Eschatology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium

The theology of "the last things" has long been, and still is, a source of confusion and contention among Christians. Indeed, the century just past could be called the century of eschatology. In that century, theologians such as Albert Schweitzer, C. H. Dodd, Rudolf Bultmann, Oscar Cullmann, and Karl Barth loom large. On a popular level, the end of the second millennium was replete with predictions of the "end," or the "rapture," or the "great tribulation," and such predictions have not ceased. This being so, the field of eschatology--the theology of the consummation of the cosmos--should be of interest to every Christian, not just those who are theologians. This collection of chapters brings eschatology into conversation with a wide variety of disciplines, including Scripture, patristic and medieval theology, philosophy, and history. The result is a scholarly volume that enriches both eschatology and the fields with which each contributor engages. Eschatology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium will help pastors and catechists in their ministries to understand more deeply the riches of a theology which is about much more than the "end times."