Grundinformation Eschatologie

This textbook offers a broad systematic introduction to eschatology in the perspective of hope. The first part introduces the history of the various approaches and answers basic questions. The second part concerns the reasons for eschatological statements in the light of important aspects of the doctrine of God and Christ. The third part is devoted to different concepts of the relationship between eternity and time, space and infinitude as well as the question of what is good, true and beautiful.The first two main sections concern the Penultimate Things, including “The Future of the World,” “The Death of Man,” and “The Future of Society,” as well as the Final Things, including “The Second Coming of Christ,” “The Resurrection of the Dead,” “The Judgment Day,” and “The Completion of the Kingdom of God.” The author looks particularly at the ethical, pastoral and liturgical implications of the respective concepts of the future.This textbook is a thematic introduction to the most important positions and attitudes toward what can be said about human hope from a Christian perspective. The goal is to encourage readers to create their own opinions, tempered by exact methodology. By structuring the information thematically, the author is able not only to present the many different approaches and concepts of modern eschatology, but to put them in the perspective of the classical teachings of the Last Things – and finally to attempt a synthesis thereof. This is an important contribution to an important part of the study of systematic theology.