Although the Topical Guide overlooks it, I believe there is one reference to the Second Coming in the Fourth Gospel, though it is in the 21st chapter, which was likely not part of the original Gospel:
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved . . . Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, "Lord, and what shall this man do?"Jesus saith unto him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me."Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, "He shall not die"; but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" (John 21:20-23)
This is at the very end of the Gospel, after Jesus has already lived, died, and risen from the dead, and yet he still speaks of some future time when he will "come." His followers associated tarrying till he comes with not dying, which may imply that they understood the Second Coming to be in the distant future, such that no mortal then living could expect to live long enough to see it. Alternatively, it could mean they expected that those alive at the Second Coming would be "twinkled" into immortality as described by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:51-53 and thus would not die. At any rate, some sort of Second Coming is definitely indicated. However, as noted, Chapter 21 probably isn't really part of the original Fourth Gospel.
The one Second Coming verse listed from the Book of Mormon is 3 Ne. 27:16. Here it is in context:
And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil -- And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world (3 Ne. 27:14-16).
This certainly refers to a future "judgment day," but only if we smuggle in assumptions from outside the Book does that necessarily imply a Second Coming. Jesus says nothing here about his returning to Earth. On the contrary, he repeatedly emphasizes that all men will "stand before" Jesus to be judged because they are "lifted up" by God and "drawn unto" him. In other words, we go to him; he doesn't come to us. It's logically possible that Jesus could be on Earth rather than in Heaven when this happens, but nothing in the text suggests that.
Aside from that one verse, there are a few chapters, quoting Isaiah and Malachi, which are said in the chapter headings added by the CJCLDS to refer to the Second Coming. But, like 3 Ne. 27, they don't, unless you assume they do. As I wrote in "Jesus and the Messianic prophecies: Summary and conclusions" after going through all the Messianic material in the Old Testament, "There is not the slightest hint in Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah will come twice."
To my mind, this passage from the Book of Mormon seems to rule out a Second Coming:
Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them [the Jews], which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews (2 Ne. 25:18).
This is pretty unambiguous: "there should not any [Messiah] come, save it should be" -- Jesus coming back a second time? No -- "a false Messiah which should deceive the people."
I may have missed something, just as the Topical Guide people missed John 21, so if you think there's anything in the Book of Mormon that suggests there will be a Second Coming, do leave a comment.
Update: Almost immediately after publishing this, I did think of a counterexample. I don't know how I didn't think of it before, what with mentioning the Beloved Disciple and "twinkling" and all that.
Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven. And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father (3 Ne. 28:7-8).
"When I shall come in my glory" is pretty clearly a Second Coming.
5 comments:
Am I to understand that based on your update you now say the BoM DOES presume a second coming?
I've been thinking about this topic off and on ever since my sons and I explored something called "the little season theory". The gist is pretty simple: the second coming occurred soon after the tribulation of Jerusalem when it was destroyed around 70 AD. He returned and has already completed his 1000 year reign on earth. We now live in the "little season" when the devil has been released to make war on the saints. In most versions I've seen, Jesus' kingdom has been reduced from a worldwide domain to now being confined to the North Pole (from which the tales of Santa Clause/elves derive).
I actually like the theory a lot in principle. In practice, it's difficult to fully embrace since you would have to assume most of recorded history has been heavily edited/censored. It makes Revelation easier to reconcile, however.
But I have also toyed with the idea you started with here (i.e. there is no Second Coming) and I have wondered if that idea has legs.
I still lean toward there being no Second Coming. The update is just to note that the BoM, like the IVG, does include an apparent reference to it. I'm familiar with the "little season" idea but don't think it really works very well.
I guess it's important to define what exactly we mean by "Second Coming," though. Obviously the resurrected Jesus has come back to Earth from time to time (3 Nephi and the First Vision being two unavoidable examples) and will presumably continue to do so. What I mean by "no Second Coming" is that, as the BoM says, no Messiah is coming. Insofar as the various Messiah prophecies were correct, they referred to what Jesus did the first time he came. He's not coming back to complete his Messianic work, because that's already done.
3 Nephi is the second coming teaching of the Book of Mormon. It doesn't say it explicitly, but it establishes that among the things God might do is unleash massive destruction, and then come down and establish a just society among the survivors. Granted, he doesn't establish this perfect society the way it's generally envisioned, but the whole thing is a second coming in miniature.
My assumption is there were several smaller comings like this, including in AD 70, and that's why we have little to no trace of Jewish gospels or Christians. This depends on my reading of JST Matthew 24 and some passages of the synoptics, which draw parallels between Jerusalem's coming destruction and Christ's coming. I don't see anything about it in John either, though.
That's a very promising approach, Jacob. Samuel the Lamanite makes some of the same prophecies as Matt. 24, but to a different people at a different time, with both Samuel and Jesus apparently quoting or alluding to Zenos. So perhaps "second coming" prophecies relate not to a single unique event still in the future but to a sort of thing that happens from time to time.
There may be some 2nd coming (ish) stuff in the fourth gospel. Young's literal translation has 'eternal life' as 'life age-during', which could mean until Martha's "last day" when people are resurrected. My opinion is 'eternal life' was inspired.
John 14:3 implies he is coming back to take them to live with him, which could be a mini-rapture like the one I'm proposing for 70 A.D.
There is no historical evidence for it and the lack of a Jewish-Aramaic church could simply be the result enslavement. But it would neatly tie up a lot of scriptures
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