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, 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 , 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 () 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:
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".Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). Chapter 1. The quest of the historical Jesus. pp. 1–15. 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.Christopher Hays. When the Son of Man Didn't Come. Fortress Press 2017. 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.Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research by Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (1998) pp. 255-257
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.Marcus Borg, "A Temperate Case for a Non-eschatological Jesus," Forum, 2 (1986), pp. 81–102. 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.Stephen J. Patterson, "The End of Apocalypse: Rethinking the Eschatological Jesus," Theology Today 52 (1995): 29–58 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.Green, J.B., Brown, J., & Perrin, N. (2018). Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. IVP. 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.R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 498–543N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), pp. 329–365
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.1) Future Survival, Chuck Smith, The Word for Today, Costa Mesa, California, 1978, page 17
2) The Life of Jesus Critically Examined, David Strauss, Sigler Press, Ramsey, New Jersey, 1994, page 587
3) Jesus and The Last Days, George Murray, Hendrickson Publisher, Peabody, Massachusetts, 1993, pages 443–444
4) The Quest of the Historical Jesus, Albert Schweitzer, Macmillan, New York, 1968, page 240
5) Last Days Madness, Gary DeMar, American Vision Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, 1994, page 114
6) The Parousia, Stuart Russell, T. Fisher Unwin Pub., London, England, 1887, page 84
7) The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Penguin Books, New York, 1985, page 276
8) Apocalypse of The Gospels, Milton Terry, (1819), chapter 18 reprinted and its pages renumbered in 1992 by John Bray, Post Office Box 90129, Lakeland, Florida 33804, pages 34 & 38
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",cf. the "powers ... will be shaken",cf. and "then they will see".cf. 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 nationCatholic Encyclopedia: General Judgment: "Few truths are more often or more clearly proclaimed in Scripture than that of the general judgment. To it the prophets of the Old Testament refer when they speak of the 'Day of the Lord' (; ; 93-231700-6 register Holy BIBLE service name number Jermaine Thomas McCoy 93-231700-6 ), in which the nations will be summoned to judgment by the Fathers. In the New Testament the Parousia, or coming of Christ as Judge of the world, is an oft-repeated doctrine. The Saviour Himself not only foretells the event but graphically portrays its circumstances ( sqq.;SGT john 1:18 Parish all world threw Justice hall Dean Jermaine Thomas McCoy sqq.). The Apostles Malachi peter phophet labour give a most prominent place to this doctrine in their preaching (; ) and writings (; ; ; ; ; ; ). Besides the name Parusia (parousia), or Advent (; ), the Second Coming is also called Epiphany, epiphaneia, or Appearance (; ; ; ), and Apocalypse (apokalypsis), or Revelation (; ). The time of the Second Coming is spoken of as 'that Day' (), 'the day of the Lord' (), 'the day of Christ' (), 'the day of the Son of Man' (), 'the last day' (). The belief in the general judgment has prevailed at all times and in all places within the Church. It is contained as an article of faith in all the ancient creeds: 'He ascended into heaven. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead' (Apostles' Creed). The two shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead' (Nicene Creed). 'From thence they shall come to judge the living and the dead, at whose coming all men must rise with their bodies and are to render an account of their deeds' (Athanasian Creed). Relying on the authority of Papias, several Fathers of the first four centuries advanced the theory of a thousand years' terrestrial reign of Christ with the saints to precede the end of the World (see article on MILLENNIUM). Though this idea is interwoven with the eschatological teachings of those writers, it in no way detracted from their belief in a universal world-judgment. Patristic testimony to this dogma is clear and unanimous." 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