Early Christian Beliefs About the Second Coming
Early Christians taught that Jesus will come again in glory, judge the world, raise the dead, and repay each person. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Hippolytus, and Lactantius all speak this way. They often connect the return of Christ with Matthew 24, Daniel 7, 1 Thessalonians 4, Hebrews 9, and Revelation 22. The main view is clear and broad: Christ’s second coming is future, public, and tied to judgment and reward.
139 early-church witnesses · 227 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the second coming?
Early Christians widely taught that Jesus will come again in glory, judge the world, raise the dead, and reward each person according to his works. Writers like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Hippolytus, and Lactantius all speak of a second coming, and several connect it to Daniel 7, Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 4, Hebrews 9, and Revelation 22. The strongest and broadest theme is a visible, future return of Christ, not a hidden or merely spiritual event.
Some writers also tie the second coming to signs, judgment by fire, and the end of the age, while a few texts use the topic more indirectly through prophecy or types. The evidence is broad across the 2nd and 3rd centuries, with the earliest witness in the Apostolic Fathers and the clearest full statements in the apologists and anti-heretical writers. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians taught that Christ will return in glory, not in a hidden way.
- They linked the second coming with judgment, resurrection, and final reward.
- Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Hippolytus, and Lactantius all describe a future second advent.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians teach that Christ will come again in glory?
The strongest sources say Christ will come again a second time, and that this coming will be glorious, manifest, and visible. Several writers contrast His first coming with a future coming in power and royal honor.
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching
amongst whom He is always present in power, but will be manifestly present at His second coming.
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Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching
...Now these signs of degradation fit His first coming well, just as the tokens of His majesty fit His second advent. Then He will no longer remain a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Instead, after His rejection, He will become the chief corner-stone, accepted and raised to the highest place of the temple, that is, His church. He is that very stone in Daniel, cut out of the mountain, which was to strike and crush the image of the secular kingdom. Of this advent the same prophet says, "Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days. And they brought Him before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And His kingdom is one which shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:13-14. Then indeed He will have both a glorious form and an unsullied beauty above the sons of men. "You are fairer," says the Psalmist, "than the children of men. Grace is poured into Your lips. Therefore God has blessed You forever. Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O most mighty, with Your glory and Your majesty." For th
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
For since it is so arranged by God that the same Christ should twice come to the earth, once to announce to the nations the one God, then again to reign, why do they who did not believe in His first advent believe in the second?
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Caius, Fragments Direct teaching
And hence, although different points are taught us in the several books of the Gospels, there is no difference as regards the faith of believers, inasmuch as in all of them all things are related under one imperial Spirit, which concern the Lord's nativity, His passion, His resurrection, His conversation with His disciples, and His twofold advent, — the first in the humiliation of rejection, which is now past, and the second in the glory of royal power, which is yet in the future.
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Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews Direct teaching
Of which second advent of the same (Christ) Daniel has said: And, behold, as it were a Son of man, coming with the clouds of the heaven, came unto the Ancient of days, and was present in His sight;
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
But the prophet includes both of His comings in a few words. "Look, he says, one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven." He did not say, "like the Son of God," but "the Son of man," so that he might show that He had to be clothed with flesh on the earth. By taking the form of a man and the condition of mortality, He might teach men righteousness. And when He had completed the commands of God and had revealed the truth to the nations, He might also suffer death, so that He might overcome and also open the other world. Then at last, rising again, He might go to His Father, carried upward on a cloud. For the prophet also said: "And came even to the Ancient of Days, and was presented to Him." He called the Most High God the Ancient of Days, whose age and origin cannot be understood. For He alone existed through all generations, and He will always exist through all generations. But David also gave witness that Christ, after His passion and resurrection, was about to ascend to God the Father, in these words in Psalm 109: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool." Since this prophet was himself a king, whom could he call his
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching
...them, in this role of the perfect one. Perhaps he is looking for some kind of truce, is he? But the coming of Him who is truly the perfect one, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, will not be so small, so hidden, and so lowly. No. When a king draws near to his city, he first sends ahead his bodyguards, his signs and standards and banners, his generals and leaders and prefects. Then at once everything is stirred up and excited in different ways, while some are filled with terror and others with joy at the prospect of the king's coming. In the same way, my Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly the perfect one, at His coming will first send before Him His glory, and the holy heralds of a pure and undefiled kingdom. Then the whole creation will be shaken and troubled, offering prayers and supplications, until He sets it free from its bondage. And it must be that the human race will then be afraid and deeply shaken because of the many sins it has committed. Then the righteous alone will rejoice, as they wait for the things promised to them. And the present order of this world will no longer continue, but all things will be destroyed. Whether they are prophecies or the books of the prophets, th
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
Therefore, as we spoke in the fourth book concerning His first advent, so in this book we will relate His second advent, which the Jews also both confess and hope for;
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Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist Direct teaching
He was despised, and esteemed not. Isaiah 53:2-5 But His second advent is announced as glorious, when He shall come from heaven with the host of angels, and the glory of His Father, as the prophet says, You shall see the King in glory;
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
and in the glorious advent of the Son of God, who of the Virgin Mary took flesh, and endured sufferings and death in our stead, and came to resurrection on the third day, and was taken up to heaven;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, Matthew 16:27 in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
and He comes the second time to bring us again eternal life.
More related quotations from this section 4 shown
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Matthew 24:30 Background
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
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Luke 21:27 Background
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
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Mark 13:26 Background
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
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Matthew 24:27 Background
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Did early Christians say the second coming includes judgment and reward?
The sources connect Christ’s return with judgment, recompense, and the destiny of the righteous and the wicked. They describe His appearing as the time when He repays everyone and judges the world.
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Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching
There is another consideration: since he will at his second advent come after Him, that as he at His first coming took hostile proceedings against the Creator, destroying the law and the prophets, which were His, so he may, to be sure, at his second coming proceed in opposition to Christ, upsetting His kingdom.
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching
but the second, when, according to prophecy, He shall come from heaven with glory, accompanied by His angelic host, when also He shall raise the bodies of all men who have lived, and shall clothe those of the worthy with immortality, and shall send those of the wicked, endued with eternal sensibility, into everlasting fire with the wicked devils.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
and those who declared regarding Him, “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced,” indicated His [second] advent, concerning which He Himself says, “Thinkest thou that when the Son of man cometh, He shall find faith on the earth?” Paul also refers to this event when he says, “If, however, it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you that are troubled rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire.” Others again, speaking of Him as a judge, and [referring], as if it were a burning furnace, [to] the day of the Lord, who “gathers the wheat into His barn, but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire,” were accustomed to threaten those who were unbelieving, concerning whom also the Lord Himself declares, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels.” And the apostle in like manner says [of them], “Who shall be punished with everlasting death from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in those who believe in Him.” There are also some [of them] who declare, “Thou art fairer than the children of men;” and, “God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows;” and, “Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
...heirs is one, and that sins are not pleasing to Him, even when committed by famous individuals; and second, that we should avoid wickedness. For if those men of ancient times, who were ahead of us in gifts bestowed upon them, and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, were disgraced when they sinned and indulged in lusts of the flesh, what will happen to the people of today who have disregarded the Lord's coming and become slaves to their own desires? Truly, the death of the Lord became a means of healing and forgiveness of sins for the former, but Christ will not die again for those who commit sins now, for death will no longer have power over Him. Instead, the Son will come in the glory of the Father, demanding from His stewards and managers the resources He entrusted to them, with interest; and from those to whom He gave much, He will demand much. Therefore, as that elder observed, we should not be arrogant or harsh towards those of earlier times, but should fear ourselves, in case, after gaining knowledge of Christ, if we do things that displease God, we find no further forgiveness of sins and are shut out from His kingdom. This is why Paul said, “For if [God] did not
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Hippolytus, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist Direct teaching
...two prophets and forerunners of the Lord have finished their course, and the whole world is finally coming to its end, what remains except the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? He will bring fire and righteous judgment on all who have refused to believe in Him. For the Lord says, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near." And, "Not a hair of your head shall perish." For, "As the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be." For, "Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together." Now the fall took place in paradise, for Adam fell there. And He says again, "Then shall the Son of man send His angels, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven." And David also, speaking prophetically about the judgment and coming of the Lord, says, "His going forth is from the end of heaven, and His circuit to the end of heaven, and no one is hidden from its heat." By the heat he means the conflagration. And Isaiah speaks this way: "Come, my people, enter into you
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Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching
... righteous Judge, shall give me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who love His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8. This fight, therefore, foretold long ago by the prophets, begun by the Lord, and carried on by the apostles, Mappalicus promised again to the proconsul in his own name and in the name of his companions. Nor did his faithful voice fail in what it promised. He showed the fight to which he had pledged himself, and he received the reward he deserved. I not only beg but also urge the rest of you that you all should follow that martyr, now most blessed, and the other sharers in that struggle—soldiers and comrades, steadfast in faith, patient in suffering, victorious in tortures. Then those who are joined together both by the bond of confession and by the keeping of a dungeon may also be joined together in the completion of their courage and in a heavenly crown. Then by your joy you may dry the tears of our Mother, the Church, who mourns over the ruin and death of very many. And you may strengthen, by the urging of your example, the firmness of others who still stand. If the battle calls you out, if the day of your contest comes, engage bravely and fight with
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
and now we look for His appearing from heaven in glory for the life and judgment of all, when the resurrection of the dead shall take place, to the end that recompense may be made to all according to their desert.
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching
We acknowledge the passion of the Lord in the flesh, the resurrection in the power of His divinity, the ascension to heaven, and His glorious appearing when He comes for the judgment of the living and the dead, and for the eternal life of the saints.
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1 Thessalonians 4:15 Background
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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Hebrews 9:28 Background
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
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1 Corinthians 15:23 Background
But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
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Revelation 1:7 Background
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
More related quotations from this section 2 shown
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2 Thessalonians 1:10 Background
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
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Matthew 25:31 Background
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Did early Christians expect signs or forerunners before Christ returns?
A number of sources say the Lord’s coming was foretold in Scripture and that John, Elijah, or other forerunners were linked to the approach of the second coming. These texts focus on preparatory signs rather than a detailed timetable.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
And because already His second coming draws near to us, His benign and liberal condescension is more and more illuminating our hearts with the light of truth.
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Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching
Let us always with solicitude and caution wait for the sudden coming of the Lord, that when He shall knock, our faith may be on the watch, and receive from the Lord the reward of our vigilance.
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Clement of Rome, Second Epistle (attributed) Direct teaching
This means the day of His appearing, when He will come and redeem us — each one according to his works.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching
Assuredly of the coming of the Lord, who has taught us, to men, there were a myriad indicators, heralds, preparers, precursors, from the beginning, from the foundation of the world, intimating beforehand by deeds and words, prophesying that He would come, and where, and how, what should be the signs.
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Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Direct teaching
Of a truth, soon and suddenly shall His will be accomplished, as the Scripture also bears witness, saying, “Speedily will He come, and will not tarry;” and, “The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Holy One, for whom ye look.”
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Revelation 22:20 Background
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
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Revelation 22:12 Background
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.
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1 Thessalonians 5:2 Background
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
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Wisdom of Sirach 5:7 Background
Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, And put not off from day to day: For suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth, And in thy security thou shalt be destroyed, And perish in the day of vengeance.
Common Questions
Did the early Christians believe Jesus would come again?
Yes. They taught a future second coming of Christ in glory, with judgment, resurrection, and reward for each person.
Did early Christians connect the second coming with judgment?
Yes. Several writers say Christ will come to judge, repay people, and bring fire and righteous judgment.
Which Bible passages did early Christians use about the second coming?
They often used Matthew 24, Daniel 7, 1 Thessalonians 4, Hebrews 9:28, and Revelation 22:12-20.
Source Index for the second coming
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 227 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 139
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 88
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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