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81-441: (Redirected from End Times ) End time , End times , or Endtime may refer to: Religion [ edit ] Eschatology , beliefs concerning the final events of history or the destiny of humanity Endtime Ministries , a Christian organization Music [ edit ] End Time (Freakwater album) , 1999 End Time (Brutal Truth album) , 2011 End Times (album) ,

162-453: A 2010 album by the Eels "Endtime", a song by Katatonia from the album Brave Murder Day "End Times", song by the Eels from End Times "End Times", song by Ghostpoet from Dark Days + Canapés Other works [ edit ] End Times (book) , a 2019 exploration of human extinction risk by Bryan Walsh "End Times" ( Breaking Bad ) , a 2011 television episode End Times ,

243-684: A coming resurrection of the dead . They place this event (as well as the Second Coming) in the year 70. Advocates of partial preterism do believe in a coming resurrection. Full preterists contend that partial preterists are merely futurists , since they believe the Second Coming, the Resurrection, the Rapture , and the Judgment are yet to come. Many preterists believe first-century Christians experienced

324-634: A complete unraveling of the social fabric, with widespread calamity and war: Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you

405-519: A course teaching the concept and then several sessions after this deconstructing it. Some scholars have suggested that even when students are taught using the world religions paradigm, it could be a good means of encouraging them to think critically about category formation. The scholar Steven W. Ramey for instance advocated teaching the paradigm in a manner that makes it clear that it is a "constructed discourse". Similarly, Baldrick-Morrone, Graziano, and Stoddard suggested that teaching undergraduates about

486-512: A dark cloud makes the whole sky night, and it will rain more noxious creatures than water. A battle between the righteous and wicked will be followed by the Frashokereti . On earth, the Saoshyant will arrive as the final savior of mankind, and bring about the resurrection of the dead . The yazata s Airyaman and Atar will melt the metal in the hills and mountains, which will flow as lava across

567-467: A desire to spread internationally, because Judaism historically has been a non-proselytizing religion . Many scholars have utilised the "world religions" category alongside other "catch-all" categories such as " new religious movements " and " Indigenous religions ". The scholar of religion Steven J. Sutcliffe compared the relationship between the three categories to the English football league system , with

648-527: A mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives. "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to

729-408: A photographic series by Jill Greenberg See also [ edit ] End of days (disambiguation) End of the world (disambiguation) Last days (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title End time . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to

810-639: A situation where one must choose for or against the Bible as the will of God. Another view of the end times is preterism . It distinguishes the time of the end from the end of time . Preterists believe the term last days (or Time of the End ) refers to, neither the last days of the Earth, nor the last days of humankind, but the end of the Old Covenant between God and Israel ; which, according to preterism, took place when

891-468: A wider impact on the categorisation of religion—for instance in censuses—in both Western countries and elsewhere. Since the late 20th century, the paradigm has faced critique by scholars of religion such as Jonathan Z. Smith , some of whom have argued for its abandonment. Critics have argued that the world religions paradigm is inappropriate because it takes the Protestant branch of Nicene Christianity as

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972-444: Is a socially-constructed category . The scholars of religion Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson described the "World Religions Paradigm" as "a particular way of thinking about religions which organizes them into a set of discrete traditions with a supposedly 'global' import." It typically consists of the "Big Five" religions: Buddhism , Christianity , Hinduism , Islam , and Judaism . As noted by Cotter and Robertson,

1053-578: Is a range of eschatological belief in Protestant Christianity. Christian premillennialists who believe the end times are occurring now, are usually specific about timelines that climax in the end of the world. For some, Israel, the European Union , or the United Nations are seen as major players whose roles were foretold in scripture. Within dispensational premillennialist writing, there is

1134-521: Is an evangelical futurist Biblical interpretation that foresees a series of dispensations , or periods, in which God relates to human beings under different Biblical covenants . The belief system is primarily rooted in the writings of John Nelson Darby and is premillennial in content. The reestablishment of Israel in 1948 provided a major impetus to the dispensationalist belief system. The wars of Israel after 1948 with its Arab neighbors provided further support, according to John F. Walvoord . After

1215-660: Is believed to be imminent, with various current events as omens of impending Armageddon . These beliefs have been put forward by the Adventist movement ( Millerites ) and dispensational premillennialists . In 1918 a group of eight, well-known preachers produced the London Manifesto , warning of an imminent second coming of Christ shortly after the 1917 liberation of Jerusalem by the British. Protestants are divided between Millennialists and Amillennialists. Millennialists concentrate on

1296-434: Is drawing near." And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." In

1377-399: Is included in the list because of its influence on Christianity and Islam and because of its relevance to traditional Western understandings of Western history. On demographic grounds, it does not fit into the list, for there are far fewer Jews in the world than there are Christians , Muslims , Hindus , and Buddhists . Similarly, it does not fit into the list if the groups are defined by

1458-503: Is incorporated as part of the end of days. A well-known passage from the Book of Isaiah describes this future condition of the world: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift sword against nation and they will no longer study warfare" (Isaiah 2:4, see also Micah 4:3 ). Maimonides (1135–1204) further describes the Messianic Era in

1539-470: Is neither neutral nor natural, but its social authority derives from appearing as both." A "world religion" is a tradition that has achieved sufficient power and numbers to enter our history to form it, interact with it, or thwart it. We recognise both the unity within and the diversity among the world religions because they correspond to important geopolitical entities with which we must deal. All 'primitives,' by way of contrast, may be lumped together, as may

1620-451: Is not typically regarded as a Christian doctrine, and yet there are Christians who profess a belief in reincarnation. A fourth criticism is that in choosing to focus attention on the "major religions", it makes a value judgement as to what constitutes "major" and what does not. Many scholars of religion have resisted efforts to challenge the paradigm, and as of 2016 was reported as still being widespread in university introductory courses to

1701-405: Is the " lived religion " paradigm, which places emphasis not on distinct religious traditions but on individual experiences and practices. Another alternative is the " material religion " framework which focuses on examining religion through material culture and physical objects. Owen noted that, in her experience, many students display an "initial resistance to alternatives" as they are expecting

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1782-558: The Amesha Spentas , living without food, hunger, thirst, weapons or injury. Bodies will become so light as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single language, and belong to a single nation with no borders. All will share a single purpose and goal, joining with Ahura Mazda for a perpetual and divine exaltation. The Gnostic codex On the Origin of the World (possibly dating from near

1863-530: The Ancient Greek term ἔσχατος ( éschatos ), meaning "last", and -logy , meaning "the study of", and first appeared in English around 1844. The Oxford English Dictionary defines eschatology as "the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind". The main tenets of modern Jewish eschatology, in no particular order, include: Judaism usually refers to

1944-519: The Book of Revelation) . The Abrahamic religions maintain a linear cosmology , with end-time scenarios containing themes of transformation and redemption . In Judaism , the term "end of days" makes reference to the Messianic Age and includes an in-gathering of the exiled Jewish diaspora , the coming of the Messiah , the resurrection of the righteous , and the world to come . Christianity depicts

2025-603: The Historical Jesus . However, C. H. Dodd and others have insisted on a "realized eschatology" that says Jesus' own ministry fulfilled prophetic hopes. Many conservative scholars have adopted the paradoxical position the Kingdom of God passages describes a kingdom that is both "present" and "still to come" claiming Pauline eschatology as support. R. T. France and N. T. Wright among others have taken Jesus' apocalyptic statements of an imminent end, historically, as referring to

2106-475: The Mishneh Torah : "And at that time there will be no hunger or war, no jealousy or rivalry. For the good will be plentiful, and all delicacies available as dust. The entire occupation of the world will be only to know God;   ... the people Israel will be of great wisdom; they will perceive the esoteric truths and comprehend their Creator's wisdom as is the capacity of man. As it is written (Isaiah 11:9): 'For

2187-675: The Six-Day War in 1967, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, it seemed plausible to many Fundamentalist Christians in the 1970s that Middle East turmoil may well be leading up to the fulfillment of various Bible prophecies and to the Battle of Armageddon. World religion The world religions paradigm was developed in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, where it was pioneered by phenomenological scholars of religion such as Ninian Smart . It

2268-863: The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE . Preterists believe that prophecies —such as the Second Coming , the desecration of the Jewish Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the rise of the Antichrist , the Great Tribulation , the advent of The Day of the Lord , and a Final Judgment —had been fulfilled when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and completely destroyed its Temple. Proponents of full preterism do not believe in

2349-568: The second coming of Christ will be a cataclysmic event are generally called adventism . These have arisen throughout the Christian era, but were particularly common after the Protestant Reformation . Emanuel Swedenborg considered the second coming to be symbolic, and to have occurred in 1757. Along with others, he developed a religious system around the second coming of Christ, disclosed by new prophecy or special revelation not described in

2430-777: The year 6000 AM , and is the latest time the Messiah can come. A number of early and late Jewish scholars have written in support of this, including the Ramban , Isaac Abarbanel , Abraham Ibn Ezra , Rabbeinu Bachya , the Vilna Gaon , the Lubavitcher Rebbe , the Ramchal , Aryeh Kaplan and Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis . Frashokereti is the Zoroastrian doctrine of a final renovation of

2511-483: The "Big Five" religions are often listed in an "Abrahamocentric order" which places the largest three Abrahamic religions —Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—before the non-Abrahamic religions Hinduism and Buddhism. The category is sometimes also extended to include other major religious groups, namely the Baháʼí Faith , Sikhism , and/or Zoroastrianism . The inclusion of Judaism in the "Big Five" raises some issues; it

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2592-460: The "world" religions forming a Premier League , the "new" religions forming a Championship , and "Indigenous" religions a First Division . That groups that get placed in categories like "Indigenous religions" get treated less seriously than the "world religions" by many scholars was noted by the scholar of religion Graham Harvey , who maintained that "indigenous religions should receive similarly respectful treatment to that considered appropriate to

2673-481: The 'minor religions,' because they do not confront our history in any direct fashion. From the point of view of power, they are invisible. — Scholar of religion J. Z. Smith , 1998 The utility of the World Religions Paradigm has experienced a sustained and rigorous critique from many scholars of religion. The scholar of religion Graham Harvey for instance noted that many scholars "object strongly" to

2754-442: The Bible. The Millerites are diverse religious groups which similarly rely upon a special gift of interpretation for predicting the second coming. The difference between the 19th-century Millerite and adventist movements and contemporary prophecy is that William Miller and his followers, based on biblical interpretation, predicted the time of the Second Coming to have occurred in 1844. Contemporary writing of end time has suggested

2835-510: The Book of Revelation, the "great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14b) refers to a time of affliction upon God's people. The Profession of Faith addresses Catholic beliefs concerning the last days. Catholicism adheres to the amillennial school of thought, promoted by Augustine of Hippo in his work The City of God . Contemporary use of the term End Times has evolved from literal belief in Christian millennialism. In this tradition, Biblical apocalypse

2916-622: The Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption

2997-603: The New Testament, applicable passages include Matthew 24 , Mark 13 , the parable of " The Sheep and the Goats " and the Book of Revelation —Revelation often occupies a central place in Christian eschatology. The Second Coming of Christ is the central event in Christian eschatology within the broader context of the fullness of the Kingdom of God . Most Christians believe that death and suffering will continue to exist until Christ's return. There are, however, various views concerning

3078-577: The Rapture to rejoin the Christ . According with Preterism's interpretation of end times, many "time passages" in the New Testament foretell a Second Coming of Christ, with last days to take place within the lifetimes of his disciples: Matt. 10:23, Matt. 16:28, Matt. 24:34, Matt. 26:64, Rom. 13:11–12, 1 Cor. 7:29–31, 1 Cor. 10:11, Phil. 4:5, James 5:8–9, 1 Pet. 4:7, 1 Jn. 2:18. Dispensationalism

3159-525: The belief that Christians will be summoned to Heaven by Christ at the rapture , occurring before a Great Tribulation prophesied in Matthew 24–25; Mark 13 and Luke 21. The Tribulation is described in the Book of Revelation. "End times" may also refer to the passing of an age or long period in the relationship between man and God. Adherents to this view cite the Second Epistle to Timothy and draw analogies to

3240-494: The context of mysticism , the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to reunion with the divine . Many religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred texts or in folklore , while other religions may have concepts of renewal or transformation after significant events. The explicit description of a new earth is primarily found in Christian teachings (this description can be found in Chapter 21 of

3321-409: The darkness will dissolve, and the deficiency will be taken from its root. Those who were not perfected in the unconceived one will receive glories in their realms and kingdoms of the immortals, but those who were will enter a kingless realm. All will be judged according to their deeds and gnosis . Christian eschatology is the study concerned with the ultimate destiny of the individual soul and of

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3402-504: The devastation: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation , spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand). Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down.   ...Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, and woe unto them that are with child.   ...For then shall be great tribulation, such as

3483-419: The earth and all mankind, both the living and resurrected, will be required to wade through it. Ashavan will pass through the molten river as if it were warm milk, but the sinful will burn. It will then flow down to hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu and the last vestiges of wickedness. The righteous will partake of the parahaoma , which will confer immortality upon them. Humanity will become like

3564-516: The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea.'" In Kabbalah , the Zohar maintains that the seven days of the week, based on the seven days of creation, correspond to the seven millennia of creation. The seventh day of the week, the Shabbat day of rest, corresponds to the seventh millennium, the age of universal rest, or the Messianic Era. The seventh millennium begins with

3645-414: The end of present age , human history , or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negative world events will reach a climax. Belief that the end of the world is imminent is known as apocalypticism , and over time has been held both by members of mainstream religions and by doomsday cults . In

3726-435: The end of days to be imminent. Most of the scholars participating in the third quest hold that Jesus was an eschatological prophet who believed the " Kingdom of God " was coming within his own lifetime or within the lifetime of his contemporaries. This view, generally known as "consistent eschatology," was influential during the early to the mid—twentieth century and continues to be influential today in proposed portraits of

3807-562: The end of days. The precise time, however, will come like a "thief in the night" ( 1 Thess. 5:2 ). They may also refer to Matthew 24:36 in which Jesus is quoted as saying: "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." In the New Testament, Jesus refers to this period preceding the end times as the "Great Tribulation" ( Matthew 24:21 ), "Affliction" ( Mark 13:19 ), and "days of vengeance" ( Luke 21:22 ). The Book of Matthew describes

3888-454: The end of key Stage 3 they are also supposed to teach about the other "five principal religions": Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. Similarly, the censuses of many countries for instance reflect the influence of the world religion paradigm by only permitting respondents to describe themselves as adhering to one particular religious tradition, whereas in reality many individuals identify themselves with various different traditions at

3969-477: The end of the third century AD) states that during what is called the consummation of the age, the Sun and Moon will become dark as the stars change their ordinary course. Kings will make war with each other, and thunder will cause the world to be shaken. The corrupt Archons will mourn. The sea will be troubled by fighting of the kings who became drunk from the flaming sword . Finally, great thunder will come from Sophia ,

4050-763: The end of the world, the Last Judgment , and the New Heaven and New Earth in the world to come . Eschatological passages occur in many places in the Bible, in both the Old and the New Testaments . In the Old Testament, apocalyptic eschatology can be found notably in Isaiah 24–27, Isaiah 56–66, Joel , Zechariah 9–14 as well as in the closing chapters of Daniel , and in Ezekiel . In

4131-518: The end time as a period of tribulation that precedes the second coming of Christ , who will face the rise of the Antichrist along with his power structure and false prophets , and usher in the Kingdom of God . In later traditions of Islam, separate hadiths detail the Day of Judgment is preceded by the appearance of the Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl , and followed by the descending of ʿĪsā ( Jesus ), which shall triumph over

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4212-448: The end time occurs when Kalki , the final incarnation of Vishnu , descends atop a white horse and brings an end to the current Kali Yuga , completing a cycle that starts again with the regeneration of the world. In Buddhism , the Buddha predicted his teachings would be forgotten after 5,000 years, followed by turmoil. It says a bodhisattva named Maitreya will appear and rediscover

4293-677: The end times as the "end of days" ( aḥarit ha-yamim , אחרית הימים), a phrase that appears several times in the Tanakh . The end times are addressed in the Book of Daniel and in numerous other prophetic passages in the Hebrew scriptures, and also in the Talmud , particularly Tractate Avodah Zarah . The idea of a Messianic Age, an era of global peace and knowledge of the Creator, has a prominent place in Jewish thought, and

4374-463: The entire created order, based primarily upon biblical texts within the Old and New Testaments . Christian eschatological research looks to study and discuss matters such as the nature of the divine and the divine nature of Jesus Christ , death and the afterlife , Heaven and Hell , the Second Coming of Jesus , the resurrection of the dead , the rapture , the Tribulation , millennialism ,

4455-495: The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. A number of interpretations of the term "Kingdom of God" have thus appeared in its eschatological context, e.g., apocalyptic , realized or Inaugurated eschatologies, yet no consensus has emerged among scholars. While some who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible insist the prediction of dates or times is futile, others believe Jesus foretold signs of

4536-455: The false Messiah or Antichrist; his defeat will lead to a sequence of events that will end with the sun rising from the west and the beginning of the Qiyāmah (Judgment Day). Dharmic religions tend to have more cyclical worldviews, with end-time eschatologies characterized by decay , redemption, and rebirth (though some believe transitions between cycles are relatively uneventful). In Hinduism ,

4617-581: The framework of the major Abrahamic faiths, a fully developed concept of the end of the world was not established in Zoroastrianism until 500 BCE. The Bahman Yasht describes: At the end of thy tenth hundredth winter, the sun is more unseen and more spotted; the year, month, and day are shorter; and the earth is more barren; and the crop will not yield the seed. And men become more deceitful and more given to vile practices. They will have no gratitude. Honorable wealth will proceed to those of perverted faith. And

4698-573: The history of the world religions paradigm is "intimately tied up" with the history of the study of religion as an academic discipline. It emerged from within the phenomenology of religion approach which placed an emphasis on description rather than critical analysis. The paradigm was integrated throughout the education system through work of scholars like Ninian Smart , who formed the Shap Working Party on World Religions in Education in 1969. It

4779-650: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=End_time&oldid=1257039569 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Biblical phrases Eschatology Mythology Prophecy Last events Ultimate fate of the universe Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Eschatology Eschatology ( / ˌ ɛ s k ə ˈ t ɒ l ə dʒ i / ; from Ancient Greek ἔσχατος ( éskhatos )  'last' and -logy ) concerns expectations of

4860-541: The issue of whether the true believers will see the Great Tribulation or be removed from it by what is referred to as a Pre-Tribulation rapture . Amillennialists believe the end times encompass the time from Christ's ascension to the last day, and maintain that the mention of the "thousand years" in the Book of Revelation is meant to be taken metaphorically (i.e., not literally), a view which continues to cause divisions within Protestant Christianity . There

4941-511: The larger 'World Religions'." While the World Religions paradigm was brought in to allow the inclusion of non-Christian religions in education, it has instead remodelled them according to liberal Western Protestant Christian values (akin to what the Church of England promotes), emphasizing theological categories. — Scholar of religion Suzanne Owen, 2011 Cotter and Robertson noted that

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5022-560: The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Post-Exilic Hebrew books of prophecy such as Daniel and Ezekiel are given new interpretations in this Christian tradition, while apocalyptic forecasts appear in the Judeo-Christian Sibylline Oracles which include the Book of Revelation ascribed to John, the apocryphal Apocalypse of Peter , and the Second Book of Esdras . Religious movements which expect that

5103-401: The model for what constitutes "religion"; that it is tied up with discourses of modernity , including the power relations present in modern society; that it encourages an uncritical understanding of religion; and that it makes a value judgment as to what religions should be considered "major". Others have argued that it remains useful in the classroom, so long as students are made aware that it

5184-466: The mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by

5265-522: The order and significance of other eschatological events. The Book of Revelation stands at the core of much of Christian eschatology. The study of Revelation is usually divided into four interpretative methodologies or hermeneutics : First-century Christians believed Jesus would return during their lifetime. When the converts of Paul in Thessalonica were persecuted by the Roman Empire , they believed

5346-433: The paradigm. In 1978, the scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith called it a "dubious category". One of the major criticisms of the framework is that it is based on a model of "religion" that relies on the Protestant branch of Nicene Christianity as its base example. A second criticism is that it is rooted in the discourses of modernity , including the power relations present in modern society. Smith observed that it

5427-654: The rejection of the world religions paradigm altogether; Cotter and Robertson presented the argument that "the continued uncritical use of the WRP fosters a breeding ground for relativistic navel-gazing which has no place in the contemporary research university". Owen was of the view that "as long as it continues to employ the World Religions paradigm as a default approach (even after deconstructing it), religious studies will fail in its humanistic task" because it will simply be engaging in "knowledge transfer" and not "critically engaging" with "culture and knowledge". One alternative framework that some scholars use to teach about religion

5508-464: The same time. This idea of mutually exclusive religious identities is not only a Western phenomenon, but can also be found in other socio-cultural contexts; Hindu nationalists for instance often endorse the idea that Hinduism and Buddhism are mutually exclusive categories despite the fact that many people in South Asia mix Hindu and Buddhist practices. The scholars of religion Tara Baldrick-Morrone, Michael Graziano, and Brad Stoddard stated that "the WRP

5589-468: The scholar of religion Suzanne Owen, "Hinduism as a World Religion does not include Hinduism as a village religion". A third criticism of the world religions paradigm is that it encourages an uncritical and sui generis model of "religion". It presents each of the "world religions" in an abstracted and essentialised form, failing to take account of hybridization. For instance, in teaching about Christianity it does not refer to reincarnation , because this

5670-419: The socio-political concerns of 1960s Britain, the environment in which it was devised. The paradigm has since gone beyond this academic discipline, and "informs the perception" of many members of different religious groups. The paradigm for instance frames the teaching about religion in the British education system; at all three Key Stages , British teachers are instructed to teach about Christianity, while by

5751-418: The study of religion. Many instructors feel that explaining the critique of the world religions paradigm to undergraduate students would be difficult, as the critique would be too complex for many of them to understand. Its continued use has also been defended by the claim that it is what undergraduate students expect and that it mirrors what they will have been taught at school. Some scholars have argued for

5832-721: The teachings of the Buddha Dharma , and that the ultimate destruction of the world will then come through seven suns. Since the development of the concept of deep time in the 18th century and the calculation of the estimated age of planet Earth , scientific discourse about end times has considered the ultimate fate of the universe . Theories have included the Big Rip , Big Crunch , Big Bounce , and Big Freeze ( heat death ). Social and scientific commentators also worry about global catastrophic risks and scenarios that could result in human extinction . The word "eschatology" arises from

5913-598: The timetable will be triggered by future wars and moral catastrophe , and that this time of tribulation is close at hand. Seventh-day Adventists believe biblical prophecy to foretell an end time scenario in which the United States works in conjunction with the Catholic Church to mandate worship on a day other than the true Sabbath, Saturday, as prescribed in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11). This will bring about

5994-496: The universe when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will then be in perfect unity with God ( Ahura Mazda ). The doctrinal premises are: Zoroastrian eschatology is considered one of the oldest in recorded history. The birth of its founder, Zoroaster , is unknown, with scholarly dates ranging from 500 BCE to 1,500 BCE. Pliny the Elder even suggests there were two Zoroasters. However, with beliefs paralleling and possibly predating

6075-487: The woman in the firmament above the forces of Chaos . She will cast the corrupt gods into the abyss where they will fight each other until only their chief Yaldabaoth remains and destroys himself. Next the heavens of the Archons will collapse on each other before the Earth sinks into the abyss. Light will cover the darkness and eliminate it then form into something greater than anything that ever existed before. The source of

6156-456: The world religions paradigm. She cited the example of her introductory course at Leeds Trinity University College , which was constructed on thematic lines rather than according to the world religions paradigm, and which induced feelings of panic among many undergraduates. Many scholars who are critical of the world religions paradigm find themselves having to teach it as part of introductory courses for undergraduate students. Some spent much of

6237-453: The world religious paradigm helps to explain to students how "classification is a social act". They noted that students could leave such a course not only knowing more about the specific religious traditions included in the world religions category, but that they would also leave "knowing how to better interrogate the world around them". To avoid promoting the paradigm's portrayal of different religious traditions as rigid, homogenous categories,

6318-667: Was constructed by Western scholars from a Western perspective. He noted that the only religions that get included in it are those which have "achieved sufficient power and numbers to enter our [i.e. Western] history, either to form it, interact with it, or to thwart it" and represent "important geo-political entities with which we must deal." The framework also includes privileging the literate elites active in particular religious movements by presenting their interpretations of particular traditions as being authoritative, eclipsing alternative interpretations presented by non-literate, marginalised, and localized practitioners. For instance, as noted by

6399-529: Was designed to broaden the study of religion away from its heavy focus on Christianity by taking into account other large religious traditions around the world. The paradigm is often used by lecturers instructing undergraduate students in the study of religion and is also the framework used by school teachers in the United Kingdom and other countries. The paradigm's emphasis on viewing these religious movements as distinct and mutually exclusive entities has also had

6480-514: Was introduced with the intent of moving Western education away from its focus on Christianity. However, it took liberal Western Protestantism as its baseline and interpreted these different religious traditions through the framework of liberal Protestant norms and values. This included an emphasis on theology as being central to a given religion. It also reflects the post-Enlightenment Christian approach of treating different religious groups as distinct, mutually exclusive categories. It thus reflects

6561-483: Was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. The resulting chaos will affect pregnancies, newborns, and a scourge will spread throughout the flesh, save for the elect. The vivid imagery of this section is repeated closely in Mark 13:14–20 . The Gospel of Luke describes

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