Note from Randy: One of our staff sent me this article written by a pastor, and I thought it was very good. (Yes, he does mention my Heaven book—but that’s not why we asked his permission to share what he wrote!) Over the years I’ve often used the term “over-realized eschatology,” but I don’t usually take the time to explain it, and this article does that well.
What Is Over-Realized Eschatology?
By Nick Cady
Oftentimes the word “eschatology” is thought of only in terms of the timeline of Jesus’ return. This is one aspect, but certainly not the full meaning of what eschatology is. “Eschatology” means the study of final or ultimate things. It comes from the word “eschaton,” which means “final event” or “culmination.”
The promise of the gospel is that because of what Jesus accomplished in his life, death and resurrection, ultimately, one day, God will wipe away every tear and sickness and death and all of the effects of the curse of sin will be eradicated forever (cf. Revelation 21:1-4 , among others), and that there will be a new heavens and new Earth, a renewed and restored and redeemed creation in which all things are the way that God designed them to be apart from the curse of sin and death. That is the “eschatological (final/ultimate) hope” of the Bible for those who are “in Christ.”
All of Christianity Is Eschatological
In this sense, all of Christianity is eschatological, in that it hopes in and looks to a final culmination in which certain things will take place. Conversely, any form of “Christianity” that doesn’t hold to this eschatological hope is arguably no longer true Christianity.
I recently read Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven. I picked it up expecting it to be a tedious read full of sentimentality, but I was pleasantly surprised. Instead, it presents a systematic theology of heaven, which reveals that this eschatological hope is much more material and physical than many Christians commonly think. If you haven’t read the book, I recommend you check it out.
How we understand this eschatological hope and our place in relation to it today will inevitably shape our thinking and practice as Christians.
A Biblical Picture: Dawn
A picture the Bible uses to describe the place where we are at in history is: Dawn (2 Peter 1:19). Dawn is that in-between time after the first light of morning has broken the darkness of night—but before the sun has crested the horizon and driven out night’s darkness completely. During the dawn, light and dark are both present at the same time, yet neither are present in full force; the darkness is not as dark as it once was, and neither is the light as bright as it will be. The promise of dawn is that the shift from night to day will come; it has begun and will not regress. Its full fruition is only a matter of time. Peter refers to Jesus as the “morning star,” i.e. the signifier of the dawn of a new day.
Another picture the Bible uses to help us understand the world and our place in it, in relation to the eschaton, is Jesus’ Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, in which Jesus describes the world as a field in which God planted good seed, but an enemy came in and planted bad seed. The farmer then makes the surprising decision to allow the wheat and the weeds to grow together until the harvest, at which time they will be separated—the wheat brought into the storehouse and the weeds burned. This is a picture of the world we live in, where good and evil are both present, and God is fully committed to eradicating evil, but the day to do so has not yet come, thus these two “kingdoms” currently exist in the world at the same time, and yet the eschatological promise is that the kingdom of darkness and evil will be eradicated at the eschaton.
Over-Realized Eschatology and the Prosperity Gospel
An “over-realized eschatology” is when someone expects that the eschatological hope of Christianity is already here and now. They might say, Well, if Jesus has come and the Kingdom has come, then there should no longer be evil in the world, everyone should be healed of sickness, there should be no poverty or suffering, and everything should be the way that God designed it to be NOW, and if you believe well enough, or have enough faith, you will experience it.
This leads to what is sometimes called a “prosperity gospel,” which is best understood as an over-realized eschatology which expects something which will ultimately happen for those who are in Christ to happen right now. One of the problems with it is that it places an incredible burden on people by telling them, “If you’re not healthy and wealthy, it must be because you are doing it wrong.” It fails to take into account the nature of the world and our time and place in God’s plan of redemption, not to mention the sovereignty of God.
Conversely, there is such a thing as an under-realized eschatology. This is one which does not recognize that with the coming of Jesus into the world, the Kingdom of God has come to this world, even if not yet in fullness.
Both over- and under-realized eschatology fail to take hold of the “already, but not yet” nature of our unique place in time: after Jesus’ death and resurrection and before the eschaton—which is illustrated by the picture of dawn and the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds.
A Balanced, Biblical View of Eschatology Leads to Healthy Christian Living
This understanding helps us make sense of the world we live in today. We grapple with the reality of sin, death and sickness without laying unnecessary burdens upon people that their illnesses and difficulties must be the result of their own lack of faith. All the while, we hold onto the glorious eschatological hope of the gospel which empowers us to endure in the face of whatever hardships come our way.
Here is a good explanation of this principle from John Piper. The whole video is good, but the last part addresses this specifically:
This article originally appeared on the author’s blog, and is used with permission.
Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash
