Eschatology

Eschatology is from the Greek eschatos (last, furthest) and logia (study, discourse)[1]. The literal sense is the study of the last things. In religious usage the term covers teaching about the final destiny of individuals, communities, and the cosmos: death, judgment, resurrection, the end of the present age, and the world to come[2].

eschatology includes more than apocalyptic disaster imagery and often shapes present ethics.

Christian eschatology includes both individual eschatology (what happens to the individual after death) and cosmic eschatology (the final transformation of all things). The major themes: the resurrection of the dead, the return of Christ (the parousia), the final judgment, the new heavens and new earth, and the eternal destinies of believers and unbelievers. Different Christian traditions develop these differently, especially around questions of millennialism (whether Christ will reign for a thousand years before the final consummation), purgatory (Catholic teaching about post-mortem purification), and universalism (whether all are eventually saved).

Jewish eschatology includes the resurrection of the dead, the messianic age, and the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba). Maimonides included these in his thirteen principles of faith. Modern Jewish movements vary in their treatment of classical eschatological doctrine.

Islamic eschatology is detailed and central. The Day of Resurrection (Yawm al-Qiyamah), the signs of the end, the appearance of the Mahdi, the return of Jesus, the final judgment, and the entry into Paradise (Jannah) or the Fire (Jahannam) form a coherent narrative. Shia Islam adds the doctrine of the return of the hidden twelfth Imam (in Twelver Shia) or other eschatological figures (in other Shia traditions).

Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh traditions develop their own eschatologies typically organized around the cycle of cosmic ages, individual liberation from samsara, and (in some traditions) the eventual exhaustion or transformation of the cosmos. The frameworks differ significantly from Abrahamic eschatology.

Zoroastrian eschatology, with its expectation of final cosmic renovation (Frashokereti) and the resurrection of the dead, has historically influenced Jewish, Christian, and Islamic eschatological development[3]. The scholarly question of the extent of this influence is debated in details.

Eschatology is a major area in theology and religious studies. Jurgen Moltmann's Theology of Hope reshaped 20th century Protestant eschatology[4]. Joseph Ratzinger's Eschatology offers a major Catholic treatment[5]. Comparative work continues across traditions.

• Theology of Hopeby Jurgen Moltmann
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• Eschatology: Death and Eternal Lifeby Joseph Ratzinger
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