Did Jesus lie or is the bible just wrong?

Question

Jesus apparently foretold his own 2nd coming would happen in biblical times..."Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matthew 24:29-35 NAB)"

(aplogies for the copy & paste scripture, but fire with fire & all that)

Please don't give me any convenient explanations about how long a "generation" is. It's pretty clear by the fig tree reference that it was supposed to be very soon after he spoke. So was he lying then?

So where are the rest of the christians to answer this? Can't come up with anything?

Answer 1

The early Christians were very apocalyptic.

It's amusing to watch the apocalypticism die out as a generation did indeed pass away without the end of the world coming, leaving some embarassing mental contortions for later Christians to practice to explain away Jesus's apocalyptic statements.


It probably wouldn't be fair to say that Jesus was lying, since we don't know if he really said what was in the Gospels. The author of Matthew liked to make things up and add in the beliefs of his local church, just like most of the other Gospel writers, and even the (closer to) primary sources they used for Jesus's quotes were suspect. The Gospels are *not* reliable sources for actual Jesus quotes. They're much better for figuring out what the Christians at a given time in a given region believed.

Answer 2

As far as the fig tree goes, he is using it as an example. The same way that you know summer is coming because the leaves sprout on a fig tree, you will also know that Jesus is coming back when the signs he talks about in Matt. 24:5-28 are going to happen. As for the word generation, the Greek meaning for that word is "nation." When Jesus used the word generation(in his own language of course) he was referring to the people, like the race, or the nation or Israel, not the actually age group. Some Bibles put generation in there anyway not knowing that most people think of like their father being one generation and the kids being the next generation and so on. So he wasn't lying. Although if you read the signs he talks about in verses 5-28 you will see that most of them are happening today, so the time is drawing near. GREAT QUESTION. Thanks for asking. And oh by the way, the verses you listed were Matt. 24:32-35 not 29-35. God Bless!



**Matthew 24:5-28**
5 for many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Messiah.' They will deceive many.6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately.7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
9 "Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.*10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations* will hear it; and then the end will come.
15 "The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration* standing in the Holy Place." (Reader, pay attention!)16 "Then those in Judea must flee to the hills.17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack.18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat.19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days.20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath.21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.
23 "Then if anyone tells you, `Look, here is the Messiah,' or `There he is,' don't believe it.24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones.25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.
26 "So if someone tells you, `Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or, `Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it!27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man* comes.28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.*
(I also copied and pasted :-))

Answer 3

Now thats more like it.

Dear Angry atheist girl.
It is not clear that it was suposed to be very soon after he spoke, not in this part not in others. I do not understand clearly but he spoke of signs that must take place before the second comming, some of those already happened, some apear to be happening. It sais somewere in the bible that NOBODY knows when will be his second coming (i'm sorry, i'm not good with references).
He wasn't wrong, he wasn't lying, at least thats clearly not what he was going for. Many of the angry atheist questions about Bible parts just lack proper interpretation of the scriptures and therefore make little or no sense [and we christians don't make up these interpretations either, given historical context and the words in the text these interpretations are pretty accurate].

Also, I believe that the dude is GOD! sience the earth was created in some bilion years and He already existed before this, his concept of time and generation most certanly is very, very different from ours

thats what i think

Answer 4

ok, i'm sorry to assert this, yet you're able to be able to desire to stand the information. the story of Jesus in the bible is an only approximately precise replica of the story of Horus. *Pause for insults and mockery* Horus walked on water, gave sight to the blind, and became even crucified. the rationalization there is this small hiccup in what the bible says is through fact it became written a protracted time in the past. human beings decrease back then made extra blunders and loopholes whilst bobbing up thoughts. do no longer purchase too plenty into the bible, it became created by way of adult adult males with solid intentions, and includes the errors of guy. i'm no longer attempting to assert that christians are incorrect, i'm only asserting that the bible is extra of a fairytale that portrays the innovations and concepts of although being there may be. Now each and every of the christians in this internet site will attempt to usher you into ignoring the obtrusive mistake, yet do no longer only fall decrease back into the lack of information. protecting your eyes open is the wonderful present any deity could supply you.

Answer 5

Rofl... perhaps the fault lies not with Jc but with matthew?

My take on this is that "Bible" TM "all rights reserved) is not at all the all seeing en all dancing book of absolute truth the fanatics make it out to be! I might not be the worlds most perfect christian (thank god) but i do have a lot of time for God, so i am going to put my head in the lions maw and try to feild this one:

Those who folow scripture word for word are quite simply putting their heads in the sands of la la land. We KNOW that the number of Gosples were Edited down to four from a much higher number.. we know that more then 100 additional texts and popular ideologies were quite literaly shredded at the council of nicea and subsequent conclaves. What we do not know is just how much rewriting occured and who the principle editors were! What can we rearly trust in the gosples?

Jc didnt lie, not the guys style at all and in all probability his take on the story if he could give it would outrage the church of rome amd most evangelicals! Im of the opinion that interpretation of the bible texts is the most delicate aspect of the christain faith. The whole "2nd coming" saga strikes me as the best insurance scam the early church had to convert and keep converted the early multitudes... its all a bit toooo convenient.
Think about this: that the jews had the old testiment telling them to await a savior, which they did for a long time in the face of hellish occupation and enslavement ..now along comes the early christain church, they see this and think "well it worked before, why not try for an all new version?". After all If "a night to remember" can be re-launched as "Titanic" with all new copywrite and branding its not so great a leap to see 4/5th century religion doing the same thing.

Now i am going to get my fire blanket and hide under the stairs before the southen baptist come to lynch me.

Ps.. great question

Answer 6

What I believe it is saying is that, just like the fig tree signals summer, these events will signal Jesus' second coming. "In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place." Once these events BEGIN to happen, they will not be drawn out, but will happen in the course of ONE generation...He's not directing it towards the generation that was on the Earth when He was on the Earth.

Answer 7

Friend our Lord did not lie, our interpretation of these things said can easily be misconstrued. Some of the things that get said can not be taken out of context, or can't just use a few verses, got to deal with a broader range of scripture. Some of the things said was parables, and some was said like a narrative with the meaning there but not as what you see. Alot of these things we would have to spend time and study to see how it is to be taken, and if I am correct, your word is generation, but the highlight of the verse would be the fig tree, which if I can remember correctly is a word for Israel. So looking to the situtations with Israel would be more of the key than looking to the word of generation. You may enjoy some deeper studying, lots of sites to use online. Have fun!

Answer 8

In that passage Christ talks about two things, the destruction of Jerusalem and His coming at the end of time. Statements about both are mixed together throughout the passage, and then he makes two statements with regard to timing - firstly that this will all happen before the present generation passes away, and secondly that no one, not even himself, knows the day and hour that it will happen. It turns out that Jerusalem was indeed destroyed in 70 A.D., so this is the event that was to happen before the generation passed. The second event, Christ's return, has not yet happened and no one knows when it is going to happen. Two events, two different timelines, no mistakes.

Answer 9

"When you see all these things..." The things that Jesus is talking about in the whole of chapter 24 are true in EVERY generation. None of us knows when the end of our life will come - but we have until that moment to decide where our allegiance truly lies.

"These things" are indeed all around us now. Whose side are YOU on?

Answer 10

1) the Bible often deals with similarites, such as Jesus referring to John the Baptist as coming in the spirit of Elijah, as in, he was basically the Elijah of his time. and so, 'generation' could refer to the ideologies of the generation.

2) other translations say 'race', not 'generation'.

Jesus never lied, nor does the Bible contradict itself. of course, you wouldn't bring yourself to see it this way. you'd realize that every "contradiction" in the Bible has some deeper connotation or message behind it if you saw it my way.