Abstract:
With this study, we seek to contribute to the theological discussion regarding the nature and the
meaning of the Christian eschaton. We will argue that the dynamics of God’s reign provide a
hermeneutic key to Jesus’ ‘eschatological expectation’. It is not possible to grasp the full meaning
of Jesus’ urgent expectation of the end unless one realises that God’s action is always eschatological.
That is to say, right from creation, God is always acting in history in an eschatological way, though
only in Jesus does this action reach its ultimate goal. By critically examining the multifaceted
views of selected contemporary theologians, we will suggest that Jesus’ eschatological expectation
may be adequately interpreted only in light of God’s ‘eschatological reign’. In this context, the
tension between the already present and not yet fully realised dimensions of God’s reign appears
as a promising hermeneutic key to Jesus’ teaching in general and his eschatological expectation in
particular. The article consists of two sections. Firstly, we will give a brief account of the dynamics
of God’s reign, interpreted according to the ‘middle way’ between consistent and realised
eschatology. In the second part, our focus will be on the eschatological expectation: its development
in the Jewish tradition; on how Jesus applied, or rather re-appropriated, it in his mission; and
whether or not his emphasis on the imminence of an eschaton was a result of him being mistaken.
Description:
Jakub Urbaniak and Elijah
Otu are participating in the
research project, ‘Roman
Catholic History in the
modern era: Vatican II and
beyond’, directed by Prof. Dr
Graham Duncan, Department
of Church History and Church
Polity, Faculty of Theology,
University of Pretoria.
