What is Eschatology?
What does the Bible say about the end times?
Eschatology is the study of end times or man’s ultimate destiny. It is a subject that has captivated the minds of many people throughout history and typically is discussed in regard to religion, but it is not exclusively religious. Even though different religions teach different versions of the end times, it is commonplace across mainstream faiths like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.
The most popular eschatological belief in the West is Christian eschatology. While most would be correct in citing the book of Revelation as an example of Christian eschatology, it is not the only example in the Bible. The Old Testament books of Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and Daniel speak of the end times as well as the New Testament books of Matthew and Mark.
Unfortunately, interpreting this text is far from simple. Over the last two thousand years scholars have debated the lens in which to view these events. Today, there are four primary schools of thought of Christian eschatology.
Preterism - preterists believe that the prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled. For example, preterists believe the events of Revelation took place in the first century AD.
Historicism - a popular belief among Protestant faiths, historicism holds that prophecies occurred in the past and continue to occur. As a result, historicists do not “timebox” prophecies like preterists.
Futurism - futurists hold that most prophecies of the end times have not yet occurred and will occur close to the end of the world during a global time of chaos called the “Great Tribulation”.
Idealism - lastly, idealists reject the notion that the prophecies are predictions of real events that have or will take place. Instead, they believe that writings like Revelation are purely symbolic.
Short of the second coming, it is impossible to prove any one of these frameworks. However, belief in any of these does not go against the core tenets of Christianity or put one’s salvation in jeopardy.
Over time, some of these schools of thought may lose popularity and some will inevitably gain in popularity. Even so, eschatology will be researched, debated, and refined and Christians will continue to be captivated by the topic.