Content from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eschatology (from Gr. eskhatos, last) is literally means the study of the eschaton, a "discourse about the last things", a doctrine concerning life after death and the final stage of the world. In Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Rastafari, and in Norse pagan theology, eschatology is a theology concerning the end of the world, as predicted in the prophecies of these faiths, and as recorded in their sacred texts. In other religions, especially the western monotheistic faiths, it is study of general afterlife concepts. In this broader sense, eschatology can refer to the messiah, a messianic era, the afterlife, and the soul in religions which have such beliefs

The term eschatology is also used in a more popular sense as a synonym for the “science” behind the calculations to find out the timing of what many Christians believe to be the imminent second coming of Christ. When comparing various interpretations of the book of Revelation and other prophetic parts of the Bible, such as the Book of Daniel, and various sayings of Jesus in the Gospels, Christians discuss endlessly the order of events leading to and following the return of Jesus, and the religious significance of these events.


Origins

The origin of this doctrine is as old as humanity. The belief in a coming destruction of the world by fire or flood is found among groups in the Pacific islands as well as among American aborigines; this belief probably did not originate in astronomical speculation, but was rather engendered by some terrifying earthly experience of the past. Such devastating natural phenomena as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and epidemics have always suggested the possibility of the end of the world. Often myths of astrological origin, the concept of retribution, or the hope of deliverance from present oppressions provided the material or motive for highly developed eschatologies. The belief in judgment after death was introduced when standards of right and wrong were established according to particular tribal customs. The oldest known is attributed to Zoroastrianism which had developed by 500 B.C a concept of the end of the world as being devoured by fire.