Abstract:
Religious sources describe characteristics and transformations for humanity and the world in the Era of Reappearance that indicate remarkable and comprehensive elevation and growth, to such an extent that the human being and the world of that era appear fundamentally different from those prior to it. This study, using library data, philosophical reasoning, and textual interpretation, examines the applicability of the philosophical theory of the intensification of existence in the natural world to interpreting the transformations mentioned in narrations regarding the Era of Reappearance. Sadra philosophy, based on its principles, views the natural world as a realm entirely characterized by transformation and dynamism, continuously undergoing intensification and gradual perfection through a single unified motion. This article attempts to explain the features of the Era of Reappearance found in religious sources within the framework of Sadra theory and to present a rationally coherent account of humanity and the world in that era. The most important results of applying this philosophical theory include: eliminating the necessity of explaining the events of the Reappearance in purely miraculous terms; explaining why the time of the Reappearance is not a case of arbitrary preference without justification; emphasizing the necessity of human participation through preparing the capacities of humanity and the world to receive the perfections of that era; providing a comprehensive explanation of the human, terrestrial, celestial, and natural transformations of that time; and explaining the necessity of the existence of the Imam of the Age and rejecting doubts concerning his historical existence.