So is Christ coming back or what?

Great Debates
1

All through my youth I was told in church that Jesus would return 2000 years after his death. Because we don’t know exactly when he died, we don’t know exactly when he’ll come skipping back, but it should be some time around the year 2000.

Okay, it’s 2000. where is he?
And where did they get 2000 years? The bible is such a mess of riddles & codes to me, where did that number come from.

If another thousand years go by and he doesn’t show up, will people still believe he’s gonna? How many years will go by before even christians give up hope?

2

Where do you get 2000 years?

In any event, I’m not holding my breath and I’m still going out on Saturday.

3

I slept in church as much as I could get away with. But 2000 years seems to stick out in my mind. I happen to believe in God, but there is so much that does seem questionable. It has been at least 2000 years since his death, and christianity is alive and well. How many years will go by (3000, 6000?) before nobody believes at all?

4

Nobody knows. And if there is some “nut” who says he does know, it specifically sez in the NT that NOBODY will know. Maybe His arrival will coincide with the heat death of the Universe. However, I, personally am not expecting Him anytime soon.

5

Oh, and it has NOT been 2000 years since His death. JC died in AD 29. He was born about 6BC. There are certain passages in Revelations & such which talk about a “millennium”, and thus some believe there are 2 “millennium” before he come back. Agianst this is the verse that says specifically that the 2nd coming will come unlooked for, so it is NOT likely to happen in 2029AD. But, be good that year, anyway. :smiley:

6

You know, this always irritates me. Why do people always feel compelled to predict a date for Jesus’s return when the Bible explicitly states in Matthew 24:36 that:

So, all you apocalypse predictors out there, this means that NO ONE KNOWS when Jesus will return, NOT EVEN JESUS.

7

Right, Rick. Damn, you beat me to it, I was just about to post for the 3rd time, and…

8

A wise and learned Biblical scholar (or was it my favorite bartender) once told me that it has something to do with the Red Sox sweeping the World Series.

I wouldn’t start packing.

9

Sure, Jesus came back to Earth in the 1500s, and the Grand Inquisitor gave him a lot of guff about the authority of the Church replacing faith in God. Ask Dostoevsky. Also ask Terry Pratchett, who swiped the theme to use in Small Gods.

10

I’m not familiar with the history/religion of this topic, but here are my 2 cents…

(cent 1) didn’t the Bible say that Jesus would come back during the lives of the prophets?
(cent 2) doesn’t every turning-of-the-century have believers who say Jesus will return at that date? (people like round numbers, so now we hear it again at the year 2000)

(not bashing here…just honest questions)

11

During the lives of the disciples. And He did. (Acts 2:2)

12

it relates to the entire Age of Aquarius business, tho most christians won’t agree because that is astrology and paganism. the axis of the earth wobbles and takes 26,000 years per wobble. divided by 12 this is 2,167 years per astrological age. the early christians used the sign of the fish for the piscean age.

if you check Genesis chap 5 a man named Enoch is mentioned, it says he walked with God. there are 2 ancient texts not included in the bible, THE BOOK OF ENOCH and THE BOOK OF THE SECRETS OF ENOCH. in Hebrews there is a charachter mentioned named Melchizedek, it says he met abraham and Christ was made priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and that he was without father or mother.

the hindu word AVATAR means ‘returning deity’, apparently this occurs NEAR the beginning of each astrological age. a little more than 2,000 years apart. see THE AQUARIAN GOSPEL OF JESUS THE CHRIST by Levi (Dowling)

                                   the wierd, Dal Timgar

p.s. LOL!

13

Danielinthewolvesden:

Why is this?

14

I agree with Danielinthewolvesden that it won’t be anytime REAL soon. Too much prophecy remains unfullfilled but recent events seem to indicate a general move in that direction. Shalom.

15

When He’s Coming Back:
Like everyone’s said, nobody knows.

Why Second Coming in AD 2000 Nuts Are Only Regular-Grade Nuts, Not Heavy-Duty Weirdos:
“With God, a thousand years are as one day.”
Supposed date of Creation (per “Scientific Creationists”): 4004 BC. Creation took six days. Reasonable to expect it to last six “days.”
4004 BC + 6000 years = 1996 AD, give or take.
Seven years of Great Tribulation -> 2003 AD
Christ coming halfway through it: mid-2000 AD, or right about now. [This section represents a summary of one take of conservative Christian thought on the Second Coming, and is not to be confused with the opinions of the poster, Cecil Adams and the Straight Dope, Inc., the Chicago Reader, or anybody else with the sense God gave Anser albifrons.]

How Christians Are Supposed to Prepare for the Second Coming:
>> Live each day as if He’s coming today to judge you.
>> Don’t expect him any time soon.

Why Everybody Is Wrong:
The first time around, nobody but the Jews expected a Messiah in the first place. Jewish thought was divided between those who thought there would be an actual person showing up, with the majority of these expecting a military leader, a minority expecting a perfect High Priest, and a few oddballs expecting one of each; and the “reasonable people” who explained it away as the role of the Jewish people to live the ideal life God commanded and suffer for the sins of the Gentiles, a la the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah. Nobody expected an itinerant rabbi from East Podunk, Galilee, who would teach and heal and then die a shameful, agonizing death, and come back to life. And, effectively, nobody who knew him while he was doing all this stuff got the message, even though he’s said to have made it quite explicit in his talks with the Twelve.

Has human nature changed a whole lot? Look at what the “Christians” think about The Last Temptation of Christ and Corpus Christi? Read all 15 pages of the “Christianity and Love” threads, parts one through three. Odds are, if he shows up again, he’ll probably get zapped, and it’ll probably be the self-proclaimed religious righteous who do it.

Heck, for all anybody knows, he may be around already, doing the same deal as before where he hangs out and prepares himself until he’s adult; he may very well be spending the summer in the Ozarks with his boyfriend.

16

No it isn’t. They finally killed the last one a week ago Tuesday. It was in all the papers (somewhere in the back, geez no one cares huh?). But I for one am glad that whole thing is over with.

Oh, and they don’t (oops, didn’t – past tense) wear the fish in regard to an age. The letters to some early church motto was a phrase which when acronymized spelt the ancient greek word for fish.

Anyway, I thought j.c. came back in the resurrection. Some say he came back as a young girl in 12th century France (and they burned her at the stake this time. Resurrect that, buddy.)

Think he’ll come back so we can kick his rear again? I’ll sharpen some nails – you get a fire going. How about a combination cruxifiction and slow roasting? Maybe he’ll finally learn his lesson.

17

One of my favorite bits of bumper-sticker humor:
JESUS IS COMING! (Look busy!)

18

I think this will help with the OP.
http://www.answering-christianity.com/false_prophecies.htm

19

JM: GMTA

As regards the fish:
Iesous CHristos THeou Yuios Soter = Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior

I take it you do not agree with Martin Heidegger (“They came to take away … and I said nothing, for I was not a…”)

20

Hmmm…

Didn’t Jesus say something like “Lo, I come quickly!”

(Shut up you perverts!)

Sounds to me like the Biblical equivalent of “Be right back!” 2000 years sure seems like a long time to wait for a guy who was supposed to be right back.

Incidentally, the Bible does say something along the lines of “The day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night. You know not the hour of its approach.” Or something like that. So anyone who claims to know exactly when the big J is supposed to be back is blowing smoke up your robes.