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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2016
When we look at the texts with which Bach was involved, we discover that eschatology has several meanings. In many texts we find a wish for death, which is the moment in which the body finds rest and the soul is liberated from sin. Dying means also standing before Jesus, not at the day of final judgement, but immediately after death. A difference is made between the body, which is buried, and the soul, which is ascending. Sometimes death is not glorified, because one also knows the pangs of death. However death remains welcome, because all necessities disappear. Dying means going to heaven and enjoying eternal rest. The body is the dress of mortality and is given back to the earth, and then begins the time in which the faithful are with Christ. One can take leave from the sinful world with pleasure. We find this approach—that eternal life starts with dying—much more than eschatology seen as the time of the return of Christ and final judgement. So let us look at the exceptions.