THE-204
Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things
A careful, humble study of what Scripture says about Christ's return, the resurrection, final judgment, and the new heavens and new earth, with a fair overview of major interpretive views.
Topics: Second Coming, Resurrection and judgment, Major millennial views
Suggested resource: Read Revelation and 1 Thessalonians 4–5 directly, then compare at least two interpretive traditions' explanations side by side.
Week 1: Major Views on the End Times
Reading: Revelation 20
Faithful, serious Christians have historically held several different frameworks for interpreting end-times prophecy, broadly including premillennial views (Christ returns before a literal thousand-year reign), postmillennial views (the Kingdom advances gradually until Christ returns), and amillennial views (the “thousand years” is symbolic of the present church age), each reading key passages like Revelation 20 somewhat differently. Approaching this humbly means recognizing these are honest interpretive disagreements among believers who share the same core hope, Christ's certain return, rather than treating one framework as the only mark of orthodoxy.
Key terms: Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, Amillennialism
Discussion Questions
- Which view have you been taught, and can you now state fairly why sincere believers hold a different one?
Challenge: Write a one-paragraph fair summary of a millennial view you don't personally hold.
Week 2: The Resurrection and Final Judgment
Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12–22, 51–58; Revelation 20:11–15
Beyond the debated details of end-times timelines, Scripture is far more unanimous and clear about the resurrection of the body and a final judgment. Paul makes the whole Christian faith hinge on a bodily resurrection: “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain… ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17) — but since “now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (15:20), that same resurrection guarantees believers' own future bodily resurrection, not merely a disembodied afterlife. He describes the moment itself: “we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump… and this mortal must put on immortality” (15:51–52).
Revelation 20:11–15 then describes a final accounting before God, where “the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works… and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (20:12, 15). These less-debated core truths, more than the contested millennial timeline questions from Week 1, are what should shape how eschatology actually affects daily life: sober awareness of real accountability, and confident hope in bodily, not merely spiritual, resurrection.
Key terms: 1 Corinthians 15:17 (the resurrection's necessity), 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 (the moment of change), Revelation 20:12, 15's final accounting, Bodily resurrection, not mere afterlife
Discussion Questions
- How does confidence in a future bodily resurrection, not just 'going to heaven,' change how you think about death?
- Why does Paul say the whole faith is 'vain' if the resurrection isn't real, rather than treating it as one doctrine among many?
Challenge: Read 1 Corinthians 15 in full and summarize Paul's argument for the resurrection in your own words, quoting verse 17 and verse 20 as the hinge of the chapter.
Week 3: Living in Light of the End
Reading: 2 Peter 3
The New Testament consistently uses eschatology not as a subject for speculative timelines but as motivation for present holy living and urgent gospel witness, 2 Peter 3's call to godly living in light of Christ's coming, and Jesus' own parables about being ready rather than predicting a date. A mature eschatology produces sober watchfulness and evangelistic urgency, not anxious date-setting or, in the other direction, practical indifference to Christ's promised return.
Key terms: 2 Peter 3's practical application, Readiness over date-setting, Motivation for evangelism
Discussion Questions
- How does genuine expectation of Christ's return actually shape your daily choices and priorities right now?
Challenge: Read 2 Peter 3 and write down three specific, practical ways it calls believers to live differently because of the end.
Course Exam
Five questions for review or self-testing.
Q: Name the three major millennial views.
Reveal Answer
Premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism.
Q: What does 1 Corinthians 15 argue?
Reveal Answer
That Christ's own resurrection guarantees believers' future bodily resurrection.
Q: What does 2 Peter 3 use eschatology to motivate?
Reveal Answer
Present holy living and urgent gospel witness, not speculative timelines.
Q: What should mature eschatology produce, according to this course?
Reveal Answer
Sober watchfulness and evangelistic urgency, not anxious date-setting or indifference.
Q: What core truths does Scripture speak most clearly and unanimously about regarding the end?
Reveal Answer
The resurrection of the body and a final judgment.