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". 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 '' by
Michelangelo (1541) in the
Sistine Chapel, Rome 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 followed 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 Toros Roslin, 1262 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.
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 (). 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:
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:
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 and 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" (), "the conclusion of the system of things" (, ; ) and "the last days" (; ). 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,
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==