The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and
Islamic
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
belief that
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
will return to Earth after his
ascension to
Heaven
Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
(which 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
Islamic eschatology includes the afterlife, apocalyptic signs of the End Times, and final Judgement. It is fundamental to Islam as life after death is one of the six Doctrines of Islam. Resurrection is divided into Lesser Resurrection (''al-q ...
,
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
(''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''), restore justice, and reaffirm monotheism. His return is regarded as one of the
major signs of the Day of Judgment, and he is viewed as a revered prophet, not divine, in Islamic theology.
Other faiths have various interpretations of it.
Terminology
Several different terms are used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ:
In the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, 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
Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...
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
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
) 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 believe that Jesus is likely to return by 2050. This varies from 58% of white evangelical Christians, through 32% of Catholics to 27% of white mainline Protestants. Belief in the Second Coming was popularised in the US in the late nineteenth century by the evangelist
Dwight L. Moody and the
premillennial interpretation became one of the core components of
Christian fundamentalism in the 1920s.
Early Christianity
Jesus told his
disciples,
The most common English translation of ''genea'' is "generation", which led some to conclude that the Second Coming was to be witnessed by the people living in the same generation as Jesus. According to historian
Charles Freeman,
early Christians expected Jesus to return within a generation of his death, and the non-occurrence of the second coming surprised them.
N. T. Wright disputes this.
In most German Bibles, ''genea'' is instead translated as "family/lineage" (Geschlecht).
Likewise for Danish, Swedish and Norwegian (slægt, släkte and slekt, respectively).
The Danish linguist Iver Larsen argues that the word "generation" as it was used in the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...
of the Bible (1611) had a wider meaning than it has today, and that the correct translation of ''genea'' in the context of the second coming is "kind of people" (specifically the "good" kind of people; the disciple's kind of people, who, like the words of Jesus, will endure through all the tribulations). In
Psalm 14, the King James version uses "generation" in this wide and outdated sense, when it declares that "God is in the generation of the righteous". According to Larsen, the ''
Oxford Universal Dictionary'' states that the latest attested use of ''genea'' in the sense of "class, kind or set of persons" dates from 1727. Larsen concludes that the meaning of "generation" in the English language has narrowed considerably since then.
Bible scholar Philip La Grange du Toit argues that ''genea'' is mostly used to describe a timeless and spiritual family/lineage of good or bad people in the New Testament, and that this is the case also for the second coming discourse in
Matthew 24. In contrast to Larsen however, he argues that the word ''genea'' here denotes the "bad kind of people", because Jesus had used the word in that pejorative sense in the preceding context (chapter 23). He also lists the main competing translation alternatives, and some of the scholars who support the different views:
* "This generation" refers to Jesus's contemporaries who would witness "all these things"
�άντα ταῦταas outlined in verses 4–31, including Jesus' second coming (Davies & Allison 1997: 367–368; Hare 1993: 281; Maddox 1982: 111–115). Because Jesus' contemporaries did not witness his second coming, some contend that Jesus erred in his predictions (Luz 2005: 209; cf. Schweitzer 1910: 356–364).
* "This generation" refers to Jesus's contemporaries who would witness "all these things" as outlined in verses 4–22 or 4–28, pointing to the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and everything leading up to it. Jesus' second coming (vv. 29–31) is thus excluded from "all these things" (Blomberg 1992: 364; Carson 1984: 507; France 2007: 930; Hagner 1995: 715).
* "This generation" points to the Ἰουδαῖοι
ews or Judaeans implying that they as a race would last until the Parousia (Hendriksen 1973: 868–869; Schweizer 1976: 458).
* In
patristic opinion, "this generation" points to the church against which the gates of
Hades
Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...
would not prevail (cf.
Chrysostom, Hom. Matt. 77:1;
Eusebius, Frag. in Lc. ad loc).
* 'This generation' points to some future generation, from Matthew's perspective, that sees "all these things" (Bock 1996: 538–539; Conzelmann 1982: 105).
* The words "take place" or "have happened"
�ένηταιare interpreted as an ingressive
aorist
Aorist ( ; abbreviated ) verb forms usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite. Ancient Greek grammar had the aorist form, and the grammars of other Indo-European languages and languages influenced by the ...
: "to begin" or "to have a beginning". In other words, "all these things" would start to happen in the generation of Jesus' present disciples, but would not necessarily finish in their time (Cranfield 1954: 291; Talbert 2010: 270).
* "This generation" points to a certain kind of people in accordance with the pejorative connotations to "generation"
�ενεάelsewhere in the gospel (Morris 1992: 613; Nelson 1996: 385; Rieske 2008: 225; see, e.g., Mt 11:16; 12:39, 41–42, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36). While DeBruyn (2010: 190) and Lenski (1943: 953) interpret the expression in a similar way, they connect "this generation" to a certain kind of people from the Ἰουδαῖοι who resisted Jesus (cf. view 3 discussed earlier).
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 Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, 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
The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
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
Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...
or
extinction event
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...
), 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
Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...
– caused by the
antichrist
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
.
Yet there are three things that hasten the second coming: the celebration of the
Eucharist
The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
; 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
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
of the people in every
nation
A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...
resulting in the glorification of some and the punishment of others. The concept is found in all the
Canonical gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
, particularly the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...
.
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
Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media.
Images of Jesus and narrative ...
.
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
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...
, a part of the
Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian ...
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".
Orthodox layman Alexander Kalomiros explains the original Church's position regarding the Second Coming in ''River of Fire'' and ''Against False Union'', stating that those who contend that Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years "do not wait for Christ, but for the Antichrist". The idea of Jesus returning to this earth as a king is a heretical concept to the Church, equated to "the expectations of the Jews who wanted the Messiah to be an earthly King." The Church instead teaches that which it has taught since the beginning.
Lutheranism and Anglicanism
A reference to the second coming is contained in the
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it.
The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...
and
Apostles Creed, which is recited during the Lutheran and Anglican liturgies: "He
esus
Esus is a Celtic god known from iconographic, epigraphic, and literary sources.
The 1st-century CE Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Esus, Taranis, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Cel ...
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
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
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
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
does not teach that there will be a "
rapture
The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...
". On the other hand, the
Evangelical Methodist Church Conference teaches, with regard to the Second Coming of Christ:
Latter Day Saint movement
The
standard works
The Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, the largest in the Latter Day Saint movement) are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. The four books of the standard works are:
* ...
of the largest denomination in the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...
,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church), say that Christ will return, as stated in the Bible. They also teach that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders do not make predictions of the actual date of the Second Coming. Mormons believe Jesus appeared to his "new world disciples" in the Americas sometime after his crucifixion. This is a central tenet of the religion.
Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
have particularly distinct and specific interpretations of what are considered to be signs stated in the
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...
.
According to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the restored
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
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.
Seventh-day Adventists
Fundamental Belief #25 of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...
states:
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
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
Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...
, an 18th-century scientist turned theologian, taught that his time (that historians have called the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...
) was an age of darkness and doubt for the Christian church. Historian Marguerite Beck Block writes,
Esoteric Christian teachings
In
Max Heindel
Max Heindel (born Carl Louis von Grasshoff, July 23, 1865 – January 6, 1919) was an American Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic.
Early life
Carl Louis von Grasshoff was born in Aarhus, Denmark, into the noble family von Grasshof ...
'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 chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...
in the Earth's
etheric plane
The etheric plane (see also '' etheric body'') is a term introduced into Theosophy by Charles Webster Leadbeater and Annie Besant to represent the subtle part of the lower plane of existence. It represents the fourth ighersubplane of the phys ...
, 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; ) 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
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, and a requirement of being a
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
. However, Muslims believe that Jesus was never
crucified or resurrected, instead ascending 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
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
states that Jesus was born of the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
. Muslims believe that Jesus performed all the miracles in the
Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
(with God's permission). The pertinent verses in
Sura
A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...
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."
The Quran refers to a conversation between Jesus and God on judgement day in Sura
Al-Ma'idah 5:116, 5:117. Jesus is questioned 5:116 "Did you ever ask the people to worship you and your mother as gods besides Allah?" To which Jesus replies 5:117 "I never told them anything except what You ordered me to say: "Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord!" And I was witness over them as long as I remained among them."
In the Quran, the second coming of Jesus is heralded in Sura
Az-Zukhruf as a sign of the
Day of Judgment.
Ibn Kathir
Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on (Quranic exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a lea ...
presents this verse as proof of Jesus' second coming in the Quran in his
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
''Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim''.
There are also
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
s that foretell Jesus' future return such as:
["Isa", Encyclopedia of Islam] ''
Sahih al-Bukhari'', Volume 3, Book 43: ''Kitab-ul-`Ilm'' (Book of Knowledge), Hadith Number 656:
According to Islamic tradition, Jesus' descent will be in the midst of wars fought by the
Mahdi
The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...
(''lit''. "the rightly guided one"), known in
Islamic eschatology
Islamic eschatology includes the afterlife, apocalyptic signs of the End Times, and final Judgement. It is fundamental to Islam as life after death is one of the six Doctrines of Islam. Resurrection is divided into Lesser Resurrection (''al-q ...
as the redeemer of Islam, against the
al-Masih ad-Dajjal (literally "the false messiah", synonymous with the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
) and his followers.
Jesus will descend at the point of a white
minaret
A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...
, east of
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, dressed in saffron robes—his head anointed. He will then join the Mahdi in his war against the Dajjal. Jesus, considered in Islam as a Muslim (one who submits to God) and one of God's messengers, will abide by the Islamic teachings. Eventually, Jesus will slay the Antichrist Dajjal, and then everyone from the
People of the Book (''ahl al-kitāb'', referring to Jews and Christians) will believe in him. Thus, there will be one community.
After the death of the Mahdi, Jesus will assume leadership. This is a time associated in Islamic narrative with universal peace and justice. Islamic texts also allude to the appearance of
Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog), ancient tribes that will disperse and cause disturbance on earth. God, in response to Jesus' prayers, will kill them by sending a type of worm in the napes of their necks.
Jesus' rule is said to be around forty years, after which he will die (since according to Islam, Jesus did not die on the cross but was taken up to heaven and continues to live until his return in the second coming). Muslims will then perform the ''
Salat al-Janazah'' (funeral prayer) for him and bury him in the city of
Medina
Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
in a grave left vacant beside
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
.
Ahmadiyya

The
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...
movement believe that the promised
Mahdi
The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...
and Messiah arrived in the person of
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and '' Mahdī'', in fulfillment of th ...
(1835–1908). This is widely rejected by other Muslims, who do not regard Ahmadis as a legitimate sect of Islam.
The Ahmadiyya movement interpret the Second Coming of Jesus prophesied as being that of a person "similar to Jesus" (''mathīl-i ʿIsā'') and not his physical return, in the same way as
John the Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
resembled the character of the biblical prophet
Elijah
Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible.
In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...
in Christianity. Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (the founder of the movement) demonstrated that the prophecy in Muslim and Christian religious texts were traditionally misunderstood to suggest that Jesus of Nazareth himself would return, and hold that Jesus survived the
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...
and later died a natural death. Ahmadis consider Ghulam, in both his character and teachings, to be representative of Jesus, and that he attained the same spiritual rank of Prophethood as Jesus. Thus, Ahmadis believe this prediction was fulfilled and continued by his movement.
[The Four Questions Answered](_blank)
by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, AAIIL 1996
Baháʼí Faith

According to the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
, the Second Coming is a gradual process that coincides with the advancement of human civilization from the beginning of humanity. It teaches that the founders of the major world religions each represent a return of the Word and Spirit of God as a new, unique personification sent by God, who introduces new teachings, laws and revelations, such that all major religions are part of a
progressive revelation. Each Coming is said to build upon the major world religions emerging from earlier ages, verifying previous spiritual truths, and fulfilling its prophesies regarding a future return or coming. In this context, the Second Coming is depicted as a continuation of God's will in one continuous faith, with different names as presented by the founders of each religion as the voice of God at different times in history.
Bahá'u'lláh announced that he was a manifestation of the returned Christ, understood as a reappearance of the Word and Spirit of God: He wrote to
Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
, He referred to himself as the ''
Ancient of Days'' and the ''Pen of Glory'',
and also claimed: Baha'u'llah also wrote,
Followers of the Baháʼí Faith believe that prophecies of the second coming of Jesus (along with prophecies from other religions) were fulfilled by his forerunner the
Báb in 1844 and then by the events occurring during the days of Bahá'u'lláh. They believe that the fulfillment of Christian prophecies by Baha'u'llah is similar to Jesus' fulfillment of Jewish prophecies, where in both cases people were expecting the literal fulfillment of apocalyptic statements that led to rejections of the Return, instead of accepting fulfillment in symbolic and spiritual ways. Baháʼís understand that the return of the Christ with a new name was intended by Jesus to be a Return in a spiritual sense, due to Jesus explaining in the Gospels that the return of Elijah in John the Baptist was a return in a spiritual sense.
Judaism
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
teaches that Jesus is one of the false
Jewish Messiah claimants because he failed to fulfill any
Messianic prophecies, which include:
# Build the Third Temple
The "Third Temple" (, , ) refers to a hypothetical rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. It would succeed the First Temple and the Second Temple, the former having been destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in and the latter having bee ...
().
# Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel ().
# Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." ()
# Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world―on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" ().
Regarding the Christian idea that these prophecies will be fulfilled during a "second coming," ''
Ohr Samayach'' states "we find this to be a contrived answer, since there is no mention of a second coming in the Jewish Bible. Second, why couldn't God accomplish His goals the first time round?"
Rabbi
David Wolpe believes that the Second Coming was "grown out of genuine disappointment.
..When Jesus died, true believers had to theologically compensate for the disaster."
Rastafari
In the early developments of the
Rastafari
Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...
religion,
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...
(the Ethiopian Emperor) was regarded as a member of the
House of David, is worshipped as God
incarnate, and is thought to be the "black Jesus" and "black messiah" – the second coming of Christ. It was claimed that
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...
preached the coming of the black messiah on the eve of Selassie's coronation. Due to this prophecy, Selassie was the source of inspiration of the poor and uneducated Christian populations of
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
, who believed that the Emperor would liberate the black people from the subjugation of European colonists.
Paramahansa Yogananda's commentary
In modern times some traditional Indian religious leaders have moved to embrace Jesus as an
avatar
Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...
, or incarnation, of God. In light of this, the Indian guru
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian and American Hindu monk, yoga, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga school, Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self ...
, author of ''
Autobiography of a Yogi'', wrote an extensive commentary on the
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
s published in 2004 as a two-volume set: ''The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You''.
The book offers a mystical interpretation of the Second Coming in which it is understood to be an inner experience, something that takes place within the individual heart. In the introduction of this book, Yogananda wrote that the true Second Coming is the resurrection within you of the Infinite Christ Consciousness. Also stated in the Book of Luke – "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." ()
Daya Mata wrote in the preface of ''The Second Coming of Christ'' that the "...scriptural treatise thus represents the inclusive culmination of Paramahansa Yogananda's divine commission to make manifest to the world the essence of original Christianity as taught by Jesus Christ." In sharing her memories of when she wrote down his words, she shares – "the great Guru, his face radiantly enraptured, as he records for the world the inspired exposition of the Gospel teachings imparted to him through direct, personal communion with Jesus of Nazareth."
Larry Dossey, M.D., wrote that "Paramahansa Yogananda's ''The Second Coming of Christ'' is one of the most important analyses of Jesus' teachings that exists. ... Many interpretations of Jesus' words divide peoples, cultures, and nations; these foster unity and healing, and that is why they are vital for today's world".
In modern culture
Jesus Christ returning to earth has been a theme in several movies and books, for example:
* ''
The Seventh Sign'' – 1988 film starring
Demi Moore
Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...
about a pregnant lady who discovers the Second Coming of Christ has rented a room from her, in order to begin the countdown that will trigger the
Apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...
.
* ''
Left Behind'' – Film and book franchise (1995–mid 2010s) built by
Tim LaHaye
Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian Minister of religion, minister who wrote more than 85 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including the ''Left Behind (series), Left Behind ...
and
Jerry B. Jenkins based on the time-period before, during and after the Second Coming of Christ.
* ''Thief In the Night'' by
William Bernard Sears – Non-fictional book about ientifying clues and symbols from the Biblical prophecies of the return of the Christ that have been overlooked or misunderstood, which concludes that
Baháʼu'lláh
Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...
fulfilled the prophecies (2002)
961 Oxford, UK: George Ronald. .
* ''SCARS: Christian Fiction End-Times Thriller'' by Patience Prence – 2010 novel about a girl named Becky who struggles through the time of the
Great Tribulation.
*''At the End of All Things'' by Stony Graves – 2011 novel about the days following the
Rapture
The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...
, and right before the Final War between God and Satan.
* ''The Second Coming: A Love Story'' by
Scott Pinsker – 2014 novel about two men who claim to be the Second Coming of Christ. Each claims that the other is a liar – but only one is telling the truth.
* ''
Black Jesus'' –
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
television series (2014–2015 and 2019) created by
Aaron McGruder and
Mike Clattenburg, tells the story of Jesus living in modern-day
Compton, California
Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...
, and his efforts to spread love and kindness on a daily basis. He is supported in his mission by a small-but-loyal group of downtrodden followers, while facing conflicts involving corrupt preachers, ethnic tensions, and the hate spreading activities of the manager of his apartment complex.
* ''
Good Omens'' – TV series and book franchise. The Second Coming is the focus of the third and final season.
See also
*
False prophet
*
Inaugurated eschatology
*
List of messiah claimants
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
*
List of people claimed to be Jesus
*
Life of Jesus in the New Testament
*
Mahdi
The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...
*
Realized eschatology
*
"The Second Coming" (poem), by William Butler Yeats
References
Bibliography
*
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
. (1960). ''
The World's Last Night and Other Essays.''
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. .
*
Max Heindel
Max Heindel (born Carl Louis von Grasshoff, July 23, 1865 – January 6, 1919) was an American Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic.
Early life
Carl Louis von Grasshoff was born in Aarhus, Denmark, into the noble family von Grasshof ...
.
How Shall We Know Christ at His Coming?', May 1913 (stenographic report of a lecture, Los Angeles, California), .
*
Markus Mühling Markus Mühling (born 27 December 1969, Frankfurt am Main) is a Protestant systematic theologian and philosopher of religion whose work focuses largely on the doctrine of God, eschatology, the atonement and the dialogue between the natural sciences ...
. ''Grundinformation Eschatologie. Systematische Theologie aus der Perspektive der Hoffnung'',
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V&R) is a scholarly publishing house based in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded in 1735 by (1700–1750) in connection with the establishment of the Georg-August-Universität in the same city.
After Abraham Vandenh ...
,
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
2007, , pp. 221–241.
*
James Stuart Russell. ''The Parousia, A Careful Look at the New Testament Doctrine of the Lord's Second Coming'', London, England 1887.
*
Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...
. ''The Consummation of the Age; the Coming of the Lord; and the New Heaven and New Church'', Chapter 14 i
''The True Christian Religion Containing the Universal Theology of The New Church Foretold by the Lord in Daniel 7; 13, 14; and in Revelation 21; 1, 2''(Swedenborg Foundation 1952).
*
Henry Wansbrough. ''
The New Jerusalem Bible'' (1990).
Doubleday. .
*
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian and American Hindu monk, yoga, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga school, Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self ...
. ''The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You.'' Self-Realization Fellowship, 2004. .
External links
"Lecture XV: On the Clause, And Shall Come in Glory to Judge the Quick and the Dead; Of Whose Kingdom There Shall Be No End." delivered by
Cyril of Jerusalem in the mid-4th century.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Second Coming Of Christ
Biblical phrases
Christian eschatology
Christian terminology
Islamic terminology
Islamic eschatology