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2 Continuing Tensions in the History of Eschatology The initial hope for an early return of Christ gradually gave way to a hope for eternal bliss in heaven. The Christian faith, having become a majority religion, established itself firmly on this earth through its sacraments, liturgy, and dogma. This increasing ac­ culturation was rejected by enthusiastic reform movements, which continually forced the church to reconsider its own self-understand­ ing as an interim institution. The church never made one eschatological concern its exclusive preoccupation, yet it has never abandoned the hope for the conclusion of this earthly history and the resurrection of all at the last day. THE GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION Initially the hope for the end of the world and the early coming of the kingdom were vibrant parts of the faith of the Christian community. An influential recent school of theology, initiated by Albert Schweitzer, has claimed that the decisive crisis in the earliest period of Christianity came when these hopes and expectations were disappointed. In The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle} Schweitzer claimed that this apostle initiated a profound reinterpretation of the old expectations when he replaced the coming of Christ with being in Christ. The Gospel according toJohn served the same purpose by saying that salvation is already a present phenomenon. Martin Werner, a student of Albert Schweitzer, attempted to show that the whole dogma of the early church resulted from this adjustment to the delay of the parousia.2 The de-eschatologization went parallel to the creation of the sacraments, which were tied to the death of Jesus. Where these new teachings were not accepted, as among the gnostics, the saving work of Christ had to be explained without reference toJesus' death and resurrection. Con­ sequently Jesus was understood mainly as a teacher or as the guide to the heavenly abode. Werner argues that a tremendous crisis happened in the ear­ ly church. The end did not occur withJesus' death and resurrection, as many 501 1 2 / ESCHATOLOGY had expected. These reacted by rejecting not only the idea of the imminent end but also the whole belief in the return of Christ. This uncertainty is already reflected at the fringes of the New Testament, for instance in 2 Pet. 3:3-4: "First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, 'Where is the prom­ ise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have con­ tinued as they were from the beginning of creation.'" Then the "delay" is explained with the words "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Pet. 3:8). Werner contends that the warning against doubts is seen everywhere, in James, in 1 and 2 Clement, in the Didache and in Hermas. Elsewhere we hear that many defect from the Christian faith. When we attempt to evaluate the thesis of a tremendous crisis of faith in the early church, as proposed by Werner and others, we cannot but notice the scant evidence. Admittedly, many defected from the church once fullscale persecution of the Christians took place. Yet defections under such pressure were understandable, for many had joined the church for the wrong reasons. Then there were certainly people who were disappointed that there was not more visible progress of the kingdom. As we will see later, impa­ tience with the eschatological progression has plagued the church from its beginning until now. Yet any large-scale disappointment would have been reflected much more extensively in the literary documents. It is simply wrong to claim that the original framework of faith collapsed within a short time and had to be replaced by a new one.3 Indeed, a change took place, as more and more history emerged on the horizon and receded into the past. But the change came slowly and very likely was not even perceived as such by most. A radical and exclusive future orientation of the faith, as Schweitzer and Werner assume, never existed in reality. The present-oriented approach to eschatology began not with Paul and John but withJesus himself. He was convinced that the kingdom had arrived with him and that through him its power was already at work, in the midst of the people, giving life through his words and deeds (Luke 11:20). But as we have seen in...

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