ESCHATOLOGY

the doctrine of last things. It was originally a Western term, referring to Jewish and Christian beliefs about the end of history (or of the world in its present state), the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, and related matters. The term has been extended by historians of religions to cover similar themes and concepts in the religions of nonliterate peoples, ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, and Eastern civilizations. Eschatological ideas and beliefs played a central role in the development of Judaism; the Kingship of God, the end of days, the world to come, the Messiah and the messianic era, the Day of Judgment, and the images of a perfected future were basic concerns in biblical (Old Testament) and rabbinic Judaism. the doctrine of last things, especially in Judaism and Christianity, concerning beliefs about the end of history, the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, and related matters. Similar concepts are found in other Western religions (Islam and Zoroastrianism) and in the religions of nonliterate peoples, ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, and Eastern civilizations. By and large, eschatologies have appeared in two radically divergent forms, distinguished by their attitude toward time and history. In mythical eschatologies, so called after their characteristic representations of the eternal struggle between cosmos (order) and chaos (disorder), the meaning of history is found in a celebration of the eternity of the cosmos and the repeatability of the origin of the world. Historical eschatologies, on the other hand, are grounded not in a mythical primal happening but in historically datable events that are perceived as key experiences fundamental for the progress of history. Eschatological motives are found in almost all religions of the world. Buddhist eschatology is revealed in the yearning for redemption from the suffering inherent in the cycle of rebirth, whereby all creatures are reborn continually in forms dependent on the moral content of their past deeds. Redemption is achieved through the attainment of the condition of eternal peace known as Nirvana (enlightenment; literally, extinction). Hinduism posits a similar redemption from endless cycles of existence, rebirth, and suffering, in this case through the soul's recognition of its eternal core, or essence (an awareness that has vanished from consciousness because of the soul's imprisonment in matter), and its consequent identification and union with absolute and eternal being. Historical eschatology is basic to the Old Testament and thus enters into the structure of faith of those religions, primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, that stem from it. Old Testament eschatology consists in the conviction that the catastrophes that beset the people of Israel and threatened their destruction were because of the Jewish people's disobedience to the laws and will of God. Subsequent conformity to the will of God would result in a return for the Jews to a final condition of righteousness and moral and material renewal, in which God's purpose would at last be fulfilled. Old Testament eschatology is closely bound to the concept of a redemptive history, in which the Jewish people are viewed as God's chosen instrument for the carrying out of his purpose and in which, upon the fulfillment of God's promises, the Jewish people would be the vehicle for both their own salvation and that of the rest of the world. If for Judaism the peculiar eschatological event lies in the future, this future of God, according to the New Testament, has already begun with Christ. Christian eschatology is centred in the figure of Christ as the anticipation of the future Kingdom of God. Jesus is viewed as the Messiah of God, through whom and by whom the new age of God's redemption has at last been opened. The historical development of Christianity was subsequently marked by widely differing interpretations and degrees of acceptance of this original eschatology, however. Distinctions can be made between the hopes of messianism (directed toward a salvatory or vindicating figure to come), millenarianism (directed toward the prophesied 1,000-year Kingdom of Christ), and apocalypticism (directed toward the cataclysmic intervention of God in history). The diverse strands of 20th-century Christian theology are in agreement perhaps only in that they regard faith itself, in its ultimate anticipation of God's redemption of creation, as being innately eschatological. Additional reading General works M. Eliade, Le Mythe de l'ternel retour (1949; Eng. trans., The Myth of the Eternal Return, 1954), an internationally recognized standard work; T. Roszak, The Making of a Counter Culture (1969), a discussion of the formation of secular messianic movements in modern society; W.D. Wallis, Messiahs: Their Role in Civilization (1943); Gayraud S. Wilmore, Last Things First (1982), a scholarly discussion of eschatology as it has existed in various cultures and religions. Biblical eschatology R.H. Charles, Eschatology: The Doctrine of a Future Life in Israel, Judaism and Christianity (1899, reprinted 1963), a comparison of ideas; O. Cullmann, Christus und die Zeit, 3rd ed. (1962; Eng. trans., Christ and Time, 1962); R.K. Bultmann, History and Eschatology (1957), an existentialist interpretation of eschatology; P.S. Minear, The Christian Hope and the Second Coming (1954), an integral biblical view; R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, Messianism in Jewish History, Journal of World History, 11:3045 (1968), with a bibliography; and N.R.C. Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium, 2nd ed. (1961; rev. paperback ed., 1970). Theological and philosophical eschatology M. Schmaus, Von den letzten Dingen (1948), the best Roman Catholic treatise on eschatology; N. Berdyaev, The Beginning and the End (1957, orig. pub. in Russian, 1947), Russian Orthodox philosophy of religion; J.A.T. Robinson, In the End, God (1968), an introduction to this subject; P. Teilhard de Chardin, Le Phnomene humain (1956; Eng. trans., The Phenomenon of Man, 1959), a discussion combining eschatology with the theory of evolution; J. Moltmann, Theologie der Hoffnung, 8th ed. (1964; Eng. trans., Theology of Hope, 1967), on the beginning of the ecumenical theology-of-hope movement.