Jesus’ Second Coming: Some Empirical Evidence from the Perspective of the U.S. Public

The Second Coming of Jesus is a central tenet of Christian belief. This study distinguishes itself from previous research - which has primarily relied on conceptual, qualitative, or survey-based methods - by utilizing Google Trends data from 2004 to 2022 in the US. Using these data, the study innovatively constructs a series of time-series variables to examine Americans' interest in the Second Coming. The findings reveal several key insights. First, public interest in the Second Coming has been generally declining, with a modest resurgence observed since 2019. This trend aligns with previous survey-based research. Second, U.S. public perception of signs of Jesus’ Second Coming shifted over time. From 2017–2019, only Middle East events and the 2017 eclipse were viewed positively as signs of the Second Coming. From 2020–2022, war, famine, gospel preaching, and Middle East events were seen as signs, while Trump-related false prophecies and eclipse overreach reduced interest. Christian persecution remained insignificant throughout. These conclusions are supported by fundamental analysis and contribute to the broader understanding of Christian beliefs in the US. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature on American Christian perspectives by providing novel empirical evidence.