Eschatology

===Baháʼí Faith===
{{See also|Baháʼí Faith on life after death|Baháʼí teachings}}
[[File:Lotus Temple, located in Delhi, India, is a Bahá'í House of Worship.jpg|thumb|left|Bahá'í House of Worship, Delhi, India]]

In the [[Baháʼí Faith]], creation has neither a beginning nor an end;<ref>{{cite book |last= Smith |first= Peter |title= An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C|year= 2008 |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-521-86251-6 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C&dq=%22the+physical+universe+asa+totality+has+always+existed+in+some+form,+having+neither+beginning+nor+end.%22&pg=PA112 112]}}</ref> Baháʼís regard the eschatologies of other religions as symbolic. In Baháʼí belief, human time is marked by a series of [[Progressive revelation (Baháʼí)|progressive revelations]] in which successive [[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|messengers]] or prophets come from God.<ref name="PSmith">{{cite encyclopedia |last= Smith |first= Peter |encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title= Eschatology |year= 2000 |publisher= Oneworld Publications |location= Oxford |isbn= 1-85168-184-1 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/133 133–134] |url= https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/133 }}</ref> The coming of each of these messengers is seen as the day of judgment to the adherents of the previous religion, who may choose to accept the new messenger and enter the "heaven" of belief, or denounce the new messenger and enter the "hell" of denial. In this view, the terms "heaven" and "hell" become symbolic terms for a person's spiritual progress and their nearness to or distance from God.<ref name="PSmith" /> In Baháʼí belief, [[Bahá'u'lláh]] (1817-1892), the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, was the [[Second Coming]] of Christ and also the fulfilment of previous eschatological expectations of [[Islam]] and other major religions.<ref>{{cite book |title= Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths |editor= Sharon, Moshe |first= Christopher |last= Buck |chapter= The Eschatology of Globalization: The Multiple Messiahship of Bahá'u'lláh Revisited (pp. 143–178) |chapter-url= http://bahai-library.com/buck_eschatology_globalization |year= 2004 |publisher= [[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |location= Boston |isbn= 9004139044}}</ref>

The inception of the Baháʼí Faith coincides with [[Great Disappointment]] of the Millerite prophecy in 1844.

[[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]] taught that Armageddon would begin in 1914,<ref>{{cite book |last1='Abdu'l-Baha |title=Tablets of the Divine Plan |date=1959 |publisher=Baha'i Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois |page=45 (Western States, Msg #1) |edition=First written Apr 1, 1916}}</ref> but without a clear indication of its end date.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Universal House of Justice |title=The Promise of World Peace |date=October 1985 |publisher=Baha'i World Center |isbn=085398-216-3 |location=Haifa, Israel |page=1}}</ref> Baháʼís believe that the mass martyrdom anticipated during the ''End Times'' had already passed within the [[Persecution of Baháʼís#Historical context|historical context]] of the Baháʼí Faith.<ref>{{cite book |last = Smith |first = P. |year = 1999 |title = A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith |publisher = Oneworld Publications |location = Oxford, UK |pages = [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/98 98 & 247–248] |isbn = 1-85168-184-1 |url = https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/98 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author = Stephen Lambden |url = http://bahai-library.com/lambden_catastrophe_millennium |title = Catastrophe, Armageddon and Millennium: some aspects of the Bábí-Baha'i exegesis of apocalyptic symbolism |publisher = Bahai-library.com |access-date = 12 November 2011 }}</ref> Baháʼís expect their faith to be eventually embraced by the masses of the world, ushering in a [[golden age]].