Definition
Eschatology (from Greek eschaton = last + -logy) is the theological discipline dealing with the “last things”: the completion of salvation history, the resurrection, judgment, the kingdom of God, and the final destiny of humanity and creation. In the corpus, eschatology is not a separate department but inseparably connected to soteriology: for all five authors the eschatological vision determines the soteriological categories (scope of salvation, phasing of resurrection, purpose of judgment).
Usage in the Corpus
Overview
Jones’ eschatology is structuring: the tagma doctrine (three resurrection phases), the Jubilee structure, and apokatastasis are all eschatologically charged concepts. Warnock connects eschatology to the Feast of Tabernacles as the still-unrealized phase of the church. Nee/Lee understand eschatology in light of God’s oikonomia: the completion is God being “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). Noordzij sees the apokatastasis of creation as the eschatological endpoint. Bullinger reads eschatology in his number symbolism (number 7 = completion, number 8 = new beginning).