(Greek: para, near; oisa, participle of eimi, be)
In the New Testament it means the second coming of Christ. The principal Gospel texts are: Matthew 10:21-24; 16:27; Mark 9:38; and Luke 9:26; Matthew 24:25, and the parallel passages of Mark 13, and Luke 21:5-33. The way in which Our Lord's sayings about this second coming are connected with other sayings referring to the establishment of the kingdom here below and to the destruction of Jerusalem, which was to take place in 70, and His deliberate intention to leave His followers in ignorance regarding the time of His parousia, have given rise to obscurities and difficulties about the time of the fulfillment of His prophecy. The early Christians lived in the hope and expectation of a coming of Our Lord which would probably be not long delayed.