Editing Christian eschatology (section)

===Idealism===
[[Idealism (Christian eschatology)|Idealism]] (also called the spiritual approach, the allegorical approach, the nonliteral approach, and many other names) in Christian eschatology is an interpretation of the Book of Revelation that sees all of the imagery of the book as [[symbol]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Campbell |first1=Stan |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Book of Revelation |last2=Bell |first2=James S. |publisher=Alpha Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-02-864238-3 |pages=212–213 |language=en-us}}</ref>

[[Jacob Taubes]] writes that idealist eschatology came about as [[Renaissance]] thinkers began to doubt that the [[Kingdom of God|Kingdom of Heaven]] had been established on earth, or would be established, but still believed in its establishment.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3M8BfkFVsAC&pg=PA132|title=Occidental Eschatology|first=Jacob|last=Taubes|date=June 2, 2009|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-6028-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Rather than the Kingdom of Heaven being present in society, it is established subjectively for the individual.<ref name="auto"/>

[[F. D. Maurice]] interpreted the Kingdom of Heaven idealistically as a symbol representing society's general improvement, instead of a physical and political kingdom. [[Karl Barth]] interprets eschatology as representing existential truths that bring the individual hope, rather than history or future-history.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macey |first=Samuel L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7wNQk219KMC&pg=PA186 |title=Encyclopedia of Time |date=1994 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-0615-3 |language=en}}</ref> Barth's ideas provided fuel for the [[Social Gospel]] philosophy in America, which saw social change not as performing [[Legalism (theology)|"required" good works]], but because the individuals involved felt that Christians could not simply ignore society's problems with future dreams.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keller |first=Adolf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxWdGpNzzaYC&pg=PA190 |title=Karl Barth and Christian Unity: The Influence of the Barthian Movement Upon the Churches of the World |date=March 2007 |publisher=Read Books |isbn=978-1-4067-2700-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Different authors have suggested that [[The Beast (Revelation)|the Beast]] represents various social injustices, such as [[exploitation of labour|exploitation of workers]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 2, 1987 |title=ThirdWay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzpFaPwTQAYC&q=beast&pg=PA23 |publisher=Hymns Ancient & Modern Limited |via=Google Books}}</ref> wealth, the elite, commerce,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5bCOXhf4sc4C&dq=beast+revelation+social+injustice&pg=PA70|title=Who Rides the Beast?: Prophetic Rivalry and the Rhetoric of Crisis in the Churches of the Apocalypse|first=Paul B.|last=Duff|date=May 31, 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803163-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref> materialism, and imperialism.<ref>Christopher R. Smith, "Reclaiming the Social Justice Message of Revelation: Materialism, Imperialism and Divine Judgement in Revelation 18," ''Transformation'' 7 (1990): 28–33</ref> Various [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchists]], such as [[Jacques Ellul]], have identified the [[State (polity)|State]] and [[political power]] as the Beast.<ref>{{cite book |title=Christian Anarchism: A Political Commentary on the Gospel |last=Christoyannopoulos |first=Alexandre |author-link=Alexandre Christoyannopoulos |year=2010 |publisher=Imprint Academic |location=Exeter |pages=123–126 |quote=Revelation}}</ref> Other scholars identify the [[The Beast (Revelation)|Beast]] with the Roman empire of the first century AD, but recognize that the Beast may have significance beyond its identification with Rome. For example, Craig R. Koester says "the vision [of the beast] speaks to the imperial context in which Revelation was composed, but it does so with images that go beyond that context, depicting the powers at work in the world in ways that continue to engage readers of subsequent generations."<ref>Craig R. Koester, ''Revelation'', AB 38A (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2014), p. 579.</ref> And his comments on the [[whore of Babylon]] are more to the point: "The whore [of Babylon] is Rome, yet more than Rome."<ref>Koester, p. 684.</ref> It "is the Roman imperial world, which in turn represents the world alienated from God."<ref>Koester, p. 506.</ref> As Stephen Smalley puts it, the beast represents "the powers of evil which lie behind the kingdoms of this world, and which encourage in society, at any moment in history, compromise with the truth and opposition to the justice and mercy of God."<ref>Stephen S. Smalley, ''The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse'' (Downer's Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2005), p. 337.</ref>

It is distinct from [[Preterism]], [[Futurism (Christian eschatology)|Futurism]] and [[Historicism (Christian eschatology)|Historicism]] in that it does not see any of the prophecies (except in some cases the [[Second Coming]], and [[Final Judgment]]) as being fulfilled in a literal, physical, earthly sense either in the past, present or future,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erickson |first=Millard J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0liwAM9lGMC&dq=christian+idealism+eschatology&pg=PA95 |title=The Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology |date=2001 |publisher=Crossway |isbn=978-1-58134-281-9 |page=95 |language=en}}</ref> and that to interpret the eschatological portions of the Bible in a historical or future-historical fashion is an erroneous understanding.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Francis Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1O8rAAAAYAAJ&dq=christian+idealism+eschatology&pg=PA13 |title=Eschatology. Indexes: The Concluding Volume of the Series Dogmatic Theology |date=1922 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Company |page=13 |language=en}}</ref>