Difference between revisions of "Eschatology" - New World Encyclopedia

Revision as of 16:25, 22 March 2006

Albrecht Dürer - Four horsemen of the Apocalypse

Eschatology (from the Greek έσχατος, "last" and ta eschata,"the extreme, last, most serious things + -logy) generally constitutes the concluding chapter of any systematic theology treating the final events as occurring during the Last Days in the history of the world or the ultimate destiny of humankind, commonly phrased as the end of the world or the end time, implying two distinct meanings of "end" as stated byAugustine. On the one hand, "end" signifies "the ceasing to be what is" leading to a literal interpretation of scriptural texts, implying the annihilation of existence that may involve the destruction of the planet, or of all living things. On the other hand, "end" describes "the perfecting of what was begun" emphasizing a different mode of interpretation that would point to the perfection of the created order. Here, the human race would survive in some new form, going through the "end of the age" leaving behind the current eon of a suffering and dysfunctional existence and beginning a new order that would manifest the original purpose of creation. On a more comprehensive level, individual eschatology discusses the last things of one's personal life such as death, the afterlife, and the soul, while universal eschatology addresses issues of a cosmic dimension, in particular the concepts of the Advent of the Messiah or Messianic Age, the Final Judgment and the Kingdom of God. In many religions, the end of the world is a future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore. For other theories about the end of the world, see End of the world.

For the book by Pope Benedict XVI, see Eschatology (book).

Buddhism

I am editing this section offline.—Dietrich Seidel 16:25, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Christianity

Christians in the 1st century AD believed the end of the world would come during their lifetime. Jesus in Mark 13:8 compared the end of the world with a mother's birth pain, and the image implied the world was already pregnant with its own destruction, but no one but God knows when it will happen. When the converts of Paul in Thessalonica were persecuted by the Roman Empire, they believed the end was upon them. However, doubt rose when as early as the 90s Christians said, "We have heard these things [of the end of the world] even in the days of our fathers, and look, we have grown old and none of them has happened to us". In the 130s Justin Martyr declared God was delaying the end of the world because he wished for Christianity to become a world religion. In the 250s Cyprian wrote that Christian sins of that time were a prelude and proof that the end was near.

However, by the 3rd century most Christians believed the End was beyond their own lifetime; Jesus, it was believed, had denounced attempts to divine the future, to know the "times and seasons", and such attempts to predict the future were discouraged; yet the End was given a date with the help of Jewish traditions in the Six Ages of the World. Using this system, the End was fixed at 202, but when the date passed, the date was changed to AD 500. After AD 500 the importance of the End as a part of Christianity was marginalized, though it continues to be stressed during the season of Advent.

Some current Christians place the end of the world within their lifetime or shortly thereafter. Their convictions can sometimes be placed on the prolific tellings of tragedies all around the world each day on the news, combined with interpretations of scriptures in the Bible. Also, some Catholics believed that the third part of the Fatima message, which was to be disclosed by the Vatican in 1960 but finally was published under the pontificate of John Paul II, was a prophetic message from the Blessed Mother about the end times, but it turned to be a symbolic message closely related to the assassination attempt of the late Pope.

The issue of whether the true believers will see the end causes division in evangelical circles.

See also: Timeline of unfulfilled Christian Prophecy, Armageddon, and Apocalypticism

Hinduism

Hindu traditional prophecies, as described in the Puranas and several other texts, say that the world shall fall into chaos and degradation. There will then be a rapid influx of perversity, greed and conflict, and this state has been described as:

"When deceit falsehood, lethargy, sleepiness, violence, despondency, grief, delusion, fear, and poverty prevail ... when men, filled with conceit, consider themselves equal with the Brahmins...that is the Kali Yuga."

This is followed by the appearance of an avatar, "The Lord shall manifest Himself as the Kalki Avatar...He will establish righteousness upon the earth and the minds of the people will become as pure as crystal...As a result, the Sat or Krta Yuga (golden age) will be established."

Islam

Mohammed Ali Ibn Zubair Ali's Signs of Qiyamah discuss the arrival of the Enlightened One, Imam Madhi, followed by natural disaster, "The ground will cave in, fog or smoke will cover the skies for forty days. A night three nights long will follow the fog. After the night of three nights, the sun will rise in the west. The Beast of Earth shall emerge. The beast will talk to people and mark the faces of people. A breeze from the south shall cause sores in the armpits of Muslims which they will die from. The Qu'ran will be lifted from the hearts of the people.

The "Imam...will create a world state...He will teach you simple living and high thinking. With such a start he will establish an empire of Allah in this world. He will be the final demonstration and proof of Allah's merciful wish to acquaint man with the right ways of life."

Judaism

In Judaism, the end of the world is called the acharit hayamim (end of days). Tumultuous events will overturn the old world order, creating a new order in which God is universally recognized as the ruler over everyone and everything. One of the sages of the Talmud says that, "Let the end of days come, but may I not live to see them", because they will be filled with so much conflict and suffering.

The Talmud, in the tractate Avodah Zarah, page 9A, states that this world as we know it will only exist for six thousand years. The Jewish calendar (luach) functions completely on the assumption that time begins at the Creation of the world by God in Genesis. Many people (notably Conservative and Reform Jews and some Christians) think that the years of the Torah, or Jewish Bible, are symbolic. According to the ancient Jewish teachings continued by today's Orthodox Jews, the years are literal and consistent throughout all time, with 24 hours per day and an average of 365 days per year. Appropriate calibrations are, of course, done with leap years, to account for the difference between the lunar calendar and the solar calendar, since the Jewish calendar is based on both. Thus the year 2005 equals 5765 years since creation on the present Jewish calendar. According to this calculation, the end of days will occur in the year 2240.

According to Jewish tradition, the end of the world will see:

Ingathering of the scattered Jewish exiles to geographic Israel,
Defeat of all of Israel's enemies,
Building of the third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the resumption of the sacrificial offerings and Temple service,
Revival of the Dead (techiat hameitim), or the Resurrection,
At some point, the Jewish Messiah who will become the anointed King of Israel. He will divide the Jews in Israel into their original tribal portions in the land. During this time Gog, king of Magog, will attack Israel. Who Gog and the Magog nation are is unknown. Magog will fight a great battle, in which many will die on both sides, but God will intervene and save the Jews. This is the battle referred to as Armageddon. God, having vanquished this final enemy once and for all, will accordingly banish all evil from human existence. After the year 6000 (in the Jewish calendar), the seventh millennium will be an era of holiness, tranquility, spiritual life, and worldwide peace, called the Olam Haba ("Future World"), where all people will know God directly. The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah has many identical aspects to the Islamic belief in Qiyamah, such as the title of, "Day of the sounding of the Shofar".

Native American

Several Native American tribes have similar beliefs concerning the end times.

Hopi

Tribal leaders of the Hopi tribe, such as Dan Evehama, Thomas Banyaca and Martin Gashwaseoma prophecize that the coming of the white man signals the end times, along with a strange beast "like a buffalo but with great horns that would overrun the land" (i.e. cattle). It is prophesized that during the end times the earth would be crossed by iron snakes and stone rivers, (i.e. railroads), and the land would be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web (i.e. freeways), and seas will turn black (i.e. oil spills).

It is also prophesized that a "great dwelling place" in the heavens shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star, and the earth will rock to and fro. White men would then battle people in other lands, with those who possess wisdom of their presence. There would then be smoke in the deserts, and the signs that great destruction is near.

Many would then die, but those who understand the prophecies shall live in the places of the Hopi people and be safe. The Pahana or "True White Brother" would then return to plant the seeds of wisdom in people's hearts, and thus usher in the dawn of the Fifth World.

Mayans

The Mayans believe that earth would be destroyed by several catastrophes (i.e. earthquakes, volcanoes, floods etc.). Civilizations would then collapse, and the Indian god Kulkulcan - the Mayan equivalent to the Aztec Quetzalcoatl - a feathered serpent deity, who represents forces of good and light, would then appear.

According to The Mayan Prophecies "The end of artificial time signals and the return to natural light, a time in harmony with the Earth and with the natural cycles [would] hold the potential to reinstate a balanced, positive love and unity cycle."

The current Mayan calendar cycle ends on December 21, 2012, thus this year is predicted to be the end of the world according to several prophecies.

Sioux

According to an Ogalala - or Sioux medicine man - "darkness would descend over the tribe...the world would be out of balance. Floods, fires and earthquakes would then ensue."

A "White Buffalo Calf Woman" will then purify the world. She will then bring back harmony and spiritual balance.

A white buffalo was born in 1994, and another in 1995. Many tribal leaders thus feel that the prophecy is being fulfilled.

Norse mythology

Main article: Ragnarok

In Norse mythology a strong winter called the Fimbulwinter will seize the earth and bring disorder and fighting between the people of Midgard just before Ragnarok. Ragnarok ("fate of the gods") is the battle during the end of the world waged between the gods (the Æsir, the Vaner and the Einherjar, led by Odin) and the forces of Chaos (the fire giants, the Jotuns and various monsters, led by Loki). Not only will the gods, giants, and monsters perish in this apocalyptic conflagration, but almost everything in the universe will be torn asunder.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism eschatology is the oldest eschatology in recorded history. By 500 B.C.E., Zoroastrians had fully developed a concept of the end of the world through a divine devouring in fire.

According to Zoroastrian philosophy, redacted in the Zand-i Vohuman Yasht, "at the end of thy tenth hundredth winter...the sun is more unseen and more spotted; the year, month, and day are shorter; and the earth is more barren; and the crop will not yield the seed; and men ... become more deceitful and more given to vile practices. They have no gratitude."

At the end of the Battle between the righteous and wicked, a Final Judgement of all souls will commence. Sinners will be punished 3 days, but are then forgiven. The world will reach perfection as poverty, old age, disease, thirst, hunger and death are halted. Zoroastrian concepts parallel greatly with those of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic eschatological beliefs as most derive from each other or Zoroastrianism.

Prophetic movements

In 1843, William Miller made the first of several predictions that the world would end in only a few months. Obviously, none of them took place, but followers of Miller went on to found separate churches, the most successful of which is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Other religions

^{This short section requires expansion.}

Many Neopagans and Wiccans believe that the entire Universe continues in endless cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.

Some have argued that the Marxist belief in global Communism is a form of eschatology.

External links

Death, Afterlife and Eschatology
Reformed Eschatology
Reformed Eschatology
Dispensational Eschatology
Revelation The magazine of apocalyptic art and literature
Exit Mundi A collection of end-of-world scenarios
A Brief History of the End of Everything, a BBC 4 Radio series
End of the World - Flash Parody
Armageddon Online - End of the World Scnearios & Extinction Events
Religious Tolerance - End of the World Prophecies
Visions of Heaven on Earth
220 Dates for the End of the world
What is the Jewish Belief About ‘The End of Days’? chabad.org
The End Time Pilgrim - A guide into the final seven years of this age.

cs:Eschatologie de:Eschatologie el:Εσχατολογία es:Escatología (religión) fr:Eschatologie he:אסכטולוגיה nl:Eschatologie ja:終末論 pl:Eschatologia ru:Эсхатология fi:Eskatologia sv:Eskatologi

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 :''For the book by Pope Benedict XVI, see [[Eschatology (book)]].
 ==Buddhism==
-At the time of the [[Buddha]], he apparently predicted that his teachings would disappear after 500 years.  According to the [[Sutta Pitaka]], the "ten moral courses of conduct" will disappear and people will follow the ten amoral concepts of [[theft]], [[violence]], [[murder]], [[lying]], evil speaking, [[adultery]], abusive and idle talk, covetousness and ill will, wanton [[Greed (emotion)|greed]], and perverted [[lust]] resulting in skyrocketing [[poverty]] and the end of the worldly laws of true [[dharma]].
+I am editing this section offline.—[[User:Dietrich Seidel|Dietrich Seidel]] 16:25, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
-During the Middle Ages, the span of time was expanded to 5,000 years.  Commentators like [[Buddhaghosa]] predicted a step-by-step disappearance of the Buddha's teachings.  During the first stage, [[arahat]]s would no longer appear in the world.  Later, the content of the Buddha's true teachings would vanish, and only their form would be preserved.  Finally, even the form of the Dharma would be forgotten.  During the final stage, the memory of the Buddha himself would be forgotten, and the last of his relics would be gathered together in [[Bodh Gaya]] and cremated.  Some time following this development a new [[Buddha]] named [[Maitreya]] will arise to renew the teachings of Buddhism and rediscover the path to [[Nirvana]].  Maitreya is believed to currently reside in the [[Tusita]] heaven, where he is awaiting his final rebirth in the world.
-The decline of Buddhism in the world, and its eventual re-establishment by Maitreya, are in keeping with the general shape of [[Buddhist cosmology]].  Like Hindus, Buddhists generally believe in a cycle of creation and destruction, of which the current epoch represents only the latest step.  The historical Buddha Shakyamuni is only the latest in a series of Buddhas that stretches back into the past.
-The belief in the decline and disappearance of Buddhism in the world has exerted significant influence in the development of Buddhism since the time of the Buddha.  In [[Vajrayana Buddhism]] and various other forms of esoteric Buddhism, the use of [[tantra]] is justified by the degenerate state of the present world.  The East Asian belief in the decline of the Dharma (called [[mappo]] in Japanese) was instrumental in the emergence of [[Pure Land Buddhism]].  Within the [[Theravada]] tradition, debate over whether Nirvana was still attainable in the present age helped prompt the creation of the [[Dhammayutt Order]] in Thailand.
 ==Christianity==