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Eschatology
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Eschatology /ˌɛskəˈtɒlədʒi/ is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is referred to as the end of the world or end time. The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning last and -logy meaning the study of, the Oxford English Dictionary defines eschatology as The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. In the context of mysticism, the phrase refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality, in many religions it is taught as an existing future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore. More broadly, eschatology may encompass related concepts such as the Messiah or Messianic Age, the end time, history is often divided into ages, which are time periods each with certain commonalities. One age comes to an end and a new age or world to come, where different realities are present, begins. When such transitions from one age to another are the subject of eschatological discussion, the phrase, end of the world, is replaced by end of the age, end of an era, or end of life as we know it. Much apocalyptic fiction does not deal with the end of time but rather with the end of a period of time, the end of life as it is now. It is usually a crisis that brings an end to current reality and ushers in a new way of living, thinking, or being. This crisis may take the form of the intervention of a deity in history, a war, eschatologies vary as to their degree of optimism or pessimism about the future. In some eschatologies, conditions are better for some and worse for others, e. g. heaven, in Baháí belief, creation has neither a beginning nor an end. Instead, the eschatology of other religions is viewed as symbolic, in Baháí belief, human time is marked by a series of progressive revelations in which successive messengers or prophets come from God. In this view, the heaven and hell are seen as symbolic terms for the persons spiritual progress. In Baháí belief, the coming of Baháulláh, the founder of the Baháí Faith, signals the fulfilment of previous eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity and other major religions. Christian eschatology is concerned with death, a state, Heaven, hell, the return of Jesus. Eschatological passages are found in places, esp. Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Matthew 24, The Sheep and the Goats, and the Book of Revelation, the Second Coming of Christ is the central event in Christian eschatology. Most Christians believe that death and suffering will continue to exist until Christs return, there are, however, various views concerning the order and significance of other eschatological events
2.
Maitreya
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Maitreya, Metteyya, Maithri, Jampa or Di-lặc, is regarded as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, according to Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor to the present Buddha, the prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya refers to a time in the future when the dharma will have been forgotten by most on the terrestrial world. Maitreya has also adopted for his millenarian role by many non-Buddhist religions in the past, such as the White Lotus, as well as by modern new religious movements. The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit word maitrī loving-kindness, the Pali form Metteyya is mentioned in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta of the Pāli Canon, and also in chapter 28 of the Buddhavamsa. This leads scholar Richard Gombrich to conclude that either the whole sutta is apocryphal or that it has at least been tampered with. In the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, in the first centuries CE in northern India, in 4th to 6th-century China, Buddhist artisans used the names Shakyamuni and Maitreya interchangeably. Indicating both that the distinction between the two had not yet been drawn and that their respective iconographies had not yet been firmly set, an example is the stone sculpture found in the Qingzhou cache dedicated to Maitreya in 529 CE as recorded in the inscription. The religious belief of Maitreya apparently developed around the time as that of Amitābha. One mention of the prophecy of Maitreya is in the Maitreyavyākaraṇa, no longer will they regard anything as their own, they will have no possession, no gold or silver, no home, no relatives. But they will lead the life of oneness under Maitreyas guidance. They will have torn the net of the passions, they manage to enter into trances. Maitreya is typically pictured seated, with both feet on the ground or crossed at the ankles, on a throne, waiting for his time. He is dressed in the clothes of either a bhikṣu or Indian royalty, as a bodhisattva, he would usually be standing and dressed in jewels. A khata is always tied around his waist as a girdle, in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, Maitreya is represented as a Central Asian or northern Indian nobleman, holding a kumbha in his left hand. Sometimes this is a wisdom urn and he is flanked by his two acolytes, the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu. The Maitreyasamiti was an extensive Buddhist play in pre-Islamic Central Asia, the Maitreyavyakarana in Central Asia and the Anagatavamsa of South India also mention him. Maitreya currently resides in the Tuṣita Heaven, said to be reachable through meditation, Gautama Buddha also lived here before he was born into the world as all bodhisattvas live in the Tuṣita Heaven before they descend to the human realm to become Buddhas
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Christian eschatology
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Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology dealing with the last things. Broadly speaking, Christian eschatology is the study of the destiny of humankind as it is described in the Bible, eschatological passages are found in many places in the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testaments. There are also many examples of eschatological prophecy, as well as church traditions. Treatment of eschatology continued in the West in the teachings of Tertullian, the word was used first by the Lutheran theologian Abraham Calovius but only came into general usage in the 19th century. They are by no means exclusive and are often combined to form a more complete. Most interpretations fit into one, or a combination, of these approaches, Preterism is an approach which sees prophecy as chiefly being fulfilled in the past, especially during the first century. Prophecies in general, therefore, have already been fulfilled, other Preterists consider the Book of Revelation to be a symbolic prophetic presentation of the struggle of Christianity to survive the persecutions of the Roman Empire. There are two views within Preterism, that of Partial preterism and Full preterism. Preterist beliefs usually have an association with Amillennialism, the belief that the Millennial reign of Christ began during the establishment of the Early Church. Preterists usually consider events such as the Great Tribulation as having occurred during the siege, Early Preterist theologians included Eusebius and John Chrysostom. Historicism is an approach which sees prophecy as being fulfilled in the past, present and future, specifically, Historists consider the Book of Revelation to be a symbolic prophetic presentation of the struggle of Protestantism to survive the continuing persecutions of the Papacy. Historists usually consider events such as the Great Tribulation as having occurred during the period of papal supremacy from 538-1798. The subject of the Revelation to John the apostle was large, Elliott, the first six seals of the book of Revelation outline the temporary prosperity of the Empire of heathen Rome followed by its decline and fall which covers the time period A. D.96 –396. Most prophecies will be fulfilled during a time of chaos known as the Great Tribulation. Futurist beliefs usually have an association with Premillennialism and Dispensationalism. Futurist beliefs were presented in the Left Behind series, in Idealism, also known as spiritual or nonliteral approach, the Book of Revelation and other eschatological materials are interpreted symbolically. There were different schools of thought on the afterlife in Israel during the first century, the Sadducees, who recognized only the Torah as authoritative, did not believe in an afterlife or any resurrection of the dead. By soul, Seventh-day Adventists theologians mean the person
4.
Book of Revelation
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Its title is derived from the first word of the text, written in Koine Greek, apokalypsis, meaning unveiling or revelation. The Book of Revelation is the apocalyptic document in the New Testament canon. The author names himself in the text as John, but his identity remains a point of academic debate. Modern scholarship generally takes a different view, and many consider that nothing can be known about the author except that he was a Christian prophet, Some modern scholars characterise Revelations author as a putative figure whom they call John of Patmos. The bulk of traditional sources date the book to the reign of the emperor Domitian, the book spans three literary genres, the epistolary, the apocalyptic, and the prophetic. It begins with John, on the island of Patmos in the Aegean and he then describes a series of prophetic visions, including figures such as the Whore of Babylon and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus. The title is taken from the first word of the book in Koine Greek, ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis, the author names himself as John, but it is currently considered unlikely that the author of Revelation was also the author of the Gospel of John. All that is known is that this John was a Jewish Christian prophet, probably belonging to a group of such prophets and his precise identity remains unknown, and modern scholarship commonly refers to him as John of Patmos. 70 AD is the date of writing according to Martha Himmelfarb in the recently published Blackwell series. Revelation is an apocalyptic prophecy with an epistolary introduction addressed to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, Apocalypse means the revealing of divine mysteries, John is to write down what is revealed and send it to the seven churches. The entire book constitutes the letter—the letters to the seven churches are introductions to the rest of the book. While the dominant genre is apocalyptic, the author himself as a Christian prophet, Revelation uses the word in various forms twenty-one times. The predominant view is that Revelation alludes to the Old Testament although it is difficult among scholars to agree on the number of allusions or the allusions themselves. Revelation rarely quotes directly from the Old Testament, almost every verse alludes to or echoes older scriptures. Over half of the stem from Daniel, Ezekiel, Psalms. He very frequently combines multiple references, and again the style makes it impossible to be certain to what extent he did so consciously. Revelation was the last book accepted into the Christian biblical canon and it was considered tainted because the heretical sect of the Montanists relied on it and doubts were raised over its Jewishness and authorship. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, disciple of Origen wrote that the Book of Revelation could have been written by Cerinthus although he himself did not adopt the view that Cerinthus was the writer and he regarded the Apocalypse as the work of an inspired man but not of an Apostle
5.
Book of Daniel
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The Book of Daniel is a biblical apocalypse, combining a prophecy of history with an eschatology which is both cosmic in scope and political in its focus. In more mundane language, it is an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, in the Hebrew Bible it is found in the Ketuvim, while in Christian Bibles it is grouped with the Major Prophets. Its message is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, the book divides into two parts, a set of six court tales in chapters 1–6 followed by four apocalyptic visions in chapters 7–12. The literary structure of the book of Daniel is marked by three prominent features, the most fundamental is a genre division between the court tales of chapters 1–6 and the apocalyptic visions of 7–12. The second is a division between the Hebrew of chapters 1 and 8–12, and the Aramaic of chapters 2–7. This language division is reinforced by the arrangement of the Aramaic chapters. Various suggestions have been made by scholars to explain the fact that the division does not coincide with the other two. It should also be noted that the settings of chapters 1–6 show a progression from Babylonian to Median times. Among them are Daniel and his three companions, who refuse to touch the food and wine for fear of defilement. They are allowed to continue to refrain from eating the kings food, in the second year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. When he wakes up, he realizes that he forgot the content of the dream and he then demands that his wise men tell him its content. When the wise men protest that this is beyond the power of any man, he sentences all, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel explains the dream to the king, the statue symbolized four successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, all of which would be crushed by Gods kingdom, which would endure forever. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the supremacy of Daniels god, raises him over all his wise men, Daniels companions Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow to King Nebuchadnezzars golden statue and are thrown into a fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar is astonished to see a figure in the furnace with the three, one with the appearance like a son of the gods. So the king called the three to come out of the fire, and blessed the God of Israel, and decreed that any who blasphemed against him should be torn limb from limb. Nebuchadnezzar recounts a dream of a tree that is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream, the tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years will lose his mind and live like a wild beast
6.
Olivet Discourse
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The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. The Olivet discourse is the last of the Five Discourses of Matthew, in all three Gospels, this episode includes the parable of The Budding Fig Tree. It is unclear whether the tribulation Jesus describes is a past, Some believe the passage largely refers to events surrounding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and as such is used to date the Gospel of Mark around the year 70. Many evangelical Christian interpreters say the passages refer to what they call the Second Coming of Jesus and they disagree whether Jesus describes the signs that accompany his return. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus spoke this discourse to his disciples privately on the Mount of Olives, in Lukes Gospel, Jesus taught over a period of time in the Temple and stayed at night on the Mount of Olives. The discourse is widely believed by scholars to contain material delivered on a variety of occasions. The setting on the Mount of Olives echoes a passage in the Book of Zechariah which refers to the location as the place where a battle would occur between the Jewish Messiah and his opponents. Jesus responds that not one of those stones would remain intact in the building, the disciples asked Jesus for a sign, When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. The disciples, being Jewish, believed that the Messiah would come and they believed that the Temple played a large role in this, hence the disciple in the first part boasting to Jesus about the Temples construction. Jesus prophecy concerning the Temples destruction was contrary to their belief system, Jesus sought to correct that impression, first, by discussing the Roman invasion, and then by commenting on his final coming to render universal judgment. Jesus first warns them about things that would happen that should not be interpreted as signs, Some would claim to be Christ and it was a general belief that if the Jewish Messiah arrived in Jerusalem, it would mean that the Kingdom of Heaven was imminent. There would be wars and rumours of wars, then Jesus identifies the beginnings of birth pangs, a metaphor for false alarm, Nations rising up against nations, and kingdoms against kingdoms. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark add —let the reader understand— and this is generally considered to be a reference to two passages from the Book of Daniel. Some consider these declarations to be unlikely or implausible, however, there also are noted Christian theologians who believe that each of Jesus declarations were prophecies. One view is that the future Jesus predicted is the unfolding of events from trends that are already at work in human society. Another prophetic view is all of these predictions were fulfilled by the time Jerusalem fell in 70 AD. A key issue in Jesus discussion concerns the illustration of the fig tree and this is a juxtaposition, balancing the two parts of the discussion. The first part being the answer to the first question concerning the destruction of the Temple, hence, concerning the first he says that this Generation would see the fulfillment, whereas the second, No man knows, not even Jesus himself
7.
The Sheep and the Goats
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The Sheep and the Goats or the Judgment of the Nations is a pronouncement of Jesus recorded in chapter 25 of Matthews Gospel in the New Testament. It is sometimes characterised as a parable, although unlike most parables it does not purport to relate a story of events happening to other characters and this portion concludes the section of Matthews Gospel known as the Olivet Discourse and immediately precedes Matthews account of Jesus passion and resurrection. A very distinct scope of its own, Jesus asserts that he, the Son of Man, shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. The form of the announcement is in part based, upon the vision of Daniel 7,13, Behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him, then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. The text of the passage appears in Matthews Gospel, and is the portion of a section containing a series of parables. From Matthew 25, 31–46, But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. ’ “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you a drink. When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in, or naked, the division seems to be based on the acts of kindness and mercy done by people to their disadvantaged fellow people, Jesus identifies such kindness with kindness towards himself. An alternative interpretation, put forward by Calvinist theologian John Gill, is that the disadvantaged spoken of are actually fellow Christians, instead of the division between blessed and cursed being based on good works, it is based on ones response to the people and message of Christs Church. These are ‘the least. ’ These are truly ‘other. ’ Christian eschatology Matthew 25 Second Coming Sheep Go to Heaven by Cake Works of mercy John Gills commentary
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Jesus in Christianity
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Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and believe that through his death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life. The choice Jesus made thus counter-positions him as a new man of morality and obedience, most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and divine—the Son of God. Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, as fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. According to the Bible, God raised him from the dead and he ascended to heaven to sit at the Right Hand of God, and he will return to earth again for the Last Judgment and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the World to Come. Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize key elements of the shared beliefs among major denominations based on their catechetical or confessional texts. Christian views of Jesus are derived from biblical sources, particularly from the canonical Gospels. Christians predominantly hold that these works are historically true and those groups or denominations committed to what are considered biblically orthodox Christianity nearly all agree on the following points, Christians believe that the mother of Jesus was a virgin. Christians believe that Jesus was a human being who was also fully God, Christians believe that Jesus came into the world as the son of only one earthly parent, Mary. Christians believe that Jesus never sinned or did anything wrong, Christians believe that Jesus was eventually martyred, was buried in a tomb, and then on the third day came back to life. Christians believe that because he rose from the tomb on the third day, Christians believe that Jesus eventually ascended back to God the Father. Christians believe that Jesus will come back to earth a second time, the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. These are usually bracketed by two episodes, his Nativity at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete at the end. The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his works and words, e. g. his ministry, Christians not only attach theological significance to the works of Jesus, but also to his name. Devotions to the name of Jesus go back to the earliest days of Christianity and these exist today both in Eastern and Western Christianity—both Catholic and Protestant. Christians predominantly profess that through Jesus life, death, and resurrection and his death on a cross is understood as a redemptive sacrifice, the source of humanitys salvation and the atonement for sin which had entered human history through the sin of Adam. But who do you say that I am, only Simon Peter answered him, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God — Matthew 16, 15-16 Jesus is mediator, but…the title means more that someone between God and man. He is not just a third party between God and humanity…, as true God he brings God to mankind. As true man he brings mankind to God, most Christians generally consider Jesus to be the Christ, the long awaited Messiah, as well as the one and only Son of God
