Christian Eschatology since the 19th Century - Assignment Example

Christian Eschatology since the 19th Century In Christian theological perspective, Christian eschatology has much deeper meaning than it is projectedand what we understand. In the earliest recorded history of 1844, eschatology was used in one of the essay considered anti-Christian; this essay was termed by the name “Christian account of last things”. Eschatology got birth from the Greek word ‘ta eschata’ meaning ‘the last things’. (Fahlbusch, Bromiley, & Barrett, 122) In dictionary, the word encompasses in itself resurrection, judgment, heaven and hell. However, this definition only gives an outer picture of our life without directly focusing on eschatology. But after nineteenth century, Christian eschatology is understood in context to the deeper study on the religious aspects related on the future and final events and also on the mortality of mankind and the Church. Eschatology is a representation and inquiry on the concept of destiny in Christianity vested in the prophecy of God as mentioned in the Bible. Eschatology is a recent phenomenon considered as part or a division of Christian theology, which is study of god or gods from religious perspective. This is a discourse to the study and promotion of Christian faith. Main emphasis of Christian eschatology is the concern about after life and the return of Jesus. Besides the “End of the World, resurrection of the dead, the last Judgment, renewal of creation, Heaven and Hell, the establishment of the Kingdom of God and the fulfillment of the aims of God, fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy and the beginning of the Messianic age”. (Bromily, 1090) Eschatology is often referred while interpretations and making comparative analysis of Book of Revelation, some of the parts of Bible depicting prophecies like the Book of Daniel, and the various revelations and thoughts of Jesus in the Gospels like Olivet discourse and the Judgment of the Nations. (Berthold-Bond, 118) It is also concerned with the exact time reappearance of Christ on this Earth. “So as the Lord appraises the church at Smyrna--a church under pressure, living within two extremes--His message to them is a message that encompasses the extremes. He begins by identifying Himself to the Smyrna church as "the First and the Last," the One "who died and came to life again." Jesus was present at the beginning of Creation; He will be present at the end of history. He encompasses all the forces and events of the cosmos, including both death and life. The Lords statement in Revelation 2:8 is reminiscent of His declaration to the disciples when He gave them the Great Commission in Matthew 28: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." He is the Lord of all heavenly and earthly forces.” (Stedman & Denney, Online) There are various interpretations regarding the controversies and debates on the events that led to and follow the return of Jesus and its importance as religious doctrines. Many Christians who follow Eastern Orthodoxy treat the thinking of members belonging to the other sects as untrue. Many theologians think that the Book of Revelation had been introduced very late in the Biblical canon and the reason behind it is the several of its Hayward questions that still remained to be unanswered. This book is also neither referred nor concerned during the process of religious worship in many of their traditions and rituals. However many Christians do consider their duty and make efforts to understand the Book of Revelation and many other prophecies. For them, understanding and conceptualizing the Book of Revelation is as one of the most important aspect for their belief in Christianity. In many of the Roman Catholic and Protestant folk traditions and their mystical revelations and doctrines, there are also teachings of many of great people who have been bestowed with the powers to make prophesies and special visitation by the messengers from heaven like angels, saints of Christ. Almost all the traditions and faiths in Christianity believe that all the sufferings, diseases, injustice would continue to take place during the Second Coming of Christ and at the end of the world. However even have a feeling that sufferings would be removed even before the rebirth of the Christ. There are four approaches towards Christian eschatology, and many different views on the concept because readers develop their own different assumptions and thought processes when they try to understand the scriptures. It is the way of interpretation and thoughts process that culminates in the creation of eschatology. It is why how one makes the interpretation of the actual words and phrases of scripture especially in the Book of Revelation that determines eschatology. For e.g. if someone has made interpretation of the scriptures linguistically as the words of God, it is naturally the view of the million people. And if someone understood the meaning of words in the related scripture as just symbolic other than that of its linguistic meanings is considered as the meaning applied by the other concerned persons. The first approach is that of Historicists, who give the religious importance to scripture and especially religions in historical events and at present time. (Mounce, 27) The Preterist set out to make the believers understand the fact that many of the prophecies specially those which are mentioned in the book of revelation have already been executed. Their interpretations state that the revelations in the book were the prophecy of the fall of the Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, which would be the mark of the end of the first stage (Matt 24; Mark 13; Luke 17; 21). The opening and closing verses of the Book of Revelation clear that the events prophesied would take place within a short span of time. (Rev 1:1, 3; 22:7, 10–12, 20). The book can also come under the category of a covenant lawsuit. The book makes the judgment against the nation of Israel as the nation has violated the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant. The book had made the prophecy that the old covenant would come to an end and it would take the place of the New Covenant and subsequently would inherit the “Kingdom of God by the saints” (cf. Dan 7:18; 12:1–7). (Bloesch, 85) The third approach is that of the Futurists who believe in giving the religious importance to the events presently occurring yet are thought to be prevalent in the future and future history. (Mounce, 27) They are again divided into Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Amillennialism. They have got their names according to the interpretations of thousand years of Rev 20. (Couch, 107) The fourth ones are Idealists who give religious importance to the regularities, several patterns that make the laws in the history and of the internal life. Their interpretation of the Book of Revelation is on the different lines. They visualize all the imageries mentioned in the various verses in the book as non-literal symbols, which were undertaken and fulfilled during the time when there was the conflict with the Kingdom of God and the forces of Satan through out the time period when Jesus first appeared on this Earth and to the Second Coming of Christ. The concept idealism is considered to be the combination of the historicism or futurism so that the pattern displayed is the mirror or the reflection of any event that could occur in the future or any event that had happened in the history or event that could happen when the world would come to an end. (Mounce, 28) Besides, many of the interpretations are merely metamorphorical and as such there are various opinions when efforts are made to interpret one passage, which is related to the Kingdom of heaven. All of these are quite contrasting to the facts if metaphorical interpretation is made on these texts. With the advent of the process Enlightenment and along with that the rational thinking, the eschatology took the form of secularity with four different types and one very minor form. The first it took the form of science, Mary Midgley in her book “Science as Salvation” focused on the fact that science is a faith and is a basic fundamental aspect of our life. (Midgley, 7) It is set of accepting of facts, a new perspective, a set of principle of values or patterns, and postulations. Science is an enclosed vision whereby truths or certain basic facts are placed and it is a method whereby we have to organize variety of facts. We believe what we are told to believe by intellectuals of Science. It is a faith where there is no need of a God and a kind of secular eschatology, which makes us understand and shows us a logical route to solve all our problems. We can also find secular eschatology in the approach Marxist in the approach Marxist philosophy via Hegel providing us a path to our progress and development. But, there is a certain denunciation on the superficial aspect of this secular eschatology but somewhere down the line in the Cuba and few churches many still believe on this aspect. (Henderson, 40) Yet another form of secular eschatology is seen when there was the arrival of the capitalist system along with the free market system in the democracy. The liberals in the free market paradoxically tend to believe in the universality of human beings and as such secular eschatology. The free market liberals believed human rights though owe origin to Catholic natural law theory but they are result of the Enlightenment process against Church’s view of the Rights of Man. But John Gray in “Straw Dogs” put forth his argument that people gave intense thought to the human conception in post-Enlightenment forms because “it is formed from cast-off Christian hopes… Humanism can mean many things, but for us it means belief in human progress…. This is the hope of nearly everyone nowadays, but it is groundless… Humanists insist that by using our knowledge we can control our environment and flourish as never before. In affirming this they renew one of Christianitys most dubious promises - that salvation is open to all. The humanist belief in progress is only a secular version of this Christian faith” (Gray, 3-4) The modern secular eschatology is encompassed with many features of humanism such as utopianism, which means that if any human being has a problem it would also has final solution and it is expected that humans can build his perfect future himself with his efforts and hard work. Their thought is anthropocentric i.e. the believers of this aspect think that human beings are the centre of existence and identify and aim at the ideal quality of life though their may be difference of opinion on what constitutes an ideal quality of life. Even in the 19 century, the eschatology term was used not only for traditional themes but also for the beliefs in the ideas about heaven, immortality, perfecting of the soul, the end of world, Apocastastasis, belief in evolution and progress. (Fahlbusch, Bromiley, & Barrett, 122) Protestant theology and Catholic school of Tubingen had also posited the view towards eschatology in the much broader light. They had influence over the idealist philosophy, which was based on the study of actions as regards to its relation with its end or efficacy in context to the kingdom of god that evolves and advances toward its final form but catholic theology rejected such perspectives. This idea of kingdom of God was reduced to the moral reality in the churches, which were born out of reformation. However, this interpretation deformed a pivotal biblical concept in an anti eschatological manner. (Lacoste, 489) But after the shattering experiences of World Wars I & II in the 20th century, “the anthropological and historical implications of eschatology emerged in philosophy with ideas of existential –anxiety and meaninglessness, the borderline situation, being unto death and principle of hope”. (Fahlbusch, Bromiley, & Barrett, 122) Eschatology has very much relevance in today’s period as it has relevance in the period past. As and as the world is facing threat of the wars, weapons, various natural and unnatural upheavals, there is still a hope of peace, which is provided by eschatology and in which eschatology is making its continuous presence felt. This hope for peace yet again is prompted by the thought of sufferings, death, sickness, and every day struggle with the several scientific and technical developments affecting our life and every thing, which is posing restrictions on our growth and development. (Fahlbusch, Bromiley, & Barrett, 122) WORKS CITED Berthold-Bond, Daniel. “Hegels Grand Synthesis: A Study of Being, Thought, and History” Albany: State University of New York, 1989. Bloesch, Donald G. “The Last Things: Resurrection, Judgment, Glory”. Downers Groove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2004. Bromily, Geoffrey W. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: A-Z. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995 Couch, Mal. Dictionary of Premillennial Theology. Grand, Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1997 Fahlbusch, Erwin, Bromiley, Geoffrey William & Barrett, David B. “The Encyclopedia of Christianity: (A-D)” Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. Gray, John. “Straw Dogs”. Granta Books, 2002. Jones, Gareth, Jones, Gareth Lloyd, Anderson, Ray S. & Rick, Arrandale & Barton, John. “The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology”. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007 Lacoste, Jean-Yves. “Encyclopedia of Christian Theology: G – O”. New York: Routledge, 2005. Henderson, Charles P. “Faith, Science and the Future”. Association of Religion And Intellectual Life, 2007 Hays, Richard B. “The Moral Vision of the New Testament”. T&T Clark, 1996. Midgley, Mary. “Science as Salvation: A Modern myth and its Meaning, Mary Midgley”. New York: Routledge, 1992. Mounce, Robert. “The Book of Revelation” Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1997 Sampson, Philip Sugden, Chris & Samuel, Vinay. “Faith and Modernity: essays in modern and post-modernity”. Waynesboro, GA: Regnum Book International, 1995 Stedman, Ray C & Denney, James D. “Understanding Revelation”. Internet. Available: http://www.raystedman.org/revelation/revelation.html, November 3, 2008 Theopedia, Encyclopedia of Biblical Christainty. “Preterism” Internet. Available: http://www.theopedia.com/Preterism November 3, 2008 Read More