World to Come

The World to Come is an eschatological phrase reflecting the belief that the "current world" is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world or a paradise. The concept is similar to the concepts of Heaven and the afterlife, but Heaven is another place generally seen as above the world and the afterlife is specifically life after death. Also related is the concept of Heaven on Earth.

Zoroastrian eschatology

In Zoroastrian eschatology, the World to Come is the Frashokereti, where the Saoshyant will bring about a resurrection of the dead in the bodies they had before they died. This is followed by a last judgment through ordeal. The yazatas Airyaman and Atar will melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river. All mankind  – both the living and the resurrected dead – will be required to wade through that river, but for the righteous (ashavan) it will seem to be a river of warm milk, while the wicked will be burned. The river will then flow down to hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu and the last vestiges of wickedness in the universe.

Jewish eschatology

The World to Come, or more properly the Hebrew transliteration Olam Haba, is an important part of Jewish eschatology. Although Judaism concentrates on the importance of the Earthly world (Olam Ha'zeh — "this world"), all of classical Judaism posits an afterlife.^{[citation needed]} The Hereafter is known as Olam Haba (the "world to come"), Gan Eden (the Heavenly "Garden of Eden") and Gehinom ("Purgatory").^[1][2][3] According to religious Judaism, any non-Jew who lives according to the Seven Laws of Noah is regarded as a Righteous Gentile, and is assured of a place in the world to come, the final reward of the righteous.^[4][5]

Christian eschatology

In Christian eschatology the phrase is found in English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come" and also in the King James Version of the New Testament at Matthew 12:32, Mark 10:30, Luke 18:30, Hebrews 2:5, Hebrews 6:5. Other related expressions are "Age to Come" (as found in the NIV), Kingdom of God, Messianic Age, Millennial Age, The New Earth and New Jerusalem, and Dispensation of the fulness of times and possibly also eternal life. According to Christian theology, the current world is flawed by Original Sin.

See also

• Dispensationalism
• Dispensation of the fulness of times
• Maharishi Heaven on Earth Development
• Republic of Heaven

References

1. ^ Jews are told to live their life on earth to the full, as their bodies will stay there but their souls live on.Jewish Afterlife Beliefs at SimpleToRemember.com
2. ^ Afterlife at JewishVirtualLibrary.org
3. ^ Olam Ha-Ba: The Afterlife at JewFAQ.org
4. ^ Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 8:14
5. ^ Encyclopedia Talmudit (Hebrew edition, Israel, 5741/1981, entry Ben Noah, end of article); note the variant reading of Maimonides and the references in the footnote