In Christian eschatology, particular judgment is the doctrine that immediately after death the eternal destiny of each separated soul is decided by the just judgment of God. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Eschatology (from the Greek, Eschatos meaning "last" and -logy meaning "the study of" is a part of Theology The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. In Western Christianity, the dead begin their eternal fates after death, either immediately or after being purified in purgatory. Western Christianity is a term used to cover the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the Churches of the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Church On judgment day, the dead are reunited with their bodies and their eternal fates continue. In Eastern Christianity, the dead are judged from the 3rd to the 40th day after death. Families of churches Eastern Christians have a shared tradition but they became divided ( Schism) during the early centuries of Christianity in disputes about They then await their eternal fate on judgment day, anticipating judgment either in dread or in peace. [1]
Contrary doctrines hold that the soul sleeps unconsciously until the General Judgment or that it is annihilated at death, to be recreated on Judgment Day. See also Intermediate state In Christian theology, soul sleep is a belief that the Soul sleeps unconsciously between the Death of the General judgment is the Christian theological concept of a judgment of the souls of the dead by nation and as a whole
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Hebrew Bible
Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1 sq. Ecclesiastes (often abbreviated Ecc) (קֹהֶלֶת Kohelet, variously transliterated as Qoheleth, Göhalath, Koheles, Koheleth ; and Hebrews 9:27, are sometimes quoted in proof of the particular judgment, but though these passages speak of a judgment after death, neither the context nor the force of the words proves that the sacred writer had in mind a judgment distinct from that at the end of the world. The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbr Heb for Citations is one of the books in the New Testament.
The first-century Jewish writing known as the Testament of Abraham includes a clear account of particular judgment, in which souls go either through the wide gate of destruction or the narrow gate of salvation. The Testament of Abraham is a 1st century CE Jewish work originating in Egypt By this account, only one in seven thousand earn salvation.
New Testament
The image of the dead judged immediately after death and awaiting judgment day in peace or torment is clear in several New Testament passages. [2] Christ represents Lazarus and Dives as receiving their respective rewards immediately after death. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Dives and Lazarus or Lazarus and Dives is a narrative attributed to Jesus that is reported only in the Gospel of Luke ( They have always been regarded as types of the just man and the sinner. To the penitent thief it was promised that his soul instantly on leaving the body would be in the state of the blessed: "This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). The Gospel of Luke (Gk Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον) is a synoptic Gospel, and is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the Saint Paul generally depicts death as sleep,[2] and (in II Corinthians 5) longs to be absent from the body that he may be present to the Lord, evidently understanding death to be the entrance into his reward (cf. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a book in the New Testament, written by Paul the Apostle. Philemon 1:21 sq. The Epistle to Philemon is a prison letter from Paul of Tarsus to Philemon, a leader in the Colossian church. ).
Early Christian writing
Some early Fathers, apparently including Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria, believed that, in general, the saved did not enter heaven until Judgment Day, and during the interval between death and the resurrection they dwell happily in a delightful abode, awaiting their final glorification. Exceptions were admitted for the martyrs and some other classes of saints, who were admitted at once to the supreme joys of heaven. [3]
After this "particular judgment", according to Orthodox dogmatic theology, the soul experiences a foretaste of the blessedness or the eternal torment that awaits it after the resurrection. [4] Hippolytus of Rome pictured a particular judgment of souls in Hades, by which the righteous are assigned to "a locality full of light" and the unrighteous are "forc(ed) down into the lower parts". For places named after the saint see Saint-Hippolyte Saint Hippolytus of Rome (c Hades (from Greek, Hadēs, originally, Haidēs or, Aidēs, probably from Indo-European *n̥-wid- 'unseen' refers both to the ancient [5].
Tertullian (c. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian, (ca AD 200) wrote that, even before final judgment, a soul "undergoes punishment and consolation in Hades in the interval, while it awaits its alternative of judgment, in a certain anticipation either of gloom or of glory"[6]
Augustine of Hippo (c 400), one of the four Great Doctors of the Western Church, wrote that the human part of the city of God (as opposed to the part composed of the angels) "is either sojourning on earth, or, in the persons of those who have passed through death, is resting in the secret receptacles and abodes of disembodied spirits". Doctor of the Church ( Latin doctor, teacher from Latin docere, to teach is a title given by a variety of Christian Churches to individuals [7] He said that the dead are judged at death and divided into four groups: the place of the truly virtuous, such as saints and martyrs, is Paradise; the unmistakably evil are damned to eternal punishment in hell; the two intermediate groups, the not completely wicked, and the not completely good, could be helped by the prayers of the living, though it seems that for the former repentance and the prayers of the living created a "more tolerable" hell, while the latter would pass through a penitential fire before being admitted to heaven at the time of the Last Judgment. This idea would be influential in Western Christianity until the twelfth century and beyond. [8]
Medieval concepts
The Venerable Bede, c 700, records an account of a man who had died, seen the afterlife, and returned to life to tell about it. Bede (ˈbiːd (also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or (from Latin Beda (beda (c According to this vision of particular judgment, there are four states into which the dead are placed: the eternally damned in hell, those who will enter heaven on judgment day but meanwhile are punished, those who will enter heaven on judgment day but meanwhile are at peace, and those already pure enough to enter heaven. [9]
In the supplement to the Summa Theologiae, a disciple of Thomas Aquinas argued that the soul departs for heaven or hell immediately on death, "unless it be held back by some debt, for which its flight must needs be delayed until the soul is first of all cleansed. "[10]
From about 1300, the term "Limbo of Infants" was forged for the notion that souls of unbaptized infants went to a particular place where they enjoyed natural happiness, but not the beatific vision. See also Intermediate state Purgatory|Heaven|Sheol|Hades in Christianity|Hell in Christianity In Roman Catholic theology Limbo (Latin limbus In Roman Catholic Theology, the beatific vision is the eternal and direct perception of God enjoyed by those who are in Heaven, imparting supreme The Hell of the Damned, Limbo of the Fathers, Limbo of Infants, and Purgatory were all pictured as areas within "Hades" or "Hell" (infernus, literally underworld) where one was at least temporarily removed from God. See also Intermediate state Sheol|Hell in Christianity Hades is "the place or state of departed spirits"
In 1336, Pope Benedict XII (1334-1342) issued the Bull "Benedictus Deus" teaching that souls receive immediately after death their reward or punishment, without waiting for reunion with the body in the resurrection of the dead. Pope Benedict XII (died April 25, 1342) born Jacques Fournier, was Pope from 1334 to 1342 This article concerns itself with the belief in the final Resurrection at the End of time, commonly found in the Abrahamic religions. This was in contrast to his predecessor, Pope John XXII (1316-1334), who had personally held, while stating that theologians enjoyed perfect freedom in the matter, a view similar to the usual understanding of particular judgment in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Pope John (numbering Pope John XXII (1249 &ndash December 4, 1334) born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse) was Pope from 1316 to 1334 [11]
Reformation concepts
Martin Luther seems to have held that the dead sleep unconsciously until Judgment Day, attributing this notion to the Book of Ecclesiastes. Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer See also Intermediate state In Christian theology, soul sleep is a belief that the Soul sleeps unconsciously between the Death of the Ecclesiastes (often abbreviated Ecc) (קֹהֶלֶת Kohelet, variously transliterated as Qoheleth, Göhalath, Koheles, Koheleth In response, John Calvin argued that the dead are conscious while awaiting Judgment Day, either in bliss or torment depending on their fate. John Calvin (or Jean Calvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564 was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and [12]
Particular judgment in other religions
In his Myth of Er, Plato (c. The Myth of Er is an eschatological legend that concludes Plato 's dialogue known as "The Republic" (10 Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece 400 BC) wrote that each soul is judged after death and either sent to heaven for a reward or to the underworld for punishment. After its reward or punishment, the soul is reincarnated. He also described the judgment of souls immediately after death in the Gorgias. Gorgias ( Greek: Γοργίας ca 487-376 BC Greek Sophist, Pre-socratic philosopher and Rhetorician was a native
According to the 9th century Zoroastrian text Dadestan-i Denig ("Religious Decisions"), a soul is judged three days after death. Zoroastrianism (ˌzɔroʊˈæstriəˌnɪzəm is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings Depending on the soul's balance of good and bad deeds, it goes to heaven, hell, or hamistagan, a neutral place. Heaven may refer to the physical heavens the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the Universe beyond Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering See also Zoroastrian eschatology As described in the 9th century Zoroastrian text Dadestan-i Denig ("Religious Decisions" hamistagan In its appropriate place, the soul awaits Judgment Day. In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgment or Day of the Lord is the judgment by God of every human who ever lived
In Islam, the angels Nakir and Munkar interrogate a recently deceased soul, which then remains in its grave in a state of bliss or torment until Judgment Day. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Nakir and Munkar, ( Arabic: منكر و نكير) in Islamic eschatology, are angels who test the faith of the dead in their graves
References
- ^ "The souls of men, being conscious and exercising all their faculties immediately after death, are judged by God. This judgment following man's death we call the Particular Judgment. The final reward of men, however, we believe will take place at the time of the General Judgment. During the time between the Particular and the General Judgment, which is called the Intermediate State, the souls of men have foretaste of their blessing or punishment" (The Orthodox Faith).
- ^ a b What the Bible says about death, afterlife, and the future, James Tabor
- ^ Particular Judgment in Catholic Encyclopedia
- ^ The Orthodox Faith; Orthodox Confession of the Faith; Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church;What Are the Differences between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism?; The Debate Over Aerial Toll-Houses; etc. James D Tabor is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he has taught since 1989 The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia
- ^ http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0520.htm Against Plato, On the Cause of the Universe,] 1
- ^ A Treatise on the Soul, Chapter 58
- ^ New Advent: City of God, book 12, chapter 9, retrieved on Dec 11, 2006
- ^ Three Purgatory Poems
- ^ The "Near-Death Experience", Orthodox perspective. New Advent is an Online Catholic Encyclopedia. It contains Documents and Links to Catholic Doctrines and Apologetics
- ^ Summa Theologiae, Supplement, q. 69, art. 2]]
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope John XXII
- ^ http://www.godrules.net/library/calvin/142calvin_c9.htm Pyschopannychia]
See also
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia "Particular Judgment"
- What Happens to Me When I Die?, description of particular judgment (Orthodox)
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. General judgment is the Christian theological concept of a judgment of the souls of the dead by nation and as a whole In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgment or Day of the Lord is the judgment by God of every human who ever lived The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia
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