Second Coming Contradictions?

[Kenny]

When second coming?
MAT 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

MAR 13:30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

LUK 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

Is this right? If this is not a blantant contradiction, then what did the authors mean by it?

[Note: This is not a personal question, just a conversation starter]

[melinky]

Kenny said:

When second coming?
MAT 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

MAR 13:30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

LUK 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

Is this right? If this is not a blantant contradiction, then what did the authors mean by it?

[Note: This is not a personal question, just a conversation starter]

For the Record since the 1 Thes. scripture didn't show up:

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
(1Th. 4:15-18, KJV)

OR

“According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”
(1Th. 4:15-18, NIV)

OR

“What we are teaching you now is the Lord’s teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. There will be the shout of command, the archangel’s voice, the sound of God’s trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. So then, encourage one another with these words.”
(1Th. 4:15-18, TEV)

Melinda

[rgrove]

Kenny said:

Is this right? If this is not a blantant contradiction, then what did the authors mean by it?

[Note: This is not a personal question, just a conversation starter]

Of course it's not a contradiction. Although it's an *extremely* challenging passage for thorough-going futurists to deal with. This is the issue Preterism addresses. A website you can go to that has an early edition of your namesake's work is:

"He Shall Have Dominion" by Kenneth Gentry
freebooks.entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/2202_47e.htm
Click on Page 348 in the HTML version of the book. This will jump you straight to his discussion of the time frames. This is followed in the next chapter by his work on Matthew 24 and Revelation.

I expect there will be serious questions regarding this understanding of these scriptures, but a thorough exegesis is way beyond what we have time for in a forum such as this (I'm at work after all...). Read and ask pointed questions and I'll do my best to answer.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 should not be grouped with the Olivette discoure. A partial preterist such as myself will contend that the Olivette discourse resulted in the one of the most phenominal, historically demonstrable proofs of the deity of Christ that exists today. It all happened in that generation just as he said it would. Christ died shortly after A.D. 30. In A.D. 70 which was within 40 years of his sacrifice on the cross Jerusalem fell in fulfillment of this scripture. Revelation 4-19 is a more detailed description of what would happen in A.D. 70 written by the apostle John during the persecution of Nero. And just as Matt 24:34 was fulfilled so too was Jesus statements in Rev 1:7 "Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (ESV)" Of course, I believe most Bible translations import their futurist theology when they translate the Greek phrase "ai filai tes ges" as "all the tribes of the earth" like the ESV does, or "all the nations of the earth" like others. I believe it is properly and most consistently translated "all the tribes of the land" as Youngs Literal Translation puts it. Theology makes a difference when translating the Bible. I see you are young. I encourage you to begin to study Koine Greek soon if you haven't already. It won't be easy, but it will pay great dividends in the future. You will see where multiple translations can be considered properly translated and you will see that those translations can make a difference in your theology.

In Christ,
Ron