Will Jesus ever return?

[More Than A Feeling]

Poll question: Will Jesus ever return?

Thinking about this question, its actually more complicated than it appears. For example, when we say Jesus, do we mean Jesus of Nazareth, first century carpenter, or Jesus the Son of God descending from the clouds in power and majesty? It seems most people think of the second one, because ordinary people who claim to be Jesus are judged insane. Surely there are other, more metaphorical interpretations as well. What do you think?

[WCGreen]

1. Only if we leave cookies for him....

[crim son]

2. You're a bad man.

:P

[WCGreen]

6. Even Jesus can't resist a good toll house cookie...

[goddess40]

10. only if they're still warm from the oven

I don't think a cold cookie would do it.

Actually I don't think there ever was A Jesus, the stories of the Bible are stories told for generations and by the time they were written down the "authorities" that wished to use them to control masses of people tweaked them a little bit more and then claimed they were actual events. Like any game of telephone every time the story gets passed on they get embellished to make them a better story.

[WCGreen]

32. Here are a few great books about early Chritianity...

Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

From Jesus to Christianity by L. Michael White


Both expand upon what you believe with documentation and reasons why....

[kwassa]

40. I'm reading the L. Michael White book right now ....

truly excellent book. About halfway through.

[WCGreen]

42. It's like reading a text book...

But only entertaining...

[kwassa]

43. That's not a bad thing.

but I do find myself going back and re-reading parts, as it is that densely-packed.

back in the old textbook days, why, it was chapter summaries only! Who could actually keep up with all the required reading?

[CJCRANE]

3. Jesus is coming, look busy n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

37. He's not even breathing hard!

How can you say he's coming?

[CJCRANE]

46. You are so naughty!

:blush:

[Auggie]

4. No. He has a weak backhand.

[zeemike]

5. Like the bumper sticker I saw

Jesus is coming...And boy is he pissed

[Hardrada]

7. No, He'll never return

His fate is still unlearned.
He will ride forever'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned!


(Just, kidding, Jesus!)

[enlightenment]

8. Wow. I didn't think ANYONE remembered the

Kingston Trio!

[WCGreen]

33. I remember when they were a combo and not a trio....

[Mojorabbit]

9. Metaphor

taken from pagan beliefs,ie Winter solstice= rebirth of the sun. Cycle of birth, death, and rebirth seen in nature in agricultural societies which lived and survived paying attention to natures cycles and the seasons transformed into religion. If you google "mithras and jesus" you can see but one similarity of the recycling of myth.

[Pierzin]

24. nice, mojorabbit! Ancient History fascinates because

it shaped our world. I gotta read up and this one.

[Mojorabbit]

25. You can also google horus and jesus

and see another recycling of myth :)
ie
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Who knows? I sure don't.

Resurrection and spiritual return has always been a metaphor anyway.

The importance of the Gospel was to free people from intense fear of supernatural punishment that has been used through the centuries to keep people in thrall to religions. It obviously didn't work in the case of Christianity.

--p!

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. Well, he just left Chicago, and he's bound for New Orleans. n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Consciousness takes many forms

as it evolves and creates, recreates, flips from multiplicity to Unity. The Second Coming, to my mind, is a leap in this evolutionary cycle; as such, it is happening now....but then everything happens now.....:)

[no_hypocrisy]

14. I theorize that Jesus could return to the White House and * would

have him thrown into Gitmo.

[Peace Patriot]

15. Jesus said, "The kingdom is within you," and, however much the

male powermongers of the 5th Century AD hated his true message, and tried their damnedest to stamp it out in subsequent centuries, the core of the REAL Christian teaching remains: You ARE Jesus. You are HERE. He or she who is coming is YOU. Open your heart. Let the light shine out. Love everybody, including your enemies. The kingdom of God is WITHIN you. And, really, I'm pretty sure that, if Jesus were living today, he would say: The democracy of God is within you. Cuz Jesus was a Democrat, you know. Y'all come!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

23. Sort of like

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

[maxsolomon]

45. preach it patriot

THAT is the message of Jesus.

[PinkTiger]

16. Well, if you want an educated response, which hasn't appeared here yet,

Here is one.
Paul created the whole idea of the Second Coming; it wasn't really Jesus' idea. The restoration of Jerusalem was seen by Jesus, according to extant texts, as a reclaiming of Jerusalem for God; it was seen as something that would happen without divine intervention of the earth-shattering kind. Paul, however, spoke metaphorically in IThessalonians 4:16-17, and people went nuts over this. However, many see the obsession with the end times something uniquely American. I do know that my friends in Europe are amazed when we talk about the Rapture. I often joke about the Rapture, because I know it is a metaphor that my students and my friends can understand. For example, If I come to class and many are absent, I might say, well, at least I know that the Rapture has not occurred, because (and here I pick one notable student who can laugh at himself) John is still here. This metaphor is totally lost on those in France and Great Britain. I have to explain myself, and when I am done, they are aghast at the idea that real people believe in such a fairy tale.
Americans like to believe in Fairy Tales. That's how George Bush got elected, twice. That and the crooked voting machines, LOL.

[okasha]

30. Europe was there, did that and got the t-shirt

on the first millenial cycle. It's such a distinct phenomenon that scholars have called the notion that the world is going to end next Wednesday "chiliasm" and the response to it "chiliastic panic." It's a measure of how thoroughly American culture has cut itself off from its European roots that we're going through the whole millenial meatgrinder again. The good news is that once it became apparent that Jesus wasn't coming back on the thousand-year mark, people settled down to making the best they could of what they had, and the flowering of culture and art of the High Middle Ages resulted. Assuming global warming doesn't get us, maybe we'll get so lucky on this go-round.

[LiberalFighter]

17. Jesus as a person may have existed but he wasn't the son of God

If Jesus was the Christ that was the son of God he would had returned years ago.

He was not a prophet. He was not a Messiah.

He was just a man on a mission teach and help people.

[ngant17]

18. Christ is largely a myth

"The Christian religion and Masonry have one and the same common origin: Both are derived from the worship of the Sun. The difference between their origin is, that the Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the Sun, in which they put a man whom they call Christ, in the place of the Sun, and pay him the same adoration which was originally paid to the Sun." --- Thomas Paine

"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." --- James Madison

[cosmik debris]

19. Why would he?

The story goes that he came here to redeem mankind. Why should he come back unless he failed the first time?

And considering the way he was treated the first time, I should think this would be one place he would try to avoid!

[struggle4progress]

20. The Coming of the Messiah (Franz Kafka)

... The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary; he will come
only on the day after his arrival; he will come, not on the last day, but
on the very last.

http://www.bradcolbourne.com/kafka.html

[OffWithTheirHeads]

21. I believe Jesus probably existed

I also believe Mohammad existed.

Of course, I also believe that the Grand Canyon was created by a smart slap from the Flying Spaghetti Monster's noodly appendage. Noah's flood indeed!

[Pierzin]

22. As an Agnostic, I gave up on Judeau-Christianity long ago,

It seems many civilizations have a myth about a savior who will come and rescue them and then deliver them to paradise. It's a great story. I was brought up to be a God-fearing Christian, but alas, I lost faith! If God was a just and forgiving God,(or Goddess) how could he-or she- send millions and millions to eternal damnation just because they did not know the Judeau-Christian savior through no fault of their own???
The Aztecs had a myth about a savior who would rescue them, as did the Mayans, and the Jews, just to name a few civilizations who have the Savior myth. I am sure there are others if we look at world mythology enough. My church kept talking about the fact that Jesus could come at any time, he could come tomorrow! So be ready!

[Zhade]

26. H&E, you're asking a lot of good questions these days!

Kick for discussion!

(You know my answer - there's no evidence Jesus even existed, so...)

[More Than A Feeling]

29. Thanks, Zhade!

I intend to go on asking them!:thumbsup:

[melnjones]

27. Does this thread have a point other than

bashing Christianity?

[More Than A Feeling]

28. My point in starting it was to find out about other peoples' beliefs.

The Second Coming is a major theme in Christianity, and the idea has consequences for non-christians as well, both because a version of the idea motivates a portion of the religious right, and because if Jesus ever did return, it would be a pretty strong proof of Christianity. Recently, a survey revealed that a significant portion of people expect Jesus to return in their lifetime, making this a timely question, and a worthy topic of discussion. The responses have been honest, enlightening, and funny.

[melnjones]

34. Sorry, I didn't phrase that well...

I wasn't so much questioning your intent as I was the motives of how some of the responses were worded. Thanks for the reply though.

on edit...and yes, the info especially from the poll itself was interesting.

[Zhade]

35. LOL! The OP *is* Christian!

Wow, persecution complexes abound.

[More Than A Feeling]

36. Not anymore.

I didn't announce it with a whole thread (though I did mention it in a post in response to Papau), but Christianity has lost its meaning for me. I didn't know how to talk about it in a way that people would want to read as a whole thread. Right now, I'm exploring Zen, while being very wary of the sorts of abuses of Zen documented in the online book I just posted a link to.

[melnjones]

39. Buddhism...

I haven't studied much about the abuses of it and would be interested in hearing a little about what you have researched. It's actually something I've always admired.

[More Than A Feeling]

41. This book is what I have read...

http://www.strippingthegurus.com/

It has Zen, Theravada (thai), and Vajrayana (Dalai Lama) profiles.

[melnjones]

38. read # 35. nt

[Crunchy Frog]

31. Maybe he already has.

Multiple times, in any number of different guises. Maybe he/she has been killed again on every occasion.

This would be more a metaphorical idea, for those here who are inclined to overly literal interpretations.

[TechBear_Seattle]

52. This has been my theory for a long time

Jesus returned within the generation that knew him and the End of Days took place as scheduled and under budget. The Revelations of St. John are not prophesy, they are first hand account of actual events.

We are the descendants of those left behind and for some 1900 years, we've been left to muddle through on our own. Which would certainly explain a lot.

[kwassa]

53. you mean we are living in hell ???????

all the righteous have been spirited away???

so this is End of Days, The Sequel?

[Evoman]

44. Oh, of course Jesus will return.

:rofl:

Maybe in another 2 thousand years?

Maybe in 5 thousand years?

I wonder how long people will wait before they say..hmm...this is pretty fucking useless.


And if he does come back, I wonder if there are going to be any humans left on Earth anyways...I'm thinking that if he wants to catch us, he should come pretty soon lol.

Jesus....always late for the party.

[boomboom]

48. ouch

i haven't read many of your posts, but do you believe in any "higher power"? How do people without faith have any hope I wonder? What's the point of getting all upset or all excited about anything? I'm not coming down on you, I'm just wondering what you think. Really....

[Evoman]

50. Lol..you must not have read any of my posts if you ask that!

No, my friend, I do not believe in any higher power. At all. Never have.

Frankly, I wonder the same thing...how do people who have faith have any hope. How can you have hope if you believe that the world is going to end in acopalypse? If you look around at your neighbours and wonder who's going to make it to heaven? Given the complexities, and all the rules needed to get to heaven, how do you hold on to hope that your going to make it?

Even if you don't believe in heaven and hell, how does god give you hope? Hope for what?

I see human beings an animals...special in some ways, but not inherently more worthy than other animals. Just different. But that difference is important...we can make an attempt to understand the world around us. We are children, surrounded by darkness...there is so much to learn. Thats what gives me hope...learning about the universe, learning about animals...just plain learning. I study evolution because it gives me real answers...about our past, and maybe even our future.

I don't believe in god because the concept of god does not make sense to me. God doesn't jibe with what I know about the world, what I see in the world. But I like not believing in god...because god is too damn easy. It takes away the mystery. Whats the fucking point anymore? Gods the answer, I may as well lie down and die. There is no more purpose to us if god did exist, then if he does not. How do we have any more purpose, being the play thing of a god? Being judged by someone who made you who you are...how does that give you hope?

I love my life, and love my family and friends. Why the heck do I need a god?

[Stevepol]

47. Christ is a "spirit" now. He's in that form, and whenever

anybody expresses that spirit, he comes to that person, just as I express my Dad when I am in that spirit I learned from my Dad.

Tonight, Ohio State will take on FL for the national chpshp. Those on either side will get into the Buckeye "spirit" or the Gator "spirit." It's real, but it's not physical.

So Christ can come back any time we invite him in, his spirit that is. The Christ spirit as I think of it is the universal spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that is in every living person, and when we live according to that spirit, we allow him to return.

The second coming is always available at any time. I suppose if enough people catch onto this and actually live in such a way as to invite Christ back, there might be a period of true peace and love over the world. But for any individual, the second coming is whenever we decide we want it.

[TRYPHO]

49. I have a vague memory...

That when I was younger people (?) used to say they thought the Messiah had perished in one of the death camps during the second world war. Of course, I always took that to mean the Meshiach, not the 2nd coming of Yehoshuah; but perhaps it was? Either way, another reason to despise Nazi's.

I'd LOVE Jesus to come back, it would be SO freaky. I'm sure he wouldn't be anything like what I'd be expecting, but then I'm expecting something between Yassa Arafat and the Jesus Christ in South Park.

TRYPHO :-)

[WoodrowFan]

51. yes, quick, Look busy!!!

actually I voted "yes" but I have a sense of humor about it...