(e) Tne Pastoral Epistles may be touched on here, as they cannot well be included in a discus- sion of the Pauline correspondence without assum- ing an authenticity which criticism does not con- cede.
In 1 Tim. there is very little eschatological reference. The Mast times' are come (4'), and there is a vague general mention of the appearing of Christ (e"- '^), as the time of judgment and re- ward. In 2 Tim. — the Epistle whose authenticity is, in part, most generally admitted — the eschato- logical colouring is much more evident. In 1'^ ' that day ' is the day of the Lord and of judgment ; 2'^ speaks of the future reign of saints with Christ, of His denial of those who deny Him (cf. Mt 10^, Lk 9™). In 3'* the apostasy of the last days is spoken of ; in 4' Christ, identified with God, is about to judge living and dead, at (if Kard. be read) His appearing and Kingdom (but xord is doubtful, and possibly Tijv iirKpaveiav is the object of Sta/iap- ripo/Mi.). In 4' the writer speaks of ' that day ' as the day of the appearing of Christ, when he and all those who have loved Christ's appearing will receive the crown of righteousness. It is tempting to take the crown of righteousness as the consum- mation of that process of which St. Paul speaks in Ro 5 — the complete transformation of the righteous into the likeness of Christ. But it is difficult to maintain that the Epistle, which if Pauline must be the last of St. Paul's letters, shows much trace of the eschatology which is characteristic of the last group of Epistles described above.
In Tit. there is the same vagueness of reference as in 1 Tim. The passages are P 2"- » 3'. It is a characteristic of the Pastoral Epistles that in speaking of the Parousia they use the term iniipiv- tin, and identify Christ with God, as the Saviour whose appearance is awaited.
iv. The Johannine Literature.— (a) The Apocalypse. — For a detailed account of the apoca- lyptic scheme presented in this book the reader must refer to Commentaries on the Apocalypse. Here we can only point out the place of the Parousia in the general plan, and discuss the nature of the writer's conception. In this book the Parousia takes place at the close of a series of judgments, the 'woes of the Messianic Age.' The apostasy has fully developed itself, the ' earth- dwellers ' have been deceived by the False Prophet, Antichrist, into rendering obedience to the mystic dragon, the Beast with the seven heads. The
appointed number of martyrs has been slain. Then the Lamb riiles Idrth out of heaven followed by the armies of the saints, to make war on the Beast and his armies. The defeat of the Beast and False Prophet, and the destruction of their followers by the sword that goes out of Christ's mouth, take place. This is the Parousia as the writer of the Apocalypse conceives of it. It is immediately followed by the binding of Satan in the abyss, and the resurrection of those who were slain during the tribulation of the apostasy period. Then comes the millennial rei"n, closed by the attack of Gog and Magog, their defeat, the passing away of the heavens and earth, the final judgment of tlie dead, and the' coming in of the new heavens and earth. The book closes with the Church's prayer that the long-delayed Advent may take place. The nature of the imagery makes it difficult to define pre- cisely the writer's attitude to various questions connected with the Parousia.
Several important points remain doubtful :
(a) It is not clear who are the different classes of ' saved ' persons, and what part they have in the Parousia and the subsequent Kingdom. We have the ' elders,' seen in heaven from the first (4^), the souls of the martyrs under the altar in heaven (6*), the mystic number of sealed persons from the twelve tribes (V 14'), a great multitude from every nation and tribe (7*- '*), the company of those who had gained the victory over the Beast (15-), the bride of the Lamb (19'-*), the armies in heaven (19'*), the risen martyrs (20^), the holy city, identi- fied with the bride of the Lamb (21''- '»), and finally the nations of the saved who walk in the light of the city (21" ; but probably tSiv auioixipuiv should be omitted). It is impossible to say how far these represent the same class under different aspects, and how far they represent really diflerent classes of persons who play a part in the great final drama. If the writer conceives of those who are in heaven as having been brought there by a previous ' rapture' and change, such as is described in 1 Th 4'""-", he is silent about it. The Parousia for him occurs in ch. 19. The most obvious con- clusion is that those in heaven are the believers who have died. Yet the only persons represented as raised at the Parousia are the martyrs (20'').
(/3) The nature of the change at the close of the Millennium is not clear. It is plain that the writer does not agree with the author of 2 Peter in identifying the ' day of God,' the destruction of heaven and earth by fire, with the Parousia. There is also no explanation of the transference of the saved from the old earth to the new.