Reclaiming an Eschatological Imagination: a Dogmatic Sketch

In modernity, eschatology has frequently been relegated to a "harmless little chapter" at the end of systematic theology textbooks or dismissed as a relic of a now discredited ancient mindset, with the result that eschatology has been abandoned into the hands of doomsday prophets and prognosticators. However, the apostolic imagination was profoundly eschatological. Without such apocalyptic vision, the church finds itself stumbling in the dark, easy prey for the sinister forces that seek to rule this world. This essay attempts to strengthen the church in its mission through the reclamation of a Christian faith that is "thoroughgoing eschatology." Through engaging various strands of biblical and theological discourse, this endeavor involves articulating a coherent vision of the apostolic witness through transposing traditional doctrinal loci, such as Christology, soteriology, pneumatology, and ecclesiology back into an eschatological key.