Eschatology is quickly becoming my favorite theological sub-field. It is the study of the end. Eschatology, the word, is the combination of two Greek words, εσχατος which is an adjective meaning last or in regards to time, the end. (Middle Liddell) The second word is λογος which is best understood here to mean thought. Eschatology is the thought of the end. So to ask if there is an end or in what way will the end come or even what will the end actually end? These are eschatological questions. The answers we have to these questions are hugely influential in the way we live today. In my experience and reflections I have found we live in direct consequence to our eschatological beliefs. This entry will illustrate a bit of why I enjoy this field and where I may go in it in subsequent entries.
Human history tells me that my lifespan will be painfully short compared to the roughly 5000 year timetable established by known written record (please note this comment has nothing to do with the age of the Earth it simply looks at the human written record THANKS). In that time civilizations have been built on the backs of great cities, religions, and armies. Those same civilizations have been toppled by other greater civilizations with other armies, cities, and religions. Summerian, Egyptian, Maya, Shang, Babylonian, Persian, Qin, Greek, and you know the rest right? Maybe you've read about the fall of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258? You could have read about the show down between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century BC. You could even have a good grasp of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and/or Teddy Roosevelt and we could agree that great men have come before us. When you look at these civilizations, events and men I hope you see that despite the monuments these have all come to an end. We may still invoke the Rough Rider's spirit or even explore the language of Plato (it's not as crazy as it sounds) but in doing so we confess that something or someone of consequence came before us. If we are humble enough that confession will lead us to believe that other events and people of consequence will come after us. I digress though. In the midst of human history we will sometimes find hope for today, but if we look to closely or for too long we may see our own mortality. It is our reaction to our own mortality that gives detail to our eschatological beliefs.
Yesterday I tuned in to watch a bit of the National Geographic channel. I have always enjoyed paging through the magazine and figured the televised form would be as good. I was lucky enough to tune in while the channel was airing a show called Doom's Day Preppers. The premise of the show is that the people on the show have spent extraordinary amounts of time, energy, and money in preparing for big bad events like EMPs, solar flares, big floods, zombies, or the neighbor coming over asking for another stick of butter (okay we only do that here at my house). Seriously though these families take their six year olds to the shooting range, forgo vacation plans, build castles out of cinder blocks, and fire 19th century cannons in gas masks in their spare time. After I rolled my eyes for the upteenth time and finally changed the channel I asked my dad why we did not have a bomb shelter. We both agreed life was better spent in human relationship where we had to learn to trust those around us like our neighbor who never seems to buy enough (or any) butter. The people on that show display a very common interpretation of our mortality. You only live once. You better do it all now because after this life you just sit in the ground for a few months and decay. Make your impact now, go on that adventure now, because you may be dead tomorrow. The s*&t could really hit that fan tomorrow so be ready for it if you want to continue living. Learn to shoot a gun because your neighbor will want more than butter from you then. An eschatology that starts with fear manifests in both the bizarre preppers we see on tv and the arrested potential all around us.
Fear halts genuine communication. If this is it and you only get what you get here out of life than of course you fear the end. You have no idea when it is coming or in what way. You could go down guns blazing against a horde of fiery zombie spike-beasts that have no eyes (highly unlikely though). Maybe you'll grow old and pass in your sleep. No amount of material preparing can prevent the black cloak from coming to your door. For now I hope my neighbor needs more baking goods because I enjoy the conversation.
