I don't recall the first time I heard the term "eschatology." But what I can be fairly certain of is that I likely equated eschatology with "Judgment Day." In your faith tradition eschatology might have meant "the End Times." Armageddon. Thousand Year Reign. Rapture. Anti-Christ. Stuff like that. In my tradition, it was just "Judgment Day." No drama. No signs. No big climatic battle. Just Jesus-can-come-back-at-any-moment-so-be-ready! That was the beginning and end of our eschatology. Pretty simple.
Here's a funny story in this regard. Many years ago my wife and I were invited over to dinner by one of her co-workers at school. They were Baptist and the husband was an associate pastor at a local Baptist church. Which was good because I knew we'd have lots to talk about. I'd get to ask: "What do Baptists think about this? What do Baptists think about that? What are conservative Baptists like? Progressive Baptists? How do your conventions work? What's a Southern Baptist? How do you fund mission work?" And so on.
Anyhow, during the evening I eventually got to "What do Baptists believe about how the world is going to come to an end?" And in response he gives this amazingly complex reply. It's the whole Armageddon, thousand year reign, rapture, Anti-Christ deal. And I'm just completely transfixed, thinking through this maze of theology, prophecy, biblical text, history, and global politics. I don't care what you think, but this sort of end times thinking is really quite amazing. True, it's the theological equivalent of Oliver Stone's JFK, but both are intellectual accomplishments.
So after about an hour of me quizzing my host over an eschatology that was, essentially, dramatized in the Left Behind novels, he turned to me:
So what is your end times theology in the Churches of Christ?To be clear, it's not like everyone in the Churches of Christ sees this the same way. We are, of course, Protestants. Which means that, growing up, members would occasionally wander into church with some odd ideas about 666. It's the risk you take when you let everyone go home with a bible with the mandate to "study for yourself." This sort of procedure is bound to spawn some pretty screwball ideas. Some people just shouldn't be trusted with a bible. Fortunately, group pressure can be brought to bear upon deviants to get them back in line with the "Jesus will come back without warning" position. The sign of the beast--666--really represented, I was told, Nero or the Catholic Church. I can't remember which...
Well, it's pretty simple. Jesus comes back and you don't know when.
That's it?
That's it.
No rapture, tribulation, battle of Armageddon?
Nope.
No Anti-Christ, mark of the beast, or thousand year reign?
Nope.
Just, 'Jesus comes back'?
Yep. Just 'Jesus comes back.'
But I digress.
So I grew up with an impoverished eschatology. Which is interesting because eschatology has become increasingly important to my spiritual life. So much so I can't have a conversation today about faith without saying "eschaton," "eschatology," or "eschatological." Shoot, I even think of my dog in eschatological terms. Or Office episodes. I see eschatology just about everywhere.
So much so I had my artistic sister make me a sign that says "Eschaton" for my office. I've hung it on the wall opposite my desk so that I look at it a lot during the day. I got the idea from William Stringfellow who called his home "Eschaton."
I can't tell you how many times this summer I had to explain my sister's sign. "Eschaton? What does Eschaton mean? Why do you want a sign for your office that says Eschaton?" I tried to explain this a couple of different ways. But the best explanation came in an exchange with my son Brenden:
Dad?
Yes?
What does Eschaton mean?
(Sigh.) I've been trying to explain that all summer.
I know. But what does it mean?
(Pause. Thinking.) Well, you know how we pray the Lord's Prayer every Sunday at church?
Yes.
Do you remember the lines, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"?
Yes.
Well, that's what Eschaton means. It means that God's Kingdom, when all the world will be set right, is coming.
I see.
But it's more than that. Eschaton also means that God's Kingdom has already come. It's here, breaking into this moment. Wherever God's will is being done the Kingdom has come. The End has appeared, for a moment, in the middle of our day. Heaven on earth.
I think I see.
Here's one last way to think about it. The Eschaton is in the future, but it's kind of like a Time Machine. Something from the future--something joyous and whole--has shown up in the middle of today. Here it is, right in front of me, this peice of the future, this bit of heaven.
I understand.
And here's the totally crazy part. If you are a Christian, the Eschaton isn't just a Time Machine from the future. No, if you are a Christian you are, in your own being, the Time Machine. You are the time traveler from the future. You don't, not really, belong here to this time and place. You're from the future, but living in today's world. Which means, like a time traveler, you know how it all ends. You've seen the future. And that helps you know how to live today. Knowing the end of the story you can see your way through life, often in a way that won't make sense to a lot of people. They will look at you and ask, "Why are you doing this? You're crazy." And you can say, "I know it looks that way. But what I'm doing actually makes a lot of sense. See, I'm from the future. And I'm acting this way because know how the story ends."
I grew up with the Oliver Stone eschatology, and while I don't think it was the intention of those who spoke and taught about it, it largely had me fearing the second coming, because that is when God would allow massive amounts of people to be tortured and killed, all my friends who I failed to evangelize would be sent to hell, and then Jesus would tell everyone about all my sins. Then we go to heaven, which, because no one ever shared with me a compelling version of heaven, might possibly be really boring and not much of a comfort.
So, I was not looking forward to Jesus coming back. Most of it eventually faded as I grew up (end of high school), but as I had been given no replacement eschatological theology, the idea of the Jesus returning still left me nervous and with a bad taste in my mouth. Then I read N.T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope" which gave me an understanding of the Eschaton along the lines of what you sketch out: that Christ is returning and he's going to set things right. That the setting of things right can start now, and because we can trust Christ, and know how the story ends, we are given hope in the face of apparent failure. Basically, I could finally pray "Come, Lord Jesus!"
Anyways, thanks for posting this. The time-traveler image is a useful idea, one I'll probably use with others at some point. The more ways we can explain the hope that Christ gives us, the better.
Those of us who grew up Southern Baptist were terrified as children by our ministers and leaders with a 1972 eschatological flick titled "A Thief in the Night." Youth Group Movie Night - get saved, or get beheaded.
"It's the risk you take when you let everyone go home with a bible with the mandate to "study for yourself." This sort of procedure is bound to spawn some pretty screwball ideas. Some people just shouldn't be trusted with a bible. Fortunately, group pressure can be brought to bear upon deviants to get them back in line with the "Jesus will come back without warning" position."
I respond here strictly in fun realizing this paragraph was written to describe the results of various interpretations of the mark of the beast and the when/how of Jesus' return. But as a general commentary, it made me laugh (again I wasn't laughing AT this statement nor being critical of it). It actually makes for a pretty nice summary of the church's mentality at large. For some reason, that's what hit me while reading it. LOL
Gary Y.
Richard,
The eschatological dog? Your readers might want to check out this url:
http://www.somareview.com/petspostrapture.cfm
Blessings!
See, I'm from the future. And I'm acting this way because know how the story ends."
You have no idea how absolutely inspiring that is to me today. Thank you.