معرفت ادیان (Ma`rifat Adyan)

Eagrness to know one's fate is constituted in man's inherent nature. A review of the history of man's life tells that one of the questions which concerns man at all times is how the end of this world and the life after death will be. When we want to deal with the advent of the promised savior, immortality, death and resurrection, we refer to the "eschatology". This word, which is used to mean the knowledge of the end of Time and how the next world will be, is taken from the Greek word eschatos which means furthest. Judaism, Christianity and Islam say that the end of this world and the beginning of the hereafter is close by. A group of Jews and all Christians think that both the end of this world somehow corresponds with the here-after, whereas a number of Jews and all Muslims believe that they are two separate periods, known as "reappearance age" and "day of judgement". According to the Chritians, the last days of this world are the days in which Jesus reappears, and it will be the birth of a big historic day. On that day, the last decision is made and man will be rewarded or punished for his hergood deeds and evil deeds. So, in Christianity the end of this world corresponds to the day of Judgement. In Islam, the end of the world refers to the time preceding the reappearance of the promised Imam(a.s), and the period of his appearance is a period in which great changes take place. As For the hereafter, it begins with the end of this corporeal world and at that time the Judgemen Day begins. In Judaism, two views are presented: one corresponds to the perspective of Islam and the other to that of Christianity.