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ElijahIn early Christian and Jewish eschatology, the ancient Israelite prophet Elijah (see 1 Kings 17–19 and 2 Kings 1–2) was expected to play a role in the events of the end times, by re-appearing in advance of the parousia? of the "Son of Man" or "Messiah." This expectation is apparently based on the prophecy found in Malachi 4:5–6. According to Israelite legend, Eljiah had disappeard bodily into heaven in a fiery chariot at the end of his life (2 Kings 2:11). In Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, written in the mid-second century C.E., Justin's Jewish interlocutor Trypho objects that Jesus is not the Messiah on the basis that before the Messiah comes, "Elias" or "Elijah" must come first (Dial 8 & 49). Justin replies by quoting the gospel of Matthew? (ca. 80 C.E.) (see Matt 17:10–13; compare also Matt 11:2–15); Justin asserts that the spirit (not the person) of Elijah had already come in the person of John the Baptist, and also, reading Jesus' enigmatic statement rather literally, that the person of Elijah will come in the future. Elijah, then, is a double-forerunner of Christ, and like Christ, already had a first inglorious coming, which would be followed by a second glorious coming (Dial 49). Justin's Dialogue provides important evidence for the ways that early Jews and Christians expressed their disagreement about the identity of Jesus of Nazareth; more importantly, it demonstrates that orthodox Christians believed their proclamation of Jesus as Messiah was consistent with popular Jewish eschatology — as they understood it. However, it must be noted that Justin's proclamation of a two-fold eschatological coming for Elijah finds little support in the Jewish scriptures. In that regard, it is interesting to note that in another strand of early Christianity, it was explicitly denied that John the Baptist had been Elijah; this can be seen from the Gospel of John (see John 1:19–28). Contributors |