158 | TE002 | Transcending Eschatology | Part 2 | The Flip Side

Transcend HumanTranscending Eschatology

Apr 17

Written By Daryl McMullen

Date: April 17, 2023

Welcome back to our series on Eschatology - the study of End Time events.

Last week we jumped in and did a high level overview of the way society and culture view this topic.

We talked about science, scientists, the Doomsday Clock, dystopian themed books, and apocalyptic movies that portray the imminent end of our little planet.

This is the world we live in.

But there is another side to this record. There are millions if not billions of people in this world who also believe in a religious or spiritual explanation about the end of time. People who don't just take a scientists word for it - they believe in something bigger - something mystical and existential that controls our ultimate destiny.

And today - we're going to flip the record over and listen to that side. The spiritual or religious explanations about the End of Time.

Today's Topic: Transcending Eschatology | Part 2 | The Flip Side

Getting answers
Creating religions

// CHAPTER 1: GETTING ANSWERS

Last week we touched on something very important - so let's use it as the jumping off point for today's topic.

I refer to it as The Big 3 Questions. It came out of a previous manuscript called Controversy Theory. And it keeps coming up because it seems to be a universal truth - not just a truth for a certain group of people.

Universal in that no matter where you live - or what your upbringing - you will at some point in your life be faced with these three questions:

Where did I come from?
Why am I here?
What happens when I die?

Now - according to Abraham Maslow - and his pyramid or hierarchy of needs:

Some people may not be in a place to even ask these questions
There are base level needs that trump the Big 3 Questions
So if your current need is air, water, food and or shelter
There's a good chance you could care less about the Big 3 Questions
But at some point - as you move up through the levels of need - you reach a point where most of your needs are met
And at this point - the mind takes over
Probably somewhere in the Love & Belonging, Esteem, or Self Actualization levels
And that's when you start to ask the Big 3 Questions

And like we said last week - it's the third question that touches on Eschatology:

Trying to figure out what happens when we die
And trying to determine if our world will end some day
And if so - what happens after that

And we said that as people ask these questions and find answers to them - they start to group up into groups of people with shared belief systems.

These groups can then turn into religions, cultures and even civilizations.

And that's what we're going to touch on this week...

// CHAPTER 2: CREATING RELIGIONS

As a child - growing up in a Christian home, being taught the Christian faith - in a country that is largely Christian - there's a good chance I grew up with blinders on.

I think I grew up assuming everyone was like me - that most people viewed the world in a similar way.

But at some point those blinders come off - and you realize that there are a lot of people in the world who believe very different things.

It's not like everyone grew up with some version of Christianity - and there are small cultural nuances that separate us.

No - there are people who grew up being taught a distinctly different world view, with a completely different set of religious beliefs.

And - there is a large group referred to as "Irreligion" or "Irreligious." This group makes up 16% of the world's population and has either not heard about religion - or has chosen to adhere to no religion.

Within this category are some well defined groups like:

Atheists
Agnostics
Free Thinkers
Naturalists
Secularists
Secular Humanists
etc.

It's my assumption that most people in this group adhere to Scientific Eschatology - some of the End Time scenarios we discussed last week:

Things like our world ending due to a natural event like being hit by an asteroid
Or possibly a manmade event like World War III - most likely a full nuclear exchange
Or extreme weather due to global warming - both a natural and a manmade situation

But this week - we move to the Flip Side - and discuss people who are part of major world religions. People who have End Time beliefs that might include some of those above - but are also informed by religious or spiritual beliefs.

People who believe in the supernatural - and have Eschatological beliefs based on the teachings of their religion.

I put a link in the show notes to the Wikipedia page for a list of all religions and spiritual traditions.

If you're interested in how many there are you should go take a look. It will blow your mind...

But we're going to try and keep it high level today.

According to WorldAtlas.com - here are the 10 largest religions in the world:

Christianity (2.38 Billion)
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Shinto
Sikhism
Judaism
Taoism
Confucianism
Caodaism (4.4 Million)

Now - I want to walk through some of these - and I want to start with the Eastern Religions and work our way to the Middle Eastern - or what I'm going to refer to as the Abrahamic Religions.

We are NOT going to do a full overview of each religion - in this series I simply want to know what each religion teaches when it comes to Eschatology. Their beliefs about death and/or the world ending.

So let's start with Hinduism:

The Hindu religion teaches that the Earth goes through cycles:

The largest cycle is a Kalpa (or an Aeon) - which is made up of 1000 Chatur Yugas (or Epochs)
Each Chatur Yuga lasts for 4.32 Billion Years
Within a Yuga cycle - there are 4 additional cycles
The last of the 4 is called Kali Yuga which lasts for 432,000 years

It is said that we are living in this period of time
An evil time characterized by impiety, violence, and decay
This age is said to be ruled by the demon Kali
At some point during this final cycle the final incarnation of Vishnu - known as Kalki - will occur
Kalki, along with other avatar from human history will arise and destroy the demons of this world
This will end the Chatur Yuga cycle and start a new one
Now - with all of the cycles and large time periods Hindus believe in - the simple summary is that life goes on forever
And as a human - living in this forever universe - the end is not technically the end
Because they believe in two very important concepts: Karma and Samsara:

Karma is the idea that the total sum of our deeds will return to us
Samsara describes the cyclical nature of life - and one of the cycles is reincarnation

Which is the belief that when you die - you will return - and what you return as depends on the Karma you created in your last life
The human is made up of two very distinct parts: The physical body and the spirit
The spirit never dies - so when reincarnated - your spirit is placed back into a physical body, or the body of an animal either in heaven, hell or here on earth
But it's a continuous cycle - allowing the individual to learn from his or her mistakes and move up with each reincarnation
So the Hindu view on Eschatology is much more focused on the reincarnation cycle of individuals
There does appear to be an apocalyptic event every 4.32 Billion Years - but due to the vast time periods it's more like a Universal Reset that starts the next 4.32 Billion Year period

Okay - next up is Buddhism:

Buddhism grew out of the Daoist movement in China
They believe in 5000 Year cycles based on the existence and teachings of Maitreya
These 5000 Year periods appear to start strong - but over time the teacher dies and the teachings are lost
And as the 5000 Year come to an end the world falls apart
Society degenerates into greed, lust, poverty, violence, murder, physical weakness and sexual depravity
At the end of this period a new Maitreya will arise and led willing participants into more virtuous ways of living
There is also a teaching called the Sermon of the Seven Suns
Where the world will continue to get worse and worse until Seven Suns appear
Each sun will do damage to the Earth until it is fully destroyed by fire
Buddhists also believe in Karma and Reincarnation as well
Though it is slightly different than the Hindu belief
Buddhists believe that karma follows you - but does not appear to believe that your spirit continues into the next life
It's more like one candle going out in order for another to be lit

Next, we're going to do Confucianism:

Very similar to Buddhism
They believe in the Three Suns - which can be traced back to Taoism
Each sun (green, red and white) is a stage - ruled by a different Buddha
Each stage is a progression from disorder, to approaching peace, to universal peace
During the final stage - people will transcend their human selfishness and become one with everything under heaven
Confucius was very focused on the here and now - getting it right in this life
There is no hope seen beyond the grave

Now, I'm not going to go into detail on Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism or Caodaism.

As you've already seen there is a lot of overlap between these.

There are the Eastern - or the Dharmic Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism

And there are the East Asian Religions: Taoism, Shintoism and Confucianism

Each have similarities within their grouping. But they also share common beliefs across all of them:

Things like the cyclical nature of life
That all things are connected
That what we do in life impacts our future - typically through reincarnation
That life is about virtue and restraint

But let's move on to the Middle Eastern Religions - or the Abrahamic Religions:

In short - we refer to these religions as Abrahamic because they all trace their history back through a promise God made to Abram, or Abraham:

Abraham and Sarah had a son named Isaac. His line became the nation of Israel. And the religion we refer to as Judaism today
Abraham also had a son with Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. His name was Ishmael - and his line created the Muslim nation. One of the men in this line was Muhammad - who became the spiritual leader and formed the Islamic religion
So how do Christians fit in? Well:

Christians believe the Israelites were God's chosen people
They believe Jesus was a direct descendent of Abraham
And they believe Jesus was the foretold Messiah
So Christians are really the logical next step in the Jewish faith - if Jesus is who He claims to be

So there you have it - the Abrahamic Religions are: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Now - there are a few other religions that hold Abraham as an important piece of their faith.

Babism
Bahai Faith
Druze
Mandaeism

But due to our time constraints - we're just going to focus on the Big Three.

And the fact that there are three is not lost on me.

Because there is something magical about the number 3.

In fact there is a very real thing called, "The Rule of Three."

The basic idea is that people connect with groups of three. And this works with everything from The 3 Stooges to more spiritual concepts like The Trinity:

We have three primary colors
Three flavor in Neapolitan Ice Cream
Rock, paper, scissors
Marketing taglines like "Just Do It" and "I'm Loving It"
The human psyche: Thinking, Feeling, Behaving
And the list goes on forever...

And while we don't have time to fully unpack The Rule of 3 - it might become an entire podcast episode at some point due to how significant it is.

But let's get back to the Abrahamic Religions.

Before I get into the religious tradition I grew up in - I want to walk through the other two:

First up - the Eschatology of Islam:

According to the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies - there are 6 Major things we should know:

Geography Matters: A large group of Muslims believe that the goal is for Islam to defeat Christendom - thus the rise of militant groups like ISIS
Signs & Wonders: Islam teaches there will be end time signs in the heavens - like the sun rolling up and the stars falling. Issues with the oceans and graves turned upside down
Moral Decay: The death of religious leaders, rise in religious ignorance, increased us of alcohol, the use of instruments to entice people away from morality, sexual immorality and the change in the gender ratio to where there will be way more women than men
It Will Be Terrifying: Islam teaches that fear and anxiety will reign supreme in the last days, and that judgment will be severe and getting into heaven will be very difficult
Hellfire & Brimstone: The sacred texts suggest that all may face some form of hell when all is said and done
The Role of Jesus: Islam actually refers to the Second Coming of Jesus - and that He will bring peace and justice at that time

Now - these are just 6 interesting facts on what Islam teaches about the End Times.

Wikipedia goes into full detail on some of the more important pieces:

Small Resurrection - when a person dies - the soul leaves the body and is interrogated by two angels
The Time of the End:

In the final hour there will be signs and wonders
A trumpet blast
And then all living beings will die
Next, there will be a resurrection - and an agonizing time of waiting
Then there will be a Divine Judgment
From there - all will pass over a bridge:

You either make it to heaven on the other side, or you fall off into hell

There seems to be a lot of debate on who actually makes it to heaven
Some suggest that the majority of people will spend time in hell
However - there seems to be a way for those in hell to recognize their past misdeeds and eventually be restored into heaven

Next up - the Eschatology of Judaism:

Jewish Eschatology is based on the Tanakh - or the Jewish Bible
Largely the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel
In Ezekiel 38 it describes the War of Gog and Magog
A large and final battle that will free Jews from all oppression
The timeline (both historical and futuristic) is this:

God saves Israel out of captivity in Egypt
God returns Israel to the Promise Land
God restores the kingly House of David
In a Temple in Jerusalem
God appoints a regent from the House of David at some point in the future
This will be the Messiah - and usher in the Messianic Age - full of justice, righteousness and peace
All nations will recognize that God is the one true God
Then God will resurrect the dead
And God will create a new heaven and a new Earth

The interesting thing I found with Judaism is that there is a lot of disagreement
Especially in the following three End Time events:

The resurrection of the dead and who is actually resurrected
The judgment and who actually gets judged at the end of time
The afterlife and the concepts of heaven and hell and where they are located

Now - the debate is often based on the form of Judaism you adhere to
In other words - just as there was a disagreement between the Pharisees and the Saduccees in days of old
So there is today - between traditional Jews and reformed Jews - not to mention that there is a group called the Mystic Tradition that actually embraces the idea of reincarnation

But the wrap up Judaism. I think the original timeline is a pretty good summary.

A Messiah will come and all the world will acknowledge he is from God
That will usher in a great time of peace
Then God will resurrect the dead and potentially judge them
Then He will recreate the Earth - and at that time we will enter the afterlife in whatever form that will be

Now we don't have a lot of time - but I did want to throw in a couple random ones that aren't even showing up on lists: Mormonism and The Jehovah's Witnesses...

Mormon Eschatology:

According to Robert Millet from ldsliving.com - the following 7 things must happen before the end will come:

The gospel needs to be preached to the whole world
Congregations of saints must be found all over the Earth
Baptisms for the dead need to take place in the Holy Land
The church headquarters must be moved to Missouri
The Savior needs to appear in His temple - the one that will be built in Missouri
The great council meeting needs to take place
Signs in the heavens: Sun darkened, moon turning to blood and stars falling

According to church teachings:

The souls of the dead are hanging out in a spirit world - waiting for the end to come
At the time of the end - Jesus will return with great power and glory
The righteous will be caught up to meet Him
Resurrections happen in a couple ways:

When Jesus returns, He will judge all people
The righteous people will be resurrected - some to the highest kingdom, others to the second kingdom
The non-righteous dead will remain in the spirit world for 1000 years
The living non-righteous will be banished form the Earth

The Earth will be cleansed with fire
And Jesus will set up His kingdom over heaven and earth
And there will be 1000 year of peace - under a theocratic government
However - missionary work and temple work for the dead will continue during this time
At the end of the 1000 years - Satan will be released for a short time - and there will be a battle between he and his army and the Archangel Michael
Satan will be defeated and banished forever
Then Jesus will perform the final judgment of souls - and it is unclear what happens after that - assuming those found righteous are then resurrected to be with the other living righteous?
At any rate - the Earth is said to be "celestialized" at this point and the righteous are given control over it. Getting to rule with God and Jesus

And finally, we have the Jehovah's Witnesses:

The church teaches:

That Jesus has been ruling in heaven since 1914
And at that time a period of cleansing began
On earth - things will deteriorate quickly
False religions, war, disease, famine, earthquakes, and a progressive degeneration of morality
No dates are set for the End of Time
But at that time Armageddon will occur
Basically the destruction of all worldly governments by God
And God will regain control over Earth as it was in the past
People will be resurrected over a period of time
And during this time - called the day of judgment - actually lasting for 1000 years
People will be judged - not for what they did on earth - but what they do after resurrection
At the end of the 1000 years Satan will return to try and mislead humankind yet again
But he will fail - and humanity will be glorified once and for all
The church has predicted the end over the years - not the exact date - but a time range - and every time a range passes - it is revised and a new range is provided
They currently believe the end is imminent

Now - like I said - there are many other religions out there. I really wanted to dive into the Bahai Faith, Christian Science, and Scientology. But we just can't do them all.

So that leaves us with Christianity - the faith tradition I grew up in.

We're not going to dive in today as there is WAY too much to cover. The Christian world is very fractured when it comes to Eschatology - and it gets pretty complex.

Not that some of the Eastern Religions didn't have pretty complex ideas. But for some reason they were easier to summarize into big concepts like the Cyclical Nature, Karma, and Reincarnation.

Or maybe it's that I was raised in Christianity - will all the ideas and all the details - maybe that's why it seems so much more complex.

But whatever the case - I can't summarize it here.

We're going to have to call it good for today - and dive into Christian Eschatology next time.

That way I'll have a full episode in which to set the stage - and lay a solid foundation for the rest of this series.

Let's Land the Plane:

Thanks for taking a walk with me down the Avenue of World Religions.

I know we didn't touch on every religion out there - but if we did - we would be here for another few days...

The world is filled to the brim with religious and spiritual expressions. The list I linked to from Wikipedia is insane - so many to choose from and so many variations on a theme.

But hopefully the large expressions we looked at will give a good overview as to the ways the religious world views the End of Time.

Couple questions and then we'll go:

Where are you at with the Big 3 Questions?

Have you answered them for yourself?
Are you part of a religious tradition that answers them for you?
Or are you part of the "Irreligion" group we discussed at the beginning - those with a more scientific approach to the world and it's future?

If you are part of a religious tradition:

Which one is it?
And have you spent time thinking about the Eschatological beliefs of your faith?

That's it for this episode - thank you for being here.

If you find yourself drawn to this podcast, or this series - don't be shy about it.

Share the podcast with friends and family. Give it a rating on your podcast platform. Share episodes on social media.

Every little thing you do helps Transcend Human grow - and allows it to be found by people who want this type of content.

My hope is that people who are typically adverse to topics like these will find them interesting - because of the way it's presented.

Instead of me picking a side and trying to overwhelm you with details so you'll believe the way I do. My hope is to simply throw out a variety of ideas - and let you think through them for yourself.

I'm not going to hide the way I feel - or the path I've chosen - but at the end of the day it's not on me to convince you how to believe.

Knowledge is power - and I'm just the middle man - making knowledge about End Time events a little more accessible.

That said, have a great week friends. Until next time, keep Transcending Human!

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