Eschatology

{es - kuh - tahl' - uh - jee}
General Information
Eschatology, a term of Greek derivation meaning literally "discourse about last things," typically refers to the Judeo Christian doctrine of the coming of the kingdom of God and the transformation or transcendence of history.

The distinction between transformation and transcendence reflects the difference between Old Testament messianism, which looked for the coming of the kingdom of God within a historical framework, and New Testament apocalypticism, which expected the total dissolution of the world at the last judgment.

The end of history in Western religions, however, is not a cyclical return to a primordial world outside history as it is in the eschatologies of non Western religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism. In the Judeo Christian tradition, even the dissolution of history is based in a historical future. The New Testament concept of Parousia ("coming presence") appears to refer to both the present and the continuing Salvation among believers in Jesus Christ and the literal Second Coming of Christ that will bring an evil world to judgment before salvation. The latter view is reflected in Millenarianism, which also teaches an Antichrist.

Eschatology has been a revived theme among theologians in the 20th century. The "consistent eschatology" of Johannes Weiss and Albert Schweitzer, the "realized eschatology" of C H Dodd and Rudolf Otto; the "dialectic eschatology" of Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann, and the "death of God" eschatology of Thomas J J Altizer and other radical theologians may represent the gamut of interpretation of the biblical concept.

Bibliography
T J J Altizer, The Descent into Hell (1970); R K Bultmann, The Presence of Eternity: History and Eschatology (1957); R H Charles, Eschatology: The Doctrine of the Future Life in Israel, Judaism and Christianity (1899 - 1963); M Eliade, Cosmos and History (1959); W H Gloer, ed., Eschatology and the New Testament (1988); D Gowan, Eschatology in the Old Testament (1985); P C Phan, Eternity in Time (1988).

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Eschatology

General Information
Eschatology is literally "discourse about the last things," doctrine concerning life after death and the final stage of the world. The origin of this doctrine is almost as old as humanity; archaeological evidence of customs in the Old Stone Age indicates a rudimentary concept of immortality. Even in early stages of religious development, speculation about things to come is not wholly limited to the fate of the individual. Such devastating natural phenomena as floods, conflagrations, cyclones, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions have always suggested the possibility of the end of the world. Higher forms of eschatological thought are the product of a complex social organism and an increased knowledge of natural science. Often myths of astrological origin, the concept of retribution, or the hope of deliverance from present oppressions provided the material or motive for highly developed eschatologies. Prolonged observation of planetary and solar movement made possible the conception of a recurrence, at the end of the present cycle, of the events connected with the origin of the world and a renovation of the world after its destruction.

The development of eschatological speculation, therefore, generally reflects the growth of human intellectual and moral perceptions, the larger social experience of men and women, and their expanding knowledge of nature. The outward forms of the doctrine of eschatology vary, however, according to the characteristics of the environment and of the peoples.

Ancient Explanations
Belief in a life of the spirit, a substance inhabiting the dead body as long as food and drink are furnished, is typical of primitive eschatology. The concept of the future life grew richer as civilization advanced and cosmic forces became objects of worship associated with departed spirits. The belief in judgment after death was introduced when standards of right and wrong were established according to particular tribal customs; the spirits themselves were made subject to the laws of retribution. Through this twofold development the future life was thus made spiritual and assumed a moral character, as in the eschatology of ancient Egypt. In Persia and Israel, the old conception of a shadowy existence in the grave, or in some subterranean realm, in general retained its hold. Escape from such an existence, however, into larger life, with the possibility of moral distinctions among individuals, was provided by the conception of a restoration and reanimation of the old body, thus ensuring personal identity. In other cultures, as in India, the spirit was conceived as entering immediately upon death into another body, to live again and die and become reincarnated in new forms. This concept of transmigration, or metempsychosis, made possible the introduction into the future life of subtle moral distinctions, involving not only punishments and rewards for conduct in a previous stage of existence but also the possibility of rising or falling in the scale of being according to present conduct. In spite of the seemingly perfect justice thus administered on every level of being, the never-ending series of births and deaths of the individual may come to appear as an evil; in which case deliverance may be sought from the infinite wheel of existence in Nirvana. The ancient Greeks arrived at their eschatology by considering the functions of the mind as a purely spiritual essence, independent of the body, and having no beginning or end; this abstract concept of immortality led to the anticipation of a more concrete personal life after death.
The ideas held throughout history concerning the future of the world and of humanity are only imperfectly known today. The belief in a coming destruction of the world by fire or flood is found among groups in the Pacific islands as well as among American aborigines; this belief probably did not originate in astronomical speculation, but was rather engendered by some terrifying earthly experience of the past. The ancient Persians, who adopted the doctrines of their religious teacher Zoroaster, developed the basic idea of the coming destruction of the world by fire into the concept of a great moral ordeal. According to this belief, at the end of the world the worshipers of the lord Mazda will be distinguished from all other people by successfully enduring the ordeal of molten metal, and the good will then be rewarded. This concept is found in the Gathas, the earliest part of the Avesta, the bible of Zoroastrianism. It is not certain that the idea of a resurrection from death goes back to the period represent ed by the Gathas. But the Greek historian Herodotus seems to have heard of such a Persian belief in the 5th century BC, and Theopompus of Chios, the historian of Philip II, king of Macedon, described it as a Mazdayasnian doctrine.

Similarities can be seen between the ancient Greek concepts of heaven and hell and those of Christian doctrine. The Homeric poems and those of Hesiod show how the Greek mind conceived of the future of the soul in Elysium or in Hades. Through the Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries this thought was deepened. That the future of nations and the world also played an important role in Greek and Roman thought is evident from the prophecies of the Sibyls. An eschatological philosophy dominated the epoch ushered in by the conquests of Alexander the Great, and Greco-Roman thought became suffused with Oriental ideas in its speculation upon the future of the world. In a similar manner the Scandinavian idea of the destruction of the earth by fire and its subsequent renovation under higher heavens-to be peopled by the descendants of the surviving pair, Lif and Lifthrasir (as set forth in the Elder Edda) - reflects an early Nordic interpretation of the idea of hell and heaven.

Jewish and Christian Beliefs
In early Israel the "Day of Yahweh" was a coming day of battle that would decide the fate of the people. Although the people looked forward to it as a day of victory, prophets such as Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah feared that it would bring near or complete destruction, associating it with the growing military threat from Assyria. To Jeremiah, this forecast of judgment was the criterion of true prophethood. Later, the books containing their pronouncements were interpolated with prophecies of prosperity, which themselves constituted significant signs of the expansion of eschatological hopes. The Book of Daniel voices the hope that the kingdom of the world will be given to the saints of the Most High, the Jewish people. A celestial representative, probably the archangel Michael, is promised, who, after the destruction of the beast representing the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Middle East, will come with the clouds and receive the empire of the world. No messiah appears in this apocalypse. The first distinct appearance of this deliverer and king is in the Song of Solomon.

After the conquest of Palestine by the Roman general Pompey the Great in 63 BC, the Jews longed for a descendant of the line of David, king of Israel and Judah, who would break the Roman yoke, establish the empire of the Jews, and rule as a righteous king over the subject nations. This desire ultimately led to the rebellion in AD 66-70 that brought about the destruction of Jerusalem. When Jesus Christ proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of heaven, it was natural, therefore, that despite his disavowal, he should be understood by some to be a claimant to the kingship of the Jews. His disciples were convinced that he would return as the Messiah upon the clouds of heaven. It is unlikely, however, that the final judgment and the raising of the dead were ever conceived by an adherent of the Jewish faith as functions of the Messiah.

In Christian doctrine, eschatology has traditionally included the second advent of Christ, or Parousia, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the immortality of the soul, concepts of heaven and hell, and the consummation of the kingdom of God. In the Roman Catholic church, eschatology includes, additionally, the beatific vision, purgatory, and limbo.

Although the great creeds of Christendom affirm the belief in a return to the son of God to judge the living and the dead, and in a resurrection of the just and the unjust, Christianity through the centuries has shown wide variation in its interpretation of eschatology. Conservative belief has usually emphasized a person's destiny after death and the way in which belief in the future life affects one's attitude toward life on earth. Occasionally certain sects have predicted the imminent end of the world.

Islam adopted from Judaism and Christianity the doctrine of a coming judgment, a resurrection of the dead, and everlasting punishments and rewards. Later, contact with Persian thought greatly enriched Islamic eschatology. Especially important was the belief in the reincarnation of some great prophet from the past. Time and again the world of Islam has been stirred by the expectation of Mahdi, the Muslim messiah, to reveal more fully the truth, or to lead the faithful into better social conditions on earth. Iran and Africa have had many such movements.

Current Attitudes
Liberal Christian thought has emphasized the soul and the kingdom of God, more often seeing it as coming on earth in each individual (evidenced by what was believed to be the steady upward progress of humankind) than as an apocalyptic event at the end of time. Twentieth-century theological thought has tended to repudiate what many scholars have felt to be an identification of Christian eschatology with the values of Western civilization. In the second half of the 20th century, eschatology was equated by some theologians with the doctrine of Christian hope, including not only the events of the end of time but also the hope itself and its revolutionizing influence on life in the world. The most eloquent exponent of this eschatology is the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann.
In modern Judaism the return of Israel to its land, the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, and everlasting retribution are still expected by the Orthodox, but the more liberal base the religious mission of Israel upon the regeneration of the human race and upon hope for immortal life independent of the resurrection of the body.

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Eschatology

Advanced Information
Eschatology is traditionally defined as the doctrine of the "last things" (Gr. eschata), in relation either to human individuals (comprising death, resurrection, judgment, and the afterlife) or to the world. In this latter respect eschatology is sometimes restricted to the absolute end of the world, to the exclusion of much that commonly falls within the scope of the term. This restriction is unwarranted by biblical usage: the Hebrew be'aharit hayyamim (LXX en tais eschatais hemerais, "in the last days") may denote the end of the present order or even, more generally, "hereafter."

The biblical concept of time is not cyclical (in which case eschatology could refer only to the completion of a cycle) or purely linear (in which case eschatology could refer only to the terminal point of the line); it envisions rather a recurring pattern in which divine judgment and redemption interact until this pattern attains its definitive manifestation. Eschatology may therefore denote the consummation of God's purpose whether it coincides with the end of the world (or of history) or not, whether the consummation is totally final or marks a stage in the unfolding pattern of his purpose.

Individual Eschatology in the OT
A shadowy existence after death is contemplated in much of the OT. Jesus indeed showed that immortality was implicit in men and women's relation to God: the God of the fathers "is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him" (Luke 20:38). But this implication was not generally appreciated in OT times. Perhaps in reaction against Canaanite cults of the dead, the OT lays little emphasis on the afterlife. Sheol is an underworld where the dead dwell together as shades; their former status and character are of little account there. The praises of Yahweh, which engaged so much of a pious Israelite's activity on earth, remained unsung in Sheol, which was popularly thought to be outside Yahweh's jurisdiction (Ps. 88:10 - 12; Isa. 38:18). Occasionally a more hopeful note is struck.
According to Pss. 73 and 139 one who walks with God in life cannot be deprived of his presence in death: "If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!" (Ps. 139:8). While Job and his friends generally discount the possibility of life after death (Job 14:10 - 12) and do not suppose that the comforts of a future existence can compensate for the sufferings of the present, Job asserts, in a moment of triumphant faith, that if not in this life then after death he will see God rise up to vindicate him (Job 19:25 - 27).

The hope of national resurrection finds earlier expression than that of individual resurrection. In Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, where the divine breath breathes new life into corpses, a national resurrection is in view: "These bones are the whole house of Israel" (Ezek. 37:11). National resurrection may also be promised in Isa. 26:19: "Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise." Individual resurrection first becomes explicit in Dan. 12:2.

The persecution of martyrs under Antiochus Epiphanes gave a powerful impetus to the resurrection hope. Henceforth belief in the future resurrection of at least the righteous dead became part of orthodox Judaism, except among the Sadducees, who claimed to champion the oldtime religion against Pharisaic innovations. With this new emphasis goes a sharper distinction between the posthumous fortunes of the righteous and the wicked, in Paradise and Gehenna respectively.

World Eschatology in the OT
The day of Yahweh in early Israel was the day when Yahweh would publicly vindicate himself and his people. It was possibly associated with an autumnal festival which Yahweh's kingship was celebrated. If the "enthronement psalms" (Pss. 93; 95 - 100) provide evidence for this festival, his kingship was commemorated in his work of creation, his seasonal gifts of fertility and harvest, his dealings of mercy and judgment with Israel and other nations. His sovereignty in these spheres would be fully manifested at his coming to "judge the world in righteousness" (Pss. 96:13; 98:9).
In the earliest significant mention of this "day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18 - 20) the Israelites are rebuked for desiring it so eagerly because it will bring not light and joy (as they hope) but darkness and mourning. Since Yahweh is utterly righteous, his intervention to vindicate his cause must involve his judgment on unrighteousness wherever it appears, especially among his own people, who had exceptional opportunities of knowing his will.

Psalmists and prophets recognized that, while Yahweh's kingship was exercised in many ways, the reality which they saw fell short of what they knew to be the ideal. Even in Israel Yahweh's sovereignty was inadequately acknowledged. But one day the tension between ideal and reality would be resolved; on the day of Yahweh his kingship would be universally acknowledged, and the earth would be filled with "the knowledge of the Lord" (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14). His effective recognition as "king over all the earth" is portrayed in terms of a theophany in Zech. 14:3 - 9.

The decline of the Davidic monarchy emphasized the contrast between what was and what ought to be. That monarchy represented the divine kingship on earth, but its capacity to do so worthily was impaired by political disruption, social injustice, and foreign oppression. As the fortunes of David's house sank ever lower, however, there emerged with increasing clarity the figure of a coming Davidic king in whom the promises made to David would be fulfilled and the vanished glories of earlier times would be restored and surpassed (Isa. 9:6 - 7; 11:1 - 10; 32:1 - 8; Mic. 5:2 - 4; Amos 9:11 - 12; Jer. 23:5 - 6; 33:14 - 22).

This hope of a Davidic Messiah, Yahweh's permanent vicegerent, dominates much subsequent Jewish eschatology. In some portrayals of the new age, however, the Davidic ruler is overshadowed by the priesthood, as in Ezekiel's new commonwealth (Ezek. 46:1 - 10) and later in the Dead Sea Scrolls, where the Davidic Messiah is subordinate to the chief priest, who will be head of state in the coming age.

Another form of eschatological hope appears in Daniel. No king reigns in Jerusalem, but the Most High still rules the kingdom of men and successive world emperors attain power by his will and hold it so long as he permits. The epoch of pagan dominion is limited; on its ruins the God of heaven will set up an indestructible kingdom. In Dan. 7:13 this eternal and universal dominion is given at the end time to "one like a son of man," who is associated, if not identified, with "the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:18, 22, 27).

NT Eschatology
OT eschatology is forward looking, its dominant notes being hope and promise. These notes are present in the NT, but here the dominant note is fulfillment, fulfillment in Jesus, who by his passion and resurrection has begotten his people anew to a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3), because he has "abolished death and brough life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim. 1:10).
Jesus' Galilean preaching, summarized in Mark 1:15 ("The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel"), declares the fulfillemnt of Daniel's vision: "The time came when the saints received the kingdom" (Dan. 7:22). In one sense the kingdom was already present in Jesus' ministry: "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11:20; cf. Matt. 12:28). But in another sense it was yet future. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come" (Luke 11:2). In this sense it would come "with power" (Mark 9:1), an event variously associated with the resurrection of the Son of man or with his advent "with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26).

The expression "the Son of man" figures prominently in Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God, especially after Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:29). It echoes Daniel's "one like a son of man" (Dan. 7:13). In Jesus' teaching he himself is the Son of man. But while he speaks occasionally, in Daniel's terms, of the Son of man as "coming with the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:62), he more often speaks of the Son of man as destined to suffer, in language reminiscent of the servant of Yahweh in Isa. 52:13 - 53:12. This protrayal of the Son of man in terms of the servant is quite distinctive, in that Jesus undertook to fulfill personally what was written of both. As Daniel's "one like a son of man" receives dominion from the Ancient of Days, so Jesus receives it from his Father. As Daniel's "saints of the Most High" receive dominion, so Jesus shares his dominion with his followers, the "little flock" (Luke 12:32; 22:29 - 30). But its fullness must await the suffering of the Son of man (Luke 17:25).

Sometimes Jesus uses "life" or "eternal life" (the life of the age to come) as a synonym for "the kingdom of God"; to enter the kingdom is to enter into life. This links the kingdom with the new age, when the righteous are brought back from death to enjoy resurrection life.

In the apostolic teaching this eternal life may be enjoyed here and now, although its full flowering awaits a future consummation. The death and resurrection of Christ have introduced a new phase of the kingdom, in which those who believe in him share his risen life already, even while they live on earth in mortal body. There is an indeterminate interval between Christ's resurrection and parousia, and during this interval the age to come overlaps the present age. Christians live spiritually in "this age" while they live temporally in "this age"; through the indwelling Spirit of God they enjoy the resurrection life of "that age" in anticipation.

This outlook has been called "realized eschatology." But the realized eschatology of the NT does not exclude an eschatological consummation to come.

Realized Eschatology
If the eschaton, the "last thing" which is the proper object of eschatological hope, came in the ministry, passion, and triumph of Jesus, then it cannot be the absolute end of time, for time has gone on since then. In the NT the "last thing" is more properly the "last one," the eschatos (cf. Rev. 1:7; 2:8; 22:13). Jesus is himself his people's hope, the Amen to all God's promises.
According to Albert Schweitzer's "consistent eschatology," Jesus, believing himself to be Israel's Messiah, found that the consummation did not come when he expected it (cf. Matt. 10:23) and embraced death in order that his parousia as the Son of man might be forcibly brought to pass. Since the wheel of history would not respond to his hand and turn round to complete its last revolution, he threw himself on it and was broken by it, only to dominate history more decisively by his failure than he could have done by attaining his misconceived ambition. His message, Schweitzer held, was thoroughly eschatological in the sense exemplified by the crudest contemporary apocalypticism. His ethical teaching was designed for the interim between the beginning of his ministry and his manifestation in glory. Later, when his death was seen to have destroyed the eschatological conditions instead of bringing them in, the proclamation of the kingdom was replaced by the teaching of the church.

Schewitzer's interpretation of Jesus's message was largely a reaction against the liberal nineteenth century interpretation, but it was equally one sided and distorted in its selection from the gospel data.

Later Rudolf Otto and C H Dodd propounded a form of realized eschatology. Dodd interpreted Jesus' parables in terms of the challenge to decision which confronted his hearers in his announcement that the kingdom of God had arrived. Dodd viewed the kingdom as coming in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection; to proclaim these events in their proper perspective was to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus' future coming did not, at first, come into the picture. His redeeming work constituted the decisive or eschatological manifestation of the power of God operating for the world's salvation; the later concentration on a further "last thing" in the future betokened a relapse into Jewish apocalypticism, which relegated to a merely "preliminary" role those elements of the gospel which were distinctive of Jesus' message.

(As time went on, Dodd made more room for a future consummation: what came to earth with Christ's incarnation was finally decisive for the meaning and purpose of human existence, so that, at the ultimate winding up of history, humankind will encounter God in Christ.)

Joachim Jeremias, who acknowledges indebtedness to Dodd, found that Jesus' parables express an eschatology "in process of realization"; they proclaim that the hour of fulfillment has struck and compel hearers to make up their minds about Jesus' person and mission.

Dodd's pupil, J A T Robinson, interprets Christ's parousia not as a literal event of the future but as a symbolical or mythological presentation of what happens whenever Christ comes in love and power, displaying the signs of his presence and the marks of his cross. Judgment day is a dramatic picture of every day. Robinson denies that Jesus used language implying his return to earth from heaven. His sayings which have been so understood express the twin themes of vindication and visitation, notably his reply to the high priest's question at his trial (Mark 14:62), where the added phrase "from now on" (Luke 22:69) or "hereafter" (Matt. 26:64) is taken to be an authentic part of the reply. The Son of man, condemned by earthly judges, will be vindicated in the divine law court; his consequent visitation of his people in judgment and redemption will take place "from now on" as surely as his vindication.

Instead of realized eschatology, Robinson (following Georges Florovsky) speaks of an "inaugurated eschatology", an eschatology inaugurated by Jesus' death and resurrection, which released and initiated a new phase of the kingdom in which "hereafter" God's redeeming purpose would achieve its fulfillment. To Jesus' ministry before his passion Robinson applies the term "proleptic eschatology" because in that ministry the signs of the age to come were visible in anticipation.

Conclusion
Jesus' use of OT language was creative and cannot be confined to the meaning which that language had in its original context. He probably did point forward to his personal coming to earth, not only to manifest his glory but to share that glory with his people, raised from the dead by his quickening shout. When the consummation to which his people look forward is described as their "hope of glory," it is their participation in Jesus' resurrection glory that is in view; that hope is kept bright within them by his indwelling presence (Col. 1:27) and sealed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:13 - 14, 18 - 21).
There is a tension between the "already" and the "not yet" of the Christian hope, but each is essential to the other. In the language of the seer of Patmos, the Lamb that was slain has by his death won the decisive victory (Rev. 5:5), but its final outworking, in reward and judgment, lies in the future (Rev. 22:12). The fact that we now "see Jesus crowned with glory and honor" is guarantee enough that God "has put all things under his feet" (Heb. 2:8 - 9). His people already share his risen life, and those who reject him are "condemned already" (John 3:18). For the Fourth Evangelist, the judgment of the world coincided with the passion of the incarnate Word (John 12:31); yet a future resurrection to judgment is contemplated as well as a resurrection to life (John 5:29).

Some much canvassed questions, such as the chronological relation of the parousia to the great distress of Mark 13:19, to the manifestation of the man of lawlessness of 2 Thess. 2:3 - 8, or to the millennial reign of Rev. 20, are marginal to the main course of NT eschatological teaching, belonging rather to the detailed exegesis of the passages concerned. The eschatological outlook of the NT is well summed up in the words: "Christ Jesus our hope" (1 Tim. 1:1).

F F Bruce
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)

Bibliography
G R Beasley - Murray, Jesus and the Future and The Coming of God; R H Charles, A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life; O Cullmann, Christ and Time; C H Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments, and The Coming of Christ; J E Fison, The Christian Hope; T F Glasson, The Second Advent; J Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus; W G Kummel, Promise and Fulfilment; G E Ladd, The Presence of the Future; R Otto, The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man; H Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom; J A T Robinson, In the End, God. . . and Jesus and His Coming; A Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus; E F Sutcliffe, The OT and the Future Life; G Vos, The Pauline Eschatology.

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Realized Eschatology

Advanced Information
This concept should be contrasted with futurist or thoroughgoing eschatology, in which the teaching of Jesus about the kingdom of God is viewed as significantly influenced by Jewish apocalyptic. While continental scholarship has focused on the latter, the Anglo-American tradition has often urged that the futurist aspects of the kingdom be reduced to a bare minimum. Some have dismissed this apocatyptic note as an early Christian accretion, but many NT scholars have viewed the apocalyptic language as symbolic of a profound theological reality. Instead, they argue, Jesus viewed his ministry as inaugurating the kingdom: that is, this eschatological reality was realized within Christ's own ministry.

C. H. Dodd is often identified with realized eschatology because of his epoch-making challenge to the apocalytic interpreters of Jesus. Dodd's chief contribution was published in 1935 (The Parables of the Kingdom), in which he examined various texts that spoke of the kingdom as already present. This does not mean that Jesus merely pointed to the sovereignty of God in human history and labeled this the kingdom, but rather that Jesus viewed the kingdom as arriving in an unparalleled, decisive way. The eschatological power of God had come into effective operation within his present life and was released through his death. Hence in Luke 11:20 we learn that Jesus himself is revealing this new power: "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Luke 17:20ff. is similar in that Jesus seems to deny the observable signs of apocalyptic: "for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." Dodd particularly stressed the parables of growth (the weeds among wheat, the mustard seed, the sower; see esp. Matt. 13), which find their meaning in a this-wordly event of decisive importance.

To be sure, this alters the entire scheme of futurist eschatology wherein the kingdom ushers in the end. "The eschaton has moved from the future to the present, from the sphere of expectation into that of realized experience" (Parables of the Kingdom, p. 50). For Dodd, this must become a fixed point in interpretation because it is these teachings of Jesus that are explicit and unequivocal. "It represents the ministry of Jesus as 'realized eschatology'; as the impact upon this world of the 'powers of the world to come' in a series of events, unprecedented and unrepeatable, now in actual progress" (ibid., p. 51). Thus when Jesus says, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see" (Luke 10:23), he is referring to his messianic acts which in themselves are ushering in the eschatological kingdom of God. "It is no longer imminent; it is here" (ibid., p. 49).

It must be said at once that realized eschatology has suffered many criticisms. Scholars have quickly pointed out that Dodd was less than fair in his exegesis of many futurist texts (e.g., Mark 9:1; 13:1ff.; 14:25). Still, in a later response to his critics (The Coming of Christ, 1951) Dodd accepted the futurist sayings but reinterpreted them as predictions of a transcendent age. Norman Perrin for one has successfully shown how Judaism employed no such transcendent concept of the kingdom and that Dodd again has misrepresented the text by applying a foreign Greek category to Jesus' Hebrew teaching.

Most interpreters have argued for a synthesis of realized and futurist components in eschatology. Dodd convincingly demonstrated that Jesus' appearance brought to bear on history an eschatological crisis in the present; however, we would add that history still awaits its consummation in the future, when the kingdom will come in apocalyptic power.

G M Burge
(Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)

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Bibliography
G. E. Ladd, Crucial Questions About the Kingdom of God; W. G. Kummel, Promise and Fulfillment; G. Lundstrom, The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus; N. Perrin, The Kingdom of God in the Teaching of Jesus; R. Schnackenburg, God's Rule and Kingdom.

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