Eschatology

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Four horsemen of the apocalypse, as depicted in the Apocalypse work by Albrecht Dürer

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Eschatology /ˌɛskəˈtɒlədʒi/ ( listen) is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history,
or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the "end of the world" or
"end times".[1]
The word arises from the Greek ἔσχατος eschatos meaning "last" and -logy meaning "the study of",
and first appeared in English around 1844.[2] The Oxford English Dictionary defines eschatology as
"the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of
humankind".[3]
In the context of mysticism, the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to
reunion with the Divine. Many[quantify] religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred
texts or in folklore.
History is often divided[by whom?] into "ages" (aeons), which are time periods each with certain
commonalities. One age comes to an end and a new age or world to come, where different realities
are present, begins. When such transitions from one age to another are the subject of eschatological
discussion, the phrase, "end of the world", is replaced by "end of the age", "end of an era", or "end of
life as we know it". Much apocalyptic fiction does not deal with the "end of time" but rather with the
end of a certain period, the end of life as it is now, and the beginning of a new period. It is usually a
crisis that brings an end to current reality and ushers in a new way of living, thinking, or being.[citation
needed]
This crisis may take the form of the intervention of a deity in history, a war, a change in the
environment, or the reaching of a new level of consciousness.[4]