//sigh
Did you read the post at all? Take this excerpt:
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Even the Christian theologian Dewey M. Beegle says:
"Most conservatives reject the plain meaning of the passage, "This generation shall not pass away until all these things take place," because it means admitting that Jesus was mistaken about the time. The issue is intensified because Jesus added, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away" [Mat 24:35; Mk 13:31; Lk 21:33]. All attempts to reinterpret "generation" are armchair approaches to solve our difficulty in understanding the passage. As [previously] noted, the clear-cut testimony of the rest of the New Testament is that the disciples, Paul, and the early church understood Jesus literally. If Jesus really referred to events more than 2000 years in the future, then he was playing word games with his disciples.
When we look at the problem honestly there are two basic options: either Jesus was leading his disciples to think something different from what he had in mind, or he was mistaken. The latter is far more preferable because it was done in innocence and shows his true humanity."
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You twist the text to mean that His inspired apostles were inconceivably stupid and managed to somehow unanimously interpret it alternatively.
And again:
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Christian apologists have tried to sub-divide the context of this prediction, making, "this generation will not pass away until all these things take place," refer only to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and not also to "the coming of the Son of Man." They ignore the fact that Jesus' "this generation" prediction is preceded in all three gospels by Jesus' discussion of the "coming of the Son of Man" and intimately linked with it, contextually.
Such apologists also ignore that Jesus said, "all these things," and divert attention to Jesus' other saying (which appears a few verses after Jesus' long disproved prediction), that "no man knows the day or the hour." However, they forget that "days and hours" imply nearness in time. "Days and hours" lie within a "generation." As Strauss pointed out over a century ago:
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And again:
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[Naturally there is a distinction] between an inexact indication of the space of time, beyond which the event will not be deferred (a "generation"), and the determination of the precise date and time (the "day and the hour") at which it will occur;
the former Jesus gives, the latter he declares himself unable to give.
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Albeit the preceding quotations adequately address this objection, I will give it special attention:
The literal meaning of the out of context quote "...this generation shall not pass..."
means the generation that sees the sign of the 2nd coming. Immediately preceding this misquoted text is the parable of the fig tree which to summarize tells of how when a fig trees branches sprout leaves you know that summer is near. Verily, I say unto you this generation...
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Furthermore, having admitted that he did not know the precise "day or the hour," Jesus continued to address his listeners as though that "day or hour" could not be further than a mere "generation" away:
Therefore be on the alert, for you [his listeners, circa 30 A.D.] do not know which day your Lord is coming...at an hour when you do not think he will [Mat 24:36,42,44]
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It is rather interesting that you only addressed this verse and then accused me of misquoting Him. You first assume that "you know that summer is near." refers to a later generation. I challenge you to corroborate your claim by presenting for us all any contextual evidence whatsoever that Jesus was not speaking directly to His audience. If you can do so, then you will most likely win me over to your viewpoint. Ironically, your allegation that Jesus referred to the generation that sees the sign of the second coming is bashed by the same context which shows Jesus resuming His dialogue:
44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when
you do not expect him.
This is perhaps the most telling statement. Either Jesus was a despicable liar and was deluding His audience with impossible dreams by saying this, or He really was addressing this to specifically to them in honesty.
I am especially baffled by the nature of your interjections since they have been adequately addressed in the original post.
