Eschatology

The entry puts the focus on the ancient Church, arguing that early Christianity developed a collective eschatology that taught a correspondence between membership in the this-worldly and the other-worldly community. Believers perceived Christ as a god-man figure who enabled them to participate in his god-manhood and eventual resurrection. This gave Christian eschatology a decidedly political outlook. The church was conceptualized as a proleptic community, in which like-mindedness and solidarity were generated through a common anticipation of heavenly equality. Even though the church adopted classical political vocabulary into its self-interpretation, it was meant to provide a sociopolitical alternative to the imperial outside world. The entry refers to recent anthropological research, arguing that Victor Turner's analysis of liminality helps to understand the “anti-structural” character of the Christian eschatological community. The entry further outlines major developments of eschatology in late antiquity and the medieval period, highlighting the tension between hierarchical clerical models and monastic conceptions. It concludes with brief reflections on the interconnection between Christian eschatology and modern ideologies.