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Objection 1: It would seem that the Lord's coming to judgment will
not be preceded by any signs. Because it is written (1 Thess.
5:3): "When they shall say: Peace and security; then shall
sudden destruction come upon them." Now there would be no peace and
security if men were terrified by previous signs. Therefore signs will
not precede that coming
Objection 2: Further, signs are ordained for the manifestation of
something. But His coming is to be hidden; wherefore it is written
(1 Thess. 5:2): "The day of the Lord shall come as a thief
in the night." Therefore signs ought not to precede it.
Objection 3: Further, the time of His first coming was foreknown
by the prophets, which does not apply to His second coming. Now no
such signs preceded the first coming of Christ. Therefore neither
will they precede the second.
On the contrary, It is written (Lk. 21:25): "There shall
be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars," etc.
Further, Jerome [St. Peter Damian, Opuscul. xlix] mentions
fifteen signs preceding the judgment. He says that on the "first"
day all the seas will rise fifteen cubits above the mountains; in the
"second" day all the waters will be plunged into the depths, so that
scarcely will they be visible; on the "third" day they will be
restored to their previous condition; on the "fourth" day all the
great fishes and other things that move in the waters will gather
together and, raising their heads above the sea, roar at one another
contentiously; on the "fifth" day, all the birds of the air will
gather together in the fields, wailing to one another, with neither
bite nor sup; on the "sixth" day rivers of fire will arise towards
the firmament rushing together from the west to the east; on the
"seventh" day all the stars, both planets and fixed stars, will
throw out fiery tails like comets; on the "eighth" day there will be
a great earthquake, and all animals will be laid low; on the "ninth"
day all the plants will be bedewed as it were with blood; on the
"tenth" day all stones, little and great, will be divided into four
parts dashing against one another; on the "eleventh" day all hills
and mountains and buildings will be reduced to dust; on the "twelfth"
day all animals will come from forest and mountain to the fields,
roaring and tasting of nothing; on the "thirteenth" day all graves
from east to west will open to allow the bodies to rise again; on the
"fourteenth" day all men will leave their abode, neither
understanding nor speaking, but rushing hither and thither like
madmen; on the "fifteenth" day all will die and will rise again with
those who died long before.
I answer that, When Christ shall come to judge He will appear in
the form of glory, on account of the authority becoming a judge. Now
it pertains to the dignity of judicial power to have certain signs that
induce people to reverence and subjection: and consequently many signs
will precede the advent of Christ when He shall come to judgment, in
order that the hearts of men be brought to subjection to the coming
judge, and be prepared for the judgment, being forewarned by those
signs. But it is not easy to know what these signs may be: for the
signs of which we read in the gospels, as Augustine says, writing to
Hesychius about the end of the world (Ep. lxxx), refer not only to
Christ's coming to judgment, but also to the time of the sack of
Jerusalem, and to the coming of Christ in ceaselessly visiting His
Church. So that, perhaps, if we consider them carefully, we shall
find that none of them refers to the coming advent, as he remarks:
because these signs that are mentioned in the gospels, such as wars,
fears, and so forth, have been from the beginning of the human race:
unless perhaps we say that at that time they will be more prevalent:
although it is uncertain in what degree this increase will foretell the
imminence of the advent. The signs mentioned by Jerome are not
asserted by him; he merely says that he found them written in the
annals of the Hebrews: and, indeed, they contain very little
likelihood.
Reply to Objection 1: According to Augustine (Ad Hesych.,
Ep. lxxx) towards the end of the world there will be a general
persecution of the good by the wicked: so that at the same time some
will fear, namely the good, and some will be secure, namely the
wicked. The words: "When they shall say: Peace and security,"
refer to the wicked, who will pay little heed to the signs of the
coming judgment: while the words of Lk. 21:26, "men withering
away," etc., should be referred to the good.
We may also reply that all these signs that will happen about the time
of the judgment are reckoned to occur within the time occupied by the
judgment, so that the judgment day contains them all. Wherefore
although men be terrified by the signs appearing about the judgment
day, yet before those signs begin to appear the wicked will think
themselves to be in peace and security, after the death of Antichrist
and before the coming of Christ, seeing that the world is not at once
destroyed, as they thought hitherto.
Reply to Objection 2: The day of the Lord is said to come as a
thief, because the exact time is not known, since it will not be
possible to know it from those signs: although, as we have already
said, all these most manifest sings which will precede the judgment
immediately may be comprised under the judgment day.
Reply to Objection 3: At His first advent Christ came secretly,
although the appointed time was known beforehand by the prophets.
Hence there was no need for such signs to appear at His first coming,
as will appear at His second advent, when He will come openly,
although the appointed time is hidden.
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