Yes, the first Christians believed that Jesus would return in their own time. This goes back to the Jewish idea of the resurrection. Within Judaism, there was a view that at the end of time, when God set up his Kingdom on Earth, there would be a general resurrection where the saints and past individuals would rise from the dead. This is the idea that Jesus would have taught, being an apocalyptic preacher himself, as well as the teaching that we know Paul taught. It is also found within the Gospels.

Paul makes this especially clear with the way he describes the resurrection. He calls Jesus the first fruit. The idea is that Jesus was just the beginning of the resurrection. He was the first fruit of the resurrection, which signaled that the general resurrection as beginning.

This belief was so strong that some of Paul's own followers believed they had already been resurrected. Such a view upset Paul and he had to rebuke them in a letter (1 Corinthians). Paul has to go into further detail about the resurrection to make the whole thing more understandable.

Going past Paul, we also see the idea crop up in the Gospels. In Mark, there is the famous saying of Jesus, where he states that some hearing his message won't taste death. The suggestion here is that they would also be resurrected. In Matthew, this is taken further with the suggestion that after Jesus was resurrected, many of the saints had also been resurrected, and went into the cities. This follows along with the idea of the general resurrection.

This view began changing later on as it was clear Jesus hadn't returned. We see this development in later Christian writings. Even Paul begins to modify his own beliefs, as there was a need to develop a religious ideology for the long haul. We see this especially in the pseudo-Pauline letters, such as the Pastoral Epistles, that begin to describe various needs for pastors and leaders in the community. They help begin to formulate a foundation for the church as a long term structure.

This continues on with the early church fathers as well, largely because by that time, there was a need to really establish a church. After 70 C.E., with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Judaism had to restructure. That began to definitively split Christianity from Judaism. Both religions began to restructure in order to survive for the long haul. It also helped Christianity really solidify, so that a standardized, or Orthodox view, could go forward.

However, the view that Jesus would return soon never fully died out. Over the years, there would be splinter groups that continually predicted that Jesus would return very soon. This became more true when the Book of Revelations began to be read as predicting the end times, instead of being a book written symbolically, that spoke of the time in which it was written.

Yes, the first Christians believed that Jesus would return in their own time. This goes back to the Jewish idea of the resurrection. Within Judaism, there was a view that at the end of time, when God set up his Kingdom on Earth, there would be a general resurrection where the saints and past individuals would rise from the dead. This is the idea that Jesus would have taught, being an apocalyptic preacher himself, as well as the teaching that we know Paul taught. It is also found within the Gospels.

Paul makes this especially clear with the way he describes the resurrection. He calls Jesus the first fruit. The idea is that Jesus was just the beginning of the resurrection. He was the first fruit of the resurrection, which signaled that the general resurrection as beginning.

This belief was so strong that some of Paul's own followers believed they had already been resurrected. Such a view upset Paul and he had to rebuke them in a letter (1 Corinthians). Paul has to go into further detail about the resurrection to make the whole thing more understandable.

Going past Paul, we also see the idea crop up in the Gospels. In Mark, there is the famous saying of Jesus, where he states that some hearing his message won't taste death. The suggestion here is that they would also be resurrected. In Matthew, this is taken further with the suggestion that after Jesus was resurrected, many of the saints had also been resurrected, and went into the cities. This follows along with the idea of the general resurrection.

This view began changing later on as it was clear Jesus hadn't returned. We see this development in later Christian writings. Even Paul begins to modify his own beliefs, as there was a need to develop a religious ideology for the long haul. We see this especially in the pseudo-Pauline letters, such as the Pastoral Epistles, that begin to describe various needs for pastors and leaders in the community. They help begin to formulate a foundation for the church as a long term structure.

This continues on with the early church fathers as well, largely because by that time, there was a need to really establish a church. After 70 C.E., with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, Judaism had to restructure. That began to definitively split Christianity from Judaism. Both religions began to restructure in order to survive for the long haul. It also helped Christianity really solidify, so that a standardized, or Orthodox view, could go forward.

However, the view that Jesus would return soon never fully died out. Over the years, there would be splinter groups that continually predicted that Jesus would return very soon. This became more true when the Book of Revelations began to be read as predicting the end times, instead of being a book written symbolically, that spoke of the time in which it was written.