Part II Chapter III: The Last Judgment and Chiliasm

Chapter III: The Last Judgment and Chiliasm

CHAPTER III THE LAST JUDGMENT SECTION I REALITY OF THE LAST JUDGMENT i. The Dogma in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. — Aside from the great conflagration which is to destroy the earth, the General Judgment (indicium universale) will be the last important event in the history of the human race. This event is so intimately connected with the Resurrection of the dead, that no room remains for a terrestrial reign of Christ and His saints (millennium) which, the Chiliasts hold, is to precede the end of the world. That there will be a General Judgment, and that it will be held by Christ in person, has always been an article of faith in the Catholic Church, as may be seen from the ancient creeds. The Apostles’ Creed expresses this belief in the words : “From whence He [Christ] shall come, to judge the living and the dead.” a) Few truths are more clearly and insistently 149 ISO THE END OF THE WORLD proclaimed in Scripture than this. The New Testament in particular speaks time and again of the “second coming” of Christ as the Universal Judge, in opposition to His “first coming” as the Redeemer. This “second coming” is commonly called parousia, i. e. advent ; 1 sometimes “epiphany” (cirufKivoa), f. e. apparition,2 and sometimes “apocalypse” (airoicaAt^w), i. e. revelation.3 Our Lord Himself predicted the General Judgment,4 and the Apostles echoed His teaching. We have already quoted St. Paul. St. James says: “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord… . Grudge not one against another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door.”5 St. Peter writes: “But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief ; … what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with burning heat.”6 b) Though the writings of the Apostolic Fa1 i Cor. XV, 23; x Thess. II, iq» and elsewhere. 2 2 Thess. II, 8; x Tim. VI, 14; 2 Tim. IV. 1; Tit II, 13. 8 a Thess. I, 7» 1 Pet. IV, 13. 4 Matth. XXIV, 27 sqq.; XXV, 3x •qq. 6 lac. V, 7 aqq. : ” Patientes igitur estote fratres usque ad adventum Domini, … Nolite ingemiscerg fratres in alterutrum, ut non iudicemini, Ecce index ante ianuam assistit.* 62 Pet, III, 10 sqq.: * Adveniet autem dies Domini ut fur: … quales oportet vos esse in Sanctis conversationibus et pietatibus, expectantes et properantes in adventum diet Domini, per quern eaeli ardentes solventur, et elementa ignis ardore tabescentt” Cfr. Apoc. XX, 11 sqq.; additional scriptural texts infra, No. a. THE LAST JUDGMENT thers are tinged with Chiliastic views,7 the dogma of the Last Judgment has a solid Patristical foundation. Clement of Rome refers to Christ as “judge of the living and the dead.” 8 In the socalled Epistle of Barnabas we read that the Son of God is “destined to judge the living and the dead.” 9 Tertullian writes: “Christ will return on the clouds of heaven, the same as He arose. 2. Attending Circumstances of the General Judgment. — Sacred Scripture expressly mentions certain features of the General Judgment. a) Our Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the trial in person. John V, 22: “The Father … hath given all judgment to the Son.” 11 He will be assisted by the angels. Matth. XXIV, 31 : ” [The Son of man] shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.” 12 b) The site of the Last Judgment, according to the prophet Joel, will be the valley of Josaphat.18 St. Paul 7 V. infra. Sect. 2. 12 Matth. XXIV, 31: 11 Et mit8 Kpirov $(i)VT

THE END OF THE WORLD says the newly risen shall be taken up in the clouds to meet Christ; 14 whence some commentators infer that the judgment will be held in the air. c) Immediately before the second coming of Christ, ” the sign of the Son of man ” will appear in the heavens.15 What may this sign be? Some Fathers think it is the cross on which our Saviour died, others, that a miraculous cross will appear in the air. Neither interpretation is certain. d) Finally our Lord Himself will * come in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.* 16 e) All men without exception, the just as well as the wicked, will appear before His judgment seat. Matth. XXV, 32: “All nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats.” 17 Rom. XIV, 10 : ” We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” 18 Baptized infants who have done neither good nor evil will also appear, not, however, to be judged, but to behold the glory of the Judge.19 The unbaptized will probably appear in order to be convinced of the justice of God in denying them the beatific vision.20 As for the pure spirits, the angels and demons, though they are already judged, they will participate in the General Judgment to receive the accidental rewards which 14 On the Eschatology of St Paul see C. Lattey, S.J., in his appendix to Thessalonians in the Westminster Version, pp. 17 sqq. is Matth. XXIV, 30: Et tunc parebit lignum Filii hominis in caeh. 19 Ibid.: Videbunt Ftiium hominis venientem in nubibus caeli cum virtute multa et maiestate 17 Matth. XXV, 32: Et congregabuntur ante cum omnes gentes, et separabit cos ab invicem, sicut pastor segregat oves ab hoedis. 18 Rom. XIV, 10: ” Omnes cnim stabimus ante tribunal Christi” is Cfr. St Thomas, Summa Theol., Supplement., qu. 89, art 5, ad 3: … non ut iudicentur, sed ut videant gloriam mdicis.” 20 Suarez. THE LAST JUDGMENT they have merited or the punishments they have incurred by unduly influencing the course of human events.21 f) The twelve Apostles will sit in judgment over the tribes of Israel.22 It is probable that the Blessed Virgin Mary, the prophets of the Old Testament, John the Baptist, and other saints will also assist the Great Judge.22 g) The judgment itself will embrace all the works of man, good and evil, thoughts, words, and deeds.24 This is necessary to manifest the mysterious dispensations of Providence and the justice and glory of the Universal Judge.25 It is prudent to hold with St. Thomas 29 and the majority of Catholic theologians that the forgiven secret sins of the just will also be revealed on the Last Day, in order that the judgment may be made complete and the justice and mercy of God glorified. h) With regard to the form of the Last Judgment observe that such expressions as the separation of the goats from the sheep, the just standing on the right and the wicked on the left hand of the Judge, etc.,2T may be allegorical. Their object probably is to show that the conduct and deserts of every man will become clearly apparent to his own conscience and to the whole world. To interpret these texts literally would hardly do, for the reason that, as St. Thomas points out,28 such a process carried out literally would require an incalculable length of 2iCfr. i Cor. VI, 3; 2 Pet II, 4; Jude 6. (St. Thomas, Summa Theol., Supplement., qu. 89 art 8). 22Matth. XIX, a8: ”… vos qui secuti estis me, in regeneration quum sederit Filius hominis in sede tnaiestatis suae, sedebitis et vos su* per sedes duodecim, iu die antes duo* decim tribus Israel* Cfr. 1 Cor. VI, 2: An nescitis quoniam sancti de hoc mundo iudicabuntt” 28 Cfr. St Thomas, Summa Thiol., Supplement., qu. 99, art 2. 24 Cfr. Matth. XII, 36; 1 Cor. IV, 5. 25 Cfr. Suarez, De Myst. Vitae Christi, disp. 53, sect 1. 2« Supplement., qu. 87, art. 2. 27 Cfr. Matth. XXV, 32 aqq. 28 Supplement., qu. 88, art. 2 : * Inaestimabilis magnitudo temporis ad hoc exigeretur. 154 THE END OF THE WORLD time. Most probably the whole procedure will be over in a few minutes. By divine illumination every man will instantly comprehend the state of his own soul and that of his fellow-creatures. ” It is likely,” says St. Basil, ” that by an inexpressible power, every deed we have done will be made manifest to us in a single moment, as if it were engraved on a tablet.” 29 The words of the sentence, however, ” Come ye blessed,” etc., will in all probability be actually spoken by Christ. 29 In loo., I, 18.

SECTION 2 CHILIASM, OR MILLENARIANISM I. Chiliasm in Its Two Forms.— There are two forms of Chiliasm or Millenarianism. The exaggerated form is heretical, while the more moderate is simply erroneous. a) The heretical form of Chiliasm may be traced partly to the Jewish expectation of a temporal Messias1 and partly to the apocryphal writings of the Old Testament, which abound in fables.2 The Chiliasts of this school conceived the millennium as a period of unbridled sensual indulgence. Eusebius the church-historian says of Cerinthus, a Gnostic heretic who flourished towards the end of the first century : ” He held that at some time in the future Christ would reign on earth ; and as he was addicted to the pleasures of the flesh, he imagined that the reign of God would consist of such things.”8 This error was shared by the ancient Ebionites and Apollinarianists and, in a somewhat more respectable form, still persists among the Mormons and Irvingites. b) Moderate Chiliasm had a number of adherents among Patristic writers, notably Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Nepos, Commodian, Victorinus of Pettau, and Lactantius. Its favorite text was Apoc. l Cfr. It. IX, 6; LXVI, x8; Jod 2 Cfr. Funk. Patres Apostolici, III, 17; Matth. XX, 20 q.», Acts I, II, 276 tqq. 6. 8 Hist. Ecchs., III. j6: n Hue 155 THE END OF THE WORLD XX, i sqq. Papias believed that the Resurrection of the flesh would be followed by a glorious reign of Christ, in which the Saints would enjoy a superabundance of earthly pleasures for a thousand years. These pleasures, however, were to be spiritual, or at least morally licit. In developing this idea its champions parted ways. Some expected the millennium between the General Judgment and the Resurrection of the dead, while others believed it would occur after the General Resurrection, immediately before the assumption of the just into Heaven. A third, still more moderate group of Milknarianists, which is not yet extinct, contents itself with asserting that an era of universal peace and tranquillity will precede the second coming of Christ, to be suddenly interrupted by the great apostasy and the forerunners of AntiChrist.4 2. Refutation of Chiliasm. — Chiliasm in both its forms is untenable. a) Heretical Chiliasm stands condemned in the light of the moral law, which excludes intemperance and unchastity from the kingdom of Heaven.5 It is blasphemous and an insult to God to assert that Christ, who is all-holy, will found an earthly paradise for libertines. No wonder even those Fathers and ecclesiastical writers who entertained Chiliastic ideas vigorously condemned fuii illius opinio, rtgnum ChrisH ter Catholique selon U Plan Divin, renum futurum. Et quorum return 1890) and Rohling (Erkl&rung dew eupiditate ipse tagrabat, utpote v

CHILIASM this grossly sensual species of Millenarianism as heretical. b) It is not so easy to refute the more moderate form of Chiliasm, for it seems to have a basis in Sacred Scripture and primitive Tradition. The New Testament as well as the early creeds speak of the Resurrection of the flesh, the Last Judgment, and the end of the world in terms which make it apparent that these three events are to follow one another in close succession,8 leaving no time for a millennium. a) Tlic-favorite passage of the Chiliasts is in the Apocalypse and reads as follows : ” And I beheld an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years… . They [f. e. the just] came to life again, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead came not to life until the thousand years were accomplished. This is the first resurrection… . And when the thousand years are accomplished, Satan shall be loosed from his prison, and he shall come forth to lead astray the nations which are in the four corners of the earth . . T e Cfr. John VI, 39; John XII. 48; Matth. XtflV, 14 tqq.; 1 Theas. IV, 15 iq. 7Apoc. XX, 1 sqq.: ” Et vidi angelum descendentem dt caelo, habent em clavem abyssi, et catenam magnum in manu sua. Et appre* hendit draconem, serpentem antiquum, qui. est diabolus, et satanas, at ligaint eum per annos mille (^fXta frij) … Et vixerunt [iustorum animae] et regnaverunt cum Christo mille annis (xJXta Ittj). Ceteri mortuorum non vixerunt, donee consummentur mille anni (r& X^ta Irq): haec est resurrectio prima… . Et quum consummati fuerint mille anni, solvetur satanas de ear* cere sua, et exibit, et seduce* gentes, quae sunt super quattuor angulos terras.” 158 THE END OF THE WORLD This is undeniably one of the most difficult and obscure passages found in Sacred Scripture, and no one has yet succeeded in explaining it satisfactorily. But it proves nothing in favor of Millenarianism, which has no claim to our assent unless it can show that its tenets do not conflict with the general teaching of the Bible. Among the more probable interpretations of the Johannine text suggested by Catholic writers we may mention that of St. Augustine, which was adopted by Pope St. Gregory the Great. These two Fathers think that the imprisonment of Satan refers to the first coming of our Lord, and his temporary loosing to His second coming (parousia) at the time of Antichrist. Christ’s millennial reign with His saints on earth (the “first resurrection”) signifies the kingdom of Heaven, where the Blessed reign under the headship of our Lord before the ” second resurrection ” (i. e. the Resurrection of the flesh). Similarly, the term ” first death ” is applied to the separation of the body from the soul, whereas ” second death ” refers to eternal damnation. If this theory is correct, the number one thousand is not to be taken literally, but simply indicates an indefinite period of considerable length. P) Despite appearances to the contrary, Chiliasm has no foundation in Tradition. Among its early advocates Lactantius, Nepos, Commodian, and Victorinus may, in the light of the Decretum Gelasianutn, be set aside as worthless witnesses.8 The same could be said of Sulpicius Severus if he were to be reckoned among the Chiliasts, which is, however, extremely doubtful, as his extant writings contain no trace of this error. Of the remaining writers who are quoted in favor of Chiliasm we • The Decretum de recipients et non recipiendis libris is a series of papal decrees said to have been issued by St. Gelasius I at a Roman synod about A. D. 494. Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Potrology, p. 620; Mansi, Collect. Concil., VIII, 151, 170. may disregard Papias because he was uncritical,9 and Tertullian because he was a heretic when he embraced Millenarianism.10 St. Justin Martyr11 and St. Irenaeus,14 the only two remaining witnesses who are absolutely trustworthy, did not inculcate Chiliasm as an article of faith, but merely proposed it as a personal opinion. Whether St. Melito, Bishop of Sardes, harbored Millenarian notions, is uncertain.18 St. Hippolytus, who is numbered among the Chiliasts by Bonwetsch,14 has not written a single line, in the works that have come down to us, which must necessarily be interpreted in a Chiliastic sense.1* Bonwetsch himself 16 is constrained to admit that Hippolytus discarded some of the eschatological notions held by Irenaeus and Tertullian. Among the opponents of Chiliasm were Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, whom Eusebius honored with the title of Great and St. Athanasius called a Doctor of the Catholic Church.17 Readings: — J. B. Paganini, Das Ende der Welt oder die Wiederkunft unseres Herrn, 2nd ed., Ratisbon 1882.— J. Bautz, Weltgericht und Weltende, Mayence 1886.— J. Sigmund, Das Ende der Zeiten mit einem Nachblick in die Ewigkeit, oder das Weltgericht mit seinen Ursachen, Vorzeichen und Folgen, Salzburg 1892. — J. A McHugh in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII, pp. 552 sq.— J. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, 3 Vols., St Louis 1910-1916, see Index s. v. ” Judgment”— St Thomas, 5*. Theol, Supplem., qu. 49/-91. • Cfr. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., Ill, is Cfr. Atzberger, Gtschichte der 39» ix. christlichen Eschatologie innerhalb 10 Cfr. Tertullian, Adv. Marcion., der vornizanischen Zeit, pp. 278 sqq., Ill, 24. Freiburg 1896. 11 Dial. c. Tryph., c. 80 sq. i« Studien mm den Kommentaren 12 Adv. Haer., V, 3a sqq. Hippolyts, p. 50» Leipsic 1897. 18 Cfr. Bardenhewer, Geschichte it Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., VI, 35; der altkirchtichen Liter atur, Vol. I, VII, praef.; St Athanasius, Ep. de p. 551, Freiburg 190a. Sent. Dion., e. 6. Cfr. Barden14 Hippol. Opera, pp. 243 sq., Leip- hewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 154. sic 1897. i6o THE END OF THE WORLD On Chiliasm see H. Corrodi, Kritische Geschkhte des Chiliosmus, 1794.— H. Klee, De ChiHasmo Primorum Saeculorum, Mayence 1825.— Wagner, Der Chiliasmus in den ersten Jahrhunderten, 18491— J. N. Schneider, Die chiliasHsche Doktrin und ihr Verhaltnis stur christlichen Glaubenslehre (pro-Chiliastic), Schaffhausen 1859.— J. P. Kirsch, art. “Millennium,” in Vol. X of the Catholic Encyclopedia, pp. 307-310.— Chiapelli, Le Idee Millenarie dei Cristiani, Naples 1888.— L. Guy, Le MilUnarisme dans ses Origines et son Developpement, Paris 1904.— Franzelin, De Scriptura et Traditione, P. II, thes. 16, Rome 1896.— H. Kihn, Patrologie, Vol. I, pp. 120 sqq., Paderborn 1904.— J. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, VoL I, St. Louis 1910 (see Index s. v. ” Millenariantsm”). The Editor begs leave to express his gratitude for valuable assistance rendered in the preparation, of this series, to the Rt. Rev. Abbot Charles Mohr, OS.B>, D.D., of St. Leo, Fla.; the V. Rev. Bernard J. Otting, S.J., President of St. Louis University; the Rev. James A. Kleist, SJ., of Campion College, Prairie du Chien, Wis., and the Rev. A. J. Wolfgarten, D.D., Ph.D., of the Cathedral College, Chicago, III. ACKNOWLEDGMENT