It is recommended to click the Refresh or Reload button to ensure current information.

The Meaning of Jesus
A Study in Holy Manners

A Cyberspace Discussion Group
Section

He will come again in glory.
Clicking the icon left will activate the e-mail on your machine and direct your comments to us, identified as sourcing from this particular page. All comments are welcome and will be posted with usual editorial courtesies.
EMAIL
Click on the 3 sections below for materials according.
SUMMARIES REFERENCES COMMENTS
SUMMARIES
Click HERE for Summary Notes on Ch. 13 Marcus Borg - The Second Coming Then and Now.
Through the centures, some Christians have expected the second coming (or parousia) of Jesus in their own time."
"Put most simply, Jesus expected the kingdom of God; the early church expected Jesus."
"Christ comes again and again and again, and in many ways. In a symbolic and spiritual sense, the second coming of Christ is about the coming of the Christ who is already here>'
Ch. 14. N.T. Wright - The Future of Jesus.
"To understand the end, begin with the beginning. If God is the maker and redeemer of heaven and earth, the created world is the first stage and vital sign of God's eventual design."
"Creation will be free to be itself at last, and we with it."
" ... it was not a matter of the final events being bound to occur within a stated period of time; rather, they might occur at any time."
"It is time that the old scholars' myth of 'the delay of the parousia' was given a decent burial. Metaphorically, of course."
TO TOP
REFERENCES
Scholars: The Second Coming of Christ has been Cancelled by Judy Allen June, 1991 for the whole paper click HERE.
"A few weeks ago I attended a luncheon at which Marcus Borg, one of the Jesus Seminar scholars, spoke. The room was filled with theologians, and me. I was simply there as a friend of Jesus, curious. Curious to hear what the scholars tell us he actually said ..."
"The Jesus of the Course, I believe, is the Jesus who walked and talked on Earth 2000 years ago, and who walks and talks with us today as our elder brother. He is still a "subversive sage," inviting us all, through the Course, on a radical journey. He walks with us, and slightly ahead, on that journey. He is a person I love to know, to talk with, to follow, to feel gratitude and joy for our relationship. He doesn't speak only to the "chosen few," but to anyone who will listen."
Entering the Millenium on Christian Time. Carol Zaleski. from Christian Century. Click HERE for article.
"I have always had some difficulty with the doctrine of the Second Coming. When the "four last things" (death, judgment, hell, and heaven) are proposed for meditation, my tendency is to focus on personal eschatology: What happens when we die? What can we hope? Where are the dead? Can the dead on whom God's mercy rests have a share in the "life of the world to come"? ..."
"If genuine Christianity consists, as Kierkegaard says, in being "contemporaneous with Christ," chronological location is beside the point. We are in Andy's position: uncertain whether it is morning or night, we have to live on trust."
The Presence of Eschatology and Apocalypticism in the Teaching of Jesus Christ. Brian D. King. Saint Vincent College. Click HERE for paper. This is a rather thorough backgrounding of the subject. The issues referenced by Borg and Wright are amplified by Professor King. The following are his concluding remarks.
"For most biblical scholars, the delay of the Second Coming of the Messiah "was the single most important factor for the transformation of early Christian eschatology from an emphasis on the imminent expectation of the end to a vague expectation set in the more distant future". As time passed, and the first century of the common era came to close, Christianity was incorporated into the realm of Roman Hellenism. Once the problem of the delay of the Parousia was widespread among the early Christian followers a theological alteration was prompted. Remarkably, the delay did not discourage the movement, but rather encouraged the founding fathers of Christian teaching to broaden their horizons and preach the message of the coming kingdom of God to all who could hear it. Today, humanity stands on the brink of the twenty-first century and this same message is still preached, in all parts of the globe, with nearly the same enthusiasm as originally conveyed by the first Christian ministers. Gregory Riley notes that "Something must have been true about it [ the original Christian message ], or it would not exist today and we would not be able to account for its rise and obvious success". Whether accidental or intended, Jesus Christ provided the spark that transformed the entire course of history and inspired believers of the faith to embark on a self-fulfilling journey intended to propel one into a realm of existence that contains only everlasting peace, love, and tranquillity."
OUR HOPE: THE APPEARING OF JESUS CHRIST - a sermon by John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church. An excellent exposition of the evangelical view including some look as "liberal" theologians.Click HERE to read.
"... the preciousness of Christ is the evidence of your faith. And the anticipation of his coming is the evidence of his preciousness. And therefore you can test the reality of your faith by whether you are eagerly waiting for Christ's coming. "
TO TOP
COMMENTS
TO TOP
To
Section Index
Click on arrow to go directly to choice.

St. David's United Church.Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The United Church of Canada.

November 19, 2000