EXPERIENCE
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how to square it away with what their science classes tell them about the universe in which they live.
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Those who have had a peak religious experience see numinosity as one of its outstanding characteristics. That is, such experiences have an aura of other-worldly, eschatological reality about them. They are freighted with other-worldly values.
'. ACCULTURATION OF ESCHATOLOGY
Today we hear little about heaven or hell: "the world that largely occupied the attention of Jesus. But is the blame for this dearth to be placed upon ministers, or primarily upon theologians who have failed to offer any construct of the eschaton consonant with today's consciousness? There is no doubt that in the past both ministers and theologians were deeply concerned with giving people some idea of the other world which religion promised. If life after death was the goal of those who followed Jesus and gave up their life in this world, people naturally wanted to know more about that eschatological existence. They wanted to know if it would be worth the price they had to pay for it. The symbol of the great banquet prepared by the king may have only a messianic and not an overly eschatological tone as it is rendered by Luke (14 :15-24), but the parallel pericope in Matthew (22 :1-14) according to the opinion of some scholars makes reference to the future life. The phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" ( v. 13) has for Matthew definite eschatological overtones. Further evidences of the understanding by the early Christian community of these texts as references to a celestial banquet are given by catacumbal art. If it can be presumed that everybody likes a party, and if
among oriental peoples it was considered a special breach of etiquette to decline an invitation to a feast given by a prominent person, the parable might well imply an indictment against the servants of the king. The failure of the prophets and ministers of the Lord to show forth what he had promised to those who serve him faithfully and loyally as something truly pleasant and delightful prompted Jesus to emphasize this aspect of
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