Visions of a Future A study of Christian Eschatology

Description

Editor’s Preface.9 Introduction. 11 Chapter 1: The Story of Hope in the Hebrew Scriptures . 15 1. A Seed of Hope in the Midst of Ambiguity.16 2. A Paradigm ofHope.18 a) Call and Covenant.18 b) A Crisis of Hope.19 c) Hope andHistory. 21 d) Ambiguity and Hope.22 3. The Mosaic and DavidicCovenants. 23 a) The Exodus Experience.23 b) The Monarchy.24 4. Prophecy.26 a) Prophecy in the pre-Exilic Period.26 b) Development of the Theme of Hope.27 5. Late Development of JewishThought. 29 a) Wisdom Literature . 29 b) Sheol.30 c) Apocalyptic.31 1) The Problem ofApocalyptic. 31 2) Apocalyptic in the Hebrew Scriptures. 36 3) Theological Significance of Apocalyptic. 38 6. Conclusions on the Hebrew Scriptures.39 Chapter 2: The Story of Christian Hope.43 1. Jesus and the Kingdom of God..44 a) The Centrality of the Kingdom.44 b) Nuances of the Kingdom-Metaphor. 45 c) The God of theKingdom. 47 d) A Kingdom of Love.50 e) The Death of Jesus.50 2. TheResurrection. 52 3. Early Christian Expectation.56 4. Eschatology in the Gospel of John.59 5. Other Apocalyptic Material.62 a) The Synoptic Gospels and the Petrine Epistles. 62 b) Revelation.64 6. Conclusions on the Christian Development.66 Chapter 3: Philosophical Basis for Systematic Eschatology.69 1. Anthropological Reflections.71 a) The Phenomenon of Human Transcendence. 71 b) Time and Historicity.80 c) Relation.87 2. Language of the Future and Eschatological Symbols. 89 a) The Nature of Eschatological Language.89 b) Eschatological Language as Non-Literal Discourse.91 c) Limits and Function of Eschatological Language.93 Chapter 4: Eschatology and Individual Destiny. 96 1. The Theology of Death.97 a) The Biblical Tradition.97 b) Death in the Theological Tradition .101 1) Death andSin.101 2) Death as Separation of Soul and Body .102 3) Death as End of Personal History.103 c) Death in Contemporary Theology.105 2. Related Questions.109 a) Death and Sin.109 b) Death andJudgment.110 c) Death and Purgation.Ill d) Christian Piety: Suffrages for the Dead .119 e) Limbo.119 Chapter 5: History and Eschatology.126 1. Theology of History.126 a) The Roman Catholic Debate.126 1) The Incarnationalists.127 2) Eschatologists.128 3) The Need for a Dialectical Understanding .129 b) Christian-Marxist Dialogue.131 c) Vatican II on the Christian in the World .133 d) Further Discussion among Contemporary Theologians.134 2.The Absolute Future and the Eschatological Reserve.142 Chapter 6: The End of History.155 1. The Delay of the Parousia.155 2. Apocalyptic in the Theological Tradition .156 3. The Parousia as a Symbol of the End of History.160 4. Resurrection and the Interim-State.163 5. The Coming of Christ, Judgment, and Signs of the End .166 a) Parousia and Judgment.167 b) Signs of theEnd.173 Chapter 7: The Final Condition.178 1. Definitive Failure: Hell and the Problem of Universal Salvation.178 a) Official Teaching of the Church.178 b) Scriptural Basis.180 c) Early Christian Developments.180 d) Universal Salvation in Contemporary Thought .183 e) Reincarnationalism.185 f) The MajorityReport.186 2. The Kingdom of EternalLife.189 a) BiblicalSymbols.190 b) Dimensions of Life withGod.192 1)Communion.192 2) Christological and Trinitarian Dimensions .193 3) Beatific Vision.196 c) Cosmic Dimension of the Final Condition.198 Index ofNames.207 Index of Topics.209 Index of Scripture References.211