ADVENT, THE SECOND (a)rapovola Tor, &go° To0 hvapc,:irou Matt. xxiv. 27, 7.00 kuptou r Thes. iii. 13), a phrase used in reference to the revelation of Christ from heaven, predicted in the New Testament ; his appearing, the second time, without sin, unto sal vation.' This stupendous event was often foretold by Christ himself, and is prominently exhibited throughout the Apostolic writings. The Son of Man (said Jesus) shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels' (Matt. xvi. 27). After his ascension, the announcement was made to his dis ciples: This same Jesus . . . shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven' (Acts i. is). Behold, he cometh with clouds (says John), and every eye shall see him' (Rev. i. 7), When he shall appear, we shall be like him' (i John iii. 2). St. Paul represents Christians as looking,' and waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ' (i Con i. 7). As to the time of his coming, we find him saying to his disciples : There be some standing here who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his king dom' (Matt. xvi. 28). Ye' shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man be come' (Matt. x. 23). They shall see the Son of Alan coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. . . . This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled' (Matt. xxiv. 30-34). The coming of the Lord draweth nigh' (James v. 8). As to the purpose of his com ing, we read Then shall he reward every man according to his works' (Matt. xvi. 27). The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout . . . and the dead in Christ shall rise first' (r Thes. iv. i6). He shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom' (2 Tim. iv. i). Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be' (Rev. xxii. 12).
Various opinions have prevailed as to the mean ing of these and similar declarations, and as to the time and manner of their accomplishment. In some of the Apostolic churches, as, for instance, at Thes salonica, there were some who regarded the advent as imminent. At any hour Christ might come 1
That this, however, was not the apostolic belief, is evident from 2 Thes. ii. 3, 4, where St. Paul affirms that that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.' Events were thus to occur, prior to the advent, which rendered its being so near as they supposed impossible.
Among the early post-apostolic Christians, we find the expectation of the advent becoming blended with that of the millennium, or thousand years of rest and blessedness anticipated for the Church on the earth. Persecuted by the Pagan oppressor, it was a delightful solace to believers, in those dark and evil days, to regard Christ as being about to come in person to terminate the sufferings of his faithful people, and receive them to be partakers of his glory. Then, at his appearing, his enemies should be overthrown, his departed saints raised from their graves to meet him, and his entire Church exalted to a position of security and triumph, in which they should reign with him over the earth, and thus enjoy a rich prelibation of the everlasting blessedness of heaven. These expectations, as cherished by some, were doubtless characterised by scriptural sobriety and judiciousness ; but, in the minds of others, they were tinctured with much that was fanciful and extravagant, and that was evi dently derived rather from the Jewish synagogue, than from the school of the apostles.* After the triumph of Christianity over Paganism, at the opening of the fourth century, these views began to decline. Basking in the sunshine of im perial favour, and giving law from the throne of the Cresars, the Church seemed to herself to have already entered on the millennial rest. The ad vent, therefore, came to be regarded as an event which should follow, not precede, the millennium. It was thus projected into the far distant future, and was to be the prelude to the consummation of all things.