What Is Eschatology? Eschatology (from the Greek έσχατος, “last, ultimate, end” and logy, teaching), simply translated as “discourse about the last things,” generally reflects the quest for an ultimate human purpose on the individual and the cosmic levels. The driving force of seeking answers to such a twofold human purpose is confirmed by the two...
Particular Judgment Particular judgment, according to Christian eschatology, is the divine judgment that a departed person undergoes immediately after death, in contradistinction to the general judgment (or Last Judgment) of all people at the end of the world. Old Testament, apocrypha, and pseudepigrapha There are few, if any, Old Testament or apocryphal writings that could be construed as implying...
Apocalypse An apocalypse (ἀποκάλυψις apokálypsis, “an uncovering”) is the disclosure or revelation of knowledge. In religious and occult concepts an apocalypse usually discloses something hidden, or provides what Bart Ehrman has termed “a vision of heavenly secrets that can make sense of earthly realities”. Historically, the term has a heavy religious connotation as commonly seen...
What Is Armageddon? According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, Armageddon is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or a symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to refer to any end of...
Great Tribulation In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation (θλίψις μεγάλη, thlipsis megalē) is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end. At Revelation 7:14, “the Great Tribulation” (τῆς θλίψεως τῆς μεγάλης, literally, “the tribulation, the great one”) is used to indicate the...
Eschatology? Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the “end of the world” or “end times“. The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning “last” and -logy meaning “the study of”, and first appeared in English around 1844. The Oxford...