Chatology

In the preceding section we have given a suney of eschatological ideas in the order of their historical attestation, and consequently, in large measure, of their actual evolution. By presenting the eschatological scheme of each \mter oy itself in that section, we have made it possible for the reader to see the various conceptions, such as Sheol, Gehenna, Messiah, Resurrection, in their actual organic relations and historical environment. In this section, however, we shall isolate several of these conceptions, and deal briefly with the various forms they assumed from B.C. 200 to A.D. 100 in Jewish circles. These conceptions are : the Last Woes, the Messiah, the Messianic Kingdom, the Return of the Dispersion, the Resurrection, Judgment, Sheol or Hades, Gehenna, Paradise, Heaven. The Last IKofts. — It ^^•ill be sufficient for our present purpose to mention the passages where these woes preluding the Messianic kingdom are recounted. These are : Dn 12', Or. Sibyll. 3™-»», 2 Mac 52- ', Jubilees 23"- "• », Apoc. Bar 27. 48"-'" 70, », 4 Ezr 51-" 6'«-»» 9'-" 13»-". For further in- formation the reader should consult Dnimmond, The Jeieish Messiah, in loc; Scliiirer, HJP II. ii. 154-156; Schoettgen, Hor. Hebr. ii. 509 sqq. 550 sqq. The Messiah. — As this subject will be treated under the general art. MESSIAH, we shall sketch here only its leading phases. i. The Messiah — conceived merely as a passive though supreme member of the Alessianic king- dom. He is so represented in Eth. En. 83-90, where his appearance is largely otiose, and due probably to literary reminiscence. He rules over a transhgured Israel, with the Heavenly Jerusalem set up as the centre of his kingdom, and his reign is apparently for ever. In the 1st cent, of the Chnstian era this conception reappears tT\ice in Apoc. Bar 27-30 where riis rule is of temporary duration, and in 4 Ezr 7^ (i.e. in the Ezra Apoc. See p. 747), where he dies after a reign of 400 years. In the second and third cases the Messiah appears after the Messianic woes and judgment ; in the third, simultaneously with the first resur- rection. ii. The Messiah — conceived as an active warrior, who slays his enemies with his own hand. This conception is attested in the Or. Sibyll. 3«2-«<»j which belongs to the 2nd cent. B.C. ; in the Pss. of Sol n'- ^, where the Messiah is to be of Davidic descent— but this book belongs properly to the next division ; in Apoc. Bar 36-40 ; also in another independent writing in the same book, 5S-74 ; 4 Ezr lO'"-!^". In the last the Messiah is of Davidic origin. In all these books save the first (?) the Messianic kingdom is of temporary duration. iii. The Messiah — conceived more loftily as one who slays his enemies by the word of his mouth, and rules by virtue of his justice, faith, and holi- ness (cf. Ps.-Sol 1727. »'• 87. s». 41) ^ similar concep- tion is found in 4 Ezr 13. In both writings his reign is probably of temporary duration. iv. Tlie Messiah — conceived as supernatural, as eternal Ruler and Judge of mankind (Eth. En. 37-70). This conception of the Messiah is logic- ally in some measure a development of that in the third division, and yet it is cnronologically ante- cedent to it. It is the most sublime conception oi the Messiah to be found in all Jewish literature outside the Canon. For further detaUs see above, p. 744«. Tlie Messianic Kingdom. — Three views in the main prevailed amongst the Jews as to this kingdom, i. It was to be of eternal duration, ii. It was to be of temporary duration, iii. There was to be no Messianic kingdom. i. The Messianic kingdom was to be of eternal duration. (a) On earth as it is (Eth. En. 1-36, Dn, Or. SibwU. S''-'^ (?)). (0) On a transformed earth and in heaven (Eth. En. 37-70). As the Messianic kingdom is here eternal, it is preceded in Palestinian literature by the resurrection and the final judgment. ii. The Messianic kingdom was to be of tem- porary duration on earth (Eth. En. 91-104, Ps.- hol 17. 18, 2 Mac, Jubilees, Slav. En., Assumption of Moses, Book of Wisdom, Apoc. Bar — parts A' A" A' B', — 4 Ezr — all parts but Salathiel Apoc). When the Messianic kingdom is of temporary duration, there appears to be no transformation of the earth. Tlie resurrection and final judgment take place at its close. The resurrection is all but universally a resurrection of the righteous only. Hence in many of these books the wicked are held to enter at once into their final abode. Thus Hades in these cases becomes Hell. iii. No Messianic kingdom expected [4 Mac (?), Apoc. Bar (B-), 4 Ezr, Salathiel Apoc.]. In these books man does not enter till after the last judgment on his final award. After death he meets with a foretaste of his final lot in Hades or Sheol. The Return from the Dispersion. — The promise that God would turn again the captivity of Israel is frequently made in the OT ; also in Sir 33" (AV 36"), To 13", Eth. En. 57"-' 90^, Or. Sibyll. 2170-m Bar 2"-» 4"" 5»-', Ps.-Sol 11, 2 Mac 2", Apoc. Bar 77 78' (cf. 84»- «• '»), 4 Ezr 13"- »»-", Targ. Jon. on Jer 33', and Shcmoneh Esreh : ' Lift up a banner to gather our dispersed, and assemble us from the four ends of the earth.' Yet Rabbi Akiba {Sank. 10), in the 2nd cent. A.D., denied this return. The Resurrection. — The resurrection is very variously conceived. The earliest attested view in the 2nd cent. B.C. is that of (a) the resurrection of all Israel (Dn 12'''). About the same period the doctrine of (b) the resurrection of the righteous only is taught in Eth. En. 83-90. Towards the close of the same century another writer looks forward, not to a resurrection of the body, but to (c) a blessed immortality of the soul or spirit after the final judgment (Eth. En. 91-104). These views hold the field throughout the next century, and it is not tin the 1st cent, of the Christian era that they are in some measure displaced by others. These latter, which are developments of the former, are ; (rl) a blessed immortality for the souls of the righteous after death. This is one side of the larger doctrine of an immediate and final retribu- tion after death afiecting only the soul or spirit ; (c) a general resunection of all mankind preceding the final judgment. (a) The resurrection of all Israel [Eth. En. 1-36 (.see 22), Dn 12'-«, Eth. En. 37-70 (see 51, etc.), 2 Mac V- "- »- etc. 12"-", Apoc. Bar (B") (see 24. 30=-»50. 51)]. In 2 Mac 12"-" the possibility of a moral change taking place in Sheol seems to be implied. (4) Tlie resurrection of the righteous only [Eth. En. 83-90 (see 90>)]. ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY r4s In this book the righteous liave no concern in the last judguient, and do not rise till it is over. (f) A blessed immortality for the souls of the righteous after the final judgment [Eth. En. 91-104 (see 103» 91'° 92» 104'- ••), Assumption of Moses (see W), Slav. En. (?), Eth. En. 108 (?)]. (rf) A blessed immortality for the souls of the righteous immediately after death [Jubilees (see 23), Philo, Book of \Visdom (see S'" 4'-'- "> etc.), 4 Mao (see 5" 9 13" etc.)], Essene doctrine accord- in" to josephus, BJu. viii. 11. Observe the expression in 4 Mac 13" davSvTat ■riims 'Appaifi. Kal 'laaiK Kal 'laKufi iiiroS^^oyTtu (cf. Lk le"). (e) Resurrection of all mankind [Apoc. Bar 30-"» 50-51, 4 Ezr (Ezra Apoc. See V"-"), Test. XII. Patr., Benj. 10]. Judgment. — Judgment is variously conceived, either as retribution which takes effect from day to day, or at great crises in national history, or as retribution which is universal and final. The last may take place either at the bei;iuning or the close of the Messianic kingdom, tn Apocalyptic literature little attention is paid to the hrst division. A most emphatic presentation of the doctrine of retribution in this life pervades 2 Mac and Jubilees. We shall here, however, confine our attention to judgment as coimected with the con- summation of the world. Now, in the last times there were generally two stages in this judgment. The former was executed by human agents, — the saints of Israel or these led by the ftlessiah, — and may be designated as the judgment by the sword, or, better, the Messianic judgment ; the latter was administered by God or, in one instance only, bv the Messiah, and constitutes in reality the final judgment. (o) The Messianic Judgment. — This judgment (1.) may be realistically conceived as involving the destruction of the wicked by the personal prowess of the Messiah or the saints; or (ii.) it may be forensically conceived : the word of the Messiah or of the saints j<idges or destroys the wicked. The latter form of judgment is obviously a develop- ment of the former, but the two are not always kept 5Pirt. I. The Messianic judgment realistically con- cfiivcu '. (a) Executed by the Messiah [Ps.-Sol 17. 18 (?), Apoc. Har 39. 40. 72. 73, 4 Ezr 12"-"]. (/9) Executed by the saints (Dn 2«, Eth. En. 90»» 91'" 96' 9S'», Or. Sibyll. 3"', Jubilees, Assump- tion of Moses 10). ii. The Messianic judgment forensically con- ceived : (a) Executed by the Messiah (Ps.-Sol 17. 18, 4 Ezr 13»»- »-"). (^) Executed by the saints (Book of Wisdom 3', ef. 1 Co 6»). (A) The Final Judgment. — This judgment is al- ways administered by God save in Eth. En. 37-70, where it is committed to the Messiah, the Son of Man. This judgment takes place either at the beginning of the Messianic kingdom or, where this kingdom is of temporary duration, at its close ; or, where no such kingdom is expected, simply at the end of this world (see section above on The Messianic Kingdom, p. 748''). As to Sheol, Gehenna, Paradise, Heaven, see the separate articles. LiTRRATi'RR.— Tlie Jewiah eacliatology of our period has been ^efttly nejilected In the post. Thin hwi been due partly to the ignornnce of Chritftian iK^holara, and partly to the delibi-rale i^noritift by Jewish Hcholara of thu chk'f sources of infonuation on this sutijcct, i.e. tlie Apocalyntic books. To Liickc, llil^cn- feld, and Urummond belongs, tn larjfe measure, the merit of emphasizing the importance of this literature. Drummond'e work, Th JnpxKh ilesnah, is a sjilcndid contriliution to our knowledge of Jewish tiiought, thougli much of it is no longer abreast of our knowledge of this subject. Schwally's Das Lewn nach dem Tode is very stimuLitin^ on this period, though fre- quently misleading. The reader maj' consult also Salmood'l Chrigtuin Doctrine o/ linmortatUy, and Stanton's The Jewiih and the Chrinlian Mettiah, where they deal with our subject. Abundant information, and copious, though undtscrimiiiatin^, references to authorities will be found in Schiirer, HJ P ll. ii. 126-187. Marti also {IJfuchuihte der Igra^iHUchen lUligion, pp. 270-310) is well worth consulting. The present writer hopes to edit, towards the close of next year (1898), a critical work on Jewish Eschatology from the earliest OT times down to A.D. 100. R. H. CIIA11LE.S. ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. — The eschatology of the NT attaches itself in the first instance to that of the OT. The Heb. Scriptures do not contain anything like a definite or complete doctrine of the things of the end. They are the records, however, of an im- portant contribution to the faith in a future life, and that contribution was an ever-enlarging one. It had its reason in the two fundamental articles of Israel's faith — the doctrine of one God : a living, personal, righteous, gracious God, who made Him- self known to His people and entered into fellow- ship with them ; ancf the doctrine of Man as a creature different in origin and in end from other creatures, the bearer of God's image, made for communion with God, and for life in that com- munion. These great truths, unfolding their meaning more and more, and acting on the popular conceptions of Death and the Hereafter which Israel had in common with the Babylonians and other nations, led by steps of gradual advance to a clearer, more determinate, and more moral concep- tion of existence beyond the grave. The experi- ences and intuitions of saints, the visions and forecasts and inferences of faith, seen in the poetical books, combined with thoughts and words of sublime suggestion occasionally found in the historical books, and with tlie more definite teach- ing of the prophets, to further this enlargement of belief and the march towards a definite doctrine. So the popular ideas of a dark Sheof with a chill attenuated existence in its sunless deeps gave way to higher views ; the thought of the lot of the individual jiisentangled itself from that of the destiny of the community ; the belief in a moral order with judicial awards following men into the other world took shape and became increasingly distinct ; and at last the faith and the teaching of the OT rose to the great hope of a resurrection to life. This eschatology of the OT, which grew from less to more in the course of I.srael's history, remained nevertheless incomplete at its highest, and pointed to something beyond itself. The eschatology of the NT became its heir, passing iievtmd its limits and carrying its principles to their issues. But the eschatology of the NT attaches itself also, tliough in anotlier way, to the popular faith of the Jew s of its time, and to certain develop- ments of thought and belief wliicli had taken place in the ]>eriod following tliat which i)roduce(l tlie last of the OT books. These ilevelopiiients were consiilerable. We gather what they were from the literature of Judaism which has de- scended to us, the Apoir. of the OT, to some extent tlie Rabbinical books, and most particularly the pseudepigraphic and ajiocalj'ptic writings. This literature furni.shes the key to much in tlie NT doctrine of the Last Things. It shows in what way the OT faith was retained and enlarged in harmony with its essenti.il principles ; in what way also it was materialized and sul)je<ted to changes wliich were not consistent with its true spirit ; in what directions belief became more positive ; and in what respects it became fanciful, speculative, grotesque ; how certain OT terms and ideas were modified in sense and ii|>plication, and in what mea.sure new terms and ideius were intro 750 ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY duced. The escliatology of the NT benrs the impress of these things. It cannot be understood apart from them. From much that emerged in this intervening period it stands aloof. Other things in this development, which were consistent witli the principles of the OT revelation, are reflected in it, purified of the gross, exaggerated, and unspiritual elements which mixed themselves with them. The eschatology of the NT is not given in systematic foim, neither is it expressed in the precise and measured language of metaphysics or theology. It appears in the shape of a number of ideas which are common to the NT books, but which are presented in different aspects and con- nexions by the several writers. It is given in occasional form, in Christ's words, the discourses in the Bk. of Acts, the records of evangelists, tlie Epistles of apostles, on the promptings of circum- stance" which from time to time called forth declarations in speech or in writing on the matters of the end. It is not given in the terms of the schools nor with a view to speculative interests, but always for the purposes of life and practice, and in the language of the people. It malces free use of the figurative, parabolic, imaginative phraseology in which the Eastern mind naturally expresses itself. It never claims to give an ex- haustive disclosure or a constructive account of tlie Last Things. The message of tlie NT also being distinctively a message of hope, the eschatology is occupied mainly with the issues of the kingdom of God and tlie destiny of the righteous. It says less of the graver issues of the future of the un- righteous. The eschatology of the NT being conveyed in this occasional and discontinuous form, we may best understand it by following out the great ideas as they appear first iu one and then in another of tjie main groups of writing.s. The fundameutal question is that of Christ's own mind on the subject. It will he convenient, therefore, to deal with the eschatology /rs< as it appears in Clirist's own words reported in the Gospels, and tlif.n as it is found in the teaching of the several divisions of the NT writings It will thus be seen whether or how far the NT has a consistent doctrine of the Last Things. I. Christ's Eschatology. — There are questions of criticism to which regard must be had in study- ing the eschatology of the NT. In the case of our Lord's teaching there is the debated question of what is primitive and what is secondary in the records of His woids, with the various tests pro- posed for distinguishing between the one and the other. It is impossible to enter at length into these things here. It is enough to say that the Bubstance of Christ's teaching will be found to be the same whichever of the leading theories of the construction of the Gospels is followed. Its main points belong to the large stream of narrative and discourse wnich is common to the first three Gospels, and in which the most primitive tradition is probably preserved. There is also the question of the relation in which the report of Christ's words given in the Fourth Gospel stands to that contained in the Synoptists. Of this it must soiiice to say that the difference in the form is a reason for taking the two accounts separately ; from which, however, it does not follow that there is an essential ditlerence between them. In the Synoptic Gospels the eschatology centres in the great idea of the Kinodom of Gk)D (which ■ee). Christ's whole disclosure of the Future has its point of issue in this doctrine of the Divine kingdom and its consummation. In this His teaching connects itself with the large ideas of the OT, carrying them further and fulfilling them. As the OT, too, in its conceptions of the future knew nothing of the philosophy of the subject and fvirnished no reasoned statement, but followed the logic of experience and the heart, giving no dogma of immortality, but the expression of a living felIo\xship with God which involved the continu- ance of life ; so Christ's teaching lies apart from all theoretic questions, all speculative discussions, all that is of curious interest, and deals with practical relations and broad moral issues. It offers no proof of the reality of a future existence, but presupposes it, and speaks of life as man's destiny. It unfolds the course of the Divine kingdom which had been the object of OT faith and the centre of OT hope. It presents that kingdom as a thing of the actual present, brought to men in and bj' the Teacher Himself, but also as a thing of the future which looks through all historical ful- filments to a completer realization, — a thing, too, of gradual, unobtrusive growth, jet destined to be finally established by a great conclusive event. Christ's whole teaching on the subject of the Last Things, as regards the Church, the world, and the individual, is connected with this lofty OT idea of a new order in which God shall be confessed to be Sovereign, and has regard to it in its primaij deliverances. Among these deliverances a large place is given to the promise of His own Return. In the OT the consummation of the Divine kingdom was to be brought about by a descent of God to earth, and in certain prophecies it was further connected with the coming of an ideal King, the agent of J ' in the fulfilment of His purpose. So Christ connects the completion of the kingdom with a decisive occur- rence, the great event of His own Parousia (Mt 043. 37. 39^ The time of this new interposition is not declared, it is not known even to the Son (Mt 24^ RV, Mk 13^' RV). But it is to come when the times are ripe for it. and there are prelusive tokens of it. This event of His coming is the burden of the great eschatological discourse in Mt 24. 25. in which there are problems both for criticism and for interpretation. In that discourse two distinct occurrences, the destruction of Jeru- salem and the end of the world, seem to be spoken of as coincident and as near. This is in accordance with the n.ature of biblical prophecy as it is seen in the OT, which brings together iu prophetic per- spective or ' timeless sequence ' events which were widely separated in actual occurrence (Is 8. 9, Zeph, Ob). It does not require for its explanation the affirmation of mistake on Christ's part (Strauss, Kenan, Keim, Weizsacker, S. Davidson, etc.), the supposition of misunderstanding or misreporting on the part of the evangelists (Baur, Colani, De ■yVette, Holtzmann, etc.), the limitation of the whole declaration to the single catastrophe of the fall of Jerusalem and the Jewish state (J. S. Russell, etc. ), the theory of a double coming, or the hypothesis either of a Jewish (Weizsacker) or of a Jewish-Christian (Colani, Keim, Pflciderer, Wendt, Weiffenbach, Vischer, etc.) apocalypse in the discourse. Nor is this form of statement confined to this particular section of the Synoptic Gospels. Sayings of similar import are given else- where (Mk IS-, Lk 218», Mt lU-^ IG'"- »; cf. also Mk 8» 9', Lk 9- "). In these Gospels, too, the Return appears to be an objective event, the ex- pre8.sion given to it being such as goes beyond any figurative description simply of the final victory of principles or the supersession of old forms of religion. In the Fourth Gospel the case is some- what different. It is the coming of the Sjiirit that chiefly appears there, and that m such measure as to suggest to many that only a dynamical coming is in view (Neander, Godet, etc.). Yet a distinc- tion is observed between the coming of the Spirit ESCHATOLOGY ESCIIATOLOGY rsi and Christ's coining, and there are passages in which the idea seems to be the same as that of the Synoptic records (14' 21=', cf. 1 Jn 2^). The Hrst point, tlierefore, in Christ's teaching on the subject of the future is the announcement of the objective event of His own Return. But His dechirations on this Parousia know nothing of the minute and fantastic inventions of Jewish theology, as seen in the Book of Enoch, the Assumption of Moses, the Sibylline Oracles, and similar products of Jewish thought, with their elaborate machinery of signs and portents and mystic numbers, their extrava- gant chronologies, their grotesque descriptions of the literal re-settlement of the Jews in taeir own land, their many eccentricities and ineptitudes. They know as little of those Chiliaxtic conceptions of the future, those curious calculations of the duration of Messiah's kingdom, those puerile ideas of the erection of a new Jerusalem on the ruins of the old, which took hold of the Jewish mind before Christian times, and, entering into Christian thought, gave shape to the doctrine of a millennial reign of Christ on earth which was to end in a great apostasy and to herald the consummation. With this doctrine of the second advent is associated the doctrine of a Final Judgment. This judgment is presented as the object of the coming;, and it occupies a place of like prominence in Christ's teacliing. It is expressea in various of His sayings, but at greatest length in the eschato- logicaf discourse in the First Gospel. According to the consentient teaching of the Synoptic Gospels, it is a judgment at the end of the world, a judgment of individuals (Mt 22'" etc.), a judg- ment of universal scope (Mt IS"-*- "-" 16-'' 25' etc.), and a judgment in which Christ, the Son of Man, is Himself to be the Judge (Mt 25^' etc.). In the Fourth Gospel the judgment appears for the most part under anotner aspect. In that Gospel the emphasis is laid upon a judgment which la present and subjective, fuUilling itself in a probation of character and a self-verdict which proceed now (3"' " 12"' *). But this subjective judgment of the present in life and conscience is not inconsistent with an objective judgment of the future. And the latter is not strange to the Fourth Gospel. The Johannine phrase 'the last day ' (12") points to it, and it is contained in such words as those in 5"- ^ (cf. 1 Jn 2'^ 4", in which Johannine writing the judgment is connected, as in the Synoptists, with Cbrist's coming). "The doctrine of a final judgment so declared by Christ Btands in intimate relation to certain leading ideas of the OT, completing these and giving them cer- tainty. "The Heb. Scriptures, penetrated through and through by the idea of a Divine retribution, have a large doctrine of judgment, a judg- ment for Israel, more frequently a judgment for the nations or a world -judgment. But for the most part it is a world-judgment which has its scene in this world, a triumph of the king- dom of God in the form of an overthrow of its living adversaries on earth. And in this J" llim- eelf is the Judge. In certain prophecies (Is 9. 11, Mic 5, Jer 23. 33. 34. 36, Ezk 34. 37, Zee 9-11) the triumi)h of the kingdom of God is connected with the advent of a great Davidic Kin^, and Messiah appears as the agent of J". But in the OT the final arbitrament of men's lives is not committed to the Messiah or the ideal King, as in Christ's teaching it is given to the Son of Man. Further, while the foundations of the doctrine of a final universal and individual judgment are laid in the OT ideas of the righteousness of God, His cove- nant relations with Israel, and Hin sovereignty over the nations, the conception of a judgment after death does not take distinct and dttinite form till near the close of the OT. Even when the idea of an indi\-idual judgment at the end of things appears, the subjects of the judgment seem to bo limited to those of I.srael. Clirist's doctrine has also its relations to the ideas of the non-canonical literature. In tlie representative books of Judaism the doctrine of a judgment bulks largely, and is taught with much novel and peculiar detail. It has also different forms. In certain books (e.g. the Book of Enoch 90"-", the Assumption of Moses 3. 4, etc.) the OT idea of a destruction of living enemies of J'"8 kingdom here on earth survives. In many cases, though not in all, the Messiah is the agent of God in this judgment ; and the judg- ment is placed usually at the beginning of His reign, but sometimes (where a limited duration is ascribed to that reign) at its close. In other books, however, and especially in the Book of Enoch, this passes over into the idea of a final judgment, in the forensic sense, occurring after death, extending to all men and to angels as well. In these books, too, God is the Judge and Messiah His instrument. Only in the later section of the Book of Enoch does the Messiah appear in any certain and definite form as the Judge at the last day. Christ's doctrine of a universal, individual judjrnient at the en<i of things, in which judgment He Himself is Arbiter of human destinies, carried the OT conception to its proper issue, whUe it gave a new certainty, consistency, and spirituality to the developed ideas which had arisen in Judaism in the period following the last of the Jewish prophets. In conjunction with these doctrines of the Parousia and the Judgment, the doctrine of a Resurrection has an essential place in Christ's eschatological teaching. The doctrine of a resur- rection from the dead is implied in the doctrine of a final universal judgment at the end of things. It lies also in the great principles of OT. "The Psalmists and the Prophets have their visions of a limitation of the power of death, a destruction of death, a deliverance from Sheol, a life superior to death ; and, in the progress of the projjhetic teach- ing, the faith in a resurrection of the dead rises gradually into distinctness. It appears first as a belief in the re-animation of the dead nation, and at last in Isaiah (26'") and Daniel as a belief in the return of deceased individuals to life. In the final utterance of OT on the subject (Dn 12^-') this enlargement of the idea appears to have its occasion in the question regardin;' the fate of departed members of Israel — whether there is reward for the faithful among these, whether there is penalty for the unfaithful. But OT does not seem to go beyond the case of Israel. It tarries with tlie announcement that Israel's dead, true and false, shall come forth from the dust of earth to receive the awards of their truth or falsehood. In the period between this and the Christian era the belief passed through various fortunes. It did not become the universal faith of the Jewish people. In some of the non canonical books the old idea of Sheol con- tinues (Sir IT-''- ^ 41\ Bar 2"). In some the hope ajipears to be that of an incorporeal immortality (W is 2^ 3'- 4'»- ' 15', 4 Mac 14» 10'- IS-^). But in others the belief in a resurrection is seen in more or less definite form (Enoch gi'" 92', Ps.-Sol 3" 13' etc., most distinctly and most frequently in 2 Mac, e.q. 7»- '• " ; cf. also Sibyll. Oracles 1"" 2.-74. m 4m 'ia.^ Apoc. Bar 30'-» 5U' 51', 2 Es T-). Rejected by the Sadducees, it became the belief of the Pharisees and the majority of the Jewish people. It had become, too, a belief in the resurrection of the unjust as well as the just, although in certain cases the limited belief in a rising only of the righteous seems to have per- sisted (Ps.-Sol 3" 14^ etc.). Opinion varied^ to some extent as to the object of the resurrection, 752 ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY whether it was for judgment or for participation in tlie glories of Messiah's kingdom, and as to its time, whether it was to be immediately before Messiah's era or at its close (cf. on the one hand Enoch 51, on the other Apoc. Bar and 2 Es). The doctrine, then, which had its roots in the great principles of the OT touching life, the nature of man, and his relation to God ; which in the OT had grown gradually in magnitude and in detiniteness ; which also in Judaism had undergone changes in part natural and consistent, in part forced and in- harmonious, forms an inte^al part of Christ's eschatological teaching. It is ^ven in discourses which belong to the triple tradition in the Synop- tic records (Mt 222=i-» Mk 12>», '', Lk 20='-"). It is implied in utterances reflecting current Jewish opinion (Mt 8", Lk 13^-^). It is presupposed where it is not affirmed in terms {e.g. in Mt 24. 25). It is stated in its essential relations to the great principles of the OT, and is relieved of the extravagances, the crudities, and the literalities with which it had become associated in Jewish speculation and Jewish popular thought. It is the doctrine of a real bodily resurrection, far removed from Hellenic or Essene ideas of a bare immortality of soul, affirming in harmony with the OT view of man's relation to God (Mt 22''-'-, Mk 12=«", Lk 20»'-'») a continuance of life for man in his entire self. In this the Synoptic records and the Fourth Gospel agree. In the latter, it is true, the fact of the resurrection is j)resented mainly in its spiritual aspects and its immediate relations. Some of Christ's largest words on the subject go beyond the idea of the resurrection at the last day (11-'"-'); and others, if they stood alone, might perhaps be taken as strong descriptions of a spiritual renovation only (525. 2«) jjy(; Jq j)jg Johanuiue record there are also words too definite to admit of being limited to the expression of a purely spiritual resurrection (5^' ). Christ's doctrme, further, is the doctrine of a universal resurrection. Certain passages in the Synoptic Gospels (Mt 22»', Mk 13", Lk 20««- ^, Mt 24", Lk 14"), indeed, have been supposed to imply that Christ taught only a resurrection of the righteous. But there are others with a different implication (Mt S-^- «> lO"). The ' resur- rection of the just' (Lk 14") sui^gests its o\vn antithesis. The Fourth Gospel, too, declares a ' resurrection unto condemnation ' as well as a 'resurrection unto life,' and in speaking of the re-awakening of the dead uses terms too Targe for the limited view. This resuiTection, which e.xtends to just and unjust, is further referred to the last day. In Christ's own words there is no statement of a separation of the resurrection of the unrighteous from tliat of the righteous as if they were events V)elonging to different times. In contrast with the fulness and explicitness of Christ's declarations on the Parousia, the Judg- ment, and the Resurrection, is the reserve of His teaching on the subject of the Intermediate State. This is the more remarkable in view of the position given to that topic in the theology and the popular thought of the Jews of the time. The OT idea of bheol, originally that of an uniler- .yorld forming the final abode of men, in course of time passed through changes which are indi- cated to some extent in the canonical books themselves, but which took larger ellect at a later period, and are known to us from the non- canonical literature. These changes followed diti'erent directions, and various ideas of Sheol continued to prevail. In part the old conceiition sur'dved, with some modilication (e.g. Sir 17-8-»> 41i-«, Bar 2", To 3«- ■» 13^ 1 Mac 2 U) ; in part the term came to denote a place of relative retribu- tion (Wis 3'-"> 5'-" 6"» 17", 2 Mac 7»- "• "• •» 12«-> etc.). Most particularly in the Apocalyptic books it is found to have assumed the sense of an inter- mediate state with relative rewards and penalties (Enoch 10" 22. 100» 103'; cf. Jubilees 5^ 7"" 22-n 24"- >«, 2 Es V"- «>, Apoc. Bar 52''). Jewish thought seems thus to have occupied itself largely with the idea of the period between death and judgment, and with the conditions and the possi- bilities of an intermediate state. Of all this there is little or no recognition in Christ's words. He uses, it is true, the word Hades, the Greek equiva- lent to the Heb. Sheol, thrice. But in two of thest cases the application is obviously metaphorical (Mt 11^ 16'») ; and in the third (Lk 16=) the term forms part of the imagery of a parable intended to teach the broad moral lesson of the penalty of a selfish life, the retribution that pursues it and changes its conditions in the other world. In the same parable He uses the term Abraham's bosom (Lk 16-"^), but in a connexion that does not suggest a definite doctrinal intention. He also uses the term Paradise, a term with which various and uncertain ideas had been associated in Jewish thought. But He uses it only once (Lk 23"), and in a large and general sense, as a word of hope and comfort ; in which sense also He uses the word sleep, — not to inculcate the doctrine of an inter- mediate state as a space of unconsciousness, or as a place for the detention, the recompense, or the purification of souls. Some of His words appear to point rather to the hope of an immediate entrance of the just dead into the Father's house and the Father's glory (Jn 14^-' 17). But in general His attitude to the question of the condition between death and judgment is one of reserve, and His words convey nothing approaching to a doctrine of the intermediate state. It is otherwise with the question of what follows the resurrection and the judgment. The escha- tology of NT as it is given by Christ Himself has a pronounced doctrine of the Moral Issues of life. It speaks largely and distinctly of final reward for the good, and final penalty for the evil. These are expressed by a great variety of suggestive terms. The recompense of the righteous is described as an inheritance, entrance into the kingdom, treasure in heaven, an existence like the angelic, a place prepared, the Father's house, the joy of the Lord, life, eternal life, and the like ; and there is no intimation that the reward is capable of change, that the condition is a termin- able one. The retribution of the wicked is described as death, outer darkness, weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, the undying worm, the quench- less fire, exclusion from the kingdom, eternal punishment, and the like. Different measures of reward and of penalty are intimated, according to different degrees of merit and demerit (Lk 12^'- ''). In Christ's o^vn words there is no certain declara- tion of the terminableness of the penalty of the finally impenitent, no indication either of an intermediate purgatorial process or of an ultimate universal restoration. In the Synoptic Gospels, and in the groundwork of their narrative, the term Gehenna, Hell, is applied to the future condition of the lost (Mt 5==-' 10=» 18» 23'5-» Mk 9«- •»••", Lk 12°). Tliis term, though in the later Judaism it had at times the sense of an intermediate con- dition, whether as a temporary purgatory or as a place of punishment, appears to have been in the earlier Judaism and in our Lord's time a term for the retributive state after judgment (cf. e.g. Enoch 27^.8 90M-2« etc., which are probably its first occur- rences in this sense ; cf. also 2 Es 6'' 7). The question whether Christ teaches the permanence of tlie penal condition resulting from the judgment is variously answere i. Certain of His sayings are taken to point to a terminable penalty. 'These, ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY 753 however, are few in number, and appear either to be irrelevant (e.g. Lk 12^'- , wliere the question is, not the duration of the judicial awards, but their adjustment to difFerent degrees of wrong), on to suggest the opposite conclusion {e.g. Mt 5-- , Lk 12 , where tlie idea seems to be tliat of a liability that cannot be discliarged, and a justice that is in- exorable ; Mt 12»>- », Mk 3-» =», Lk 12'", where tlie terms appear to be exclusive terms, expressing tlie irreiiiediableness of the condition, the fact that there can be no forgiveness at any period for the sin in question). It is urged, too, but on grounds open to challenge, that the distinctive terms ' eternal ' (a/iinot) and 'punishment' (ic4X<i<ris) may have in this connexion other than their usual and obvious applications. But, on the other hand, the finality of destiny appears to be expressed unmistakably and in many different forms — in the words with which at the close of the great eschatological dis- course the moral issues of life are summed up (Mt 25"), in such contrasts as that between the ' kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world ' and ' the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels '( Mt 25' ) ; in the statements of the issues of God's kingdom and of man's life given in the parables {e.g. Mt IS"-"- "••) ; in the figures of 'the unquenchable fire' (Mk 9"), the •worm' that 'dieth not' (Mk 9«), tlie salting with fire (Mk 9"), and the like; in the many other terms of solemn moment by which the final lot of the unworthy is described — banishment from Christ (Mt 7"-^), rejection (Mt 10^, Lk 9^), the loss of tlie soul or the life (Mk S"), dying in one's sins (Jn 8-'), perishing (Jn 3"), being judged already (Jn 3"), its being good never to have been born (Mt 26, Mk 14='), etc. These sayings are to be understood in the light of the beliefs which prevailed among the Jews on the nature and the duration of the retribution of the wicked. Tliese are by no means easy to determine, as they varied at different periods and in different schools. Yet the general condition of opinion in our Lord's time and in tlie immediately preceding period can be stated with approximate certainty. The Je^^•ish books relevant to the question contain little to bear out any large belief in the final restoration of all. They often use terms — death, perdition, destruction, and the like, which might be taken to point to annihilation as the final lot of the wicked, if interpreted apart from the old popular ideas of Sheol {e.g. Ps.Sol 3" 9» 12« 13'» 15"; cf. 2 Es 7 S"-^^ Apoc. Bar 30). But in many cases the language is definitely ex- pressive of the finality of the retribution {e.g. Jth 16", 4 Mac 9«», Enoch 5»-« 10"-" 12»-» 22<-'' 27»- • etc. ). The schools of H illel and Shammai, too, seem both to have tauglit, though in different ways, the immediate sealing of certain classes of sinners to Gehenna, or their puni-sliment there to ' ages of ages.' It would appear, therefore, that in Christ's time, with certain variations and excejitions, the belief was general in an enduring penalty in the other world for the absolutely evil— unrighteous Gentiles, guilty and apostate Jews. Christ's eschatology is one of grace. His doctrine is a revelation of life. But it throws into strong relief the responsibilities of the present existence, the certainty of the retribution of sin, the possibility of an eternal sin (Mk 3-'") witli an eternal penalty. II. The Apostolic E.schatolooy. — Under tliis title we include the eschatological ideas and truths delivered in the various groups of NT writings outside the evangelical records of Christ's own words. Taking each writer separately, we have to ascertain what contribution ho makes to the e.scha- tolopical system, in what relation it stands to Clinst's doctrine, in what sense it is in harmony with that, in what degree it is supplementary. There are questions of literary criticism connected VOL. I. — 48 with not a few of the wTitings, questions both of genuineness and of integrity. Into these it is not necessary to enter liere. In increasing measure these writings are bein^ lifted above the uncertain- ties of criticism. It is enough for our present purpose to take them as representatives of different types of NT doctrine, earlier and later. "Their ideas exhibit certain characteristic differences in form in the different groups. They bear the impress of the beliefs, opinions, and ways of speech that were current among the Jews of the time. They have obvious points of affinity with the ideas of the OT. They stand in a special relation, of dependence and agreement, to Christ's doctrine. The Epistle of James, a notable product of primitive Je^vish Christianity, says comparatively little on the things of the end. It speaks most definitely of the Parousia, of that as an event nigh at hand, and as liaWng judgment Eussociated with it (5). It speaks also of a Kingdom that is pro- mised (2) ; of a Judge who ' standeth at the door ' (5') ; of a judgment that will be according to character and responsibility (2" 3') ; of recom- penses for the tried and proved (1'), and retri- butions for the oppressive rich (5'- • ') ; of a penalty which appears to be eternal (S". In the Epistle of Jude Christ's Return is the great event of the future (v.<) ; the reward of the good is 'eternal life' (v.^') ; the truth of the final judgment (vv.'- ") is asserted ; the doom of the evil is described as the ' blackness of darkness,' a doom ' reserved for ever' (v."). A peculiar feature (appearing also in 2 Peter), in the eschatology of this Epistle, is the place given to the judgment of fallen angels — a subject on wliich the Jewish imagination ran riot (see especially the Book of Enoch 6-10. 21 ; cf. also Jubilees 5, Apoc. Bar 56'°""). Here their doom is described, free from the extravagances which meet us in the Apo- calyptic books, as that of being ' kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day' (HV v."). The writings bearing Peter's name, together w ith the discourses ascribed to that apostle in the Bk. of Acts, represent a distinct type of eschato- hjgical teaching, as of doctrinal statement generally. The Second Epistle, the genuineness of \\liich has been so largely questioned, exhibits an affinity in many things with the Epistle of Jude. It has the same conception of the coming of Christ as the conclusive event of the future (1" 2). It speaks in mucli the same terms of the judgment, and of the doom of evil men (2'' •• '• "• "). It designates the recompense of the good as an ' eternal kingdom ' (1"), as Jude designates it 'eternal life.' It nas tlie same exceptional doctrine of the punishment of fallen angels, applying the unusual terra Tartar-US to the intermediate place of their deten- tion, and describing them as committed to ' pits of darkness in reserve unto judgment ' (2). But it al.so makes ita own peculiar contribution to the eschatology of the canonical writings in a remark- able paragraph, the most detailed of its kind in NT, on the end of tlie world (3^-"). It teaclies that Christ's Parousia is to bring the whole jiresent sj'steni of things to its conclusion, and the world itself to its consummation. With the great event of His coming the existing order shall be dissolved ; the present heavens and earth are to give place to ' fresh heavens and a fresh earth ' j and a recon- Btruct4.'d world is to come forth as the abode of righteousness and the scene of the perfected kiiigdcmi of God. In this 2 P attaches it.self to t)T conceptions of a world-conflagration (PsSO'QT'. Is GO"' '•• «, Dn 7» '»), and a dissolution of the present system, effected by fire, in connexion with J"'s judgment and the day of His recompense (I's 102>- ", Job 14", Is 34 66^1. 754 ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY First Peter, which is an epistle of hope, looks at all tilings in the li};ht of the future. It has a large eschatology, the central point of which is Christ's ' Apocalypse,' His revelation or appearing (1' 5'). Its dominant notes are the ' last time,' the ' end of all things,' the judgment (1' 4'- "). In the judgment God Himself is Judge {!") ; Christ also appears to be Judge (4°). The j udgment is universal, alike of quick and of dead (4'). It begins with the house of God now, and it has its fate reserved for the 'ungodly and the sinner' (4"-"). The judgment of the unrigliteous is referred to only incidentally. The reward of the good is declared in various terms, as an 'inheritance,' 'honour,' 'life,' a ' cro\vn of glory,' etc. (!•' 5). The question of greatest interest in the eschatology of this Epistle, however, is its relation to the 'larger hope.' This turns upon the interpretation given to the two famous passages touching the preaching to ' the spirits in prison ' (3""^), and the preaching of the gospel to ' the dead ' (4"). In connexion with these tlie application which Peter makes of Ps 16 in his Pentecostal discourse (Ac 2'') is also brought into view. The terms in which Peter speaks here of Christ, ' neither was he left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption,' have been taken to point to a visit of Christ to the under- world, and a consequent activity of His grace there. It is with Christ's resurrection, however, that Peter is specially con- cerned in that discourse, and the words do not go beyond the broad statement that Christ at His death passed into the world of the departed like other men, but passed thither only to rise again. The two passages in the Epistle itself are of a different nature, and rank among the chief crncet interprctum in NT. The former passage has been expounded in the interest of many different theories — those of the liberation of saints of OT times ; Christ's penal endurance of God's wTath ; the purgatorial detention and purification of souls ; Christ's descent to Hades for the purpose of a judicial manifestation of Himself, for a fresh pro- clamation of the gospel there, for the provision of a continuous ministry of grace there, for the prolongation of opportunities of repentance and offers of forgiveness to the departed, and the like. The latter pas.sage has also been very differently interpreted. On the basis of both, the eschatology of this Epistle has been understood by many to favour the 'larger hope,' and to suggest that this life is not in every case the theatre of human fates, if not to teach the doctrine of the existence of a ministry of grrace in the world of the departed with untold possibilities of after-death repentance and salvation. For the details of the interpretation and for its history the commentaries must be con- sulted. It must be enough here to say that, while the view in question has been largely adopted, it has not commended itself to all scholars of authority. The exegesis of these passages has still many uncertainties, and waits yet for its key ; while the passages themselves stand entirely alone in NT. (See especially Giider, Die Lehre von der Erscheinung Chriiti unter den Todten ; Kcnig, Die Lehre von Christi Hnllenfahrt ; Dietelmaier, His- torin dogmntis de Descen.m Christi ad Inferos litteraria ; Hof mann, Schriftheteeis ; Usteri, Hinab- girfnhrcn ziir HolU ; Schweitzer, Hinahgefahren zur Nolle ; Spitta, Christi Predigt an die Geistcr ; Bruston, La Descente du Christ aux Enfers.) The further question has been raised whether Peter's eschatology does not contain the doctrine of a Universal Restoration. In his discourse to the people in Solomon's porch (Ac S"-") he is reported to have spoken of a restoration or restitution of all things. This has been sometimes supposed to intimate the final restoration of all men. But the words have their key in the passage of Malachi (4'- ") to which they refer, and in Christ's applica- tion of that passage (Mt IT"'"). So regarded, the restoration of which Peter speaks becomes eithei the moral renewal of Israel, as some explain it, or the renovation of the world, as others think. It is in any case a restoration, not of persons, but of conditions. Peter's eschatology, therefore, is in general concord \vitli that which has so far been recognized in NT. The points in which it has been supposed to be different yet remain doubtful. The writings associated with John's name have a distinct and peculiar character in their doctrine of the end as in all things else. There is a marked difference, too, between the Apocalypse and the Epistles. The former is an eschatological writing, following the order of the Jewish Apocalyptic. In the latter eschatological truths also appear, but in a subordinate place. The Epistles of John, with their ideal teaching, find the future in the present. As in the version of Christ's teaching which is given in the Fourth Gospel, their great conception IS life, and that as opposed to death and perdition. As in the one, so, too, in the other, this life is in the first instance a present thing (1 Jn 5''^- "). But it is also a thing of the future (I Jn 2*), and it is an eternal life, life after the divine order, life with the ethical quality of real, perfect life. But it is none the less a life that looks to a future — to a manifestation yet to be made of what the children of God shall he (1 Jn 3^). In these Epistles the eschatological relations are not lost m the ideal. They speak of the 'last hour' (1 Jn 2'); of an ' antichrist ' that ' cometh ' as well as of antichrists that already are (1 Jn '2}^- '»■ ^- 4', 2 Jn ') ; of a future 'full reward' (2Jn); of a vision of Christ and a conformity to Him which are not of the present (1 Jn 3^-'); of a manifestation of Christ yet to be made, of His expected Parousia (1 Jn 2). The use of the term Parousia, which elsewhere, and especially in the Pauline writings, has a very definite sense, indicates that, while to John Christ's Return was in one sense a spiritual advent, a present act of grace or judgment, it was in another sense an objective event of the future. While in John's writings, too, the Resurrection and the Judgment are for the most part spiritual pro- cesses and present conditions, they are also events of the future associated, as they are elsewhere, with the Parousia. That it is so ^vith regard to the former is implied in what is said of the judgment and the manifestation of the children of God. That it is so with the judgment itself appears especially in 1 Jn 2" 4". In the Apocalypse of St. John we have a large and impressive eschatology, in which Christian truth appears in the garb of Jewish ideas and Jewish terms. "This book is beyond all others the book of the future. That future is near, and it is filled with the figure of the returning Christ. Its whole doctrine of the end has its centre in the event of the Parousia, and that doctrine is con- veyed in a form which bears the stamp both of the visions of OT prophets (especially Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Daniel) and the symbolism of the Jewish Apocalyptic books. The Parousia appears occasionally as a spiritual advent taking efiect in history (2' 3™), but usually as the objective return which belongs to the end of things. It is regarded as near (2" 3" 22"'- ™) ; it is to be an event of glory, and to have judgment for its object ( 1'). The Judge is God Himself (20'^) ; but Christ also appears as Judge (I'^e"- "22"). Like the non-canonical books of the same class, it speaks much of the signs of the end, and of the prelusive events, but avoids the trivialities and tlie gross im.aginings, the fanci- ful and long-drawn-out calculations, which are characteristic of the ordinary Jewish Apocalyptio (e.g. Enoch 10" 91"" 93, Assump. Moses 10', Sibyll ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY 75S Or. 4", 2E8 14"" etc.). At times it seemB to combine different ideas which prevailed in Judaism of the things of the end. In one paragraph ('20'"'°), of dillicult interpretation, it appears to follow a view of the linal events which differs from tlie general doctrine of the NT, but is given in certain of the .Jewish books — the idea of a millennial reign of Clirist on earth, to be followed tirst by a finh.1 burst of Satanic power, and then b-jr Christ's judicial advent. Tlie paragraph, which will not fit a purely fiMrative interpretation, represents the Da3' of the Lord as consisting of two divisions, with a double resurrection and a double judgment — a first resurrection, which is only of the saints, and more particularly the martyred saints, and a second, which is for ' the rest of the dead ' ; a first judgment taking effect in the overthrow of Satan, and a second, which is in forensic form, and for all classes of the dead. The l)ook is also under- stood to express two \iew8 of the lot of the right- eous dead : one in which tliey are presented as having immediate entrance into lieaven (13"), an- other in which they are presented as in the under- world, in consciousness and rest, waiting for their complete reward (0""). In tlie latter ease, how- ever, the martyrs alune are in view, and in both cases the language is that of the imagination. The Apocalypse, however, has a pronounced doc- trine of the final awards. The reward of the righteous is conveyed in a varied imagery of tlie OT order — ' hidden manna,' a ' new name,' the ' crown of life,' ' riglit to the tree of life,' the place of a 'pillar' in tlie temple, a reign witli Christ, a position before the throne, entrance into the city, the vision of God's face, the heirship of all things (27.10.17 31U1 711.217 2-2'"). The penalty of the unrighteous is described as ' great tribulation,' being ' without,' killing with death, burning with fire (2^ » 18«- • 22") ; but above all by two terms, tlie second death ' (2" 20«- " 21») and ' the lake of tire ' (19'-" 20'" 21"), which are peculiar to this book among the NT writings, but which occur in one form or other in the Rabbinical and Apocalyptic literature (e.g. Enoch 18" 21'-"' 90"). In this book they appear to denote a lasting retribution. Further, the Apoc. expresses the doctrine of a perfected world as well as that of a perfected society. It has the vision of a new heaven and a new earth (21'"') as well as that of a perfected city of God (21 '-22"). In the Epistle to the Hebrews, where we have a series of ideas and forms of expression in general affinity with the Pauline type of doctrine, and not less with the older ajiostolic type, e.schatology is not the prominent subject. I?ven the ' rest ' and 'the world to come' are not presented primarily as of tlie future. Yet the things of the end iiinke a considerable element of the thought of the Kpistle. The doctrines of ' resurrection of the dead ' and 'eternal judgment' are dealt with as things that should be well understood (6"-). The day of Christ's coming is in the writer's eye j it is a day that draws nigh, and with it the judgment is connected (Qia ioM.a«). In the judgment it is God Himself, not the Son, that is Judge, and lie is 'Judge of all' (12'" KV""). The Epistle also has a definite doctrine of final awards. The recompense of the righteous is the 'heaven' into which the Fore- runner and High Priest has passed, an 'et«mal inheritance,' an 'enduring substance,' a 'butter country,' a ' city prepared,' a ' kingdom which can- not be moved' (4 6'»- »> 9"' KjaJ-' ll'" 12^). The retribution of the unriphteous is 'judgment,' ' fierceness of fire,' "jierdition ' (lO""). In the Pauline Epistles, together with the (lis- cour.scs attributed to St. Paul in the Book of Acts, we find u remarkable e.schatology, larger, more developed, and in some points, especially in the doctrine of the resurrection, having more of the aspect of reasoned statement. Even this eschatoloCT. however, is not given in anything like orderly or systematic form, but incidentally as occasion arose from time to time in the discharge of St. Paul's ministry. Nor is it the fundament doctrine of the Pauline writings. The questions of its precise nature and measure, its consistency, and its relations to what is found elsewhere in Scripture, have been made dejiendent on questions regarding the authenticity and inte^ity of the Epistles and the growth of St. Paul's ideas. In its main elements, however, it is unaffected by these questions. Its essential points would remain the same had we only the four primary Epistles accepted by Baur. They appear in all the four distinct grouiis into which the Pauline writings fall. They do not appear in the same propor- tions and relations, or under precisely the same aspects, in the several groups. IJut the differences which have to be recognized do not amount to inconsistency. They do not imply any es.sential change of view, and do not appear to go beyond what liiids its explanation in dill'erences of circum- stance, occasion, and circle of readers. As in other sections of NT, the doctrine of the tilings of the end is closely related in the Pauline writings to that of the kingdom of God, an idea which recurs in all the four groups of Epistles. This ' kingdom,' though sometimes described as a present kiii(,'dom (Ro 14", cf. 1 Co 4» Col 1"), is usually a kingdom of the future, and the idea of its consummation is the centre of the Pauline eschatology. A foremost place is given in this e.schatology to the doctrine of Christ's coming, which event is described under a variety of terms — His 'day,' His ' revelation,' His ' Parousia,' etc. (1 Co !■■ « 5», 1 Th 2"' 3'^ 4'» 5, -a, 2 Th 1' 2'- »• », Ph 1'", 1 Ti6', 2Til"4'«, Tit2»etc.). This Parousia is regarded as an objective event. The passages in which this 'coming' is declared are not con- fined to any one section of the writings ; and when compared with each other they do not suggest a change in St. Paul's mind from a less spiritual idea in the earlier Epistles to a more spiritual in the later. The doctrines of the lictiirrertiun, the Judi/ment, and the Final Awards also appear in essentially the same form in the Pauline writings, and in the several groups of these writings, as elsewhere in the NT. The resurrection finds its largest exposition in the primary Epistles, but it is given also in otiiers, and it is a retiloodili/ resurrec- tion, a return of the complete man to life (Ro 4", 8", 1 Co 15, 2Co PHi'iS'-', Ph3""). Thejudgment is the judgment of God (llo 2' 14", cf. 3'"), of C/irist (2 Co 5'", 2 Ti 4'), of God through Christ (Ro 2'") ; a future, final judgment (Ro 2^, 1 Co 3") ; a righteous judgment, discovering the secrets of all hearts, giving to every man according to his works (Ro 2, 2 Til 1', 2 Ti 4") ; a universal judgment, for both (luick and dead (Ac 17", cf. Ro 14", 2Ti 4'). The issues of that judgment are declared with remark- able frcqiiency and variety of statement ; they are described as 'eternal' (aiwuos), which term in the Pauline Epistles is essentially, and in most applica- tions, one of duration (cf. e.g. Ro IC", 2 Co 5' etc.). The lot of the unrighteous has a subordinate place, but is expressed as 'wrath,' 'the wrath to come,' 'death,' ' punishment,' 'destruction,' 'eternal de- struction from the face of the Lord' (Ro 2°, 1 Th l'», Ro 2« 6"', 2 Th 1", Ph 3'"). The lot of the righteous is a salvation ' with eternal jj;loiy,' a ' prize,' a ' crown,' an ' inheritance,' a ' manifesta- tion,' a ' reign,' a 'life' with Christ, 'eternal life,' 'the life which is life indeed' ( Ro 2' S'- "' 6»- -' 1 Co 9-», Gal o> 6«, Ph 3'<, Col 1" 3", 1 Ti I" 6"- ", 2Ti'2''«4", Tit Pete). The Pauline eschatology has elements which are, 756 ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY in some sense, peculiar to itself. Among tliese are the doctrines of the Kapture of the SaLats (1 Th 4") and the Man of Sin (2 Th 2»-'»). Of these the former has a certain affinity with one of the apocalyptic visions (Rev 11"- ^'), as well as with Christ's word regarding the 'gathering of the elect ' (Mt 24^), and the narratives of the ascension, especially those by Luke (Mk 16'», Lk 24", Ac P'"). The latter takes its form from Daniel's predic- tions (9" 11™- " 12"), and is in affinity with Clirist's eschatological discourse (Mt 24^), and John's de- claration on Antichrist (1 Jn 2'). There are also things in the Pauline escha- tology on the interpretation and relations of which opinion has been divided. It is thought by some to depart from the general view of the NT, and to join the Apocalypse (20''"') in teaching the inter- vention of a millf.nnial period between two distinct resurrections. But this idea, which is otherwise alien to St. Paul's writings, turns upon the particular interpretation of a single passage (1 Co 15-^""), in which the immediate question is not one of succes- sion or chronological order, and in which nothing is said of any other resurrection than that of those who are Christ's. The Pauline Epistles have also been supposed to contain a definite doctrine of the intermediate state, with activities of grace in it. The doctrine of a, purgatory, or some provision for the purgation of souls in the other world, has been ascribed to the great paragraph in 1 Co 3'-'", in which, however, the 'day 'in question is that of the judgment, and the action referred to is that of testing, not purifying. The doctrine of a middle state, with a descent of Christ implying the exten- sion of grace and opportunity, is supposed to be contained, in particular, in certain passages of the greater Epistles. One of these is the section in Romans (lO"'") in which use is made of Ut .W'''. But the main idea there is the aecessibility of the Divine commandment, the nearness and attainn- bility of the righteousness of God, and the words say nothing of a Hades-ministry of Christ, nothing of the world of the dead, beyond the fact that Christ entered it and was raised from it. Another is the paragraph in Ephesians (4'-'") in which the subject of gifts is dealt with, and the 68th Psalm is introduced in that connexion. It speaks of a descent of Christ, by which some understand the descent from heaven in the incarnation, and others the descent from earth to Hades. But even on the latter interpretation the paragraph says no- thing of any worlc of Christ, or any possibilities for the dead in Hades. Of greater interest is the question whether the Pauline eschatology contains the doctrine of a universal restoration. The answer turns mainly on certain passages of large suggestion in the Epistles of the Captivity, together with one or two in the earlier Epistles. The com- parison between Adam and Christ in 1 Co 15'- is cited in this interest. The universality expressed there, however, does not mean that all shall in the end be made certain of blessedness. The point is either, as some take it, that all who are Christ's shall be raised (the 'all' being limited by the nature of the ca.se) ; or, as others think, that, as in Adam all are made subject to physical death, so in Christ ail shall be raised out of it. The state- ment in the same chapter (1 Co 15""^) on the subduing of all things, and the consummation in wliich God shall be ' all in all,' is also supiioscd to imrily PauTa hope of a final restoration of all. But tlie subjects to be subdued are not sinful men, but 'all rule and all authority and power' — all powers opposed to God ; and the end expressed by the ' all in all ' is a condition of things in which the world in all its parts will answer to God's will, or in which the wall of God will be recognized as the sole authority. The declaration of the uni- versal adoration that is to be paid to the exalted Christ (Ph 2'"- ") is also cited as a distinct witness to the same ; in which, however, there is probably nothing beyond the broad statement of a homage wide as universal nature, or an acknowledgment of sovereignty made by three great classes of liWno beings. The passages which are most definite and most relevant are the one in Ephesians (!"• '") which speaks of a ' summing up ' of all things in Christ, and the one in Colossians (l-'^) which speaks of a ' reconcUiation ' of all things. In these the terms are large enough to include all created things, and go beyond the case of universal man, or even the whole animate creation. They are passages which express the cosmic effects of Christ's work, and appear best interpreted as declarations of the Divine purpose to bring back all things to their pristine condition of harmony, through Christ as the centre of unity and bond of reconciliation. The Pauline eschatology has its point of cul- mination in its doctrine of the resurrection. That doctrine is a consistent as well as a lofty one. It does not limit itself to a resurrection of the just, but has its place also for that of the unjust. Neither does it regard the resurrection of the just and that of the unjust as two successive acts, separated by a millennial period, the passage (1 Co 15^0-28) chiefly relied on for that being insufficient to sustain it. Nor does it seem to preilicate the provision of an interim body, as some have argued on the basis of a single paragraph (2 Co 5'"), for the existence between death and the resurrec- tion. Nor, again, does it entangle itself with curious questions regarding the how of the resurrec- tion, the nature of the risen body, or the conditions of the future life, but contents itself with the simplest analogies dra\vn from nature and from Christ's own case. It consistently affirms for man a real and complete continuance of being, not an incorporeal immortality like that to which Greek thought looked, but a bodily immortality, a per- manence of life in the integrity of man's entire nature. It connects its doctrine of the resurrec- tion with other cardinal Pauline doctrines — the in- dwelling of the Spirit, the inward presence of Christ, the mystical union. It links it further with the doctrine of a renovated earth and a ransomed creation (Ro 8"""). The eschatology of the NT, therefore, is in its broad outlines a consistent though not a system- atized doctrine. In the different sections of NT, and with all differences in detail, the eschatology turns on the great truths of the Parousia, the bodily resurrection, the universal, righteous judgment, the final awards of recompense and penalty. It is in essential harmony with the faith and teaching of the OT, and requires for its explanation no theories of derivation from ethnic thought. The distinctive points in the Pauline eschatology are in affinity with Hebrew faith, not, as some argue (Pfleiderer, etc.), with Greek thought. The same is even more obviously the case with the eschatology of the NT writings outside the Pauline circle. Essene or Alexandrian (Philonic) ideas are not in place as sources of Clirist's teachin" on the things of the end. Even the doctrine of the resurrertion as it is given in the NT cannot be said to be dependent, in the sense affinned by some (L. U. Mills, etc.), on the Zoroastrian theology. It is possible that in some of its affirmat; ais the NT eschatology has been influenced to a certain extent in its form by external modes of thought. In all that is ol its sub.stance it is in relation to Hebrew faith, and has its point of is-sue in the principles and ideas of the Old Testament. LiTKRATmn. — The variovis books on -Vr Theolofjy. the BIblicni Theolniv of ST, the Tmchinn ot Christ and th€ Apostles, by Baur. Neander, Ueuss, Lechler, Schmid. Oosteraee, ESCHEW ESDRAELON 757 Mtyer, Weiss, B«7BchIag, Wendt, HolUiiiann, etc. : the variouj UvfttlKa llluatrmtive of NT TimeB and Jewish beliefs : Colani, Jitut-Chrut et U4 croyaixcfi rm^ianiqufi de gon tempg ; Kdere- helm, Jesus the MestwJi ; Drummond, Jewish Mesniah • Stautoii, Jevish and Christian Messiah ; Hilgenfcld, Judisc/ie Apok. ; Ofrort-r, Jahrhurulert dfs i?<i^ : Schiirer, HJI'; Hausruth, Sew Test. Tiin^i ; Weber, Jiid, Theolooie ; Delitzsch. BddicaL PsycJtUogy ; S. DuvidtiOti, Doctrine o/ Last Thiiujg ; Saliiioiid, Christum Doctrine 0/ hnmurtality; Pusey, What is 0/ Faith as to Everlastinfj Punishment t White, Li/e in Christ ; I'etavel- OIlifT, Problem oS Immortality \ Kabisch, Eachatoloijie. des Pautus ; Russell, The Parousia ; Riemann, Lehre von der Apocatastasis. S. D. F. SaLMOND.