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<h1>Jesus And "This Generation" Controversy</h1>
<div class="knol-inline-editor knol-content-ltr" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">What problems does Jesus' statement 'this generation' pose? What solutions are there?<br />It is claimed that Jesus' prophecy that He would return in their generation never happened, proving Jesus is a false prophet. Is this true? The knol canvasses the different views, and concludes that the passage has likely been mistranslated into English, making it appear a contradiction exists. Hence, this claim of a contradiction is an insubstantial one, and thus no basis to discredit Jesus.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="knol-clearer-div">&nbsp;</div>
<hr id="knol-article-top-hr" />
<h1 class="knol-clearer-div"><br />The Standard Dilemma: Temple Destruction Tied To Events Seen By This Generation</h1>
<div class="knol-clearer-div">&nbsp;</div>
<div id="knol-content" xmlns="http://www.google.com/ns/jotspot">
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<div id="knol-content-wrapper-g6z6g2l2q6zj.28" class="knol-content-wrapper">
<div id="knol-content-g6z6g2l2q6zj.28" class="knol-content knol-content-ltr knol-content-lang-en">
<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Some Jewish critics of Jesus claim he could not be a prophet because he expected his return in one generation's time -- 40 years approximately. (Gerald Friedlander,&nbsp;<em>The Jewish Sources of the Sermon on the Mount</em> (1911) at&nbsp;<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=hLj0sfSyXQEC&amp;lpg=PR2&amp;dq=Gerald%20Friedlander%2C%20The%20Jewish%20Sources%20of%20the%20Sermon%20on%20the%20Mount&amp;pg=PA250#v=onepage&amp;q=beware&amp;f=false">250</a>-51.) This is repeatedly frequently by modern critics of Jesus of Jewish persuasion.</span>
<div><br />
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">This is a reference to a statement by Jesus just a few days before His death. In this, Jesus delivered to His disciples a prophecy concerning the series of calamities that would befall Jerusalem and the world at the time when the Temple would be destroyed and at the time this present world would end. This prophecy is known as the&nbsp;<em>Olivet Discourse</em> because Jesus delivered it to His disciples privately on the Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem. It is recorded in Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus answered two questions that His disciples had asked Him:</span><ol>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>When would the Temple be destroyed?</strong> and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>What is the sign people should expect that will herald the end of the world and the return of Christ?</strong></span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The juxtaposition of the two questions in Matthew and the two answers has led readers to assume they are asking about the<strong><em> same general time</em></strong> and thus the answer is supposedly about&nbsp;<strong><em>the same general time</em></strong>. That was an&nbsp;<strong>assumption</strong> in the questions, but it is not necessarily present in the answer. Clearly, it was an assumption evident in the expectation of disciples that both events are near to one another,&nbsp;<em>i.e.</em>, that the Temple's destruction would happen around the same time as the Second Coming of Christ (cf. Acts 1:6-7; John 21:20-23).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">However, it may be that the two time periods are connected by many commentators by a hasty assumption in reading the passage. Jesus very well did not likely mean to connect His second coming to the Temple destruction prophecy. However, for purposes of this knol, we will indulge in that common assumption because there are other significant solutions that more easily resolve this issue.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thus as many read the passage, and as critics who claim Jesus is a false prophet read it,&nbsp; Jesus supposedly leads his disciples to believe his prophecies of calamities would take place at the&nbsp;<strong><em>same time</em></strong> the Temple would be destroyed (which event took place in 70 AD). This is the key quote:</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"<strong>Verily I say unto you,&nbsp;<em>This generation</em> shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.</strong>'' (Matthew 24:34)</span>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"<strong>Verily I say unto you, that&nbsp;<em>this generation</em> shall not pass, till all these things be done.</strong>'' (Mark 13:30)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"<strong>Verily I say unto you,&nbsp;<em>This generation</em> shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.</strong>'' (Luke 21:32)</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Was that a false prophecy? How could it be that "this generation'' would see the end-times calamities, including Christ's return, which necessarily is in the future, yet the Temple was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago? How can all these things -- Temple Destruction and Christ's return -- both have taken place in "this generation" when one of the two prophecies has taken place 2000 years ago but not the other?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">A Jewish critic who believes Jesus is a false prophet argues thusly:</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span data-mce-mark="1" style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Jesus explicitly describes his Second Coming: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn (Matthew 24:30)." It will involve suffering "never to be equaled again (Matthew 24:21)." This did not happen when the Temple was destroyed.<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[1]</a></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">There are two traditional rebuttal explanations.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">First, the preterist view, which says all these things did happen in Jesus' generation (<em>i.e.</em>, 40 years from his death) including Christ's private return, but this is flawed because the preterist view requires an invisible coming, which Jesus denied is how He will return (Matt. 24:26-27).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The second explanation is the Futurist explanation which says Jesus meant "this generation" as the one alive in the future. A Jewish critic rebuts this, saying: "<span data-mce-mark="1">The idea that Jesus is referring to a future generation fails too. Throughout this speech Jesus refers to his audience as "you." When Jesus says, "when you see... (v.15)"<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[2]</a></span></span></p>
<a name="Genea_Used_As_Genos_To_Mean_People(2C)_Race(2C)_Nation(2C)_etc(2E)"></a>
<h2><a target="_blank" href="http://graceandknowledge.faithweb.com/"></a>Genea Used As Genos To Mean People, Race, Nation, etc.</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">However, Jared Olar summarizes a third view: what if when Jesus used the word "generation'' (Greek&nbsp;<em>genea</em>), He didn't mean the same thing that we mean? What if He wasn't using "generation'' to refer to a group of people all living at the same period of history?&nbsp;<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[3]</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">According to Archer, sometimes&nbsp;<em>genea</em> ("generation'') was used as a synonym of&nbsp;<em>genos</em> ("race,'' "stock,'' "nation,'' "people''). Archer writes:</span></p>
</div>
<blockquote>
<div>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"Although this meaning for&nbsp;<em>genea</em> is not common, it is found as early as Homer and Herodotus and as late as Plutarch (cf. H.G. Liddell and R. Scott,&nbsp;<em>A Greek-English Lexicon</em>, 9th ed., [Oxford: Clarendon, 1940], p.342).'<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[4]</a></span></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">This is not a concocted viewpoint. Indeed, the English word&nbsp;<em>generation</em> has a similar alternative meaning, or at least did so prior to 1908. The&nbsp; 1908 Webster's defines&nbsp;<em>generation</em> to mean, besides meaning a 40 year period, as follows:</span><br />
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1">"6. Race; kind; family; breed; stock."</span></span></p>
</div>
<div><a name="Genea(27)s_Literal_Meanings"></a>
<h2>Genea's Literal Meanings</h2>
<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The Greek word<em> genea</em>, translated “generation” here, does also mean the offspring of a common human ancestor. Thayer’s&nbsp;<em>Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament</em> provides the following definitions of this word:</span><br />
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">1) a begetting, birth, nativity</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">2) that which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">2a) the several ranks of natural descent, the successive members of a genealogy</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">2b) metaph. a group of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">2b1) esp. in a bad sense, a perverse nation</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">3) the whole multitude of men living at the same time</span></p>
<div><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">4) an age (i.e. the time ordinarily occupied by each successive generation), a space of 30-33 years<br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1">&nbsp;</span></div>
<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thus, if Jesus was correctly translated as&nbsp;<em>genea</em>, only if meanings 3 and 4 apply does a contradiction emerge. Otherwise, if the more generic meanings of 1-2 apply, there is no contradiction or false prophecy.</span></div>
<div><a name="Early_Church_Leaders(2F)Commentators_Concurred_On_Genea_Has_Generic_Meaning_In_This_Passage"></a>
<h2>Early Church Leaders/Commentators Concurred On Genea Has Generic Meaning In This Passage</h2>
</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In fact, Venerable Bede many centuries ago already recognized this meaning in the text. Bede says: "By&nbsp;<em>generation</em> He either means the whole race of mankind, or specially the Jews.''<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[5]</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Theophylactus&nbsp;wrote&nbsp;between 1055 and 1085 AD that he saw Jesus meant the generation of Christians:</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"Or else, '<strong>This generation shall not pass away</strong>,' that is, the generation of Christians, '<strong>until all things be fulfilled</strong>,' which were spoken concerning Jerusalem and the coming of Antichrist; for He does not mean the generation of the Apostles, for the greater part of the Apostles did not live up to the destruction of Jerusalem. But He says this of the generation of Christians, wishing to console His disciples, lest they should believe that the faith should fail at that time; for the immovable elements shall first fail, before the words of Christ fail; wherefore it is added, '<strong>Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.</strong>' ''<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[6]</a></span></blockquote>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Finally, Jerome, an early church leader/translator of Greek and Hebrew from about 400 A.D., believed that Jesus was referring to the offspring of man, and in particular to the offspring of Jews in Matthew 24:34. Jerome wrote:</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"By ‘generation’ here He means the whole human race, and the Jews in particular. And He adds, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,’ to confirm their faith in what has gone before; as though He had said, it is easier to destroy things solid and immovable, than that aught should fail of my words.<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[7]</a></span></blockquote>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Surely, if this scholarly translator of Greek and Hebrew, Jerome, who lived much closer to the time of the New Testament than we, took "Jewish people" or the entire human race as the meaning of&nbsp;<em>genea</em> in Matthew 24:34, we should also seriously consider this interpretation.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thus, Jesus' words might be rendered, "This people [i.e., the Jews / church?] shall not pass away until all these things are fulfilled.'' In that rendering, He could have been referring to the Jewish people or to the Church for both Israel and the Church are given divine promises that they would remain in existence until the end of time (Jeremiah 31:35-37; Matthew 16:18). The "you" to whom Jesus spoke then are the national, racial "you" rather than "you" the few people listening.<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[8]</a> Thus, that "you" was as much present 2000 years ago as such "you" is still with us today. Hence, this prophecy can still be future, and Jesus addressed this to "you" in the generic sense of Jews or the church.</span></div>
<div><br /><a name="Genea_as_Solely_40_Years_of_Offspring"></a>
<h2><strong><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;" data-mce-mark="1">Genea as Solely 40 Years of Offspring</span></strong></h2>
<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">However, an opposing view of&nbsp;<em>genea</em> is set forth in the&nbsp;<em>Wikipedia</em> on "Second Coming." (By the way, <i>Wikipedia does not me</i>ntion this third view, discussed above, despite it being mentioned by Jerome, Bede, and Theophylactus, suggesting&nbsp;<strong><em>a lack of objectivity</em></strong> in&nbsp;<em>Wikipedia</em>'s article). This&nbsp;<em>Wikipedia </em>article argues "if Jesus meant 'race' he would have used&nbsp;<em>genos</em> (race) not genea(generation)."</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">No explanation is given for this assertion, let alone any explanation why there is no synonymous use of&nbsp;<em>genea&nbsp;</em>sometimes to have the same meaning as&nbsp;<em>genos</em>, as Archer says and just as English likewise has for the word&nbsp;<em>generations.</em> The&nbsp;<em>Wikipedia</em> instead side-steps this, citing the typical definition of&nbsp;<em>genea</em>, but ignoring that it sometimes was a synonym for&nbsp;<em>genos</em>, or&nbsp;<em>race.</em> This portion of&nbsp;<em>Wikipedia</em> reads:</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The Bauer lexicon (since updated by Arndt and Gingrich)<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[9]</a> of Koine Greek states that genea means “the sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at a given time. Generation, contemporaries.” Robinson's Greek &amp; English Lexicon states that genea means: "The interval of time between father &amp; son... from thirty to forty years those living in any one period; this present generation."<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[10]</a></span></blockquote>
</div>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The Greek meaning of&nbsp;<em>genea</em> is, to the contrary, expansive enough in&nbsp;<em>usage</em> to mean&nbsp;<em>people, race, etc.</em> In such a case, the contradiction disappears, suggesting that too much emphasis is put by&nbsp;<em>Wikipedia</em> on the <i>ordinary meaning</i>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<em>genea</em> to create a contradiction.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thus, a legitimate way to read Jesus is that "<strong><em>this people</em></strong> shall not pass away / will continue to exist until all these things be fulfilled."</span></p>
<a name="C(2E)S(2E)_Lewis_Admits_(27)Error(27)_But_Then_Contrary_Text_Follows"></a>
<h2>C.S. Lewis Admits 'Error' But Then Contrary Text Follows</h2>
<p><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><span data-mce-mark="1">C.S. Lewis despaired at finding a solution to this passage. Lewis reluctantly conceded to the assertion of the skeptics that Jesus was in error. He attributed this to the supposedly limited knowledge Jesus had in His incarnate human form.&nbsp;</span>He<span data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1"> despairingly wrote:</span><span data-mce-mark="1"></span></span></span></p>
<blockquote>
<p align="left"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: medium;" data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1">“</span>Say what you like," we shall be told [by some critics], "the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false.&nbsp; It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime.&nbsp; And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing.&nbsp; Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion.&nbsp; He said in so many words, 'This generation shall not pass till all these things be done.'&nbsp; And he was wrong.&nbsp; He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else." </span></p>
<p align="left"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible.&nbsp; 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."&nbsp;&nbsp;<em><strong>The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side</strong></em>.<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/standford-rives/jesus-and-this-generation-controversy/g6z6g2l2q6zj/28#references">[11]</a></span></p>
</blockquote>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">I include this to demonstrate a problem for which I suggest a better choice. Instead of admitting Jesus made a mistake, as C.S. Lewis does, it is better to say either (a) the translation should be adjusted, as outlined above; or (b) insist the issue is unresolvable against Jesus because of potential issues of transmission error, translation error, etc. In other words, if we had to admit an error, it does not mean the error originated with Jesus. I would not have taken C.S.Lewis' course unless there were substantial reasons from other verses to believe Jesus was in error about many things. To the contrary, as the context reveals, Jesus was correct about many things, including his prophecy that the Temple would be destroyed.</span></div>
<a name="(27)Time_of_the_Gentiles(27)_Quote"></a>
<h2>'Time of the Gentiles' Quote</h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;" data-mce-mark="1">In the Lucan amplification of the Matthew discourse, a long period lies between the destruction of Jerusalem and the apocalyptic events which precede His coming:</span><br /><br />
<blockquote>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;" data-mce-mark="1">Luke 21:24, “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">This supports reading the two points as distinct -- the Temple destruction is a long time&nbsp;<em><strong>prior</strong></em> to the "time of the Gentiles." Hence, this also supports that&nbsp;<em>genea</em> was used as&nbsp;<em>genos</em> in this passage, as Archer says there are several examples in Greek literature of this usage.</span><br /><br /><a name="Conclusion"></a>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">We have canvassed pros and cons, and hopefully demonstrated that those who insist upon a contradiction, are not being charitable in reading Jesus' words in their Greek translation. No one has a duty to be charitable. Yet, when I see the otherwise brilliant and witty words of Jesus, as well as His fulfillment of the OT role of Messiah, besides the competing textual clues that the Temple talk and the Return talk are not actually connected, etc., the better view is this is not a clear contradiction. There are reasonable interpretations that maintain a consistency. Try to find fault elsewhere, if you wish. This is not conclusive, and not a strong proof.</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<h1>Study Notes:</h1>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Genea's Usage in article by Dr. C. Gordon Olson in September 2008 entitled "<a href="http://www.mediatetheology.org/uploads/Luke_Study_4.pdf">Crucial New Testament Mistranslations</a>" in which he says:</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The Scofield Reference Bible a century ago [explained]:</span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Gr. genea, the primary definition of which is, “race, kind, family, stock, breed.” (So all lexicons.) That the</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">word is used in this sense here is sure because none of “these things,” <em>i.e. </em>the world-wide preaching of the</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">kingdom, the great tribulation, the return of the Lord in visible glory, and the regathering of the elect,</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, &nbsp;A.D. 70. &nbsp;The promise is, therefore, that the</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">generation—nation, or family of Israel—will be preserved unto “these things”; a promise wonderfully</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">fulfilled to this day.</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Fifty years earlier, Dean Henry Alford had given strong evidence for this view. &nbsp;Building upon the</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">connection with the reference to the nation Israel as a fruitless fig tree (24:29-30), thus obviating recourse</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">to a AD 70 fulfillment, he explains:</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">As this is one of the points on which the rationalizing interpreters lay most stress to show that the prophecy</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">has failed, it may be well to shew that genea has in Hellenistic Greek the meaning of a race or family of</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">people. &nbsp;See Jer. 8:3, LXX; compare ch 23:36 with ib. ver. 35, ephoneusate . . . but this generation did not</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">slay Zacharias— so that the &nbsp;whole people &nbsp;are addressed: see also ch. 12:45, in which the meaning</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">absolutely requires this sense. &nbsp;See also Luke 17:25: Matt. 17:17: Luke 16:8: Acts 2:40: Phil. 2:15. In all</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">these places genea is = genos, or nearly so; . . .(refs. converted)&nbsp;Alford, I: 244.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">3</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Alford also points out that the usage of parerchomai (pass away) in 24:34 and in vs. 35 militates for</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">their connection and usage in the same sense (to be explained later). &nbsp; Bishop J. C. Ryle also took the</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">same view and referenced Mede, Paroeus, Facius Illyricus, Calovius, Jansenius, Due Veil, Adam Clarke,</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">and Stier as earlier advocates. See&nbsp;J. C. Ryle, Espository Thoughts on the Gospels (NY: Robert Carter, 1875), pp. 323-4.</span></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">More recently Homer Kent argues for this as well. See&nbsp;Homer A. Kent, Jr. in Pfeiffer and Harrison, eds., Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1962), p. 973</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="knol-clearer-div">&nbsp;</div>
<div id="references" class="knol-content">
<h3><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">References</span></h3>
<ol id="knol-references">
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">http://anti-missiona</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">ry.com/files/mosesor</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">jesus_whowasgreater.</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">html</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">http://anti-missiona</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">ry.com/files/mosesor</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">jesus_whowasgreater.</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">html</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">http://www.biblestud</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">y.org/basicart/was-j</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">esus-wrong-about-his</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">-second-coming.html#</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">n2</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Gleason L. Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Zondervan, 1982) at 338-339.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The footnote in the New American Bible (Catholic Edition) asserts without any rationale: "The difficulty raised by this verse [Matthew 24:34] cannot be satisfactorily removed by the supposition that this generation means the Jewish people throughout the course of their history, much less the entire human race. Perhaps for Matthew it means the generation to which he and his community belonged.''</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Quoted by Aquinas Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark at page 268, available online at http://www.ccel.org/</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">ccel/aquinas/catena2</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">.iii.xiii.html</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">http://books.google.</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">com/books?id=F3UuAAA</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">AYAAJ&amp;dq=Thomas%20Aq</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">uinas%2C%20Catena%20</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Aurea&amp;pg=PA831#v=one</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">page&amp;q=whole%20human</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">%20race&amp;f=false</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea (Golden Chain), Parallel Gospel of Matthew 24:29-36 (John Henry Parker, v. I, J.G.F. and J. Rivington:London, 1842)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Arndt and Gingrich (1952) at 153</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">http://en.wikipedia.</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">org/wiki/Second_Comi</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">ng</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">C.S. Lewis, "The World's Last Night" (1960), The Essential C.S. Lewis at 385.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">http://www.lectionar</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">ycentral.com/advent2</span><wbr /><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">/CatenaAurea.html</span></li>
</ol></div>
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