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Browsing Staff by Author "Jude Mulenga, Chisanga"

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    Eschatology and the spiritual life in ST. Augustine city of God
    (2006) Jude Mulenga, Chisanga
    The theme for this thesis is Eschatology and the Spiritual Life in Augustine's City of God But here, we should ask the question: what is eschatology? We can define eschatology as a religious language of hope for the fulfillment of the divine promises entailing an interpretation of history 1as well as the satisfying of the nature of man. People are never completely happy when they are still living here on earth, and so they go on longing for joy and peace, wishing that one day in the future they would attain the so much needed solace of body, mind and heart. True harmony in body, spirit and heart will only be achieved at the end of man's life on this earth; when we return to God who created us in His own image and likeness, and this is the· subject of the eschatology. Consequently, the interpretation of the term 'eschatology,' also calls for the understanding of the meaning of the 'spiritual life' so that we can know how to nourish it while we are still in this world; what instrument to use in order for it to mature; we need prayer and spiritual direction that help us to sift through our lives. In spiritual direction and prayer: We receive help to confront ourselves and thereby to discover our authentic voice. That voice alone will· lead us to intimacy with God. We must be patient, however, and ever so silent. We must listen to our heart and not be afraid to hear what it has to say. When we speak from the heart, we soon discover the gentle voice of the Spirit yearning within us. To pray in truth is to pray in the Spirit, the- re-creative We may define the Spiritual Life as man or woman under the action of the ever-coming God actively allowing God to free him or her from all that obstructs the ever-invading love and power of God in order to be more available for God. We are always restless in this life because our present life is temporal; our present state is not what we are meant to be finally when we come face to face with God. It is for this reason that St. Augustine says that we shall only be fulfilled at the end of time when we shall rest in God.3 And so briefly, in the modem theological language, we can also define eschatology as the doctrine of the end of the world and history of mankind; the study of the last things, ta eschata.4