The Second Coming and the End Times

End-Times Timelines Across Christian Traditions

1. Eastern Orthodox

  • Present Age → Life of the Church, anticipation of Christ’s return
  • Second Coming of Christ (Parousia) → visible, glorious, one-time event
  • Resurrection of the Dead → righteous and unrighteous alike
  • Final Judgment → all humanity judged before Christ
  • New Creation → heaven and earth renewed, eternal life or separation from God

👉 No rapture, no literal millennium, no “two-stage” return of Christ.

2. Roman Catholic

  • Present Age → Ongoing Church age, evangelization, preparation
  • Signs of the End (antichrist, tribulation, etc., but not in a rigid timeline)
  • Second Coming of Christ → glorious and final
  • Resurrection of the Dead → general resurrection of all people
  • Final Judgment → separation of righteous and wicked
  • Eternal State → heaven, hell, purgatory (for purification of the saved, prior to heaven), new creation

👉 No separate rapture event. No dispensational “tribulation chart.” Millennium often read symbolically (Christ reigning through His Church).

3. Mainline Protestant (Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist, etc.)

  • Present Age → Gospel preached, Church continues
  • Tribulation / Signs of the End → some accept symbolic interpretations, others a real time of trouble
  • Second Coming of Christ → one decisive return, not split into stages
  • Resurrection of the Dead → general resurrection
  • Final Judgment → righteous inherit new creation, wicked face condemnation
  • New Heaven and New Earth

👉 Similar to Catholic/Orthodox, no distinct “rapture,” millennium is usually symbolic (amillennial) or sometimes “Christ’s reign in heaven now.”

4. Evangelical / Dispensational Protestant (esp. Baptists, Pentecostals, non-denoms influenced by Darby/Scofield)

  • Present Age (Church Age)
  • The Rapture → believers suddenly caught up to heaven (1 Thess. 4:17 interpreted literally and separately from the Second Coming)
    • Pre-trib view: rapture before the 7-year tribulation
    • Mid-trib: halfway through tribulation
    • Post-trib: at the end of tribulation (closer to mainstream view)
  • Tribulation (7 years) → rise of Antichrist, judgments, suffering on earth
  • Second Coming of Christ (visible) → Christ returns with the raptured saints
  • Millennium (1000 years) → literal reign of Christ on earth (premillennialism)
  • Final Judgment (Great White Throne)
  • Eternal State → heaven or hell, new creation

👉 This is the only tradition where the “rapture” is distinct and placed before the final return of Christ.

Interpretation of Revelation 20

1. Eastern Orthodox

  • Interpretation: The millennium in Revelation 20 is read symbolically, not literally.
  • View: The “thousand years” refers to the present reign of Christ through His resurrection and the Church. It’s not a future earthly kingdom but a description of Christ’s victory over Satan and the time between His first and second coming.
  • Reasoning: The Orthodox Church does not speculate on detailed timelines; they emphasize mystery, liturgical expectation, and the final resurrection/judgment.

👉 This position is often called amillennialism (though Orthodox don’t usually use that Western term).

2. Roman Catholic

  • Interpretation: Like the Orthodox, Catholics interpret Revelation 20 symbolically.
  • View: The “thousand years” is not a literal earthly reign but a figurative way of describing the Church Age (the time from Christ’s resurrection until His final coming).
  • Teaching: The Church officially rejected millenarianism (the idea of a literal, political thousand-year kingdom before the final judgment) in documents such as Catechism of the Catholic Church §676.

👉 The Catholic view is also essentially amillennial.

3. Mainline Protestant (Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist, etc.)

  • Interpretation: Most are amillennial as well.
  • View: Revelation 20 is symbolic of Christ’s reign through the Church and the defeat of Satan through the cross and resurrection.
  • Variations: Some traditions (especially Reformed) stress that Revelation is apocalyptic literature, not a timeline. Lutherans, Anglicans, and many Methodists agree: the “millennium” is figurative, not literal.

👉 Again, amillennialism dominates.

4. Evangelical / Dispensational Protestant

Here we see diversity:

  • Premillennialism (Dispensational or Historic):
    • Takes Revelation 20 literally: Christ will return, defeat the Antichrist, and then reign on earth for a literal 1000 years with resurrected saints.
    • Especially common in dispensationalism, where the millennium is central to prophecy charts.
  • Postmillennialism (some Reformed evangelicals):
    • Believes the “millennium” is a future golden age of the gospel on earth before Christ’s return. The world becomes more Christianized, then Christ comes back.

👉 But the most popular among evangelicals influenced by Left Behind, Scofield, and Darby is premillennialism, with a literal millennium following Christ’s return.

Interpretation of Matthew 24:40-41

1. Catholic, Orthodox, and Mainline Protestant (Amillennial View)

  • Not about a rapture.
    They read this in the context of Matthew 24 as a whole — Jesus is speaking about His coming in judgment (cf. verses 36–39).
  • Connection to Noah:
    In verses just before (Matt 24:37–39), Jesus compares the end to the days of Noah:
    • In the flood, the ones who were “taken” (swept away) were actually the unrighteous who perished, while the “left” (Noah and his family) were the ones preserved.
    • By that parallel, to be “taken” in vv. 40–41 may actually mean to be taken in judgment, not rescued in rapture.
  • Focus:
    The point is watchfulness — people will be caught off guard at the coming of Christ, some judged, some spared.

👉 Thus, Catholics, Orthodox, and most Protestants do not see this as proof of a secret rapture. Instead, it’s about sudden judgment at Christ’s return.

2. Dispensational Evangelical (Rapture View)

  • Taken = raptured.
    In this reading, the one “taken” is whisked away to meet Christ in the air (as in 1 Thess. 4:17), while the one “left” is left behind on earth to face the tribulation.
  • Left Behind influence:
    This interpretation gave the Left Behind series its title — the “left” are those who missed the rapture.
  • Contextual move:
    Dispensationalists usually downplay the Noah comparison in v. 39 (where the “taken” are the judged) and emphasize vv. 40–41 as a separate teaching about the rapture.

3. Scholarly Note

Biblical scholars often stress that Matthew 24 is apocalyptic teaching, heavy with imagery and warnings, not a precise chronological chart.

  • In the Noah parallel, the “taken” are swept away in judgment.
  • In the field/mill scene, Jesus likely means: when He comes, the separation will be sudden and decisive, cutting across daily life.

👉 So in the majority view, this is a warning of judgement and the need to stay ready, not a description of a secret evacuation of believers.