Unreadiness for second coming of Christ
Name(s):
Eschatological unpreparedness
Cosmic conflagration
Armageddon
Apocalypse
Nature
The two views on the second coming of Christ within traditional Christianity expose two different issues for people. The first view regards the Second Advent primarily as a spiritual experience already realized through the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples after the resurrection of Jesus, a return repeated in the experience of successive generations of Christians. In this view being unprepared for the Second Coming implies being closed to the intrusion of grace in one's life either through arrogance about having reached a degree of perfection that no change is necessary, despair over being incapable of being transformed or striving to change through personal effort. Having a closed heart and mind, these people are incapable of growth.
The second view insists that the promised return of Christ has not yet taken place, but may be momentarily expected. In the mean time the world constantly deteriorates. Only by Christ's literal coming can the millennium be established and righteousness made to prevail upon earth. In this view being unprepared for the Second Coming implies disregard for the state of one's present life.
Background
For over four thousand years, Megiddo, a hill in northern Israel, has been the site of battles. Ancient cities were established there to serve as a fortress on the plain of Jezreel to guard a mountain pass. As Megiddo was built and rebuilt, one city upon the other, a mound or hill was formed. The Hebrew word "Armageddon" means "hill of Megiddo." In English, the word has come to represent battle itself. The last book in the New Testament of the Bible designates Armageddon as the assembly point in the apocalyptic setting of God's final and conclusive battle against evil.
Counter-claim
Apocalyptic faith is not exclusively pessimistic, dualistic, deterministic or escapist. The tradition of the faith is realistic because it reveals that within and behind the human power struggles there are cosmic powers at work. Only God's future judgement and a new act of creation can change the state of this world. When human intervention in power struggles are in vain, spiritual resistance movements lead to an ultimate hope.
Narrower
Aggravated by
Strategy(ies)
Value(s)
Type
(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems