The End is Not Near!

I.  Jesus said He would return a second time in their own generation.

II.  How do we explain Christ's return in our future, when He repeated many times in many ways He would return in His own generation?

III. Before "assuming" Jesus will return in our future, why not explore a possible return in His own generation?

IV.  PROPHECY PARADOX: The Case for a First Century End Time is the only book proposing a sound case for both a physical and visible return of Christ in the first century.

I.  Jesus said He would return a second time in their own generation.

The origin of future prophecy is found in the Olivet discourse: When some disciples commented on the beauty of the temple building, Jesus said it would all be torn down. Then they asked when these things would happen, and what would be the signs of His coming and the end of the AGE. (Mt.24, Mk.13, Lk.21). Jesus told the Apostles in the first century the signs they would see before He would return at the end of the AGE. He said some of them standing there would live to see Him come in His kingdom. (Mt.10:23; 16:27,28) Confirming this, Jesus said their generation would not pass away until all those things took place. (Mt.24:34, Lk.21:32) 

II.  How do we explain Christ's return in our future, when He repeated many times in many ways He would return in His own generation?

Nearly 2000 years later, why do we assume Jesus will return in our generation, when He specifically said He would return in their generation? Answer: We assume all signs have not yet happened, and Jesus did not return in their generation. Why? We assume, if all this happened, our history books would tell the story. How do we justify the "end time" and second coming in our generation"? The Gap Theory (Sometimes called "Telescopic Time Compression")was invented to create a gap of thousands of years between signs. Does this make sense? No! 

III. Before "assuming" Jesus will return in our future, why not explore a possible return in His own generation?

Interpretation of future prophecy today is based on those "things to come" which Jesus described as the signs of His coming and the end of the AGE. If all the signs can be shown to have accurately come to pass in the generation of the Apostles, why must we insist upon a time gap in this discourse, when Jesus did not indicate a time gap? According to the disciples, they were living in the last days and were waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ which they expected in their lifetime (A Christian Dilemma). How can we, almost 2000 years later, be so sure the Lord Jesus Christ did not return in the first century and gather His elect? 

Have you ever explored the possibility that Jesus meant exactly what He seemed to say? Maybe He did return in the generation of the Apostles. Have you ever explored all the signs to see if they really did happen in the generation of the Apostles? Have you ever taken the time to explore translations of first century authors? Now you can in a simple and fun way. Read excerpts from Roman, Greek and biblical history; and for a moment, walk in the shoes of first century folks. See the world from their point of view, whether Roman, Greek, Jew, Gentile or Christian. We can't expect to know all history nearly 2000 years ago, but we can piece the stories together. 

IV.  PROPHECY PARADOX: The Case for a First Century End Time is the only book proposing a sound case for both a physical and visible return of Christ in the first century.

PROPHECY PARADOX: The Case for a First Century End Time is a carefully documented book which shows that all those things happened, historically, to those people nearly 2000 years ago in their generation. The "end time" was therefore future to them, but past to us. This book is supported by extant Greek and Roman history in conjunction with biblical history. Sources for this book include The Life and Works of Josephus, a history of Rome by Dio Cassius, the Dead Sea Scrolls and many others. This book is unique in that the final climax is set in A.D.79 rather than A.D.70. An event in A.D.79, witnessed by the entire known world at that time, provides a natural setting for the calamitous events heralding Christ's second coming. That event was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. 

PROPHECY PARADOX: The Case for a First Century End Time by L.Schuldt can be ordered through AMAZON.COM or through the publisher. 

Although the first Christians were not informed of the day and hour of the Lord's return, Jesus provided a time frame for His second coming. See A Christian Dilemma: time statements for a partial list of these time statements. 

A Visible Second Coming provides a list of New Testament verses which shows consistent biblical intent that first century Christians would live to see both a literal and visible return of Christ to gather His elect. 

Creative Christianity: New evidence is turning up that Jesus did indeed return for His elect, in power and glory during the first century. In our attempt to place the second coming of our Lord in OUR future, rather than the generation of the Apostles, are we creatively altering the Bible to suit our own preference? 

The Seven Year Tribulation Theory: True or False? A reevaluation of the Seven Year Tribulation Theory: Numerous difficulties pose questions to its credibility. 

Bible Prophecy: Faulty Assumptions Faulty assumptions distort accurate assessment of Bible prophecy. Have you made any faulty assumptions? Check out this list!