Time&Eternity

80 chapter 2
Christ. 151 This seeming contradiction can be explained by the fact that Paul
neither speaks antithetically of time and eternity nor permits eternity to appear
as endless time. The breaking through of the new into the old, which is
thematized as the tension between the “already” and the “not-yet,” interests
him more than the abstract forms of time and eternity.
In the later writings of the New Testament, we can see attempts to link
eschatology, apocalypticism, and Christology to one another. With increasing
temporal distance to Jesus’ life on earth, thoughts about the events that
are expected at the end of time are turned into a doctrine of the “Last
Things,” which moves to the margin of ecclesiastical instruction. 152 Colossians
and Ephesians replace eschatological expectation with spatial concepts
and, in contrast to Romans, allow the resurrection with Christ to take place
in Baptism. 153 End-time expectation is less oriented toward the resurrection
of the dead than toward the revelation of the doxa. Until then, the extended
time of waiting is used for exhortation. The most obvious connection of eschatology,
apocalypticism, and Christology can be encountered in the Revelation
of John: “The wealth of apocalyptic images is embraced by the
Christological confession. Thus, the apocalyptic material has experienced a
link to history that alters its character in a basic way, so that it now serves to
illustrate the universality of the Christ event.” 154
Spatial and temporal conceptions in eschatological thought cannot simply
be isolated from each other. Rather, a combination of the two ways of
thinking should be assumed, although in apocalypticism the spatial components
are more salient.
Summarizing Theses
1. The concept of time is not a specific concern in the Bible. In the Old
Testament, as in the New Testament, one does not deal with notions of the
essence of time and/or eternity per se.
2. A dualism of time and eternity cannot be discovered in the Bible.
Time and eternity do not encounter each other as an antithesis, but rather
relate to each other in various ways.
3. There is general agreement in biblical research that the Bible deals
more with the content than with the form of time. Time is not an empty
category; instead, time is filled time. It is granted by God, and it is oriented
toward a goal. Correspondingly, eternity is also not encountered as an endlessly
extended form of time, but rather as something qualitatively different
from time.
4. Contrasting cyclical and linear time proves to be inadequate. Generally
speaking, the inadequacy and provisional nature of spatial expressions