The Last Judgment “WHEN thou diest thy soul will be tormented alone; that will be a hell for it: but at the day of judgment thy body will join thy soul, and then thou wilt have twin-hells, thy soul sweating drops of blood, and thy body suffused with agony.”
THIS is how the 19th-century preacher C. H. Spurgeon described the clergy view of judgment day and the sufferings of the damned. The Italian artist Michelangelo had a similarly terrifying belief, as is seen in his painting “The Last Judgment” on the wall of the Sistine chapel in Rome. The New Encyclopædia Britannica says of this painting: “The Christ in Judgment is a thundering god rather than a Christian saviour, more concerned with damning the human race than in welcoming the blessed into heaven.”
Christendom’s Doctrine
In past centuries, judgment day and hellfire were favorite subjects for sermons. From their pulpits, preachers like C. H. Spurgeon thundered forth with graphic descriptions of the hideous torments awaiting sinners. Nowadays, that kind of preaching is seldom heard. But hellfire and the last judgment are still official teachings of most churches.
The majority of religions of Christendom more or less agree with the Roman Catholic teaching that God’s judgments come in two stages. First, there is the “particular judgment.” When a person dies, his supposed immortal soul is immediately judged and consigned to an eternity either in hell or in heaven. Then comes the last, or general, judgment at the end of time when the bodies of the dead are resurrected and reunited with their immortal souls.
On this judgment day, souls in heaven remain there and are reunited with bodies that have been made incorruptible. Those suffering in hell remain there too, and their souls are also united with resurrected, incorruptible bodies.
According to some, this causes their sufferings to become more intense. Those still alive as humans do not die. They are judged while still alive and go, “body and soul” as it were, straight to heaven or hell.
The possibility of enduring unspeakable torments in hellfire has made the whole subject of the final judgment at the hands of Jesus Christ something fearful to think about. In view of this, would you be surprised to know that, in fact, God’s judgments are often a cause for rejoicing and that Judgment Day will be one of the happiest times in all human history? How can this be?
[Footnotes]
Roman Catholics also believe in a third possibility: temporary punishment in purgatory before final entry into heaven.
For reference, see the new post just put up; How Strong Is Your Belief in the Resurrection?
Click for Full Text!