Compassionate Eschatology

Book excerpt: Do "eschatology" and "peace" go together? Is eschatology mostly about retribution and fear--or compassion and hope? Compassionate Eschatology brings together a group of international scholars representing a wide range of Christian traditions to address these questions. Together they make the case that Christianity's teaching about the "end times" should and can center on Jesus's message of peace and reconciliation. Offering a peace-oriented reading of the Book of Revelation and other biblical materials relevant to Christian eschatology, this book breaks new ground in its consistent message that compassion not retribution stands at the heart of the doctrine of the last things. Besides its creative treatment of biblical materials, Compassionate Eschatology also makes a distinctive contribution in how several essays engage the thought of Rene Girard and his mimetic theory. Girard's project is shown to reinforce the biblical message of eschatological peace.