The Participation of Unintelligent Creation in Redemption after the Parousia According to Post-Conciliar Theology

Jozef Krupa

doi:10.18290/rt2025.1

Published : 2025-09-29

Vol. 72 No. 1 (2025)

The Participation of Unintelligent Creation in Redemption after the Parousia According to Post-Conciliar Theology

Jozef Krupa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2276-6010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rt2025.1

Abstract

We understand the post-Parousia state of humanity from the symbols of faith and various dogmatic definitions. But what is God’s plan for unintelligent creation after Christ’s second coming? Will it cease to exist, or continue in some transformed form? Two main opinions have emerged on this issue. The older, now minority view – upheld by the Catholic Church prior to the Second Vatican Council and later defended in the post-conciliar period by theologian Jean Galot and several prominent exegetes – holds that all unintelligent creation will ultimately disappear. The present study focuses on the more recent and now majority position, adopted by the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and long held in Orthodox doctrine. This view maintains that creation will be transformed. In this article, the author explores that view in greater detail, in light of post-conciliar theology.

Keywords:

unintelligent creation, redemption, Christ’s second coming, post-conciliar theology, Catholic doctrine

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