"Ring of fire" effect from solar eclipse. (Photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash)
Article written by Eric Vanden Eykel, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Ferrum College
Does the upcoming solar eclipse signal the second coming of Jesus? In all likelihood, no, but that hasn’t stopped people from speculating that it does.
The New Testament is peppered with references to Jesus’ “second coming,” the time when Christians believe Jesus will return to Earth, the wicked will be judged, and the righteous rewarded. The Apostle Paul writes about it in his letters, and the Gospels portray Jesus speaking about it.
The upcoming solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, which will be visible over parts of North America, has brought with it a slew of predictions that Jesus might be returning sooner rather than later. I am a scholar of early Christian literature whose research focuses on how people read, understand and sometimes misunderstand biblical texts.
Religious theories surrounding this eclipse are part of a larger pattern of attempts to find meaning in astronomical events that goes back thousands of years.
Finding meaning in the skies
One of the more famous examples from the ancient world of people finding meaning in the skies occurred in 44 B.C.E., when a comet appeared in the skies over Italy just four short months after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Roman authors Pliny the Elder and Suetonius claimed that the comet was visible for about a week and that it was so bright, it could be spotted in the late afternoon.
Many Romans interpreted its appearance and lingering presence as a sign that Caesar had ascended to the heavens and had taken a seat among the many gods of Rome. Caesar’s deification was made official by a vote of the Roman senate less than two years later.
A few examples from the past 30 years further illustrate this phenomenon. In December 2020, speculation ran wild in some Christian circles that a planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn signaled the return of the fabled “Star of Bethlehem” that led the wise men to the newborn Jesus.
For at least 10 years, televangelist John Hagee has promoted theories linking various “blood moons” as signs that the apocalypse is approaching.
A tragic example is the religious movement known as Heaven’s Gate. Members of this movement believed that there was a spacecraft hidden in the tail of the Hale-Bopp Comet, which appeared in 1997. This spacecraft, they thought, was coming to transport them to a higher level of consciousness. In March 1997, 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate movement committed ritualized, mass suicide through a lethal combination of phenobarbital, vodka and asphyxiation.
Chasing shadows
It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where such interpretations of celestial events originate.
In the case of the upcoming eclipse, one of the images that has fueled predictions of Jesus’ second coming simply notes southern Illinois as the location where the upcoming eclipse will overlap the path of the last North American solar eclipse in 2017.
From this image, two theories have emerged: First, that these eclipses are separated by roughly seven years, which has symbolic significance in biblical literature as a number indicating completeness and perfection. Second, on charting the paths of these eclipses on a map, they appear to form a cross.
Some Christians have taken this as evidence that the upcoming eclipse is an indication that Jesus’ return is imminent.
But there is no logical basis for this theory.
For starters, solar eclipses are not quite as rare as they seem. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and blots out all or some of the Sun’s light. They seem rare because they affect only the narrow strip of land that falls in the shadow of the Moon.
According to NASA, there has been an average of 2.5 eclipses per year over the past 1,000 years.
The phenomenon of two eclipses crossing paths is also rather unremarkable. Looking at a map of eclipse paths between 2001 and 2025, it is clear that eclipses frequently cross paths; of the 15 solar eclipses during this span of time, only two did not cross paths.
One could argue that the North American eclipses of 2017 and 2024 are unique because of the seven years that separate them. But this isn’t logical in terms of the larger argument that some are making. These eclipses – on August 21, 2017, and April 8, 2024 – are separated not by seven years but by six and a half years, or 2,422 days to be exact. Another pair of eclipses that crossed paths in the Pacific Ocean – on July 22, 2009, and March 9, 2016 – were separated by the same number of days.
Seek and you will find
Most of these end times predictions are rooted in North American evangelical views on the apocalypse, many of which originated or at least share an affinity with evangelical author Hal Lindsey’s popular book, “The Late Great Planet Earth.”
In this book, Lindsey predicted that the apocalypse would occur in the 1980s, and to make his argument, he stitched together a number of disparate events and phenomena to construct an apocalyptic narrative that included Soviet helicopters, the establishment of the state of Israel and nuclear warfare.
Lindsey was wrong, of course; the 1980s did not bring about the apocalypse. But this way of thinking – of seeking to find significance in various random events like eclipses – persists among some Christians.
The difference between this pairing of the 2017 and 2024 eclipses and the ones from 2009 and 2016 is simple: The most recent pairing crosses over the United States. Patterns emerge when and where they are sought, and much depends on the aims of the people doing the seeking.
The second coming of Jesus is undeniably a topic of conversation among New Testament authors. But it is interesting to note is that there is little agreement among these authors when it comes to timing. What is presented in the Gospels is different from what is presented in the letters of Paul. And both of these are quite different from what is found in the book of Revelation.
But these authors do share a sense that the timing of “the end” is ultimately mysterious and unknowable. And this would suggest that attempting to predict such timing by means of things like eclipses is, at the very least, not terribly “biblical.”
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Looks more like WW3 is coming instead.
Did the author ever specify which group of “Christians” believe this eclipse will mark the second coming of Christ? Or did he just make it up so he could take a swipe at Christians?
The sky is falling, etc.,etc.
These people are called morons
Gonna be a lot of disappointments on April 9th. People never learn from the hundreds of times these religious predictions have failed. Never once have these predictions worked out to be true. Learn critical thinking skills, believers, and you will come closer to knowing truth.
Very few disappointments because very few people adhere to what his idiot author writes. Try using critical thinking coupled with statistics.
It’s all myth and bullsht with no evidence at all to back any of it.
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The Bible clearly states, and several times…no human knows when Christ will return. We need to stop our pride of guessing.
Sounds pretty idiotic.
Anyone can skew Christianity (and many do) because it is an easy target. The bias is clear in this article. Hal didn’t say the world was ending in the 1980’s no matter what anyone who (obviously hasn’t read the book) says about it. How do I know? Because I knew Hal. Just another Christian-basher. Move along.
I bet my left nut that nothing will happen.
A couple of notes…
First, I find it odd that NASA states there are an average of 2.5 eclipses per year, yet between 2021 and 2025 there are only 15 (for an average of .625 — less than one per year). I take NASA statements with a gargantuan grain of salt.
Lastly, in Genesis 1:14 God creates the sun and moon and the first purposes He gives for them is that they are for “signs” (Hebrew “oth” which can also be translated as “omens promised by prophets as pledges of certain predicted events“), and for “seasons” (Hebrew “moed” which means an “appointed time” and frequently indicated feast days and God’s divine appointments with man). For this reason it’s easy to see why the magi interpreted that the birth of Jesus would be understood to be revealed in the heavens. The first coming of Jesus was literally foretold by signs in the heavens, to those who were looking for them there. Prophetically speaking, Jesus, Himself, speaking of the end times states that there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars (Luke 21:25). There are other examples, but for brevity I’ll just offer those two.
My point is simply this: I most certainly agree that, for the most part, “the timing of ‘the end’ is ultimately mysterious and unknowable.”, (“ultimately” being the operative word, as Jesus states we are to be watchful for his return, especially in Mark 13:37 — and the inescapable fact is that many other signs we are told to watch for in connection to the end seem to be converging as never before). However, because of the reasons I’ve given above, to further state that the mysterious and unknowable nature of the timing of these events suggests that “attempting to predict such timing by means of things like eclipses is, at the very least, not terribly ‘biblical.’” is, itself, not terribly accurate either.
Might God choose to announce the second coming of Jesus for His church with a heavenly sign? Of course! He did so before. Is THIS eclipse such a sign? Perhaps. We can only know for certain in hindsight. And while I think that many who are putting their faith in this sign are misguided, simply seeking to understand what heavenly events might be revealing about God’s plans is most definitely a “biblical” endeavor — especially as many other prophetic signs seem to be coming about in rapid-fire timing.
The bottom line is that many people (those from varying religions and even those of none) see the world pointing to “the end” being near. As followers of Jesus, we should be watching and using the time to try to share the gospel as best we can, as much as we can.
I think the sign in the sun, moon and stars will be unmistakable and widely viewed with both fear and excitement. It will be far more significant than just an eclipse, but may perhaps be linked in timing with an eclipse.. Something that will humble science and academics alike.
Until then, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.
He’s a monkey swinging in a tree. He’s so smart & looking smug with his PhD. Any knowledgeable pre-millennial student knows the rapture must come first. Second coming is seven years after that amazing event.
Please, we don’t even know for sure there is a rapture
Well, he also used “B.C.E”, so…
The rapture is a Reformation creation, never mentioned before the Protestants were formed.
I’ve got some rapture insurance for you — for a low yearly fee, I will commit to taking care of your pets/unsaved relatives/anyone else in the event you are raptured off to magic heaven.
That’s what premillennial students are taught, yes. 🙂 But if premillennial students are right and the second coming is seven years after this event, then when this event (supposedly) occurs, they somehow know when Christ’s return will be, which flies directly in the face of Christ’s statement that “no one knows except the Father,” and makes them “date setters” like all the others. There is no “rapture.” When Christ comes, He comes. Christ’s millennial reign is now, from Heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, and this is the time in which the Father is building His Israel. And when it is completed, then Christ will return.
The higher the level of education, the higher the IQ, the higher the propensity to reject religion.
The primary lesson of all religions is the training of the flock to engage in self deceit and to believe the unbelievable.
This self deceit extends to lying to others.
The great deceiver is religion.
Heterodox heresies
It ought to be astonishing that so many people with a primitive inability to grasp reality live amongst us. But, sadly, it isn’t.
Christanity is a vile doomsday cult.
I view eclipses, tsunamis, earthquakes, stellar conjunctions, etc., as natural phenomena, not directly attributable, to / useful as ‘signs’ and ‘portents’ of what any specific Deity / Deities seek…
I reaffilated, (Catholicism->NeoPaganism), back in the 1970’s;
I have since watched Xian / other monotheistic belief / believer-stats slowly evaporate, since with the emphasis on protecting anti-female / homophobic / other phobia’s, regardless of the scientific validity Vs. prejudice of such beliefs, in place of the ‘Love, one, another’ theology I grew up with!
Been hearing this same kind of thing with eclipses, blood moons, wars and everything else since at least the 60s. Suggestion. Don’t quit your day job on the basis of 2nd/ Coming, end-of-the-world theories that many people float. After Christ’s resurrection the early Christians thought his Second Coming would be in their life time. It wasn’t. The scriptures say that no man knows the day nor the hour and only God knows. The real, actual, and true Second Coming may or may not be sooner or later, or decades from know and only God knows the truth on that. Gods knowledge is not mans knowledge and mans knowledge is not Gods.
Probably in 20 or 30 years whenever the next Eclipse happens for that generation the speculation about the Second Coming will be the same
All religions are total fiction. All followers are uneducated nutcases. Belief in one God is as stupid as believing in many so don’t help me God.
Agree – lets see if my comment get published above. Telling the truth here is sometimes prohibited.
Every religion has it’s nutcases. The vast majority of Christians think no such thing…just as the vast majority of Muslims don’t look for nuclear war to usher in the third imam or the vast majority of Hebrews are Hasidic Jews. Muhammed claimed that a total eclipse was the sign of Judgement Day.
If you are going to write an article about religion and a solar eclipse, be inclusive of all religions…not the just the one you want to put in a bad light.
Christianity is the present basket of nuts, so yeah, perfectly presented in bad light.
well said. The “Heaven’s Gate” group was a Tech Cult, not even remotely monotheistic. This feels like a grudge piece.
You are correct. As Christians we know not the day, time, hour, etc; there will be no pre-announcement of any type. Eclipses have been happening for, well, ever since creation. Some crazy Christians have spent their lifetimes trying to fit current events into when the second coming will be; so far they’ve all been 100% wrong.
Most Christians don’t know that the Gospels are all considered forgeries by biblical scholars and historians, including Revelation and the vast majority of the New Testament. There is no “end times”. No Rapture, no second coming, etc. None of these teachings were known by the first church, this was all fabricated later on (and the reason why none of it ever comes true). You can believe in a fiction if you want – but you will definitely be worse off for it.
“Muhammed claimed that a total eclipse was the sign of Judgement Day.”
Most useless hint ever, considering solar eclipses happen every 18 months. That’s like saying Judgment Day is coming on a Tuesday. Seems like an all-knowing god could do better or not bother.
All religions are based on superstition, myth, and a rejection of science, fact, and logic.
See? It’s easy to be inclusive 🙂