Eschatological Hope Research Articles

The Contribution of Eric Mascall to Theodicy and (Possibly) Providence

AbstractThis article explores Eric Mascall’s contribution to theodicy and (possibly) providence. It offers a taxonomy of Christian responses to the problem of evil: those which see suffering as instrumental to the purposes of God, those which see suffering as inevitable within the purposes of God, and those which see suffering as inimical to the purposes of God. It offers a critique of all three families of such responses. It then locates Mascall’s theodicy on that ‘map’. It argues that Mascall’s proposal, if accepted, removes the main argument against the inimical family of responses, which it sees as fitting best with the healing ministry of Jesus, as being most unambiguously committed to the goodness of God, and as being the most pastorally sensitive of the three categories. It also raises, without advocating, the possibility that all divine action may be indirect, thus safeguarding the non-coerciveness of God without compromising eschatological hope.

구약성경에 나타난 부활 - 시편을 중심으로

This article explores the theme of resurrection in the Old Testament. Since it is already established that there is no evident testimony of the resurrection in the Old Testament except in the Books of Daniel and 2 Maccabees, I just summarize the existing interpretations of these texts. In addition, I observe that some texts such as Hos 6:2, Isa 26:19, Ez 37:1-14, Job 19:25-27, which do not explicitly mention the theme of resurrection, are interpreted with reference to it in the New Testament and in the patristic teachings. I also consider the possibility of interpreting the immortality in the Book of Wisdom in connection with the corporal resurrection. In the case of the Psalms, some texts are interpreted in connection with the resurrection, but the Hebrew texts have no explicit reference to this theme. I examine the possible references to the resurrection in Psalms 1, 16, 49, 73, and 149. These psalms explore the prospects of the future in different contexts, such as the problem of retribution not realized in this life, the prosperity of the wicked, the inevitability of death, and the final judgment, and begin to conceive of hope beyond death. The hope for the resurrection in these texts is not evident, but they approach the hope beyond death. A certain eschatological hope begins to emerge. The Septuagint, the New Testament, and the interpretations of the Church Fathers also read the hope for the resurrection in these psalms. While the hope for the resurrection emerged gradually in the Old and New Testaments, the Psalms constituted moments in which the hope germinated. In later years commentators with more developed beliefs in the resurrection reinterpreted these psalms from their own perspective.

Persepsi Alkitab Mengenai Eskatologi Khususnya Dalam PL

The Welhausen group teaches that eschatology is a concept that first appeared before the current post-exilic era. Many Bible scholars admit that the concept of God is closely related to the history of the salvation of the Israelites and gives them eschatological hope. The vision of eschatology in the Old Testament is a unique phenomenon that occurred in the Israeli nation and is not found outside of Israel because eschatology did not appear in religious communities that doubted God's guidance. Eschatology is the religious belief of the Israeli people which grew from their faith in God who provided salvation for their people

Ontological ekphrasis Elena Shvarts’ poem “Memory of the Fresco of Fra Beato Angelico ‘Baptism’ at the Sight of the Head of John the Baptist in Rome”

Scientific interest in the problem of ekphrasis and the peculiarities of ekphrastic description has increased over the past decades. The article analyzes the ekphrastic poetics of E. Shvarts’ poem “Memory of Fra Beato Angelico’s fresco ‘Baptism’ at the sight of the head of John the Baptist in Rome”. The aim of this article is to identify the intermedial correlation of the verbal level with the visual level, revealing the ontological ekphrasis in this poem. The author of the article examined how the three levels of the image in the poem correlate in their ratio: artistic text, frescoes’ visual images, and symbolism (cultural codes). Ontological ekphrasis helps the poet find new ways to reveal traditional Christian themes. Visual images of the early Renaissance fresco acquire an ontological status in the text (dove, “rose,” gray color, water, fog, coal [fire], flower, river, blood, wine, relics [the head of John the Baptist], Lapis Niger, dawn). Through symbols and cultural codes, these images reveal the metaphysics of Baptism from a historical, cultural, and modern perspective, leaving the reader with options for interpretation. In the spirit of the early Renaissance artist himself, Shvarts ontologically recodes the medieval symbolism of Baptism, immersing it into thereality, perceiving Christian history as a struggle of life and death, culminating in the eschatological hope of the Second Coming of Christ. Fra Angelico turned out to be in tune with Shvarts precisely as an artist of the early Renaissance, in the painter’s movement of medieval mysticism to Renaissance ontologism and humanism.

Beyond Hope: Evaluating Ecotheological Models with Respect to the Anthropocene and Eschatology

Christianity’s traditional eschatology and its belief in a new heaven and earth stand in sharp contrast with escalating concern over the devastating effects of the Anthropocene and our knowledge of the cosmos’ origins and future direction. While traditional eschatology maintains unassailable hope in a new creation, environmentally focused organisations provide grim scientific predictions regarding the extent, duration, and ferocity of climate change. The theological reflections of numerous scholars on these matters are yielding alternative ecotheologies that seek to better align the church’s response to the needs of the climate crisis. In this paper, I categorise four models of ecotheology from these alternatives and assess their fitness to respond to both the witness of scripture and to the climate crisis. This evaluation reveals stark distinctions in the approaches each model engenders, with meaningful consequences for the church’s impact on ecological crisis. I suggest the adoption of a revised eschatological hope that calls for the church’s active engagement to build the Kingdom of God in our midst and to yield a more positive future for creation.

Afrofuturist Worlds: The Diseased Colonial Imagination and Christian Hope

This article argues that the cultural tradition of Afrofuturism offers one potential solution to the diseased Christian colonial imagination diagnosed in the work of Willie James Jennings. This diseased imagination buttresses structures of domination after colonization and creates the self-sufficient white man as an anthropological norm. Afrofuturism names an emerging cultural tradition across different media that explores potential futures in response to Black suffering. As a conversation partner for this tradition, the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx critically engages the eschatological images of the New Testament to depict Christian discipleship as practical world building. This praxis dismantles violence threatening the humanum, the new humanity announced by Jesus of Nazareth. As an example of the potential resources offered by Afrofuturism, Janelle Monáe’s multi-media Dirty Computer project evinces a practical hope reimagining social life and humanity beyond the world built by colonization, thus inspiring a decolonial Christian praxis based on eschatological hope.

Spirituality of Artistic Service

In the document Letter of his Holiness Pope John Paul II to Artists, John Paul II pointed out that artists, with their creation, perform a professional social service for the benefit of the common good through the “spirituality of artistic service”, which, through the perspective of “educational art,” contributes to the life and revival of the individual and society. Since that document does not specify what a model of such spirituality would consist of, the goal of this paper is to offer a proposal for the theoretical elaboration of its potential framework. The topic is discussed from the perspective of Christian theological aesthetics. The starting point for the development of the spirituality of the artistic service model is Christian artistic creation. The indicated theoretical framework of the spirituality of artistic service is based on three dimensions of Christian artistic creation. The first represents Christian artistic creation that points to the depths of the mystery of the sacred through Christian symbols. The second dimension of Christian artistic creation relies on the contemporary form of religious imagery in changed cultural circumstances in order to adequately present a transcendent perspective of the meaning of existence. The third dimension of Christian artistic creation awakens admiration in the recipients through artistic contemplation, thus enabling a spiritual transformation and serving as the bearer of eschatological hope. In the end, it is shown that this model of spirituality in artistic service can serve as a good theoretical framework for the implementation of three new dimensions of Christian art suitable for the contemporary cultural environment: mystagogic, existential, and contemplative.

Agnosticism and eschatological hope: Allard Pierson and hope beyond the moment of not-knowing

ABSTRACT Hope beyond certainty is a significant element in contemporary theological discourse after the death of God. This relation between hope and uncertainty is not new. In the nineteenth century, a growing number of intellectuals started to call themselves agnostic, but did not always end up in scepticism and nihilism. On the contrary, new ways to search for meaning and fulfilment in life beyond the traditional answers of institutional religions (i.e. the church) were explored. The Dutch intellectual Allard Pierson (1831–1896) is a good case in point. From a contemporary postsecular perspective and radical theology, this article argues that Pierson’s agnosticism should not be seen as an attitude of indifference, but as opening up the possibility for an eschatological hope beyond certainty. First, the (im)possibility of hope is discussed by debating the views of David Newheiser, Richard Kearney, and John D. Caputo. Second, the article analyses Pierson’s view by focusing upon hermeneutics instead of epistemology, an openness to transcendence, and imagination. The article thereby contributes to the understanding of nineteenth-century religious and secularisation developments as well as to contemporary theological debates on the (im)possibility of faith and hope after the death of God.

Where is God when it hurts? Theodicy from the pain of COVID-19

This article attempts to answer the question of God’s compassion during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Many people are asking questions about God’s care and love amid situations where they could not mourn the loss of the loved ones and find closure. African philosophy of death, mourning rituals and funeral ceremonies were curtailed or restricted by the government and therefore, mourners were left with wounds because they could not find closure for the loss of their loved ones. The aim is to point out that people are still mourning, as lockdown restrictions limited them from going through a grieving process, and that people, left with post-corona effects, are still asking the reality of God’s presence during times filled with pain. The interdisciplinary approach to the reality of situation, press releases and literature review are all combined to locate theodicy during the periods of pain. It is discovered that many who did not mourn and grieve culturally and religiously are still struggling emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. Bereavement processes that were muzzled, can still be addressed theologically. Theodicy, as a theological concept, is utilised as a tool to strengthen faith and hope. Hope remains an anchor that keeps humanity floating above the circumstances. Eschatological hope remains the pillar when COVID-19 is deemed as a contradiction to the goodness of God. The conclusion is that, although the character of God such as love, kindness, empathy et cetera, is questioned, the reassuring message remains that God continues to comfort, guide and heal despite crises facing humanity. Humanity still needs post-grief healing and closure in order to reimagine and reassert normality of life.Contribution: The author aims to highlight the importance of healing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to answer the question of theodicy during the crises. How does one reconcile the goodness of God and the devastation of a pandemic during and after sufferings the world has experienced when one’s socio-cultural structures are challenged?

Transcendent accountability: Construct and measurement of a virtue that connects religion, spirituality, and positive psychology

ABSTRACT Welcoming accountability is a responsive and responsible virtue that can be shown in relation to people or to God, a higher power, or transcendent guide. Our interdisciplinary team defined transcendent accountability (TA) and developed a 10-item scale using classical and item response theory methods. Across diverse US samples (total N = 990) the scale exhibited internal consistency, construct validity, incremental validity, known-groups validity, and test-retest reliability. TA showed positive correlations with religious and spiritual variables, transcendent virtues (gratitude to God, eschatological hope), human virtues (gratitude, accountability, forgiveness), relationality (agreeableness, empathy), responsibility (conscientiousness, self-regulation), values-congruent autonomy, meaning, and flourishing. It had inverse correlations with negative attitudes and symptoms (personality disorder, anxiety, depression), and weak associations with searching for meaning and social desirability. TA predicted unique variance in spiritual flourishing, meaning, and relational repair. Transcendent accountability is a valuable construct that complements gratitude to God (GTG) and advances positive psychology.

Lucy Cogan, <i>Blake and the Failure of Prophecy</i>

The central claim of Lucy Cogan’s Blake and the Failure of Prophecy is that the defeat of Blake’s eschatological hopes in the mid-1790s compelled him to reinvent his prophetic myth throughout his career. This claim hinges on the assumption that Blake believed himself to be a prophet whose communication of inspired truths could help instigate social change. In Cogan’s view, Blake sees his role or “duty” through the lens of the pre-exilic Hebrew prophets, whose pronouncements were “a kind of action designed to bring about the future” (v-vi), a future that was “to some extent negotiable between God, [the] prophet and [the] people” (18). Cogan uses this lens to interpret the development of Blake’s work in the 1790s. She argues that he moves from a politically nuanced approach in The French Revolution, one in accord with the pre-exilic prophetic model, to a more deterministic mode in “A Song of Liberty” and America a Prophecy, a mode she describes as “apocalyptic.” But when the revolution is engulfed in violence and the predetermined climax of history fails to arrive (a failure depicted in Europe a Prophecy), he shifts to a cosmological explanation in the so-called Urizen books—​The First Book of Urizen, The Book of Ahania, and The Book of Los. These works feature Los as a fallen prophet whose complicity with Urizen in creating a flawed universe dooms prophecy to failure from the start. Blake seeks to resolve this impasse in Vala/​The Four Zoas, but his imposition of a Christian providential scheme brings a “transcendent” solution incompatible with the original zoa-emanation narrative. He must then reinvent himself a final time, aligning the transcendent and immanent dimensions of prophecy through Los’s merger with Blake himself, as depicted in the 22 November 1802 letter to Thomas Butts and later incorporated into Milton and Jerusalem.

Theology of Land: Reflections and Dialogue from a South African Socio-Political Perspective

This paper examines the current situation of land possession in the South African socio-political space. Land possession in South Africa is an emotive issue that receives different political responses based on historical constitutional land laws and declarations, such as the Freedom Charter of 1954. African views on land are elaborated, together with South African current political debates regarding land. Negative politics of the land leave the dispossessed humiliated, experiencing feelings of indignity and insentience. Being robbed of the land is humiliating, but the dialogue about regaining it should occur in the spirit of eschatological hope with one goal in mind: inheriting the land. The paper further elaborates a theology of the land and extensively explains its historical and biblical evolvement from the Abrahamic era to the period of exile. In the midst of tensions between colonial views of land and cultural clashes, eschatological hope is the route to take. Citizens are to be granted the rights and promises that lead to eschatological peace, which creates coexistence where life is fully experienced. Eschatological hope should not be read as opium with a calming effect or a soothing balm for people to endure injustice. It should be a message of hope for the restoration of quality of untrammelled joy on the fruitfulness of the land. All this is achievable through dialogue by and with all stakeholders regarding land issues. The contribution made by this article is the acknowledgement of the imbalances regarding the land issue, and it attempts to bring forth a theological understanding of land and how to apply it in the current South Africa.

The Aging Church: An Ecclesiological Construction Based on the Theology of Aging

This article proposes the concept of an aging church as an ecclesiological construction that is based on the theology of aging. It begins with a concern about the tendency of the church to measure its “success” through its productivity, hence forgetting to reflect upon its dependence on God. Using lit­er­ature analysis and constructive methods, this article combines the aging theology from Autumn Ridenour, Kevin Barnard, and several other theologians with the ecclesiology of John Zizioulas and Michael Jinkins. Analysis of aging theology and ecclesiology are used as the basis for constructing the “aging church”. The thesis of this article is that the church that is aware of its aging also realizes its relational identity in God which can be lived through appreciation of its passive agency in balance with its active agency, as it should be in an aging individual person. The aging church does not specifically refer to the age of the church, but to the relationship with God which invites the church to embrace the past through re­pen­tance, realize its relational identity in the present, and renew itself with an eschatological orientation toward the future. Finally, eschatological hope in the passive role of the church of this kind helps the church to see its movements during a pandemic, even a post-pandemic stage so that they are not trapped in non-essential productivity.

Evocative Translation and Theology of the Hebrew לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹםin Genesis 3:8

This study has examined the Hebrew expression לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם, "in the cool of the day" (NASB), to determine the correct translation, motif, and theology on the ground of the context. By the exegetical framework, the literary context and structure portray the discourse of the imminent judgment of God and the repercussion. The proposed translation because of the Spirit of the day adduces the motif of divine judgment with God appearing in theophany, the glory-Spirit presence. The particle לְ supports the causative motif (because) instead of the preposition in. The theophany, the voice of God, judicially provokes the first humans to appear sinful before God and receive divine remedy for their sin. In conclusion, the text foreshadows the eschatological hope of the coming Lord as Judge in the great day of judgment and hope for salvation.

Budućnost prožeta nadom

Despite valid criticisms and the challenge of definition, evangelicalism remains a real and vital coalition of like-minded Christians committed to the historic Christian faith both globally and in Croatia. Evangelical Christianity in Croatia has its distinct history, challenges, and needs for itas future, and its theologians will need to play a crucial role in the ongoing life and growth of evangelical churches. Four important areas are highlighted for the role of the theologian: commitment to scriptural teaching and discipleship in local churches; critical evaluation of outside influences; engagement with and contribution to the global evangelical faith, and engagement with wider Croatian society and Roman Catholicism. While some evangelicals approach the future with optimistic, pessimistic, or realistic approaches, the future of evangelical Christianity in Croatia is rather rooted in a hopeful view: the eschatological hope of the Gospel. The life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah Jesus and the gift of the eschatological Spirit to the church form the historical basis by which evangelical Christians in Croatia are called and empowered to live out their future hope in the present.

Of Springs and Living Stones: Psalm 87 and the Memory of Zion in Christian Preaching

Central to Hebrew Scripture traditions of covenant fidelity is Zion: the holy city Jerusalem, chief locus of ancient Judean worship and a pilgrimage site for countless believers. In many biblical texts, Jerusalem is personified as Daughter Zion: beloved of YHWH, ravaged by enemies, awaiting God’s glorious restoration. This essay focuses on the act of remembering Zion as a sacred practice fruitful for the Christian homiletical imagination. Exploring Zion traditions with their congregations, preachers can deepen the capacity of their hearers to respond to historical and contemporary traumas, build up global communities in justice, and bear witness to the eschatological hope of the Gospel. Psalm 87 is a powerful resource for Christian believers learning to envision Zion as the joyous kin-dom of all who love the Holy One.

Sleeping soul: A concept representation of metaphysical anthropology of the funeral traditions of Torajan people

The funeral tradition of the Torajan people is one of the most recognised funeral traditions in the world, a part of Indonesia’s rich indigenous knowledge. However, this particular tradition has been in decline over time because of the alienation caused by the spreading of Christianity. This research aimed to reinterpret metaphysical anthropology of the funeral tradition of the Torajan people using the concept of the sleeping soul from the narration of Jesus in Mark 5:35–42 and Daniel 12:1–3. The research used a qualitative approach with theological and ethnographic research types. The results of this study reveal that the concept of the sleeping soul in the biblical view can reinterpret metaphysical anthropology in the funeral tradition of the Torajan people as follows: (1) souls are eternal in the process of death, (2) souls of the deceased are helpless and (3) the sleeping soul is an eschatological hope for Christianity and Torajan people.Contribution: The aim of this research is to find a Christian metaphysical anthropology doctrine that is cordial to the funeral tradition of the Torajan people. The relationship between the two is that they have the same way of appreciating human existence metaphysically. This finding contributes to Christianity in the preservation of Torajan culture.

Young People’s Embodied Hope in Pandemic Threats

Abstract Young people today are both likely to bear the brunt of the long-term problems caused by the covid-19 pandemic and face other kinds of outbreaks or pandemics in the future. In that kind of unprecedented situation, the world offers us hope to recover from today’s pandemic and to prevent other outbreaks or pandemics in the future. This study will focus on a theological reflection on hope concerning pandemic threats offered in popular culture. Specifically, using the revised correlational method, this study will explore how the theological reflection on the concept of hope in Netflix’s Pandemic docuseries could help young people to live with an embodied hope in a pandemic threat. This theological reflection will offer embodied hope as a theological perspective for young people to embody their limitations as embodied beings while enacting their eschatological hope in pandemic threats.

Sovereignty Over Communion: Heterodox Salvation in Hobbes’s Leviathan

ABSTRACT This essay argues for a new understanding of Hobbes’s idiosyncratic depiction of eschatology in Leviathan, and for its relationship to his depiction of sovereignty. In his radical portrayal of salvation, the highest good is maintenance of physical existence free of physical harm. Communion with God is denied, on the basis of fellowship between God and humankind purportedly being inimical to divine sovereignty. Hobbes effectively reduces the affective experience of God to fear and the desire for self-preservation. This article contends that the political significance of Hobbes’s eschatological innovations is not only a matter of devaluing salvation so as to lessen its political threat. It is also a matter of locating the experience of earthly sovereignty, constituted by remoteness and power, in the eschaton as well as in this world. This transformation of the affectivity of eschatological hope, I argue, can be seen to shore up earthly sovereignty.

Luke/Acts and the End of History

Luke/Acts and the End of History