Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Future |
FutureAdjective1. Yet to be or coming; "some future historian will evaluate him". 2. Effective in or looking toward the future; "he was preparing for future employment opportunities". 3. Coming at a subsequent time or stage; "the future president entered college at the age of 16"; "awaiting future actions on the bill"; "later developments"; "without ulterior argument". 4. (of elected officers) elected but not yet serving; "our next president". 5. (grammar) a verb tense or other formation referring to events or states that have not yet happened; "future auxiliary". Noun1. The time yet to come. 2. A verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future. 3. Bulk commodities bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "future" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1120. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured. G. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of the future, is a prognostic of careful reckoning and avoiding of detrimental extravagance. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: Future, Subsequent. The word future is sometimes used instead of subsequent; as, "Until he was eighteen years old his conduct was marked by cruelty and malice, but his future life was characterized by kindness and generosity." Future looks forward from the present, and not from some point of time in the past. Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Christian eschatology concerns final events and ultimate purposes (from Gr. eskhatos, last). In Christian theology, eschatology studies the conclusion of God's purposes, and therefore the concluding destiny of created things and especially of Man and of the Church, according to the purposes of God.
The "last things" are important issues to Christian faith, although as a formal division of theology eschatology is a relatively recent development.
Romans 8:
Eschatology concerns the things hoped for, yet to be revealed. The state of the soul after death, return of Jesus Christ, the End of the World, resurrection of the dead, Final Judgment, renewal of the creation, Heaven and Hell, the consummation of all of God's purposes, are issues of eschatology.
- 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
- 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
- 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
- 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
- 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
- 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
- 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
- (English Standard Version)
Very often, the term eschatology is used in a more popular and narrower sense when comparing various interpretations of the book of Revelation and other prophetic parts of the Bible, such as the Book of Daniel, and various sayings of Jesus in the Gospels, about the timing of what many Christians believe to be the imminent second coming of Christ. There are various controversies concerning the order of events leading to and following the return of Jesus, and the religious significance of these events for Christians living now, which are discussed by Christians under the rubric of "eschatology".
Some Christians, notably in Eastern Orthodoxy, and elsewhere, regard most popular discussion of this topic to be fundamentally and dangerously wrong-headed. Theologians from a number of traditions point out that the Book of Revelation was included late in the Biblical canon, because of lingering questions regarding its usefulness to the Christian faith, which many early teachers thought should be single-mindedly preoccupied with what is most transparently understood concerning salvation. The book is not included in the liturgical readings of most traditions. Nevertheless, a great number of Christians consider the effort to understand the Book of Revelation and other prophecies to be one of the most important issues, if not the chief objective, of their Christian faith.
In many Catholic and Protestant dogmatic, mystical or folk traditions, in addition to the prophecies and other doctrines of the Bible, there are also traditional teachings, or writings of people supposed to be extraordinarily gifted with insight into spiritual things, or granted gifts of prophecy or a special visitation by messengers from heaven, such as angels, saints, or Christ. Such extra-biblical revelations have additional eschatological significance for those who believe them.
However, regardless of particular differences between sects, in general Christian eschatology always concerns those future things in which the Christian is instructed to believe expectantly for both, the creation generally and for himself.
Death
Most Christians have died, obviously without seeing the second coming of Christ. Most Christians living expect to "fall asleep in the Lord", to die, and hope that their bodies will be interred to the grave with dignity awaiting the resurrection from the dead. In fact, it is fundamental to nearly all traditions of Christianity, that death and dying will not be finally removed from the earth, until the second coming of Christ. Suffering, disease, injustice and war will continue until the end of the world, according to the Christian view of last things.
- Suffering and disease It is an obligation according to most Christian traditions, to pray for and to work for the relief of suffering of all kinds. Jesus charged His Disciples explicitly, to heal the sick (Luke, 10:9) and promised those who believe in Him, that they would have power over disease (Mark, 16:18). Most Christian views are optimistic regarding the progress of health sciences and encourage activism in the pursuit of the cure of sickness. Therefore, from very early times Christians have seen the healing miracles of Jesus as instruction to them, to establish hospitals for the relief of suffering. Despite the fact that most Christian traditions do not expect that disease, suffering or death will be entirely eliminated either by miracle or by science, there is no particular cause of death by disease that according to Christian doctrine is considered finally incurable in principle. And therefore, in these traditions there is no disease or cause of suffering to which the Christian is obligated by faith to surrender; in fact, some Christian traditions prohibit infanticide and euthanasia as ways to relieve suffering, or to seek the progress of society, and do not counsel against prayers for healing even to the point of death (or for that matter, even beyond the point of death).
- Some Christian groups or sects teach that death and suffering caused by disease are in principle eliminated, and place the blame for their continuation in the human community on lack of faith or unbiblical diet or health practices.
- Among groups which teach that disease is eliminated in principle, are the Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science) founded on the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy. However, this group radically differs from Christian faith as it is understood in most Christian traditions. Also, some segments of the trans-denominational charismatic movement teach that it is an obligation of Christian faith to believe that God is willing to miraculously heal all diseases for those who ask for it with the confident expectation that the request will be granted; although, such teaching apparently comes short of expecting that death and disease will be eliminated, even for any individual, prior to the coming of Christ. In some groups, this belief includes the rejection of medical treatment, as an issue of faith. This latter belief is contrary to the faith of other Christian traditions.
- Some groups or sects teach that at least, longevity has been unnaturally shortened by lack of faith, or by sinfully unhealthy practices. They may recommend conformity to the dietary prescriptions of Biblical Law, or forbid the eating of meat, or the drinking of coffee or alcohol, for these reasons, for example. For the majority of Christians, however, longevity and health per se have no religious significance.
- Persecution and martyrdom Most Christians expect that persecution for the Christian faith will occasionally occur, and will increase toward the end of the world. "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake," (Philippians 1:29 ESV)
- Injustice, poverty and war In terms exactly parallel to Christian expectations regarding disease and death, most Christian traditions believe that it is a Christian obligation to pray for justice and peace, and to work toward those ends. Most Christians believe that injustice and poverty will continue in the world, until the end; but that the Christian is under obligation to patiently pursue peaceful means to establish justice and to relieve poverty, unless the adoption of peaceful means would be instrumental in causing greater suffering or injustice. Participation in war is not categorically a denial of the Christian faith, except according to a specific tradition of Christianity called the Peace churches. These groups believe that Christ has in principle removed all legitimate recourse to war in the pursuit of justice, and teach as a principle of realized eschatology the absolute prohibition of participation in war, or any other violent means of enforcing justice.
- In summary most Christian traditions teach that the conclusion of the purposes of God for the elimination of disease, poverty, injustice and death itself is not possible prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Christian hope will not be realized in this lifetime, and instead has the practical purpose in this lifetime for instructing the Christian to pray for and to work for a fuller measure of those blessings now, which are not intended to be fully revealed until the renewal of the creation at the end of the world. However, there are dissenting traditions, which teach it to be an ethical or moral principle that all suffering ought to be eliminated, prior to Christ's return.
Biblical passages on life after death
Most Christian traditions teach belief in life after death as a central and indispensable tenet of their faith. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth" (Heb 11:13). It is charged by some that this belief in an afterlife is an innovation of Christianity, perhaps by admixture with Greek philosophy. Therefore, a brief discussion of a few passages of the Bible, especially prior to Christianity, would be relevant.Some books of the Bible appear to deny the existence of the afterlife. (The following quotes are from the new JPS translation.)
It is only in the book of Daniel that a "modern" understanding of an afterlife appears. From a Christian point of view, this aforementioned proposed denial of the possibility of afterlife may be interpreted in a different manner: One might see it as a distinction between the "dead" and the "resurrected dead", rather than a denial of the afterlife. The "dead" would represent those who have died outside of God's grace, who by choice do or did not follow God, and thus are dead (spiritually and bodily). The ones who go to be with God, by their choice of faith or actions depending on the religion, would be the "resurrected dead", "living dead," or simply, "living."
- Isaiah 39:18 "For it is not Sheol that praises You, Not [the land of] Death that extols you; Nor do they who descend into the Pit hope for your grace. The living, only the living can give thanks to you.
- Psalms 6:6 "For there is no praise of You among the dead; in Sheol, who can acclaim you?" and Psalms 115:17 "The dead cannot praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence."
- Job 7:7-10 "Consider that my life is but wind; I shall never see happiness again....As a cloud fades away, so whoever goes down into Sheol does not come up.."
- Ecclesiastes. 9:4-5 "For he who is reckoned among the living has something to look forward to - even a live dog is better than a dead lion - since the living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing; they have no more recompense, for even the memory of them has died."
When the Sadducees were testing him, Christ explained this difference by pointing out that God is the God of the living, not of the dead, yet saying that God is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, three apparently dead people.
In Mathew 22:31-32 (the next quotes are from the New International Version), Jesus says, "But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.'"
Looking at the above "contradictory to the afterlife" scriptures in this light, one might suggest the quotes from Isaiah, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes to mean that those who have chosen not to praise God are "dead," but those who have chosen to praise God have been given eternal life and thus are "living" or "resurrected dead." Rather than saying there isn't an afterlife, the author is simply saying in each case that those who do not have "eternal life" will not or cannot praise God (perhaps because their choice to not praise God in life is permanent in the afterlife).
Furthermore, the words in Job are a metaphor. The construction suggests that the idea is being used as a metaphor and is not so much a fact as a generality. "Consider that my life is but wind; I shall never see happiness again....As a cloud fades away, so whoever goes down into Sheol does not come up." In other words, in general, whoever goes down into Sheol does not come up. But also, the whole selection of text is,
Job does not say whoever goes to Sheol lives no more; he says a person who goes to Sheol does not return. Reading further in the passage, one finds he is speaking about returning "to his house again." In other words, a person does not come back to regular, physical life. This does not bar resurrection in the spirit (or even in the body) to an afterlife.
- "Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. 8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more. 9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave [Sheol] does not return. 10 He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more."
It is important to note that Job was wrong about never seeing happiness again (again, he was exaggerating using standard literary technique, but he certainly saw happiness later. See Job 42). What does that say about his comments on Sheol?
Intermediate state
Belief in life after death of the body, according to Christian eschatology, also usually includes belief in an intermediate state. Most traditions believe that the grave does not interrupt consciousness; rather, the immaterial soul experiences a particular judgment after death, while separate from the body. The particular judgment is followed by confinement either in the presence of God or in Hell, where the soul is consciously subject either to happiness or torment. Additionally, the Roman Catholic tradition further compartmentalizes existence after death, and includes belief in Purgatory and Limbo. Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism do not require belief in Purgatory. However, these differ from one another in their respective degrees of opposition to the teaching. Orthodoxy does allow that the disembodied soul may have a course to pass through on the way to an ultimate destination; theosis may continue after death. John Calvin included this belief among those things not worth arguing about. Later protestants tend to be less vague in their opinion, and definitely reject any idea of intervening experience for the soul after death, prior to being in the presence of God.However, an issue on which Catholic and Orthodox faith are united against Protestantism, is that the souls of at least some of the saints in heaven are aware of those who call upon them in request of their intercession. In stark contrast, it is antithetical to most traditions of Protestantism to believe that the souls of those who have died either should or even can be called upon for help or intercession with God. Prayers directed toward those who have died, or rituals or masses dedicated to assisting the dead in their salvation, are often dogmatically taught by Protestants to be contrary to Scripture. Protestants typically deny that the souls of men adopt omniscience omnipresence, or ubiquity after death, or that they are troubled any longer with the trials of life, or that their exceeding virtue in life remains as a deposit of grace in the Church that can benefit the living.
Catholic and Orthodox Christians do not claim that departed saints gain omniscience or omnipresence, however. An essential consequence of Jesus' own death and resurrection is the defeat of death itself. Because of this, death neither puts a person beyond God's help, nor prevents the Christian from praying. The living are not deprived of the prayers of a Christian simply because the Christian dies; otherwise death would still claim victory. Neither does a person's death make it impossible for God to save or sanctify them; otherwise death would limit what God could do. The Orthodox church carefully avoids defining exactly how departed saints are aware of requests for their intercession, or exactly how the departed may be helped by prayers made on their behalf. It just continues to pray as it always has, with faith in God for the results.
Not all Christian sects believe in existence apart from the body, which they regard to be a purely extra-biblical notion borrowed from the non-Christian philosophies and religions. The Millerites, or Adventist tradition, for example, typically deny that consciousness is possible apart from the body. Most do not deny the resurrection, however. A similar belief can be found represented by a minority in other Protestant groups, among whom it is not necessarily considered a heretical belief.
Prophetic events prior to the return of Christ
Generally speaking, there are three approaches or perspectives in eschatology. Historicism looks to Scripture, and especially to prophecies, for the religious significance of past or present historical events. Prophetic interpretations of history, which assume that an unrepeatable fulfillment of prophecy has taken place, are called "preterist" interpretations. Futurism looks for the religious significance for the present time, of events that are thought to be future in history or beyond history. Idealism looks for regularities, patterns or laws of history or of the internal life, which are of perpetual religious significance. These patterns may be continually displayed in history, or displayed at numerous times or in a special context (such as in the Liturgy). Idealism may be combined with historicism or futurism, so that the pattern is an echo of a consummate or archetypical event sometime in history or at the end of the world. Additionally, some interpretations are purely metaphorical. Diversity of opinion arises, when a particular passage concerning the kingdom of heaven is interpreted ideally, for example, which other groups interpret as history, and others as future, or future beyond history. All of these would be opposed to a merely metaphorical interpretation of the same passage.
The Church age
(The extent to which Christians believe that the Church age is the Kingdom of God, and the extent to which this is believed to be future. The nature of the Church's authority in the world, and expectations for its own purity and prosperity, prior to the end. Dispensationalism, Vicar of Christ, Icon of Christ, and related conceptions.)
Kingdom of God: Millennial views
Within the special study of Biblical eschatology, there are diverse opinions about the Kingdom of God. Some interpret a passage in Revelation concerning the thousand-year (or millennial) rule of Christ on Earth, to be a future goal. Ideas of the kingdom of God which place the beginning of the Messianic kingdom still future, and connect its beginning with the return of Jesus Christ, are called "millennialism". A commonly accepted premise of millennialism is that, although Jesus is the Messiah anticipated by the Jews, the Jews were caused to stumble by the crucifixion, and therefore the time was extended for their sake, before the expected Kingdom would be established. In the intervening time, the Gentiles are gathered into the Church. The Kingdom of God on earth anticipated by the Jews was only wrong with regard to the timing of when Messiah would begin to reign. First Jesus had to die, then receive all authority from heaven, then return to renew the earth and to reign in Jerusalem at the end of the age; but because God's people were offended by the cross, God has granted them and all other nations the benefit of his patience.Premillennialism is a futurist historical interpretation, which anticipates that prior to the final judgment, Christ will return to the earth to establish an earthly kingdom. Many anticipate a partial resurrection, only of the faithful, who will reign with Christ for one thousand years, during which time Satan will be imprisoned. At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released for the final battle of Armageddon, where he will be finally defeated, and at this time condemned to hell for all eternity, together with those who have trusted in him rather than in God. This penultimate event is the Last Judgment, where each person will be consigned to either hell or heaven. The end of all things is the mystery of an age of endless ages, when "God will be all in all" (2 Cor. 15:28), toward which all orthodox Christians finally direct their hope.
Premillennialists are also divided on the issue of the so-called rapture. Pretribulationists believe that Christ will return twice. At the beginning he will return to rescue those who are Christians at the time, and then disappear again. This will be followed by a seven-year period of suffering, in which the Antichrist will conquer the world and kill those who refuse to worship him. At the end of the seven years, Christ will return a second time to defeat the Antichrist, and rescue the Jews and those who have converted to Christianity during the tribulation. Midtribulationists believe that Christians will not be removed from the great tribulation, until 3-1/2 years have elapsed, when the Temple sacrifices have been halted and the Antichrist has enshrined himself in the Temple, calling himself God. Posttribulationists hold that Christ will not return until the end of the tribulation, which Christians will suffer through along with everyone else.
The belief in a rapture implied by premillennialism is often criticized, on the grounds that it results in the division of Christ's single return into two stages. Pretribulationists defend it on the basis of a passage in 2 Thessalonians. Some regard pretribulationism to be heretical, in those forms that anticipate the rebuilding of the Temple and the offering again of animal sacrifices acceptable to God.
Postmillennialism is of two antithetical varieties, millennial and non-millennial. Some postmillennialists believe that the millennium is a future golden age, when Christian saints will reign over all of the earth, before the return of Christ and the end of the world. This variety gained brief notoriety through the Anabaptist movement in the 16th century, in the segment lead by Thomas Muntzer. Utopian ideals and Marxism in particular, have at times brought about revivals of this variety of postmillenarian expectations.
Among "millennialists", for whom the "thousand years" is the central feature of their eschatology, premillennialism is popular among many conservative Protestants, such as Hal Lindsey. It has been popularized recently by the Left Behind series of novels and films. Millerite groups, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Jehovah's Witnesses, also place central doctrinal emphasis on the timing of Christ's return.
Kingdom of God: Non-millennial views
Postmillennialism of the more common form, is sometimes called "optimistic amillennialism". As in amillennialism, the "thousand years" is an idiomatic expression equivalent to "all time"; i.e.: for the entire period following the resurrection of Christ until His return. Neither version anticipates a physical throne set up in geographical Jerusalem on earth, where Christ will reign for one thousand years. Both believe that Christ is reigning now, at the right hand of God, in fulfillment of the promises made to David that his throne would be without end. However, unlike the more usual amillennialism, postmillenarian expectation for the future is optimistic concerning the progress of the Gospel and the increasing, practical benefit of Christianity to all men. Postmillennialists anticipate that prior to Christ's return, the world will have gradually but entirely converted to Christianity through the preaching of the gospel. Some anticipate a final apostasy, immediately prior to the final judgment. Postmillennialism of this kind was common in seventeenth century Britain and late 1800s America and early 1900s, prior to World War I. Additionally, postmillennialists typically envision a future conversion of the Jewish people, en masse, to the Christian faith. Some versions of postmillennialism expect the Antichrist to arise in the future, but most have preterist or idealist interpretations of the Antichrist.This variety of postmillennialism has been revived in the last forty years particularly among conservative Calvinist groups. The view places particular emphasis on the timing of Christ's return, which is expected only after a future period of global prosperity. This postmillennial expectation, as an important feature of Christian eschatology, is favored by Christian Reconstructionists such as Gary North, R. J Rushdoony, Greg Bahnsen, Kenneth Gentry, Andrew Sandlin and Gary DeMar; and, by non-Reconstructionists such as Loraine Boettner, Errol Hulse, G.I. Williamson and John Jefferson Davis. This version of postmillennialism has re-popularized evangelical interest in preterist (fulfilled) interpretations.
Preterism is a past-historical interpretation of prophecies concerning the kingdom of God and the coming of Christ. For example, some preterists believe that the prophetic passages in the Bible which have been commonly taken to refer to the end of the world, in fact refer to events in the first century A.D., such as the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Nero and were fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. They still affirm the future physical return of Christ and the future physical resurrection of the saints in agreement with all historic creeds of the Church. All orthodox views are partially preterist, varying from one another regarding which things still remain future. In contrast, full preterists are regarded as heretical, who believe that nothing future remains, and that this present time is the resurrection.
Amillenarians (no literal thousand years) hold that the millennium represents the period between Christ's death and resurrection, and his Second Coming: that is, the age of the Church. This view is related to the understanding of a millennium as a short time period to God, with an inexact extent. Some amillennialists and postmillennialists adopt a preterist (fulfilled) historical interpretation of the establishment of the Kingdom of God and the appearing of the antichrist. Others adopt an idealist interpretation either exclusively or in addition to historicism of some kind, so that in their understanding, the kingdom of God is repeatedly established, and many antichrists arise in conflict with it throughout history only to finally be destroyed.
Millennialism is not an all-encompassing description of eschatology, and ideas concerning the timing of Christ's coming are often not a central issue of eschatology. For example, amillennialism may or may not be the belief of the Catholic church, or of many Protestants; the issue simply is not a central feature of their view of last things or a focus of their faith. Typically, expectations concerning the reign of Christ are seen as partially fulfilled. The kingdom of God is "now and not yet" — realized now in a hidden way in the Church, but awaiting full revealing with the Parousia (the appearing of Christ). Generally, the return of Christ is expected "any time", as the signs anticipating his appearing are believed to have been long since fulfilled by Christ's return to the Father, and the diaspora of Christianity into all the nations.
Amillennial views cannot entirely preclude a special role for Israel (with an exclusively ethnic denotation). Although amillennialism requires what is sometimes derisively called replacement theology (the Church is the beneficiary through the circumcision of Christ, of promises made to ethnic Israel), in order to explain why prophecies concerning the earthly kingdom in Jerusalem are fulfilled by the Church; nevertheless, a distinct, prophetically significant role for the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is irrevocable according to all non-millennialists, on the weight of Romans 11.
However, this reasoning was not designed for the appeasement of insulted Jewish dignity and indeed, Romans 11 especially as it is interpreted by non-millennialists, is considered by many Jewish leaders to be anti-semitic. The ecumenical writings and statements, and conciliatory visits to Israel by Pope John Paul II, have helped somewhat, but not entirely, to relieve the offense of this traditional Christian understanding of the role of ethnic Israel in the plan of God. Other efforts continue to be undertaken in this regard, also by other parties; nevertheless, the apparent resolve of the Roman Catholic Church and liberal Protestants no longer to evangelize Jews, is considered by some ethnically Jewish Christians and conservative Protestants, to be profoundly anti-semitic and a denial of the Christian faith. For more concerning this issue, see the entries on Christian anti-semitism and Religious pluralism.
- 28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
- 29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
The Second Coming
Eschatology concerns the things hoped for, yet to be revealed. The return of Jesus Christ is the most important eschatological event. The central act of Christian worship calls the Christian's attention toward the return of Jesus Christ and the renewal of the creation, at the "Lord's table" (called Eucharist (The thanks), or Communion).
- Luke 22:15 And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." (ESV)
- 1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (ESV)
The resurrection of the righteous and the wicked
With the coming of Christ, Christians anticipate a resurrection of both, the righteous and the wicked.
Final judgment
Following the resurrection of the dead, Christians anticipate that Christ will personally judge the living and the dead, to determine the eternal destiny of each, according to their deeds. There will be a definite limit to the time of probation, during which there is opportunity to enter into life. This time of probation ends with Final Judgment.
Heaven, or everlasting reward
Some traditions of Christianity, chiefly Fundamentalist sects, dogmatically hold that Heaven is in some sense a place: a spatial compartment of the cosmos literally, and spatially located above the sky. However, reasoning that God is the only limitless being, and noting that Christ speaks of Himself as the abode of God, some theologians argue that "heaven" in the sense of an everlasting abode, is nothing other than the everlasting reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, just as God is everywhere, heaven is everywhere that God is, and spatial distances and limitations which define the present life, will no longer confine the blessed. The mode of existence belonging to this state is not fully imaginable. Views of both sort are considered orthodox in most Christian traditions, usually favoring the conception of heaven as a spatial confinement or section of the cosmos, without deciding dogmatically where heaven is located.Eastern Orthodoxy holds that theosis (deification) literally involves the adoption into the person blessed by grace, of the attributes of God. (By this is meant attributes such as love and goodness, but not attributes such as omnipotence or omniscience.) Each person who enters into the light of God becomes light, and by translation into glory will be individually a complete expression of the energies of God, a perfected icon of God. Theosis is a process of becoming more "godly" and more closely united to God in his energies, that begins in this life and continues in the next.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the saints in heaven attain to a direct intuition of the essence of God, in such a way that nothing created intervenes as the medium by which God communicates knowledge of Himself. (I Corinthians 13:8-13; Matthew 18:10; I John 3:2; II Corinthians 5:6-8).
Protestantism denies views that amount to deification by adoption, which expect the literal removal of temporal and creaturely limitation from creaturely consciousness or spatial particularity. Protestantism holds dogmatically, that the distinction between divine and creaturely being is impossible to violate. Human beings will always be limited and partial, creaturely expressions of divine perfection. However, in blessed communion of holiness, together with God through Christ, the blessed will enjoy the never-ending increase in the knowledge of God. Through the knowledge and enjoyment of Him, transformed into the likeness of Christ's glorified humanity, the glorified believer will increase in the knowledge and enjoyment of all things, forever.
Hell, or everlasting punishment
As views vary concerning the location of the everlasting abode of the holy, so views vary concerning the exact nature and location of the punishment of men and of demons, usually without dogmatic definition. Some hold that as God is everywhere, men and demons who are unreconciled to God will be doomed by their unrepented hatred of God, to be in torment by the conscious awareness of the presence of God, metaphorically pictured as a lake of fire, forever. Others hold that the torments of fire are of some other nature, a rather more literal flame, into which all who have rejected God will be cast. Unlike ideas of heaven, however, hell is always envisioned as a place of confinement and of separation: as remote as possible from the abode of the holy.The existence of hell is generally considered a matter of fundamental Christian faith. However, as with anything else, it is not universally believed by all Christian groups or sects. Some groups, including some in the Church of Christ (Campbellites), and Millerites, teach that the abyss of Hell is a metaphor for uncreation, or annihilation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) also denies the existence of never-ending torment. Instead, they teach (not entirely without analogy in orthodox Christianity) that there are degrees of reward that are immeasurably below the rewards of the righteous, to which the wicked are consigned, which by comparison are infinitely less desirable to the righteous than the highest heaven.
The end of the world and the renewal of creation
The final event foreseen, is a transformation of all created things, in which all old things will have passed away and all things will become new.
The consummation of all things
(The "eternal state")See also: Resurrection of the dead, millennialism, Jerusalem syndrome
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Christian eschatology."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In a linear conception of time, the future is the portion of the timeline that is still to occur, i.e. the place in space-time where lie all events that still have not occurred. In this sense the future is opposed to the past (the set of moments and events that have already occurred before) and the present (the set of events that are occurring now).
The meaning of the future to mankind
The future always had a very special place in philosophy and, in general, in the human mind because a huge part of human life needs at least a forecast of events that are to occur. It is perhaps possible to argue that the evolution of the human brain is in great part an evolution in cognitive abilities necessary to forecast the future, i.e. abstract imagination, logic and induction. Imagination permits us to “see” a plausible model of a given situation without effectively observing it in practice (therefore mitigating risks). Logical reasoning allows one to predict inevitable consequences of actions and situations, and therefore gives useful information about future events. Induction permits the association of a cause with consequences, a fundamental notion for every forecast of future time. Such abilities in getting at least glimpses about what is going to happen probably were tremendous forces in the evolution of mankind.Despite these cognitive instruments for the comprehension of future, the stochastic nature of many natural and social processes made of the forecasting of future a long-sought aim for people of almost all historic ages and cultures. Figures pretending to see the future , like a prophet or a diviner enjoyed great consideration and even social importance in many past and even present communities. Whole pseudo-sciences, like astrology or cheiromancy originated with the aim of forecasting futures. Much of physical science too can be read as an attempt to make quantitative and objective predictions about events.
The Future also forms a prominent subject for religion. Often religions offer prophecies about life after death and also about the end of the world. The conflict in Christian religion between the knowledge of the future by God and the freedom of human will led, for example, to the doctrine of predestination.
See also futurology, astrology, time, weather forecasting.
A future is generic name for a contract dependent on exchange of money, goods or services at a future point in time. See futures contract.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Future."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The future of the car is a controversial topic, with some advocates arguing that the car has no future, and others that the car will in the future supplant most other forms of transport.There are significant challenges in the near future to continued use of the car:
- Car use is a significant factor in pollution, and contributes to global warming.
- Increasing population and prosperity are increasing traffic congestion.
- Reserves of fossil fuels, particularly oil, are finite.
Technological Advances
There are many possible advances in technology that could influence the future of the car:
- The smart car and driverless car making driving easier and safer.
- Cars linking up to form platoonss.
- Cars platooning on guideways for increased speed, safety and economy.
- Dual-mode cars able to use relatively small electric motors and fuel supplies or battery reserves for door-to-door service off electrically powered arterials.
- Cars may be able to use low carbon fuels such as hydrogen, fuel cells, and electricity instead of the internal combustion engine. (see hydrogen car, electric vehicle)
- Magnetic levitation or maglev guideways with off-line stations for on-demand, independent travel is an attractive but distant goal.
- The flying car, such as the Moller Skycar
See also
- Incarmatics, about nowadys commercialized car improvements, like LCD in car monitors, DVD in car players, and so on.
External links
- To read more details about US policy on automotive R&D, and the basis for the expected advances above, please see http://discussit.org/transporation/prognosis.
- Innovative Transportation Technologies website.
- How Hydrogen Can Save America by Wired Magazine
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Future of the car."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In linguistics, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by a verb as not having happened yet, but expected in the future.
Future tense in English
In English, as in most Germanic languages, there is no future tense in the sense of a specific inflection that marks a verb for futurity after the fashion of the markers that appear in the preterite forms of the past tense. Rather, the future tense is marked by the use of a number of auxiliary verbs.
The verb shall formerly appeared as a future tense marker. It is now obsolescent in that function, but appears in a desiderative function with subjunctive force in legal ordinances and similar documents:
and in strong declarations of intent or resolve:
- Each animal carried in an aircraft shall be confined in a container. . .
Now will serves as the ordinary marker of the English future tense. The former distinction between shall and will may have been levelled due to the reduction, in most ordinary speech, of either form to the contraction 'll. The verb phrase be going to also marks a future construction in more colloquial varieties of English; it too is frequently contracted.
- (W)e shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . .
Future tense in Latin
The future tense forms in Latin varied by conjugation. Here is a sample of the future tense for the first conjugation verbe 'amare', 'to love'.
amabo I will (shall) love amabis You (singular) will love amabit He, she, it will love amabimus We will love amabitis You (plural) will love amabunt They will loveThis method of producing the future tense in Latin was replaced in the Romance languages by another form using the infinitive plus an ending.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Future tense."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
FUTURE | English | Future and the Inventor | Law, Publishing & Graphic Arts |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: FutureSynonyms: future(a) (adj), later(a) (adj), next (adj), succeeding(a) (adj), ulterior (adj), future tense (n), futurity (n), hereafter (n), time to come (n). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: present(a) (adj), past (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Destiny | Noun: destiny; (necessity); future existence, post existence; hereafter; future state, next world, world to come, after life; futurity; everlasting life, everlasting death; life beyond the grave, world beyond the grave; prospect; (expectation). |
Adjective: impending; Verb: destined; about to be, happen; coming, in store, to come, going to happen, instant, at hand, near; near, close at hand; over hanging, hanging over one's head, imminent; brewing, preparing, forthcoming; int he wind, on the cards, in reserve; that will, is to be; in prospect; (expected); looming in the distance, horizon, future; unborn, in embryo; int he womb of time, futurity; pregnant; (producing). | |
Eventuality | Phrase: that's the way the ball bounces, that's the way the cookie crumbles; you never know what may turn up, you never know what the future will bring; the plot thickens; "breasts the blows of circumstance"; "so runs round of life from hour to hour" "sprinkled along the waste of years". |
Foresight | Verb: foresee; look forwards to, look ahead, look beyond; scent from afar; look into the future, pry into the future, peer into the future. |
Anticipate; expect; be beforehand; (early); predict; foreknow, forejudge, forecast; presurmise; have an eye to the future, have an eye to the main chance; respicere finem; keep a sharp lookout; (vigilance); forewarn. | |
Futurity | Noun: futurity, futurition; future, hereafter, time to come; approaching time, coming time, subsequent time, after time, approaching age, coming age, subsequent age, after age, approaching days, coming days, subsequent days, after days, approaching hours, coming hours, subsequent hours, after hours, approaching ages, coming ages, subsequent ages, after ages, approaching life, coming life, subsequent life, after life, approaching years, coming years, subsequent years, after years; morrow; millennium, doomsday, day of judgment, crack of doom, remote future. |
Adverb: prospectively, hereafter, in future; kal, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow; in course of time, in process of time, in the fullness of time; eventually, ultimately, sooner or later; proximo; paulo post futurum; in after time; one of these days; after a time, after a while. | |
Adjective: future, to come; coming; (impending); next, near; close at hand; eventual, ulterior; in prospect; (expectation). | |
Heaven | Future state, eternal home, eternal reward. |
Possession | Future possession, heritage, inheritance, heirship, reversion, fee, seigniority; primogeniture, ultimogeniture. |
Posteriority | Postdiluvian; puisne; posthumous; future; afterdinner, postprandial. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Future |
| English words defined with "future": future perfect, future perfect tense, future progressive, future progressive tense, future tense ♦ oil future ♦ petroleum future ♦ soybean future ♦ wheat future. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "future": Desired future condition, Dim and Distant Future ♦ future date testing, future rate agreement. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "future": stupendous. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | The future lay sparkling ahead, and we thought we would know each other forever (Sleepers; writing credit: Barry Levinson) Listen to Tommy with a candle burning, and you'll see your future. (Almost Famous; writing credit: Cameron Crowe) It's so important to your future that you don't finish that sentence (The Lost World: Jurassic Park; writing credit: David Koepp) Have you given any thought to your future, son (Forrest Gump; writing credit: Eric Roth) But narcotics is a thing of the future. And if we don't get a piece of that action, we risk everything we have (The Godfather; writing credit: Francis Coppola and Mario Puzo. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo.) | |
Lyrics | That I would like you to know that if you're ever single in the future and you (Unsent; performing artist: Alanis Morissette) That all we do is eliminate our future with the things we do today (I Believe; performing artist: Blessid Union Of Souls) We stood at the alter the gypsy swore our future was right (BRILLIANT DISGUISE; performing artist: Bruce Springsteen) But nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future (On The Road To Find Out; performing artist: Cat Stevens) I look in to the future (All 4 Love; performing artist: Color Me Badd) | |
Clever | There is no future in time travel. (references; author: unknown) Hard work has future payoff. Laziness pays off now. (references; author: unknown) When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. (references; author: unknown) The next time the Devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. (references; author: unknown) Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Thoughts on the Future with George McRobie (1974) Let's Visit the World of the Future (1973) Cable: The Immediate Future (1972) A Future for the Past (1971) Cars of the Future (1969) | |
Song Titles | Building For The Future (performing artist: The Foremen) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References |
| ||
Books |
| ||
Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Shows supercomputer-generated model of an anti-cancer drug of the future. Slide shows three models and includes text of slide: "Supercomputer-Generated Model Anti-Cancer Drug of the Future". Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | Purified DNA, fluorescing orange under UV light, is extracted and used for molecular biology studies. The purified DNA, in a cesium chloride gradient, binds to the ethidium bromide dye which absorbs UV light and makes the DNA fluoresce orange. This visualization of a single band of DNA aids in the isolation and extraction of the DNA for future molecular biology studies. Credit: Mike Mitchell (photographer). |
 | Future Flight Central. Credit: NASA. |  | Helicopter pilot Budd Christman with large sedated male polar bear - Ursus maritimus. Bears were measured and tagged for future study. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) studies. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |
 | Steve Amstrup of USFWS with large sedated polar bear - Ursus maritimus. Bears were measured and tagged for future study. This sedated male was ready for the WWF with a 45 inch neck and weighing about 1400 pounds. Credit: NOAA's Ark (Animals). |  | Riding the rickshaws at Shanghai on the way out to the Philippines Future Rear Admiral and Mrs. Paul A. Smith. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Robert Fauntleroy Mentor of George Davidson, father of his future wife Died of cholera on Texas coast in 1848. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | San Francisco from the bay - a small collection of buildings with little apparent promise for the future. In: "The Annals of San Francisco". Frank Soule, John Gihon, and James Nesbit. 1855. Page 177. D. Appleton & Company, New York. F869.S3.S7 1855. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | Immersing specimen material in liquid nitrogen to preserve for future studies. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | Barren Island before the planting. The work at Barren Island provided a valuable lesson. Geotubes were placed around the perimeter of the island to form a wave break but they failed and the dredge material was washed away behind the tubes. Wave breaks in the future will be constructed of rock, which is more expensive, but a better alternative. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Future" by Maurizio Commentary: "Led screen shot." | "Express Future" by Sean Fenning Commentary: "Express Future." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Bubble; pop; future; space; science fiction; breach; bare; break in; break out; broach; burst; bust in; come apart; crack; disclose; display; disrupt; expand; expose; fissure; free; gap; gape; hole; jimmy; kick in; lacerate; lance; penetrate; perforate; p. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Adolf Hitler | Whoever has the youth has the future. |
Christian Nevell Bovee | When all else is lost, the future still remains. |
Confucius | Study the past if you would divine the future. |
Edmund Burke | You cannot plan the future by the past. |
John Oldham | And all your future lies beneath your hat. |
Lord Byron | Smiles form the channel of a future tear. |
Louis A. Allen | A plan is a trap laid to capture the future. |
Norman Vincent Peale | Your outlook determines your future. |
William Carey | The future is as bright as the promises of God. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | All kydells for the future shall be removed altogether from Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the seashore. (reference) |
John Locke | 1690 | Wherein one cannot but admire the wisdom of the great Creator, who having given to man foresight, and an ability to lay up for the future, as well as to supply the present necessity, hath made it necessary, that society of man and wife should be more lasting, than of male and female amongst other creatures; that so their industry might be encouraged, and their interest better united, to make provision and lay up goods for their common issue, which uncertain mixture, or easy and frequent solutions of conjugal society would mightily disturb. (Second Treatise of Government) |
US Declaration of Independence | 1776 | But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. (reference) |
Marbury v. Madison | 1803 | That the people have an original right to establish, for their future govern-ment, such principles as, in their opinion, shall most conduce to their own happiness, is the basis on which the whole American fabric has been erected. (reference) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | Future history resolves itself, in their eyes, into the propaganda and the practical carrying out of their social plans. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | These fortifications, military establishments, and harbours shall not be reconstructed nor shall any similar works be constructed in future. (reference) |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | Nevertheless the future of Italy hangs in the balance. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Roe v. Wade | 1973 | A childless married couple (the Does), the wife not being pregnant, separately attacked the laws, basing alleged injury on the future possibilities of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, and impairment of the wife's health. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
The Wisdom of the Sands | Antoine de Saint-Exupery | As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it. |
Emma | Austen, Jane | Nothing, but that the lessons of her past folly might teach her humility and circumspection in future. |
Tangled Tale | Carroll, Lewis | BRADSHAW OF THE FUTURE. |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | No glorious future dreamed of alighting upon this solitary old man. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | The past is consumed in the present and the present is living only because it brings forth the future. |
Time Enough for Love | Robert Heinlein | A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Then he put on the cap, and by pulling started the future ruin of the visor |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | This accident absolutely determined Glumdalclitch never to trust me abroad for the future out of her sight |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Yet, CF might be prevented in the future. (references) | |
And episodes may occur again in the future. (references) | ||
The next step is preventing future constipation. (references) | ||
Business | Leasing could become an option in the future. (references) | |
Another area of future growth is IP telephony. (references) | ||
New restaurants are planned in the near future. (references) | ||
Children | Russia | The most likely future for such children is a lifetime in state institutions. (references) |
Malawi | While rites to initiate girls into their future adult roles still are secret, information suggests that abusive practices are widespread and quite damaging. (references) | |
India | AIIMS initially informed the student that he could not sit for exams; however, after the case was filed under the Disability Act, he was allowed to do so. AIIMS also formulated a system to deal with any future cases of a similar nature. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Palau | In response the Ministry decided in 1998 to deny work permits to Bangladeshi workers in the future. (references) |
Venezuela | The IAPA expressed its "concern for the future of freedom of expression in Venezuela" at its October meeting. (references) | |
Argentina | The investigations were ongoing at the end of the year, with no conclusive results expected in the near future. (references) | |
Economic History | Bahamas | Future plans also include a new casino. (references) |
Vietnam | Vietnam is a solid market for the future. (references) | |
Cape Verde | The U.S. market is targeted for the near future. (references) | |
Human Rights | Bahamas | Prison authorities are considering ways to prevent such deaths in the future. (references) |
Hong Kong | The reinterpretation also raised questions about the potential future independence and ultimate authority of Hong Kong's judiciary. (references) | |
Indonesia | Future members are required to serve 5-year terms and to be nominated by KOMNASHAM, confirmed by the Parliament, and approved by the President. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Australia | The ATSIC has proposed the Government establish a Reparations Tribunal to avoid costly future legal battles. (references) |
Australia | Aboriginal groups continue to express concern that the amended act limits the future ability of Aboriginal people to protect their property rights. (references) | |
Minorities | Dominican Republic | They believe that this ensures their children a more promising future. (references) |
Political Economy | GERMANY | Repayment is contingent on future sales of the airplane. (references) |
Argentina | Social stability is also a potential issue of the future. (references) | |
Mauritius | Trade relations in the forseeable future are expected to be focused on AGOA. (references) | |
Political Rights | Cameroon | Some observers believe that Fru Ndi's conviction might enable the Government in the future to disqualify him for any public office for which he may seek to run. (references) |
Burma | The junta gave the convention the task of drafting a new constitution designed to provide a dominant role for the military services in the country's future political structure. (references) | |
Kazakhstan | Participants agreed to a future work plan with the inclusion of the OSCE and all political parties registered in 1999 in a parallel government working group on electoral reform. (references) | |
Trade | Eritrea | More products will be added to the list in the near future. (references) |
Taiwan | The HCF is scheduled to be reduced to 0.2 percent in the near future. (references) | |
Philippines | Our office hopes to continue progress on this front in the near future. (references) | |
Travel | Uk | Some degree of civil unrest may continue for the foreseeable future. (references) |
Cote D'ivoire | Many of the issues that government faced in 1999 still have not been addressed and could cause future unrest. (references) | |
Cote D'ivoire | The general rule is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and even a simple reply might cause future problems. (references) | |
Women | Malaysia | Almost all Malay women, including Muslim women's activists, do not believe that this constitutes mutilation or reduces a woman's future capacity for sexual pleasure. (references) |
Mexico | Groups such as the NGO Center for Research and Care of Women are attempting to counter the widespread view of domestic violence as private, normal behavior and to deter future violence. (references) | |
Kuwait | Leading the call for questioning were Assembly members who voted for the law in 1996. In October the Minister of Education submitted a report on measures already taken and future plans for gender segregation. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Malaysia | The dispute remained unresolved, and with the economic slowdown, the company's future is uncertain. (references) |
China | Several experts are concerned that fewer monks will be qualified to serve as teachers in the future as a result. (references) | |
Thailand | Their inclination when dealing with violators is to negotiate promises of better future behavior, rather than to seek prosecution and punishment. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | EXTINCTION, n. The raw material out of which theology created the future state. F |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Bono | Investment in the future. Help is a good word. And I know if Americans understand that their money is going to be spent well, they are ready to step up to the plate. |
Dean Cain | This artist is known for creating the most amazing visual illusions. Because believe it or not, what looks like a basketball is actually a belly. Finally able to take a good look at her new bedazzling belly, this future mom is amazed of the results. |
James Dobson | Will not. Because there is likely to be strings attached, and if not now then at some time in the future. And you start leaning on it and then if it's pulled away then that creates problems. |
Paul Harvey | I certainly hope we won't think of future wars in terms of marching boys with bayonets. Those weapons have lost our last three wars. |
Rush Limbaugh | Few people believed me then, just as they didn't believe I was seeing the future clearly when I told you the SUV assault was going to happen. |
Sean Penn | Well, I'm probably crazy about it, but it also drives me crazy. But I think right now, as I look to the future, it's a different conversation, because the future, for me, right now, is very much occupied with the other things that we're talking about. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Washington | 1789-1797 | The amount, even if all the injured were included, would not be great, and on future emergencies the Government would be amply repaid by the influence of an example that he who incurs a loss in its defense shall find a recompense in its liberality. |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so generally as auguring harmony and happiness to our future course, I offer to our country sincere congratulations. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | Business can in the future pay higher wages and sell for lower prices than ever before. |
Dwight Eisenhower | 1953-1961 | New forces and new nations stir and strive across the earth, with power to bring, by their fate, great good or great evil to the free world's future. |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | Just as we respect the right of each nation to determine its own future, we also recognize the responsibility of each nation to secure its own future. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Raise present taxes to cut future deficits, they tell us. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | Here, then, is my long-term plan to guarantee our future. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | Beyond that, my fellow citizens, the future is up to us. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at all. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Future" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 59.55% of the time. "Future" is used about 15,017 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 59.55% | 8,943 | 1,070 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 40.4% | 6,067 | 1,611 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.05% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 15,017 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name | Country | Name |
| Japan | Future System Consulting Corporation | South Korea | Future Systems Inc. |
| United Kingdom | Future Integrated Telephony Plc | ||
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "future": assignment of present or future debts ♦ Baltic future exchange ♦ belief in the future ♦ black future ♦ bright future ♦ dip into the future ♦ distant future ♦ dream of the future ♦ factory of the future ♦ for the future ♦ future child ♦ future date testing ♦ future day ♦ future generation ♦ Future Imagery Architecture ♦ future life ♦ future ore ♦ future perfect ♦ future perfect tense ♦ future plans ♦ future progressive ♦ future progressive tense ♦ future prospects ♦ future rate agreement ♦ future state ♦ future tense ♦ future transaction ♦ future values ♦ in future ♦ in future life ♦ in the distant future ♦ in the future ♦ in the measurable future ♦ in the near future ♦ look into the future ♦ look into the vista of the future ♦ managed future ♦ near future ♦ office of the future ♦ oil future ♦ peer into the future ♦ petroleum future ♦ predict the future ♦ prepare for the future ♦ pry into the future ♦ read the future of smb. ♦ remote future ♦ reserve for the future ♦ secure future ♦ soybean future ♦ the future ♦ to sell for future delivery ♦ to the future ♦ vision of the future ♦ wheat future ♦ with an eye to the future ♦ you have to think of the future ♦ you never know what the future will bring. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "future": future-directed, future-generation, Future-life, future-oriented, future-proof, future-proofed, future-proofing, future-sport, future-tense, future-time, future-winning, future-wise. | |
Ending with "future": back-to-the-future, l-future, m-future, near-future. | |
Containing "future": L-future-tenses, past-and-future-catastrophe. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
future shop | 5,679 | future price | 182 |
future | 2,674 | hockey future | 181 |
future trading | 1,232 | bright florida future | 176 |
back to the future | 974 | future chart | 175 |
future car | 569 | credit first future union | 172 |
future shop canada | 413 | future technology | 168 |
index future | 342 | future job | 165 |
future broker | 316 | bright future | 163 |
commodity future | 303 | banker.com future | 162 |
jet set radio future | 280 | future domain | 162 |
future electronics | 263 | future brokerage | 160 |
cattle future | 232 | future quote | 158 |
grain future | 230 | bright future scholarship | 156 |
online future broker | 219 | euro dollar future | 151 |
mapping future.org | 217 | discount future broker | 148 |
online future trading | 206 | future value | 145 |
hockeys future | 202 | future option | 143 |
future shop.ca | 202 | commodity and future and broker | 138 |
future trading system | 200 | future trend | 135 |
commodity future trading | 186 | future movie | 129 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "future"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | toekoms. (various references) | |
Albanian | nesër (tomorrow), i pritshëm (likely), i ardhshëm (coming, ensuing, forthcoming, next, prospective, proximate, To-be, unborn), e ardhme (fate, fortune, futurity, perspective, prospect, To-be, tomorrow). (various references) | |
Arabic | مقبل (coming, relish), مستقبل (futurity), المستقبل (aftertime, outlook, recipient), آت. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | бъдеще време, бъдеще (hereafter), бъдещ (coming, elect, forward, prospective, ulterior, unborn, upcoming), перспектива (distance, outlook, perspective, prospect, vista). (various references) | |
Chinese | 未来, 未來 (approaching, coming, pending, tomorrow), 前途 (outlook, prospects), 將來 . (various references) | |
Czech | futurum, budoucnost (futurity), budoucí (designate, forthcoming, oncoming, prospective, unborn). (various references) | |
Danish | fremtidig, fremtid. (various references) | |
Dutch | beginnend (junior, young), aankomend (junior, next, young). (various references) | |
Esperanto | estonto, estonteco, estonta, debutanta (junior, young). (various references) | |
Faeroese | komandi (next). (various references) | |
Farsi | مستقبل , اینده (Comer, Next, Oncoming, Toward), اتیه , اخرت (Hereafter), بعدی (Further, Subsequent, Ulterior), بعداینده . (various references) | |
Finnish | tuleva (coming, next, prospective). (various references) | |
French | futur, avenir. (various references) | |
Frisian | oankommend (junior, young). (various references) | |
German | zukunft (futures, futurity), zukünftig (from now on, in future, prospective), künftig (close, henceforth, henceforward, hereafter, in future, near, nearby, next, prospective). (various references) | |
Greek | μέλλων, μέλλοντασ, μέλλο (futurity), μελλοντικόσ (come), μελλοντικός. (various references) | |
Guarani | rembi'urã (future meal), raperãre (for the future way). (various references) | |
Hebrew | עתידי, אחרית (end, offspring, posterity, remnant). (various references) | |
Hungarian | leendő (expectant, prospective, would-be), jövendõ (oncoming), jövendő (coming, futurity, shape of things to come), jövõbeli, jövõ (by and by), jövőbeli, jövő idő (future tense), jövő (coming, futurity, succeeding). (various references) | |
Indonesian | masa depan, hadapan (front, presence). (various references) | |
Italian | avvenire (come about, come off, futurity, happen, hereafter, occur). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 末 (close, end, finally, new growth, new shoots, posterity, powder, the end of, tip, top, top end, trivialities, youngest child). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | すえ (close, end, finally, posterity, tip, top, trivialities, youngest child), フューチャー , しょうらい (bringing about, by nature, causing, congenitally, giving rise to, invitation, naturally, prospects, the wind through pine trees), みらい (taste buds). (various references) | |
Korean | 미래 (futuristic). (various references) | |
Manx | sodjey noon, ry-heet (due, forthcoming, forward, pending). (various references) | |
Norwegian | fremtidig, fremtid. (various references) | |
Papiamen | futuro, porvenir, benidero. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | uturefay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | futuro (after-days, coming, forthcoming, futurity, hereafter, prospective, to-be, unborn). (various references) | |
Portuguese Brazilian | futuros. (various references) | |
Romanian | viitor (after-time, forthcoming, futurity, likelihood, next, prospective, unborn). (various references) | |
Russian | будущее (futurity, tomorrow), будущий (coming, forthcoming, next, prospective, unborn). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | sutrašnjica (tomorrow), budućnost (futurity, hereafter), budući (being, unborn). (various references) | |
Spanish | porvenir, próximo (approaching, close, coming, following, forthcoming, handy, impending, near, nearby, next, proximate), futuro (futurity, hereafter, prospective, succeeding), entrante (bight, close, entrant, following, inbound, incoming, ingoing, inlet, near, nearby, new, next, starter). (various references) | |
Swedish | framtid, tillkommande (coming, intended), blivande (becoming, intended, nascent, prospective, To-be, would be). (various references) | |
Thai | อนาคต. (various references) | |
Turkish | vadeli sözleşme, vadeli (deferred, forward), müstakbel (intended, prospective, unborn), istikbal, ileriki (farther, further), ilerideki (forward, further), gelecekte olacak şey, gelecek zaman, gelecek (coming, forthcoming, futurity, hereafter, oncoming, the future). (various references) | |
Turkmen | geljek. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | майбутність, майбутній (coming, next, oncoming, prospective, unborn, upcoming), майбутнє (futurity, hereafter, tomorrow), будучність, прийдешній (forthcoming). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | trong tương lai (unborn), tương lai (by and by, perspective, to-be, to-come). (various references) | |
Welsh | dyfodol (coming). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | futura, futurae, futuram, futuras, futuri, futuris, futuro, futurorum, futurum, futurus, posterus, postremo, posterus; postremo, reliqua, reliqui, reliquis, reliquo, reliquorum, reliquum. (various references) |
| Avestan | 200-600 | apaya. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Romans Chapter 8, Verse 18 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Logizomai gar oti ouk axia ta paqhmata tou nun kairou proV thn mellousan doxan apokalufqhnai eiV hmaV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Existimo enim quod non sunt condignae passiones huius temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And Y deme, that the passiouns of this tyme ben not worthi to the glorie to comynge, that schal be schewid in vs. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | For I suppose that the affliccions of this lyfe are not worthy of the glory which shalbe shewed vpon vs. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | I am of the opinion that there is no comparison between the pain of this present time and the glory which we will see in the future. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Romans Chapter 8, Verse 18 |
| Cebuano | Giisip ko nga ang mga pag-antus niining panahona karon dili takus ikagtandi sa himaya nga igapadayag ra unya kanato. |
| Croatian | Smatram, uistinu: sve patnje sadašnjega vremena nisu ništa prema buduæoj slavi koja se ima oèitovati u nama. |
| Danish | Thi jeg holder for, at den nærværende Tids Lidelser ikke ere at regne imod den Herlighed, som skal åbenbares på os. |
| Dutch | Want ik houde het daarvoor, dat het lijden dezes tegenwoordigen tijds niet is te waarderen tegen de heerlijkheid, die aan ons zal geopenbaard worden. |
| Finnish | Sillä minä päätän, että tämän nykyisen ajan kärsimykset eivät ole verrattavat siihen kirkkauteen, joka on ilmestyvä meihin. |
| French | J`estime que les souffrances du temps présent ne sauraient être comparées à la gloire à venir qui sera révélée pour nous. |
| German | Denn ich halte es dafür, daß dieser Zeit Leiden der Herrlichkeit nicht wert sei, die an uns soll offenbart werden. |
| Haitian Creole | Pou mwen, nou pa ka konpare sa n'ap soufri koulye a ak bèl bagay Bondye pral fè nou wè yo. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Semua penderitaan yang kita alami sekarang, menurut pendapat saya, tidak dapat dibandingkan sama sekali dengan kemuliaan yang akan dinyatakan kepada kita. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Karena menurut pendapatku, bahwa sengsara yang pada zaman ini tiada berpadan jikalau dibandingkan dengan kemuliaan yang akan dinyatakan kepada kita. |
| Italian | Io ritengo, infatti, che le sofferenze del momento presente non sono paragonabili alla gloria futura che dovrà essere rivelata in noi. |
| Latvian | Un es esmu pârliecinâts, ka tagadçjâ laika cieðanas nav salîdzinâðanas cienîgas ar nâkotnes godîbu, kas parâdîsies mûsos. |
| Maori | Ki toku whakaaro iho hoki, he kore noa iho nga mamae o tenei wa, ki te whakaritea ki te kororia e whakakitea mai ki a tatou a mua. |
| Norwegian | For jeg holder for at den nærværende tids lidelser ikke er å akte mot den herlighet som skal åpenbares på oss. |
| Rumanian | Eu socotesc cq suferinyele din vremea de acum nu sknt vrednice sq fie puse alqturi cu slava viitoare, care are sq fie descoperitq fayq de noi. |
| Shuar | Maa, Yamái ti Wáitiakrisha ukunmanka nayaimpiniam ti shiir pujakur nu Wáitsamu kajinmatkittiaji. |
| Spanish | Porque considero que los padecimientos del tiempo presente no son dignos de comparar con la gloria que pronto nos ha de ser revelada. |
| Swahili | Naona kuwa mateso ya wakati huu wa sasa si kitu kamwe kama tukiyafananisha na ule utukufu utakaodhihirishwa kwetu. |
| Swedish | Ty jag håller före att denna tidens lidanden intet betyda, i jämförelse med den härlighet som kommer att uppenbaras på oss. |
| Uma | Ntuku' pomporataa-ku, hawe'ea kasusaa' to mporumpa' -ta tempo toi hewa hangkutuno' -wadi, ane mpenonoi kabohe tuwu' to rapopehuwu-taka hi eo mpeno. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "future": futureless, futurelessness, futurelessnesses, futures. (additional references) | |
| |
"Future" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cuture, faiture, Fattori, fatue, feture, feuture, foptur, forture, foure, Fudauri, fugure, fulture, futer, futrex, futur, futura. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "future" (pronounced fyuw"kher) |
| 3 | -uw" kh er | suture. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-r-t-u-u" | |
-2 letters: fret, reft, tref, true, turf. | |
-3 letters: eft, fer, fet, feu, fur, ref, ret, rue, rut. | |
-4 letters: ef, er, et, re, ut. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-r-t-u-u" | |
+1 letter: futures. | |
+2 letters: frustule, sulfuret. | |
+3 letters: frustules, fulgurate, fulgurite, furniture, outfigure, resultful, sulfurets, unrestful. | |
+4 letters: fraudulent, fulgurated, fulgurates, fulgurites, furnitures, futureless, futurities, outfigured, outfigures, subterfuge, sulfureted, tumblerful, ungrateful. | |
+5 letters: beautifuler, fruitfuller, hurtfulness, manufacture, ruthfulness, subterfuges, sulfureting, sulfuretted, superfluity, tumblerfuls, unfortunate. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Sounds 10. Quotations: Familiar 11. Quotations: Historic 12. Quotations: Fiction | 13. Quotations: Non-fiction 14. Quotations: Spoken 15. Quotations: Speeches 16. Usage Frequency | 17. Names: Company Usage 18. Expressions 19. Expressions: Internet 20. Translations: Modern | 21. Translations: Ancient 22. Bible Trace 23. Abbreviations 24. Acronyms | 25. Derivations 26. Rhymes 27. Anagrams 28. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
