Browsing by Author "Monsemvula, Richard"

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    End time, Time in Christ Insight from the Seven Bowls in the Book of Revelation
    (Tangaza University College, 1997) Monsemvula, Richard
    If there is an absolute certainty in one's life, it is his/her disappearance from the face of the earth one day. The problem is so existential that it affects the actual living of people. Ancient people and us today, unbelievers and believers we all experience this same existential problem. For unbelievers, their human disappearance from the earth whereby they have invested a great deal of infrastructure, and technology is fatal. This pessimistic thinking has been passed on by certain existential philosophies which sees human existence as accidental. The believers, especially Christian believers, perceive the problem differently. In fact, the beliefs of Christians about this issue is collectively known as eschatology. It includes themes such as, the end of the world, death, Parousia, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and heaven and hell. All these themes appear as mysteries which cannot be understood fully once and for all. However, Christians have the advantage of understanding these mysteries through another mystery, Paschal Mystery. Thus, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the future humanity after this earthly life, the future of this world and its time become understandable. Therefore, the preoccupation of the Christian believers should be the life according to the demands of the Paschal Mystery. Life modeled on Paschal Mystery is a commitment. The frailty of human life can force us to ask the kind of questions (about the end of human life, end of world and its time) whose answers might lead to despair if one does not get satisfactory answers. The present reflection does not provide the satisfactory answers for these people; but instead, it leads an understanding of the end of time in the perceptive of Paschal Mystery-Endtime. The focus of time in Endtime is no longer on the rhythms of the cosmic universe but on the Christ-event. This perception leads to a positive and optimistic approach to the future of human life and to the future of the world. This approach provides the readers with hopeful attitude towards life. This is important in today's world whereby many people have lost hope because of the hardships and the pressures of life. Only in the death and resurrection of Jesus do our hope make us alive.