[net.religion.jewish] Clarification Indeed, the Second Coming

rjb@akgua.UUCP (R.J. Brown [Bob]) (07/11/85)

Yosi Hoshen writes

>>Christians can use a logic similar to yours.  They can say that
>>since you as a Jew do not accept Jesus as your personal savior, you
>>delay the second coming of Christ, thus, causing a great harm to
>>all the inhabitants of this planet.  By not accepting Jesus you
>>may cause retaliation by God against the entire world, and not just 
>>against one country.

Christians CAN, I suppose, use that similar logic - but it certainly
isn't a very Biblical position relative to the Second Coming.

(Remember gentle Jewish persons - this is not an attempt to cram
Jesus of Nazareth down your collective throat, but an attempt to
clarify one of the cardinal beliefs of Christianity which I feel
has been grossly misrepresented here.)

The postion that Yosi stated is not held by any mainstream Christian
group that I know about.

There is nothing in Christian Scripture that states that your
acceptance or rejection of Jesus as personal savior accelerates or
impedes His Second Coming.  Some of the keys to the Second Coming are:

 1) Matthew 24:14 where Jesus of Nazareth is the speaker:

    "And this gospel shall be preached in all the world
    for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

 2) Mark 13:32 "No one knows, however, when that day (ed- Second Coming)
    or hour will come-"


Christians are commissioned by Jesus in Matthew 28 to preach his message
to the whole world.  There is no mention of torturing people into
"accepting" salvation or killing the infidels for their own good as
we find in some religions.  The fact that Christians have done these
horrible things is a separate issue from whether they are truly intended
to be part of the religious practice by the founder.

There is discussion in the Christian AND Jewish Scriptures that indicate
that God has dealt with and will deal with his enemies at His convenience.
However, rather than Yosi's choice of "retaliation" I would substitute
the word judgement.

Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}