Religion: The End of the World

And the second angel sounded, and as it -were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died. . . . And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.

—Revelation 8: 8, 9, 11

Ever since the first claps of atomic thunder sounded two years ago, some Christians have been poring over the Book of Revelation, searching for portents and parallels. "Apocalyptic" has become an easy and much overworked word. But to theologians, the possibility—and perhaps imminence—of the world's destruction poses a number of grave questions." In the current issue of the Reinhold Niebuhr-edited quarterly, Christianity & Society, two U.S. theologians struggle with some of these questions. Writes Religion Professor W. Burnet Easton Jr. of Lawrence College:

"According to the New Testament and according to the facts of history, there is nothing in the Christian religion which guarantees the permanence of any civilization. Rather, according to the New Testament, not only are all civilizations under the judgment of doom, but the world itself must come to an end. . . ."

God's Will. "In principle, it does not make any difference whether the world ends tomorrow or 500,000,000 years from now. The New Testament has always said that there would be an end and that the end would be pretty rough, to put it mildly. For the New Testament, this world, societies, and indeed life itself, are but a temporary experience. Moreover, the success of the Christian Church and the validity of its faith does not depend and never has depended on its ability to save societies or prevent physical death. The Church did not save Roman Society, but it saved Romans who were in a doomed society; the Church did not save Feudal Society, but it saved men and women who were in Feudal Society. There is no guarantee that the Church can or will save Modern Society, but if it preaches its gospel it can save men and women who are caught in this society. . . .

"One of the first tasks, then, of the Church ... is to disabuse the Church and the world of the idea that the success of the Church is contingent on preventing wars or saving man or society from destruction, or that the validity of the Christian faith is in the slightest imperiled even if the whole world be destroyed. . . . God did not allow man to discover [atomic energy] until He was ready that man should discover it. Whether it is God's intention to use this means to bring this world to an end, or to lead it into a new era of creativity, it is impossible for us to say. ... But we can say that whatever God intends He will accomplish, and that His purposes are good and righteous altogether. . . ."

Man's Arrogance. Union Theological Seminary's Roger L. Shinn cannot accept such shifting of man's responsibilities. He replies in the same issue: