by

Dr. Jean-Marie Hyacinthe Quenum,S.J.

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A. COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction:

Eschatology as a teaching about hope and God's

promise of new creation for all things (Jürgen

Moltmann)

Christian eschatology as "the remembered hope of

the raising of the crucified Christ"

Death as the consequence of sin or life's natural

end

Dying and grief (Where are the dead?)

Eschatology today, personal, historical, cosmic,

divine eschatology

Jewish eschatology (Apocalyptic eschatology and

prophetic vision of the Kingdom of God)

The historical Jesus and Christian eschatology

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Chapter I: The Historical Jesus of the first century

CE.

1. The coming of the Kingdom of God is an important

symbol in Jesus' teaching: Mk 1:15 (Johannes

Weiss/Albert Schweitzer, Karl Barth, Rudolf

Bultmann, Franz Rosenzweig, Walter Benjamin)

2. Jesus, a Torah teacher and a high priest is also

an eschatological prophet who hopes for God's glory

in the history of human beings with the earth

3. Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn

of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the

earth (Rev 1:5). Jesus Christ, the bearer of the

hope in God for the resurrection and eternal life

of human people.

Chapter II: Christological Eschatology

1. Christian eschatology grounded in the person and

history of Jesus and in God continually coming into

his creation

2. The resurrection of the crucified Christ as the

foundation of a new creation "The crucified Christ

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consoles us by bringing the love of God and the

fellowship of the Holy Spirit into the abysses of

our suffering and the hell of lostness.. so we can

believe in victory of life over death"( Jürgen

Moltmann)

3. The raised body of Christ as an embodied promise

for the whole creation

Chapter III: Redemptive Eschatology

1. Redemption from transience and death as well as

from sin and evil

2. Eternal creation, God's indwelling his creation,

sharing his eternal life with it, glorifying it in

his presence

3. l Corinthians 15:22-28

Chapter IV: The Coming presence of God in his whole

creation

1. The fullness of the presence of God in the new

creation (Christological and cosmological dimension

of Christian hope) Rev. 22.

2. Heaven

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3. Hell and purgatory

Chapter V: Content of Eschatological Statements of

scripture and tradition

1. The final abolition of the cosmos powers of law

and death

2. The judgment as the consummation of the world

(God puts things right)

3. Christianity as a religion of absolute hope (Karl

Rahner)? God's Kingdom which awakens new life

Chapter VI: The Future of God in Jesus Christ

1. Process of conversion: The future promised to the

person who repents, who follows Jesus and who

serves others selflessly (social and political

implications of Christian hope)

2. Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount and the

Wisdom of the Cross (personal, social, cosmic

transformation in God)

3. The necessity of dying, the longing of absolute

justice and the hope for the fullness of life

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Chapter VII: The Specific Nature of Christian Hope

1. The new creation has begun in the death and

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

2. The power of Christian love to transform the

world

3. Freedom in love/freedom for love/ freedom in

solidarity and fraternity

Conclusion: The God of History and Hope who leads his

people along the way

Belief in God and his hidden work

The power of faith, hope and love

Holy men and women open to the working of the

Spirit

B. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Juan. Alfaro, " Reflections on the Eschatology of

Vatican ll." In Vatican II: Assessment and Perspectives Twenty-

Five Years After "(1962-1987), edited by René

Latourelle. Vol.2, 501- 13. New York: Paulist,

1989.6

2. Dale C. Allison, The End of the Ages Has Come: An Early

Interpretation of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus,

Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.

3. David E. Aune, Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient

Mediterranean World, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1983.

4. J.C. Beker, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in Life and

Thought, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980.

5. Paul Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy in Modern

American Culture, Cambridge: Havard Univ. Press,

1992.

6. Caroline Walker Bynum, The Resurrection of the Body in

Western Christianity, New York: Columbia Uni. Press,

1995.

7. R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the

Revelation of St. John, New York, Scribners, 1920.

8. J. H. Charlesworth, The Messiah: Developments in Earliest

Judaism and Christianity, Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.

9. John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction

to the Jewish Matrix of Christianity, New York: Crossroad,

1984.

10. E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church, Cambridge:

Cambridge Uni. Press, 1991.

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11. Romano Guardini, The Last Things, London, 1954.

12. International Theological Commission,"Questions

in Eschatology" Irish Theological Quarterly 58 (1992):

209-43.

13. John S. Mbiti, New Testament Eschatology in an African

Background, London: Oxford University Press, 1971.

14. Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope, London, 1957.

15. Jürgen Moltmann, The Coming of God - Christian Eschatology,

translated by Margaret Kohl, Minneapolis: Fortress

Press, 1996.

16. Christopher F. Mooney, Teilhard de Chordin and the Mystery

of Christ, London: Collins, 1966.

17. Karl Rahner, On the Theology of Death, Herder & Herder,

1961, translated by Charles H. Henkey.

18. Joseph Ratzinger, The Theology of History of St.

Bonaventure, Chicago: Franciscan Herald, 1971.

19. Joseph Ratzinger, Eschatology, Death and Eternal Life,

Washington DC: Catholic Uni. Of America Press,

1988, translated by M. Walstein

20. Christopher Roland, The Open Heaven: A Study of

Apocalyptic in Judaism and Christianity, New York:

Crossroad, 1982.

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21. H. M. Shires, The Eschatology of Paul in Light of Modern

Scholarship, Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966.

22. C. Schönborn, From Death to Life, the Christian Journey, San

Francisco: Ignatius, 1995.

C. TERM PAPERA carefully researched and well written term paper

due on

Monday, February 13, 2012. (15 to 20 pages)

Step One: Choose one of the fields of research

(personal eschatology, historical eschatology, cosmic

eschatology, divine eschatology)

Step Two: Read a book on your chosen field of

research

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Step Three: Write a 5-page book review on the book of

your chosen field of research (10 marks).

Step Four: Discuss the theme of your chosen field

research by contextualizing it in your cultural

background (10 marks)

Step Five: Develop an original thesis founded on

Christian eschatology (10 marks)

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