Abstract
Eschatology, a subject whose Greek etymological origins encompass the ‘the last things,’ has acted as a pervading theme throughout Dale C. Allison’s academic work. In its exploration of common theological motifs associated with the afterlife, Night Comes: Death, Imagination and the Last Things seeks to provide a semblance of hope to those who fear the unknown that awaits us after death.
At the age of 23, Allison was involved in a near fatal car crash, an event that provoked ‘utter panic’ and ‘abject horror’ (p. 10) at the thought of his short life so abruptly coming to an end. Despite his church upbringing, this experience caused Allison to question his lifelong held beliefs and acted as the catalyst for his own fascination in the subject.
Initially presented as a series of lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 2014, Night Comes is split into six chapters and serves, in Allison’s own words as ‘a miscellany, a book of thoughts’ (p. ix). Each chapter is split into smaller sections, which not only reflect the informal tone of his initial lectures, but the fragmentary nature of the intricate complexities surrounding our final destiny.
From the outset, Allison presents his own and others’ observations, ideas and interpretations of a number of eschatological themes, including bodily resurrection, judgement, heaven and hell and the role of the human imagination in its anticipation of the eschaton. A particular emphasis is placed on the gradual theological, historical and societal shifts from traditional expectations of the afterlife, for example, the perceived brutality of our final judgement and eternal damnation in Gehenna, concepts Allison believes merely ‘exist on the periphery of modern culture and theology’ (p. 47). Eschatological symbolism he observes has transcended from the pulpit into multiple mediums of popular culture including film, television and the internet, emphasising its continued relevance to all reaches of society. This is an observation compounded by the sheer breadth of Allison’s source material which ranges from the essays of Francis Bacon to George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Despite death’s traditionally negative, and indeed, frightening connotations of uncertainty, Night Comes is refreshing in its unwavering hope of an afterlife which has distanced itself from the archaic imagery of burning brimstone and everlasting suffering. Although none of us know for certain what awaits us when our time on earth comes to an end, Allison maintains an unassailable optimism that in the end, light will shine through the darkness.