«The shores of God»: literary eschatology

Abstract

The article discusses the work La schiena di Dio: escatologia e letteratura authored by Francesco Brancato, from the literature it leads the reader to eschatological questions. The Sicilian theologian reveals the reasons for the title only at the end. The back of God refers to the contradictory realities of the human condition. Immersed in historical ambiguities, we are unable to accept the fullness of revelation. The perfect and harmonious vision of the divine face is impossible for the earthly man. Remits us to a fragment of the Tales of Hassidim published by Martin Buber in 1950. The work places us before the limits of life with a look of hope. It invites us to love it with joy, mystique and prophecy. The literature offers us an invaluable contribution about the deep and mysterious dimensions of existence, such as suffering, boredom, death, judgment, hell and paradise. However, it remains too much in the anthropological sphere, since final salvation is part of the apocalyptic hope of the Christian Faith able to make all things new.