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Objection 1: It would seem that after the Judgment that takes place
in the present time, there does not remain another General Judgment.
For a judgment serves no purpose after the final allotment of rewards
and punishments. But rewards and punishments are allotted in this
present time: for our Lord said to the thief on the cross (Lk.
23:43): "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise": and
(Lk. 16:22) it is said that "the rich man died and was buried
in hell." Therefore it is useless to look forward to a final
Judgment.
Objection 2: Further, according to another (the Septuagint)
version of Nahum 1:9, "God shall not judge the same thing a
second time." But in the present time God judges both temporal and
spiritual matters. Therefore, it does not seem that another final
judgment is to be expected.
Objection 3: Further, reward and punishment correspond with merit
and demerit. But merit and demerit bear relation to the body only in
so far as it is the instrument of the soul. Therefore reward or
punishment is not due to the body save as the soul's instrument.
Therefore no other Judgment is called for at the end (of the world)
to requite man with reward or punishment in the body, besides that
Judgment in which souls are now punished or rewarded.
On the contrary, It is said in Jn. 12:48: "The word that I
have spoken, the same shall judge you in the last day." Therefore
there will be a Judgment at the last day besides that which takes place
in the present time.
I answer that, Judgment cannot be passed perfectly upon any
changeable subject before its consummation: just as judgment cannot be
given perfectly regarding the quality of any action before its
completion in itself and in its results: because many actions appear to
be profitable, which in their effects prove to be hurtful. And in the
same way perfect judgment cannot be passed upon any man before the close
of his life, since he can be changed in many respects from good to
evil, or conversely, or from good to better, or from evil to worse.
Hence the Apostle says (Heb. 9:27): "It is appointed unto
men once to die, and after this the Judgment."
But it must be observed that although man's temporal life in itself
ends with death, still it continues dependent in a measure on what
comes after it in the future. In one way, as it still lives on in
men's memories, in which sometimes, contrary to the truth, good or
evil reputations linger on. In another way in a man's children, who
are so to speak something of their parent, according to Ecclus.
30:4: "His father is dead, and he is as if he were not dead,
for he hath left one behind him that is like himself." And yet many
good men have wicked sons, and conversely. Thirdly, as to the result
of his actions: just as from the deceit of Arius and other false
leaders unbelief continues to flourish down to the close of the world;
and even until then faith will continue to derive its progress from the
preaching of the apostles. In a fourth way, as to the body, which is
sometimes buried with honor and sometimes left unburied, and finally
falls to dust utterly. In a fifth way, as to the things upon which a
man's heart is set, such as temporal concerns, for example, some of
which quickly lapse, while others endure longer.
Now all these things are submitted to the verdict of the Divine
Judgment; and consequently, a perfect and public Judgment cannot be
made of all these things during the course of this present time.
Wherefore, there must be a final Judgment at the last day, in which
everything concerning every man in every respect shall be perfectly and
publicly judged.
Reply to Objection 1: Some men have held the opinion that the souls
of the saints shall not be rewarded in heaven, nor the souls of the
lost punished in hell, until the Judgment-day. That this is false
appears from the testimony of the Apostle (2 Cor. 5:8), where
he says: "We are confident and have a good will to be absent rather
from the body, and to be present with the Lord": that is, not to
"walk by faith" but "by sight," as appears from the context. But
this is to see God in His Essence, wherein consists "eternal
life," as is clear from Jn. 17:3. Hence it is manifest that
the souls separated from bodies are in eternal life.
Consequently, it must be maintained that after death man enters into
an unchangeable state as to all that concerns the soul: and therefore
there is no need for postponing judgment as to the reward of the soul.
But since there are some other things pertaining to a man which go on
through the whole course of time, and which are not foreign to the
Divine judgment, all these things must be brought to judgment at the
end of time. For although in regard to such things a man neither
merits nor demerits, still in a measure they accompany his reward or
punishment. Consequently all these things must be weighed in the final
judgment.
Reply to Objection 2: "God shall not judge twice the same
thing," i.e. in the same respect; but it is not unseemly for God
to judge twice according to different respects.
Reply to Objection 3: Although the reward or punishment of the body
depends upon the reward or punishment of the soul, nevertheless, since
the soul is changeable only accidentally, on account of the body, once
it is separated from the body it enters into an unchangeable condition,
and receives its judgment. But the body remains subject to change down
to the close of time: and therefore it must receive its reward or
punishment then, in the last Judgment.
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