Monday's word of the week.

What is Eschatology?

This word has always had a lot interest to me, even though I couldn't pronounce it for a long time. I can probably count on half of one hand the amount of times I have actually heard this word used in Church. When I look at how many times I have heard this word prior to the last three years of my faith, I could probably use one hand. However, since my re-awakening, or should I say since my desire from God to live on the word as my breath of life, i've heard it more times than I can count. Reformation faith is so concerned about what the Bible says, what God is telling us, and what it means, they aren't afraid to use words such as ESCHATOLOGY to describe these things. Not that there isn't non-reformation Churchs that use this word, they just tend not to use it. What a blessing for me. Now let's see if I can help you the reader understand what this word means, not just from a dictionary standpoint, but from a theological standpoint.

The American Heritage Dictionary explains it this way: 1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind. 2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment. The first thing I realize is that this is a religious word of some sort. Final Judgment, second coming, death and destiny of humanity, automatically lead me to a higher being. Look what the Online Etymology Dictionary (OED) says about this word: 1844, from Gk. eskhatos "last, furthest, remote" (from ex "out of") + -logia "a speaking" (in a certain manner). In theology, the study of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell.

The OED even gives us the Greek word for this word; eshatos - last, furthers, remote + logia - a speaking (in a certain manner). But the final sentence is what I find most interesting. The study of the four last things: death, judgment, heaven, hell, intrigues me. This is Bible, this is God, and this is Christ and we as Christians will face the fact that we will be confronted with all four. The fact is we will die, and after our death we will face Judgment, and depending on weather we Repented and Believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior we will face Heaven or Hell.


Blue Letter Bible does not define ESCHATOLOGY itself but does a fair job of defining our Greek root word Eshatos, but we are left with little for logia. Eshatos means: 1) extreme a) last in time or in place b) last in a series of places c) last in a temporal succession 2) the last a) last, referring to time b) of space, the uttermost part, the end, of the earth c) of rank, grade of worth, last i.e. lowest We see this word used in Rev 22:13, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." There is no God after him. God is not only the first God, but the last God. Peter in 2 Peter 3:3 says: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." We see the last word used again to explain the last days. Peter is telling us that towards the end times on earth or better yet, Christs return, we will be faced with mockers or people who will derisively scorn us as believers and the facts surrounding Jesus Christ and our God.

In Essence ESCHATOLOGY is just what the dictionary says it is, its a study of the last days. It is the study of death, judgment, heaven and hell. We should study scripture daily for these four titles. We must seek the truth. I always challenge believers and non-believers to hold the scripture up to complete scrutiny. The bible is full of truths that follow those subjects. The Bible defines and defends all four of these truths and I ensure you, you will find answers on how to ensure the best outcome for you when it comes to those four subjects. I make a promise to my readers that over the next few weeks I will blog about Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell to assist you in your truth seeking.