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This is on ABC right now. A Puerto Rican claims he is the second coming of Jesus. You can read more here. What do you think? (It obvious to me) But are there any theological ideas that would make this impossible?
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I've seen this lunatic before. If I remember correctly, he also claims that sin no longer exists and that Satan is a made-up character (among other things). Quite obviously contradicting, but people still give money and eat it up, which is pretty sad.
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Matthew 24:23-28
At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.
"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
From the article:
Then one night in 1973, he says, he awoke to a vision of two hulking men at his bedside who announced the arrival of the Lord, who, says de Jesus, "came to me and integrated with me." In the early years after founding Growing in Grace in Miami in 1986, de Jesus didn't claim to be Christ. Instead, he worked as a pastor spreading his doctrine: that under a new covenant with God, there is no sin and no Satan, and people are predestined to be saved. But as his following expanded, his claims did, too. In 1998, de Jesus avowed that he was the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul. Two years ago at Growing in Grace's world convention in Venezuela, he declared himself Christ. And just last week, he called himself the Antichrist and revealed a "666" tattooed on his forearm. His explanation: that, as the second coming of Christ, he rejects the continued worship of Jesus of Nazareth. Galatians 1:8
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
2 Corinthians 11:13-14
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
If the man is not insane he is posessed by a demon. It is also interesting that he went out from the church.
1 John 2:18-19
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
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^ Probably what the real Jesus would/did say
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Originally Posted by acrossthesirion This is on ABC right now. A Puerto Rican claims he is the second coming of Jesus. You can read more here. What do you think? (It obvious to me) But are there any theological ideas that would make this impossible?
He is pretty well known down here in south Texas (McAllen). I didn't want to bring this guy up simply because I don't want this demon possessed guy to even have any publicity at all. He says that there is no more sin, that the first Jesus took all sin away (so we can do whatever we want). First he said he was the apostle Paul, then he said he was "the other" (whatever the hell that means), then he started claiming to be Jesus, and now he says he is the antichrist and has even tatooed 666 on his forearm. He says he (the antichrist) is misunderstood and that he isn't bad, but is good and the reason he is anti-christ, is because he claims he is even "better" than the first Jesus.. The guy is demon possessed. He needs prayer.
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Originally Posted by Daniel21TX He is pretty well known down here in south Texas (McAllen). My parents live in McAllen, near Col Rowe & Trenton.
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Originally Posted by acrossthesirion What do you think? (It obvious to me) I'm a True Believer (TM).
Originally Posted by acrossthesirion But are there any theological ideas that would make this impossible? Because Jesus was already born and raised and is still a human, Jesus could not be re-incarnate as this man who was born and raised just recently.
Plus, the Second Coming is an event, not a process.
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I've heard of this guy before...either he's insane or demon possessed.
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Originally Posted by acrossthesirion This is on ABC right now. A Puerto Rican claims he is the second coming of Jesus. You can read more here. What do you think? (It obvious to me) But are there any theological ideas that would make this impossible?
I've read about this guy before. His followers actually tattoo themselves with "666", which is freaky.
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Out of curiosity, what does the Bible say about the coming of the antiChrist? (Beyond what has already been posted).
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It says the (not that there is really a "the") antichrist is here, and looking at the verses it seems like it's more of a spiritual affiliation that comes through different people. The beast is something often misunderstood as being "the" antichrist and is talked about in relevation. The beast is historically understood as having been Nero Caesar, although in the last 150 years or so with the advent of dispensationalism it has been assumed of many different figures.
I heard an interesthing thought that it was Nero Caesar, but that things in Revelation are cyclical through history until the Lord comes. I'm not well studied in eschatology or the base systematic theologies behind them so I'm unsure of it. However, covenant theology and post- or amillennialism have been the only things to make sense to me from the little I've heard, and this cyclical idea puts an entirely new twist on things. Because it's so different I don't see how to rule it out other than scripture doesn't outright tell us to view it that way.
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There are many antichrists.
1Jo 2:22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
1Jo 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
"The antichrist" (1 and 2 John), "false christs" (Matthew 24), "the beast" (Rev. 19-20), and "the man of sin/lawlessness" (2 Thess. 2) are conflated by most Christians. I think the identification is perhaps less obvious than others think. After all, if there can be many antichrists, but there is one antichrist who is at work in them, then perhaps we're seeing them identified by their father's name. That is, the antichrist is the devil, because he is against Christ, and he has many false christs, many antichrists, a man of sin, and a beast at his command. The man of sin and the beast are the same, and perhaps there is a the antichrist who is the same person.
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Originally Posted by Dice It says the (not that there is really a "the") antichrist is here, and looking at the verses it seems like it's more of a spiritual affiliation that comes through different people. The beast is something often misunderstood as being "the" antichrist and is talked about in relevation. The beast is historically understood as having been Nero Caesar, although in the last 150 years or so with the advent of dispensationalism it has been assumed of many different figures. Actually, most Protestants (including Calvin and Luther) identified the papacy as the Antichrist until dispensationalism took hold.
The Westminster Confession of Faith:
25:6 There is no other head of the Church, but the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph_1:22; Col_1:18); nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God (Mat_23:8-10; 2Th_2:3, 2Th_2:4, 2Th_2:8, 2Th_2:9; Rev_13:6).
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Originally Posted by Chrysostom My parents live in McAllen, near Col Rowe & Trenton.
I live right by your parents. I stay on North 8th street, right by Col Rowe (otherwise known as 2nd street), and Trenton is just up the road off 10th street. Maybe when you come to visit them, you, me and my wife could get together and fellowship. I would like to meet the well known John Roberson of CGR. I like a lot of what you have to say.
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Originally Posted by Aaron Adams Actually, most Protestants (including Calvin and Luther) identified the papacy as the Antichrist until dispensationalism took hold. I was talking about the beast not the antichrist, but I see there is a reference to him in their listed verses. I don't understand how they could count him as the beast, though. Either way, I see many historical views that the idea was that it was speaking of Nero, I guess not necessarily all from Christians, but historical perspectives on Revelation regardless.