View source for Eschatology

{{Short description|Conceptions of the end of the present age}}
{{redirect-several|dab=no|end times (disambiguation)|eschaton (disambiguation)|last days (disambiguation)|Last Things (novel){{!}}''Last Things'' (novel)}}
[[File:The Four Horsemen (CBL WEp 0021).jpg|thumb|''[[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]'', woodcut print from the ''[[Apocalypse (Dürer)|Apocalypse]]'' of [[Albrecht Dürer]] (1497–1498)]]
'''Eschatology''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɛ|s|k|ə|ˈ|t|ɒ|l|ə|dʒ|i|audio=En-uk-eschatology.ogg}}; {{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|ἔσχατος}}'' ({{grc-transl|ἔσχατος}})|last||[[-logy]]}}) concerns expectations of the end of [[Contemporary era|present age]], [[human history]], or the world itself.{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420}} The '''end of the world''' or '''end times'''<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/endtimes_1.shtml |title= BBC – Religions – Christianity: End Times |work= [[BBC Online]] |date= 2011-07-19 |access-date= 2017-11-10}}</ref> is predicted by several [[world religion]]s (both [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic]] and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negative world events will reach a climax. Belief that the end of the world is imminent is known as [[apocalypticism]], and over time has been held both by members of mainstream religions and by [[doomsday cult]]s. In the context of [[mysticism]], the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to reunion with the [[divinity|divine]]. Many religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred texts or in [[folklore]], while other religions may have concepts of renewal or transformation after significant events. The explicit description of a new earth is primarily found in Christian teachings (this description can be found in Chapter 21 of the [[Book of Revelation]]).

The Abrahamic religions maintain a linear [[cosmology]], with end-time scenarios containing themes of [[Spiritual transformation|transformation]] and [[Redemption (theology)|redemption]]. In [[Judaism]], the term "end of days" makes reference to the [[Messianic Age]] and includes an in-gathering of the exiled [[Jewish diaspora]], the coming of the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]], the [[Techiyat hamaysim|resurrection of the righteous]], and the [[Jewish eschatology#World to come|world to come]]. [[Christianity]] depicts the end time as a period of [[tribulation]] that precedes the [[Second Coming|second coming]] of [[Jesus Christ|Christ]], who will face the rise of the [[Antichrist]] along with his power structure and [[false prophet]]s, and usher in the [[Kingdom of God]]. In later traditions of Islam, separate hadiths detail the [[Yawm al-Qiyāmah|Day of Judgment]] as preceded by the appearance of the [[Al-Masih ad-Dajjal|Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl]], and followed by the descending of [[Jesus in Islam|ʿĪsā]] ([[Jesus]]), which shall triumph over the false Messiah or Antichrist; his defeat will lead to a sequence of events that will end with the sun rising from the west and the beginning of the [[Qiyamah|Qiyāmah]] (Judgment Day).

[[Dharmic religions]] tend to have more cyclical worldviews, with end-time eschatologies characterized by [[Social disintegration|decay]], redemption, and rebirth (though some believe transitions between cycles are relatively uneventful). In [[Hinduism]], the end time occurs when [[Kalki]], the final incarnation of [[Vishnu]], descends atop a [[White horse (mythology)|white horse]] and brings an end to the current ''[[Kali Yuga]]'', completing a cycle that starts again with the regeneration of the world. In [[Buddhism]], the [[Buddha]] predicted his teachings would be forgotten after 5,000 years, followed by turmoil. It says a ''[[bodhisattva]]'' named [[Maitreya]] will appear and rediscover the teachings of the ''Buddha Dharma'', and that the ultimate destruction of the world will then come through seven suns.

Since the development of the concept of [[deep time]] in the 18th century<ref>{{Cite book |last=Redfern |first=Martin |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm49906936 |title=The Earth: a very short introduction |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280307-8 |location=Oxford; New York |oclc=ocm49906936}}</ref> and the calculation of the [[Age of Earth|estimated age of planet Earth]], scientific discourse about end times has considered the [[ultimate fate of the universe]]. Theories have included the [[Big Rip]], [[Big Crunch]], [[Big Bounce]], and [[Big Freeze]] ([[Heat death of the universe|heat death]]). Social and scientific commentators also worry about [[global catastrophic risks]] and [[global catastrophe scenarios|scenarios]] that could result in [[human extinction]].

{{TOC limit|4}}

== Etymology ==
The word "eschatology" arises from the [[Ancient Greek]] term {{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἔσχατος|ἔσχατος]]}} (''éschatos''), meaning "last", and ''[[-logy]]'', meaning "the study of", and first appeared in English around 1844.<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eschatology Dictionary – Definition of Eschatology]. [[Webster's Online Dictionary]].</ref> The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines eschatology as "the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind".<ref>"Eschatology, ''n.''", def. a, ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''. Retrieved 2016-05-18.</ref>

==Linear cosmology==

[[File:Detailed Eschatological Chart.png|thumb|Detailed Eschatological Chart]]

=== Judaism ===

{{Main|Jewish eschatology}}

[[File:Isaiah scroll.PNG|thumb|200px|right|Scroll of Book of Isaiah]]

The main tenets of modern Jewish eschatology, in no particular order, include:<ref name="Jewish Eschatology">{{cite encyclopedia|title= Jewish Eschatology|url= http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5849-eschatology|encyclopedia= Jewish Encyclopedia|access-date= 1 May 2012}}</ref>
* God will redeem Israel from the captivity that began during the [[Babylonian Exile]] in a new [[The Exodus|Exodus]].
* God will return the Jewish people to the [[Land of Israel]].
* God will restore the [[Davidic line|House of David]] and the [[The Third Temple|Temple in Jerusalem]].
* God will raise up a regent from the House of David, the [[Jewish Messiah]], to lead the Jewish people and the world and to usher in an age of justice and peace, the [[Messianic Age]].
* Non-Jews will recognize that the [[God in Judaism|God of Israel]] is the only true god.
* God will [[Resurrection of the Dead|resurrect the dead]].
* God will create a [[World to Come#Judaism|new heaven and earth]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ginzburg |first=Yitsḥaḳ |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzUrUtJmL2QC&dq=judaism+God+will+create+a+new+heaven+and+earth&pg=PA86 |title=Kabbalah and Meditation for the Nations |date=2007 |publisher=GalEinai Publication Society |isbn=978-965-7146-12-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Judaism usually refers to the end times as the "end of days" (''aḥarit ha-yamim'', אחרית הימים), a phrase that appears several times in the [[Tanakh]]. The end times are addressed in the [[Book of Daniel]] and in numerous other prophetic passages in the Hebrew scriptures, and also in the [[Talmud]], particularly Tractate [[Avodah Zarah]].

The idea of a Messianic Age, an era of global peace and knowledge of the Creator, has a prominent place in Jewish thought, and is incorporated as part of the end of days. A well-known passage from the [[Book of Isaiah]] describes this future condition of the world: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift sword against nation and they will no longer study warfare" (Isaiah 2:4, see also [[Book of Micah|Micah 4:3]]).<ref name="Jewish Eschatology"/> [[Maimonides]] (1135–1204) further describes the Messianic Era in the [[Mishneh Torah]]: "And at that time there will be no hunger or war, no jealousy or rivalry. For the good will be plentiful, and all delicacies available as dust. The entire occupation of the world will be only to know God;{{nbsp}}... the people Israel will be of great wisdom; they will perceive the esoteric truths and comprehend their Creator's wisdom as is the capacity of man. As it is written (Isaiah 11:9): 'For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea.'"<ref>Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 12:5</ref>

====Kabbalah====

In [[Kabbalah]], the [[Zohar]] maintains that the seven days of the week, based on the seven days of creation, correspond to the seven millennia of creation.<ref>Zohar, Vayera 119a</ref> The seventh day of the week, the [[Shabbat]] day of rest, corresponds to the seventh millennium, the age of universal rest, or the Messianic Era. The seventh millennium begins with the [[year 6000]] [[Anno Mundi|AM]], and is the latest time the Messiah can come. A number of early and late Jewish scholars have written in support of this, including the [[Nahmanides|Ramban]],<ref>Ramban on Genesis (2:3)</ref> [[Isaac Abarbanel]],<ref>Abarbanel on Genesis 2</ref> [[Abraham Ibn Ezra]],<ref>Ramban quoting Ibn Ezra at Leviticus (25:2)</ref> Rabbeinu [[Bachya]],<ref>Bachya on Genesis 2:3</ref> the [[Vilna Gaon]],<ref>Safra D'Tzniusa, Ch. 5</ref> the [[Lubavitcher Rebbe]],<ref>Sefer HaSichos 5750:254</ref> the [[Ramchal]],<ref>Derech Hashem 4:7:2</ref> [[Aryeh Kaplan]]<ref>Page 318, The Real Messiah {{cite book|first1=Aryeh|last1=Kaplan|title= The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology: Illuminating Expositions on Jewish Thought and Practice by a Revered Teacher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vxjgVY33LkC&q=aryeh+kaplan+1840&pg=PA318|publisher=Mesorah Publications|date=1 August 1991|isbn=9780899068664|access-date=2 September 2015}}</ref> and Rebbetzin [[Esther Jungreis]].<ref>
{{cite web |last = Fleisher |first = Malkah
|url = http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128104
|title = 'It's Erev Shabbos of the World' – Jewish World – News
|publisher = Israel National News
|date = 27 October 2008
}}
</ref>

===Zoroastrianism===
{{Main|Frashokereti}}

Frashokereti is the [[Zoroastrian]] doctrine of a final renovation of the universe when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will then be in perfect unity with God ([[Ahura Mazda]]). The doctrinal premises are:
# Good will eventually prevail over evil.
# Creation, initially perfectly good, was subsequently corrupted by evil.
# The world will ultimately be restored to the perfection it had at the time of creation.
# The "salvation for the individual depended on the sum of [that person's] thoughts, words and deeds, and there could be no intervention, whether compassionate or capricious, by any divine being to alter this". Thus each human bears the [[responsibility (disambiguation)|responsibility]] for the fate of his own soul, and simultaneously shares in the responsibility for the fate of the world.<ref name="Boyce">
{{cite book
|last= Boyce|first= Mary|author-link= Mary Boyce
|title= Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices
|year= 1979|location= London
|publisher= Routledge & Kegan Paul
|isbn= 978-0-415-23902-8|pages= 27–29
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC
}}.
</ref>

Zoroastrian eschatology is considered one of the oldest in recorded history. The birth of its founder, [[Zoroaster]], is unknown, with scholarly dates ranging from 500 BCE to 1,500 BCE. [[Pliny the Elder]] even suggests there were two Zoroasters.<ref name="WestDate13">{{Cite book|first=Martin Litchfield|last=West|author-link=Martin Litchfield West|title=Hellenica: Volume III: Philosophy, Music and Metre, Literary Byways, Varia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHdCAgAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-960503-3|pages=89–109}}</ref> However, with beliefs paralleling and possibly predating the framework of the major Abrahamic faiths, a fully developed concept of the end of the world was not established in Zoroastrianism until 500 BCE. The [[Bahman Yasht]] describes:
<blockquote>At the end of thy tenth hundredth winter, the sun is more unseen and more spotted; the year, month, and day are shorter; and the earth is more barren; and the crop will not yield the seed. And men become more deceitful and more given to vile practices. They will have no gratitude. Honorable wealth will proceed to those of perverted faith. And a dark cloud makes the whole sky night, and it will rain more noxious creatures than water.</blockquote>

A battle between the righteous and wicked will be followed by the [[Frashokereti]]. On earth, the [[Saoshyant]] will arrive as the final savior of mankind, and bring about the [[resurrection of the dead]]. The ''yazata''s [[Airyaman]] and [[Atar]] will melt the metal in the hills and mountains, which will flow as lava across the earth and all mankind, both the living and resurrected, will be required to wade through it. ''[[Ashavan]]'' will pass through the molten river as if it were warm milk, but the sinful will burn. It will then flow down to hell, where it will annihilate [[Angra Mainyu]] and the last vestiges of wickedness.

The righteous will partake of the ''parahaoma'', which will confer immortality upon them. Humanity will become like the [[Amesha Spenta]]s, living without food, hunger, thirst, weapons or injury. Bodies will become so light as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single language, and belong to a single nation with no borders. All will share a single purpose and goal, joining with [[Ahura Mazda]] for a perpetual and divine exaltation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Richard P.|title=Death and Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2000|page=312}}.</ref><ref name="Boyce" />

===Gnosticism===
The [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] codex [[On the Origin of the World]] (possibly dating from near the end of the third century AD) states that during what is called the consummation of the age, the Sun and Moon will become dark as the stars change their ordinary course. Kings will make war with each other, and thunder will cause the world to be shaken. The corrupt [[Archon (Gnosticism)|Archons]] will mourn. The sea will be troubled by fighting of the kings who became drunk from the [[flaming sword (mythology)|flaming sword]]. Finally, great thunder will come from [[Sophia (Gnosticism)|Sophia]], the woman in the [[firmament]] above the forces of [[Chaos (cosmogony)|Chaos]]. She will cast the corrupt gods into the [[Abyss (religion)|abyss]] where they will fight each other until only their chief [[Demiurge#Yaldabaoth|Yaldabaoth]] remains and destroys himself. Next the heavens of the Archons will collapse on each other before the Earth sinks into the abyss. Light will cover the darkness and eliminate it then form into something greater than anything that ever existed before. The source of the darkness will dissolve, and the deficiency will be taken from its root. Those who were not perfected in the [[Monad (Gnosticism)|unconceived one]] will receive glories in their realms and kingdoms of the immortals, but those who were will enter a kingless realm. All will be judged according to their deeds and [[gnosis]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Marvin Meyer]]|author2=[[Willis Barnstone]]|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=On the Origin of the World|url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/origin-Barnstone.html|date=2009|access-date=2022-02-01}}</ref>

===Christianity===
{{Main|Second Coming|Christian eschatology|Last Judgment}}
{{cleanup|section|reason=Too long; details need to be merged down into [[Christian eschatology]] until this is 1–5 paragraphs with no subsections.|date=February 2022}}
{{Christian eschatology}}

Christian eschatology is the study concerned with the ultimate destiny of the individual [[soul]] and of the entire created order, based primarily upon [[biblical]] texts within the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s.

Christian eschatological research looks to study and discuss matters such as the nature of the [[divinity|divine]] and the divine nature of [[Jesus Christ]], death and the [[afterlife]], [[Heaven in Christianity|Heaven]] and [[Christian views on Hell|Hell]], the [[Second Coming|Second Coming of Jesus]], the [[resurrection of the dead]], the [[rapture]], the [[Tribulation]], [[millennialism]], the end of the world, the [[Last Judgment]], and the New Heaven and [[New Earth (Christianity)|New Earth]] in the [[world to come]].

Eschatological passages occur in many places in the Bible, in both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and the [[New Testament]]s. In the Old Testament, apocalyptic eschatology can be found notably in [[Isaiah]] 24–27, Isaiah 56–66, [[Book of Joel|Joel]], [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] 9–14 as well as in the closing chapters of [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], and in [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]].<ref name=NBD>Bauckham, R. J. (1996). "Apocalyptic". In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), ''New Bible Dictionary'' (3rd ed., p. 53). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.</ref> In the New Testament, applicable passages include [[Matthew 24]], [[Mark 13]], the [[parable]] of "[[The Sheep and the Goats]]" and the [[Book of Revelation]]—Revelation often occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.

The Second Coming of Christ is the central event in Christian eschatology within the broader context of the fullness of the [[Kingdom of God (Christianity)|Kingdom of God]]. Most Christians believe that death and [[suffering]] will continue to exist until Christ's return. There are, however, various views concerning the order and significance of other eschatological events.

The Book of Revelation stands at the core of much of Christian eschatology. The study of Revelation is usually divided into four interpretative methodologies or [[hermeneutic]]s:
* The [[Futurism (Christian eschatology)|Futurist]] approach treats the Book of Revelation mostly as unfulfilled prophecy taking place in some yet undetermined future.
* The [[Preterism|Preterist]] approach interprets Revelation chiefly as having had prophetic fulfillment in the past, principally in the events of the first century CE.
* The [[Historicism (Christian eschatology)|Historicist]] approach places Revelation within the context of history, identifying figures and passages in Revelation with major historical people and events. This view was commonly held by the [[Early Church|early Christian church]], then among the predecessors to [[Protestantism]], such as [[John Wycliffe]],<ref>Tyndale, William, ''Parable of the Wicked Mammon'', c. 1526, (facsimile copy of later printing, no ISBN, Benediction Classics, 2008), pp. 4–5.</ref>{{request quotation|date=July 2020}} [[Joachim of Fiore]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=John Howard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ML4cEAAAQBAJ&dq=Joachim+of+Fiore+historicist&pg=PA223|title=A Dream of the Judgment Day: American Millennialism and Apocalypticism, 1620–1890|date=2021-02-05|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-753375-8|language=en}}</ref> and later by the majority of [[Protestant Reformers]], such as [[Martin Luther]],<ref>Luther, Martin, "Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity; Matthew 24:15–28", ''Church Postil'', 1525</ref><ref>J. H. Merle D'aubigne's  ''History of the Reformation of the Sixteen Century'', book vi, chapter xii, p. 215.</ref> [[John Calvin]],<ref>Calvin, John, "Lecture Fifty-Second", ''Commentary on Daniel'', Volume</ref> and [[John Wesley]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible: Matthew: Matthew Chapter 24|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/cmt/wesley/mat024.htm|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref> Further supporters of this view included [[Isaac Newton]]<ref>All Roads Lead to Rome,  by Michael de Semlyen. Dorchestor House Publications, p. 205. 1991</ref> (1642–1727), among others.<ref>{{cite book|first= Steven|last= Gregg|title= Revelation: Four Views|publisher= [[Thomas Nelson Publishing]]|location= Nashville, Tennessee|date= 1997|isbn= 978-0840721280|page= 34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Elliott|first=Edward Bishop|title=[[Horae Apocalypticae]]|publisher=Seely, Jackson and Halliday|year=1862|isbn=|edition=5th|volume=IV|location=London|pages=562–563|author-link=Edward Bishop Elliott}}</ref>
* The [[Idealism (Christian eschatology)|Idealist]] approach sees the events of Revelation as neither past nor future actualities, but as purely symbolic accounts, dealing with the ongoing struggle and ultimate triumph of [[good and evil|good over evil]].

====Date====
{{See also|Historical Jesus#Apocalyptic prophet}}
[[Christianity in the 1st century|First-century Christians]] believed Jesus would return during their lifetime. When the converts of Paul in [[Thessalonica]] were persecuted by the [[Roman Empire]], they believed the end of days to be imminent.<ref>See [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians|2 Thessalonians]] chapter {{bibleverse-nb|2|Thess|2}} and [[Son of perdition]].</ref> Most of the scholars participating in the [[Quest for the historical Jesus#Third quest|third quest]] hold that Jesus was an eschatological prophet who believed the "[[Kingdom of God]]" was coming within his own lifetime or within the lifetime of his contemporaries.<ref name = "TM1998 1">Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). Chapter 1. The quest of the historical Jesus. pp. 1–15.</ref><ref>[[Bart Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart]]. ''Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium.'' Oxford. 1999. p. 127.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Meier |first=John P. |date=1999 |title=The Present State of the 'Third Quest' for the Historical Jesus: Loss and Gain |url=https://www.bsw.org/biblica/vol-80-1999/the-present-state-of-the-145-third-quest-146-for-the-historical-jesus-loss-and-gain/333/article-p482.html |access-date=2018-09-20 |journal=[[Biblica (journal)|Biblica]] |volume=80 |page=482 }}</ref> This view, generally known as "consistent eschatology," was influential during the early to the mid—twentieth century and continues to be influential today in proposed portraits of the [[Historical Jesus]]. Dale Allison argues that while Jesus expected an imminent end, its date was not unchangeable and was contingent on the repentance of Israel to proceed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allison |first=Dale |title=Interpreting Jesus |publisher=Eerdmans |year=2025 |isbn=978-0802879196 |pages=60-71, 92}}</ref> However, [[C. H. Dodd]] and others have insisted on a "realized eschatology" that says Jesus' own ministry fulfilled prophetic hopes. Many conservative scholars have adopted the paradoxical position the [[Kingdom of God]] passages describes a kingdom that is both "present" and "still to come" claiming Pauline eschatology as support.<ref name="Geddert">{{cite book |last1=Geddert |first1=T. J. |editor1-last=Green |editor1-first=Joel B. |editor2-last=McKnight |editor2-first=Scot |editor3-last=Marshall |editor3-first=I. Howard |title=Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship |date=1992 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |location=Downers Grove, Illinois |isbn=978-0-8308-1777-1 |chapter=Apocalyptic Teaching}}</ref>{{rp|208–209}}   [[R. T. France]] and [[N. T. Wright]] among others have taken Jesus' apocalyptic statements of an imminent end, historically, as referring to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.<ref>R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 541–543</ref><ref>N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), pp. 329–365</ref><ref>N.T. Wright Hope Deferred? Against the Dogma of Delay. Early Christianity 2018. Oft-cited are examples in the [[Old Testament]] where language of cosmic destruction is used for political catastrophes, such as in Ezek. 32:8; Amos 8:9; Zeph. 1:15.</ref><ref name="Albert Hogeterp">{{cite book |last1=Hogeterp |first1=Albert L. A. |title=Expectations of the End: A Comparative Traditio-Historical Study of Eschatological, Apocalyptic, and Messianic Ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament |date=2009 |publisher=Brill |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=978-90-04-17177-0}}</ref>{{rp|143–152}} A number of interpretations of the term "Kingdom of God" have thus appeared in its eschatological context, e.g., [[apocalypticism|apocalyptic]], [[realized eschatology|realized]] or [[Inaugurated eschatology|Inaugurated]] eschatologies, yet no consensus has emerged among scholars.<ref>''Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth'' by Michael James McClymond (2004) pp. 77–79</ref><ref>Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research by Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans (1998) pp. 255–257</ref>

While some who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible insist the prediction of dates or times is futile, others believe Jesus foretold signs of the end of days. The precise time, however, will come like a "thief in the night" ({{bibleverse|1 Thess.|5:2}}). They may also refer to {{bibleverse|Matthew|24:36}} in which Jesus is quoted as saying:
{{blockquote|
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."}}
{{further|Predictions and claims for the Second Coming}}

====Great Tribulation====
{{Main|Abomination of desolation|Great Tribulation}}

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to this period preceding the end times as the "Great Tribulation" ({{bibleverse|Matthew|24:21}}), "Affliction" ({{bibleverse|Mark|13:19}}), and "days of vengeance" ({{bibleverse|Luke|21:22}}).

The Book of Matthew describes the devastation:
{{blockquote|When ye therefore shall see the [[abomination of desolation]], spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand). Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down.{{nbsp}}...Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, and woe unto them that are with child.{{nbsp}}...For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.|{{bibleverse|Matthew|24:15–22}}|title=|source=}}

The resulting chaos will affect pregnancies, newborns, and a scourge will spread throughout the flesh, save for the elect. The vivid imagery of this section is repeated closely in {{bibleverse|Mark|13:14–20}}.

The Gospel of Luke describes a complete unraveling of the social fabric, with widespread calamity and war:
{{blockquote|Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

"And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."|{{bibleverse|Luke|21:10–33}}}}

In the Book of Revelation, the "great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14b) refers to a time of affliction upon God's people.

====Catholicism====
The [[Profession of faith (Catholic Church)|Profession of Faith]] addresses Catholic beliefs concerning the last days.<ref>
An explanation of these beliefs appears on the [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c2a7.htm#668 Holy See's website]</ref> Catholicism adheres to the [[Amillennialism|amillennial]] school of thought, promoted by [[Augustine of Hippo]] in his work [[City of God (book)|''The City of God'']].

====Protestantism====
Contemporary use of the term ''End Times'' has evolved from literal belief in Christian millennialism. In this tradition, [[Biblical]] [[apocalypse]] is believed to be imminent, with various current events as [[omen]]s of impending [[Armageddon]]. These beliefs have been put forward by the Adventist movement ([[Millerites]]) and [[dispensationalism|dispensational premillennialists]]. In 1918 a group of eight, well-known preachers produced the [[London Manifesto]], warning of an imminent second coming of Christ shortly after the 1917 liberation of Jerusalem by the British.

=====Millennialists and Amillennialists=====
{{more citations needed|date=May 2023}}

[[File:Antichrist1.jpg|thumb|The Antichrist, by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (1521). Here the [[Antichrist]] is shown wearing the triple crown of the Roman papacy.]]

Protestants are divided between Millennialists and Amillennialists. Millennialists concentrate on the issue of whether the true believers will see the [[Great Tribulation]] or be removed from it by what is referred to as a Pre-Tribulation [[rapture]].

Amillennialists believe the end times encompass the time from Christ's ascension to the last day, and maintain that the mention of the "thousand years" in the [[Book of Revelation]] is meant to be taken [[metaphor]]ically (i.e., not literally), a view which continues to cause divisions within [[Protestantism|Protestant Christianity]].

There is a range of eschatological belief in Protestant Christianity. Christian [[premillennialism|premillennialists]] who believe the end times are occurring now, are usually specific about timelines that climax in the end of the world. For some, Israel, the [[European Union]], or the United Nations are seen as major players whose roles were foretold in scripture. Within [[dispensationalism|dispensational premillennialist]] writing, there is the belief that Christians will be summoned to [[Heaven]] by Christ at the [[rapture]], occurring before a Great Tribulation prophesied in Matthew 24–25; Mark 13 and Luke 21. The Tribulation is described in the Book of Revelation.

"End times" may also refer to the passing of an age or long period in the relationship between man and God.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chang Soppe|first1=Seok Lyun|title=God's Mystery That Is Christ|date=2014|publisher=WestBow Press|isbn=978-1490815947}}</ref> Adherents to this view cite the [[Second Epistle to Timothy]] and draw analogies to the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Post-Exilic Hebrew books of [[prophecy]] such as [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] are given new interpretations in this Christian tradition, while [[apocalyptic literature|apocalyptic forecasts]] appear in the Judeo-Christian [[Sibylline Oracles]] which include the Book of Revelation ascribed to John, the [[apocrypha]]l [[Apocalypse of Peter]], and the [[2 Esdras|Second Book of Esdras]].

=====Adventists and Millerites=====
{{more citations needed|date=May 2023}}

[[File:Icon second coming.jpg|right|thumb|Icon of the Second Coming. Greek, {{Circa|1700 A.D.}}]]Religious movements which expect that the [[Parousia|second coming of Christ]] will be a cataclysmic event are generally called [[adventism]]. These have arisen throughout the Christian era, but were particularly common after the [[Protestant Reformation]]. [[Emanuel Swedenborg]] considered the second coming to be symbolic, and to have occurred in 1757. Along with others, he developed a religious system around the second coming of Christ, disclosed by new prophecy or special revelation not described in the Bible. The [[Millerites]] are diverse religious groups which similarly rely upon a special gift of interpretation for predicting the second coming.

The difference between the 19th-century Millerite and adventist movements and contemporary prophecy is that [[William Miller (preacher)|William Miller]] and his followers, based on biblical interpretation, predicted the time of the Second Coming to have occurred in 1844. Contemporary writing of end time has suggested the timetable will be triggered by future wars and [[moral panic|moral catastrophe]], and that this time of tribulation is close at hand.

Seventh-day Adventists believe biblical prophecy to foretell an end time scenario in which the United States works in conjunction with the Catholic Church to mandate worship on a day other than the true Sabbath, Saturday, as prescribed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11). This will bring about a situation where one must choose for or against the Bible as the will of God.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/statements/main_stat42.html |title = How Seventh-day Adventists View Roman Catholicism |access-date = 4 July 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061206202225/http://www.adventist.org/beliefs/statements/main_stat42.html |archive-date = 6 December 2006 |url-status = dead }} – Main Statements of Belief from the official Adventist Church website.</ref>

=====Preterists=====
{{Main|Preterism}}
Another view of the ''end times'' is [[preterism]]. It distinguishes ''the time of the end'' from ''the end of time''. Preterists believe the term ''last days'' (or ''Time of the End'') refers to, neither the last days of the Earth, nor the last days of humankind, but the end of the [[Mosaic covenant|Old Covenant]] between [[Yahweh|God]] and [[Israelites#Biblical narrative|Israel]]; which, according to preterism, took place when the [[Second Temple|Temple]] in [[Jerusalem]] was destroyed in 70 [[Common Era|CE]].

Preterists believe that [[Bible Prophecy|prophecies]]—such as the [[Second Coming]], the desecration of the Jewish Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the rise of the [[Antichrist]], the [[Great Tribulation]], the advent of [[The Day of the Lord]], and a [[Last Judgment|Final Judgment]]—had been fulfilled when the Romans [[destruction of Jerusalem|sacked Jerusalem]] and completely destroyed its Temple.

Proponents of ''full preterism'' do not believe in a coming [[resurrection of the dead]]. They place this event (as well as the Second Coming) in the year 70. Advocates of [[partial preterism]] do believe in a coming resurrection. Full preterists contend that partial preterists are merely ''futurists'', since they believe the Second Coming, the Resurrection, the [[Rapture]], and the Judgment are yet to come.

Many preterists believe first-century [[Christians]] experienced the Rapture to rejoin the [[Christ]].

According with Preterism's [[Christian views on the Old Covenant|interpretation]] of end times, many "time passages" in the [[New Testament]] foretell a [[Second Coming]] of Christ, with last days to take place within the lifetimes of his disciples: [[Gospel of Matthew|Matt.]] 10:23, Matt. 16:28, Matt. 24:34, Matt. 26:64, [[Epistle to the Romans|Rom.]] 13:11–12, [[1 Corinthians|1 Cor.]] 7:29–31, 1 Cor. 10:11, [[Epistle to the Philippians|Phil.]] 4:5, [[Epistle of James|James]] 5:8–9, [[1 Peter|1 Pet.]] 4:7, [[1 John|1 Jn.]] 2:18.

=====Dispensationalists=====
{{Main|Dispensationalism|Christian Zionism}}
Dispensationalism is an [[evangelical]] [[futurist]] Biblical interpretation that foresees a series of [[dispensation (period)|dispensations]], or periods, in which God relates to human beings under different [[Biblical covenants]]. The belief system is primarily rooted in the writings of [[John Nelson Darby]] and is [[premillennial]] in content. The [[Declaration of Independence (Israel)|reestablishment of Israel]] in 1948 provided a major impetus to the dispensationalist belief system. The wars of Israel after 1948 with its Arab neighbors provided further support, according to [[John F. Walvoord]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biblio.com/isbn/0310539218.html |title=Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis |author=John F. Walvoord |orig-year=1974|year=1990|author-link=John F. Walvoord }}</ref> After the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, and the [[Yom Kippur War]] in 1973, it seemed plausible to many [[Fundamentalist Christians]] in the 1970s that Middle East turmoil may well be leading up to the fulfillment of various Bible prophecies and to the Battle of Armageddon.

Members of the dispensationalist movement such as [[Hal Lindsey]], [[J. Dwight Pentecost]], [[John Walvoord]], all of whom have [[Dallas Theological Seminary]] backgrounds, and some other writers, claimed further that the [[European Economic Community]], which preceded the [[European Union]], would become a [[European Federation|United States of Europe]], which would in turn become a Revived Roman Empire ruled by the [[Antichrist]]. The Revived Roman Empire also figured into the [[New Testament]] writers' vision of the future. The fact that in the early 1970s, there were (erroneously thought to be) seven nations in the European Economic Community was held to be significant; this aligned the Community with a seven-headed beast mentioned in Revelation. This specific prophecy has required revision, but the idea of a Revived Roman Empire remains.

Dispensationalism, in contrast to the Millerite Adventist movement, had its beginning in the 19th century, when [[John Nelson Darby]], founder of the [[Plymouth Brethren]] [[religious denomination]], incorporated into his system of Biblical interpretation a system of organizing Biblical time into a number of discrete [[dispensation (period)|dispensations]], each of which marks a separate [[Covenant (religion)|covenant]] with God. Darby's beliefs were widely publicized in [[Cyrus I. Scofield]]'s ''[[Scofield Reference Bible]]'', an annotated Bible that became popular in the United States.

Since the majority of the Biblical prophets were writing at a time when the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] was still functioning, they wrote as if it would still be standing during the prophesied events. According to preterism, this was a fulfillment of the prophecies. However, according to [[Futurism (Christian eschatology)|Futurists]], their destruction in AD 70 put the prophetic timetable on hold. Many such believers therefore anticipated the return of Jews to Israel and the [[Third Temple#Christian views|reconstruction of the Temple]] before the Second Coming could occur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://christianactionforisrael.org/congress.html|title=Proclamation of the 3rd International Zionist Congress|access-date=27 November 2012|date=25 February 1996 |publisher=Christian Action For Israel|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719161650/http://christianactionforisrael.org/congress.html|archive-date=19 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leaderu.com/common/british.html|title=The Untold Story: The Role of Christian Zionists in the Establishment of Modern-day Israel|access-date=27 November 2012|date=13 July 2002|publisher=Rabbi Jamie Cowen}}</ref>

====Posttribulation premillennialism====
A view of the Second Coming of Christ as held by [[Post-tribulation rapture|posttribulational]] premillennialists holds that the Church of Christ will have to undergo great persecution by being present during the great tribulation.

====Specific prophetic movements====
{{main|Great Disappointment}}
[[File:William Miller.jpg|thumb|upright|left|William Miller predicted the end of the world in 1843, known as the [[Great Disappointment]].]]

In 1843, [[William Miller (preacher)|William Miller]] made the first of several predictions that the world would end in only a few months. As his predictions did not come true (referred to as the [[Great Disappointment]]), [[Millerites|followers of Miller]] went on to found separate groups, the most successful of which is the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]].

Members of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] believe Miller's interpretation of signs and dates of the coming of Jesus were, for the most part, correct.<ref name="momen">{{cite journal | journal = [[Baháʼí Studies Review]] | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | year = 1992 | first = Moojan | last = Momen | title = Fundamentalism and Liberalism: towards an understanding of the dichotomy |url=http://bahai-library.com/momen_fundamentalism_liberalism_dichotomy }}</ref> They believe the fulfillment of biblical prophecies of the coming of Christ came through a forerunner of their own religion, the [[Báb]]. According to the Báb's words, 4 April 1844 was "the first day that the Spirit descended" into his heart.<ref name="Momen 2007 71–88">{{cite journal| last =Momen | first = Moojan | title =Messianic Concealment and Theophanic Disclosure | journal =Online Journal of Baháʼí Studies | volume =1 | pages =71–88 | year =2007 | url =http://oj.bahaistudies.net/OJBS_1_Momen_Messianic_Concealment.pdf | issn =1177-8547 | access-date = 14 April 2012}}</ref> His subsequent declaration to [[Mullá Husayn|Mullá Husayn-i Bushru'i]] that he was the "Promised One"—an event now commemorated by Baháʼís as a [[Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh|major holy day]]—took place on 23 May 1844. It was in October of that year that the Báb embarked on a [[Hajj|pilgrimage to Mecca]], where he openly declared his claims to the [[Sharif of Mecca]].<ref name="Chron">{{cite book |url=https://bahai-library.com/cameron_momen_bahai_chronology |first1=Glenn |last1=Cameron |first2=Wendi |last2=Momen |year=1996 |title=A Basic Baháʼí Chronology |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=0-85398-404-2 |pages=15–20, 125 |via=Bahá'í Library Online}}</ref><ref name="gpb">{{cite book|title=God Passes By|author=Shoghi Effendi Rabbani|page=9|url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-2.html}}</ref> The first news coverage of these events in the West was in 1845 by ''[[The Times]]'',<ref name="Momen 1999 online">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Momen | first = Moojan | title = Early Western Accounts of the Babi and Baháʼí Faiths | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia articles | publisher = Bahá'í Library Online | year = 1999 | url =http://bahai-library.com/momen_encyclopedia_western_accounts | access-date = 2 February 2012}}</ref> followed by others in 1850 in the United States.<ref name="Bahá'í Library Online">{{cite web | title =Early mention of Bábís in western newspapers, summer 1850| work = Historical documents and Newspaper articles| publisher =Baháʼí Library Online | date =17 September 2010 | url =http://bahai-library.com/1850_brief_reports | access-date = 14 April 2012}}</ref> The first Baháʼí to come to America was in 1892.<ref name="Chron"/> Several Baháʼí books and pamphlets make mention of the Millerites, the prophecies used by Miller and the Great Disappointment, most notably [[William Sears (Baháʼí)|William Sears]]'s ''Thief in the Night''.<ref name="sears">{{cite book |first=William |last=Sears |title=Thief in the Night |author-link=William Sears (Baháʼí) |year=1961 |isbn=0-85398-008-X |publisher=George Ronald |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/thiefinnightor00sear }}</ref><ref name="Bowers 2004 12">{{cite book | first = Kenneth E. | last = Bowers | year = 2004 | publisher = Baháʼí Publishing Trust | isbn = 1-931847-12-6 | title = God Speaks Again: An Introduction to the Baháʼí Faith | page = 12 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IOjBc_wK4m8C}}</ref><ref name="Motlagh 1992 205–213">{{cite book | title = I Shall Come Again | first = Hushidar Hugh | last = Motlagh | publisher = Global Perspective | location = Mt. Pleasant, MI | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-937661-01-5 | pages = 205–213 | edition = The Great Disappointment}}</ref>

====Restorationism (Christian primitivism)====
End times theology is also significant to [[Restorationism (Christian primitivism)|restorationist]] Christian religions, which consider themselves distinct from both Catholicism and Protestantism.

=====Jehovah's Witnesses=====
{{Main|Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses}}
[[File:Watchtower Bible & Tract Society (world headquarters).jpg|upright|right|thumb|300px|Former Watchtower headquarters in [[Brooklyn]]. The society made a number of emphatic claims of impending last days and ensuing chaos between 1879 and 1924.]]
The eschatology of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] is central to their religious beliefs. They believe [[Jesus Christ]] has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914 (a date they believe was prophesied in the Bible) and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the [[Bible Student movement|Bible Students]] associated with [[Charles Taze Russell]] as his people in 1919. They also believe that the destruction of those who reject the Bible's message<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Watchtower|title=The House-to-House Ministry—Why Important Now?|date=15 July 2008|pages=5–6}}</ref> and thus willfully refuse to obey God<ref>''You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth'', Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 155.</ref><ref>''Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!'', Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 6.</ref> will shortly take place at [[Armageddon#Jehovah's Witnesses|Armageddon]], ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.

The religion's doctrines surrounding 1914 are the legacy of a series of emphatic claims regarding the years 1799,<ref name=indisputable>''The Watchtower'', 1 March 1922, page 73, "The indisputable facts, therefore, show that the 'time of the end' began in 1799; that the Lord's second presence began in 1874."</ref> 1874,<ref name=indisputable /> 1878,<ref name="OurFaith1875">{{cite magazine|magazine=The Herald of the Morning|title=Our Faith|url=http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/downloads/1874-1876_Herald_of_the_Morning.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512062421/http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/downloads/1874-1876_Herald_of_the_Morning.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-05-12|date=September 1875|page=52}}</ref> 1914,<ref name="TheWatchtower">''The Watchtower'', [http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/Z1894JUL.asp#R1677 July 15, 1894, p. 1677] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401210133/http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/Z1894JUL.asp#R1677 |date=April 1, 2019 }}: "We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble."</ref> 1918<ref name="September">1 September 1916 ''The Watchtower'', pages [http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/Z1916SEP.asp#Z264:2 264–265] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713214204/http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/Z1916SEP.asp#Z264:2 |date=2009-07-13 }}</ref> and 1925<ref name="MillionsNow">''Millions Now Living Will Never Die'', 1920, page 97, "Based upon the argument heretofore set forth, then, that the old order of things, the old world, is ending and is therefore passing away, and that the new order is coming in, and that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will be still on the earth in 1925. Then, based upon the promises set forth in the divine Word, we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die."</ref> made in the [[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania|Watch Tower Society's]] publications between 1879 and 1924. Claims about the significance of those years, including the presence of Jesus Christ, the beginning of the "last days", the destruction of worldly governments and the earthly resurrection of Jewish patriarchs, were successively abandoned.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Holden | first = Andrew | title = Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement | publisher = Routledge | year = 2002 | page = [https://archive.org/details/jehovahswitnesse00andr/page/1 1] | isbn = 0-415-26609-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/jehovahswitnesse00andr/page/1 }}</ref> In 1922 the society's principal magazine, ''[[The Watchtower]]'', described its chronology as "no stronger than its weakest link", but also claimed the chronological relationships to be "of divine origin and divinely corroborated{{nbsp}}... in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct"<ref>"The Strong Cable of Chronology", ''Watch Tower'', 15 July 1922, page 217, "The chronology of present truth is, to begin with, a string of dates{{nbsp}}... Thus far it is a chain, and no stronger than its weakest link. There exist, however, well established relationships among the dates of present-truth chronology. These internal connections of the dates impart a much greater strength than can be found in other [secular, archeological] chronologies. Some of them are of so remarkable a character as clearly to indicate this chronology is not of man, but of God. Being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct."</ref> and "indisputable facts",<ref name=indisputable /> and repudiation of Russell's teachings was described as "equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord".<ref>''The Watchtower'', 1 May 1922, page 132, "To abandon or repudiate the Lord's chosen instrument means to abandon or repudiate the Lord himself, upon the principle that he who rejects the servant sent by the Master thereby rejects the Master.{{nbsp}}... Brother Russell was the Lord's servant. Then to repudiate him and his work is equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord, upon the principle heretofore announced."</ref>

The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged its early leaders promoted "incomplete, even inaccurate concepts".<ref>''Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom'' (Watch Tower Society, 1993), chapter 10.</ref> The [[Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses]] says that, unlike [[Old Testament]] [[Prophet#Judaism|prophets]], its interpretations of the Bible are not [[Biblical inspiration|inspired]] or [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]].<ref>''Revelation – Its Grand Climax'', Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, page 9.</ref><ref>{{Cite book| title = Reasoning From the Scriptures | publisher = Watchtower Bible and Tract Society | chapter = False Prophets | at = p.137:Have not Jehovah's Witnesses made errors in their teachings? }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| title = To Whom Shall We Go but Jesus Christ? | magazine= Watchtower | date = 1 March 1979 | page = 23 | quote = the "faithful and discreet slave" has alerted all of God's people to the sign of the times indicating the nearness of God's Kingdom rule. In this regard, however, it must be observed that this "faithful and discreet slave" was never inspired, never perfect. Those writings by certain members of the "slave" class that came to form the Christian part of God's Word were inspired and infallible [the bible], but that is not true of other writings since.}}</ref> It says that Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who did not understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower Society literature often cites Proverbs 4:18, "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established" ([[New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures|NWT]]) to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during "the time of the end", and that this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. Watch Tower Society publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for [[God's Kingdom]] and that they do not call [[Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs|their core beliefs]] into question.<ref>Why have there been changes over the years in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses?,"Jehovah's Witnesses", ''Reasoning From the Scriptures'', 1989, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, page 205</ref><ref>"Allow No Place for the Devil!", ''The Watchtower'', 15 March 1986, page 19</ref><ref>"Keep in Step With Jehovah's Organization", ''Watchtower'', 15 January 2001, page 18.</ref>

=====The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints=====

{{main|Second Coming (LDS Church)|Apocalyptic beliefs among Latter-day Saints}}
Members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) believe there will be a Second Coming of Jesus to the earth at some time in the future. The LDS Church and its leaders do not make any predictions of the date of the Second Coming.

According to church doctrine, the true [[gospel]] will be taught in all parts of the world prior to the Second Coming.<ref name="Matthew 24:14">[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/matt/24.14?lang=eng Matthew 24:14] KJV</ref> They also believe there will be increasing war, wickedness, earthquakes, hurricanes, and man-made disasters prior to the Second Coming.<ref>{{lds|Doctrine and Covenants|dc|45|26}}</ref> Disasters of all kind will happen before Christ comes.<ref>{{lds|doctrine and covenants|dc|45|26}}</ref> Upon the return of Jesus Christ, all people will be resurrected, the righteous in a first resurrection and the unrighteous in a second, later resurrection. Christ shall reign for a period of 1000 years, after which the Final Judgment will occur.

====Realized eschatology====
{{Main|Realized eschatology}}

[[Realized eschatology]] is a Christian eschatological theory that holds that the eschatological passages in the [[New Testament]] do not refer to the future, but instead refer to the [[ministry of Jesus]] and his lasting legacy.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Theology of the New Testament|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eIdkM00EdlAC|page=56|author1=George Eldon Ladd|author1-link=George Eldon Ladd|author2=Donald Alfred Hagner|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|date=1993|isbn=0802806805|access-date=2019-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624204514/https://books.google.com/books?id=eIdkM00EdlAC&printsec=frontcover|archive-date=2019-06-24|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author = McKim, Donald K. | date = 2014 | title = Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms | page = 106 | edition = 2nd | location = Louisville, KY | publisher = Presbyterian Publishing | isbn = 978-1611643862 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1611643864 | access-date = April 3, 2017 }}</ref>

===Islam===
{{Main|Islamic eschatology}}
{{Further|Akhirah|Resurrection in Islam}}
{{Islamic eschatology}}
[[File:Ibn arabi judgement day.svg|alt=|thumb|upright=1.2|Diagram of "Plain of Assembly" (''Ard al-Hashr)'' on the Day of Judgment, from an autograph manuscript of ''Futuhat al-Makkiyya'' by [[Sufism|Sufi mystic]] and [[Islamic philosophy|Muslim philosopher]] [[Ibn Arabi]], {{Circa|1238}}. Shown are the 'Arsh ([[Throne of God]]), pulpits for the righteous (al-Aminun), seven rows of [[angel]]s, [[Gabriel]] (al-Ruh), A'raf (the Barrier), the [[Pond of Abundance]], al-Maqam al-Mahmud (the Praiseworthy Station; where the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]] will stand to intercede for the faithful), Mizan (the Scale), [[As-Sirāt]] (the Bridge), [[Jahannam]] (Hell), and [[Jannah|Marj al-Jannat]] (Meadow of Paradise).<ref>Begley, Wayne E. The Garden of the Taj Mahal: A Case Study of Mughal Architectural Planning and Symbolism, in: Wescoat, James L.; Wolschke-Bulmahn, Joachim (1996). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=96ec98LieGsC Mughal Gardens: Sources, Places, Representations, and Prospects]'' Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C., {{ISBN|0884022358}}. pp. 229–231.</ref>]]

[[Muslims]] believe there are three periods before the [[Yawmuddin|Day of Judgment]] with some debate as to whether the periods could overlap.<ref name="Mahdi2">{{cite book|title=Clarity Amidst Confusion: Imam Mahdi and the End of Time|last=Yahya|first=Harun|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Global Publishing. Kindle Edition|pages=64}}</ref><ref name="Joel">{{cite book|last = Richardson | first = Joel| title = Antichrist: Islam's Awaited Messiah| publisher = Pleasant Word-A Division of WinePress Publishing | date = 7 April 2006| pages = 284 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_lyXZu3d3OcC&q=islamic+eschatology&pg=PA37| isbn = 9781414104409}}</ref><ref name="Hooper">{{cite book | last = Hooper | first = Rev. Richard | title = End of Days: Predictions of the End From Ancient Sources | date = 20 April 2011 | location = Sedona, AZ | pages = 156 | url = https://www.amazon.gom/dp/B004XJ6W0G }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====Sunni====
Sunnis believe the dead will then stand in a grand assembly, awaiting a scroll detailing their righteous deeds, sinful acts and ultimate judgment.<ref group="note">{{qref|74|38|b=y}}</ref><ref name="muhammad59">{{cite journal|last=Muhammad|first=S. Umar|title=Muslims' Eschatological Discourses on Colonialism in Northern Nigeria|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|volume=67|issue=1|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=59–84|jstor=1466033|doi=10.1093/jaarel/67.1.59}}</ref> Muhammad will be the first to be resurrected.<ref>Esposito, John (2003). The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-512558-4}}, p.264</ref> Punishments will include ''adhab'', or severe pain and embarrassment, and ''khizy'' or shame.<ref name="WimEoQ">"Reward and Punishment", ''Encyclopedia of the Qur'an''(2005)</ref> There will also be a punishment of the grave between death and the resurrection.<ref>Leor Halevi, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/opinion/04iht-edhalevi.1.5565834.html</ref> Several Sunni scholars explain some of the signs metaphorically.
[[File:End times.svg|thumb|Mainstream Sunni timeline]]
[[File:End Times Events.svg|thumb|Mainstream Islamic timeline]]
The signs of the coming end time are divided into [[Islamic eschatology#Major and minor signs|major and minor signs]]:
Following the second period, the third is said to be marked by the ten major signs known as ''alamatu's-sa'ah al- kubra'' (The major signs of the end).<ref group="note">Sahih Muslim, Book 41, Hadith 6931</ref> They are as follows:

# A huge black cloud of smoke (dukhan) will cover the earth.<ref group="note" name="auto">Sahih Muslim</ref>
# Three sinkings of the earth, one in the East.<ref group="note" name="auto"/>
# One sinking of the earth in the West.<ref group="note" name="auto"/>
# One sinking of the earth in Arabia.<ref group="note" name="auto"/>
# The false messiah—anti-Christ, [[Masih ad-Dajjal]]—shall appear with great powers as a one-eyed man with his right eye blind and deformed like a grape. Although believers will not be deceived, he will claim to be God, to hold the keys to heaven and hell, and will lead many astray.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hd5vHqdvp5kC&q=signs+of+day+of+judgment+islam&pg=PT194|title=The Everything Understanding Islam Book: A complete guide to Muslim beliefs, practices, and culture|author=Christine Huda Dodge|page=182|isbn=9781605507248|date=18 April 2009|publisher=F+W Media }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In reality, his heaven is hell, and his hell is heaven. The Dajjal will be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls.<ref group="note">Muslim, Book 41, Hadith 7034</ref>
# The [[Second coming|return]] of [[Jesus in Islam|Isa]] (Jesus), from the fourth sky, to kill Dajjal.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wSVQI3Ya2EC&q=signs+of+day+of+judgment+islam&pg=PA28|title=What Everyone Needs To Know About Islam|author=John L. Esposito|page=28|isbn=9780199794133|date=13 July 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA }}</ref>
# [[Gog and Magog|''Ya'jooj'' and ''Ma'jooj'']] ([[Gog and Magog]]), a Japhetic tribe of vicious beings who had been imprisoned by [[Dhul-Qarnayn]], will break out. They will ravage the earth, drink all the water of [[Lake Tiberias]], and kill all believers in their way. Isa, [[Muhammad al-Mahdi|Imam Al-Mahdi]], and the believers with them will go to the top of a mountain and pray for the destruction of Gog and Magog. God eventually will send disease and worms to wipe them out.<ref group="note">{{qref|21|96|b=y}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZr56ZACj7oC&q=signs+of+day+of+judgment+islam&pg=PA46|title=Islam: A Concise Introduction|author=Javed Ahmad Ghamidi|page=46|year=2009}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
# The sun will rise from the West.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamweb.net/media/index.php?page=article&lang=A&id=17726|language=ar|script-title=ar:طلوع الشمس من مغربها|trans-title=Rising of the sun from the west}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGFbR-qgxeIC&q=signs+of+day+of+judgment+islam&pg=PR16|title=Examining Islam in the West|author=Alwi Shihab|page=16|isbn=9789792267716|year=2011|publisher=Gramedia Pustaka Utama }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://waseelah.me/280/1-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%b9%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%89/|language=ar|script-title=ar:طلوع الشمس من مغربها|trans-title=Rising of the sun from the west|date=26 March 2018 }}</ref>
# The ''[[Beast of the Earth|Dabbat al-ard]]'', or [[Beast of the Earth]], will come out of the ground to talk to people.<ref group="note">{{qref|27|82|b=y}}</ref>
# The second blow of the trumpet will be sounded, the dead will return to life, and a fire will come out of [[Yemen]] that shall gather all to Mahshar Al Qiy'amah (The Gathering for Judgment).<ref name="Mahdi22">{{cite book|title=Clarity Amidst Confusion: Imam Mahdi and the End of Time|last=Yahya|first=Harun|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Global Publishing. Kindle Edition.|page=64}}</ref>

====Shia====
Many of the signs shown above are shared by both Sunni and Shia beliefs, with some exceptions, e.g. [[Muhammad al-Mahdi|Imam Al-Mahdi]] defeating [[Al-Masih ad-Dajjal]].

Concepts and terminology in [[Islamic eschatology#Shia eschatology|Shia eschatology]] include [[Mi'ad]], the [[Occultation (Islam)|Occultation]], [[Al-Yamani (Shiism)|Al-Yamani]], and [[Sufyani]]. In [[Twelver|Twelver Shia]] [[hadith|narrations]] about the last days, the literature largely revolves around [[Muhammad al-Mahdi]], who is considered by many beliefs to be the true twelfth appointed successor to Muhammad. Muhammad al-Mahdi will help mankind against the deception by the ''Dajjal'' who will try to get people in to a new world religion which is called "the great deception".<ref>The Wrath of Yeshua – Page xxxv, Leo Paul Giampietro – 2008</ref>{{request quotation|date=August 2020}}

====Ahmadiyya====
{{Ahmadiyya|Distinct views}}
[[Ahmadiyya]] is considered distinct from mainstream Islam. In its writing, the present age has been witness to the evil of man and wrath of God, with war and natural disaster.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://aaiil.org/text/books/others/mirzamasumbeg/propheciespromisedmessiah/propheciespromisedmessiah.pdf |title = Prophecies of the Promised Messiah -- www.aaiil.org |access-date = 27 March 2010 |archive-date = 26 May 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110526074004/http://aaiil.org/text/books/others/mirzamasumbeg/propheciespromisedmessiah/propheciespromisedmessiah.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref> [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad|Ghulam Ahmad]] is seen as the [[Second coming|promised Messiah]] and the [[Mahdi]], fulfilling Islamic and Biblical prophecies, as well as scriptures of other religions such as Hinduism. His teaching will establish spiritual reform and establish an age of peace. This will continue for a thousand years, and will unify mankind under one faith.<ref>''The Review of Religions'', January 2009, Vol.104, issue 1. pp. 18–22</ref>

Ahmadis believe that despite harsh and strong opposition and discrimination they will eventually be triumphant and their message vindicated both by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Ahmadis also incorporate the eschatological views from other religions into their doctrine and believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmed falls into this sequence.<ref>HFaith and Philosophy of Islam – Page 180, Shamim Akhter – 2009</ref>

===Baháʼí Faith===
{{See also|Baháʼí Faith on life after death|Baháʼí teachings}}
[[File:Lotus Temple, located in Delhi, India, is a Bahá'í House of Worship.jpg|thumb|left|Bahá'í House of Worship, Delhi, India]]

In the [[Baháʼí Faith]], creation has neither a beginning nor an end;<ref>{{cite book |last= Smith |first= Peter |title= An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C|year= 2008 |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-521-86251-6 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C&dq=%22the+physical+universe+asa+totality+has+always+existed+in+some+form,+having+neither+beginning+nor+end.%22&pg=PA112 112]}}</ref> Baháʼís regard the eschatologies of other religions as symbolic. In Baháʼí belief, human time is marked by a series of [[Progressive revelation (Baháʼí)|progressive revelations]] in which successive [[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|messengers]] or prophets come from God.<ref name="PSmith">{{cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title= Eschatology |year= 2000 |publisher= Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |isbn= 1-85168-184-1 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/133 133–134] |url= https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/133 }}</ref> The coming of each of these messengers is seen as the day of judgment to the adherents of the previous religion, who may choose to accept the new messenger and enter the "heaven" of belief, or denounce the new messenger and enter the "hell" of denial. In this view, the terms "heaven" and "hell" become symbolic terms for a person's spiritual progress and their nearness to or distance from God.<ref name="PSmith" /> In Baháʼí belief, [[Bahá'u'lláh]] (1817–1892), the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, was the [[Second Coming]] of Christ and also the fulfilment of previous eschatological expectations of [[Islam]] and other major religions.<ref>{{cite book |title= Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths |editor= Sharon, Moshe |first= Christopher |last= Buck |chapter= The Eschatology of Globalization: The Multiple Messiahship of Bahá'u'lláh Revisited (pp. 143–178) |chapter-url= http://bahai-library.com/buck_eschatology_globalization |year= 2004 |publisher= [[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |location= Boston |isbn= 9004139044}}</ref>

The inception of the Baháʼí Faith coincides with [[Great Disappointment]] of the Millerite prophecy in 1844.

[[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]] taught that Armageddon would begin in 1914,<ref>{{cite book |last1='Abdu'l-Baha |title=Tablets of the Divine Plan |date=1959 |publisher=Baha'i Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois |page=45 (Western States, Msg #1) |edition=First written Apr 1, 1916}}</ref> but without a clear indication of its end date.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Universal House of Justice |title=The Promise of World Peace |date=October 1985 |publisher=Baha'i World Center |isbn=085398-216-3 |location=Haifa, Israel |page=1}}</ref> Baháʼís believe that the mass martyrdom anticipated during the ''End Times'' had already passed within the [[Persecution of Baháʼís#Historical context|historical context]] of the Baháʼí Faith.<ref>{{cite book |last = Smith |first = P. |year = 1999 |title = A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |publisher = Oneworld Publications |location = Oxford, UK |pages = [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/98 98 & 247–248] |isbn = 1-85168-184-1 |url = https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/98 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author = Stephen Lambden |url = http://bahai-library.com/lambden_catastrophe_millennium |title = Catastrophe, Armageddon and Millennium: some aspects of the Bábí-Baha'i exegesis of apocalyptic symbolism |publisher = Bahai-library.com |access-date = 12 November 2011 }}</ref> Baháʼís expect their faith to be eventually embraced by the masses of the world, ushering in a [[golden age]].

===Rastafari===
{{main|Rastafari movement}}
[[File:Selassie restored.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Haile Selassie I]] is viewed as god incarnate in [[Rastafari]].]]
Rastafari have a unique interpretation of end times, based on the [[Old Testament]] and the [[Book of Revelation]]. They believe [[Ethiopia]]n Emperor [[Haile Selassie I]] to be God [[incarnate]], the ''King of kings'' and ''Lord of lords'' mentioned in Revelation 5:5. They saw the crowning of Selassie as the [[second coming]], and the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]] as fulfillment of Revelation. There is also the expectation that Selassie will return for a day of judgment and bring home the "lost children of Israel", which in Rastafari refers to those taken from Africa through the [[History of slavery|slave trade]]. There will then be an era of peace and harmony at Mount [[Zion]] in Africa.<ref name="Brown"/>

==Cyclic cosmology==

===Hinduism===
{{Main|Hindu eschatology|Kalki}}
{{further|Hindu units of time}}
The [[Vaishnavite]] tradition links contemporary Hindu eschatology to the figure of [[Kalki]], the tenth and last [[avatar]] of [[Vishnu]]. Many Hindus believe that before [[Hindu units of time|the age]] draws to a close, Kalki will reincarnate as [[Shiva]] and simultaneously dissolve and regenerate the universe. [[Shaivism|Shaivites]] hold the view that Shiva is incessantly destroying and creating the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=BBC |title=Shiva |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/deities/shiva.shtml |website=bbc.co.ke |publisher=BBC |access-date=23 March 2021}}</ref>

In [[Hindu eschatology]], time is cyclic and consists of [[Kalpa (aeon)|kalpas]]. Each lasts 4.1–8.2 billion years, which is a period of one full day and night for [[Brahma]], who will be alive for 311 trillion, 40 billion years. Within a ''kalpa'' there are periods of [[Brahma|creation]], [[Vishnu|preservation]] and [[Shiva|decline]]. After this larger cycle, all of creation will contract to a [[Gravitational singularity|singularity]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2020|reason=Singularity is unsourced and probably someone's POV.}} and then again will expand from that single point, as the [[yuga|ages]] continue in a religious [[fractal]] pattern.<ref name="Hooper"/>{{Request quotation|date=October 2019}}

Within the current kalpa, there are four epochs that encompass the cycle. They progress from a beginning of complete purity to a descent into total corruption. The last of the four ages is [[Kali Yuga]] (which most Hindus believe is the current time), characterized by quarrel, hypocrisy, impiety, violence and decay. The four pillars of dharma will be reduced to one, with truth being all that remains.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.astrojyoti.com/vishnupurana.htm |title = Vishnu Purana |date = 5 October 2009 |publisher = Astrojyoti.com |access-date = 21 November 2011}}</ref> As written in the [[Bhagavad Gita|Gita]]:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja |url=http://archive.org/details/BhagavadGita_201806 |title=Srimad Bhagavad Gita |date=2000 |pages=232}}</ref>

<blockquote><poem>''Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānirbhavati Bhārata''
''Abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānam sṛjāmyaham''

O descendant of Bharata, whenever there is a decline of religion and an increase in irreligion, at that time I manifest My eternally perfect form in this mundane world.</poem></blockquote>

At this time of chaos, the final avatar, [[Kalki]], endowed with eight superhuman faculties will appear on a white horse. Kalki will amass an army to "establish righteousness upon the earth" and leave "the minds of the people as pure as crystal."

At the completion of [[Kali Yuga]], the next [[Yuga Cycle]] will begin with a new [[Satya Yuga]], in which all will once again be righteous with the reestablishment of dharma. This, in turn, will be followed by epochs of [[Treta Yuga]], [[Dvapara Yuga]] and again another Kali Yuga. This cycle will then repeat until the larger cycle of existence under [[Brahma]] returns to the [[Gravitational singularity|singularity]],{{Citation needed|date=November 2020|reason=Singularity is unsourced and probably someone's POV.}} and a new universe is born.<ref name="Brown">{{cite book|last1=Browne|first1=Sylvia|last2=Harrison|first2=Lindsay|title=End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About the End of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAAOiMl1BIcC|year=2008|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-4406-3141-2}}</ref>
The cycle of [[Brahma|birth]], [[Vishnu|growth]], [[Shiva|decay]], and renewal at the individual level finds its echo in the cosmic order, yet is affected by vagueries of divine intervention in Vaishnavite belief.

===Buddhism===
{{Main|Buddhist eschatology}}

There is no classic account of beginning or end<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Lopez
 | first1 = Donald S.
 | author-link1 = Donald S. Lopez Jr.
 | title = The Story of Buddhism
 | location = New York
 | publisher = Harper
 | date = 2001
 | page = 33
 | quote = Unlike so many other traditions, the Buddhist scriptures contain no classic account of an end time, an apocalypse, an eschaton.
}}
quoted in:
{{cite book
 | last1 = Netland
 | first1 = Harold
 | author-link1 = Harold A. Netland
 | last2 = Yandell
 | first2 = Keith
 | author-link2 = Keith Yandell
 | chapter = The Dharma or the Gospel?
 | title = Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uwEvBBSvH-0C
 | location = Downers Grove, Illinois
 | publisher = InterVarsity Press
 | date = 2009
 | page = 196
 | isbn = 9780830838554
 | access-date = 7 July 2019
}}
</ref>
in Buddhism; Masao Abe attributes this to the absence of God.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Abe
 | first1 = Masao
 | author-link1 = Masao Abe
 | year = 1985
 | chapter = Buddhist Nirvana – Its Significance in Contemporary Thought and Life
 | editor1-last = LaFleur
 | editor1-first = William R.
 | title = Zen and Western Thought
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3SuvCwAAQBAJ
 | series = Library of Philosophy and Religion
 | edition = reprint
 | location = Basingstoke
 | publisher = Macmillan
 | publication-date = 1985
 | page = 214
 | isbn = 9781349069941
 | access-date = 7 July 2019
 | quote = Since there is no God in Buddhism, there is no creation or last judgment, but rather Emptiness. Thus, for Buddhism, history has neither beginning nor end.
}}
</ref>

History is embedded in the continuing process of [[Saṃsāra|samsara]] or the "beginningless and endless cycles of birth-death-rebirth".<ref>{{Cite book|title= Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal|last1= Netland|first1= Harold|last2= Yandell|first2= Keith|date= 2009|publisher= IVP Academic|isbn= 9780830838554|location= Downers Grove, IL|pages= 196 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uwEvBBSvH-0C}}</ref> Buddhists believe there is an end to things<ref>Vetter, Tilmann (1988), ''The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism'', Brill.</ref> but it is not final because they are bound to be born again. However, the writers of [[Mahayana]] Buddhist scriptures establish a specific end-time account in Buddhist tradition: this describes the return of [[Maitreya Buddha]], who would bring about an end to the world.<ref>{{Cite book|title= Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture|last= Birx|first= H. James|date= 2009|publisher= SAGE|isbn= 9781412941648|location= Thousand Oaks, CA|pages= 409}}</ref> This constitutes one of the two major branches of Buddhist eschatology, with the other being the [[Sermon of the seven suns|Sermon of the Seven Suns]]. End time in Buddhism could also involve a cultural eschatology covering "final things", which include the idea that [[Gautama Buddha|Sakyamuni Buddha]]'s [[dharma]] will also come to an end.<ref>{{Cite book|title= Encyclopedia of Death & Human Experience: 1-|last1= Bryant|first1= Clifton|last2= Peck|first2= Dennis|date= 15 July 2009|publisher= SAGE|isbn= 9781412951784|location= Thousand Oaks, CA|pages= 422}}</ref>

====Maitreya====
{{main|Maitreya}}
The Buddha described his teachings disappearing five thousand years from when he preached them,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnston (F.S.S.) |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GyxrFy-wzUQC&dq=The+Buddha+described+his+teachings+disappearing+five+thousand+years+from+when+he+preached+them&pg=PA38 |title=Report of the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World: Held in Exeter Hall (June 9th–19th), London, 1888 |date=1889 |publisher=J. Nisbet & Company |isbn=978-0-8370-6891-6 |language=en}}</ref> corresponding approximately to the year 4300 since he was born in 623 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vidyabhusana |first=Satis Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lG85RD9YZoC&dq=maitreya++was+born+in+623+BCE&pg=PA225 |title=A History of Indian Logic: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Schools |date=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=978-81-208-0565-1 |language=en}}</ref> At this time, knowledge of dharma will be lost as well. The last of his relics will be gathered in Bodh Gaya and cremated.{{Citation needed|date= November 2012}} There will be a new era in which the next Buddha Maitreya will appear, but it will be preceded by the degeneration of human society. This will be a period of greed, lust, poverty, ill will, violence, murder, impiety, physical weakness, sexual depravity and societal collapse, and even the Buddha himself will be forgotten.<ref name="Hooper"/>

This will be followed by the coming of Maitreya when the teachings of [[dharma]] are forgotten. Maitreya was the first Bodhisattva around whom a cult developed, in approximately the third century CE.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/358868/Maitreya|title= Maitreya|date= 20 July 2023|publisher= Britannica Encyclopedia}}</ref>

The earliest known mention of Maitreya occurs in the Cakkavatti, or Sihanada Sutta in [[Digha Nikaya]] 26 of the [[Pali Canon]]. In it, [[Gautama Buddha]] predicted his teachings of dharma would be forgotten after 5,000 years.
{{blockquote|At that period, brethren, there will arise in the world an Exalted One named Maitreya, Fully Awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a Buddha, even as I am now. He, by himself, will thoroughly know and see, as it were face to face, this universe, with Its worlds of the spirits, Its Brahmas and Its Maras, and Its world of recluses and Brahmins, of princes and peoples, even as I now, by myself, thoroughly know and see them.|Digha Nikaya, 26}}

The text then foretells the birth of Maitreya Buddha in the city of [[Ketumatī]] in present-day [[Varanasi|Benares]], whose king will be the Cakkavattī Sankha. Sankha will live in the former palace of King Mahāpanadā, and will become a renunciate who follows Maitreya.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pitaka |first1=Sutta |last2=Nikaya |first2=Digha |last3=Canon |first3=Pāli |title=''Cakkavatti Sutta: The Wheel-turning Emperor'' |url=http://www.basicbuddhism.org/index.cfm?GPID=29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505101810/http://www.basicbuddhism.org/index.cfm?GPID=29 |archive-date=5 May 2012 |website=Basic Buddhism |page=26}}</ref><ref>Vipassana.info, [http://www.vipassana.info/me_mu/metteyya.htm Pali Proper Names Dictionary: Metteyya]</ref>

In Mahayana Buddhism, Maitreya will attain ''[[bodhi]]'' in seven days, the minimum period, by virtue of his many lifetimes of preparation. Once Buddha, he will rule over the Ketumati Pure Land, an earthly paradise sometimes associated with the Indian city of [[Varanasi]] or Benares in present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]]. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha presides over a land of purity. For example, [[Amitabha]] presides over Sukhavati, more popularly known as the "Western Paradise".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ013/51013.pdf |title= 《彌勒上生經》與《彌勒下生經》簡介 |access-date= 27 November 2012}}</ref>
[[File:KushanMaitreya.JPG|right|upright|thumb|Bodhisattva Maitreya from the second-century Gandharan art period]]

A notable teaching he will rediscover is that of the ten non-virtuous deeds—killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views. The ten virtuous deeds will replace them with the abandonment of each of these practices. [[Edward Conze]] in his ''Buddhist Scriptures'' (1959) gives an account of Maitreya:
{{blockquote|The Lord replied, 'Maitreya, the best of men, will then leave the [[Tushita|{{IAST|Tuṣita}}]] heavens and go for his last rebirth. As soon as he is born he will walk seven steps forward, and where he puts down his feet a jewel or a lotus will spring up. He will raise his eyes to the ten directions and will speak these words: "This is my last birth. There will be no rebirth after this one. Never will I come back here, but, all pure, I shall win Nirvana."'|''Buddhist Scriptures''<ref>{{cite book|title= Buddhist Scriptures|url= https://archive.org/details/buddhistscriptur0000conz|url-access= registration|last= Conze|first= Edward| author-link = Edward Conze|publisher= Penguin Classics|date= 30 July 1959|pages= [https://archive.org/details/buddhistscriptur0000conz/page/256 256]|isbn= 0140440887}}</ref>}}
Maitreya currently resides in [[Tushita]], but will come to [[Jambudvipa]] when needed most as successor to the historic [[Śākyamuni Buddha]]. Maitreya will achieve complete enlightenment during his lifetime, and following this reawakening he will bring back the timeless teaching of [[dharma]] to this plane and rediscover [[Nirvana (concept)|enlightenment]].<ref name="Theravada Buddhism 1988, pages 83-85"/> The [[Arya Maitreya Mandala]], founded in 1933 by [[Lama Anagarika Govinda]], is based on the idea of Maitreya.

Maitreya eschatology forms the central canon of the [[White Lotus Societies|White Lotus Society]], a religious and political movement which emerged in [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan China]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mote|first=Frederick W.|title=Imperial China 900–1800|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQWW7QgUH4gC&pg=PA530|year=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01212-7}}</ref> It later branched into the Chinese underground [[Organized crime|criminal organization]] known as the [[Triad (organized crime)|Triads]], which exist today as an international underground criminal network. {{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

Note that no description of Maitreya occurs in any other sutta in the canon, casting doubt as to the authenticity of the scripture. In addition, sermons of the Buddha normally are in response to a question, or in a specific context, but this sutta has a beginning and an ending, and its content is quite different from the others. This has led some to conclude that the whole sutta is [[apocrypha]]l, or tampered with.<ref name="Theravada Buddhism 1988, pages 83-85">
[[Richard Gombrich]], ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo''. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988, pages 83–85.
</ref>

====Sermon of the Seven Suns====
In his "Sermon of the Seven Suns" in the [[Pali Canon]], the Buddha describes the ultimate fate of the [[Earth]] in an apocalypse characterized by the consequent appearance of seven [[sun]]s in the sky, each causing progressive ruin until the planet is destroyed:
{{blockquote|All things are impermanent, all aspects of existence are unstable and non-eternal. Beings will become so weary and disgusted with the constituent things that they will seek emancipation from them more quickly. There will come a season, O monks when, after hundreds of thousands of years, rains will cease. All seedlings, all vegetation, all plants, grasses and trees will dry up and cease to be.{{nbsp}}...There comes another season after a great lapse of time when a second sun will appear. Now all brooks and ponds will dry up, vanish, cease to be.|Aňguttara-Nikăya, VII, 6.2 Pali Canon<ref name="Hooper"/>|title=|source=}}

The canon goes on to describe the progressive destruction of each sun. The third sun will dry the [[Ganges River]] and other rivers, whilst the fourth will cause the lakes to evaporate; the fifth will dry the oceans. Later:
{{blockquote|Again after a vast period of time a sixth sun will appear, and it will bake the Earth even as a pot is baked by a potter. All the mountains will reek and send up clouds of smoke. After another great interval a seventh sun will appear and the Earth will blaze with fire until it becomes one mass of flame. The mountains will be consumed, a spark will be carried on the wind and go to the worlds of God.{{nbsp}}...Thus, monks, all things will burn, perish and exist no more except those who have seen the path.|Aňguttara-Nikăya, VII, 6.2 Pali Canon<ref name="Hooper"/>}}

The sermon completes with the Earth immersed into an extensive holocaust. The Pali Canon does not indicate when this will happen relative to Maitreya.<ref name="Hooper"/>

===Norse mythology===
{{Main|Ragnarök}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | header = 1905 Paintings by [[Emil Doepler]]
 | image1 = Odin und Fenriswolf Freyr und Surt.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Odin]] fighting his old nemesis [[Fenrir]]
 | image2 = Ragnarök by Doepler.jpg
 | caption2 = [[Ragnarök]] after [[Surtr]] has engulfed the world with fire
}}
[[Norse mythology]] depicts the end of days as ''[[Ragnarök]]'', an [[Old Norse]] term translatable as "twilight of the gods". It will be heralded by a devastation known as [[Fimbulvetr]] which will seize [[Midgard]] in cold and darkness. The sun and moon will disappear from the sky, and poison will fill the air. The dead will rise from the ground and there will be widespread despair.

Then there will be a battle between—on the one hand—the Gods with the [[Æsir]], [[Vanir]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dan |title=The Aesir-Vanir War |url=https://norse-mythology.org/tales/the-aesir-vanir-war/ |access-date=2022-09-07 |website=Norse Mythology for Smart People |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Einherjar]], led by [[Odin]], and—on the other hand—forces of Chaos, including the fire giants and [[jötunn]], led by [[Loki]]. In the fighting Odin will be swallowed whole by his old nemesis [[Fenrir]].<ref name=LARRINGTON266>Larrington (1996:266).</ref> The god [[Freyr]] fights [[Surtr]] but loses. [[Víðarr]], son of Odin, will then avenge his father by ripping Fenrir's jaws apart and stabbing the wolf in the heart with his spear. The serpent [[Jörmungandr]] will open its gaping maw and be met in combat by [[Thor]]. Thor, also a son of Odin, will defeat the serpent, only to take nine steps afterwards before collapsing in his own death.<ref>{{cite book |last = Larrington |first = Carolyne| title= The Poetic Edda| publisher = [[Oxford World's Classics]] | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-19-283946-2 }}</ref>

After this people will flee their homes as the sun blackens and the earth sinks into the sea. The stars will vanish, steam will rise, and flames will touch the heavens. This conflict will result in the deaths of most of the major Gods and forces of Chaos. Finally, Surtr will fling fire across the nine worlds. The ocean will then completely submerge [[Midgard]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Bellows| first = Henry Adams| title= The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems| publisher = [[Dover Publications]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-486-43710-8 }}</ref>

After the [[wikt:cataclysm|cataclysm]], the world will resurface new and fertile, and the surviving Gods will meet. [[Baldr]], another son of Odin, will be reborn in the new world, according to [[Völuspá]]. The two human survivors, [[Líf and Lífþrasir]], will then repopulate this new earth.<ref name="Odin">{{cite book |last = Byock | first = Jesse | title = The Prose Edda| publisher = [[Penguin Classics]] | year = 2005 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bAAOiMl1BIcC| isbn = 0-14-044755-5
}}</ref>

=== Egyptian mythology ===
{{Main|Egyptian_mythology#End_of_the_universe}}


Egyptian texts typically treat the dissolution of the world as a possibility to be avoided, and for that reason they do not often describe it in detail. However, many texts allude to the idea that the world, after countless cycles of renewal, is destined to end. This end is described in a passage in the ''Coffin Texts'' and a more explicit one in the ''Book of the Dead'', in which Atum says that he will one day dissolve the ordered world and return to his primeval, inert state within the waters of chaos. All things other than the creator will cease to exist, except Osiris, who will survive along with him.{{sfn|Hornung|1982|pp=162–165}} Details about this '''eschathological''' prospect are left unclear, including the fate of the dead who are associated with Osiris.{{sfn|Dunand|Zivie-Coche|2004|pp=67–68}} Yet with the creator god and the god of renewal together in the waters that gave rise to the orderly world, there is the potential for a new creation to arise in the same manner as the old.{{sfn|Meeks|Favard-Meeks|1996|pp=18–19}}

== No end times ==
=== Taoism ===
{{Main | Li Hong (Taoist eschatology) | label 1 = Taoist eschatology}}
The Taoist faith is not concerned with what came before or after life, knowing only their own being in the Tao. The philosophy is that people come and go, just like mountains, trees and stars, but Tao will go on for [[time immemorial]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

== Analogies in science and philosophy ==
[[File:Solar Life Cycle.svg|right|thumb|upright=1.75|A diagram showing the life cycle of the [[Sun]]]]
{{Further|Global catastrophe scenarios|Global catastrophic risk|Accelerationism}}
Researchers in [[futures studies]] and [[transhumanists]] investigate how the accelerating rate of scientific progress may lead to a "[[technological singularity]]" in the future that would profoundly and unpredictably change the course of human history, and result in ''Homo sapiens'' no longer being the dominant life form on Earth.<ref name="agi-conf">[[Anders Sandberg|Sandberg, Anders]]. [http://agi-conf.org/2010/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/agi10singmodels2.pdf An overview of models of technological singularity]</ref><ref name="hplusmagazine">{{cite web |url=http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/nano/singularity-nanotech-or-ai |title=h+ Magazine &#124; Covering technological, scientific, and cultural trends that are changing human beings in fundamental ways |publisher=Hplusmagazine.com |access-date=2011-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223170126/http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/nano/singularity-nanotech-or-ai |archive-date=2010-12-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{synthesis inline|reason=sources do not appear to have the word "Eschatology" in them|date=September 2016}}

Occasionally the term "physical eschatology" is applied to the long-term predictions of astrophysics about the [[future of Earth]] and [[ultimate fate of the universe]].<ref>Ćirković, Milan M. "Resource letter: PEs-1: physical eschatology." American Journal of Physics 71.2 (2003): 122–133.</ref><ref>Baum, Seth D. "Is humanity doomed? Insights from astrobiology." Sustainability 2.2 (2010): 591–603.</ref> In approximately 6 billion years, the [[Sun#Life phases|Sun]] will turn into a [[red giant]].  Life on Earth will become impossible due to a rise in temperature long before the planet is possibly actually swallowed up by the Sun or left charred.<ref name="zeilik">{{Cite book |last1=Zeilik |first1=M.A. |last2=Gregory |first2=S.A.|title=Introductory Astronomy & Astrophysics |edition=4th |page=322 |publisher=Saunders College Publishing |year=1998 |isbn=0-03-006228-4}}</ref> Later, the Sun will become a [[white dwarf]].

== See also ==
{{portal|Philosophy|Religion|World}}
{{div col|colwidth=18em|content=
* [[Ancient Aztec eschatology]]
* [[Cosmogony]]
* [[Eschatology (religious movement)]]
* [[Future of Earth]]
* [[Four kingdoms of Daniel]]
* ''[[Götterdämmerung]]''
* [[Immanentize the eschaton]]
* [[Last Roman Emperor]]
* [[List of conspiracy theories]]
* [[List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events]]
* [[List of eschatological topics]]
* [[Millenarianism]]
* [[Messianism]]
* ''[[The Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse]]''
* [[Ussher chronology]]
* [[Whore of Babylon]]
}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book
|last          = Carroll
|first         = John T.
|chapter       = Eschatology
|editor1-last  = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel 
|editor2-last  = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C. 
|title         = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|publisher     = Eerdmans
|year          = 2000
|isbn = 978-9053565032
|chapter-url   = https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA420
}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dunand|first1=Françoise|first2=Christiane|last2=Zivie-Coche|author-link1=Françoise Dunand|others=Translated by David Lorton|title=Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2004|orig-year=French edition 1991| isbn=0-8014-8853-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Hornung|first=Erik|author-link=Erik Hornung|others=Translated by John Baines|title=Conceptions of God in Egypt: The One and the Many|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1982|orig-year=German edition 1971| isbn=0-8014-1223-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Meeks|first1=Dimitri|first2=Christine|last2=Favard-Meeks|others=Translated by G. M. Goshgarian|title=Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods|publisher=Cornell University Press| year=1996|orig-year=French edition 1993 |isbn=0-8014-8248-8}}

==Further reading==
* Craig C. Hill, ''In God's Time: The Bible and the Future'', Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2002. {{ISBN|0-8028-6090-7}}.
* [[Dave Hunt (Christian apologist)|Dave Hunt]], ''A Cup of Trembling'', Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, (Oregon) 1995 {{ISBN|1-56507-334-7}}.
* Jonathan Menn, ''Biblical Eschatology'', Eugene, Oregon, Wipf & Stock 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-62032-579-7}}.
* [[Joseph Ratzinger]]., ''Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life'', Washington D.C.: [[Catholic University of America Press]] 1985. {{ISBN|978-0-8132-1516-7}}.
* Robert Sungenis, Scott Temple, David Allen Lewis, ''Shock Wave 2000!'' subtitled ''The [[Harold Camping]] 1994 Debacle'', New Leaf Press, Inc. 2004, {{ISBN|0-89221-269-1}}.
* Stephen Travis, ''Christ Will Come Again: Hope for the Second Coming of Jesus'', Toronto: Clements Publishing 2004. {{ISBN|1-894667-33-6}}.
* Jerry L. Walls (ed.), ''The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'', New York: Oxford University Press 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-19-973588-4}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|End Times}}
* {{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle= Eschatology|volume=5|prescript=}}
* {{Jewish Encyclopedia|title= Eschatology|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5849-eschatology}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyaQiI70Bqs&ab_channel=ReadytoHarvest ''Christian Eschatology Explained'' (A short primer on the main schools of Christian Eschatology)]

{{Subject bar|q=y|wikt=y|s=y|s-search=Portal:Eschatology|commons=y|d=y|d-search=Q170337}}

{{Time in religion and mythology}}
{{Theology |eschatology}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eschatology| ]]
[[Category:Prophecy]]
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Last events]]
[[Category:Ultimate fate of the universe]]