A Complete Catechism of the Catholic Religion/Seventh Article
The Seventh Article.
'From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.'
1. What does the Seventh Article of the Creed teach us?
That Jesus Christ at the end of the world shall come again with great power and glory to judge all men, both the good and the wicked (Acts i. 11).
2. What do you call this judgment?
The general judgment, the last judgment, or the judgment of the world.
3. When will the day of the judgment of the world come?
'Of that day and hour no one knoweth, no, not the Angels of Heaven' (Matt. xxiv. 36).
Nevertheless, Christ and His Apostles have foretold us many things which shall come to pass on the earth before the end of the world (Matt, xxiv., Mark xiii,, and 2 Thess. ii.), that the faithful may be on their guard, and not be seduced to fall away. 'For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets, and they shall show signs and wonders, to seduce (if it were possible) even the elect' (Mark xiii. 22).
4. How shall we be judged?
We shall be judged according to all our thoughts, words, works, and omissions.
'I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment' (Matt. xii. 36).
5. How will the last judgment be held?
1. Christ will come in the clouds of Heaven, and gather all nations together before His throne, placing the good on His right hand, and the wicked on His left (Matt. xxiv. and xxv.). 2. He will then make manifest the good and the evil that every man has done, even his most secret thoughts, and also the graces which He has given to each one; and finally He will pronounce judgment upon all (2 Cor. v. 10).
'And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works' (Apoc. xx. 12). For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; nor hidden, that shall not be known' (Luke xii. 2, and Mark iv. 22). 'The Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts' (1 Cor. iv. 5).
6. What will be the sentence, and the end of the last judgment?
Christ will say to the good: 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' But to the wicked He will say: 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just into life everlasting.' (Matt. xxv.).
7. Is there not, besides the general, another judgment?
Yes, there is also the particular judgment, in which every man shall be judged immediately after his death.
Therefore the Holy Scripture says: 'It is easy before God in the day of death to reward every one according to his ways' (Ecclus. xi. 28).
8. Why will there be a general judgment besides the particular?
For three principal reasons: 1. That God's wisdom and justice may be acknowledged by all men; 2. That Jesus Christ may be glorified before the whole world; and 3. That the good may receive the honor due to them, and the wicked the dishonor they have deserved.
1. 'And the heavens shall declare His justice; for God is judge' (Ps. xlix. 6). 2, 'They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven, with much power and majesty' (Matt. xxiv. 30). 3. 'Then shall those that have afflicted them be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they whom we had some time in derision, and for a parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints,' etc. (Wisd. v. 1-5).
9. Whither does the soul go after the particular judgment?
Either to Heaven, or to Hell, or to Purgatory.
10. How do we know that there is a Purgatory?
1. From the Holy Scripture,1 and from the Tradition of the Church.2
1 In the Holy Scripture—namely, the Old Testament—it is said (-2 Mac. xii. 46): 'It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. 'In the New Testament, Christ speaks (Matt. xii. 32) of sins which shall be forgiven in the world to tome; and (Matt. v. 26) of a prison in the other world, from which there shall be no release till the last farthing has been paid. And St. Paul speaks (1 Cor. iii. 12-15) of such as on the day of judgment 'shall be saved, yet so as by fire.'
2That Tradition teaches it, follows from the constant practice of the Church to pray for the dead, as well as from the unanimous testimony of the Holy Fathers and of the Councils.
2. Also in some measure from Reason; for as no one goes to Heaven except those who are perfectly undefiled (Apoc. xxi. 27), and no one to Hell but those who die in mortal sin, we cannot but admit a place between Heaven and Hell where those souls that are not quite clean, but nevertheless died in the state of grace, suffer until they are worthy of entering Heaven.
11. Who go to Purgatory?
1. Such souls as have departed this life, not in mortal, but in venial sin; and 2. Such also as have died without any sin, but have still to suffer the punishment deserved for their past sins.
12. Will there still be a Purgatory after the general judgment?
No. After the general judgment there will be only Heaven and Hell.
Application. Never imagine that you are in the dark, or that nobody sees the evil you are doing; for nothing escapes the eye of God, 'And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for every error, whether it be good or evil ' (Eccles. xii. 14).