Whether After the Judgment That Takes Place in the Present Time,
There Remains Yet Another General Judgment?
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 (Luke
23:43): "This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise": and (Luke
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.
Obj. 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.
Obj. 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 John 12:48: "The word that I have
spoken, the same shall judge you [Vulg.: 'him'] 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 Obj. 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 John
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 Obj. 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 Obj. 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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