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Eschatology

Eschatology: Eschaton → “Last thing”. Refers to the 4 last things; Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Judgment.

  • Each “last thing” is a mystery of faith, not proven/demonstrated through reason alone. We believe these in faith.

Hell - CCC 1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

    • It is a revealed truth that is salutary → Fear of Hell is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of conversion. Hell has saved souls.
    • It is a difficult subject, it is much easier to be convinced by superficial objections.
    • We do not know the value of justice unless we examine what is meant by a great injustice. The dogma on Hell helps us to appreciate by contrast the value of salvation.
    • Hell signifies properly the state of the damned souls, of demons first, then of men who die in the state of mortal sin and suffer eternally
      • Reject that Hell is unjust, that those in Hell are eventually converted, that it goes against God’s wisdom
    • Infernus/Infernum: “dark places beneath the earth”
    • Sheol from the Old Testament: the place of the dead in general, good and bad. 
    • Gehenna from the New Testament: the Valley of Hinnom, a ravine to the south of Jerusalem where people were accustomed to dump refuse/corpses to be burned. Fires burned there continually (unquenchable fire).
    • Scriptural basis: Matthew 24-25
  • Reasons for why belief in Hell is reasonable
    • God’s justice demands that sins which have not been expiated in this life be punished in the other. Punishment is the repression of the one who unjustly transgressed the order of justice.
    • 1. Mortal sin without repentance is an irreparable disorder, an offense with an immeasurable gravity. Sin merits punishment because it upsets an order justly established. As long as this disorder lasts, the sinner merits the punishment due to the sin which caused the disorder.
    • 2. Mortal sin is an offense against God that has a gravity that is unmeasured since it denies God the infinite dignity of being our last end and our sovereign good, to whom the sinner prefers a finite good. The gravity of the sin is proportionate to the dignity of the one offended. God has infinite dignity, therefore the gravity of the sin is infinite, meaning the punishment is infinite (without end).
    • 3. God is the sovereign and divine Legislator. He owes it to himself to give His laws an efficacious sanction. God cannot allow Himself to be scorned with impunity. If the pains of hell were not eternal, the obstinate sinner could persevere in his revolt, since no adequate sanction would repress his pride. His rebellion would have the last word, it would be the triumph of iniquity.
      • “If we deny to the moral order an eternity of suffering, we obscure the notion of good and evil, which becomes clear only under the light of this dogma.”
    • 4. If Heaven is eternal, so should Hell be. If not, there would be an imbalance of God’s justice and mercy. 
      • Why not annihilation? Pg. 113 → the immortal soul is the highest thing God created, it should remain. It is an image of his Law and is a herald of his Justice
    • Pain of Loss vs. Pain of Sense (pg. 116)
      • Damnum: “loss”
      • Pain of loss → the essential and principle suffering due to unrepented sin, it is the privation of the possession of God. Turning away from God results in the pain of loss.
      • Pain of sense → the effect of the affliction action of God, the pain that comes from the guilt as turning toward something created. Loving the creature rather than the Creator.

Purgatory

  • For those who die in a state of grace, but still owe a debt of temporal punishment.
  • Purgatory is the state that a justified soul undergoes in order to purify temporal punishment that still remains.
  • No sinning in purgatory, only purification. Always results in Heaven.
  • Scriptural basis
    • 2 Maccabees 12:43-46
    • Matthew 12:32 - “whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
      • Implies there are sins that can be forgiven in the age to come → venial sins.
    • 1 Cor 3:10-15

What is an indulgence? "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints." "An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin." Indulgences may be applied to the living or the dead.

    • Can be partial or plenary.
    • Go to confession, receive Holy Communion, pray for the Pope’s intentions, and say some devotional prayer/visit a church.

Heaven

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,”

CCC 1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he is," face to face

  • The place and condition of supreme beatitude/happiness
  • Face to face with God. The beatific vision, seeing God as He is. Fulfills all desire, our heart is brought to rest.
  • We will be like God through grace. Participate in the Trinitarian communion.
  • A place where Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints, and the angels dwell.
  • No more sin. Our will achieves what it desires, moral rectitude of will makes us incapable of sinning. We achieve true freedom → choosing God, knowing Him, and being face to face with Him.
  • Scriptural basis

Particular/Last Judgment

  • Particular judgment occurs immediately after each individual’s death.
  • The general judgment/Last judgment takes place at the end of all time and history
  • a) death, b) particular judgment, c) hell, purgatory, heaven, d) general judgment, all will be revealed.
  • Preparing for death by experiencing purgatory in this life → the soul cannot merit after death.
    • Done by accepting your cross in this life, letting go of your hard-heartedness, forgiving those who have wronged you, loving your enemies (essentially the beatitudes).
    • Look to the cross of Jesus if you want an example of how to live this life → detachment of wealth, pleasure, power, honor. Jesus has none of these things on the cross, and yet he becomes glorified in the resurrection.
  • Cardinal John Henry Newman Sermon on Hebrews 7:14
  • Pg. 57-58