(Greek: eschatos, uttermost; logos, discourse on)
The branch of systematic theology which treats of the last things. These are, for the individual, death, judgment (particular), heaven or hell (purgatory, as a transitory state), the so- called "four last things," since they constitute the end of man's mortal life, and the immediate and final retribution of that life in another world. For the human race the last things embrace the resurrection from the dead and the general judgment. To these must be added the end and fate of the physical world or cosmic eschatology.