The Delusion of the “Second Coming”

I was stirred to writing this article when I came across an Internet site entitled, “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ, as revealed by the Spirit of God to Steve D. Pardue”. 

My dilemma was in which category should I classify such an article. It would suit perfectly to the categories of Entertainment (horror story), or Humor (black) and, of course, Religion. 
The modern prophet from Nederland of Texas, USA, warns: “It is time to prepare the Bride for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!” So, excuse me please, this article would also be suited to the category of Dating. Can you see my problem? 
Unfortunately, there are millions of Christians who suffer from the same illusion, i.e. expecting Jesus to come back and sort out the mess we have made in our planet by destroying the wicked (all of us except the “saved” Christians) and “binding” the “Devil” for one thousand years!
If you think about it, talking about a “Second Coming” implies that Jesus is absent and inactive since his supposed bodily resurrection, enjoying himself somewhere out there in “Heaven”. It also implies that Jesus in his resurrected body – which is also spiritual since, according to the Christian Creed, is of the same substance as the Father and the Holy Spirit, although he supposedly rose literally in the flesh – does not have the ability and power to intervene in human affairs,...
punish the wicked and sort things out, although he is omnipresent and omnipotent! So, he has to come back in a limited physical form!

Before I go any further, I would like to stress that I greatly respect and admire the MAN Jesus Christ, the anointed prophet from Nazareth, and I uphold his teaching. I do not hold him responsible for the folly and the hypocrisy of those who claim to be his followers.

It is an indisputable fact that human beings are prone to all sorts of delusions, illusions, erroneous perceptions of reality, and fantasies. Many of them, interwoven with religious and popular traditions of nations, are entertaining, harmless and stem from ignorance or the fear of the unknown. But there are also ill-fetched delusions that have been fabricated by wicked or disturbed minds, which are abhorrent and utterly harmful for humanity.

 In this category fall the delusion of the so-called Second Coming of Christ and the Biblical descriptions of bloody events associated with it. It is no pleasure for me to deal with such an obnoxious subject that offends common sense and defiles human dignity but I have to, in the hope of catching the attention of some sincerely deceived “Christians” who are looking forward to the bloody myths associated with the “Second Coming”.

My firm belief, at which I arrived after a thorough, critical and unbiased study of the Bible, is that a good part of the Book contains falsity and harmful deception. However, as I have said before, the Bible also contains inspired passages useful for soul edification and spiritual nourishment. This is why I do not reject the entire Bible but only the parts of it that instigate fear and bigotry in the heart and mind of the reader and speak of bloody violence and destruction. Such passages come straight from the dark side of human nature and do not promote peace, love, and harmony in humankind, nor do they facilitate the world’s spiritual progress. It is those passages that in one of my articles I have said they should be eliminated from Scriptures. And it is those passages that are used by shrewd pseudo-Christian political leaders to support and promote their warmongering policies and the slaughter of peoples.

The fact that the Quran also contains many “war verses” is no excuse for Christian leadership to endorse aggressive passages in their own, supposedly sacred, Scriptures. Besides, as it is written, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Mat. 7:5)

Below I shall quote some ridiculous and paranoiac passages from the Bible that describe the “Second Coming”, as well as another passage from the same Book that refutes them. Needless to say that we did not need other Biblical passages to understand that the former are ill conceived. Common sense and unbiased thinking is enough to repudiate them as false, outrageous and dangerous.

Here we go then: Why do you think is Jesus Christ coming again? The sober-minded will say that such a question is appropriate only for the children of a kindergarten, and I would agree with them. But who said that the world does not resemble a huge kindergarten where the children play dangerous games with knives and guns because their heart has been stirred up to aggression by exposure to comic-book violence?

Anyway, I will restructure the question so that I won’t offend the sober reader: Why do Christian fundamentalists believe that Jesus Christ will come for a second time? Because the Bible says so, and the Bible, according to their belief, is God’s inerrant Word in its entirety!
What is Christ going to do in his second coming? If you didn’t know already, you will soon find out…
Here is the most outrageous stuff, probably written by an anonymous hallucinated monk:
“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” (Revelation 19:11-15)

In other words, Jesus Christ is coming for a second time to implement the fury of the wrath of God by striking down the nations in order to rule over them with an iron scepter! Wow! What a transformation of character to the worse!

Is this the same humble and lowly Jesus, the prophet who had come to give his life as a ransom for the salvation of mankind?

Is this the same Jesus who advised his disciples to love one another, to forgive all and turn the other cheek to the aggressors? Is this the same Jesus who exhorted his followers to be peacemakers? And is this God of fury and wrath the merciful Creator we observe in real life about whom Jesus said to his followers, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”?
Definitely not! This aggressive “Jesus” is coming to make war! He sounds like a worldly dictator with no mercy. Listen to this again: “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.”

Really? Asks the unbiased reader. “Surely this is so”, answer the pitiful brainwashed Christian fundamentalists. Why? Because, “To doubt the reality of the Second Coming is to doubt the reliability and validity of God’s Word”, they reply! And they add: “God is in control of all things and is faithful to His Word and His promises.” Can you see the brain damage here?

But there is more horror associated with the Second Coming – all straight from the Bible:
“On his (Christ’s) robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.’ 
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.” (Revelation 19: 16-21)

Apparently, Revelation talks about a real war here, a bloody feast were the birds will enjoy eating “the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” And this is also “the great supper of God”!

In other words, not only the birds will enjoy the bloody feast but God as well! Besides paranoiac, I find these Biblical passages utterly blasphemous and it is a shame to Christianity to have enclosed them in the Bible. But it is even greater shame to those who believe and propagate them as the “Word of God”!
They even look eagerly forward to the fulfilment of those ill-fetched prophecies. Why? Because, they themselves, being the “Bride” of Christ, will be captured in the air (“rapture”) and descend with Jesus to Jerusalem to set up his earthly Kingdom for a thousand years! Here we have “Christian” foolishness, self-righteousness, arrogance and selfishness displayed in the superlative degree!

“Every single letter of the original Hebrew or Greek text in the Holy Word of God is inerrant, and thereby important”, says Steve D. Pardue, and Christians worldwide applaud!

Well, then, if this is the case, how do you reconcile the above with the following words of Jesus? “And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo, here! Or, There! For lo, the kingdom of God is within you’.” (Luke 17: 20-21)

In plain words this means that Jesus, even if he were truly God as his followers believe, will not and cannot ever establish any visible worldly kingdom on earth where he will reign from Jerusalem or elsewhere, for the simple reason that all man’s wickedness or virtue comes from within! No messianic dictatorship can reach within man’s soul with “an iron scepter” to force someone to become good. If the all-pervading Spirit of God cannot change the heart of man against his will, how can anyone else do it from without?

As for binding the “Devil” for one thousand years, as if such creature existed and it were responsible for man’s wickedness and the pain and suffering of the world, if it were true, one would hold God responsible for having ever unleashed “Satan” to torture humanity.

But I think I already said enough on this most ridiculous, embarrassing for human reason, and intimidating subject of the Bible. Those who have ears let them hear!