Однос есхатологије и историје у Литургији
Eschatology and History in Liturgy

Summary/Abstract: The author explores relationship between Eschatology and history in Orthodox Christian thought, its history and its understanding in modern theology. In Orthodox theology and Liturgy, Eschatology is not a mere last chapter of Dogmatics, as a study of final events and Second Coming of Christ. Eschatology is also present in historical time through Eucharist, which means that understanding their dialectical relation is essentially important for Orthodox Liturgy and Orthodox life in general. Modern theology gives special attention to Eschatology, but there are different, even contradictory opinions regarding the place that Eschatology has in Liturgy, as well as regarding the relation between Eschatology and History. Due to certain historical circumstances and especially due to scholastic influences, Orthodox theology has somehow downplayed its original eschatological worldview, but this worldview has persisted precisely in Orthodox Liturgy, its prayers, and its symbols. Therefore, it is necessary to explain how history and Eschatology manifest in Liturgy, how the faithful may participate in eschatological events, and also to answer the question whether Eschatology is exclusively connected with Liturgy, or does it manifest itself in some other aspects of Church’s life. In order to answer these questions, we must start from New Testament testimonies (Gospels and Paul’s Epistles) and liturgical experience of the early Church (as witnessed in works of great Saints, such as Ignatius of Antioch and Maximus the Confessor), in which the insistence on Eschatology is more than obvious, applying them in the context of modern theology. The author insists that only through “liturgical key” we may reach the right synthesis of Eschatology and history, corresponding to iconic ontology.

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