Voltaire once said, “All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God.”
And that has always made me wonder…Wouldn’t an innate knowledge of God have been the perfect element to include in a creator’s creation?
But, since it is the Easter season I would like to follow up my last post with another question about what most Christians see as a key component to Christian belief and doctrine and that is that not only did Jesus ascend into heaven bodily where he now sits at the right hand of God (who is also he) but also that Jesus will return someday.
So my next question is: How and when will he do that and how will we know that he is here?
That may sound like a silly question because most stories of Jesus’ return involve an apocalypse or an Armageddon which I am assuming no one could miss but when Jesus was here he never mentioned that he was God or that he would ascend unto Heaven, later to return in a can’t miss demonstration.
He also never advocated any other belief system other than devout and orthodox Judaism nor did he ask for anyone to eschew those beliefs and follow him in a different direction and religion. Also while he was here few people on the planet took any great notice of what he was doing or saying and if not for the later evangelizing of Saul of Tarsus we might have missed him all together.
So might it not be possible that his return visit will cause little stir or notice amongst an even larger world’s population?
What do you think?
ipledgeafallegiance 
I am confused about this also. You know how the old telephone game started out with one person saying something and by the time it reached the end,it was a whole ‘nother thing. I believe that’s what happened. Your right on Saul,Paul thing. He wrote a whole gospel of Paul that places women down below everything, and couldn’t even ask a question. That was not the way Jesus taught.
Concerning the first two paragraphs, Anselm’s and Descartes’s ontological arguments to prove God’s existence through innate ideas are problematic, especially for modern readers.
I am not a Christian, but I am exposed to a lot of it (currently the fundamentalist variety). It seems to me that eschatological events like the 2nd Coming would require a fundamental change in the metaphysical nature of reality. As an obvious example, how could everyone in the world see it if he’s really coming from the sky? It seems that most of the world would have to catch it on CNN. Of course, that’s the problem with literal interpretation of the Bible.
I will comment on this later, after I wake up in the late afternoon or evening. It is something that bears commenting on and I would like to do so in as appropriate a manner as I can.
(1) For the sake of argument, let’s presume that the Creation narratives in Genesis import some real truth and that they are not literal accounts of Creation. What we can take from these narratives is that human beings are far removed from God but can come to know God through analysis of the effects of Creation. We can also take from these narratives that people could not do this unless they already had the proper tools with which to do so. So, at base, we can take from the Creation narratives that human beings are equipped with the tools to analyse the effects of Creation and come to an understanding of God through said analysis.
This, of course, is the empirical component. Christians will also contend that there is a revelatory component, one where God specifically reveals himself and that cannot be gauged or analysed through empirical means.
(2) Christians and non-Christians alike often ignore a close examination of the Incarnation, intentionally or unintentionally, and this question demonstrates that. it is a question that inappropriately puts more weight on the book of Revelation than the message of the Incarnation and Christ’s healing miracles. The focus of the Incarnation and those miracles was to demonstrate a real concern for living well here, on Earth, and taking good care of one another -even people that extend outside of our communal boundaries.
Simply put, both sections of the Bible make it quite clear, over and over again, that a concern for doing what is right in this life is more important than a focus on what happens afterwards or at the end of the world, whatever and whenever that may be. People would do well to focus on that.
Just like a child takes 9 months to evolve before it is born , all according to God’s plan,
Christ came into this world only 2,000, years ago, and has changed the hearts of Billions of Humans. And he said to Peter: You are the rock that I will build my Church upon.
A very clear prophecy. Christ, if one believes in him or not , is unique in the history of the world. He is the only one that can even claim to have overcome his own death, as it was prophecised over 750 years before his birth. He simply told, he who believes in me cannot die, and I will walk ahead to show you by my example.
No one had ever made such a claim, ever. And then he died and rose from the dead after the 3 rd day and for 40 days appeared infront of hundreds of witnesses.
And his message of love and forgiveness resonates today more than ever in this world,
as he materialized the truth by his life.
I imagine most would react to the Second Coming pretty much the way they reacted to the First Coming: Crucify him! Just look at how the great and good have been treated by those who loathe change: imprisoned, murdered, slimed at every word by the media and the trotting herd. I wonder how many people would load their large capacity ammo clips into their semi-assault weapons and have at Him.
Ah, pardon me. I’m a little bitter….
I think ‘crucify him’ could be a real possibility of what will happen. Some people will always hate Jesus, Jesus will always offend them.
I have to say I’m cynical as well – – I have no hope that mankind is any wiser or more willing to tolerate ‘the coming’ today than they were 2,000 years ago –
I DO wonder, however who will feel the most threatened, first – the Corporations (money changers) or National Governments (Rome) or Christians (temple priests) –
If nothing else, should be an interesting show….If anyone bothers to watch, rather than musing, “Oh, wow..” 500 years later.
I don’t think it’s cynical, just realistic- hehe. We know people. Interesting question you pose. Who are the pharisees of today, if I was to say not me, in a way I’m just as bad as a pharisee who loved God as much as any other Jew.
1. ” Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thess. 1-2)
2. Always sort of assumed that when it happens, it’ll be difficult to miss.
His second coming, arrival, will, without a doubt, be a penetrating experience for all, living and dead. No invitation will be required.
Eschatology is a huge subject. There’s a guy at our church who has spent two years preaching on it and not trod the same ground twice. The quick and incomplete answer is that — no, it won’t be a quiet, easy to miss event. The Bible says He’ll return in the clouds and that we’ll all KNOW it instantly. There are lots of different theories about the chronology of the events (pre-Trib, post-Trib, etc), but they’re all clear that we won’t be able to mistake the event for something else. Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians and 2 Peter are the clearest discussions of it, but it’s threaded throughout the Old Testament and Revelation. It will be an experience like no other and the response won’t likely be “Crucify Him”. It sounds more like there will be a lot of weeping and begging — “Lord, Lord, I did this or that phony good act, so don’t leave me out of heaven.”
I still think the churches will be packed by the “once or twice a year” people, just in case. 🙂
Too bad going to church doesn’t save you- hehe.
And the obvious is unseen. 🙂 Always is!!!