Complete title:
Would Jesus Have Come If Adam Had Not Sinned? Why Did He Wait So Long Before Coming?
Long seemingly for us, nothing to God.
...St. Thomas Aquinas (in his Summa Theologica) first states that there are different opinions on the matter.
First Error is to question God’s Purpose
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/582
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
Jesus arrived for God’s reason and at the exact time God wished. I find no serious mention of consultants or cabinet meetings to assist God in his decision.
However, I’m sure your critique amuses God.
One of my favorite NT books is Acts of the Apostles. I’m overwhelmed by the courage of those in the early Church who embraced the command to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I’m not sure the Apostles could have feasibly obeyed that commandment, nor their deeds been recorded, had the Roman Empire not evolved to the point it had. Granted this is purely my speculation and mine alone, but it seems to me Christ arrived at the earliest point in human history that his name could, and would be spread to the ends of the earth by his followers in the years, centuries and millenia to follow.
Pope's questions are beside the point. The salient issue from which Pope digresses (and perhaps leads others to avoid) is this: Man sinned of his own accord. God so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son- fully God and fully human- to take all our sin upon Himself and die in our stead. Only by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ will man be saved. And no person will gain salvation unless he or she comes directly through Christ Himself.
Someone should tell Pope that there is a very fine line between genius and heresy.
I wonder who really believes what Jesus actually said:
“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Mat 16:28
Matthew 24:2 2”Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Luke 19:44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Now for the $64 question. When was the Temple destroyed?
Or perhaps, as millions believe, Jesus was actually “meaning the Muslim Dome of the Rock that actually sits on the place the original temple existed.
Though I believe we have a problem here: The Dome of the Rock was built in 1327AD Long after the data that the Temple was destroyed in 70AD
Even so, we still have a problem for those who believe John wrote the book of Revelation in 95AD: Stating within....
“I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers.” Rev 11:1
Woops. The Temple was long since destroyed ****** AND ****** No mention of its destruction any where. Which is hard (IMPOSSIBLE) to believe, because Jesus clearly referenced this as a sign of his return. Forget not also, that there were “some” who heard Jesus saying this, actually witnessed it.
So one must really meditate long and hard on this; because, ignoring Jesus’s words is no different than ignoring him.
Paul warned of this:
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts.” 2 Tim 4:3
Jesus has came. We all believe this because we all (Christians) believe we go to heaven when we die.
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”
Mark 13:21-37
If this is really to hard to believe, then I suggest reading and studying the book of Daniel.
The thing is, if one picks and chooses what to believe and discards the rest, the said person is believing a God of their own making and not one of TRUTH.
Interesting, distressing to me, conversation. I think people may not appreciate that a major purpose of theology is apologetics, whose own chief purpose is evangelism, saving st puld.