Reflection on the Christian Notion of the End
I am thinking that a systematic presentation of Christian teaching needs to consider examining eschatology immediately after considering the event of revelation as Christianity views it as having occurred in Jesus Christ. Many theologians have wrestled with the practice of placing eschatology as the last chapter. It too easily becomes an after-thought. By placing specific consideration of the Christian hope after considering faith in the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, we can give proper weight to the hope that springs from this faith. By placing consideration of the community and the individual after hope, we can consider the content of the anticipatory nature of the community and individual life. Such a structural change of the traditional presentation of Christian teaching would make clearer the way in which the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love connect. It should also make clearer how the True and the Beautiful provide the power for the Good in real life.