What’s Happened to the Eschaton?
Many, many years ago, in my callow and misspent youth, I had a lapel button that said: “Don’t let them immanentize the eschaton.” This was a pretty good saying and conversation starter despite the fact, as I recall, that it was popularized by the intellectually shallow poseur William Buckley. The saying was an over-simplified reference to the vast, erudite, and dense writings of Eric Voegelin. Reduced shamefully to the simplest terms, immanentizing the eschaton is an attempt to bring Heaven to earth by the actions of men. For Christian civilization the given universe is a divine design which includes the...