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 JUDGMENT

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JUDGMENT

xi, 28-29, speaks of a retribution at the hour of death, but it may refer to a temporal punishment, such as sudden death in the midst of prosperity, the evil re- membrance that survives the wicked, or the misfor- tunes of their children. However, the other texts that have been quoted are sufficient to establish the strict conformity of the doctrine with Scripture teaching. (Cf. Acts,"i, 25; Apoc., xx, 4-6, 12-14.)

C. Patristic Testimony Regarding Particular Judg- ment.— ^t. Augustine witnesses clearly and emphat- ically to this faith of the early Church. Writing to the presbyter Peter, he criticizes the works of Vincentius Victor on the soul, pointing out that they contain nothing except what is vain or erroneous or mere commonplace, familiar to all Catholics. As an in- stance of the last, he cites Victor's interpretation of the parable of Lazarus and Dives. " For with respect to that", says St. Augustine, "which he [Victor] most correctly and very soundly holds, viz., that souls are judged when they depart from the body, before they come to that judgment which must be passed on them when reunited to the body and are tormented or glorified in that same flesh which they here inhabited, — was that a matter of which you [Peter] were unaware? Who is so obstinate against the Gospel as not to perceive those things in the parable of that poor man carried after death to Abraham's bosom and of the rich man whose torments are set before us?" (De anima et ejusorigine, II, n. S.) In the sermons of the Fathers occur graphic descriptions of the particular judgment (cf. S. Ephraem, "Sermo de secvmdo Adventu"; "Sermo in eos qui in Christo obdormiunt").

D. Heresies. — Lactantius is one of the few Catholic writers who disputed this doctrine (Inst, div., VIII, c. xxi). Among heretics the particular judgment was denied by Tatian and Vigilantius. The Hypnopsy- chites and the Thnetopsychitesl^elieved that at death the soul passed away, according to the former into a state of unconsciousness, according to the latter into temporary destruction. Theybelieved that souls would arise at the resurrection of the body for judgment. This theory of "soul-slumber" was defended bj' the Nestorians and Copts, and later by the Anabaptists, Socinians, and Arminians. Calvin (Inst. Ill, 25) holds that the final destiny is not decided till the last day.

E. Prompt Fulfilment of Sentence. — The prompt fulfilment of the sentence is part of the dogma of particular judgment, but until the question was settled by the decision of Benedict XII, in 1332, there was much unccrtaintj' regarding the fate of the de- parted in the period between death and the general resurrection. There was never any doubt that the penalty of loss (poena damni), the temporal or eternal forfeiture of the joys of Heaven, began from the mo- ment of death. Likewise it was admitted from the earliest times that the punishment following death included other sufferings (poena sensus) than the penalty of loss (Justin, " Dial.", v). But whether the torment of fire was to be included among these suffer- ings, or whether it began only after the final judgment, was a question that gave rise to many divergent opin- ions. It was a common belief among the early Fathers that the devils will not suffer from the flames of hell until theend of the world (Hurter, "Comp. Th. Dog.", Ill, n. 783, note 6). Regarding the reprobate souls there was a similar belief. Some of the Fathers con- tended that these souls do not suffer the torment of fire until reunited with their bodies in the resurrection (Atzberger, " Geschichte der christlichen Eschatolo- gie", 1896, 146,249, 281), while others hesitated (cf. Tert., " DeTest. an.", iv, with'' De Jejun.",xvi). Many, on the contrary, clearly taught that the punishment of hell fire followed speedily upon the particular judg- ment (Hilary, In Ps. cxxxviii, 22). This is evident from the words of Gregory the Great: "just as hap- piness rejoices the elect, so it must be beheved that

from the day of their death fire bums the reprobate " (Dial., IV, 28). Early Christian writers also refer to a purgatorial fire in which souls not perfectly just are purified after death (cf. Jungmann, op. cit., n. 97).

Some of the early Fathers, misled by Millennarian errors, believed that the essential beatitude of Heaven is not enjoyed until the end of time. They supposed that during the inter\-al between death and the resur- rection the souls of the just dwell happily in a delight- ful abode, awaiting their final glorification. This was apparentl}' the opinion of Sts. Justin and Irenajus, TertuUian, St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Ambrose. According to others, only the martyrs and some other classes of saints are admitted at once to the supreme joys of heaven. It caimot, however, be inferred from these passages that all of the Fathers quoted beheved that the vision of God is in most cases delayed till the day of judgment. Many of them in other parts of their works profess the Catholic doctrine either expressly or by implication through the ac- knowledgment of other dogmas in which it is con- tained, for instance, in that of the descent of Christ into Limbo, an article of the Creed which loses all significance unless it be admitted that the saints of the Old Testament were thereby liberated from this tem- poral penalty of loss and admitted to the vision of God. .\s to the passages which state that the supreme happiness of Heaven is not enjoyed till after the Resur- rection, they refer in many instances to an increase in the accidental joy of the blessed through the union of the soul -n-ith its glorified bod}', and do not signify that the essential happiness of heaven is not enjoyed till then. Notwithstanding the aberrations of some writers and the hesitation of others, the belief that since the death of Christ souls which are free from sin enter at once into the vision of God was always firmly held by the great body of Christians (cf . St. Cyprian, De e.xhort. mart.). As the earUest Acts of the Mar- tyrs and Liturgies attest, the martyrs were persuaded of the prompt reward of their devotion. This belief is also evidenced by the ancient practice of honouring and invoking the saints, even those who were not martyrs. But the opposite error found adherents from time to time, and in the Middle Ages was warmly defended. The Second Council of Lyons (1274) declared that souls free from sin are at once received into heaven (mox in coelum recipi), but did not decide in what their state of beatitude consisted. A number of theologians maintained the opinion that until the resurrection the just do not enjoy the intuitive or facial vision of God, but are under the protection and consolation of the Humanity of Jesus Christ. Pope John XXII (1316-1334) at Avignon, as a private theologian, seems to have supported this view, but that he gave it any official sanction is a fable in- vented by the Falhbilists. His successor, Benedict XII, ended the controversy by the Bull " Benedictus Deus".

F. Circumstances of Particular Judgment according to Theologians. — Theologians suppose that the par- ticular judgment will be instantaneous, that in the moment of death the separated soul is internally illuminated as to its own guilt or innocence and of its own initiation takes its course either to hell, or to pur- gatory, or to heaven (St. Thomas, "Suppl.", Q. Ixix, a. 2; Q. bcxxviii, a. 2). In confirmation of this opinion the text of St. Paul is cited: " Who shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- science bearing witness to them, and their thoughts between themselves aceusmg, or also defending one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ " (Rom., ii, 15-16). The " Book of Judgment ", in which all the deeds of men are writ- ten (Apoc, XX, 12), and the appearance of angels and demons to bear witness before the judgment seat are regarded as allegorical descriptions (St. Aug., "De Civ. Dei", XX, xiv). The common opinion is that