Q. 1. What is the Catholic interpretation of the word "eschatology?"

A. 1. Eschatology is the branch of systematic theology that deals with the doctrines of the last things. Eschatology is broken down into two categories, the eternal issues of life and death for each of us personally, and the final consummation of the cosmos of which we are a part.

Individual eschatology include:

- death;
- the particular judgment;
- heaven, or eternal happiness;
- purgatory, or the intermediate state;
- hell, or eternal punishment;

Universal and cosmic eschatology include:

- the approach of the end of the world;
- the resurrection of the body;
- the general judgment; and
- the final consummation of all things.