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Issue 61 : A History of the Second Coming

Originally published in 1999

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Table of Contents

A History of the Second Coming: Did You Know? - Hall of Infamy

Hall of Antichrists: Nine (of many) who were thought to be forbearers of the End
A History of the Second Coming: From the Editor - Sliver in a Forest

Mark Galli
Historic Premillennialism: Taking the Long View

Most early Christian thinkers weren't troubled by the delay of Jesus' return. They were troubled by those who thought he was coming soon.

Dana Netherton
Amillennialism: Millennium Today

Augustine changed his mind—and that of the church in the West for the Next 1,500 years.

David Wright
Medieval Apocalypticism: Looking for the Last Emperor

The late Middle Ages was no tranquil era of religious harmony, but a hotbed of dissent and extreme speculation.

E. Randolph Daniel
Columbus's Millennial Voyage

The famous explorer was driven across the Atlantic by more than a quest for gold and glory.
Reformation Amillennialism: Salvation Now, Salvation Forever

Luther and Calvin challenged the Catholic church on many key teachings—but not on the doctrine of last things.

John R. Franke
Reformation Apocalypticism: Münster's Monster

What began as prophetic fervor ended in dictatorship and blood.

Robert L. Wise
American Postmillennialism: Seeing the Glory

American Christians like Jonathan Edwards were optimistic about the end.

Steven R. Pointer
American Adventism: The Great Disappointment

When a New York farmer announced the date of Christ's return, thousands believed him.

Bruce L. Shelley
Dispensational Premillennialism: The Dispensationalist Era

How a once-mocked idea began its domination of the evangelical world.

Timothy Weber
Pentecostal Millennialism: The Second Comers

At first, the gift of tongues meant one thing: Jesus was returning soon.

Vinson Synan
Recent Premillennialism: Late Great Predictions

The events of recent decades have fired the imagination of a host of premillennialist, especially Hal Lindsey.

Robert G. Clouse
Judgment Day on the Big Screen

The end of the world according to filmmakers.

Peter T. Chattaway
A History of the Second Coming: Christian History Interview - Hope Beyond the Details

Christians have hardly agreed about how and when Christ will return—only that he will.

Richard Kyle

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Today in Christian History

December 1, 1170: Banished earlier by King Henry II because he sided with the church against the crown, archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket returns, electrifying all of England. Henry orders his former friend's execution, and Becket is slain by four knights while at vespers December 29. (T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral is a fascinating exploration of the event.)

December 1, 1521: Pope Leo X, enemy of Martin Luther (whom he excommunicated in 1520), dies. Though sincere in his ...

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