Part I Chapter II: The Particular Judgment

Chapter II: The Particular Judgment

CHAPTER II THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT SECTION I THE EXISTENCE OF A PARTICULAR JUDGMENT i. Definition. — By “judgment” we mean the investigation, sentence, and final order of a civil or criminal court. God pronounces judgment upon the soul immediately after its separation from the body. This Judgment is called Particular, to distinguish it from the General Judgment which takes place at the end of the world. The essential point in the Catholic dogma of the Particular Judgment is that the soul becomes aware of God’s final decision immediately after death. In the General Judgment the emphasis rests rather upon the sentence as such. The Particular Judgment is not necessarily a formal sentence. It may be merely a clear perception of guilt or innocence, whereby the soul is moved of its own accord to hasten either to Heaven, or Hell, or Purgatory, according to its deserts.1 The Scriptural l Cfr. St Thomas, Summa Theol., carnis, per quod in statu viae deSupplem., qu. 69, art. a: ” Sicut tinebantur, statim praemium const’ corpus per gravitatem vet levitatem quuntur vel poenam, nisi aliquid tmstatim fertur in locum suum, nisi pro- pediat… . Et quia locus deputatur hibeatur, ita animae soluto vinculo , animabus secundum congruentiam

” Book of Judgment/’ with its record of good and evil deeds, is a metaphor,2 just like the description which pious writers give of the judgment scene, where the devil accuses, while the guardian angel either confirms the accusation or defends his former client. Where the Particular Judgment will take place no one knows. Probably each soul is judged on the spot where it leaves the body. Though Divine Revelation does not expressly say so, we may assume that the God-man Jesus Christ will act as judge both at the Particular and at the General Judgment.8 2. Proof from Revelation. — Sacred Scripture teaches that the fate of each departed soul is decided before the General Judgment. If this is so, there must be a Particular preceding the General Judgment. Calvin 4 and the Chiliasts hold that the fate of the departed souls remains undecided till the second coming of Christ. The! Hypnopsychites maintain that these souls spend the interval between death and the General Resurrection in a state of unconscious or semi-conscious sleep, — a view which, Father Hunter thinks, is shared by most Protestants who have any conviction about the matter at all.6 Eupraemii vel poenae, statim ut anima mite est, in eo instanti animam eognoabsolvitor a eorpore, vel in internum scere sese iudicari et salvari vel mergitur vel ad caelos evolat, nisi im- damnari imperio et% eftcientid non pediatur oliquo reatu, quo oporteai solum Dei, sed etiam hommis evolationem dilFerri, ut prius anima Christu” purgetur.” Unstit., Ill, is. 2 Cfr. St. Augustine, De Civitate f Cfr S. J. Hunter, S.J., Outlines Dei, XX, 14. of Dogmatic Theology, Vol III, p. 8 Cfr. Suarez, De Myst. Vitae 430. Christi, disp. $2, sect a: ” Verisi20 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN sebius tells of a strange sect, called Thnetopsychites, who believed that the disembodied souls await the General Judgment in a state of temporary annihilation.6 The teaching of the Church is that the fate of every man is determined sometime before the General Judgment.7 a) St. Paul says: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.” 8 This text may be quoted in favor of our thesis, though it is not conclusive because we do not know for certain whether the Apostle refers to the Particular or to the General Judgment.9 A more convincing proof for our dogma is furnished by the parable of Lazarus, Luke XVI, 22: And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. Dives must have been judged before he was punished. The same is true of Judas, who, according to the sacred writer, “went to his own place.” 10 Ecclesiastes says that the body “returns into its earth, from whence it was, while the spirit returns to God who gave it.” 11 b) The teaching of the Fathers is in full accord with that of Sacred Scripture. St. Augustine (to quote but one of them) says the departed souls are judged as they leave the body and before tHisi. Eccles., VI, 37IV. infra, Sect a. • Heb. IX, 27: * Stotutum tst homintbHJ, semtl mori, post hoc ifitrb. & rot/To) autem indicium.* • Cfr. Ettius i. K I. 10 ”… ut abirct in locum suum (els rbv rhwop top t&tov ) Act I, 2$. 11 Ecclci. XII, 7THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT 21 they appear at the final judgment, which takes place at the end of the world.12 A further confirmation of our dogma will be found below in Section 2, where it is shown that the Particular Judgment takes place immediately after death. If the fate of the departed souls is determined immediately after death, it follows that they are judged immediately after death. 12 De Anima et eius Origin*, II, iam reddiHs corporibus iudieari atque 4,8: ” Rectissime et vatde saiubriier in ipsa, in qua hie vixerunt came, creditor, iudieari anitnas, quum de torqueri sive glorificori” (Migne, corporibus exierint, antequam veniant P, L., XLIV, 498). ad illud indicium, quo eas oportet SECTION 2 WHEN THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT TAKES PLACE i. Historical Development of the Dogma. — The Catholic dogma that the soul is judged immediately after death has passed through a long process of clarification in the minds of the faithful. There was no official definition of it by the Church until the Middle Ages. a) In the primitive Church vague ideas were current in regard to the immediate fate of the departed. Not to speak of the Chiliasts, the Hypnopsychites, and the Thnetopsychites, even some orthodox writers harbored erroneous notions concerning the fate of the soul after death. Thus St. Justin Martyr seems to have held that the disembodied souls in the interval between death and the General Resurrection enjoy a natural beatitude.1 St. Irenaeus imagined them dwelling in a sort of paradise (locus amoenitatis) distinct from Heaven.2 Tertullian believed that the martyrs entered into the beatific vision immediately after death.8 St. Hilary speaks of a temporary imprisonment (custodia) of the soul.4 It would, however, be wrong to suppose that these Pa1 Dial, 80. 8 De Animo, 55. 2 Adv, Hatreses, V, 31, . 4 In Ps., iao, n. 16. 22 tristic writers erred in regard to the substance of the dogma. There are many passages in their writings which, at least virtually, inculcate the orthodox view, as when they speak of our Lord’s descent into Hell and the intercession of the saints. b) It was the universal belief of the early Christians that the wicked are buried in Hell immediately after death. The dread sentence, “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire,” 5 was regarded as the confirmation of a previous judgment and an accentuation of the punishment imposed on both the soul and its risen body. In accordance with this ancient belief, Benedict XII defined in his dogmatic Bull ” Benedictus Deus,” A. D. 1336, ” that … the souls of those who depart this life in the state of mortal sin descend into Hell immediately after death and are there subject to infernal torments.”6 A similar passage occurs in the profession of faith submitted by the Greek Emperor Michael Palaeologus at the Council of Lyons, A. D. 1274/ which was embodied in the Decree of Union adopted at Florence, in 1439.8 c) The clarification of ideas with regard to the fate of the just proceeded more slowly. It was believed at an early date that the just, too, are B Matth. XXV, 41. descendant, mox [£ e. statim] in e * DeHnimus quod • . • animae infernum descendere, poenis tarn en descendentium in actuali peccato disparibus puniendas. (Denzingermortali mox post mortem suam ad Bannwart, n. 464). interna descendunt. ubi poenis in- 8 The bearing of this dogmatic defernalibus cruciantur* (Denringer- cition on the lot of unbaptized inBannwart, n. 531). fants is explained in Pohle-Preuss, 1 * Illorum autem animas, qui in God the Author of Nature and the mortal* peccato vel cum solo originali Supernatural, pp. 304 sq.

judged immediately after death; but there was uncertainty as to whether they were forthwith admitted to the vision of the Blessed Trinity or enjoyed some inferior kind of beatitude. This uncertainty continued even after the Second Council of Lyons (1274) had declared that “the souls of the just are received immediately into Heaven.”9 As late as 1330 certain Franciscan theologians are said to have taught that the souls of the just enjoy the vision of Christ as man (in forma servi), but that the beatific vision of God (in forma Dei) was reserved until after the Last Judgment. It is but fair to add, however, that Wadding denies this charge against his fellow-religious.10 If the Franciscans really held the opinion in question, they shared their mistake with Pope John XXII, who about 1331 privately taught the same doctrine.11 In 1336 Pope Benedict XII, in his aforementioned Bull, defined that those who depart this life in the state of sanctifying grace ” behold the divine essence intuitively and face to face.” 12 The Council of Florence cleared away the last remaining doubt by adding the words: “They clearly behold God Himself, one and tri-une, as He is.” 18 2. Proof from Revelation. — Sacred Scripture teaches that the fate of every man is decided immediately after death and that the ulti» * Illorum [scU. iustorum} o»tmas mox in caelum recipi.* (Denringer- Bannwart, n. 464). 10 Annates Minorum, ad annum 1331, 2nd ed., Vol. VII, p. 118. ix He did not, however, make an ex cathedra decision on the subject, as the opponents of papal infallibility assert. Cfr. Hefele, Conciliengeschkhte, Vol. VI, 2nd ed., pp. 622 sqq., Freiburg 1890. 12 … vident divinam essenHam visione intuitivi et etiam fadaii. ( Denzinger-Bann wart, n. 531). 18 ”… et intueri clare ipsum Deum trinum et unum, sicuti est.’ (Denzinger-Baimwart, n. 693). — Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, 2nd ed., p. xo8, St Louis 1914. mate condition of the, Blessed and the damned respectively is essentially the same before and after the General Resurrection. a) Ecclus. XI, 28: It is easy before God in the day of death to reward every one according to his ways. 14 If God rewards every one according to his deserts in the day of death, He must send the souls of the just to Heaven and those of the wicked to Hell immediately after their separation from the body. This is confirmed in the parable which says that the rich man also died, and was buried in Hell. 15 St. Hilary writes : ” Lazarus was carried by angels to the place prepared for the Elect in Abraham’s bosom, whereas Dives was buried forthwith in the place of punishment.” 19 St. Gregory the Great teaches : ” As beatitude causes the Elect to be glad, so, it is necessary to believe, fire torments the wicked from the day of their death. 17 St. John Chrysostom expresses the same thought in a striking simile : * As criminals are dragged in chains from jail to the seat of judgment, so the souls of the departed are forthwith brought before that terrible judgment seat, burdened with the various punishments due to their sins.” • b) The fate of the just is illustrated by the ex14 Ecclus. XI, 28: ” Quoniam fa torum et in Abrahae sinu locaverunt, tile est coram Deo in die obitus re- alium statim poena* regio [scil. intribuere unicuique secundum via* fernum] sm see pit.” suos.” if Dial., XV, fl8: * Sicut electos 10 Luke XXIII, 43. beatitudo hetificat, ita credi necesse i« In Ps., 2, n. 48: * testes nobis est quod a die exitus eni ignis repro[sunt] evangelicus dives et pauper, bos exurat.* quorum unum angeli in sedibus bea- it Horn, in Matth., XIV, n. 4. ample of Lazarus, who was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” immediately after his demise,10 and by Christ’s promise to the good thief, “This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.”20 The terms “Abraham’s bosom” and “paradise,” strictly speaking, signify the litnbus Patrum, but we know that since the Ascension of our Lord the limbo has made way for Heaven. An even more convincing text is 2 Cor. V, 6 sqq. : “We know that, while we are in the body («%iowtc5 cv tw crw/ian) we are absent from the Lord ^UBrffiovfiev dir4 tov Ktyuov), for we walk by faith, and not by sight. But we are confident and have a good will to be absent rather from the body and to be present with the Lord.” To be in the body means to “walk by faith,” to “be present with the Lord,” to enjoy the beatific vision, for which the Apostle betrays such a keen desire in his Epistle to the Philippians (I, 21 sqq.). The only means of attaining this end is “absence from the body,” i. e. death. Consequently, according to St. Paul, the Elect enter upon their celestial inheritance immediately after death. The Fathers held this dogma implicitly rather than explicitly. St. Cyprian says: “What a dignity it is, and what a security, … in a moment to close the eyes with which men and the world are looked upon, and at 19 Luke XVI, 22. 20 Luke XXIII, 43THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT 27 once to open them to behold God and Christ ! 99 21 The Acts of the Martyrs and many ancient liturgies testify to the belief of the primitive Church that those who lay down their lives for the true faith immediately enter into Heaven.22 That the early Christians held the same belief with regard to all the just is evident from the fact that they prayed to other saints besides the martyrs for their intercession in Heaven. Incidentally it may be noted that the dogma with which we are dealing involves another, namely our Lord’s descent into Hell. After the death of Christ His soul went down into Limbo to deliver the souls of the just from the temporary punishment they were suffering, and to introduce them to the beatific vision of God.28 To deny that these souls now enjoy the beatific vision would involve a rejection of the dogma of Christ’s descent into Hell.24 21 De Exhort. Martyr., n. 13: ” Quanta est dignitas et quanta securitas, … ctaudere in moment o oculos, quibus homines .videbantur et mundus, et aperiri eosdem statim, ut Deus videatur et Christus.” 22 Cfr. Coustant, Praef. ad Opera S. Hilarii, f 6, sect. 3, n. 219. 28 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Soteriology, 2nd ed., pp. 91 sqq., St. Louis 191 6. 24 Cfr. H. Hurtcr, S.J., Compendium Theol. Dogma., Vol. Ill, the*. 268.