Popularized by C. H. Dodd (1884–1973), this eschatological theory holds that the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refer to the future, but instead refer to the work and life of Jesus himself. Eschatology is therefore not the end of the world, but its rebirth instituted by Jesus and continued by his followers, a this-worldy phenomenon. Those holding this view generally dismiss "end times" theories, believing them to be irrelevant. They hold that what Jesus said and did (and told his followers to do likewise) are of greater significance than any Messianic expectations.
This view is attractive to many people, since it reverses the notion that Jesus' coming is a looming and bellicose thing, something hardly in keeping with the overall theme of Jesus and his teachings in the Gospels. Instead, eschatology is about being engaged in the process of becoming, rather than waiting for external and unknown forces to bring about destruction.
Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan of the Jesus Seminar coined and uses the term “sapiential eschatology” to refer to a similar concept.[1]
Apocalyptic eschatology is world-negation stressing imminent divine intervention: we wait for God to act; sapiential eschatology is world-negation emphasizing immediate divine imitation: God waits for us to act."
— John Dominic Crossan, The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images (1998), p. 8
See also
References
- ^ The Ministry of Jesus accessed January 16 2006
- Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996).