| An area of Theology and Philosophy concerned with the final events of history or the ultimate destiny of humanity. |  |
This seemingly complicated and scary sounding word is concerned with the end of the world – so it is actually rather scary! The word comes the greek eschtos meaning “last” and logy meaning “the study of”. Many religions have become involved in discussing and theorising about what will happen when this world ends; In Hinduism there is a belief in a cyclical sequence of eons; Judaism considers these matters in the Book of Daniel; Islam believes in a day of Judgement and Christianity focuses on the Parousia, judgement by God and the resurrection of the dead.
A common notion that many religions share is that the end of this world will provide an opportunity to right the wrongs of this life; those who are evil will be punished and those who have been wronged in the life will receive justice. This is seen most obviously in Christianity in passages such as the The Sheep and the Goats, The Story of Dives and Lazarus and The Beatitudes. The last of these is a series of statements made by Jesus about what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like and what attitudes people should cultivate here on earth. Statements such as: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek; they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. These statements all give the sense that no matter what this current life is like, God will make amends in the next.
A common notion that many religions share is that the end of this world will provide an opportunity to right the wrongs of this life; those who are evil will be punished and those who have been wronged in the life will receive justice. This is seen most obviously in Christianity in passages such as the The Sheep and the Goats, The Story of Dives and Lazarus and The Beatitudes. The last of these is a series of statements made by Jesus about what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like and what attitudes people should cultivate here on earth. Statements such as: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek; they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. These statements all give the sense that no matter what this current life is like, God will make amends in the next.
Karl Marx For some this thinking is wishful and naïve at best and deceitful and controlling at worst. Karl Marx famously suggested that “Religion is the Opiate of the people” – by this he meant that religion numbs people by proposing that that their lot will be better in the end if they stay subservient to the Bourgeoisie. George Orwell takes up this idea in Animal Farm in the character of Moses, the tame Raven. He suggests to the other animals that although they are suffering now all will be made OK when they die and go to Sugar Candy Mountain where clover is in season all year and sugar lumps grow on trees. Towards the end of the story he helps the pigs to suppress the other animals by pedalling this myth and so makes them work all the harder.
Do you think that the Problem of Evil will be solved by the next life? Or do you think Eschatological thinking is tantamount to wishful thinking?
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