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Historical scholars for over a century have maintained that Jesus predicted that the end of history as we know it was to come in his own generation. Conservative Christians -- laypeople and scholars alike -- have insisted that this is a complete misportrayal of Jesus. And many people -- possibly most? -- believe that if Jesus really did preach this message, not only was he obviously wrong but also Christianity cannot possibly be true. A Jesus who was *demonstrably* mistaken about a central element of his preaching could not be a prophet of God, let alone the Savior of the world. In this episode we consider the issue and its implication: did Jesus proclaim the imminent end of the world? If so, can Christian faith even be possible, let alone reasonable?
Bart and Megan tackle such questions as:
-What actually is apocalypticism?
-What does it mean when we say that Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet?
-Were there other apocalyptic prophets in the ancient world, or was Jesus a one-off?
-Was there anything different about Jesus’ message compared to his prophetic peers?
-How were they viewed by the general population - were they taken seriously, or were they viewed in the same way that we may view people on a street corner with “the end is near” signs??
-If Jesus was anticipating that the Kingdom of God would be a physical reality before the end of his life, is it fair to say that he wasn’t expecting to be crucified?
-How do the writers of the gospels deal with this complication, and how do their reactions differ?
-Was Jesus, then, a false prophet?
-How did early Christian cults and sects deal with the world not ending?
