Apropierea și întârzierea parusiei în gândirea Reformei protestante

The New Testament Theme of the Nearness and Delay of the Parousia in Protestant Reformation Thought

Abstract

Coming after the late medieval apocalypticism, the Reformation could not neglect the topic of the Second Coming of Christ. Within this framework, the study discusses the issue of nearness and delay of the Parousia in Reformation thought. Both temporal aspects were present in the literature of the time. Nearness was sometimes subjectively expressed, without being argued for with any specific evidence. However, many times nearness was nurtured by certain connections with Bible texts and various historical settings. At times, this led various individuals to establish multiple years of the end. Radical millenarian hopes, on the one hand, and exaggerations of imminence, on the other hand, led to the decline of expectation of a near second coming among the protestant churches in Europe. Gradually, with some exceptions of “quiet” eschatology, protestants became more motivated to obtain the assuredness of salvation, no matter when the end comes, than to focus on the return of Christ.