cf. 2 Th 2'- * (see below, and article Man of Sin), 1 Jn 4' 2 Jn' (see below) ; Didache, 16 (where he is to appear 'as Son of God,' i.e. as a pseudo- j\Iessiah) ; Ep. Barn. 4. The conception (like the corresponding one of the Messiah) varies from that of a human monarch to that of a supernatural being, sometimes closely akin to 'Satan.' Various titles are used — e.g. 'Beliar' (Asc. Is.), 'the World's Deceiver' (Didache), 'the Black One' (Ep. Barn.), 'the Man of Sin' (2 Thess.) ; but in all cases the destrnction of Antichrist is set forth as one of the last and greatest acts of the true Messiah. The idea of a coming reign of Antichrist tended to ' throw back ' the Second Coming of the true Messiah into a somewhat less immediate future than it occupies in the earliest Christian message. (d) The allegorical interpi'etation of Scripture. — By allegorizing the narratives of Scripture, some of the Christian apocalyptists were able to find prophecies of the Last Things in unpromising fields of study. In Ep. Barn. 15, e.g., we find Gn 1 in- terpreted as an ' apocalypse ' of the world's histoiy, in a manner that reminds us of both the Alexand- rian-Jewish apocalypses (e.g. Slav. Enoch) and the Christian Fathers of Alexandria.
(3) Value of the Christian apocalypses. — These Christian writings are valuable, because they show us one of the lines along which the primi- tive JudiBO-Christian eschatology developed and decayed. The primitive enthusiasm for the few great truths of the gospel faded away, and it was replaced by a dilettante curiosity about the things of the other world, which ran riot in ex- travagant superstition, and eventually died — as it deserved to die. In these writings we may also see the beginnings of doctrines absent from primi- tive Christian eschatology, but prevalent in later ages of the Church, e.g. purgatory ( Vis. Patdi, 22), or prayers for the dead (Test. Abr. 14). But these, again, scarcely fall within our present scope. III. The Johannine type of early Chris- tian ESCHATOLOGY.— The Gospel and Epistles traditionally ascribed to St. John so far resemble each other in their eschatological outlook that for our purpose it seems best to consider them to- gether, as expressing a distinctive type of escha- tology (see A. E. Brooke, The Johannine Epistles [ICC, 1912], Introd., p. xxi). As illustrations of the history of Christian doctrine, the Johannine Epistles are easier to interpret than the Gospel, because in the latter it is often exceedingly diffi- cult to differentiate between the purely historical element, based upon the teaching of our Lord Himself, and the ' Johannine' element, due to the Evangelist. But since the eschatology in both Gospel and Epistles partakes of the same ' tone,* which is not found (to the same extent) elsewhere in the NT, it seems reasonable to attribute this distinctive element to the writer in both cases, although not therefore denying the likelihood that it may be indirectly due to our Lord's own teach- ing and influence. The chief points to note are :
1. The ' spirituality ' of the teaching. — ' Spiritu- ality ' is perhaps the best word to describe the dis- tinctive characteristic of the Johannine eschatology. It bears the impress of a mind retentive of tradi- tional forms of belief, but not content with the s«irface-meaning of current teaching. The old phraseology is not rejected ; but it is regarded as a parable, half concealing and lialf revealing the deep spiritual truths over wliich the writer had pondered in the hours of meditation. The signs of foreign influence in the Johannine writings are very slight ; the signs of the inner working of the writer's mind are very marked indeed. Hence we find the following characteristics :
(a) The Jezvish phraseology retained. — The 'dra- matic setting ' of Jewish eschatology is as vividly
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displayed in the Johannine writings as in any part of the NT. Our Lord is portrayed as the Messianic ' Son of Man,' who has ' descended out of lieaven ' (Jn 3"* 6^8.43 823.88). ^vho is the Messianic Judge ( Jn 5-^ ^'') ; who has returned to heaven (Jn 6*^2 20'''), and thence as glorified Messiah pours out the Spirit on His disciples (Jn 7^") ; and who will one day come again (Jn 21^^)^ jjig Return will be pre- ceded by the Messianic woes (Jn 15'-^" 16^- ^^ etc.), by the Coming of Antichrist (1 Jn 2-- 4^, 2 Jn^), and by the general Resurrection (Jn 5-^) ; and will be followed by the Last Judgment (Jn 12''8). The writer of the Epistles believes he is living in ' the last hour' — i.e. the 'interim' between the First and Second Comings of the Lord (1 Jn 2'^). In the Gospel the time of the Return seems more distant ; e.g. in Jn 14 and 15 the instructions given do not suggest a very brief ' interim ' on earth.
(i) The inner meaning of eschatology emphasized. — Although the Johannine eschatology so far agrees with the normal Jewish doctrine, there is a difference. The writer does not seem to regard this ' dramatic eschatology ' merely as a prediction of coming events, but rather as a parable or illus- tration of great spiritual principles, which are continuously at work in all history, albeit specially manifest in the spiritual experiences of Christians. In this sense, the Johannine eschatology may be called ' timeless ' ; the Resurrection, the Judgment, the Coming, are always taking place, though they will attain their consummation at the Last Crisis (cf. Brooke, The Johannine Epistles, p. 37). Specu- lations regarding the time of the Second Coming are discouraged (Jn 21'^-). The gift of eternal life in the present (Jn 2,^ 1P«- ; cf. 1 Jn 3** 4^^) tends to displace the dramatic picture of ' entering into the Kingdom' at the Last Day, while spiritual union with Christ at once endows the believer potentially with the resurrection-privilege, which, to the Jew, was as yet in the unexperienced future (Jn G^"'^"*