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Eschatology 1

Submitted to Program Units
1: Reformed Theology and History Unit

Cambria Kaltwasser, Northwestern College, Orange City, Presiding

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

This session centers on the traditional four last things in eschatology (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) from a Reformed perspective. It offers fresh approaches to disability, mortality, and hell, drawing on insights from Calvin, Barth, and others, and reinterpreting these in light of present demands.

Papers

  • Preston Hill, Richmont Graduate University

    WITHDRAWN: Holy Saturday in Calvin’s Theology: Recovering a Forgotten Theme in Reformed Eschatology

    Abstract

    Given the cottage-industry of research on John Calvin, it is surprising there are no substantial studies on his interpretation of Christ’s descent into hell despite the centrality of this theme in his thought. Some emerging studies have clarified that Calvin’s interpretation was not novel given his inherited tradition. However, it has not yet been clarified that Calvin primarily interpreted the descensus in relation to eschatological themes on soul-sleep, the intermediate state, and Holy Saturday. In this paper, I survey the eschatological context of Calvin’s descensus interpretation and show how this context was decisive for Calvin’s enduring opinion and included a robust theology of Holy Saturday. This eschatological evidence contradicts a widespread misunderstanding that Calvin reduced the descensus to a metaphor for the cross, which cannot be the case, since for Calvin the descensus refers to the soul of Christ and its relation to the state of souls after physical death.

  • Arnold Huijgen, Protestant Theological University

    To Hell and Back: Christ's Descent into Hell as Interpretive Key to Current Hell-Talk

    Abstract

    The doctrine of hell represents the dark side of traditional Reformed eschatology, which many reject or ignore. Meanwhile, the language of hell is on the rise in society ("climate hell", mental health issues, wars). This paper seeks to connect traditional understandings of hell with present-day "hell talk" by a reinterpretation of Christ's descent into hell. Eastern traditions understand this as Christ's victory over death, and John Calvin interpreted it as the depth of Christ's sufferings. This paper adds the exclusion of humans by humans as third layer. In dialogue with Hannah Arendt's reflections on hell and punitive methods, this paper reinterprets hell christologically.

  • Taylor Holleyman, Baylor University

    Total Mortality: Reformed Reflections on the Death of the Soul

    Abstract

    This paper puts forward the argument that, so long as it does not inhibit the preaching of eternal hope and security, it is both right and profitable to assert the death of the soul. This argument builds on two premises: (1) If total depravity, then total mortality; (2) That which does not die cannot be resurrected. If the soul is something that is corrupted by sin and something that participates in the resurrected life, then it is also a thing that dies. Toward this end, to speak of the immortality of the soul is at least misleading and bares the possibility of being altogether incorrect. By affirming the death of the soul, we can minimize body/soul dualisms and metaphysical speculations, resting instead on the proclamation of the gospel: That which was dead has been raised to life!

  • Daniel Rempel, University of Aberdeen

    Liberation beyond Action: Witness, Disability, and Glimpses of the Eschaton

    Abstract

    In the recent turn to liberation in Christian theology, personal action and advocacy are paramount. Such action is indeed liberating for many oppressed minorities, but fails to take account of the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities, many of whom are unable to self-advocate. In this paper, by drawing on Barth’s theology of witness, I argue that the invading work of Christ through the Spirit in the life of Christians provides a means by which those with profound intellectual abilities experience the liberation of God. As they are liberated by the action of God, people with intellectual disabilities are simultaneously empowered to witness to this liberatory event, thus becoming sites of liberation themselves. As witnesses to their own liberation, people with intellectual disabilities offer glimpses of the coming kingdom of God, disrupting our tidy eschatological vision by the Kingdom appearing in the places some may least expect.

Audiovisual Requirements

Resources

LCD Projector and Screen
Podium microphone

Sabbath Observance

Sunday morning
Accessibility Requirements

Resources

Wheelchair accessible

Full Papers Available

No
Program Unit Options

Session Length

2 Hours

Schedule Preference

Monday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Schedule Info

Saturday, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Tags

Holy Saturday
John Calvin
eschatology
descent into hell
#Karl Barth
#disability
#Witness
#Liberation
#eschatology
#pneumatology

Session Identifier

A23-133