Eschatology seems like a complex word. What is the definition of eschatology? This article will cover the meaning of eschatology and how to use it.
-
Kevin
-
March 14, 2022
-
Common Questions
Your writing, at its best
Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant
Eschatology may seem like a complex word at first glance. What does eschatology mean, and how can you use it in a sentence?
This article will cover the definition of eschatology and what various religions consider to be eschatology. We’ll also go over its origins, translations, synonyms, and antonyms. Keep reading to learn about this new word!
What Does the Word Eschatology Mean?
According to Dictionary, eschatology refers to doctrines or theology related to death and the afterlife.
In Christianity, eschatology used to talk about a person’s last judgment in which they go to heaven or hell. It can also refer to the end times, rapture, resurrection, second coming of Christ, and the apocalypse or end of the world. The pronunciation of eschatology is es-cha-tol-o-gy.
In Judaism, eschatology refers to the end of days in Israel and Jerusalem, according to Britannica. These beliefs come from Exodus and refer to a revelation of the glory of God in every land. Historically, eschatology comes in three forms, which are messianism, millennialism/belief in the Messianic age, and apocalypticism. Jewish eschatology is different from Christian eschatology, even though they involve some of the same sacred texts.
In the Bible, thoughts about Christian eschatology can be found in the Old Testament and the New Testament in the books of Daniel, Revelation, Matthew, Romans, Isaiah, Luke, and John. Some people believe that if you sin and do not repent or make reparative promises, you will be sent to hell in your final judgment.
Some people believe that in the future, Christ the Messiah will return to Earth. They think this is the ultimate destiny of humankind and that the final events of history will come with the day of the Lord.
What Is the Origin of the Word Eschatology?
According to Vocabulary, the word eschatology is Greek. It comes from eskhatos, which translates to last. The suffix “ology” means “the study of.” Therefore, eschatology is the study of the last times or end times.
What Are Translations of Eschatology?
People study theology all over the world, and hundreds of religions are practiced worldwide. Therefore, it is inevitable that different languages would have their own translations of the word eschatology.
By looking at this list of translations of eschatology from Nice Translator, you can learn how to say the word eschatology in many languages. If you are studying religion in another country or if you are speaking to someone who does not know English, you can use this list to discuss the end of days.
You may notice that several of these translations look very similar to the word eschatology itself. The word eschatology is Greek in origin, and many world languages have Greek roots. Therefore, many translations of eschatology look and sound similar to the word eschatology itself. These similar words are known as cognates.
- Ukrainian: есхатологія
- Basque: eschatologia
- French: eschatologie
- IItalian: escatologia
- Filipino: eskatolohiya
- Hindi: परलोक विद्या
- Serbian: есхатологија
- Turkish: eschatology
- Estonian: eschatoloogia
- Vietnamese: Lự thận
- Dutch: eschatologie
- Finnish: eskatologia
- Portuguese (Portugal): Escatologia
- Thai: โลกาวินาศ
- Slovenian: eschatologija
- Chinese (PRC): 末世论
- Malayalam: എസ്കാറ്റോളജി
- Greek: εσχατολογία
- Korean: 종말론
- Bulgarian: есхатология
- German: Eschatologie
- Spanish: escatología
- Norwegian: eschatologi
- Hebrew: חֲזוֹן אַחֲרִית הַיָמִים
- Welsh: eschatoleg
- Croatian: eshatologija
- Gujarati: eschatology
- Russian: эсхатология
- Romanian: Eschatologie
- Amharic: እስክሪሽሎጂ
- Kannada: ಪಂಚಾಯತ್
- Chinese (Taiwan): 末世論
- Swedish: eskatologi
- Czech: eschatologie
- Slovak: eschatológia
- Marathi: एस्कॅटोलॉजी
- Latvian: eschatoloģija
- Catalan: escatologia
- Hungarian: eszkatológia
- Lithuanian: Eschatologija
- Polish: eschatologia
- Indonesian: eskatologi.
- Portuguese (Brazil): Escatologia
- Japanese: エッケチトロー
What Are Synonyms of the Word Eschatology?
Eschatology is a fairly specific word, but there are many ways a person can reference the afterlife or what happens after death. For synonyms of the word afterlife, you can reference this list from Power Thesaurus.
By learning synonyms for the word afterlife, you can expand your vocabulary with different ways to talk about the end of days:
- abode of god
- afterlife
- aftertime
- afterward
- afterworld
- age
- ages
- athanasia
- beyond
- blue moon
- by-and-by
- death
- deathlessness
- destiny
- elysium
- endless time
- endlessness
- eternal life
- eternities
- eternity
- ever and a day
- everlasting life
- everlastingness
- fate
- finis
- future
- future existence
- future life
- future state
- futurity
- great beyond
- happy hunting ground
- heaven
- heavenly kingdom
- hereafter
- immortality
- infinity
- kingdom come
- life after death
- life to come
- next life
- next world
- nirvana
- oblivion
- other world
- otherworld
- paradise
- posterity
- postexistence
- spirit world
- sweet hereafter
- time without end
- underworld
- valhalla
- wild blue yonder
- world beyond
- world to come
- world without end
What Are Antonyms of the Word Eschatology?
Power Thesaurus also suggests numerous antonyms for afterlife. All of the below terms refer to life on Earth:
- activity
- alive
- aliveness
- animation
- autobiography
- biography
- breath
- brio
- days
- duration
- energy
- entity
- existence
- life
- life span
- life story
- lifeblood
- lifestyle
- lifetime
- liveliness
- lives
- living
- memoir
- oomph
- pep
- period
- person
- soul
- spirit
- sprightliness
- survival
- term
- verve
- vigor
- vigour
- vim
- vitality
- vivacity
- way of life
- world
- zest
- zing
- zip
Conclusion
Overall, eschatology is a system of doctrines relating to the study of the end times across various religions. While Christians may associate eschatology with the second coming of Jesus Christ, Jewish people have seperate beliefs about eschatology derived from Hebrew scriptures. While the word eschatology may seem complex at first glance, the afterlife can be a fairly simple concept.
Sources:
- Afterlife synonyms – 190 Words and Phrases for Afterlife | Power Thesaurus
- Life synonyms – 1 731 Words and Phrases for Life | Power Thesaurus
- Eschatology Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
- eschatology | religion | Britannica
- Eschatology – Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com
- Eschatology | Nice Translator
