is also found in Matthew 16:27-28, in which Jesus states:

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

So, clearly, the second coming of Christ and subsequent Apocalypse that was supposed to occur in the first century never happened, and Jesus was wrong. Yet, more than 2000 years later, billions of Christians around the world still earnestly believe that it will occur in the future, and are not aware that this prophecy already failed. The truth is, there is no reason to expect that this second coming will ever happen, and is anything more than a fairy tale. If Jesus was wrong about something as key and central to Christianity as this, there is no reason to trust that Jesus was right about anything else he said, and no reason to believe that the Christian god exists outside the imaginations of those who believe in him.

[Mae von H]

[Replying to William in post #36]

I'm sure the ruling elite wants to believe the stories are true-that they have the divine right to rule-so that they continue their little power trips, but that doesn't mean they are true.

Christians have informed me that God set up the rulers and that we should obey them. Are they being truthful or lead astray?

If they know the stories aren't true, does that imply a conspiracy? It would seem to, but who knows? Who knows what really goes on? Not me.

Well, you don't know for sure (who does?) but as I pointed out your/our suspicions are not unnecessary, even in the context of conspiracy theory.

I agree that we allow them their power. There are more of us than them. What are we going to do about it? Probably nothing because as you pointed out, the one who wins that battle will become just like them. I guess it's the nature of the beast, so to speak

.

A relevant point. The nature requires time and understanding in order for "the beast" to be understood and tamed/healed/bandaged et al.

Millions (billions?) of religious folk awaiting saving and godly order from "above" could rather be using that "waiting" time be demanding (of themselves/one another) that such be built and maintained by recognising the false way to do things and figuring out better ways, rather than mooching along as the status quo because they are under the impression that "God" will eventually intervene and thus somehow "allow" them to build the godly thing ( or have the already built thing gifted to their deserving selves) and in the mean-time we all just have to "sigh" and agree to follow the leaders God has "appointed/allowed to be in control" in the interim (as God surely must know what God is doing, right?) and we mere humans do not understand "the ways of God" and must trust that eventually God will send the savior back to rescue the "maiden in distress" from the "Nature of The Beast" apparently because the maiden has no ability to do this for herself.

Greeting William! We meet again. Two points I’d like to address. First, the arrangement that there are people governing a nation is an arrangement God set up. It doesn’t follow that all those governing are doing so because He arranged it to be so. He is not micromanaging the world. So the excuse Christians have used for what can certainly be called cowardice at times is just that, an excuse. They do not actually live this nonsensical view of God because if their government or boss or father, all theoretically set up by God, if they were to do what the believe knows is wrong or even downright evil, they wouldn’t retreat to “it’s all God’s plan” and remain docile.

The second valid argument you bring is, again, this docile theology that encourages waiting for Jesus to come and build a just world. This theology came on the world stage around the turn of the last century but wasn’t heard of before. The view of Christian eschatology was that we were to bring the good news of Christ’s sacrifice that can enable us to do what is just and right also having our past wrong deeds forgiven. So believers went out and changed the world for the better. The law became king instead of the king was the law. There was no “do nothing til Jesus comes” mentality.

Now, I am a convinced believer and am absolutely convinced Jesus is bodily returning but not in our lifetime. Conditions are not met for that and won’t be for some generations. That is a hope for the world but not a real hope for anyone facing problems today. It’s the (distant) future and so no help today.

So I share your dislike of this passive sheeople view and am ashamed of the spineless believers it has generated.

[otseng]

Are you purposely being obtuse? If not, just reread my previous posts. It’s very simple to understand. If yes, then ask yourself why you’d rather push a lie than know the truth.

I think you can easily understand what I’ve posted-if you only want to. I have nothing further to add.

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[TRANSPONDER]

[Replying to Mae von H in post #51]

But I see that as an excuse as to why the world looks just as it would if there was no 'micromanaging' god there. It is an apologetics excuse that God set it all up but leaves us alone to do it warts and all and gets the credit for anything Good and Man gets the blame for anything bad, even slavery which is endorsed by the Bible and never mind the apologetics that try to rewrite it.

The excuses are heard in everything from why prayer doesn't work to why Jesus didn't come back while some who supposedly heard him say so were still alive.

Excuses, excuses and more excuses. Plus rewriting or denying what the Bible says because the Faithful Understand what it Really means. Ok, I know, the Believer apologists will deny everything and think they win that way. But I'm here to tell you that these are darn good reasons why we goddless do not believe the Bible, religion of Jesusgod (though JesusJew is probable) and I suspect our pal William may think so, too. The only thing we disagree about is the claim of the Cosmic Mind .

[Mae von H]

[Replying to Mae von H in post #51]

But I see that as an excuse as to why the world looks just as it would if there was no 'micromanaging' god there. It is an apologetics excuse that God set it all up but leaves us alone to do it warts and all and gets the credit for anything Good and Man gets the blame for anything bad, even slavery which is endorsed by the Bible and never mind the apologetics that try to rewrite it.

The excuses are heard in everything from why prayer doesn't work to why Jesus didn't come back while some who supposedly heard him say so were still alive.

Excuses, excuses and more excuses. Plus rewriting or denying what the Bible says because the Faithful Understand what it Really means. Ok, I know, the Believer apologists will deny everything and think they win that way. But I'm here to tell you that these are darn good reasons why we goddless do not believe the Bible, religion of Jesusgod (though JesusJew is probable) and I suspect our pal William may think so, too. The only thing we disagree about is the claim of the Cosmic Mind .

But God does not want to micromanage the universe. Of course it looks like He is not because he is not. Does not mean He is not there at all. There is no logical connection between a Being not doing what you expect and not being there. God idd not set it all up but leave us alone to do it warts and all and get the credit for anything good. You know, you do not think He is there. Why do you think you then know all about Him? I know Him and your view is very far away from the real One. (Of course there are Christians who are in the same distance from Him, I admit.)

What excuses have you heard why prayer doesn't work? I am curious. Jesus said it would be a very long time before he returns. He is not returning soon because the conditions are not there for him to return. These are straw man arguments.

Truthfully, what you write sounds a lot like excuses for not believing. You do not want to believe the testimony of others as though that is flimsy evidence for an event despite that fact that courts love witnesses to the events. I do not see that the atheists have darn good reasons not to believe except that it will cost them a lot to do so. Unbelief has its price to, that needs to be said. But I do not see any evidence that would convince you at all. Is there any? Even if a miracle happened before your eyes, you would not believe that is a God, would you?

[JehovahsWitness]

... this docile theology that encourages waiting for Jesus to come and build a just world. This theology came on the world stage around the turn of the last century but wasn’t heard of before.

DID JESUS TEACH THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD REMAIN TOTALLY INACTTIVE WHILE AWAITING JESUS RETURN TO ESTABLISH A JUST WORLD?

Just because the bible teaches that that God's kingdom is the ONLY real hope to free mankind from suffering and death and establish true peace and security for all on this our planet earth, this does not mean Jesus taught his followers to await his return without doing anything.

While Jesus told his followers to remain seperate from this world (meaning NOT to seek to improve it through involvement with political or military campagne - compare John 18:36) he did urge them to keep busy promoting the kingdom and helping people on an individual level to lead better productive lives. Thus Christians would be a positive influence in the communities they lived, helping people spiritually, emotionally and although Jesus did not commission charities and humanitarian movements, he did teach his followers to follow through their love of neighbour with compassionate action on an individual level as the need arose (see Luke 10: 25-37).


JW




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[William]

[Replying to Mae von H in post #51]

Greeting William! We meet again.

Yes. I am still waiting for a reply from you in another thread.

Two points I’d like to address. First, the arrangement that there are people governing a nation is an arrangement God set up. It doesn’t follow that all those governing are doing so because He arranged it to be so. He is not micromanaging the world.

More along the lines of setting things up to see what might happen then? (maybe a tweak here and there.)
So the flood event ("micromanaging") didn't happen?

So the excuse Christians have used for what can certainly be called cowardice at times is just that, an excuse. They do not actually live this nonsensical view of God because if their government or boss or father, all theoretically set up by God, if they were to do what the believe knows is wrong or even downright evil, they wouldn’t retreat to “it’s all God’s plan” and remain docile.

Or, they have optimum faith in the process and see it as "The hand of God in things" ("micromanaging").

The second valid argument you bring is, again, this docile theology that encourages waiting for Jesus to come and build a just world. This theology came on the world stage around the turn of the last century but wasn’t heard of before. The view of Christian eschatology was that we were to bring the good news of Christ’s sacrifice that can enable us to do what is just and right also having our past wrong deeds forgiven. So believers went out and changed the world for the better. The law became king instead of the king was the law. There was no “do nothing til Jesus comes” mentality.

Even if that is so, what point is being made through that process?

Now, I am a convinced believer and am absolutely convinced Jesus is bodily returning but not in our lifetime. Conditions are not met for that and won’t be for some generations. That is a hope for the world but not a real hope for anyone facing problems today. It’s the (distant) future and so no help today.

You have faith in a future event which does not require help?

So I share your dislike of this passive sheeople view and am ashamed of the spineless believers it has generated.

I merely point out the facts which point out the (posible) fictions and assign no judgment on folk who conduct their business as they do. I observe and question any apparent contradictions not for the purpose of being judgmental but for the purpose of constructing my own Natural Philosophy and avoiding inserting into the philosophy those contradictions as relevant/necessary.