What Is Eschatology?

Eschatology is the theological study of the last things — the consummation of God's purposes for creation, humanity, and redemption. The word comes from the Greek 'eschaton,' meaning 'last' or 'end.' Eschatology addresses the ultimate destiny of individuals, the church, and the entire cosmos. Individual eschatology deals with death, the intermediate state, the resurrection of the body, and the final judgment. At death, the believer's soul goes immediately to be with Christ, while the unbeliever's soul goes to Hades or torment. At the resurrection, all bodies will be raised — the just to everlasting life and the unjust to everlasting contempt. Christ will judge every person according to their works. General eschatology deals with the return of Christ, the millennium, the final judgment, and the new heavens and new earth. Christ will return personally, visibly, and gloriously. The dead in Christ will rise first, then living believers will be transformed, and together they will meet the Lord in the air. After the millennium and the final rebellion of Satan, the Great White Throne judgment will occur, and God will create new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells. Different views exist on the timing of the rapture and the nature of the millennium. Premillennialism holds that Christ will return before a literal thousand-year reign. Amillennialism interprets the millennium symbolically as the present age. Postmillennialism expects the church to usher in a golden age before Christ returns. The biblical evidence strongly supports premillennialism, with its literal interpretation of prophecy and its understanding of God's promises to Israel. But all Christians agree on the essential elements: Christ is coming again, there will be a resurrection and judgment, and the redeemed will spend eternity with God while the lost face everlasting punishment. Eschatology is intensely practical. The hope of Christ's return motivates holy living: 'every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.' It provides comfort in suffering: 'the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.' It gives urgency to evangelism: 'the night is far spent, the day is at hand.' And it produces patient endurance: 'he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.' A Christian without eschatology is a Christian without hope. The knowledge that Christ will return, that death is not the end, and that God will make all things new is the anchor of the soul in a world of turmoil and decay.