Comparative Eschatology of Christianity and World Mythologies When dealing with the idea of eschatology, many common views come from break-offs of the Abrahamic religions, with the most commonly known revolving around Jesus’ second-coming, the Rapture, and the Armageddon, the fight between the Antichrist and Jesus. While this view seems to be the most developed view of the end of the world, many religions prior to modern times also had some stories or ideas that explained how the end of the world would occur. Going back as far as ancient mythologies, one finds some of the same themes between these mythologies and Christian beliefs. In some of the mythologies, there are similar large battles that lead to the destruction of the Earth and the
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Darby made numerous trips between 1859 and 1877 to talk about his new dispensationalist ideas. His theology began to spread rapidly with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, a bible which had annotated ideas published right alongside the King James text. The annotations outlined the theology of Dispensationalism and the respective ages that went along with it. The Scofield Reference Bible outlines seven dispensations and names them by a characteristic of the age. The ages go as such: the age of innocence, of conscience, of government, of patriarchal rule, of the Mosaic law, of grace, our current age, and of the millennial kingdom, an age yet to …show more content…
The most obvious and meaningful similarity is that once the final battle is over and the world has been destroyed, a new and better world will begin that is free from evil. There is also a present idea of the good side having a rival, or certain opponent to fight from the evil side. For example, in the Armageddon, Jesus will fight the Antichrist, and in Ragnarok, Thor will fight the Midgard serpent. One difference is the outcome of their battles, though. In the Christian belief, it is said the good will triumph over evil, meaning that Jesus will defeat the Antichrist. In Nordic belief, though, Thor slays the Serpent, but the Serpents poison kills Thor soon after, for example. Instead of a complete victory for good, there is equal death among both
Darby made numerous trips between 1859 and 1877 to talk about his new dispensationalist ideas. His theology began to spread rapidly with the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, a bible which had annotated ideas published right alongside the King James text. The annotations outlined the theology of Dispensationalism and the respective ages that went along with it. The Scofield Reference Bible outlines seven dispensations and names them by a characteristic of the age. The ages go as such: the age of innocence, of conscience, of government, of patriarchal rule, of the Mosaic law, of grace, our current age, and of the millennial kingdom, an age yet to …show more content…
The most obvious and meaningful similarity is that once the final battle is over and the world has been destroyed, a new and better world will begin that is free from evil. There is also a present idea of the good side having a rival, or certain opponent to fight from the evil side. For example, in the Armageddon, Jesus will fight the Antichrist, and in Ragnarok, Thor will fight the Midgard serpent. One difference is the outcome of their battles, though. In the Christian belief, it is said the good will triumph over evil, meaning that Jesus will defeat the Antichrist. In Nordic belief, though, Thor slays the Serpent, but the Serpents poison kills Thor soon after, for example. Instead of a complete victory for good, there is equal death among both