Question:
Do you believe we’re in the ‘last days’?
Answer: I believe — and
with this belief goes the ardent hope — that we are living in the last
days: the last days of global internecine warfare, menacing
nationalism, haughty racism, devouring fanaticism, divisive tribalism,
sickening materialism, deplorable atheism, grinding poverty, sexual
inequality, chronic hunger, economic chaos and widespread
meaninglessness. But the question refers to a particular religious
belief.
It is important to note the belief in “the last days” is not just held
by the biblical literalists. It is taught scripturally in Judaism,
Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism. This last named religion was
the first to teach the doctrine of a “final judgment” already by 500
BCE. Zoroastrian eschatology parallels closely Jewish (Day of the
Lord/End of Days), Christian (Second Coming) and Islamic (Judgment
Day/Day of Resurrection) eschatological beliefs. In both Hinduism and
Buddhism, long cycles of destruction are followed by a Golden Age, when
their messianic figures will appear (Buddha Maitreya and Kalki, 10th
incarnation of Krishna).
In all these traditions, the last days are a severe testing-time, with
woe and tribulation such as the world has never seen. Does this sound
like our time? But this purgation is followed by a glorious age, the
Kingdom of God on earth.
The Bahá’í Faith makes a startling claim in this regard. Bahá’u’lláh
(1817-1892), the Prophet-Founder of this world religion, claimed to be
the universal Promised One of the world religions who was to usher in
this coming era of world unity. While the claim will be shocking to
some, and rejected by others as not conforming to their understanding
of scripture, nonetheless, such a weighty claim deserves investigation.
He wrote, for example: “Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind
can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call
of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been
lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of
every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open
and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His
Mission, and the tokens of His glory” (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 10). -
Jack
McLean
