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Christian eschatology is a minor branch of study within Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the "last things", especially the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia. Eschatology – the word derives from two Greek roots meaning "last" (ἔσχατος) and "study" (-λογία) – involves the study of "end things", whether of the end of an individual life, of the end of the age, of the end of the world, or of the nature of the Kingdom of God. Broadly speaking, Christian eschatology focuses on the ultimate destiny of individual souls and of the entire created order, based primarily upon biblical texts within the Old and New Testaments. Christian eschatology looks to study and discuss matters such as death and the afterlife, Heaven and Hell, the Second Coming of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, the rapture, the tribulation, millennialism, the end of the world, the Last Judgment, and the New Heaven and New Earth in the world to come.
Eschatology concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions, which teach that negative world events will reach a climax. Belief that the end of the world is imminent is known as apocalypticism, and over time has been held both by members of mainstream religions and by doomsday cults. In the context of mysticism, the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to reunion with the divine. Religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred texts or in folklore. While other religions may have concepts of renewal or transformation after significant events, the explicit description of a new earth is primarily found in Christian teachings within the context of eschatology, this description can be found in Chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation.
The Second Coming is the Christian belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven. The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies. Other faiths have various interpretations of it.
In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end.
The Rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise "in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it includes Jesus's warning to his followers that they will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God. The Olivet discourse is the last of the Five Discourses of Matthew and occurs just before the narrative of Jesus's passion beginning with the anointing of Jesus.
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the Frashokereti of Zoroastrianism.
Timothy Francis LaHaye was an American Baptist evangelical Christian minister who wrote more than 85 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-authored with Jerry B. Jenkins.
Amillennialism or amillenarism is a chillegoristic eschatological position in Christianity which holds that there will be no millennial reign of the righteous on Earth. This view contrasts with both postmillennial and, especially, with premillennial interpretations of Revelation 20 and various other prophetic and eschatological passages of the Bible.
The post-tribulation rapture doctrine is the belief in a combined resurrection and rapture, or gathering of the saints, after the Great Tribulation.
Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from God.
Futurism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets portions of the Book of Revelation, the Book of Ezekiel, and the Book of Daniel as future events in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.
The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye/Countdown to the Earth's Last Days is the 3rd prequel novel in the Left Behind series, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins in 2006 and published by Tyndale House. This book is the final of the three prequels and covers events leading up to the first book Left Behind. The narrative of the novel The Rapture includes events that take place during the first chapters of Left Behind and provides a backdrop story for the book Left Behind. The book was released on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 (6/6/6), which is the Number of the Beast, a concept that plays a large part later in the series. It takes place from 14 months before to the day of the Rapture. For the week of June 19, 2006, Publishers Weekly ranked it the 10th best selling book in the U.S.
Mark 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains Jesus' predictions of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and disaster for Judea, as well as Mark's version of Jesus' eschatological discourse. Theologian William Barclay described this chapter as "one of the most Jewish chapters in the Bible" and "one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament for a modern reader to understand".
Entering heaven alive is a belief held in various religions. Since death is the normal end to an individual's life on Earth and the beginning of afterlife, entering heaven without dying first is considered exceptional and usually a sign of a deity's special recognition of the individual's piety.
Hades, according to various Christian denominations, is "the place or state of departed spirits", borrowing the name of Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. It is often associated with the Jewish concept of Sheol. In Christian theology, Hades is seen as an intermediate state between Heaven and Hell in which the dead enter and will remain until the Last Judgement.
The katechon is a biblical concept which has subsequently developed into a notion of political philosophy.
In Christian eschatology, Antichrist refers to a kind of person prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist is found four times in the New Testament, solely in the First and Second Epistle of John. Antichrist is announced as one "who denies the Father and the Son."
In Christianity, heaven is traditionally the location of the throne of God and the angels of God, and in most forms of Christianity it is the abode of the righteous dead in the afterlife. In some Christian denominations it is understood as a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third Person of the Trinity, a triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each being God. Nontrinitarian Christians, who reject the doctrine of the Trinity, differ significantly from mainstream Christianity in their beliefs about the Holy Spirit. In Christian theology, pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit. Due to Christianity's historical relationship with Judaism, theologians often identify the Holy Spirit with the concept of the Ruach Hakodesh in Jewish scripture, on the theory that Jesus was expanding upon these Jewish concepts. Similar names, and ideas, include the Ruach Elohim, Ruach YHWH, and the Ruach Hakodesh. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is identified with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete (helper).
References
- ↑ Slade, Dr Darren M. (2022-09-29). "Rapture Anxiety: The Disgraceful History of Prophecy Pundits and Harmful Apocalyptic Hysteria". GCRR. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- 1 2 3 4 Willingham, A. J. (2022-09-27). "For some Christians, 'rapture anxiety' can take a lifetime to heal". CNN. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ↑ "Rapture anxiety is a thing". Washington Post. 2023-04-21. ISSN 0190-8286 . Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ↑ "Matthew 24:36 - "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even..." Bible Study Tools. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
- ↑ “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” —1 Thessalonians 4:17 ESV
- ↑ "The Rapture". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
- ↑ "Orthodox Christian Teaching on the Rapture: Is the Rapture in the Bible?". St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church Bellingham, Washington. Retrieved 2024-01-03.