by Colleen Mart

Created on: July 01, 2010

World mythology: The end of the world

Stories and writings about how the world will end have been passed down from generation to generation since man’s ability to communicate with others began.    Eschatology is the term used to describe this “study of” the “last” days of our existence on this planet, either factually or metaphorically.  Whether this planet will literally cease to exist or will survive to inherit a totally different environment is widely debated. 

Although there are similarities from culture to culture regarding the major events that will supposedly happen when the “end of the world” comes about, the details vary widely not only from religion to religion, but from individual to individual.  The modern Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Islamic and Christianity, all believe that the end of the world will be a time of “tribulation,” a time when mankind will suffer beyond anything humankind has ever witnessed.  How long this period of chaos lasts or when it will come about is also widely debated between them, but the Abrahamic religions teach that a messiah or savior will come to save them from this tribulation.    

Many ancient Native American cultures believe that the “world” has repeatedly been destroyed and reborn as did other cultures in ancient Mesoamerica.  Ancient Greeks also believed in a cyclical destruction of different “worlds” in which humans have existed.  This would lead one to believe that the “world” that was destroyed in their myths was not literal, but only the human species that had created a world in which to exist, was destroyed leaving only a couple left to repopulate the earth.  The number of worlds that have been destroyed and reborn varies between ancient Native American and Mesoamerican cultures, however what is common among the different tribes is the belief that the stars predict the time of destruction of each world.  

Still other sects, cultures and individuals believe in the physical destruction of the earth.  Whether the method of destruction is by natural terrestrial disasters such as earthquakes or volcanic activity, believers are predicting that the earth itself will no longer exist and, of course, all life on it will be destroyed as well.  And then there are theories about extraterrestrial destruction of our planet from asteroids, comets or rogue planets.

Why would these “end of the world” myths abound?  What would prompt nearly every human on earth to believe in such a terrible event?  Is it because the world and the beings living in or on it have become so evil that everything must be destroyed?  Many would say yes, but there is one underlying myth so common around the world that it would be hard to find anyone who does not believe it.

Humans want to feel that every other human is not as perfect as they themselves are and each individual desires to punish every other human for their failure to be as perfect as oneself.  These “perfect” humans distance themselves from the act of destroying the world by believing in a higher power who will sit in judgment of all others for an indefinite period of time.  The belief in a time of judgment or a day of judgment is a common belief for just about every human on earth.  This higher power’s destruction of the “world” as punishment for real or perceived imperfection of others is the most common “end of the world” myth.

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