Portents, war, pestilence, and dearth

Meaning

Wars, rumours of war, factions, sects, pestilence and dearth are named as heralds of approaching redemption in Part IV: the spiritual comparison · unit 53. The passage then looks toward the general resurrection and the final reunion of body, soul and spirit. These signs belong to a Christian eschatological interpretation of world events, not a verified forecast or a method for dating the end. The English 'dearth' conveys scarcity and costly provision rather than ordinary abstract time. The unit also distinguishes baptismal rebirth as a beginning from the wholly perfected new birth in eternal life; the portents announce that larger horizon.