Jesus told a whopper of a lie when he said there were people alive who would see him return to earth after his execution, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven. This, of course, did not happen. Everyone who lived in the first century eventually died, all without Jesus returning to earth. Since then, twenty centuries have come and gone without Jesus splitting the eastern sky. False prophet after false prophet has said that Jesus was coming back on such and such a date, without success. According to the Bible, these lying prophets should be executed for their false prophecies. Imagine if this sort of punishment actually happened? Why, the predictions would stop overnight. As it stands now, there’s no punishment for lying about the second coming of Christ.
Since the nation of Israel was established in 1948, countless Evangelical preachers have predicted certain dates and times for the Lord’s return. Passions are stirred, books are sold, prophets get rich, all without Jesus’s return to earth. And no matter how many times these prophets fail, gullible believers will give them more chances to lie, thinking that someday they will hit the winning numbers.
Just because Jesus lied and these false prophets lied, apologists say, doesn’t mean that Jesus is coming back to earth again. True, but after being told over and over and over again that the rapture is “imminent,” it’s not our fault if we think these preachers are frauds. The burden of proof rests on the shoulders of the apologists who say Jesus will soon return to earth. If a friend of mine repeatedly told me that he was coming to visit me and never showed up, I would be justified in concluding that he is a liar. So it is with every preacher who has falsely claimed the rapture was nigh. And if they are willing to lie about this, why should we believe anything they say?
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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