eschatology

noun es·cha·tol·o·gy \ ˌe-skə-ˈtä-lə-jē \

Updated on: 25 Apr 2018

Definition of eschatology

plural eschatologies

1 : a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind

2 : a belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humankind; specifically : any of various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgment

Recent Examples of eschatology from the Web

The book of revelations — which to Christian eschatology is, well, the Bible — has been applied to virtually every historical epoch to show the end is coming.

— rabbi david wolpe, Time, "Why We Shouldn't Be So Sure of Our Predictions About the Future," 20 Apr. 2018
New York was the end of the world, the site of a kind of cultural eschatology; Pittsburgh was a station on life’s way, the geographical end of a state where three rivers converged.

— gerald early, WSJ, "‘Smoketown’ Review: When the Hill Rivaled Harlem," 9 Mar. 2018
Hawking's gloom goes beyond decay into eschatology.

— OrlandoSentinel.com, "Stephen Hawking calls for a return to the moon as Earth's clock runs out," 21 June 2017
A real apocalypse, like the killer flu in The Stand — Stephen King’s opus of epidemiologic eschatology — would be off the chart, with an RØ of 5 to 6 and a case fatality rate of 99 percent.

— patrick di justo, WIRED, "Apocalypse Not: Behind the Swine Flu Hysteria," 22 June 2009
Its delirious eschatology foretells a final unity with the technological divine, through which the elect will make the transition from time into eternity.

— mark o’connell, New York Times, "600 Miles in a Coffin-Shaped Bus, Campaigning Against Death Itself," 9 Feb. 2017
Butt relates Bach’s complex sense of time to the evolving Christian understanding of eschatology, of the nature of the Second Coming.

— alex ross, The New Yorker, "Bach’s Holy Dread," 2 Jan. 2017
Americans are as active as anyone else in the clash of eschatologies.

— david brooks, The Atlantic, "Kicking the Secularist Habit," 5 Mar. 2003

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eschatology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.