# The Catechism of the Council of Trent/Part 1: Article 7

ARTICLE VII.
"FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD."
JESUS CHRIST is invested with three eminent offices and functions, those of Redeemer, Patron, and Judge. But as, in the preceding Articles, we have shown that the human race was redeemed by his passion and death; and as, by his ascension into heaven, it is manifest that he has undertaken the perpetual advocacy and patronage of our cause; it next follows, that, in this Article, we set forth his character as judge. The scope and intent of the Article is to declare, that on the last day he will judge the human race: the Sacred Scriptures inform us, that there are two comings of Christ, the one, when he assumed human flesh, for our Salvation, in the womb of a virgin; the other, when he shall come, at the end of the world, to judge mankind. This coming is called, in Scripture, " The day of the Lord:" " The day of the Lord," says the Apostle, " shall come, as a thief in the night;" and our Lord himself says: " Of that day and hour no body knoweth." In proof of the last judgment, it is enough to adduce the authority of the Apostle: " We must all," says he, " appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil." Sacred Scripture abounds in testimonies to the same effect, which the pastor will meet, every where, throughout the Inspired Volume, and which not only establish the truth of the dogma, but also place it, in vivid colours, before the eyes of the faithful: that as, from the beginning, the day of the Lord, on which he was clothed with our flesh, was sighed for by all, as the foundation of their hope of deliverance; so also, after the death and ascension of the Son of God, the second day of the Lord may be the object of our most earnest desires; " looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God."
But, with a view to the better explanation of this subject, the pastor is to distinguish two distinct periods at which every one ​must appear in the presence of God, to render an account of all his thoughts, words, and actions, and receive sentence accordingly, from the mouth of his judge: the first, when each one departs this life; for he is instantly placed before the judgment seat of God, where all that he had ever done, or spoken, or thought, during life, shall be subjected to the most rigid scrutiny; and General, this is called the particular judgment: the second, when, on the same day, and in the same place, all men shall stand together, before the tribunal of their judge, that, in the presence and hearing of a congregated world, each may know his final doom: an announcement which will constitute no small part of the pain and punishment of the wicked, and of the remuneration and rewards of the just; when the tenor of each man's life shall appear in its true colours. This is called the general judgment; and it becomes an indispensable duty of the pastor to show why, besides the particular judgment of each individual, a general one should also be passed upon the assembled world. The first reason is founded on circumstances that must augment the rewards or aggravate the punishments of the dead. Those who depart this life sometimes leave behind them children who imitate the conduct of their parents, dependants, followers; and others who admire and advocate the example, the language, the conduct of those on whom they depend, and whose example they follow; and as the good or bad influence of example, affecting as it does, the conduct of many, is to terminate only with this world; justice demands that, in order to form a proper estimate of the good or bad actions of all, a general judgment should take place.
Moreover, as the character of the virtuous frequently suffers from misrepresentation, whilst that of the wicked obtains the commendation of virtue; the justice of God demands that the former recover, in the presence and with the suffrage of a congregated world, the good name of which they had been unjustly deprived before men.
Again, as the good and the bad perform their good and bad actions not without the co-operation of the body, these actions are common to the body as their instrument; and the body, there fore, should participate with the soul in the eternal rewards of virtue, or the everlasting punishments of vice; and this can only be accomplished by means of a general resurrection and of a general judgment.
Finally, it was important to prove, that in prosperity and adversity, which are sometimes the promiscuous lot of the good and of the bad, everything is ordered by an all-wise, all-just, and all-ruling Providence: it was therefore, necessary not only, that rewards and punishments should await us in the next life; but that they should be awarded by a public and general judgment; that thus they may be better known and rendered more conspicuous to all; and that, in atonement for the querulous murmurings, to which, on seeing the wicked abound in wealth and flourish in honours, even the Saints themselves, as men, have ​sometimes given expression; a tribute of praise may be offered by all to the justice and providence of God. " My feet," says the Prophet, were almost moved, my steps had well nigh slipt; because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners:" and a little after: " Behold! these are sinners, and yet abounding in the world, they have obtained riches; and I said, then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent; and I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the morning." This has been the frequent complaint of many, and a general judgment is, therefore, necessary, lest, perhaps, men may be tempted to say that God, " walking about the poles of heaven," regards not the earth. Wisely, therefore, has this truth been made one of the twelve articles of the Christian creed, that should any be tempted to doubt for a moment, their faith may be confirmed by the satisfactory reasons which this doctrine presents to the mind. Besides, the just should be encouraged by the hope, the wicked appalled by the terror of a future judgment; that knowing the justice of God, the former may not be disheartened, and, dreading his eternal judgments, the latter may be recalled from the paths of vice. Hence speaking of the last day, our Lord and Saviour declares, that a general judgment will, one day take place, and describes the signs of its approach; that seeing them, we may know that the end of the world is at hand. At his ascension also, to console his Apostles, over whelmed with grief at his departure, he sent Angels, who said to them: " This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven."
That this judgment is ascribed to Christ our Lord, not only as God, but also as man, is expressly declared in Scripture: for although the power of judging is common to all the Persons of die blessed Trinity, yet it is specially attributed to the Son, because to him also in a special manner, is ascribed wisdom. But that as man, he will judge the world, is confirmed by the testimony of our Lord himself when he says: " As the Father hath life in himself; so he hath given to the Son also, to have life in himself; and he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of Man." There is a peculiar propriety in Christ's sitting in judgment on this occasion; that as sentence is to be pronounced on mankind, they may see their judge with their eyes, and hear him with their ears, and thus learn their final doom, through the medium of the senses. Most just is it also, that he who was most iniquitously condemned by the judgment of men, should himself be, afterwards seen by all men sitting in judgment on all. Hence the prince of the Apostles, when ex pounding, in the house of Cornelius, the principal dogmas of Christianity, and teaching that Christ was suspended from a cross, and put to death by the Jews, and rose the third day ​to life, added: " and he has commanded us to preacr , and to testify to the people, that this is he, who was appointed of God to be the judge of the living and the dead."
The Sacred Scriptures also inform us, that the general judgment shall be preceded by these three principal signs, the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world, a defection from the faith, and the coming of Antichrist. " This Gospel of the kingdom," says our Lord, " shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the consummation." The apostle also admonishes us that we be not seduced by any one, "as if the day of the Lord were at hand; for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition," the judgment will not come.
The form and procedure of this judgment the pastor will easily learn from the oracles of Daniel, the writings of the Evangelists and the doctrine of the Apostle. The sentence, also, to be pronounced by the judge, is here deserving of more than ordinary attention. Looking to the just standing on his right, with a countenance beaming with joy, the Redeemer will pronounce sentence on them, with the greatest benignity, in these words: " Come ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world." That nothing can be conceived, more delightful to the ear than these words, we shall comprehend, if we only compare them with the sentence of condemnation to be hurled against the wicked; and call to mind, that by them the just are invited from labour to rest, from the vale of tears to the mansions of joy, from temporal misery to eternal happiness, the reward of their works of charity.
Turning next to those who shall stand on his left, he will pour out his justice on them in these words: " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." These first words, " depart from me," express the heaviest punishment with which the wicked shall be visited their eternal banishment from the sight of God, unrelieved by one consolatory hope of recovering so great a good. This divines call " the pain of loss," because in hell, the wicked shall be deprived of the light of the vision of God. The words " ye cursed," which are added, must augment to an extreme degree, their wretched and calamitous condition. If when banished from the Divine presence, they could hope for blessing of any sort, it might be to them some source of consolation; but deprived of every such expectation that could alleviate calamity, the divine justice, whose severity their crimes have provoked, pursues them with every species of malediction. The words, " into everlasting fire," which follow, express another sort of punishment, called by Divines " the pain of sense; because, like other corporal punishments, amongst which, no doubt, fire produces the most ​intense pain, it is felt through the organs of sense. When, moreover, we reflect that this pain is to be eternal, we are at once satisfied that the punishment of the damned admits of no increase.
These are considerations, which the pastor should very frequently press upon the attention of the faithful; the truth which this Article announces, seen with the eyes of faith, is most efficacious in bridling the perverse propensities of the heart, and withdrawing souls from sin. Hence we read in Ecclesiasticus: " Remember thy last end, and thou shall never sin." And in deed, it is almost impossible to find one so prone to vice, as not to be capable of being recalled to the pursuit of virtue, by the reflection that the day will come when he shall have to render an account before a most rigorous judge, not only of all his words and actions, but even of his most secret thoughts, and shall suffer punishment according to his deserts. But the just man must be more and more excited to cultivate justice, and, although doomed to spend his life in want, and obloquy, and torments, he must be transported with the greatest joy, when he looks forward to that day on which, when the conflicts of this wretched life are over, he shall be declared victorious in the hearing of all men; and admitted into his heavenly country, shall be crowned with divine, and these, also, eternal honours. It becomes, therefore, the duty of the pastor to exhort the faithful to model their lives after the best manner, and exercise themselves in every practice of piety; that thus they may be enabled to look forward with greater security, to the great coming day of the Lord, and even as becomes children, desire it most earnestly.
* ↑ Thess. v. 2.
* ↑ Matt. xxiv. 36. Mark xiii.
* ↑ 2. a 2 Cor. v. 10.
* ↑ 1 Kings ii. 10. Isaias ii. 12. 19: xiii. 9. Jerem. xxx. 23. Dan. vii. 9. Joel ii. 1.
* ↑ Tit. ii. 13.
* ↑ Ps. lxiii. 2, 3. 12-14
* ↑ Job xxii. 14.
* ↑ Matt, xxiv. 29.
* ↑ Acts i 11.
* ↑ John v 26, 27.
* ↑ Acts x. 42.
* ↑ Matt. xxiv. 14.
* ↑ 2 Thess. ii. 2, 3.
* ↑ Dan. vii. 9.
* ↑ Matt. xxv. 34.
* ↑ Matt. xxv. 41.
* ↑ Chrysost. in Matth. hom. 23. August Serm. 181. de temp. Greg. lib. 9. moral, cap. 46.
* ↑ Aug. senn. 128. de temp. Greg. hom. 39. in Evang. Bernard serm. 1. in festo conium Sanctorum.
* ↑ Eccles. vii. 40.