Why Is Relgion So Focused on Eschatology - to the Point of Obsession?

by Rapunzel 19 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Rapunzel

  One of the major concepts that seems to be found in virtually all of the world's major religions is that of eschatology - the study of the end things, specifically the end of the world. This is one idea that unites the disparate religions of the world. Furthermore, eschatological concerns constitute a link or a bridge between the religions currently practised in the world, and other ancient, forgotten religions. Why do all religions speak of the coming death; destruction; famine; chaos; upheaval; and disaster that will mark "The End"? To be sure, the world's various religions propose different scenarios in regard to what will happen at the End of Time, but they share a fundamental point in common in that all major religions speak of terrible things that will happen at a given point in the end. I used to think that only the three so-called "Abrahamic" religions - Judaism; Christianity; and Islam - were obsessed with eschatology, but such ideas are by no means limited to these three religions; they are also found in Hinduism and Buddhism [which may not be all that surprising after all, given that Buddhism is an off-shoot of Hinduism]. Moreover, it seems that eschatological concerns were on the minds of people who practised religions that are no longer practised. People in ancient Assyria thought that the world, as knew it, could not possibly endure much longer; they too were expecting the end of the world to come soon. Ancient believers in Valhalla wrote of a time when the gods themselves would go insane, and set Valhalla on fire.

  In the opinion of many people, religion is the product of the human psyche. So, what is it about the human psyche that compels people toward this unhealthy eschatological focus? Are these fears a sort of masochism? Eschatological dread has been a part of religion for millenia; and this dread is still evident in today's "modern" world. Why is this so, do you think?
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  BizzyBee

  Good question.

  A piece of the answer might be that since humans have observed the life/death cycle of everything else around them, why should the very earth itself be exempt from this rule of nature? Since the corporeal is so clearly and completely transitory, one focuses on the spiritual. Isn't that why we have religion in the first place?
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  5go

  Simple the need a mandate, being without it trashes their mandate. If they don't have a mandate they lose power. No group of men ever wants to lose power, ever. History is full of groups that no longer exist because they lost their mandate and power.
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  JCanon

  In the opinion of many people, religion is the product of the human psyche. So, what is it about the human psyche that compels people toward this unhealthy eschatological focus? Are these fears a sort of masochism? Eschatological dread has been a part of religion for millenia; and this dread is still evident in today's "modern" world. Why is this so, do you think?

  Hi Rapunzel. Interesting topic, but one which becomes complex because of the Edenic myth/events. That is, the prophecy of good vs evil, the bruising in the heel of the coming messiah-king and the bruising in the head of the serpent and his organization. The world had a common thread as well at the time of the flood when God destroyed the world by water, and were told in the distant future God would destroy the world again by fire, etc. So there's a common historical link about the second destruction of the world that may explain the tradition, as much as the global flood explains why many cultures have a flood myth.

  As far as why many today focus on eschatology? The answer is that many people believe the Bible and are Christians and Revelation is a huge eschatological text! The gospels also speak of the coming day of the Lord when he comes to destroy the wicked. But you mention it is "unhealthy"--which I understand. But it is only unhealthy if it's not true. If there really is a god and he really has an appointed time to come and destroy the wicked and end the world as we know it, then it's unhealthy NOT to be concerned about eschatology.

  My personal belief is that, per the Bible, Jehovah will indeed arrive to end the present world to make room for the millennium rule of Christ. But its not a bad thing for me or those who are hoping for survival, it's just bad news for the current world. This view of mine is quite specific as well. That is, just exactly HOW does Jehovah plan to end today's present world? Well, he basically gets the angels to mark everybody just before Armageddon. If you get a mark, you'll be spared, if not you won't be. The mechanism of destruction is that God will cause men to become mad and the wicked will turn on themselves and kill each other off, those obviously empowerd to do so, and the others will simply drop dead similar to what happened in Egypt when Jehovah's angel killed the firstborn. Today's "world" is in the minds of the people. Their devotion to certain ideals or governments. Kill that person and those ideas die as well. Kill those who want to hold onto this modern world and it's governments and those governments cease to exist, immediately.

  The nice thing about the above scenario is that as an eschatological concept, those who survive aren't playing out the scene where after everything is over they emerge into a post-nuclear barren world, happy to survive but with everything destroyed with a long road ahead to rebuild. No. When Jehovah simply kills the people, everything they have left will become spoils for those who survive! The world's infrastructure will remain in place. So basically it will be a big shopping day after Armageddon where we all rush to the malls and get what we want for FREE. Everything in the world will be Free for like seven years before manufacturing has to begin again. One-third of the world's population will have passed away. Obviously immediate aid will go to the current underprivileged nations but basically it will be a great time. Lots of empty houses and nice cars for everybody who wants it.

  Further, even though only one third of the current population will continue to survive to create the idyllic world under Christ during the millennium, a second third will survive Armageddon and be allowed to live out their normal lives until gold age (say 80 years of age). This will help the transition period after the shock of such a population drop. The difference is, this eschatological outlook is rather bright. Especially if you are poor and don't like your current job! We'll be tearing down all the poverty eye sores and enjoying the great works of the present world.

  There will be no more crime, no more sickness or death (except for those who die out at first). No more political fights or greedy companies and governments. Just a world under Christ with art, music, and great appreciation that Satan is abyssed and no longer able to rule mankind. People will get the oneness of education they need. Everybody will be on the same page as far as the rules and understanding God, one religion, one government under the king-priest messiah.

  That idyllic world will then be tested by Satan after the millennium ends and some will rebel, primarily Gog of Magog (Nazism); and understandably so, the world will be multi-cultural and racial equality will prevail, but also with everyone personally responsible for themselves, the concept of power and wealth will be certainly limited. Those who like having servants and who enjoy power and the sophisticated life of the "upper class" will probably not enjoy too much the new rule under Christ. I suppose Satan will aspire to remind them of the "good old days" when some people were rich and powerful. But after that is over, the entire human experience of 6000 years of man's rule influenced by Satan compared to 1000 years of rule by Christ in a paradisaic earth will be used to determine on Judgment Day who is to be granted eternal life and those who will undergo a "second death" in the lake of fire.

  So when you think of it that way, it's not all that "echatological" really. It just ends the world of man-rule approaching 6000 years which we have finally reached. So the "end of the world" really is just a change of venue as far as Armageddon.

  Further, the gospels when speaking of the "end of the world" or the "end of the system of things" was a very positive thing for the Jews!!! Their world during apostolic times and earlier was one of isolation from Jehovah who had abandoned them for having left the covenant, a world where they would be in exile and a sword would be sent after them. A period of hard times culminating in the "great tribulation" where two-thirds of the Jews would be destroyed. So the END they were looking forward to, would be the end of the gentile times, the end of gentile rule over their homeland. So the END came for the Jews in 1947 when they were restored to a legal status in Palestine! So in a way, the end world of the gentile rule occurred for them already in 1947 and it was a positive thing. That was a small-scale picture of what will happen soon for the world over, when God's rule will be established in the entire world.

  Psychologically, it will be a wonderful thing. Every human will be able to reach his full potential under the best of circumstances. This underscores a very fundamental concept about the end of the world. That is, it's just bad news to those who like the present world, but it's great news for those who are oppressed by the present world. So it depends on what the "end of the world" will mean, individually. To me it means a Wal-Mart and Office Depot shopping frenzy!! I hope I don't knock anybody over on my way to the electronics department. Thus I apologize in advance...

  CHRONOLOGY: Also what is new now is the chronology. People have been waiting for the "end of the world" for close to 6000 years now. Their own worlds ended at the time of their personal death. So it is only pertinent to those people alive when this change of venue from Satan's rule to Christ's rule actually occurs. Per the Bible, the chronology points to our time, the so-called end-times. Now there have been some problems with chronology because of revisionism during the Greco-Persian Period but that has been corrected now. So that, per the Bible, if we presume Adam was around 30 when Eve was created, which is more reasonable than him being just 1-year old, and if we allow the normal "testing period" of 40 years for Satan's final test of mankind after the millennium and then a generation of "Judgment Day" of 80 years which follows that, both being on this side of the Second Creative Week, then the projected date for the millennium is 2011 AD. So there is especially a hightened interest in the world ending very soon.

  Even so, the instability of the world, even psychologically is before us, especially with the prospect in America of a woman president or a black president, something the world is not used to. Plus there are clouds on the horizon of an impending economic shortfall. Baby boomers won't have enough social security to survive and all that. Plus who knows who will push the world into another political struggle with another 9/11? You can go on You Tube right now and some ex-Illuminati guy will tell you 9/11 was planned by the Illuminati! Unbelievable!!

  So even on a conspiracy-theory level some see today's world as corrupt and manipulated and dim compared to a new lease on life that the end of this present world offers. God's rule by Christ is bad news for those in charge and rich in today's world, but great news for those who are oppressed.

  Thanks for the post!

  JC
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  Rapunzel

  I think that apocalyptical eschatology is somehow intimately connected with teleology - the study of [or, in existential terms, the longing for] design, purpose and meaning in human life and history, as well as the cosmos. Human beings seem to be driven to seek out patterns and design; they seek to impose an order on the chaotic flux of random phenomena that they call "experience". They search for forms, figures and faces in clouds. Humans seem to crave a sense of purpose in their existence; and they seem to long for a sense of purpose in the cosmos that they sometimes call "God." All of this well and good, I suppose; at least it is relatively harmless. But the associate aspect of teleology - eschatology - can have all sorts of undesirable consequences. Eschatology can be co-opted - hijacked, if you will; and it can lead to disaster. Just think of the case of the Aztecs. Their myths spoke of a fair-skinned God who be the reincarnation of their "feathered serpent" deity. One day, such a fair-skinned "god" did appear. The Aztecs were expecting deliverance; they got Cortez. Belief in myths can sometimes lead to disaster. In our world "equipped" with nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction, the result could be the annihilation of our species and the destruction of our planet. What needs to be done - at the very least - is for people to consciously and closely examine these eschatological myths. People need to sudy these myths objectively. We humans need to be aware of the source of these myths.

  I fear that this will be "mission impossible," since I feel that the source of these myths lies deep in the human mind. People speak of certain neurotics as having a "death wish." Perhaps apocalyptic eschatology is an indication that humanity as a collective may have an inclination toward a death wish.
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  Narkissos

  I agree with your psychological considerations but I think your initial generalisation is a bit too sweeping. First one has to distinguish between individual eschatology (the issue of death, with its expected rewards and punishments, being naturally essential to any human reflection, religious or otherwise) and general eschatology. While many mythologies do have a section about the possible end of the world, it is not nearly as common as the section about the beginning (creation in some form). And even where it exists it is rarely as central as it has been for some segments of Judaism and early Christianity between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD. In most cases (e.g. ancient Mesopotamian religion) it works as a theoretical perspective of destruction which offers a negative background for the ritual consecration of continuity (e.g. the New Year festival which in a way recreates the cosmical and social world). In most of Christian history, eschatology receded to the background (cf. Augustine) with partial resurgence at certain times (late middle ages, 19th-century Protestantism etc.). For obvious reasons the crises of eschatological frenzy tend to be short-lived and should not overcloud the fact that most of religious history is at home in a relatively stable perspective about the future of society.
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  Borgia

  People have to cope with a world that is experienced as unfair. Why a sudden hailstorm ruining your harvest? Why did that person die so young, leaving behind 5 kids? Why did the enemy win the war? etc. To see a better world for "just people", people who are just, is imho a maybe the great driving force.
  
  Hence, the interest in end time prophesy. It makes a good story, either in print or in (moving)image. It appeals to our senses for justification, retribution, etc. It also help to rally mass support for a certain course of action.
  
  By supplying hope, even though it is as futile as resistance to the BORG, strength and peace of mind can be derived from it.
  
  Cheers
  
  Borgia
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  Maddie

  Putting it simply everything that we know ends with death so the hope is that the death of all things will make way for the eternal, perfect state.

  Maddie
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  DanTheMan

  I think that eschatology-oriented religions are especially suited to the American character. Growing up in America, you feel like you're in a special, privileged position in comparison to people outside. But, at the same time, you see the problems both internal and external and wonder how long it can last. Then along comes the Armageddon salesman at your door to give you the answer. On the other hand, you have the Middle East, where things have been fugged up for forever. They want Armageddon too, but for the opposite reason Merry Cans do.
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  parakeet

  My theory:
  
  Eschatological thinking leads to religious doctrine. Doctrine leads to dogma. Get enough people to believe the dogma, dogma leads to power over the believers. Power leads to exploitation of the believers. Eschatology - 1; saps who believe it - 0.