Eschatology in Isaiah

This chapter presupposes that the eschatological language of the book of Isaiah is a working rhetorical device for expressing something else underneath it rather than a straightforward description of one’s visionary experience of the afterlife or the end series of this world. Accordingly, it addresses the eschatologically addressed rhetorical discourses in Isaiah. Using adjectival consultation to define “eschatologically,” it argues that the language of these eschatological texts is strong enough to be universal (spatial fullness), ultimate (temporal fullness), and radical (fullness in degree). This strategy aims to rationalize the national crises, as well as to encourage readers to practice proper ethics during those critical and liminal periods. The book of Isaiah illustrates several dystopias and utopias in the eschatologically addressed discourses with the two fixed points—Jerusalem and the Remnants—to serve as witnesses through the ages. Overall, these discourses seek to reassure readers of all ages to understand the divine transformation plan and to join the Torah-based community on Mount Zion for the eternal hope in this world.

LOCKDOWN PERIOD: A FEW THOUGHTS

‘Human is the virus & corona is the cure-nature is a great teacher, it takes the test first and the lessons later’. The outbreak of Covid-19 surprised the world and made powerful nations and communities pause and re-assess strategies which in the immediately preceding period were filled with eternal hope and optimism beyond a certain sense of reproach.

Syrian Identity in Bethlehem: From Ethnoreligion to Ecclesiology

At first sight, the Syriac Orthodox community in Bethlehem appears to be well-described as “ethno-religious”: while many Palestinian siryān emphasise their connection to an ancient Aramean ethnos, this identification also usually entails some relationship to the Syriac Orthodox Church. However, “religion” (ethno or otherwise) is arguably too overburdened a category to tell us much about how being siryāni in Bethlehem compares to being something else. I propose, instead, that thinking of Syrian self-articulation as a kind of ecclesiology, a tradition of incarnating a body (specifically Christ’s), draws attention to the creative, situated and dialogic process of being and becoming siryāni, while problematising categories with which social scientists customarily think about groups. Unlike ethno-religion, ecclesiology captures the fraught pursuit of redeemed sociality, connecting Bethlehem’s destabilized local present to universal and eternal hope. In Bethlehem, what’s more, these dialogues proceed in tantalizing proximity to places and paths, which are haunted by the incarnate (Aramaic-speaking) God whom Syriac Orthodox Christians embody and envoice. Indeed, while this Syrian body is often narrated as an organic, racial fact, nevertheless it is susceptible to a kind of transubstantiation at the margins when an “other” participates fully in the life of this body, especially via the church.

Accepting the Timing of One's Death: An Experience of Chinese Hospice Patients

It is recently that studies began to investigate the features of Good Death. However, work in eastern cultures, such as Chinese, remains scarce. The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of what it means to die a “good death” from the perspective of Chinese patients. Thirty-three Chinese hospice patients with terminal cancer were interviewed. Grounded in the analysis of qualitative data, seven elements that contribute to dying a good death emerged. These seven elements were: being aware of dying (death awareness); maintaining hope (hope); being free from pain and suffering (comfort); experiencing personal control (control); maintaining social relationships (connectedness); preparing to depart (preparations); and accepting the timing of one's death (completion). Accepting the timing of one's death was identified as an essential element. The findings indicate that patients would show better acceptance to the timing of their death under four circumstances. First, they had completed their social roles, which often represented their emphasis in maintaining family connectedness. Accomplishment of these obligations could also mean substantiation of a meaningful and responsible life. Second, they died at an old age because their deaths were perceived as good and natural. Third, respondents had religious faiths. Their faiths or beliefs facilitated them to maintain an eternal hope of a better life after death. Fourth, respondents experienced meaningful lives that further sustained their hope and control for a better future. In this way, respondents may also feel spiritual comfort and acceptance.

The challenge of Spenglerian pessimism to Ranke and political realism

The crisis in Communism and the apparent end of the Cold War have provoked a resurgence of liberal optimism and Western triumphalism. Recent visions of a peaceful world have been conjured up, only to be overtaken by war in the Persian Gulf and the threat of global recession. Awareness of the dark side of international relations in the twentieth century persists despite the irrepressible hopes of many of its students. At this juncture in history, therefore, when eternal hope once again collides with recurrent despair, it is timely to consider the international relations thought of Oswald Spengler, the author of The Decline of the West and ‘pessimist extraordinary’.