Editing Christian mythology (section)

===Eschatological myths===
[[Christian eschatology|Christian eschatological]] myths include stories of the afterlife: the narratives of Jesus Christ [[resurrection|rising from the dead]] and now acting as a [[wiktionary:savior|saviour]] of all generations of Christians, and stories of heaven and hell. Eschatological myths would also include the prophesies of [[apocalypse|end of the world]] and a new millennium in the [[Book of Revelation]], and the story that Jesus will return to earth some day.

The major features of Christian eschatological mythology include afterlife beliefs, the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, and the [[last judgment|final judgment]].

====Immediate afterlife (heaven and hell)====
[[File:Good shepherd 02b close.jpg|thumb|right|''Jesus as the Good Shepherd'', painting on ceiling of S. Callisto catacomb, early Christian art, mid 3rd century A.D.. Example of earliest Christian art showing a pastoral scene in the afterlife.]]

Most Christian denominations hold some belief in an immediate afterlife when people die. Christian scripture gives a few descriptions of an immediate afterlife and a heaven and hell; however, for the most part, both New and Old Testaments focus much more on the myth of a final bodily resurrection than any beliefs about a purely spiritual afterlife away from the body.

Much of the Old Testament does not express a belief in a personal afterlife of reward or punishment:<blockquote>"All the dead go down to Sheol, and there they lie in sleep together–whether good or evil, rich or poor, slave or free (Job 3:11–19). It is described as a region "dark and deep," "the Pit," and "the land of forgetfulness," cut off from both God and human life above (Psalms 6:5; 88:3–12). Though in some texts Yahweh's power can reach down to Sheol (Psalms 139:8), the dominant idea is that the dead are abandoned forever. This idea of Sheol is negative in contrast to the world of life and light above, but there is no idea of judgment or of reward and punishment."<ref>Tabor</ref></blockquote>

Later Old Testament writings, particularly the works of the Hebrew prophets, describe a final resurrection of the dead, often accompanied by spiritual rewards and punishments:<blockquote>"Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some shall live forever; others shall be in everlasting contempt. But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever" (Daniel 12:2).</blockquote>
However, even here, the emphasis is not on an immediate afterlife in heaven or hell, but rather on a future bodily resurrection.

The New Testament also devotes little attention to an immediate afterlife. Its primary focus is the resurrection of the dead. Some New Testament passages seem to mention the (non-resurrected) dead experiencing some sort of afterlife (for example, the parable of [[rich man and Lazarus]]); yet the New Testament includes only a few myths about heaven and hell. Specifically, heaven is a place of peaceful residence, where Jesus goes to "prepare a home" or room for his disciples (John 14:2).<ref>"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you" – Jesus. John 14:2 NASB 1995.</ref> Drawing on scriptural imagery (John 10:7, John 10:11–14), many Christian narratives of heaven include a nice green pasture land and a meeting with a benevolent God. Some of the earliest Christian art depicts heaven as a green pasture where people are sheep led by Jesus as "the good shepherd" as in interpretation of heaven.

As the [[doctrines]] of heaven and hell (and also Catholic [[purgatory]]) developed, non-canonical Christian literature began to develop an elaborate mythology about these locations. Dante's three-part ''Divine Comedy'' is a prime example of such afterlife mythology, describing Hell (in ''Inferno''), Purgatory (in ''Purgatorio''), and Heaven (in ''Paradiso''). Nowadays, conceptualizations of hell differ quite widely across various denominations.

====Second Coming====
[[File:Wandering jew - Gustave Doré.jpg|thumb|right|''The Wandering Jew '' by [[Gustave Doré]].]]
The [[Second Coming]] of Christ holds a central place in Christian mythology. The Second Coming is the return of Christ to Earth during the period of transformation preceding the end of this world and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. According to Matthew's gospel, when Jesus is on trial before the Roman and Jewish authorities, he claims, "In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."<ref>Matthew 26:64</ref> The legend of the [[Wandering Jew]] concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming.

====Resurrection and final judgment====
Christian mythology incorporates the Old Testament's prophecies of a future resurrection of the dead. Like the Hebrew prophet Daniel (e.g., Daniel 12:2), the Christian Book of Revelation (among other New Testament scriptures) describes the resurrection: "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds."<ref>Revelation 20:13</ref> The righteous and/or faithful enjoy bliss in the earthly Kingdom of Heaven, but the evil and/or non-Christian are "cast into the lake of fire".<ref>Revelation 20:15</ref>

====The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth====
Christian eschatological myths feature a total world renovation after the final judgment. According to the Book of Revelation, God "will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away".<ref>Revelation 21:4</ref> According to Old and New Testament passages, a time of perfect peace and happiness is coming: <blockquote>"They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. One nation will not raise the sword against another; nor will they train for war again."<ref>Isaiah 2:4</ref></blockquote> Certain scriptural passages even suggest that God will abolish the current natural laws in favor of immortality and total peace:
*"Then the wolf will be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid. The calf and the young lion will browse together, with a little child to guide them. […] There will be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with knowledge of the LORD as water fills the sea."<ref>Isaiah 11:6, 9</ref>
*"On this mountain, [God] will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations: he will destroy Death forever."<ref>Isaiah 25:7–8</ref>
*"The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."<ref>1 Corinthians 15:52</ref>
*"Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever."<ref>Revelation 22:5</ref>

====Millennialism and amillennialism====
When Christianity was a new and persecuted religion, many Christians believed the end times were imminent.<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 67</ref> Scholars debate whether Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher;<ref>McGinn, p. 35</ref> however, his early followers, "the group of Jews who accepted him as messiah in the years immediately after his death, understood him in primarily apocalyptic terms".<ref>McGinn, p. 36</ref> Prevalent in the early church and especially during periods of persecution,<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 67; McGinn, p. 60</ref> this Christian belief in an imminent end is called "[[millennialism]]". (It takes its name from the thousand-year ("millennial") reign of Christ that, according to the Book of Revelation, will precede the final world renovation; similar beliefs in a coming paradise are found in other religions, and these phenomena are often also called "millennialism")<ref>"millennialism"; Eliade, p. 67-72</ref>

Millennialism comforted Christians during times of persecution, for it predicted an imminent deliverance from suffering.<ref>"millennialism"; Eliade, p. 67</ref> From the perspective of millennialism, human action has little significance: millennialism is comforting precisely because it predicts that happiness is coming no matter what humans do: "The seeming triumph of Evil made up the apocalyptic syndrome which was to precede Christ's return and the millennium."<ref>Eliade, p. 67</ref>

However, as time went on, millennialism lost its appeal.<ref>According to Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 67: "After becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity condemned millennialism as heretical, although illustrious Fathers had professed it in the past. [...] The ''eschaton'' was no longer the imminent event that it had been during the persecutions." According to ReligiousTolerance.org, the specific variant of millennialism condemned was "Historical Premillennialism", which many Christians believed in during the first three centuries C.E.; the Roman Church's official anti-millennial stance is called "Amillennialism", and was largely established by [[Augustine of Hippo]] (Robinson). Even some of the Church Fathers who accepted historical premillennialism doubted the imminence of the End, as Christ's coming seemed less and less likely to be immediate. According to McGinn, p. 62: "Like both Irenaeus and Hippolytus, Tertullian thought (at least for most of his career) that the end was not near."</ref> Christ had not returned immediately, as earlier Christians had predicted. Moreover, many Christians no longer needed the comfort that millennialism provided, for they were no longer persecuted: "With the triumph of the Church, the Kingdom of Heaven was already present on earth, and in a certain sense the old world had already been destroyed."<ref name = "bfvqcq">Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 68</ref> (Millennialism has revived during periods of historical stress,<ref name = "bfvqcq"/> and is currently popular among Evangelical Christians.)<ref name = "vaqsrr">Robinson</ref>

In the Roman Church's condemnation of millennialism, Eliade sees "the first manifestation of the doctrine of [human] progress" in Christianity.<ref name = "bfvqcq"/> According to the amillennial view, Christ will indeed come again, ushering in a perfect Kingdom of Heaven on earth, but "the Kingdom of God is [already] present in the world today through the presence of the heavenly reign of Christ, the Bible, the Holy Spirit and Christianity".<ref name = "vaqsrr"/> Amillennialists do not feel "the eschatological tension" that persecution inspires; therefore, they interpret their eschatological myths either figuratively or as descriptions of far-off events rather than imminent ones.<ref>According to ReligiousTolerance.org, Amillennialists interpret the myth of Christ's [[Second Coming]] literally, although they do not expect Christ to come soon, and they often interpret the [[Antichrist]] figuratively.Robinson</ref> Thus, after taking the amillennial position, the Church not only waited for God to renovate the world (as millennialists had) but also believed itself to be improving the world through human action.<ref name = "bfvqcq"/>