Das Bestehen des Kosmos vor dem Hintergrund frühjüdischer und frühchristlicher Apokalyptik

Abstract

Summary The New Testament offers different perspectives on the future of the cosmos. Apocalyptic worldviews like the ones in Rev 21, 1 Cor 15 or 2 Petr 2, suggest the end of the present world and the creation of a new one, concentrating mostly on the fate of the righteous. This perspective has some affinity to Stoic philosophy but also stands firm in Old Testament traditions. A different train of thought understands the redeeming work of Christ as a cosmic event and points to the continuous preservation of the whole cosmos. The Alexandrian Jew Philo and the deuteropauline author of Colossians combine the Hellenistic tradition of an eternal world, articulated already in Platonic cosmology, with Jewish and Christian belief. This latter perspective has some relevance for current debates on the preservation of nature and has recently been adopted by exegetical research within different hermeneutical perspectives. Present ecotheology can thus be bolstered not only by references to Gen 1 and 2 but also by texts...