Summary. The following may be said in summing
up: the problem of eschatology is inquiry into the end
as the goal and meaning of history. Since man as an
historical being never confronts history but is always
moving in history he is never able to answer the ques-
tion about the eschaton objectively, i.e., as a neutral
observer. His judgment concerning the eschaton of
history always implies a judgment about himself as an
historical being. Regardless of whatever solution has
been or will be given to the problem of eschatology
we conclude: since history is still an ongoing process
at the present time, and nobody is in a position to scan
history from its beginning to its definitive outcome,
and since the course of history does not itself indicate
what its end and goal might be, the question of escha-
tology remains open as a subject for systematic inquiry
and can only be answered as a matter of personal
decision.
