False Prophecies in the New Testament

 

Jesus says his second coming will be during the lifetime of the people standing there:

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. - Matthew 16:27-28


CS Lewis:

Say what you like,” we shall be told, “the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘This generation shall not pass till all these things be done.’ And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else. It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side. - CS Lewis, The World’s Last Night, 1952, pp. 97-98


Possible christian response:

It is talking about the transfiguration in the next chapter

However, this does not work because in the transfiguration, angels do not come and the world isn't judged as Christ says.


Paul says the coming of Jesus would happen within his lifetime:


After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. - 1 Thessalonians 4:17


Bart Ehrman:

Both Matthew and Paul warn their readers that they need to be alert because Jesus is coming soon. But how soon? When Paul talks about this coming day of judgment, he speaks about the reward that will come to Jesus’ true followers, both those who have already died, who will be raised from the dead, and those who are still alive. Notice that Paul appears includes himself among the living at the time. When he speaks of the two groups, he refers to “those” who are dead and “we” who will still be alive. It’s a point worth emphasizing. These New Testament authors who speak of Christ’s return thought it was to happen in their own day. - Bart Ehrman blog, June 4, 2025




Source: https://archive.org/details/worldslastnighta012859mbp

Source: https://ehrmanblog.org/1-thessalonians-and-the-coming-rapture/