Second Advent

In several places the gospels record Jesus’ Olivet discourse in which He describes events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs that will precede His coming (Matt 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; cf. Matt 17:20–37). Political and religious turmoil, earthquakes, and famines appear in the f...

Times of global upheaval, like the current COVID-19 pandemic, provide a fertile ground for apocalyptic speculation. Before we draw eschatological implications from COVID-19, we should remember that many other epidemics and pandemics have afflicted the human race throughout history. In 430 BC a de...

Several critical responses to last generation theology (LGT) have recently come off the press within Seventh-day Adventist circles. Among them are Ángel Manuel Rodríguez’s article, “Theology of the Last Generation and the Vindication of the Character of God: Overview and Evaluation,” George R. K...

This presentation presents a biblically based Last Day Leadership model for developing Seventh-day Adventist members into strong Adventist leaders, who, partnering with the Holy Spirit and grounded in the Word of God, will successfully lead out in helping to finish God’s end-time work in preparation for the second coming of Christ.

The Seventh-day Adventist understanding of end-time events involves the reality that the earth will burn at the end of time. Unfortunately, assumptions that God will renew the earth anyway often translates into neglecting the environment. This inaccurate understanding overlooks the clear descriptions of God’s care for the earth and human ecological responsibility in the original creation, the new earth, and all laws for the present. Eschatological passages include a picture of earth restored and rejuvenated, rather than annihilated and recreated from nothing. Even the images of fire burning at the end of time do not imply that the earth will be totally consumed. Eschatology presupposes and necessitates ecological care in the present, rather than opposing it.

One of the points of debate in the interpretation of Revelation 20 has to do with where the saved will spend the millennium: in heaven or on earth? The debate is compounded by the fact that many New Testament passages are not explicit as to whether eternal life is to be lived in heaven or on earth. Most premillennialists hold the view that the saints will remain on earth throughout the thousand-year period between Christ’s return and the eternal state. Other premillennialists, mostly Adventist scholars, have defended their “heavenly premillennial” position mostly by appealing to the use of the word “thrones” in Revelation 20:4. Adventist scholars have correctly pointed to other passages in Revelation that make it clear the redeemed will be in heaven, at least for some time. Postmillennialists and amillennialists consider that the millennium will take place on earth before Christ comes or that it is now ongoing, respectively. This presentation seeks to show that the heavenly millennial kingdom helps explain why several New Testament passages stop short of specifying where eternal life is to be lived. It argues that the millennium forms the eschatological interface between judgment that begins shortly before the return of Christ and that which continues at His return. While a continuation of judgment on the one hand, the coming of Christ and the subsequent millennial reign in heaven mark the beginning of eternal life on the other. From this vantage point, the millennium provides the hindsight with which to plot eschatological events with greater precision than is otherwise possible.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is usually described with cosmic language: cosmic signs in the heavens or earth-shattering events on this planet. This apocalyptic dimension seems to have a counter argument in 2 Peter 3:12—the believer is to look for and hasten the coming of the day of the Lord. On the basis of the translation of the participle speudontas some have taken this passage to mean that human beings can influence the timing of the second coming, while others have opposed this view—arguing instead that the participle should be translated as “eagerly awaiting” instead of “hasten.” Additionally, scholars have had different opinions about who and how people can influence the Parousia. Additional questions have been raised: Is this passage referring to the believer as an individual or the church as a body of believers? And is orthopraxy or social concern the criteria for the “hastening”? This presentation briefly examines various models of explanation for 2 Peter 3:12 and then resolves the passage by examining it in its larger context.

On the one hand, Ellen G. White spoke of the possibility to hasten Christ’s second coming and that God’s people had delayed that event. On the other hand, she mentioned that the time of Jesus’ coming is near and that the Father knows the time, implying that “God’s purposes know no haste and no delay. The paper analyzed her particular statements on the subject, tries to solve the tension between those seemingly contradictory remarks, and outlines implications for our spiritual life and our expectations of the second of Christ.

This presentation presents and evaluates two different approaches to the issue of the delay of the second coming. Some Adventist theologians believe that Jesus has not yet come because He is waiting for His people to consecrate and testify diligently; in this view God’s people are responsible for the delay. In contrast, other Adventist authors suggest that Jesus will return only when He decides it, and there is nothing that can be done to hasten or delay the time of His coming. Both positions are evaluated, concluding that neither biblically solves the problem of the delay of the second coming, since neither elaborates its views from the biblical presuppositions of the divine omniscience and providence—two key presuppositions to elaborate a biblical answer to this issue. Finally, a working proposal about the delay/hastening of the second coming is presented.

This article provides a general overview of end-time biblical eschatology as described by Ellen White. After highlighting (1) some major end-time philosophical and religious challenges, the discussion deals specifically with White’s views of (2) the great cosmic controversy between good and evil; (3) the cataclysmic “signs” of Christ’s Second Coming; (4) the conditional imminence of His appearing; (5) the end-time scenario that culminates with that glorious event; and (6) God’s absolute and final victory over sin and all impenitent sinners, eradicating them completely and forever from the universe. A clear understanding of White’s eschatological expositions can help us to better appreciated God’s triumphant leading of human affairs and loving care for each one of us.