Eschatology, Articles on

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ESCHATOLOGY, ARTICLES ON

The general articles in eschatology are: eschatology (in the bible); eschatology (in theology). Classically, eschatology was the science of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. Individual articles on these topics include death (in the bible); death (theology of); death, preparation for; judgment, divine (in the bible); judgment, divine (in theology); purgatory; dead, prayers for the; parousia; end of the world; resurrection of the dead; heaven (in the bible); heaven (theology of); beatific vision; hell (in the bible); hell (theology of). Scripture scholarship of the late 19th and 20th centuries focused the question of eschatology on Jesus' preaching of the Kingdom; for the history of this line of thought and its conclusions, see eschatologism; kingdom of god. More generally, the meaning of Christian eschatology has been broadened to include the fulfillment of human life and the world not only at death or at the end of history, but as it has been accomplished in Jesus Christ and as it affects the present. This perspective is reflected in such articles as history, theology of; creation; ecology; theology of hope.

[g. f. lanave]