second coming of Christ in which the living and the dead will be judged.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
SEE ESCHATOLOGY
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(coming, presence).
Word used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ; the word is not in the Bible, but its translation, “coming”: (Mat 24:3). See “Eschatology.”
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
†¢Eschatology.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
With this term we allude to the second coming of the Lord, a belief that since early Christian times has been nailed to the heart of the Church and constitutes the source of hope for the followers of the Gospel.
The reality of the return is dogmatically indubitable. At the end of the world, Christ, surrounded by majesty, will come again to judge men.
The Apostolic Symbol confesses: “And from there he will come to judge the living and the dead”. The later symbols are expressed in a similar way, echoing the evangelical testimonies. The Lord ascended to heaven, but clearly promised his return: “You will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Almighty coming on clouds.” (Mk. 14. 62 and Mt. 26. 64). And the word that remained floating among his followers, who saw him go away in the Ascension, left no room for doubt: “That Jesus, who has just ascended from your side to heaven, will come as you have seen him go.”
The Niceno-Constantinopolitan symbol adds “cum gloria”, with majesty and brilliance, like the other symbols or declarations of the Christian faith, which include similar expressions. (Denz. 40, 86, 54, 287, 429)
1. Reality of the coming
Jesus predicted several times his second coming (parussia) at the end of time: “The Son of man will come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he will give to each one according to his works.” (Mt 16. 27; Mk. 8, 38; Lk. 9. 26). And he clarified it with details, which his listeners should remember, without a doubt, and awaken prophetic resonances: “Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man come on the clouds of heaven with power and great majesty.” (Mt. 24. 30; Mk. 13. 26; Lk. 21. 27)
That banner alluded to cannot be any other, according to the frequent comment of the Fathers and early writers, than the cross on which he gave his life, the supreme act of his mission as Redeemer.
The repeated phrase of “coming on the clouds of heaven” has an evident prophetic flavor. It implies majesty, mystery, supremacy and rupture with the realities of this world.
It is enough to collect and compare prophetic texts: Is. 13. 10; Dan. 7. 13-14; Zac. 12. 10-14, to notice that Jesus reflects with his allusions oracles known to his listeners.
There are numerous visions of the ancient seers that place their attention, and their reference to divine power, in the ethereal and majestic realm of the firmament. It is the sign of the final triumph, as the oracles reflect: Dan. 7. 13; and as the evangelists say repeatedly, echoing those announcements of the Prophets: Mt. 25. 31; 26. 64; Lc. 17. 24 and 26; Jn. 6. 39; done 1. 11.
The followers of Jesus insisted on that eschatological hope. She was the support of his initial kerygmatic faith. At first they understood that the coming of the Kingdom of the Lord was imminent, without being able to differentiate between the earthly kingdom and the other “prophetic kingdom” that Jesus announced. Then they realized that the Lord would come, but not imminently, and they went out into the world to announce that hope.
Saint Paul specified those who believed the coming of the Lord was imminent, that it was not so soon. In the first known letter that came out of his pen he says: “This we say to you as the word of the Lord: that we, the living, who are left for the coming of the Lord, will not anticipate those who have fallen asleep; for the same Lord, at an order, at the voice of the archangel, at the sound of the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we, the living, those who remain, together with them, will be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4. 15-17).
The end of that second coming of the Lord is presented with a triple reference: to resurrect, to judge, to sanction. It is the idea that the first Christians develop and is reflected in the apostolic texts of the New Testament (1 Cor. 1. 8; 1 Thess. 3. 13; 5. 23; 2 Petr. 1. 16; 1 Jn. 2. 28; Jas. 5. 7; Jd. 14)
Non-biblical writers associated themselves with that hope, linked with biblical writers. From the first known Christian catechism, the Didache, possibly from the year 80 or 90, which speaks of the coming of the Lord: “The world will see the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven.” (16. 8), until the most complete eschatology of the theological Fathers of the fourth century, the core idea remains unshakable: The Lord Jesus will come.
To what extent that hope was identified with a physical and spectacular coming or responded to a more symbolic, significant, even mythical vision, is something that remains a mystery. But, that the idea of the last coming existed in the first Christians and that it was expected not very far away today seems evident.
2. The way of the coming
The description of the coming of the Lord was always understood as a prophetic and apocalyptic gesture, rather than as a physical spectacle. With regard to the details of that coming, from the earliest Christian times metaphorical interpretations and more natural and realistic beliefs have been opposed.
The common denominator of such beliefs is the ostensive majesty of that arrival of Jesus. The terminology must be sought in the prophetic literature and in the apocalyptic genre that, without a doubt, existed in profusion in writings of the first and second centuries, especially in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire.
The torrent of details is superimposed on the evangelical texts. It is Matthew who most highlights the spectacular nature of the coming: “No stone will be left on stone…” (Mt 24. 1.2). “Many will say: “I am the Messiah”; and they will deceive others…” (Mt. 24. 5). “There will be famines and earthquakes… and they will hand over many to torture…” (Mt. 24. 8). “The abominable idol, announced by Daniel, will be installed in the holy place… (Mt. 24. 15). “Then the Son of Man will come like lightning from the East to the West” (Mt. 24. 27).
But it is not only Matthew who collects these data, but the other Synoptics agree on the same warnings: “They will see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with great power and glory.” (Mk. 13. 24-26 and Lc. 21.27)
3. The signs of the coming
Collecting all the data we have in the Synoptics, an interesting map of signs about the coming of the Lord is outlined. Such features have often been pointed to as proof that the coming would then not seem so immediate.
3.1. gospel to the world
The preaching of the Gospel throughout the world seems the most significant event in the minds of the evangelists. The fulfillment of the mandate: “Go and preach to all nations” (Mk. 16. 15) must have remained deeply engraved in the minds of the Apostles. And evidently that preaching did not seem to be able to be done in an easy way.
With the means of communication that they knew and used, it was not a matter of a few years. However they should carry the message to the end of the world. The Lord Himself warned them that some of their deeds would be preached “all over the world.” Such was the anointing of the Magdalene, which advanced the embalming of her and provoked the criticism of the greedy who walked near the bag of Jesus. (Jn. 12. 7)
On other occasions, Jesus himself affirmed that his message would go far and before he returned to his own: “This gospel (or news) of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the world, being a witness to all nations; then the end will come.” (Mt. 24. 14; Mk. 13, 10). This phrase does not seem to mean that the end is immediate, but that the message will spread throughout the world and that there will be time for it.
3.2. Conversion of the Jews
It was an idea that haunted the minds of the Apostles who, after all, were Jews by race and by heart and lamented the incredulity of their people. It must have become more alive as the once-chosen Israel turned further and further away from the Gospel and persecuted those who followed it.
St. Paul clearly showed the pain of the obstinacy of his race brothers in endearing words: “Has God rejected his people? By no means, that I am an Israelite… A remnant has remained… And with his fall salvation has come to the pagans.” (Rom. 11. 1-7 and 11. 25-32). And he alludes to that “mystery” so lacerating for him: “The hardening of Israel is not definitive. It will last until the pagans are converted. Then, all Israel will be saved, because they continue to be loved by God, since God’s gifts are irrevocable…” (Rom. 11. 25-37)
The second coming of the Messiah will take place, then, when the people of Israel lean towards Christ and recognize that he is the Lord. Then the time of the new coming will have arrived. This interpretation does not fail to offer certain exegetical difficulties. On the one hand, it collects prophetic reminiscences of salvation in the old style, with messianic expressions of prophets such as Malachi: “Look, I will send Elijah, the prophet, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes; and then parents and children will be reconciled, so that when I come, the whole earth will not be exterminated.” (Mal. 3. 22-23)
On the other hand, Judaism had understood this passage as a second corporeal coming of Elijah (Eccli. 48. 10).
The date of his coming was in his mind associated with the beginning of the messianic era, giving the idea that Elijah was the forerunner of the Messiah (Jn. 1. 21; Mt. 16. 14). However, early Christian writers understood it from the end times and the world.
They saw this omen as the emblem of the return of the Jews to the right path and the sign of the end of time.
Jesus himself alluded to this meaning and clarified the meaning of such expectation about the coming of Elijah. He diverted attention from a character in the past to another in the present. “I tell you that Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him; rather, they did with him what they wanted.” (Mt. 17. 12; Mk. 9. 13). Thus it indicated that the sign of a prophet of the past should be replaced in the minds of the people by the word of one who said of himself: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the ways of the Lord. ” (John 1. 23)
3.3. apostasy from faith
Jesus predicted that before the end of the world there would be a general apostasy. He warned that fakes would appear…