Eschaton (End Times/Last Times)

“Popular ideas of heaven in the media, literature, and religious art have fortified the idea of heaven and earth as distinct locations or dimensions. While such ideas are not entirely false, they obscure the truth that heaven or Paradise is simply the space of God’s presence and perfect reign The Garden of Eden was Paradise because God dwelt and reigned there; in the eschaton, the entire earth will be heavenly because Christ will dwell and reign there…In and of itself, there is nothing objectionable in the idea of asking Jesus to make us fit for heaven, or even of living in heaven for eternity, provided one understands heaven in the biblical sense of the realm where God is present. As we have seen, the earth itself will become incorporated into heaven at the eschaton, when God transfigures the realm of space and time to become heavenly or Edenic.” (Robin Phillips)

“When we refer to the eschaton, to heaven and hell, we have in our minds, as a rule, certain ‘feelings’ – either pleasant or unpleasant – as if the purpose for which God included the eschaton in his ‘economy’ was confined to, or centered upon, our having pleasant or unpleasant feelings about what we call ‘beatitude,’ rather than upon whether we should exist or not exist in a true manner. The expression ‘eternal life’ thus loses its ontological content and acquires what is, in essence, a meaning that is purely psychological. We forget that the synonym of ‘eternal life’ is ‘true life,’ that is to say, life which does not self-destruct (and so, is a lie) on account of death, as is the case today with our biological life.” (Metropolitan John Zizioulas)

“The eschaton (the end times or the end of this world) is where the created order becomes what God intended it to be. In the eschaton there is no death. Creation becomes what it was always intended to be – good. The eschaton is the resurrection – the end of death, which means restoring our relationship with God. The resurrection is the restoration of communion with God and with one another; it is the end of all that is broken in this world by death. Death will be no more, and thus all that has been damaged or changed by death will be healed. Our existence and our relationships will no longer be broken.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh) 

“…the apostle [Paul] points toward what we may rightly call “eschatological sobriety,” from the word eschaton (“last”). “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). With these words he reframes our brief lives and sets them in an end-time perspective. Sobriety, then, is our antidote to the casual, moment-to-moment indulgence that will strip our life of eternal meaning if we are not careful.” (Dynamis 12/2/2021)

“While Christian ethical teaching often appears similar to other systems—Paul uses both Roman and Jewish ethical terms—the basis of Christian ethics is unique. Christians are good not merely out of obedience to law or harmony with nature, or in order to gain immortal bliss for the soul. Rather, they are righteous in anticipation of the age to come, the eschaton, the age of the fullness of creation in the incarnate Son of God. Grace (v. 11) is the uncreated energy of God, the gift of the Holy Spirit, through which He gives His gifts to man in tender mercy and good will. It is a formative power, the rule of life of the eschaton, requiring our determined participation. To belong to God is to become like God. To be ransomed, or “owned,” by God (v. 14) is not simply legal and static, but means to live in solidarity with Him: a blessed, victorious struggle.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Titus 2:11-15)

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