About eschatology

by

Bruno Forte

The doctrine of last things, which had become the harmless final chapter of Christian dogmatism, has become illuminated by new current thoughts and unsuspected interest during the 20^th Century. "While due to the liberalism of the 19^th century it was possible to apply Troeltsch’ saying: ‘The eschatological office is mainly closed’, since the beginning of this Century instead, it is working overtime" (H. Urs von Balthasar, I novissimi nella teologia contemporanea, Brescia (The newest in contemporary theology )1967, 31). The issue of the future invests with renewed energy all aspects of thought and urges it to confront the coming and all that is new in Christian hopes: it has been rediscovered that "the eschatological element is not a component of Christianity, but rather absolutely the go-between for Christian faith, it is the note used for tuning all else, it is the dawn of the long awaited new day that colors each and everything with its light" (J. Moltmann, Teologia della speranza, (Theology of Hope) Brescia 1971², 10). The rediscovery of eschatology corresponds also to a recovery of the issue of sense and all possible answers, well beyond the ideological crisis and the fall of postmodern nihilism: the renewed appearance of the last horizon therefore encounters the search for the lost sense.

Since the Easter of Christ, the supreme revelation of the Trinity, also reveals the sense of life and of history, a peculiar attention for "Easter eschatology" for the comprehension of the "ultimate objectives" appears to be imminent. The Christological and Trinitarian sense for every assertion regarding the "éschaton" emerges. He who is "the first and the last and the living being" (Ap 1,17s) is the foundation, the principle and the object of hope that does not disappoint: He himself is the "éschaton"! The attention of eschatological interest is therefore transferred from imaginary objects and the places to the personal relationship consisting in "being with Christ": it is not the "where" in which the destiny of mankind and the world takes place that is at the center of the eyes of faith, but the "how" it comes about in relation to the risen Christ, he who overcomes death. He, who has unconditionally consigned himself to the Father on the Cross and who has received from Him in fullness the Spirit of life, will in the end "deliver the Kingdom to God the Father", because "God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15,24. 28). The Trinity, origin and holy dwelling-place of the world, will also be its homeland, in which and in respect to which the eternal destiny of each creature will be fulfilled. The relation with the Risen Crucifix characterizes then personal and community existence in life as in death: and because it is in Christ that the Trinity is revealed and allows itself to be reached, it is in the Trinity that the last horizon is situated for comprehension not only of death, as an Paschal event, but also of life beyond death, manifested and founded by the Power of He who has Risen from the dead. The relational characteristic and therefore also the personal one, emerges, concerning all the possible aspects of this existence after death: "It is God who is the ‘ultimate objective’ for His creatures. He is heaven for those who deserve it, hell for those who lose, judgment for those examined by Him, purgatory for those purified by Him. He is the One for which all that is mortal dies and resurrects for Him and in Him. But He is the One precisely in the sense according to which He is orientated towards the world, in His Son Jesus Christ, who is the revelation of God and hence the compendium for the ‘ultimate objectives’ " (H. Urs von Balthasar, I novissimi, o.c., 44s).

Considering also that the paschal event is the shining center of the entire Christian mystery, this renewal of Easter by eschatology shows how the presence of the "éschaton" influences all the aspects of the being and the enacting of the faith: the overcoming of every form of "sectorial eschatology", relegating it at the end of dogmatism in a kind of "splendid isolation", becomes linked to the need to reap the eschatological dimension of all theological affirmations and at the same time the profound importance of the eschatological nature for the whole of Christian life. Finally these horizons of eschatology, for the very reason that they find their source, their contents and their shape in the paschal Trinitarian event, are helpful in overcoming an excessively rigid separation between individual and collective eschatology. The supreme communication of the living God of history, Easter is at the same time redemption for the individual and a new life for the church and the world: therefore, rather then draw attention to the dualism between individual and collective destinies, the "paschal eschatology" demands that one rethink the future of the individual within his solidarity with that of the community and the entire cosmos. As to the person, vitally integrated in the interpersonal communion, and as far as the community of people is concerned the Trinity will offer itself as the reason for life and for history, the origin, the womb and the destination of a redeemed, personal and ecclesial existence; as regards to the final cosmic recapitulation the Trinity will be represented as the homeland of the world, the final and wonderful destiny for all that the living God has called to exist so as to be led to life without end.