The
end time,
end times, or
end of days is a time period described in the
eschatologicalEschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
writings in the three Abrahamic religions (
JudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
,
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
) and in doomsday scenarios in various other non-Abrahamic religions. In Christianity, the
End Times are often depicted as a time of
tribulationThe Great Tribulation refers to tumultuous events that are described during the "signs of the times", first mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet discourse...
that precedes the
Second ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
of the Christian "
saviourIn Christian theology, Jesus is sometimes referred to as a Redeemer. This refers to the salvation he is believed to have accomplished, and is based on the metaphor of redemption, or "buying back". Although the New Testament does not use the title "Redeemer", the word "redemption" is used in several...
" or a "hoped-for deliverer",
JesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, the Christian
MessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, who will usher in the fullness of the
World to ComeThe World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as...
and
Kingdom of GodThe Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
and bring an end to suffering and
evilEvil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
and all things wrong with the current world which is tainted by
Original SinOriginal sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
. In
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Yawm al-Qiyāmah "the Day of Resurrection" or
Yawm ad-Din "the Day of Judgement", Allah's final assessment of humanity, is preceded by the end of the world. In Judaism the term "End of Days" is a reference to the Messianic era and the Jewish belief in the coming of Mashiach and the Olam Haba. Various other religions also have
eschatologicalEschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
beliefs associated with turning and
redemptionRedemption is a concept common to several theologies. It is generally associated with the efforts of people within a faith to overcome their shortcomings and achieve the moral positions exemplified in their faith.- In Buddhism :...
.
Since the advent of modern science in the 18th century, the discovery of
deep timeDeep time is the concept that the Geologic time scale is vast because the Earth is very old. The modern philosophical concept was developed in the 18th century by Scottish geologist James Hutton...
, and the
age of the EarthThe age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples...
, the concept of an "End of Days" has been replaced in contemporary discourse with questions about the
ultimate fate of the universeThe ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology. Many possible fates are predicted by rival scientific theories, including futures of both finite and infinite duration....
. Most scientists believe that the "end time" will finally one day occur hundreds of billions of years from now with the
heat death of the universeThe heat death of the universe is a suggested ultimate fate of the universe, in which the universe has diminished to a state of no thermodynamic free energy and therefore can no longer sustain motion or life. Heat death does not imply any particular absolute temperature; it only requires that...
.
Islam
There are various signs (as many as up to 100) given in the
SunnahThe word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
and Quran for the coming of Judgment Day. These signs can be divided into two parts, minor and major. The major signs include
- And you will see people entering religion of God in crowds. (Qur'an Surat an-Nasr, 1-2)
- the blowing of Trumpet and the minor signs will precede them.
- the Sun will rise from the West instead of the East.
- the Earth will experience an earthquake that will cause mountains to crash down. The Earth's inner body will break out, and the Earth will be stretched out.99:1, 69:13-14, 70:8, 84:3-4, 20:105-107, 99:1-6.
- Earthquakes from the East, the West, and one in the Arabian Peninsula
- Gog (yahjuj) & Magog (mahjuj) will be released and will destroy the crops, animals, water and kill everything.
- Smoke will spread and cause non-believers to fall ill whereas the believers will catch a mere cold. Later, Allah will send a cool wind, taking life (gently) from all of the believers, leaving only the Kufaars (unbelievers) to see the last day till the Day Of Judgment will arrive.
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic eschatology is concerned with the
QiyamahIn Islam, Yawm al-Qiyāmah or Yawm ad-Din is believed to be God's final assessment of humanity as it exists. The sequence of events is the annihilation of all creatures allowable, resurrection of the body, and the judgment of all sentient creatures.The exact time when these events are to occur...
(end of the world;
Last JudgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
) and the final judgment of humanity. Eschatology relates to one of the six articles of faith (
aqidah) of
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Like the other Abrahamic religions, Islam teaches the bodily
resurrection of the deadResurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
, the fulfillment of a divine plan for creation, and the immortality of the human soul; the righteous are rewarded with the pleasures of
JannahJannah , is the Islamic conception of paradise. The Arabic word Jannah is a shortened version meaning simply "Garden". According to Islamic eschatology, after death, one will reside in the grave until the appointed resurrection on . Muslims believe that the treatment of the individual in the life...
(
HeavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
), while the unrighteous are punished in
JahannamJahannam is the Arabic language equivalent to Hell. The term comes from the Greek Gehenna, itself derived from the Hebrew geographical name for the Valley of Hinnom.-Jahannam in the Qur'an:...
(Hell). A significant fraction of the Quran deals with these beliefs, with many
hadithThe term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
elaborating on the themes and details. Islamic apocalyptic literature describing the Armageddon is often known as
fitna (a test) and
malahim (or
ghayba in the shi'ite tradition).
Sunni Islam
In
Sunni IslamSunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
, which is followed by the majority of Muslims. The appearance of the Mahdi as the final Muslim Caliph and the descending of the prophet Jesus in his time. There are both major and minor signs of the end times.
The Minor Signs:
- The disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)
- Books/writing will be widespread and (religious) knowledge will be low (Ahmad)
- Adultery and fornication will be prevalent (Muhammad said that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people, which their ancestors had not known.) (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Al-Haythami)
- When fornication becomes widespread among your leaders (Muhammad said that this will happen when the people stop forbidding evil) (Ibn Majah)
- Adultery and fornication will be performed in the open
- The consumption of intoxicants will be widespread (Bukhari & Muslim)
- Women will outnumber men......eventually 50:1 (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)
- Killing, killing, killing (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)
- The nations of the earth will gather against the Muslims like hungry people going to sit down to a table full of food. This will occur when the Muslims are large in number, but weak "like the foam of the sea".
- People will beat others with whips like the tails of oxen (Muslim)?
- The children will be filled with rage (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
- Children will be foul (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
- Women will conspire (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
- Rain will be acidic or burning (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
- Children of fornication will become widespread or prevalent (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
- When a trust becomes a means of making a profit (at-Tirmidhi, Al-Haythami)
- Gains will be shared out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor (at-Tirmidhi)
- Paying zakat becomes a burden and miserliness becomes widespread; charity is given reluctantly (at-Tirmidhi & Al-Haythami)
- Miserliness will be thrown into the hearts of people (Bukhari)
- Episodes of sudden death will become widespread (Ahmad)
- There will be people who will be brethren in public but enemies in secret (He was asked how that would come about and replied, "Because they will have ulterior motives in their mutual dealings and at the same time will fear one another.") (at-Tirmidhi)
- When a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly while shunning his father (at-Tirmidhi)
- When voices are raised in the mosques (at-Tirmidhi)
- People will walk in the marketplace with their thighs exposed
- Great distances will be traversed in short spans of time
- The people of Iraq will receive no food and no money due to oppression by the Romans (Europeans) (Muslim)
- People will hop between the clouds and the earth
- A tribulation will enter everyone's home (Ahmad)
- The leader of a people will be the worst of them (at-Tirmidhi)
- Leaders of people will be oppressors (Al-Haythami)
- People will treat a man with respect out of fear for some evil he might do (at-Tirmidhi)
- Men will begin to wear silk (at-Tirmidhi)
- Female singers and musical instruments will become popular (at-Tirmidhi)
- When singers become common (Al-Haythami)
- People will dance late into the night
- When the last ones of the Ummah begin to curse the first ones (at-Tirmidhi)
- People will claim to follow the Qur'an but will reject hadith & sunnah (Abu Dawood)
- People will believe in the stars (Al-Haythami)
- People will reject al-Qadr (the Divine Decree of Destiny) (Al-Haythami)
- Time will pass rapidly (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)
- Good deeds will decrease (Bukhari)
- Smog will appear over cities because of the evil that they are doing
- People will be carrying on with their trade, but there will only be a few trustworthy persons
- Wealth will increase so much so that if a man were given 10,000, he would not be content with it (Ahmad & Bukhari)
- A man will pass by a grave and wish that he was in their place (Bukhari)
- Earthquakes will increase (Bukhari & Muslim)
- There will be attempts to make the deserts green
- The appearance of false messengers (30 dajjals) (Bukhari)
- Women will seem more naked in spite of being dressed (indecent clothes), these women will be led astray & will lead others astray (Muslim)
- The conquest of Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
by the Muslims (Ahmad)
- When people begin to compete with others in the construction of taller buildings (Bukhari)
- "Then tell me about its signs," said the man. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "That slave women give birth to their mistresses; and that you see barefoot, unclothed, beginning shepherds competing in the construction of tall buildings." (Sahih Muslim)
- There will be a special greeting for the people of distinction (Ahmad)
- The Euphrates will disclose a treasure (Muhammad said that whoever is present should not take anything from it) (Bukhari & Muslim)
- Two large groups, adhering to the same religious teaching will fight each other with large numbers of casualties (Bukhari & Muslim)
- Wild animals will be able to talk to humans (Ahmad)
- A man will leave his home and his thigh or hip will tell him what is happening back at his home (Ahmad)
- Years of deceit in which the truthful person will not be believed and the liar will be believed (Ahmad)
- Bearing false witness will become widespread (Al-Haythami & Ahmad)
- When men lie with men and women lie with women (Al-Haythami)
- Trade will become so widespread that a woman will be forced to help her husband in business (Ahmad)
- Arrogance will increase in the earth (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
- Family ties will be cut (Ahmad)
- There will be many women of child-bearing age who will no longer give birth.
- There will be an abundance of food, much of which has no blessing in it.
- People will refuse when offered food.
- Men will begin to look like women and women will begin to look like men.
The Major Signs:
Although they appear here in no particular order, it is important to point out that Prophet Muhammad said that these last, major signs will follow each other like pearls falling off of a necklace it will be the end of time on tne 12/12/12 :(
- Masih ad-Dajjal (The AntiChrist)
- The Mahdi
In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
- The appearance of Isa (Jesus) al-Masih , the son of Mary
- Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog)
- The destruction of the Ka'bah and the recovery of its treasure
- Emergence of the Beast
- The smoke
- Three major landslides (one in the East, one in the West, and one on the Arabian peninsula)
- The wind will take the souls of the believers
- The rising of the sun from the west
- The fire will drive the people to their final gathering place
- Three blasts of the trumpet (fear & terror, death, resurrection)
Shia Islam
Note: the word Imam means Leader, and such a title is considered to be a God-given rank and authority when used before one of the 12 successors of Prophet Mohammad, according to Shia Islamic belief. The usage of the word Imam nowadays with other people, as in Imam Khomeini, merely means "leader" with no insinuation to God-given authority.
End of time beliefs in Shia Islamic thought are based on Quranic references, instruction from the Prophet
MuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and his progeny
Ahl al-BaytAhl al-Bayt is an Arabic phrase literally meaning People of the House, or family of the House. The phrase "ahl al-bayt" was used in Arabia before the advent of Islam to refer to one's clan, and would be adopted by the ruling family of a tribe. Within the Islamic tradition, the term refers to the...
. Several variants of one theory exist in Shia eschatology, yet they all revolve around the messianic figure, Imam Mahdi also known as "Imam az-Zaman" meaning the Leader of Our Time, who is considered by Twelver Shias as the 12th appointed successor of Prophet Muhammad. He is Mohammad (Al-Mahdi), son of Hasan (Al-'Askari), son of Ali (Al-Hadi), son of Mohammad (Al-Jawad), son of Ali (Al-Rida), son of Musa (Al-Kathem), son of Jafar (As-Sadeq), son of Mohammad (Al-Baqer), son of Ali (Zainul-abideen), son of Hussein (Ash-Shahid), son of Ali (Amirul Mu'mineen) husband of Prophet Mohammad's daughter, Fatima.
In Shia Islamic thought, there is a worldly reality that is mentioned to occur before the end of human life on earth. The first events that occur upon his appearance will be related to al-Sufyani, whom will be the ruler of Bilaad Ash-sham; a region which includes Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. Sufyani is a descendant of the
UmayyadThe Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
family, which was the greatest enemy of Prophet Muhammad. The Sufyani, upon knowing that Imam Mahdi has appeared in Mecca, sends an army to kill him, but according to Shia beliefs, a great event will occur then. The ground will open up and bury the whole army alive, except for two men. One lives on to, then, side with Imam Mahdi's army, while the other will go back to Sufyani to warn him and his army of God's wrath if he decides to fight al-Mahdi. It is noted in Shia traditions that the Sufyani will be of great terror to the Shias of his time, as he will follow them by their names. Whoever is named after one of the Shia Imams, will be killed, even those by the name of Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam, will be slaughtered mercilessly by Sufyani and his followers.
Even though during the days of the Shia Imams (more than a thousand years ago), Iran was still Persian and non-Muslim; it is mentioned in Shia traditions (which were narrated from the Shia Imams of Ahlul Bayt), that people from Iran (often referred to people from the East, also) will pave the way to Al-Mahdi's appearance, and after his return, the Iranians will side with him and fight his enemies. Prior to Imam Mahdi's return, the Iranian army, whose leader will be a man called in Shia traditions as: Al-Khorasani (in reference to Khorasan, a region in Iran), will be sent to Kufa to fight Sufyani's army, which will be sent from Syria to slaughter the Shia of Iraq.
It is important to draw a line between the "signs" that correlate to Imam Mahdi's return, and the "signs" that occur prior to Judgment Day.
According to Shia beliefs, there are many signs that will occur before Imam Mahdi's appearance, but only 5 of those are guaranteed to occur, while the rest are uncertain to people, depending on God's will. If He wishes them to occur or not, it is what He decides. God has hidden His will with regards to those uncertain signs for the well-being of mankind, for He is the most knowledgeable to what serves mankind good and what harms it. This what is known in Shia beliefs as "Badaa" (البداء).
The five signs that are imminent are the following:
- The appearance of a person by the name of "Sufyani" (claims to be Muslim, though he 'carries a cross', though he is a descendant of the disintegrated Ummayyad dynasty whose scattered descendants may have been in the Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
and SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
or MoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
over the last 12 centuries) will lead forces from Syria across Iraq to Arabia to defeat the Mahdi's forces along with his Allies
- The cracking of the earth to abolish Sufyani's forces as previously mentioned.
- The appearance of al-Yamani, the ruler of Yemen, who will be a guide to people to the right path before Imam Mahdi's appearance
- The killing of the "pure soul", near al-Kaabah, precisely between "al-rokn al yamani" and "maqam Ibrahim"
- The voice of Gabriel, the angel, from the sky that calls out people to support Imam Mahdi because he is sent by God.
It is mentioned in Shia traditions, that Imam Mahdi's army will destroy the Jewish state, which was predicted by Islam more than 1400 years ago, that was established in the Middle East. After that, Imam Mahdi will fight al-Sufyani and eventually destroy him and his army too. It is after those events that the Jews gather once again under the Dajjal the anti-Christ, as Christians call him, the deceiver, who will try to influence people once again to side with him against Imam Mahdi's wordly revolution.
The Shia End of Time theory also states that the coming of Jesus, will coincide with the return of the Mahdi. Shias believe that Jesus and the Mahdi will work together to bring about peace and justice on earth between all peoples of faith. This is the general theme accepted among Shia theologians.
The events that occur in the final moments of humanity will mainly revolve around
Dajjalal-Masih ad-Dajjal , is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology. He is to appear pretending to be Masih at a time in the future, before Yawm al-Qiyamah , directly comparable to the figures of the Antichrist and Armilus in Christian and Jewish eschatology, respectively.-Name: is a common Arabic word ...
and his ability to woo humanity to a new world religion, one that is not divinely issued. The idea of a
MahdiIn Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...
returning to help humanity against the "
Great Deception" is also mentioned in Sunni traditions, but is specifically outlined as
Muhammad al-MahdiMuḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams...
in Shia sources. There are many sources that have prophecies regarding the last days, with only some that are accepted as repeated in different sources by different people. A majority of Shia scholars agree on the following detail of events that will occur in the final days:
- The Dajjal (Al Masih Al Dajjal - The Antichrist) will claim to be the savior of humanity and people of all faiths will unite under his religion
- There will be mass killings of Shias in Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
(around the Euphrates), and there will be prices put on their hands, even if they are not criminals
- The Mahdi will reappear and make a speech at the Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...
and will gather an army of 313 generals and thousands of followers to defeat the Sufyani
- The Mahdi will re-establish the true Islam and the world will find peace and tranquility
- There will be a period of rule by the Mahdi
- The resurrection of men and women will begin as the Day of Judgement will commence
Christianity
Some
Christians in the first centuryThe earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity. The Apostles and others following the Great Commission's decree to spread the teachings of Jesus to "all nations," had great success spreading the religion to gentiles. Peter,...
believed that Jesus would return during their lifetime, because Jesus had said to his followers to be alert or be ready at all times. From this belief came the first evidence of the doctrine of imminence. When the converts of Paul in Thessalonica were persecuted by the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, they believed the end was upon them.
Tribulation in the New Testament:
The prophetic theme of the New Testament also mirrors the Old Testament, namely, Tribulation. In the New Testament, Jesus refers to this as the "Great Tribulation", "Affliction", and "days of vengeance."
Matthew 24:15-22 (King James Version): "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand). Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Mark 13:14-20 (King James Version): "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
Luke 21:20-33 (King James Version): "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away."
Catholicism
Catholicism mainly adheres to the
AmillennialAmillennialism is a view in Christian end-times theology named for its rejection of the theory that Jesus Christ will have a thousand-year long, physical reign on the earth...
school of thought, promoted by
Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
in his work "The City of God". Augustine claims a non-literal fulfillment of prophecy. Catholics may also refer to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 24, Verse 36, in which Christ is quoted as saying:
"But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, nor the Son"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
, but the FatherGod the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
alone." (NABThe New American Bible is a Catholic Bible translation first published in 1970. It had its beginnings in the Confraternity Bible, which began to be translated from the original languages in 1948....
translation)
While some who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible insist that the prediction of dates or times is futile, some other writers believe that Jesus foretold of signs which would indicate that the "end of days" was near. Some of these signs include earthquakes, natural disasters, civil problems, "wars and rumors of wars," and other catastrophes. Of the precise time, however, it will come like a "thief in the night" (1 Thess. 5:2).
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Catholic beliefs concerning the
End Times are addressed in the Profession of Faith.
Protestantism
MillennialistsMillennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
concentrate on the issue of whether the true believers will see the
tribulationThe Great Tribulation refers to tumultuous events that are described during the "signs of the times", first mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet discourse...
or be removed from it by what is referred to as a Pre-Tribulation
RaptureThe rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
.
AmillennialistsAmillennialism is a view in Christian end-times theology named for its rejection of the theory that Jesus Christ will have a thousand-year long, physical reign on the earth...
believe that the end times encompass the time from Christ's ascension to the Last day, and maintain that the mention of the "thousand years" in the Book of Revelation is meant to be taken metaphorically (i.e., not literally, or 'spiritually'), a view which continues to cause divisions within
evangelicalProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Christianity.
End-times beliefs in Protestant Christianity vary widely. Christians
premillennialistsPremillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
who believe that the End Times are occurring now, are usually specific about timelines that climax in the end of the world. For some,
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, or the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
are seen as major players whose roles are foretold in scriptures. Among
dispensational premillennialistsDispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
writers, there are those who believe that Christians will be supernaturally summoned to
HeavenHeaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
by Jesus in an event called the
RaptureThe rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
, which occurs before the biblical "Great Tribulation" prophesied in Matthew 24-25; Mark 13 and Luke 21. The Great Tribulation is also mentioned in the last book of the Bible — the
book of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
.
'End times' may also refer simply to the passing of a particular age or long period in the relationship between man and God. Adherents to this view sometimes cite
St. Paul'sPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
second letter to Timothy, and draw analogies to the late 20th/early 21st centuries.
Post-Exilic Hebrew books of
prophecyProphecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
such as the
Book of DanielThe Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
and
Book of EzekielThe Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
are given new interpretations in this Christian tradition, while apocalyptic forecasts appear in the Judeo-Christian
Sibylline OraclesThe Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Fourteen books and eight fragments of Sibylline Oracles survive...
and in the whole field of
apocalyptic literatureApocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians....
, which includes the
Book of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
ascribed to John, the
apocryphaThe term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
l
Apocalypse of PeterThe recovered Apocalypse of Peter or Revelation of Peter is an example of a simple, popular early Christian text of the 2nd century; it is an example of Apocalyptic literature with Hellenistic overtones. The text is extant in two incomplete versions of a lost Greek original, one Koine Greek, and an...
, and the
Second Book Of Esdras2 Esdras or Latin Esdras is the name of an apocalyptic book in many English versions of the Bible . Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra. It is reckoned among the Apocrypha by many Protestant churches. Although Second Esdras exists in its complete form only in Latin, it was originally written in...
.
Most fundamentalist Christians anticipate that biblical prophecy will be fulfilled literally. They see current world and regional wars, earthquakes, hurricanes and famines as the beginning of the birth pains which Jesus described in Matthew and Mark . They believe that mankind started in the
garden of EdenThe Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, and point to
MegiddoMegiddo is a tell in modern Israel near Megiddo Kibbutz, known for its historical, geographical, and theological importance especially under its Greek name Armageddon. In ancient times Megiddo was an important city-state. Excavations have unearthed 26 layers of ruins, indicated a long period of...
as the place that the current world system will finish, with the Advent of Messiah coming to rule for 1,000 years.
Contemporary use of the term
End Times has evolved from use around a group of literal beliefs in Christian
millennialismMillennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
. These beliefs typically include the ideas that the Biblical
apocalypseAn Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
is imminent and that various signs in current events are
omenAn omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
s of a climax to world history known as the battle of
ArmageddonArmageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
. These beliefs have been widely held in one form, by the Adventist movement (
MilleritesThe Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.-Origins:...
), by
Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, and in another form by
dispensational premillennialistsDispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
. In 1918 a group of eight well known preachers produced a London Manifesto warning of an imminent second coming of Christ shortly after the 1917 liberation of Jerusalem by the British.
Religious movements which expect that the
second coming of ChristParousia is an ancient Greek word meaning presence, arrival, or official visit.-Classical usage:# Physical presence, arrival – The main use is the physical presence of a person, which where that person is not already present refers to the prospect of the physical arrival of that person, especially...
, will be a cataclysmic event, generally called
adventism, have arisen throughout the Christian era; but they became particularly common during and after the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
.
ShakersThe United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
,
Emanuel Swedenborgwas a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
(who considered the second coming to be symbolic, and to have occurred in 1757), and others developed entire religious systems around a central concern for the second coming of Christ, disclosed by new prophecy or special gifts of revelation. The
MilleritesThe Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.-Origins:...
are diverse religious groups which similarly rely upon a special gift of interpretation for fixing the date of Christ's return.
The chief difference between the 19th century Millerite and Adventist movements and contemporary prophecy belief is that
William MillerWilliam Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians...
and his followers fixed the time for the Second Coming by
calendarA calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months, and years. The name given to each day is known as a date. Periods in a calendar are usually, though not...
calculations based on interpretations of the Biblical apocalypses; they originally set a date for the Second Coming in 1844. These sorts of computations also appear in some contemporary prophecy beliefs, but few contemporary End Times prophets use them to fix a date; their timetables will be triggered by future wars and
moral catastrophesA moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and credited creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of...
, and accordingly believe that God's judgment against the conflict-ridden and corrupt world is close at hand.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that Biblical prophecy foretells an end time scenario in which the United States works in conjunction with the Catholic Church to mandate worship on a day other than seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) as prescribed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11), thereby bringing about a situation where one must choose for or against the Bible as the revealed will of God. Short paperback books like National Sunday Law promise that, just in the day of the Roman emperor Constantine, Sunday religious worship will be enforced on pain of death: this is anathema to those who believe they must worship on Saturday. Seventh-day Adventists interpret the "two horned beast" that "came out of the wilderness" and "spoke meekly" to mean the United States because it passed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, was established in a thinly settled part of the world compared to Roman and Byzantine Europe, and because it declared support for democracy, rule of law, and at least the rights of all white men, rich or poor. Books such as The Pearl of Great Price do much to remind the reader that Christians of conscience have struggled to translate and read the Bible according to their own conscience. When caught, these Christians have not compromised their beliefs nor engaged in violence. The Seventh-day Adventists would be the first in line to oppose the right-wing incorporation of religious agenda into politics, not only because Seventh-day Adventists and other Christians (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) have been arrested and tried for offenses such as draft evasion, but because the politicalization of any religious agenda may lead to an official religion and not only first criminalize the losers, but if there is a power shift, also come to criminalize the ex-winners, too.
Preterism
Another view of the 'end times' known as
preterism differentiates between the concept of 'time of the end' and 'end of time', and promotes a different understanding of these prophecies, in that they took place in the 1st century, more specifically in year AD 70, when the Jewish Temple was destroyed, and animal sacrifices were stopped. In this view, the 'time of the end' concept is referring to the
end of the covenant between God and IsraelAntinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
, rather than the end of time, or the end of planet Earth. Unlike all the other Christian theological systems, preterism holds an exclusive and unique view on the nature and timing of the 'End Times', in that preterists teach the 'end times' to be in the 1st century AD.
Preterists believe that prophecies such as the
Second ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
, the defiling of the Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the
AntichristThe term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
, the Great Tribulation, the advent of
The Day of the LordThe Day of the Lord is a Biblical term and theme used in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. A related expression is the Great Day as in "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come." which appears in both Old and...
and the
Final JudgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
were fulfilled at or about the year AD 70 when the Roman general (and future Emperor)
TitusTitus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
sacked
Jerusalem and destroyed the Jewish Temple, putting a permanent stop to the daily animal sacrifices.
Proponents of full preterism do not believe in the bodily
resurrection of the deadResurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
and place this event as well as the
Second ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
in AD 70, whereas proponents of
partial preterismPartial preterism is a form of Christian eschatology that places the events of most of the Book of Revelation as occurring during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD yet still affirms an orthodox future bodily return of Christ to earth at an unknown day and hour...
do believe in a bodily resurrection of the dead at a future
Second ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
. Full preterists contend that those who consider themselves to be partial preterists are actually just futurists since they believe the Second Coming, Resurrection, Rapture and Judgment are still in the future.
Many preterists believe the 1st-century living Christians were literally raptured off the earth to be with Christ. At that time, their bodies were changed to be like Christ's. Preterists also believe the term 'Last Days' or 'Time of the End' refers not to the last days of planet Earth, or last days of mankind, but to the last days of the
Old CovenantThe Old Covenant was the name of the agreement which effected the union of Iceland and Norway. It is also known as Gissurarsáttmáli, named after Gissur Þorvaldsson, the Icelandic chieftain who worked to promote it. The name "Old Covenant", however, is probably due to historical confusion...
, the Mosaic Covenant which God had exclusively with Israel until year AD 70.
According to preterism, many 'time passages' in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
indicate with apparent certainty that the
Second ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
of Christ, and the 'End Times' predicted in the
BibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
were to take place within the lifetimes of Christ's disciples:
Matt.The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
10:23,
Matt.The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
16:28,
Matt.The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
24:34,
Matt.The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
26:64,
Rom.The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
13:11-12, 1 Cor. 7:29-31, 1 Cor. 10:11,
Phil.The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, usually referred to simply as Philippians, is the eleventh book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was written by St. Paul to the church of Philippi, an early center of Christianity in Greece around 62 A.D. Other scholars argue for an...
4:5,
JamesThe Epistle of James, usually referred to simply as James, is a book in the New Testament. The author identifies himself as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ", with "the earliest extant manuscripts of James usually dated to mid-to-late third century."There are four views...
5:8-9, 1 Pet. 4:7, 1 Jn. 2:18.
Dispensationalist prophecies
The reestablishment of Israel in 1948 provided a major impetus to the dispensationalist belief system. Israel's history of wars after 1948 with its Arab neighbors provided further research as was seen in at least one book by John F. Walvoord. After the Six Day War in 1967, and the
Yom Kippur WarThe Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
in 1973, it seemed plausible to many Fundamentalist Christians in the 1970s that Middle East turmoil may well be leading up to the fulfillment of various Bible prophecies and to the Battle of
ArmageddonArmageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
.
Members of the dispensationalist movement such as
Hal LindseyHarold Lee "Hal" Lindsey is an American evangelist and Christian writer. He is a Christian Zionist and dispensationalist author. He currently resides in Texas.-Biography:...
,
J. Dwight PentecostJ. Dwight Pentecost is a Christian theologian best known for his book Things to Come.He currently is Distinguished Professor of Bible Exposition, Emeritus, at Dallas Theological Seminary, one of only two so honored. He holds a B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College and Th.M. and Th.D. degrees from...
,
John WalvoordJohn F. Walvoord was a Christian theologian, pastor, and president of Dallas Theological Seminary from 1952 to 1986. He was the author of over 30 books, focusing primarily on eschatology and theology including The Rapture Question, and was co-editor of The Bible Knowledge Commentary with Roy B....
, all of whom have
Dallas Theological SeminaryDallas Theological Seminary is an evangelical theological seminary located in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system known as Dispensationalism...
backgrounds, and some other writers, claimed further that the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
founded on the
Treaty of RomeThe Treaty of Rome, officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, was an international agreement that led to the founding of the European Economic Community on 1 January 1958. It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany...
was a revived
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and would become the kingdom of the coming Antichrist and the
BeastSatan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. The Roman Empire also figured into the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
writers' vision of the future. The fact that in the early 1970s, there were (erroneously thought to be) seven nations in the European Economic Community was held to be significant; this aligned the Community with a seven-headed beast mentioned in Revelation. This specific prophecy has required revision, but the idea of a revived Roman Empire remains.
The separate destinies of the Church and Israel, a belief which is inherent in
dispensationalismDispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
is a particular concern to some Jews and to some evangelical Christians. Evangelicals who reject dispensationalism, such as those who hold to a
Post Tribulation RaptureIn Christian eschatology, the Post-Tribulation Rapture doctrine is the belief in a combined Resurrection and Rapture of all believers coming after the Great Tribulation.-Doctrine and implications:...
, (or more accurately a Post Tribulation Resurrection-Rapture), see both the Church and Israel entering the crucible of the End Time together.
Dispensationalism, in contrast to the Millerite Adventist movement, had its beginning in the 19th century, when
John Nelson DarbyJohn Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...
, founder of the
Plymouth BrethrenThe Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
religious denominationA religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
, incorporated into his system of Biblical interpretation a system of organizing Biblical time into a number of discrete
dispensationIn certain religions, a dispensation is a distinctive arrangement or period in history that forms the framework through which God relates to mankind.-Protestant dispensations:...
s, each of which marks a separate
covenantIn Abrahamic religions, a covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with that religious community or with humanity in general. This sort of covenant is an important concept in Judaism and Christianity, derived in the first instance from the biblical covenant tradition.An example of a...
with
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Darby's beliefs were widely publicized in Cyrus I. Scofield's
Scofield Reference BibleThe Scofield Reference Bible is a widely circulated study Bible edited and annotated by the American Bible student Cyrus I. Scofield, that popularized dispensationalism at the beginning of the 20th century...
, an annotated Bible that became popular in the
United States of AmericaThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Since the majority of the Biblical prophets were writing at a time when [Israel] was mostly Jewish, and the
Temple in JerusalemThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
was still functioning, they wrote as if those institutions would still be in operation during the prophesied events. According to preterism this was the very fulfillment of the prophecies. However, according to
FuturistsFuturism is a Christian eschatological view that interprets the Book of Revelation, the Book of Daniel, the Olivet discourse and the parable of the Sheep and the Goats as future events in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context...
their destruction in AD 70 put the prophetic timetable, if there is one, on hold. Many such believers therefore anticipated the return of Jews to Israel and the reconstruction of the Temple before the Second Coming could occur. (See
Christian ZionismChristian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy. It overlaps with, but is distinct from, the nineteenth century movement for the Restoration of the Jews...
)
Post-tribulation pre-millennialists
A view of the Second Coming of Christ as held by post-tribulational pre-millennialists is unique, though not widely held in the Protestant Church because of its connotations, in particular that the Church of Christ will have to undergo great persecution.
Specific prophetic movements
- In 1843, William Miller
William Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians...
made the first of several predictions that the world would end in only a few months. As his predictions did not come true (referred to as the Great DisappointmentThe Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
), followers of MillerThe Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.-Origins:...
went on to found separate churches, the most successful of which is the Seventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
.
Restorationism (Christian primitivism)
End times theology is also significant to restorationist Christian religions, which consider themselves distinct from both Catholicism and Protestantism.
Mormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the
MormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
s, has taught that humanity is living in the last days.
Latter-day Saints do not speculate as to the exact age of the world, except that it was created in 6 "creative periods". They believe Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden after the world's creation. They do not speculate as to the time, day or year of the second coming, but watch for Biblical indications, or "Signs of the Times" that the event is approaching.
Latter-day Saints believe that their church is led by
prophetIn religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s who receive inspiration and direction from God. A number of Mormon leaders have taught that the human family has been allotted seven thousand years, and that the earth is nearing the end of the sixth such millennium. Mormon leader
Orson F. WhitneyOrson Ferguson Whitney born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from April 9, 1906 until his death.-Early life:...
stated that humanity is now in the "late Saturday night" of the Earth's existence, and that the seventh thousandth year will be marked by Christ's
second comingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
and the ushering in of the millennial kingdom, which will be Earth's
SabbathMillennialism , or chiliasm in Greek, is a belief held by some Christian denominations that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which "Christ will reign" for 1000 years prior to the final judgment and future eternal state...
and day of rest. The seven seals and seven trumpets of the
Book of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
relate to the seven millennia allotted to Earth by Latter-day Saint theology.
Latter-day Saints are frequently counseled to watch for the "signs of the times" but not to fear them. The statement "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear" (from Doctrine and Covenants 38:30) has brought comfort among the Latter-day Saints. Wars, pestilence, economic despair, natural disasters and more are all part of what Latter-day Saints see as signs of the times. In particular, a great earthquake is mentioned in all cases.
Other events that Latter-day Saints regard as important, and the dates some of them have purportedly occurred:
- Priesthood authority, which had been lost in the great apostasy
The Great Apostasy is a term used by some religious groups to describe a general fallen state of traditional Christianity, especially the Papacy, because it allowed the traditional Roman mysteries and deities of solar monism such as Mithras and Sol Invictus and idol worship back into the church,...
, to be restored (this happened in May 1829).
- The pure gospel of Jesus Christ is to be restored, and taught in His church (this has happened, on April 6, 1830).
- Elijah would return and give priesthood keys (this has happened, on April 3, 1836).
- The return of the Jews to Jerusalem and Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, as dedicated by Orson HydeOrson Hyde was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
on October 24, 1841 (first wave of Jewish immigration to Israel, or Aliyah (עלייה) started in 1881).
- The building of a temple in Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
(this has not happened, although the building of the Third Temple is currently planned).
- The building of a temple in Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
, Jackson County, MissouriJackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. With a population of 674,158 in the 2010 census, Jackson County is the second most populous of Missouri's counties, after St. Louis County. Kansas City, the state's most populous city and focus city of the Kansas City Metropolitan...
(this has not occurred, although the location is marked).
- Temples will "dot the earth" (according to Mormon sources, 130 temples in operation and 22 announced or under construction as of May 2010).
- A meeting of priesthood leaders with angelic beings and Christ in Adam-ondi-Ahman
Adam-ondi-Ahman is an historic site along the east bluffs above the Grand River in Daviess County, Missouri. According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , it is the site where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from the Garden of Eden...
(this has not occurred).
- Christ will appear in the Temple. (it is believed that this occurred in April, 1836)
- Wars will be poured out upon all nations (could figuratively, but not literally (see Discussion), refer to World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as this involved fighting in or participation by many if not most countries in the world).
- The nations of the earth will be gathered to fight Israel (this has not occurred).
- The Wicked will be consumed by fire (some traditions allude to a nuclear holocaust, and some hold that this will be at the coming of Christ.)
- The restored gospel will be preached in all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples (there are, according to Mormon sources, 53,000 missionaries in 165 countries as of 2008).
Many Latter-Day Saints' temples feature a statue of
MoroniThe Angel Moroni is an angel that Joseph Smith, Jr. said visited him on numerous occasions, beginning on September 21, 1823. According to Smith, the angel was the guardian of the golden plates, which Latter Day Saints believe were the source material for the Book of Mormon, buried in a hill near...
on the highest spire. Most of these statues face East, the direction from which Christ will come. The Salt Lake City temple has two large doors on the east side of the building, that are not used. Tradition holds that Christ will enter the temple through these doors, when He comes again.
After the coming of Christ to the mount of Olives, and the destruction of the wicked, the righteous will live on the earth in relative peace and prosperity during the
millenniumA millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
, under the leadership of Christ. Other churches still may exist during this time, and not all people living will be Latter-day Saints, but such people will represent the "more righteous" part of the peoples of the earth. Missionary work and temple work for the deceased (see
Baptism for the deadBaptism for the dead, vicarious baptism or proxy baptism is the religious practice of baptizing a living person on behalf of one who is dead, with the living person acting as the deceased person's proxy...
) will continue during the millennium and missionary and genealogy work will be a main focus of Church members and other righteous individuals who live during the time leading up to the final judgement.
Joseph Smith produced a rendition of 24, relating to the end times.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that, at the beginning of the Millennial Era, Jesus Christ the
LordLord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
will appear at his
Second ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
and usher in a thousand-year era of peace, called the Millennium, whereby Satan will be bound (
Doctrine and CovenantsThe Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement...
88:110), the wicked will be removed from the Earth, and the righteous will be "caught up to meet him". A resurrection of the righteous who have died will occur—they will also "be caught up to meet him." (Doctrine and Covenants 88:96-97). During the Millennium, every man or woman to ever live on the Earth will be
resurrectedResurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
. Those individuals who were righteous will be resurrected at the beginning, and will be able to visit the Earth to restore the knowledge about family histories; the wicked will be resurrected at the end of the Millennium (D & C 76:85).
At the time of each person's resurrection, their
Last JudgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
will occur, during which all individuals will be placed into one of three heavenly kingdoms: the Celestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom, and the Telestial Kingdom. In the
Doctrine and CovenantsThe Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement...
, Joseph Smith Jr., who is believed to be the translator of the
Book of MormonThe Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
and the first Mormon prophet, leader, and seer for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reveals that the kingdoms will be separated into various levels of glory in symbolic comparison to the
sunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, the
moonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, and the
starA star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s. The sun, being the brightest of these heavenly bodies, is relative to the glory of the celestial kingdom, which is reserved for those who obey the commandments, live righteously, and become baptized. The moon, being the second brightest heavenly body, is relative to the terrestrial kingdom, which is for those who are righteous in a sense, but do not constantly obey the commandments and/or are not baptized. The stars, being the least brightest heavenly body, are relative to the telestial kingdom, which is for those individuals who are wicked and commit major sins without repenting. A group of people who reject Jesus Christ after receiving full and indisputable knowledge of his divinity will go to what is referred to as
Outer darknessIn Christianity, the outer darkness is a place referred to three times in the Gospel of Matthew into which a person may be "cast out", and where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth"...
, which is where
SatanSatan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
will eventually be consigned forever with his hosts of angels.(D & C 76:43-46)
While the exact time of Christ's return is not known in Latter-Day Saints' theology, there are certain signs that are accepted as pointing to his return:
- The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, Isa. 2: 2-3.
- The Lord shall lift an ensign and gather Israel, Isa. 5: 26 (2 Ne. 15: 26-30).
- The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not cause her light to shine, Isa. 13: 10 (Joel 3: 15; D & C 29: 14).
- Men shall transgress the law and break the everlasting covenant, Isa. 24: 5.
- The Nephites (ancient fallen people of the Americas, descended from Joseph of Egypt) shall speak as a voice from the dust, Isa. 29: 4 (2 Ne. 27).
- Israel shall be gathered with power, Isa. 49: 22-23 (1 Ne. 21: 22-23; 3 Ne. 20-21).
- God shall set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed, Dan. 2: 44 (D & C 65: 2).
- War, dreams, and visions shall precede the Second Coming, Joel 2.
- All nations will gather against Jerusalem to battle, Zech. 14: 2 (Ezek. 38-39).
- The day cometh that shall burn as an oven, Mal. 4: 1 (3 Ne. 25: 1; D & C 133: 64; JS-H 1: 37).
- Great calamities shall precede the Second Coming, Matt. 24 (JS-M 1).
- Paul described apostasy and perilous times of the last days, 2 Tim. 3-4.
- Two prophets will be slain and resurrected in Jerusalem, Rev. 11 (D & C 77: 15).
- The gospel shall be restored in the last days by angelic ministry, Rev. 14: 6-7 (D & C 13; 27; 110: 11-16; 128: 8-24).
- Babylon will be established and fall, Rev. 17-18.
- Israel shall be gathered with power, 1 Ne. 21: 13-26 (Isa. 49: 13-26; 3 Ne. 20-21).
- The Book of Mormon shall come forth by the power of God, Morm. 8.
- Lamanites (Indigenous peoples of the Americas) to blossom, D & C 49: 24-25.
- The Lord is to slay the wicked, D & C 63: 32-35 (Rev. 9).
- War will be poured out upon all nations, D & C 87: 2.
- Signs, upheavals of the elements, and angels prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, D & C 88: 86-94.
- Darkness to cover the earth, D & C 112: 23-24.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
have their own unique eschatology, involving very specific doctrines on the End Times, which is explained in detail in their literature. For example, Witnesses teach that the Greek word
parousiaParousia is an ancient Greek word meaning presence, arrival, or official visit.-Classical usage:# Physical presence, arrival – The main use is the physical presence of a person, which where that person is not already present refers to the prospect of the physical arrival of that person, especially...
, often translated as 'coming', means 'presence' and that the term "last days" refers to the concluding time period of this system of things. They also have a long history of failed end-time predictions.
Witnesses currently teach that the last days began in 1914 with the events surrounding the outbreak of
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In the future, God is expected to cleanse the earth of all wickedness and Satan will be bound for 1,000 years. During this time period, people will be resurrected to life on earth and given a chance to learn about God (Jehovah) and to live under the rule of Jesus Christ. Christ will rule over the earth from heaven with 144,000 co-rulers, restoring earth to its original paradise-like state. They teach that Biblical prophecy shows there will be no more death, sickness and that people will live in peace and harmony as God's originally purposed for mankind. Jehovah's Witnesses' unique beliefs postulate the order of events relating to the End Times and subsequent restoration of earth:
- King Nebuchadnezzar's dream at Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
chapter 4 refers to the kingdom of God, to be given to Jesus Christ, after "seven times". Until then, the kingdom of God, represented by Jerusalem, was trampled on by "the nations", represented in the book of Daniel by wild beasts. After successive kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, and then Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Anglo-American world powers, God would reassert the authority of his kingdom by 'crushing' those kingdoms. (Luke 21:24, Ezekiel 21:26,27, Luke 1:32,33 )
- The "seven times" began after Zedekiah, the last king in the typical kingdom of God, was removed from the throne in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 607 BC (rather than the secularly accepted 587 BC
In 589 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Jerusalem, culminating in the destruction of the city and its temple in 587 BC.-Siege:Following the siege of 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as tributary king of Judah at the age of twenty-one. However, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon, and...
) is selected based on their beliefs that the Jews returned from captivityThe Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
in 537 BC (rather than the secularly accepted 538 BC) and that the Jews were exiled in Babylon for exactly 70 years. The "seven times", based on a comparison with the 42 months (3½ years or 1,260 days) at Revelation 11:2,3 and 12:6,14, are construed to mean 2,520 days. A year is counted for each of the 2,520 days to arrive at 2,520 years, which are counted from October 607 BC to arrive at October 1914.( Daniel 4: 10-16, Numbers 14:34, Ezekiel 4:6)
- In October 1914, at the end of "seven times" Christ was installed as king in heaven and Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
and his angels were hurled down to the earth, marking the beginning of the end times or "last days".(Daniel 7:13,14, Revelation 12:7-12 )
- Fulfillment of prophecies in Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
24, MarkThe Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
13, LukeThe Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
21 about the "conclusion of the system of things" has occurred since 1914 to provide a composite "sign" that Jesus' invisible presence in heaven has begun.
- Jehovah's worshippers will be gathered and restored. They do not engage in wars. They will walk in the name of 'Jehovah'. (Isaiah 2:2-4, Micah:4:5 )
- The goodnews about God's kingdom will be preached to all nations.(Mathew:24:14)
- There will be a worldwide "cry of 'peace and security'" before the "great tribulation" begins.(1 Thessalonians 5:3)
- All religions, represented by the Babylon the Great
The Whore of Babylon or "Babylon the great" is a Christian allegorical figure of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is given as "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth." -Symbolism:...
, except Jehovah's Witnesses, will be destroyed by the United Nations.(Revelation 17:16-18)
- Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
will attack God's people. (Ezekiel: 38: 10-12,16,18)
- Political rulers and other wicked people will be destroyed by God at Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
.(Revelation:16:14-16)
- Jesus will bind Satan in an abyss. (Revelation 20:1-3)
- Jesus will reign for 1000 years
Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed, based on a one-thousand-year cycle. The term is more generically used to refer to any belief centered around 1000 year intervals...
from heaven, during which righteous people delivered through Armageddon will work together with the help of Jesus and 144,000 to make the earth a paradiseParadise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
, like the original Garden of EdenThe Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
. In addition, the dead will gradually be resurrectedResurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
and given the chance to learn righteousnessRighteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
without Satanic influence. Mankind will be restored to perfection.(Revelation 20:5,6, 5:10, 21:3-5, John:5:28,29)
- At the end of the 1000 years, Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
will be let loose for a short time as a final test to "mislead the nations", after which he will be destroyed along with his followers. (Revelation 20:7-10)
- Our planet earth will not be literally destroyed, except the wicked. (Psalms 104:5, 78:69, 37:9-11, Mathew:5:5)
- With only perfect mankind remaining, Jesus will handover the kingdom to the Almighty God 'Jehovah'. (1 Corinthians:15:24-28)
- Those righteous people, who survive the final test at the end of the thousand year rule, will live forever on a paradise earth.(Psalms:37:29, 72:7,8)
- All who live on earth will worship the only true God, "Jehovah". (Isaiah:11:9)
- Thus God's original purpose for mankind on earth, will be fulfilled. (Genesis:1:28)
WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
remain neutral in political affairs and teach that believers on earth will be spectators only in the above-mentioned scenario, not participating in any type of
warWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
fare.
They generally do not use the expression 'end of the world', with its connotations of the destruction of humanity or the planet, but prefer to use the expression 'conclusion of a system of things', thus maintaining the distinction between the original-language words
kosmos (world) and
aion (age), or system of things.
Judaism
In Judaism,
End Times are usually called
The End of Days (
aḥarit ha-yamim, אחרית הימים), a phrase that appears several times in the
TanakhThe Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
. Though the idea of a messianic age has a prominent place in Jewish thought, it is not a pre-ordained event but rather brought about by religious observance and good deeds.
The term may refer to a number of interwoven themes:
- Jewish messianism
- The ingathering of the exiles
- The land of Israel will turn from a desert into a garden, flourishing with fruits
- Rebuilding of the Temple
- Animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...
or KorbanThe term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...
- The World to Come (Olam Haba) is an ambiguous term that may refer to the afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
, the messianic world, or the life of the resurrectedResurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
.
End of Days recorded in the Tanakh:
Tumultuous events will overturn the old world order, as is recorded in the following passages from the Old Testament (Tanakh):
Deuteronomy 4:29-39 (King James Version): But if from thence thou shalt seek the thy GOD, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as the seas turn black and feel like mud, and all will know the wrath and atonement of their sins? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the he is God; there is none else beside him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Isaiah 2:1-5 (King James Version): The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the 's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the , to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Micah 4:1-5 (King James Version): But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the , and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the our God for ever and ever.
These events create a new order in which
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
is universally recognized as the ruler over His creation, which includes everyone and everything.
Description of the Messianic Era
According to Jewish tradition, the Messianic Era will be one of global peace and harmony, an era free of strife and hardship, and one conducive to the furtherment of the knowledge of the Creator. The theme of the
MessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
ushering in an era of global peace is encapsulated in one of the most famous scriptural passages from the book of Isaiah:
- "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift sword against nation and they will no longer study warfare (Isaiah 2:4)."
In his
Mishneh TorahThe Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
,
MaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
describes the Messianic Era:
- "And at that time there will be no hunger or war, no jealousy or rivalry. For the good will be plentiful, and all delicacies available as dust.
- The entire occupation of the world will be only to know God... the people Israel will be of great wisdom; they will perceive the esoteric truths and comprehend their Creator's wisdom as is the capacity of man. As it is written (Isaiah 11:9): "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea." "
Advent of the Messianic Era
According to the
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, the
MidrashThe Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, and the medieval Kabbalistic work, the
ZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
, the
MessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
must arrive before the
year 6000According to classical Jewish sources, the Hebrew year 6000 marks the latest time for the initiation of the Messianic Age. The Talmud, the Midrash, and the Kabbalistic work, the Zohar, state that the 'deadline' by which the Messiah must appear is 6,000 years from creation...
from the
time of creation' , abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era based on the Biblical creation of the world. Numerous efforts have been made to determine the Biblical date of Creation, yielding varying results. Besides differences in interpretation, which version of the Bible is being referenced also...
. (According to Orthodox Jewish belief, the
Hebrew calendarThe Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
dates to the time of creation. The year 2010 corresponds to the year 5770 from creation, or before the year 2240).
The
MidrashThe Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
comments:
- "Six eons for going in and coming out, for war and peace. The seventh eon is entirely Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and rest for life everlasting ".
There is a kabbalistic tradition that maintains that each of the 7 days of the week, which are based upon the seven days of creation, correspond to the seven millennia of creation. The tradition teaches that the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath day of rest, corresponds to the seventh millennium, the age of universal 'rest' - the Messianic Era.
The seventh millennium perforce begins with the year 6000, and is the latest time the Messiah can come. Supporting and elaborating on this theme are numerous early and late Jewish scholars, including the
RambanNahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
,
Isaac AbrabanelIsaac ben Judah Abrabanel, , commonly referred to just as Abarbanel, was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier.-Biography:...
,
Abraham Ibn EzraRabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
, Rabbeinu Bachya, the
Vilna GaonElijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kramer, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra or Elijah Ben Solomon, , was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries...
, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Ramchal,
Aryeh KaplanAryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan was a noted American Orthodox rabbi and author known for his "intimate knowledge of both physics and kabbalah." He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and mysticism to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and...
and Rebbetzin
Esther JungreisEsther Jungreis is the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
.
Hinduism
Hindus have a cyclic understanding of external history/internal spirituality. The Cycle or "Kalpa", lasting 8.64 billion years in the terms of Hindus, illustrates the pattern of decline in the state of nature and civilization between periods of timelessness when
BrahmaBrahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
(Matter,mass) regenerates the world of existence/reality.Brahma has a lifespan of 311 Trillion, 40 Billion Years, and then the universe will contract to a singularity . then again will be evolved from the singularity. As Hindus does not consider humans as a special or noble creations of god unlike some other religions.the wrong doings or such things committed by humans shall have no effects on the end of time ,as end of time as per Hinduism is purely a property of matter(mass). There are four
yugYuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an 'epoch' or 'era' within a cycle of four ages. These are the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is...
s or ages in this process from completely pure to completely impure. The final is
Kali YugaKali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
or the Dark Age where civilization becomes spiritually degraded, human lives are shortened by violence and disease and there is a general state of decay in nature. This is the worst period before complete destruction which is then followed by a
Golden AgeThe term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
.
HinduHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
traditional prophecies, as described in the
PuranasThe Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
and several other texts, say that the world shall fall into chaos and degradation. There will then be a rapid influx of perversity, greed and conflict, and this state has been described as:
"Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya Glanir Bhavati Bharata,
Abhyuthanam Adharmasya Tadatmanam Srijami Aham". Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)
"Whenever there is decay of righteousness O! Bharatha
And a rise of unrighteousness then I manifest Myself!"
Thus whenever there is intolerable evil and chaos in the world, there is an appearance of an
AvatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
. In the current yuga, known as the
Kali (the most evil) yugaKali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
, "The Lord shall manifest Himself as the
Kalki AvatarIn Hinduism, Kalki is the tenth and final Maha Avatar of Vishnu who will come to end the present age of darkness and destruction known as Kali Yuga. The name Kalki is often a metaphor for eternity or time...
… He will establish righteousness upon the earth and the minds of the people will become as pure as crystal."
In Hinduism, there is no eternal damnation of souls or end times. After this evil Kali yuga ends, the next yuga or epoch would be Satya yuga where everyone will be righteous, followed by Treta yuga,Dwapara yuga and then another Kali Yuga. Thus time is cyclical and the epochs keep repeating infinitely. However, the extent of tolerable evil and degradation in each epoch is different and therefore the threshold that is necessary for the manifestation of God's incarnation is different for each yuga. The current yuga is the most evil and so the threshold for the appearance of the
AvatarIn Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
is so high that the world needs to degrade to the maximum levels.
Buddhism
Gautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
was a
spiritualSpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
teacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
from
NepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and the founder of
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. The exact dates of his birth and
deathDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
are uncertain, but a number of 20th-century historians have dated his lifetime from
circaCirca , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
563 BC-Events and trends:* 568 BC—Amtalqa succeeds his brother Aspelta as king of Kush.* 567 BC—Former pharaoh Apries invades Egypt with Babylonian help but is defeated by Saite pharaoh Amasis II ....
to
483 BCYear 483 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Potitus...
. Some more recent scholars, however, have suggested dates of 410 to 400 BC for his death. This alternative chronology has not been accepted by other historians.
The Buddha predicted that his teachings
Dharma (Buddhism)Dhamma or Dharma in Buddhism can have the following meanings:* The state of Nature as it is * The Laws of Nature considered collectively....
would disappear after 5,000 years, when no one practices the actual teachings any more. It would last so long as someone practiced. According to the
Sutta PitakaThe Sutta Pitaka is the second of the three divisions of the Tipitaka or Pali Canon, the Pali collection of Buddhist writings, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism...
, the "ten wholesome courses of conduct" will disappear and people will follow the ten unwholesome concepts of
theftIn common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
,
violenceViolence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
,
murderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
,
lyingFor other uses, see Lie A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others....
, false speech,
sexual misconductSexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature. The term may be used to condemn an act, but in some jurisdictions it has also a legal meaning....
, abusive and idle talk, covetousness and ill will, wanton greed, and uncontrolled
lustLust is an emotional force that is directly associated with the thinking or fantasizing about one's desire, usually in a sexual way.-Etymology:The word lust is phonetically similar to the ancient Roman lustrum, which literally meant "purification"...
resulting in
povertyPoverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and the breakdown of law and cooperation or regard for the
dharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
.
As part of
Buddhist eschatologyBuddhist eschatology, as subscribed by some Buddhist schools, derives from purported Gautama Buddha's prediction that his teachings would disappear after 5,000 years...
, it is believed that the age leading up to the coming of the next Buddha
MaitreyaMaitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...
will be characterized by impiety, physical weakness, sexual depravity, and general social disarray.
Commentators like
BuddhaghosaBhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
predicted a step-by-step disappearance of the Buddha's teachings. During the first stage, arahants would no longer appear in the world. Later, the content of the Buddha's true teachings would vanish, and only their appearance or outward form would be preserved. Finally, even the form of the Dharma would be lost. During the final stage, the memory of the Buddha himself would be forgotten, and the last of his relics would be gathered together in
Bodh Gaya and cremated. Some time following this devolution a new Buddha named
MaitreyaMaitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...
will arise to rediscover and reveal the timeless teachings of
dharmaDharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and rediscover the path to Nirvana. Maitreya is said to currently reside in the
Tushita' or Tusita is one of the six deva-worlds of the Kāmadhātu, located between the Yāma heaven and the heaven. Like the other heavens, is said to be reachable through meditation...
world, before his final rebirth in the human world.
The decline of Buddha's teaching in the human world, and its eventual re-establishment by Maitreya, are in keeping with the general shape of
Buddhist cosmologyBuddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.-Introduction:...
. Like Hindus, Buddhists generally believe in cycles of destruction and creation, of which the current epoch represents only the latest step. The historical Buddha Shakyamuni is only the latest in a series of Buddhas that stretches back into the past.
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrian eschatology is the oldest eschatology found in recorded history.
By the year 500 BC, a fully developed concept of the end of the world was established in Zoroastrianism.
According to Zoroastrian philosophy, redacted in the Zand-i Vohuman Yasht, "at the end of thy tenth hundredth winter...the
sunThe Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
is more unseen and more spotted; the year, month, and day are shorter; and the earth is more barren; and the crop will not yield the seed; and men ... become more deceitful and more given to vile practices. They have no gratitude."
"Honorable wealth will all proceed to those of perverted faith...and a dark cloud makes the whole sky night...and it will rain more noxious creatures than winter."
At the end of this spiritual battle between the righteous and wicked, a
final judgmentThe Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
of all souls will occur. Sinners whose bad deeds are more than their good deeds will be punished for 3 days, but will eventually be forgiven. The world will reach perfection as all evil traits such as poverty, old age, disease, thirst, hunger, and death will disappear from the earth. Zoroastrian concepts parallel greatly with those of
JewishJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
,
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic eschatological beliefs. Zoroaster also preached that bliss will be everywhere, and not just in a remote kingdom of
paradiseParadise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
.
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi states the Brahma Kumaris' prediction of the imminent 'End of the World', or Destruction as it is called, is generally hidden from non-members. Before destruction everyone on earth must come to know their God and purify themselves. Much of the Earth's land mass is also predicted to become submerged beneath the oceans of the world and the government of India will hand over power to them.
Greek religion
Greek mythology is derived primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the
Geometric periodGeometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterised largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, circa 900 BCE to 700 BCE...
(c. 900-800 BC) onward.
Ancient Greek mythology claimed that
ZeusIn the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, as he had previously overthrown his father,
CronusIn Greek mythology, Cronus or Kronos was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky...
, would in turn also be overthrown by a son. This story can be seen as the equivalent to the end of the world, or the end of an age.
PrometheusIn Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
revealed to him that this son would be born from Zeus and
ThetisSilver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths...
, if they copulated. In order to prevent this from happening, Zeus married Thetis to Peleus, a mortal hero. This union produced
AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
, the protagonist of the
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
and one of the greatest heroes of Greek myth.
Norse religion
In
Norse mythologyNorse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, Ragnarök (
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
"Final destiny of the gods" - c.f.
Ragn-: power,
-a-: via,
-rök: rest of volition) refers to a series of major events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the
godsIn Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in Norse paganism. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir...
OdinOdin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
,
ThorIn Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
,
FreyrFreyr is one of the most important gods of Norse paganism. Freyr was highly associated with farming, weather and, as a phallic fertility god, Freyr "bestows peace and pleasure on mortals"...
,
HeimdallIn Norse mythology, Heimdallr is a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers...
, and the jötunn
LokiIn Norse mythology, Loki or Loke is a god or jötunn . Loki is the son of Fárbauti and Laufey, and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. By the jötunn Angrboða, Loki is the father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jörmungandr. By his wife Sigyn, Loki is the father of Nari or Narfi...
), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterwards, the world resurfaces anew and fertile, the surviving gods meet, and the world is repopulated by two human survivors. Ragnarök is an important event in the Norse canon, and has been the subject of an amount of scholarly discourse and theory.
Fulfillment
While most religious traditions remain waiting for end time events, some believe that the events have been fulfilled. Several established religions believe that their founder represents the coming of the Promised One of previous scriptures, and that the spread of their teachings will ultimately bring about the desired society of unity and justice.
Bahá'í Faith
The founder of the
Bahá'í FaithThe Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
,
Bahá'u'lláhBahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...
claimed that he was the
return of ChristIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
as well as prophetic expectations of other religions. The inception of the Bahá'í Faith coincides with
Millerite prophesyThe Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
pointing to the year 1844. With respect to particular expectations of the end times, it has been argued that the Battle of Armageddon has already passed and that mass martyrdoms anticipated during the
End Times had already passed within the historical context of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'ís expect their faith to be eventually embraced by the masses of the world, ushering in a
golden ageThe term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
of society.
Ahmadiyya
In Ahmadiyya Religion, the present age has been a witness to the wrath of God with the occurrence of the World Wars and the frequency of natural disasters. In Ahmadiyya,
Ghulam AhmadMīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad was a religious figure from India and the founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. He claimed to be the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah , and the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims in the end days...
(d.1908) is seen as the
promised MessiahIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
whose teachings will establish spiritual reform and ultimately establish an age of peace upon earth. This age continues for around a thousand years as per judeo-Christian prophecies; and is characterised by the assembling of mankind under one faith as per Ahmadiyya belief .
Rastafari movement
Rastafarians have a unique interpretation of the end times, based on the
Old TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and the
Book of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
. They believe
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n Emperor Haile Selassie is
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
incarnate, the
King of kings and
Lord of lords mentioned in Revelation 5:5. While on the one hand Selassie's crowning was seen as the
second comingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
, and events such as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War were seen as fulfillments of biblical and specifically Revelation prophecy there is also expectation that Selassie will call a day of judgment, when he will bring home the lost children of Israel (the black peoples taken out of Africa during the slave trade) to live with him in peace, love and harmony in the Mount
ZionZion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
in Africa.
See also
- Apocalypticism
Apocalypticism is the religious belief that there will be an apocalypse, a term which originally referred to a revelation of God's will, but now usually refers to belief that the world will come to an end time very soon, even within one's own lifetime...
- Abomination of Desolation
The abomination of desolation is a term found in the Hebrew Bible, in the book of Daniel. It also occurs in the book of 1 Maccabees and in the New Testament gospels....
- BKWSU Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University
- Christian Eschatology
Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology. Eschatology, from two Greek words meaning last and study , is the study of the end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world...
- End of the world
- Endtime Ministries
Endtime Ministries is an American Pentecostal Christian organization founded and headed by Oneness Pentecostal minister Irvin Baxter Jr..Its focus is a claimed explanation of world events from a purportedly "Biblical" perspective, with an emphasis on prophecy and exposition of eschatological theories...
- Katechon
The Katechon is a biblical concept which has subsequently developed into a notion of political philosophy....
- Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
- Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
- Prophecy of Seventy Weeks
The Prophecy of Seventy Septets appears in the angel Gabriel's reply to Daniel, beginning with verse 22 and ending with verse 27 in the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel, a work included in both the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Bible; as well as the Septuagint...
- Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
- Summary of Christian eschatological differences
- The Two Witnesses
- Ultimate fate of the Universe
The ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology. Many possible fates are predicted by rival scientific theories, including futures of both finite and infinite duration....
- Unfulfilled religious prophecies
This article lists predictions of notable religious figures that failed to come about in the specified time frame. They are listed according to the religious groups of which they were members.-Adventism, Millerism:...
- Whore of Babylon
The Whore of Babylon or "Babylon the great" is a Christian allegorical figure of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is given as "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth." -Symbolism:...
- Year 6000
According to classical Jewish sources, the Hebrew year 6000 marks the latest time for the initiation of the Messianic Age. The Talmud, the Midrash, and the Kabbalistic work, the Zohar, state that the 'deadline' by which the Messiah must appear is 6,000 years from creation...
External links