Every generation has events to face—dramatic issues that leave sharp impressions. For my grandparents, it was World War I, tuberculosis, a worldwide epidemic of influenza, and the beginning of their children's move away from the farm. For my parents, it was the Depression and World War II, along with the initial threat of living in a world overshadowed by nuclear weapons. For us today, the bomb, overpopulation, technological future shock, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome are some of the specters that hang over the social landscape.
In the midst of these and other awesome issues, people ponder when an end or resolution will come, or if it will. In fact, the thought of an "end" can often be the very thing that makes such challenges so disturbing.
There's a technical term in religion that refers to last, or end, things. The word is eschaton. It comes from a Greek word that is translated as last in the New Testament. When you look at a Bible concordance that shows where this word is used, you begin to get the feeling that New Testament writers viewed the world from a perspective that was deeply concerned with last, or final, things. But eschatology, as the term has come to be used, refers not only to last things but to ultimate things as well. And Christian thinkers are strongly drawn to ultimacy—truths that transcend the constantly changing panorama of humanity.
