Peace in the Face of War

and relish the cruel punishments to which they have been condemned. The
end of the world is a terrible bloodletting, a bitter war. An element of vengeful,
cruel eschatology is found also in the Christian Apocalypse. There is no
greater contradiction in spirit and style than exists between the Apocalypse
and the Gospel according to St John. It is difficult to countenance that these
two books were written by the same author. Vengeful eschatological motifs
also play a large part in the teaching of blessed Augustine in the Two Cities.
For him, the earthly city begins with murder – with the business of Cain –
and ends with murder, war, death and hell. In an interpretation that is often
acknowledged as authoritative, the Apocalypse, made to conform to the
conditions of this world, essentially acquires a materialistic hue. This was
an interpretation formed by enslavement to the spirit of this world, where
determinism and Fate prevail. It could not have been otherwise, because the
Apocalypse is, before all else, a perception of the immanent consequences
of the paths of evil, paths that are contrary to those of the Kingdom of God.
Therefore rays of light from the ‘new heaven and new earth’ only occasionally
break through into the darkness of the End, and the vision of punishment
dominates over any vision of transfiguration. Herein lies the conditionality
of apocalyptic prophecies.... The fundamental problem facing us here is the
problem of the relationship between Christian eschatology and progress.
The Apocalypse prophesies about the paths of evil, the appearing of
Anti-Christ, and the destruction of this world. Undoubtedly, pessimistic
interpretations of the Apocalypse prevail. A philosophy of the Apocalypse,
which is a philosophy of history, leads to the following fundamental problem.
Are we to understand the Apocalypse as Fate, as an inexorable Divine
sentence with regard to human destiny, as a denial of human freedom? I
think that such a fatal understanding of the Apocalypse runs deeply counter
to Christianity, the religion of God-manhood. The final destiny of humanity
depends on both God and human beings. Human freedom and human
creativity play their part in preparing for the End: the co-operation of both
divine and human at the End of things. The End of history and of the world
is not just something happening to human beings, but it is accomplished by
them. We venture forth to meet the Second Coming of Christ through works
we have accomplished, and acts of our free creativity pave the way for the
Kingdom of God. Christ comes in power and glory to humanity, which has
prepared itself for His coming. One must not think of God’s action with
regard to humankind and the world as some kind of deus ex machina. Our
attitude to the End of the world cannot be simply one of hope. It must also
include our activity, our creative deed. Least justifiable of all would be human
passivity, or any withdrawal that refuses to be creative on the supposition
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