Eschatology: The Myth of End Times
By CASPER DAMIEN
“Don’t fall into the temptation of this
world, this world is evil. God loves you, repent and be baptized again in the
name of Jesus Christ and receive him in your life as your personal savior and
you will be saved because the End of the World is near.”
The story of the End of the World or the
Second Coming of Jesus is very interesting and at the same time it’s
frightening. This topic is very much part of Christianity. All Christians
believe the Second Coming of Christ and this world will come to end. It’s
recorded that Christianity as a world religion has 2.18 billion Christians or
followers of Jesus Christ in the world today. While the total population of the
world is about 7.5 billion people. Besides Christianity as a world religion, other
major religions of the world including Islam has 1.62 billion followers known
as Muslims, Hinduism about 1 billion followers, Buddhism about 500 million followers
and Judaism has about 15 million followers in the world today. The irony is
that if only Christians believe in the Second Coming of Jesus as End of the world
and only Christians be saved, how about the rest of the followers of the world religions.
Are they going to be saved or damned to hell? Already this is what Christianity
implied to other world religion. Where is the logic? Is this erroneous
itself?
To understand the Second Coming of Christ,
this topic should be discussed in detail because it is very much part of Christian
sect teaching. To understand this issue it is very important to introduce to
you this term “Eschatology”. What is Eschatology?
The term eschatology from Gk. eschton
“last things.” The biblical perspective concerning events to take place in the
last days. (see Heb. 1:2; Isa. 2:2-4; Hos. 3:5 “later days”). While the Old
Testament highlights the future of the community (Israel), the New Testament pays
special attention to the destiny of the individual. In the Old Testament the
idea of eschatological event is established when God made his covenant with his
chosen people on Mt. Sinai (after delivering Israel
from Egypt).
God’s dealings with Israelites through the prophets of the promise and God’s
future contact with Israel,
usually through the so-called “Day of the Lord” (or Day of Judgment) is the
eschatological expression of this idea. For the prophets the Day of the Lord
represented salvation, hope, and vindication for the righteous as well as
judgment and doom for the unrighteous.
The New Testament, which reaffirms the Old
Testament concept of the Day of the Lord, broadens it as well. The Day of the
Lord is taken to mean the First and Second Coming of Jesus. Both Jesus and
Apostle Paul incorporated their concern for the future within the general
framework of their teaching and preaching. Shortly before Jesus’ trail and
death, Jesus told his disciples about the destruction of the temple. Jesus
explained that certain signs were to be seen before the destruction of the
temple and the end of the age (Mk. 13 par.). In the early letters of Paul, he
attempted to correct
misunderstandings concerning Christ’s return, a subject he
evidently discussed with the Thessalonian believers on his second missionary
journey. While reminding them for Jesus’ Second Coming (1 Thess. 1:10), Paul
deemed that it is necessary to point out both raised dead and those still alive
would together meet the lord “in the air” (4:17) at an unknown time (5:2, “like
a thief in the night”). When the Thessalonian believers did not believe in what
Paul was saying about the Second Coming of Jesus, in his second letter to them
he repeatedly warned the believers concerning the Day of the Judgment to come
(see Metzger 1987: 348).
In the New Testament, it presents the two
aspects of the eschatology; the present and the future. In the Present
Eschatology, both Jesus and Paul distinguished between present idea of the
kingdom as “realized kingdom (eschatology). Mark preserves Jesus pronouncement
at the beginning of his Galilean ministry: “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in
the gospel” (Mk. 1:14; cf. Matt. 4:17). In Paul’s other passages of his letter
he urged believers to accept Christ, for he perceives that salvation is very
near (Rom. 13:11-14; “at hand,” Phil. 4:5). In the Future Eschatology, there
were indications in many passages that Christ who by bearing the sins of the
people made salvation possible (Heb. 9:26), will return one day to complete his
work of redemption (e.g., v.28; 10:25; Jas. 5:7-9; 1 Pet. 1:5). Christ who
ascended to heaven forty days after his resurrection (Acts. 1:3, 11), promised
to return with power and glory (Matt. 24:30; cf. 1 Thess. 4:16-17, visible to
all (Rev. 1:7). Though Jesus and Paul thinking of the imminence of this event,
both cautioned against calculating an exact date for the Second Coming of Jesus
(Matt. 24:27, 36; 1 Thess. 5:2) (Metzger 1987: 348).
The idea of the Second Coming of Jesus
(Return of Christ) also implied the resurrection of the human body or dead.
Paul wrote the Thessalonians that Jesus whom he believed to have died and risen
again (1 Thess. 4:14), would at his return raise those “asleep,” along with
those still alive (vv. 14-18). To the Corinthians Paul explained that since
Christ arose from the dead (1 Cor. 15:4), he would rise to life, when he comes,
those who belong to him (v. 23). When Jesus comes salvation will be only for
the righteous and doom for the unrighteous. Jesus told his disciples that at
the Day of the Judgment all the people will be gathered together into two
groups-those who would receive life eternal and inherit the kingdom of God
because they are righteous, and those who would endure eternal punishment since
they had failed to perform good works (Matt. 25:31-46). In John’s account,
Jesus proclaims a resurrection to either life of judgment, depending on whether
one has done good or evil (Jn. 5:28-29; cf. Rev. 20:12-15). Paul teaches the
similar type of judgment (Rom.
2:1-11; cf. Gal. 6:7-10) (see Metzger 1987: 349).
In the similar mode like Apostle Paul, for pastors
and street preachers, many preached that we are in the last days and Jesus is
coming soon. Current world issues of wars and killing of people, massive
natural disasters, greenhouse effect and climate change, HIV/AIDS, Political
dominance of one nation as supper power, massive technological development and
increase of knowledge today is the Signs of Time as the End of the World is
near. Their message is “The end of the world is near so repent and be baptized
again and take Jesus as your personal savior.” Eternal life with God in Heaven
for the righteous and Hell for those who are unrighteous. That is to imply that
when God had taken His chosen people to live with Him in Heaven and Jesus has
taken his eternal throne, God will then destroy the heaven and earth and create
new heaven and earth which the righteous will enjoy complete redemption of God
in it.
Is the myth of the second coming of Jesus
real? For Christians, its real and the answer is yes, but for other world
religions who do not believe in Jesus Christ, for them this issue of send
coming of Jesus is not real. And so where do we draw the line?