There are two main appearances of Christ. First, his incarnation at Bethlehem. Second, his appearing again to gather the faithful of every age into the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ and his Kingdom are “at hand” or close to happening. The Greek word parousia, the second coming, means to be present in, to be near, to have arrived. The period between his incarnation and his parousia is called “Christian history;” it is the beginning of a new creation that will have its summit when Christ appears again on earth at the end of time.
Eschatology is another Greek derived term that etymologically means endpoint, last, furthest, summit and crown. The ending of this age of history will close to begin another eternal existence; it will be the crown of Christ’s creation so to speak. Protopresbyter George Florovsky writes that the Kingdom of God and eschatology, the study of the last things, are interwoven into the liturgical practices and dogmata (house teachings), of the Church. Faith and the prophecy about Jesus the Christ have a kind of "persuasion" that is an inseparable system, writes Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. When we hear a homily, it bears witness to us what we hold now and what we will hold soon. The Orthodox Church is a patient Christianity that lives in high expectation. Many of the New Testament parables of Christ teach us how to live in this fading world now while we look out for the eternal kingdom. Harvest imagery abounds in the parables because there is a quality of prophecy that is now and yet to be; it is living the mystery. The interim age is for all kinds of people to enter into eternal bliss and to ripen ourselves with repentance. The basic response to the apocalypse and eschatology in the East has been to seek prayer as preparation and purification for paradise, the Light of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection.
The prophecy and the promise of the Old Testament is still being fulfilled in the New Testament today. Abraham awaits the parousia with us and with future people. The pain and perplexities in this age are going to end “at but a moment.” Orthodox Christians, like the Apostles and early Christians, are called to live moment by moment in a watchful and sober manner. Revelation 22:20 contains another Orthodox response to the end of this world, Maranatha! Come Lord! But some Christians have taken a different route by focusing on figuring out the timing and detailed signs of apocalyptic events. Chilialism (1,000 years in Greek) is an idea that some Christians used to explain how long Christ’s reign will last on earth before he appears. But Christ’s reign is eternal, not limited. Just as Christ waits to be revealed to all people, so too the Evil One must be revealed to the whole world so that Christ can conquer what will be clear and apparent to every human. St. Hippolytus of Rome taught that the Deceiver to be revealed at the end of the age will combine spiritual and political power, and that Satan will use this man to seduce and deprive Christians materially and he is “already at work,” as 2 Thessalonians 2:7 teaches. This political leader will sit on the Jewish Temple, as some holy fathers have taught, and will cause people to compromise their faith by replacing commerce with communion with God. There has not been one definitive interpretation of the Book of Revelation among the the holy fathers regarding the details of events. But the main outline and sequence is consistent. Orthodoxy has understood the apocalypse as an anti-dualistic revelation, as opposed to many modern critics of Christianity. The truth of the end is that there will be no corruption, no suffering, no warring of good and evil that will last. Beauty, Spirit, and the Truth conquer. For this reason, Orthodox Christians view Christ not as the victim of tribulation violence, but the victor and “protagonist” of the end of time. Christ wants us to win crowns and to resurrect with our body and soul united in order to prove that this evil in the world cannot possibly continue. Whether we believe or not believe, Orthodoxy teaches that everyone will universally be resurrected. The next chapter discusses what is called “the general resurrection.”