The Last Judgment

Fifth Wednesday after Pentecost

"From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead."

When I was a kid and learned the Apostles' Creed through Sunday recitation at church, I somehow thought of God as a celestial track referee. He would judge the quick. If you weren't quick enough, you would be dead. It seems like years later before someone explained to me that quick in this context means "living." 

In the theology of The Apostles' Creed and the theology of New Testament Christianity there will be a final judgment on the day of our resurrection at the end of time. As with other concepts in the Apostles' Creed, there is virtually complete agreement with the New Testament and complete agreement among the New Testament writers. These concepts tend to be at odds with many Christians' thinking from the second century until now. Nowhere in the NT is there the idea that God will judge us at the point of our death and and send us to heaven or to hell at that point. Here are some of the important NT references: 

Jesus alludes to the judgement numerous times in his parables. In the parable of the weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30) a householder sows good seed in a field, but while everybody is asleep, an enemy comes and plants weeds among the wheat. As the weeds grow, the servants ask the householder whether they should root them out. The householder surprisingly tells them to let the weeds grow together with the wheat until the harvest time. Then he will tell the reapers to bind the weeds into bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into the householder's barn.

In vv. 36-43 Jesus explains the parable to his disciples. The sower of the good seed is Jesus. The planter of the weeds is the devil. "The harvest is the end of the age." The reapers are angels. Humans are the wheat and the weeds. The weeds will burn--apparently in hell. The wheat will be gathered into the barn--the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 24-25 also contain parables related to the last judgment. Matthew 25:31-46 is particularly important. Jesus says that those who care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoners will have eternal life. Those who don't will go away to eternal punishment. In this passage judgment appears to be based upon a person's good works. Nothing in the passage is said about the person's faith.

Paul in Romans 2 says that God "will repay according to each one's deeds, to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality he will give eternal life while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness there will be wrath and fury...on the day when; according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all."

In Revelation 20, John explains the last judgment in one of the visions he receives from God, "I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books...and anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was throne into the lake of fire."

I could find many more NT texts to support the view of the last judgment. We could also debate many points within these scripture quotations. I do wonder how Martin Luther's, John Calvin's, and modern day Southern Baptists' understanding that salvation is sola fidei--"by faith alone" could stand up to the words of Jesus, Paul, and John in the above quotations. But that's not my point. My point is that the NT and the historic Creeds of the Church consistently point to a last judgment on the last day.

Next week we will conclude this series on difficult things in the Apostles' Creed with "the life everlasting." My take on that phrase in the Creed will be somewhat different from the way the Church has traditionally understood it. 

I am open to your ideas concerning what I should write about on subsequent Wednesdays. Wednesday is theology day. I don't plan to do another long series but would like to talk about theological issues you are interested in on individual Wednesdays.  Send me your ideas.

Quiz question: In the title section at the top of the blog, I made a slight change after about the first month. Has any of you noticed what that change is. The correct answer will earn a point in the five point quest for the prize candy bar. At this point Stuart and Nell are tied for the lead at 1 1/2 pts. 

Faithfully,

Christian