“COME, LORD JESUS!” THE ESCHATOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
“COME, LORD JESUS!” THE ESCHATOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

Summary/Abstract: The earliest Christians lived in expectation of the parousia and this influenced the character of their communal gatherings. This eschatological character of their gatherings was expressed in the intense expectation of the eschaton and an orientation toward the future rather than the past and present. The eschatology of the earliest Christians was expounded in various activities that took place during the early Christian gatherings. The eucharistic and other types of communal prayers that were pronounced during and after the communal meal were filled with words that expressed future coming of Jesus Christ and establishment of God’s Kingdom. Early Christians also read texts which looked toward the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the resurrection, and the final fate of all people. Extant texts of early Christian sermons also contained eschatological appeals. As for early Christian singing, the texts of songs do not contain clear eschatological material; however some of them have eschatological motifs. During their assemblies, early Christians also expressed eschatologically-oriented liturgical exclamations. Thus, on the basis of the extant early Christian texts that were heard in their gatherings and described their content, one can conclude that those gatherings clearly had an eschatological character in the first and second centuries.

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