'Some still living' disproves literal truth of the bible

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For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

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First it is just a strong tone that 'all this shall be witnessed'. Second tasting death means to follow the normal death process till you decend to Hades. But not everyone shall taste death, there are those saints not tasting death (not complete the process of death) are still in the paradise (perhaps in third heaven) named Abraham's Bosom. They continue their witness there, perhaps including Moses and Elijah.It is the same thing as follows,

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John 21:22-23
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"

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Glowby, I am going to try to bring my responses to your post back to the subject. I drifted away.What Jesus commanded His disciples was to abide in Him and allow Him to abide in them. This means that through the last 2000 years Jesus is alive and available.He is not only available but "enterable". That means His Person is a realm, a sphere into which people can enter. This is radical. But the New Testament is not living by 600 plus Old Testament commandments and ordinances.Available - Matthew's Gospel does not leave us with the impression that Jesus went away anywhere. It closes with this word from Jesus: " ... And behold I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age" (Matt. 28:20) Matthew tells us that Jesus was Emmanuel - "God with us". And He closes his gospel by Jesus saying He is with us all the days , even unto the consummation of the age. He is with the disciples until the second coming physically. So Christ is available.John also does not conclude His gospel with the concept that Jesus went anywhere. John emphasizes that Jesus can enter into man's innermost being: "Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him." (John 14:23) Jesus is available in that He is with His believers until the end of the age.Jesus can enter into the believers human spirit, the kernel of their being and make an abode with them.Jesus also can be entered into: "Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

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I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:4,5)Apart from abiding in an "organic" union with the resurrected and living Jesus we can do nothing. Or all that we do do will account up to be nothing on the day of judgment.While there has been much emphasis on Jesus coming back physically to His followers, this is rather easy to grasp. It is outward and objective. And we have a few people here saying this prophecy has failed.I do not believe this at all. But I do believe it was important to God in the last 2000 years that millions of people would learn to abide in the resurrected, available, enterable living Christ to learn to live in oneness with Him.Christ bodily rose from the dead. In addition He transformed Himself into form in which He can enter into our being as a Divine life giving Spirit: "The last Adam [Christ] became a life giving Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45)God wanted no simply to have Jesus descend from heaven to man outwardly. He will indeed fulfill that prophecy. But He wants something to come back FOR. And that is an army of His people abiding in Him, living in a "organic" union with Him as the indwelling life giving Spirit.He has had this here and there sporadically in faithful ones. But He does not coerce His people to live this way. Today He desires a substantial group on the five continents where the gospel of the kingdom has gone, to live Christ.This is not simply to live for Christ. It is to receive Christ and live in a mingled way with Christ. It is actually to allow Christ to live again on the earth but this time within us. "For me to live is Christ ..." (Phil. 1:21) "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Gal. 2:20)"When Christ Who is our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory." (Col. 3:4) All these passages help us to see WHAT Christ is returning physically to the earth for. It is for a people who have learned to abide in Christ, absorb Christ, be saturated with Christ, have Christ as their life, and live Christ.This will BRING Him back. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

What translation are you using??Now, you are using single WORDS in a disconnected sentence, all translated from the original, and you are not making your case at all. It is one giant red herring.Every case you mention , does not say that 'This generation' is more than the people present, and it is not making your case at all.

Hello again Jay.You're doing the exact same thing you've done since our debate started. You're taking scripture out of context. You throw in scripture which by itself can have a vague meaning and applying it as you see fit to adhere to your beliefs. Delay can mean from one second to thousands of years. So you have to take into context what is being referred to. You did admit the parable refers to his disciples.If Jesus was stating he would return a year after his death, there would be a delay of one year.If Jesus was stating he would return 5 years after his death, there would be a delay of five years.So you're point is a moot one. Any time frame before Jesus returns is a delay. So by analyzing the scripture before and after his parable, can we get an idea of what he means by "delay"?100%.Matthew 24: 36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,f but only the Father.Jesus makes it quite clear the exact day and hour are not know, but that he will return in the future.Matthew 24: 42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.Again Jesus makes this quite clear. There will be a delay.Matthew 24: 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.Jesus tells the DISCIPLES to keep watch, Jesus will return when you do not expect him. So now we have the context of the delay. Jesus is telling his disciples to keep watch. Not you Jay, his disciples.Jesus will not return right away after his death. Jesus makes this quite clear by stating it will be after the desolation. There are also many other signs after this that will occur. So there is a delay. Hence the parable.Now the parable starts with: 1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.What time? This refers back to Matthew 24. Remember, there wasn't any chapters. Also remember, its one long its discourse.The parable refers Jesus returning while some were prepared and other who were not. By then, those who were not prepared, it was too late.Matthew 24:37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.See Jay. The parable refers back to this story. Those who were prepared, those who were not.How does the parable end?Matthew 25: 13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.Which refers back to Matthew 24 in which Jesus tells his disciples to keep watch. The parable, which you also admitted refers back to his disciples. Of course it does. Jesus has never stopped talking to his disciples. Jesus has stated quite a few times the end times would occur during their lifetime.You're trying to use the word "delay" to mean it must occur thousands of years later. Sorry Jay, delay in itself can mean any time frame. So you have to see how its being used in context.The time frame in the parable states nothing of thousands of years. Using it in context, it refers back to Matthew 24 which refers to the disciples. In fact, in the parable Jesus leaves and returns to his disciples! Matthew 24 gives quite a few parameters. Which are the signs. Each sign points to a specific timeline, which is during the lives of the disciples.As for the word generation, I used a definition of the word. You instead, obliterated the actually defintion and changed it to suit your beliefs. Yes, by that it means everyone ALIVE during his speech. Those would be his contemporaries at that time. Here is where you twisted the definition of the word. If A is "this generation", then you're saying if A has a child "B' would be part of "this generation". Well, if B has a kid, then since B was part of "this generation" then now C is also part of "this generation". In fact, every single child born throughout history then, would be "this generation". That's not what I stated, nor is that the definition of what a generation is.From the youngest to the oldest, that generation would be "this generation" that Jesus refers to.How do we know what "this generation" is? Simple. Read what Matthew 24 states. The entire chapter has Jesus stating his disciples would witness each sign. Jesus then adds these signs will be during "this generation". You're doing as you always do. You're taking out of context, and ignoring key words.You're focused on the word "generation". Well, it has many meanings. So what meaning is being used?
Context. By adding "this" it refers back to what Jesus stated prior.Jesus states step by step what the signs are...and tells his disciples that THEY will witness these signs.You've ignored all these points....and focused on "this generation".Put aside your personal beliefs for one second if possible. Be honest here. If the end times were to occur thousands of years AFTER their death, why would Jesus give them the signs? Why would he tell his disciples the sun will be darkened, that they will witness a calamity like no other EVER in the history of the world. If these are the signs of the end times which are to occur two thousand years plus later, why does Jesus tell his disciples THEY would witness all this?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree. But you're missing the point. Regardless if its 34 AD or today, the words still would apply. There is no time frame involved with those words at all. None. So again, this is another moot point.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- But you're ignoring the key points. His disciples ASK Jesus for the signs. Jesus then tells them the signs. How absurd for Jesus to make mention of all that if its to occur thousands of years later. The purpose of the signs is to show that the end times are arriving. You're also missing a HUGE key point. The calamity Jesus refers to, he states that it will be like no other calamity EVER in the history of the world. When would this occur? With the disciples as witnesses! This calamity, we both know, is the end times.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Again, with the exact numbers? Is this all you have? The evidence is screaming at you and you fall back up a specific number. Even Jesus said there was NOT an exact number. No one knows the hour or day. Did he not say this?His disciples want to know when Jesus will return. Jesus gives them the signs. Its quite ridiculous for Jesus to tell his disciples they would witness the signs....but his return will be thousands of years later.What is hysterical is that if you go to any apologist site...they'll tell you the man will know the end times are upon them by the signs! Which signs? The ones in Matthew 24!All these sites agree that those are the signs for the end times. The part they ignore is that Jesus tells his disciples they would be the witness to these signs.I have been to quite a few Christian sites, and each break down the signs were verse. ALL left out the key points with Jesus talking to the disciples, telling them they would be the witnesses.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I dont have the exact number. Neither did Jesus. But Jesus did give a time frame. During the disciples lifetime.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Once that occurs, ths following will happen.
4) Disciples will be persecuted.
5) Many will turn away from their faith.
6) False prophets will appear.
7) Increase of wickedness. Jay, he does say. IMMEDIATELY after all this. When is disciples are still alive.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Um...yes. Hence our debate. Its a failed prophecy. Right. You're going to focus on one verse which does not give any indication of a time frame, while I focus on the ENTIRE chapter which does.Whos being honest here Jay?---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Now remember, his followers asked WHEN the end times will occur. Jesus is giving a play by play. No, Jesus answered them exactly as I have stated. Keep watch. They will not know the day or hour, but they will witness all the signs and his return. Says it right there in Matthew 24.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I can sum this up quite easily. You need me to be wrong. You need it to read as want to read it. It could read exactly as you say and it would change not one thing for me. It would still not mean the Bible is true. But if Matthew 24 is wrong, your world comes crashing down. So you need to change the meanings of words, the context.I noticed every post I made, you never actually address the main issue, that being that the disciples were the witnesses. You glossed over this each and every time. You take one verse, which you have been shown to do quite often, which is ambigious and run with it. You ignore the surrounding verses which give the context.You cannot grasp that his disciples ask when Jesus will return. Jesus responds by telling them to keep watch for the signs. Simple logic. They would not have to watch for the signs if its to occur thousands of yearas later.Not only does Jesus tell them to watch for the signs, he tells them they will see the sun and moon darken, the stars fall out of the sky, that at the end times it will be the worse catastrophe EVER...in which they will be witness to it.Jesus says all these things, all these signs..................that his disciples will witness. Indepth, precise signs, they will witness. You instead take one verse and build a story around it, without reading the surrounding verses.Jesus tells them IMMEDIATELY after all the signs he has already given, he will return. Only those who need a return can change "immediately" to mean thouands of years in the future.Jesus tells his disciples to keep watch bc he will return when they do not expect him.Matthew 24 is so crystal clear, only those who cannot accept what is written see it your way.I cannot force you to admit what it states. But I do have no doubt, that you actually do see it my way. You do see it is written as I say. You're still trying though to find some loopholes to put your mind at ease. That perhaps there is something you missed that really would make it all say Jesus is returning 2000 plus years later.You can go to nearly any thread, and find a debate with a non-believer and a Christian. The evidence is with the non-believer, volumes,overwhelming....and the Christian goes with faith. That's exactly what you're doing here. The evidence for Matthew 24 is open and shut. You're going by faith that it must mean something else.Whew. Way too long. I guess we're done here though. Your heart is in the right place (telling me that you wish I would find Jesus) its just that your mind is not. Take care.

If it is easy to grasp...outward and objective, then why is there such a variety of interpretations? A few people say? It seems the consensus among scholars and the first impression among more casual readers is that Jesus actually meant that the second coming was coming very soon.Jesus promised the end was near. It wasn't. What other promises has he broken? What more might he break in the future?

Jay, I do have a question for you. Ok, a few questions. Quite a few posts ago, you mentioned that a Christian would know scripture better than a non-believer. I'm curious as to why you believe that. Why? What advantage do they have?If both a skeptic and Christian are reading from the same text, why would the Christian have more understanding of scripture?I believe most Christians would have a bias to keep the Bible error free. So they would be at a disadvantage in my opinion.Also, there are thousands of denominations amongst Christians, each disagreeing with each other on certain aspects of the Bible. Apparently then, there are huge disagreements between Christians themselves.Plus, many non-believers were once Christian. Obviously they shared similiar beliefs as you do, seeing the Bible as you do, yet now have different view.Thanks.

Matthew 25:1-13, the parable of the ten virgins, is right in the middle of Christ's prophecies and teachings about preparation for His second coming. So it is certainly not out of context.If is flanked on either side by teachings about prudence, faithfulness (Matt. 24:45-31; 25:14-30)Now you are saying what I have been saying. The word "delayed" is opened ended. As you say "one second to thousands of years". The parable just states that the Bridegroom delayed. It simply states that the bridegroom, representing Christ, delayed. All we believers can do, who are represented by the ten virgins, is to look back on church history and surmise that the delay is still going on.So it is not a moot point. This could explain why Jesus, standing on the ground as a man subject to the all knowing Father, Himself at that time did not know when He would have His second advent. So you are now saying what I have been saying. The disciples but not me ???I am a disciple of Jesus too. Besides, "What I say to you, I say to ALL, Watch!" I am part of the ALL, the other followers of Jesus who have an ear to hear Him. So He is also talking to me.Furthermore, the phrase "the chosen" or "the elect" was used by Jesus on occasion rather than "YOU." "For false Christs and false prophets will arise ... and will show signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the CHOSEN." (v.24) He did not say " ... lead astray, if possible, even YOU"" ... but on account of the chosen, those days will be cut short" (v.22)He did not say " ... but on account of YOU, those days will be cut short." The tone is therefore inclusive of all who have an ear to hear Him, all who are chosen. It is not restricted to the twelve.Verse 30 also is inclusive of "they". He does not only say "YOU". ".... and THEY will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." It is difficult to imagine from this way of speaking that Jesus was not also addressing possible future people. You seem to ingore His resurrection. You seem always to speak of His return after His death. He rose from death. So you are saying what I have been saying.We disciples look back over the last two millennia and admit that there has been a delay.It is the unbeliever like you who interprets the delay as a failed prophecy. But for me, if His prophecy to rise from the dead was fulfilled, we need not worry that other prophecies will not be fulfilled.He prophesied that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. The Christian church is still here. So I have little doubt that delay does not mean failure as to His second coming. And I interpret that to mean that at that time some of the disciples will have experienced the delay.That they slept in Christian death and arose at midnight to go forth to meet the Bridegroom in resurrection fits very well.Going FORTH probably means being raptured.
So after a long delay in church history, at that time of His second coming, some lovers of Jesus will arise in resurrection at the darkest hour of world history. They will be resurrected and raptured to go forth to meet the Lord, the lovable Bridegroom who they have waited for. This goes into the need for a more detailed analysis of the parable which I have not done. I can though in another thread perhaps.The parable shows that the wise virgins had not only initial oil but extra oil in their vessels with their lamps.The foolish only had oil in thier vessels. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So the meaning should be that the initial Holy Spirit they all had. But the wise had extra portion.The extra oil in the vessel along with the lamp signifies the Holy Spirit saturating the soul, the personality. Whereas the oil in the lamp signifies the Holy Spirit in the human spirit.Oil in the lamp is a gift and is obtained by being born again.
Extra oil in the vessel along with the lamp signifies sanctification, transformation in the personality. And this requires the paying of a price.The foolish virgins are excluded from the celebration. It does not say that they perish. They are not lost eternally. They are excluded from a certain portion of celebration at the second coming of Christ.This is what is going to happen to all the disciples who have believed in Jesus down through the centries.Five wise and five foolish does not mean that half are wise and half are foolish. Rather five is the biblical number representing responsibility. Whether the disciples are wise or foolish is of their own responsibility. So you are now admiting that using it is not out of context then.No further comment at the moment. But you reversed yourself because above you stated that my using the parable of the ten virgins was out of context. None of this negates that Jesus could delay His second coming for 2000 years or more.And there is good reason to believe that the sleeping virgins refers to disciples who died while waiting for the second coming. I do not have to insist on this. But I think it fits very well. And it goes along with 1 Thess. chapter 4 which you previosly appealed to. At no time have I insisted that it "MUST" mean that thousand of years latter. Since it is unknown how long the delay is it could mean as much time as we have seen in the past since these words were spoken.The words would not have been wrong if the second coming had occured 2000 years ago. Neither would they be wrong should that event occur in the near or distant future. That is my point. So 2000 years in not the wrong amount of time. It doesn't have to. As long as it is open ended, that amount of time is not wrong.And you are also quite wrong to decouple verse 35 from 34. They should be considered together: "Truly I say to you that this generation shall by no means pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away."Saying that verse 35 has nothing to do with verse 34 is quite wrong. Honest? I am being honest. If His prophecy to rise from the dead was fulfilled, I have confidence that His word on His second coming is also trustworthy.I honestly think you are a deceived person. The fact that He uses the word "THEY" implies that the disciples are not the ONLY ones for whom the teaching concerns or is for: "And at the time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and THEY will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The "THEY" will certainly include some believers in Christ. This occurs at the end of the great tribulation for He says: "And immediately after the tribulation of those days ..."He may mean the great tribulation. But if He did not it is still noteworthy that He says "the tribulation of THOSE days." Why did He not say "the tribulation of [THESE] days" ? .The tone is that the time until this event is open ended and unspecified. Your ignoring the reason for His saying it. That is to equip the disciples with endurance.Sure, the words of Jesus will still be important AFTER the second coming. But the context suggests that He is arming them with endurance to be able to pass through the times to come and not lose sight of His promise. And that promise is of inevitable universal vindication of the Son of God.And I think I will close here. Goodnight.But in closing, if we strictly insist that "this generation" means Peter's living contemporaries, those of us who are serious to follow Jesus have to look to see what Peter's attitude was.Can you point out to me Peter's indication of a failed prophesy? And if you can't then I will take my concept from Peter's view.I would have to assume that you are one of the false teachers or false prophets that Jesus warned us to be aware of. I will not let you lead me astray. I don't see the Apostle Peter whining about failed prophesy.His closing attitude is quite victorious and upbeat. It tastes like the Jesus I know. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

Good point. It is the general premise that Christ comes back in glory, victoriously to be vindicated - THAT is quite easy to grasp.Now the fine details - where, exactly how, the precise indications, what will the disciples being doing, what will be the situation of Israel ... etc. those finer details are disputed. I do not object to that. I have not argued that He was expected and desired to physically return sooner then He has.My point has been that this "delay" of the Lord Jesus does not constitute a failed prophecy.Look at Peter, John, and Paul's closing words. Sure, thier beloved Lord has not yet had His second coming. Do they seem devastated? Do they seem depressed. Do they even appear disappointed ?I say, no they do not. They are too busy enjoying His indwelling presence with them at that moment and preaching the gospel to the lost. They are shepherding the flock and doing their best to prepare them to carry on after their probable departure.They talk about "last times" and last days. They innoculate the church against growing apostasy.Rather than failed prophesy they were enjoying the FULFILLMENT of Christ words. They were doing greater things then their Master had done as He had predicted. The churches were spreading. The gospel was going out to all the world. The very blood of the martyrs was only going to encrease the number of faithful.They witnessed the Spirit of Christ keeping them through every conceivable kind of hardship and trial. They were in joy that His promises were being fulfilled rather than broken.Truly, the gates of Hell could not prevail against the Lord's church. So they and we are all quite encouraged. You haven't convinced me that any promise was broken. You have only demonstrated to me that some unbelievers are wasting their life's time gloating over what they hope is a failed prophecy of Christ.All this tells me is that they are unbelievers.
Many of the pharisees also hope His prophesy of a resurrection after crucifixion would also fail.But according to the book of Acts many more pharisees became believers after hearing Peter's preaching. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

I usually quote out of the Recovery Version:The Holy Bible Recovery VersionBut I have always nearby a number of other good English translations. I don't really understand this charge .... "using single WORDS in a disconnected sentence ...".Vine's New Testament Word Study Dictionary confirms that there are various usages of the word generation, though I do not always agree with Vine on how he interprets those instances. See Luke 11:29 . " ... This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonah. "Here is a "generation" .... "this generation" characterized by evil and seeking a sign. There is no good reason for me to believe that that "evil" sign seeking generation does not include some future people to when He spoke.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

In Matthew 12:43-45 Jesus compares the rejection He receives from Israel as the plight of a demon possessed man. And He speaks of "this evil generation": Since the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah has more and more hardened with the majority of the Jews as they hone in thier logic to disqualify Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah, "this evil generation" certainly should be understood to mean more than just the contemporary audience.It has been said that modern Judaism since the initialization of the Christian church has bolstered itself encreasingly upon the opposition to the Gospel of Jesus.(Not that some religious "Christian" people didn't help)
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Jesus characterizes a generation ... "this generation" (Matt. 11:16) as one making exscuses one way or another to reject God's prophets and messengers including the Son of Man: "But to what shall I liken THIS GENERATION? It is like little children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to the others and say, We have played the flute to you, and you did not dance; we have sung a dirge, and you did not mourn.

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For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say, He has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking; and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners ..." (Matt. 11:16-19b)This "generation" is characterized by people's rationals shifting from one excuse to the other, for not receiving the word of God.This same kind of making of excuses to reject the Son of Man still continues to this day.The Bible is too old.
It is not old enough like the code of Hammarubi.Jesus is too Jewish.
He is not Jewish enough.Jesus was too hard.
Jesus was too meek and mild.People today are still characterized as always finding a rational why they should not receive Christ. There is no good reason for me to believe that "this generation" in Matt. 11:16 did not also include people future to whom Christ was addressing in that audience displaying the same moral condition.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

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Matthew 25:1-13, the parable of the ten virgins, is right in the middle of Christ's prophecies and teachings about preparation for His second coming. So it is certainly not out of context.

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Except of course, the topic at hand was 'the meaning of this generation', and has nothing to do with the parable about the virgins. Focus!!!!

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Now you are saying what I have been saying. The word "delayed" is opened ended. As you say "one second to thousands of years".

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That still does not address the meaning of ' THIS GENERATION You are clutching at straws here.

I am trying to see what anything you wrote has anything to do with the subject at hand. I see a whole bunch of discombobulated phrases that do not address the central theme of what 'This generation' could possibly mean.You are jumping all over the place, but not addressing this issue.It seems to me that the one point that I am finding is the fact that so many very religious Christians spend so much time explaining why the words in the bible do not mean what the words in the bible says.

Have you read all of the exchanges that have taken place between Heretic, grabarger, and myself? It is not hard for me to recall how we got into other passages beside Matthew 24:34 and the word "generation" .If I recall right, I poised a question to one of those two posters. I asked someone whether there was also evidence that Christ's second coming would not be as soon as the disciples expected.In light of that question I went to two parables and discribed contributing evidence which I felt indicated that it was also in the mind of Jesus to prepare the disciples for a longer wait for His second coming.You don't like this and accuse me of getting off the subject. Your criticism I find to be biased. And here is why.Heretic and others have gone to other portions of the word to try to strengthened thier argument. They went into 1 Thess. 4:17. They went into Matthew 17. They went into Revelation chapter 1. They went to Matthew 25. I saw no protest from you that they were jumping around and not being focused.If Heretic can refer to other passages to supply evidence for his view I can do the same. And I told him I did not mind him doing so. I told him that I would consider his points on a case by case basis as to the strength or weakness of their relevance and support.Your biased annoyance of supporting arguments beside Matthew 24:34, to the OP, doesn't impress me. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

In this discussion I have written quite a lot about the usages of the word generation and my view of it in Matthew 24:34.Heretic, the one I have mostly been conversing with, has jumped to other passages in Matthew, Revelation, 1 Thessalonians.It didn't seem to bother you that he jumped around. And it doesn't bother me. I am willing to consider his other passages.Perhaps you are annoyed because a lot of skeptics like to try to "divide and conquer" the revelation of the Bible. They like to slice and dice the parts of the plenary revelation of the Bible so that the amputated pieces have nothing to do with each other.This is how they try to "kill the beast" by separating the parts far apart from each other.Of course to draw from different parts to support their skepticism is OK.This discussion I think is mainly on the field of teachings of Jesus from Matthew 17, 24 and 25. The parable of the ten virgins is in chapter 25.It is in the same chapter as the judgment of the living nations at Christ's second coming, a portion that Heretic argued his point of view from.You didn't object to him doing so then.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.