Jesus tells us he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (cf. Rev. 22:13). In this revelation, we are given a paradoxical truth: the archon (the beginning) and the eschaton (the end) are one. The future is connected to the past, eschatology can be engaged through archeology. When we have a way to examine the past, we also have a way to engage and understand the future. Since our ascertainment of the past is limited, what we can learn about the future, about the end of all things, will also be limited; only when we experience the end for ourselves will the problems and questions of eschatology be answered. And when those questions are resolved, we will also find that we will have the answers to all the questions we have about history and the origin of creation itself. We will understand creation and its history because we will no longer be tied exclusively to temporal history: we will be experiencing eternal life, and with it, we will find ourselves united with the eternity from which all time and space emerged.
When we try to understand either the temporal origin or end of creation, we must accept that we will not be able to find all the answers which we would like to have. We can discern many truths, and from them, discuss both of them. When we do so, we must realize that what we do not know is more than what we have apprehended, so what we establish must not be taken as the ultimate presentation of either. We must accept the limits of our abilities. One of the best ways to do this is through the genre of myth; it allows us to use what historical facts we know, combine them with the greater, spiritual truths which we have already apprehended, and use them to create a narrative which we know is not literal, but which nonetheless teaches those who study it about the truth. That is, myths point beyond themselves, using the spiritual truths contained in them to show us the way to go beyond what was stated so that we are encouraged to look for and engage the mystery which lies beyond all words.
Myth can take elements of history and use them, but when it does so, it should not be confused with history, for its presentation is not about history but about the transcendent truths which lie beyond history. Genesis and Revelation can be said to do this; so long as we understand they are not meant to be pure history, but mythic representations of truths, we can try to discern how those truths relate to history without being forced to believe any particular historical reconstruction is necessary for our faith. There is truth in the story of Adam and Eve, but different people can and will discern how that truth relates to history differently from each other. The same can be said about eschatology and the way people try to explain what will happen at the end of the world, It is a construction of what people think might happen, and while some are more plausible than others, any such construction is not necessary for us to believe so long as we accept the truths which lay behind the construction. This is why different people will take what has been given and come to different conclusions about what they think the beginning of the world was like or what the world will be like at its end. So long as they accept the limitations of their construction, and realize that the truths which are being pointed to are more important than the way they systematized those truths, these narratives can be of use. To force everyone to accept only one interpretation of a myth is to do it a grave injustice. What is important is we engage the truth which has been revealed to us while looking to and seeking the mystery which transcends us. That is, we must engage the truth so as not to fall into the fundamentalistic trap which leads us to limit the truth to what we think we know.
This is why mystics are invaluable to us. They often speak of the truth through the engagement of paradoxes, paradoxes which make sure we never get caught absolutizing the conventions we use to point to the truth itself An example of this can be found with Julian of Norwich. While engaging eschatology, she knew and understood its connection with creation. When she commented upon the way things will be in the end, she often did so while discussing the way things came to be or through the way all temporal things relate with God in eternity. Thus, she said: “And I saw no difference between God and our substance, but, as it were, all God; and still my understanding accepted that our substance is a creature in God.”[1] Similarly, she explained, “Our soul is created to be God’s dwelling place, and the dwelling place of our soul is God, who is uncreated.” [2] In these two reflections, Julian pointed out a paradoxical relationship between God and creation. Creation is a created other, and yet God dwells within it even as God transcends creation, and for this reason, all creation finds itself contained in God. This paradox is often discussed philosophically by those who engage panentheism, the notion that all created things reside in God in such a way as they are not to be confused with God because the divine nature transcends them all. Since all things are in God, God is everywhere present and fills all things, and if God is everywhere present and fills all things, all things are in God and of God; if this were not the case, there would be something outside of God, something which transcends God, and if there is something outside of God, then there would be a limit to the divine nature. All creation, therefore, is a creature within God, while, on the other hand, God is found everywhere in it. The divine nature is not limited, while created nature is. God created an other which can and does dwell within the space established for it in the divine life itself. All creation is meant to partake in and participate with the divine which not only surrounds it, but is contained within it as well. All things are meant to be united with God in such a way that all things will then reflect God as they experience the divine life, and in that regard, they can be said to be God. Of course, this is said according to the order of grace, and not by nature, for all created things are creatures by nature, which is why Julian made sure that we remember that created things remain created even in their unity with God.
Nonetheless, this unity between creation and the Creator, discerned in the archon, in and through how all things are made in and through the Logos, can also be seen in the eschaton, when all things are united and made one through the God-man, Jesus Christ. That is, in the incarnation, the truth of the archon is revealed eschatologically: all things are one in their created nature, and so one in creation, even as they will be one in the eschaton. They will be joined in with Christ in such a way that, as Julian says, they will be loved as Christ:
And for the great endless love that God has for all mankind, he makes no distinction in love between the blessed soul of Christ and the least soul that will be saved. For it is very easy to believe and trust that the dwelling of the blessed soul of Christ is very high in the glorious divinity; and truly, as I understand our Lord to mean, where the blessed soul of Christ is, there is the substance of all the souls which will be saved by Christ. [3]
The incarnation reveals to us the truths of the archon and the eschaton, the beginning and the end; if we want to apprehend those truths, we should do so by looking to and examining them with Christ as our hermeneutical lens. This does not mean we ignore them as they are, in the various disciplines which look at them through other hermeneutics, such as science and history, but what is discerned through those disciplines are aids for the believer, so that through them, they will have a better grasp of what was taken in and assumed by Christ. Science and history should be given their own domain, just like philosophy; what they discern should be used by believers, not rejected by them. The hermeneutic of Christ is able to embrace them all, as Christ is able to incorporate all things and make them one. Christians should not feel challenged by what science can reveal, but rather, they should see that what science observes offers them the opportunity they need to further engage the truth, to engage the mystery of faith in a new way, providing greater meaning for their lives. The beginning and the end, and all things in between, offers us means by which we can see and experience the truth, and through our experience of the truth, we can find ourselves incorporated into and embracing the greater truth, the truth which transcends us and what we know.
[1] Julian of Norwich, The Showings. Trans. Edmund Colledge, OSA and James Walsh, SJ (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), 285 [Chapter Fifty-Four of the Long Text].
[2] Julian of Norwich, The Showings, 285 [Chapter Fifty-Four of the Long Text].
[3] Julian of Norwich, The Showings. 285 [Chapter Fifty-Four of the Long Text].
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