The Perpetual Advent of Christ the Eschaton: Beauty, Resurrection, and Hope

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Authors

Rusk, Christopher Jude

Issue Date

2009-05

Type

Thesis

Language

en_US

Keywords

Redemption , Resurrection , Salvation , Kingdom of God , Eschatology , Eschatological hope , Jiirgen Moltmann

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Abstract

Central to Christian belief is a pervasive hope; hope which lies in God's revealed word, can be viewed in God's creation, is realized in God's son, and resides in the hearts and minds of the faithful. We hope for redemption, for salvation, and ultimately, for resurrection. Hope and transfiguration are the central part of the Gospel message, but their proximity to us is unclear with cryptic metaphysical descriptions of what is, exactly, the nature of the Kingdom of God. Eschatology is perhaps too far removed from the average Christian life to be meaningful to and present in the conscious awareness of the average Christian on a daily basis. Yet hope is an inherent part of our created condition which makes us desire goodness for and toward those whom we love, and for ourselves. However Christian hope lies not in common hope, but in the uncommon, even absurd, hope of the faithful. Hope is what undergirds our common life in Christ and dispels all evil. As part of our common humanity and seen through the distinct lens of faith, hoping in and through Jesus Christ, thereby uniting us with God, makes possible our living into the Kingdom of God now, and not then. The primary theologian cited in this thesis is Jiirgen Moltmann because of his extensive work in the area of eschatological hope. However I will then enter more fully the cross-traditional theological dialectic of hope among Moltmann, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Robert Jenson.

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University of the South

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