The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven (the Ascension is said to have occurred about two thousand years ago). The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies.
In Islamic eschatology, Jesus (ʿĪsā ibn Maryam) is also believed to return in the end times. According to Islamic belief, he will descend from Heaven to defeat the false messiah (al-Masih ad-Dajjal), break the cross,[Sahih al-Bukhari 2476] restore justice, and reaffirm monotheism. His return is regarded as one of the major signs of the Day of Judgment, and he is viewed not as divine but as a revered prophet in Islamic theology.
Other faiths have various interpretations of it. Some minor religious movements, e.g. the Church of the Last Testament, believe that the founder of a given religious group was a next incarnation of the Jesus Christ.
Terminology
Several different terms are used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ:
In the New Testament, the Greek word ἐπιφάνεια (epiphaneia, appearing) is used six times to refer to the return of Christ.
The Greek New Testament uses the Greek term parousia (παρουσία, meaning "arrival", "coming", or "presence") 24 times, seventeen of them concerning Christ. However, parousia has the distinct reference to a period of time rather than an instant in time. At Matthew 24:37, the word parousia is used to clearly describe the period of time in which Noah lived. The Greek word eleusis, which means "coming", is not interchangeable with parousia. So this parousia or "presence" would be unique and distinct from anything that had occurred before. The word is also used six times referring to individuals (Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus, Titus, and Paul the Apostle) and once referring to the "coming of the lawless one".
Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1908) showed that the Greek word parousia occurred as early as the 3rd century BC to describe the visit of a king or dignitary to a city – a visit arranged in order to show the visitor's magnificence to the people.
In Islam, the term Rajʽa (Arabic: الرجعة, romanized: al-rajʿah, lit. 'Return') refers to the Second Coming. The term is most commonly used by Shia Muslims.
Specific date predictions and claims
Views about the nature of the Second Coming vary among Christian denominations and among individual Christians. Many specific dates have been predicted for the Second Coming, some now in the distant past, others still in the future.
Christianity
Most English versions of the Nicene Creed include the following statements:
...he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in his glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. ... We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
A 2010 survey showed that about 40% of Americans at the time believed that Jesus is likely to return by 2050. This varied from 58% of white evangelical Christians, through 32% of Catholics to 27% of white mainline Protestants.
Early Christianity
Most scholars participating in the third quest for the historical Jesus view Jesus as an eschatological prophet preaching the “Kingdom of God". Some critical scholars see Jesus's predictions of an imminent parousia as mistaken, while many view it from the perspective of the conditional nature of judgement prophecy. A number of interpretations of the term "Kingdom of God" have thus appeared in its eschatological context, e.g., apocalyptic, realized or inaugurated eschatologies, yet no consensus has emerged among scholars.
While the notion of an apocalyptic Jesus remains a mainstream view among scholars, it has been challenged by proponents of other portraits. Scholars of the Jesus Seminar attribute apocalyptic expectations to the early Church rather than the historical Jesus. Some argued that the earlier traditions in the Q Source and Gospel of Thomas showed that apocalyptic eschatology was not present in earlier layers of the Jesus tradition. Recent scholarship has re-evaluated the apocalyptic ideas in the early Christian gospels not as a literal prediction of the end times, but as relating to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. Scholars such as R.T. France and N.T. Wright argue that the Gospels use apocalyptic language borrowed from the Old Testament to describe the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, and passages such as Mark 13:26 concerning the "coming" of the Son of Man are not about the Second Coming, but about the vindication of the Son of Man at the Right Hand of God, where he is bestowed new authority with the Temple's destruction.
Preterism
The position associating the Second Coming with 1st century events such as the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish Temple in AD 70 is known as Preterism.
Some Preterists see this "coming of the Son of Man in glory" primarily fulfilled in Jesus's death on the cross. They believe the apocalyptic signs are already fulfilled including "the sun will be dark", the "powers ... will be shaken", and "then they will see". Yet some critics note that many are missing, such as "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." And "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Catholicism
According to the Catholic Church, the second coming will happen in a single moment, suddenly and unexpectedly (not even the angels, saints, or demons know when it will occur). It will cause the fullness of the reign of God and the consummation of the universe and mankind.
The fullness of the reign of God means God fully manifests the victory he won over his enemies (sin, suffering, and Satan) on the Cross. Just as God gradually revealed himself to Israel until the birth of Jesus, so also God gradually manifests his victory through the church's sacraments (baptism, forgiving sin, exorcising Satan, holy unction, relieving suffering, etc.), until the moment when he will fully manifest his victory through the consummation of the universe and mankind, e.g., by granting the universe and mankind a share in Jesus' resurrection (the universe being transfigured and the dead being resurrected, judged, and recompensed).
The church does not believe the second coming will happen via a catastrophe (such as a nuclear war or extinction event), reincarnation (such as someone claiming to be Jesus), social or technological progress (such as mankind abolishing slavery or curing disease), or ascendancy (such as the church having political power). Nor does the church believe in double predestination.
The second coming is suspended until Jesus is recognized by "all of Israel", and it will be preceded by a final and ultimate temptation to sin – in this case, apostasy – caused by the antichrist. Yet there are three things that hasten the second coming: the celebration of the Eucharist; Christians living with the mind of Jesus; and Christians praying for the Second Coming.
Like many Christian denominations, the church considers this second coming of Christ to be the final and eternal judgment by God of the people in every nation resulting in the glorification of some and the punishment of others. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew.
A decisive factor in this Last Judgment during the second coming of Christ will be the question of whether the corporal and spiritual works of mercy were practised or not during lifetime. They rate as important acts of mercy, charity and justice. Therefore, and according to the Biblical sources (Matthew 25:31–46), the conjunction of the Last Judgment and the works of mercy is very frequent in the pictorial tradition of Christian art.
Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy
It is the traditional view of Orthodox Christians, preserved from the early Church, that the Second Coming will be a sudden and unmistakable incident, like "a flash of lightning". They hold the general view that Jesus will not spend any time on the earth in ministry or preaching, but come to judge mankind. They teach that the ministry of the Antichrist will take place right before the Second Coming.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a part of the Oriental Orthodox communion of churches, teaches that the second coming of Jesus will be radically different from his first coming, which "was to save the lost world".
Lutheranism and Anglicanism
A reference to the second coming is contained in the Nicene Creed and Apostles Creed, which is recited during the Lutheran and Anglican liturgies: "He [Jesus] shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and His kingdom shall have no end." An analogous statement is also in the biblical Pauline Creed (1 Corinthians 15:23).
The Lutheran and Anglican churches proclaim the Mystery of Faith in their liturgies: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again."
Methodism
Methodist denominations teach that the Second Coming is connected with the Last Judgment, as professed in the Creeds.
Methodist denominations differ on the nature of the Second Coming. For example, the United Methodist Church does not teach that there will be a "rapture". On the other hand, the Evangelical Methodist Church Conference teaches, with regard to the Second Coming of Christ:
We believe that the coming of our Lord is to be personal and pre-millenial, also that it is imminent. We must distinguish between the Rapture—His coming in the air to receive his saints, which may occur at any moment, and the Revelation—His coming down to earth with His saints, the latter of which will not occur until after the gathering of Israel, the manifestation of Antichrist, and other prophesied events. Ezek. 36:24, 37:21; Matt. 24:27; 25:13; 26-29; Acts 1:9-11; I Thess. 4:14-17; II Thess. 2:8-10; Rev. 19:20; 20:4; 22:12
Latter Day Saint movement
The standard works of the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), say that Christ will return, as stated in the Bible. They also teach that When the Savior comes again, He will come in power and glory to claim the earth as His kingdom. His Second Coming will mark the beginning of the Millennium. The Second Coming will be a fearful, mournful time for the wicked, but it will be a day of peace for the righteous. The LDS Church and its leaders do not now make predictions of the actual date of the Second Coming. Leaders have made such commentary or speculation in the past, particularly before ca. 1900, but such statements may not necessarily be regarded today as doctrinal or significant.
Latter-day Saints have particularly distinct and specific interpretations of what are considered signs of the Second Coming as stated in the Book of Revelation.
According to LDS Church teachings, the restored gospel will be taught in all parts of the world prior to the Second Coming. Church members believe that there will be increasingly severe wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other man-made and natural disasters prior to the Second Coming.
Mormons also believe Jesus appeared
to his "new world disciples" in the Americas sometime after his crucifixion. This is a central tenet of the religion.
Seventh-day Adventists
Fundamental Belief #25 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church states:
The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the church, the grand climax of the gospel. The Saviour's coming will be literal, personal, visible, and worldwide. When He returns, the righteous dead will be resurrected, and together with the righteous living will be glorified and taken to heaven, but the unrighteous will die. The almost complete fulfillment of most lines of prophecy, together with the present condition of the world, indicates that Christ's coming is imminent. The time of that event has not been revealed, and we are therefore exhorted to be ready at all times.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses rarely use the term "second coming", preferring the term "presence" as a translation of parousia. They believe that Jesus' comparison of "the presence of the Son of man" with "the days of Noah" at Matthew 24:37–39 and Luke 17:26–30 suggests a duration rather than a moment of arrival. They also believe that biblical chronology points to 1914 as the start of Christ's "presence", which continues until the final battle of Armageddon. Other biblical expressions they correlate with this period include "the time of the end" (Daniel 12:4), "the conclusion of the system of things" (Matthew 13:40, 49; 24:3) and "the last days" (2 Timothy 3:1; 2 Peter 3:3). Witnesses believe Christ's millennial reign begins after Armageddon.
Emanuel Swedenborg and the New Church
Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century scientist turned theologian, taught that his time (that historians have called the Age of Enlightenment) was an age of darkness and doubt for the Christian church. Historian Marguerite Beck Block writes,
Now therefore it was time for a new church to be founded upon the earth, and for this purpose it was necessary for the Lord Himself to make his Second Coming to the sons of men.
"The night is followed by a morning which is the coming of the Lord. ... The prevailing opinion in the churches at the present day is, that when the Lord shall come for the last judgment. He will appear in the clouds of heaven with angels and the sound of trumpets, etc.," but this opinion is erroneous. The Second Coming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in spirit and in the Word, which is from
Him, and is Himself. ... Heretofore it has not been known that 'the clouds of heaven' mean the Word in the sense of the letter, and that the 'glory and power' in which He is then to come, mean the spiritual sense of the Word, because no one as yet has had the least conjecture that there is a spiritual sense in the Word, such as this sense is in itself. But as the Lord has now opened to me the spiritual sense of the Word, and has granted me to be associated with angels and spirits in their world as one of them, it is now disclosed.
... This Second Coming of the Lord is effected by means of a man to whom the Lord has manifested Himself in Person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, that he may teach the doctrines of the New Church from the Lord by means of the Word. ... That the Lord manifested Himself before me. His servant, and sent me to this office, ... I affirm in truth."
Esoteric Christian teachings
In Max Heindel's teaching, there is a distinction between the cosmic Christ, or Christ without, and the Christ within. According to this tradition, the Christ within is regarded as the true Saviour who needs to be born within each individual in order to evolve toward the future Sixth Epoch in the Earth's etheric plane, that is, toward the "new heavens and a new earth": the New Galilee. The Second Coming or Advent of the Christ is not in a physical body, but in the new soul body of each individual in the etheric plane of the planet where man "shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." The "day and hour" of this event is not known. The esoteric Christian tradition teaches that first there will be a preparatory period as the Sun enters Aquarius, an astrological concept, by precession: the coming Age of Aquarius.
Islam
Traditional view
In Islam, Jesus (or Isa; Arabic: عيسى ʿĪsā) is considered to be a Messenger of God and the masih (messiah) who was sent to guide banī isrā'īl (the Israelites) with a new scripture, the Injīl (Gospel). The belief in Jesus (and all other messengers of God) is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim. It is noteworthy, that Muslims believe that Jesus was never crucified or resurrected, but Allah ascended him directly into heaven. Additionally, they do not recognize Jesus as the Son of God, as they believe God has no equals, but rather that he was a prophet. The Quran states that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Muslims believe that Jesus performed all the miracles in the Gospels (with God's permission). The pertinent verses in Sura An-Nisa 4:157 reads "And for their saying, 'Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.' And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain." 4:158 continues "rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise."