Early Christian Beliefs About the Two Advents of Christ
Early Christians taught that Jesus would come twice: first to suffer in humility, and later to return in glory. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, and Lactantius all say the prophets foretold both comings. Key Bible passages used for this teaching include Isaiah 53, Hebrews 9:28, and 1 Peter 1:11.
102 early-church witnesses · 170 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the Two Advents of Christ?
Early Christian writers taught that Christ would come twice: first in lowliness and suffering, and later in glory and power. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, and Lactantius all say the prophets pointed to these two comings, and they often tied the first coming to Isaiah 53 and the second to texts about Christ's future return.
The teaching is broad and repeated across the 2nd and 3rd centuries, with both Bible passages and direct early Christian commentary used to explain it. A few cards are only loose matches or background, but the main witness is clear and consistent. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, and Lactantius taught two comings of Christ.
- The first coming was linked to suffering, rejection, and humility.
- The second coming was linked to glory, judgment, and saving those who wait for him.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did the early Christians teach that Christ would come twice?
The strongest early Christian witnesses explicitly say that Scripture and the prophets announced two advents or comings of Christ. They present the first coming as already fulfilled and the second as still future.
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Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews Direct teaching
We affirm, two characters of the Christ demonstrated by the prophets, and as many advents of His forenoted: one, in humility (of course the first), when He has to be led as a sheep for a victim;
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Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching
But His advent being signified to them as twofold — the one which should discharge the office and example of a man, the other which should avow Him as God — they did not understand the first advent which preceded, as being hidden in His passion, but believe in the one only which will be manifest in power.
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Caius, Fragments Supporting witness
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.
How did early Christians describe Christ’s first coming?
The sources consistently describe the first advent as suffering, dishonored, lowly, or hidden in humility. The Bible passages cited alongside these witnesses emphasize Christ’s sufferings before later glory.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching
but they pretend, at a time unsuitable [for such conduct], to serve, [with observances] beyond [those required by] the law, God who stands in need of nothing, and do not recognise the advent of Christ, which He accomplished for the salvation of men, nor are willing to understand that all the prophets announced His two advents: the one, indeed, in which He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek;
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Tertullian, Apology Supporting witness
For two comings of Christ having been revealed to us: a first, which has been fulfilled in the lowliness of a human lot;
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching
For the prophets have proclaimed two advents of His: the one, that which is already past, when He came as a dishonoured and suffering Man;
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1 Peter 1:11 Background
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
How did early Christians describe Christ’s second coming?
The sources say the second advent will be glorious, public, and royal, with Christ coming in power and majesty. Some texts connect this coming with judgment, while others stress salvation for those who wait for him.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Direct teaching
...ur salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the plans of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His future manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father "to gather all things in one," and to raise anew all flesh of the whole human race, so that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess" to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send "spiritual wickednesses," and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, unrighteous, wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and persevered in His love, some from the beginning of their Christian journey, and others from the time of their repentance, and may surround them with ev
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Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching
Now it escaped the notice of Celsus, and of the Jew whom he has introduced, and of all who are not believers in Jesus, that the prophecies speak of two advents of Christ: the former characterized by human suffering and humility, in order that Christ, being with men, might make known the way that leads to God, and might leave no man in this life a ground of excuse, in saying that he knew not of the judgment to come;
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching
“And it was prophesied by Jacob the patriarch that there would be two advents of Christ, and that in the first He would suffer, and that after He came there would be neither prophet nor king in your nation (I proceeded), and that the nations who believed in the suffering Christ would look for His future appearance.
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Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching
In the preceding pages we have already spoken of this point, viz., the prediction that there were to be two advents of Christ to the human race, so that it is not necessary for us to reply to the objection, supposed to be urged by a Jew, that the prophets declare the coming one to be a mighty potentate, Lord of all nations and armies.
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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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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
...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 Lord, who sat at the right hand of God, except Christ the Son of God, who is King of kings and Lord of lords? And Isaiah shows this more plainly when he says: "Thus says the Lord God to my Lord Christ, whose right hand I have held: I will subdue nations before Him, and I will break the strength of kings. I will open gates before Him, and the cities shall not be closed. I will go before You and make the mountains level. I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and shatter the bars of iron. And I will give You the hidden and invisible treasures, so that You may know that I am the Lord God, who calls You by Your name, the God of Israel." Finally, because of the goodness and faithfulness that He showed toward God on earth, there was given to Him a kingdom, and glory, and dominion. And all peoples, tribes, and languages wi
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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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Titus 2:13 Background
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
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Revelation 1:7 Background
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
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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.
More related quotations from this section 3 shown
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness
...ing out the controversy against pure tradition and the Catholic faith, because they take offense at Christ, and because Scripture also declares that He is God, and we also believe this, we must rightly contend that Christ is also God, so that every heretical slander may be removed from our faith. Yet we must do this in such a way that it does not fight against the truth of Scripture, nor against our faith, by which Scripture declares that God is one, and by which we also hold and believe this. For both those who say that Jesus Christ Himself is God the Father, and those who want Him to be only a man, have gathered the sources and reasons for their error and perversity from there. When they saw that it was written that God is one, they thought they could hold that opinion only by supposing that either Christ must be believed to be only man, or else truly God the Father. And they were used to joining their clever arguments together in such a way as to try to defend their own error. And so those who say that Jesus Christ is the Father argue like this: "If God is one, and Christ is God, then Christ is the Father, since God is one. If Christ is not the Father, because Christ is God t
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Matthew 24:44 Supporting witness
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Background
Why, then, should we hesitate to say what Scripture does not hesitate to declare? Why should the truth of faith hesitate in the very matter where the authority of Scripture has never hesitated? For look, Hosea the prophet says in the person of the Father: “I will not now save them by bow, nor by horses, nor by horsemen; but I will save them by the Lord their God,” Hosea 1:7. If God says that He saves by God, still God does not save except by Christ. Why, then, should man hesitate to call Christ God, when he sees that the Father declares Him to be God according to the Scriptures? Yes, if God the Father does not save except by God, then no one can be saved by God the Father unless he has confessed Christ to be God, in whom and by whom the Father promises that He will give him salvation. So, rightly, whoever acknowledges Him to be God may find salvation in Christ God. Whoever does not acknowledge Him to be God would lose the salvation that he could find nowhere else than in Christ God. For in the same way Isaiah says, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call His name Emmanuel,” which is interpreted, “God with us,” Isaiah 7:14. So Christ Himself says, “Look,
Did the prophets foresee both advents of Christ?
Several writers argue that the prophets foretold both the suffering first coming and the glorious second coming. The selected Bible texts are the main Bible passages used to support that reading.
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1 John 2:18 Background
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
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2 Thessalonians 2:1 Background
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
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Matthew 24:23 Background
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
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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.
Common Questions
Did early Christians believe Christ would come twice?
Yes. Writers like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, and Lactantius taught a first coming in suffering and a later coming in glory.
What Bible passages did early Christians use for the two comings of Christ?
They commonly used Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 1:11, Hebrews 9:28, and passages about Christ's future appearing such as Matthew 24 and Revelation 1:7.
What was Christ's first coming like in early Christian teaching?
It was described as humble, suffering, dishonored, and crucified, not as a royal display of power.
Source Index for the Two Advents of Christ
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 148 ranked source links from 170 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 148 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 102
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 68 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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