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The Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven
Drawing on the rich patrimony of the Church's wisdom, Martin gives an in-depth study of the four last things we all will face at life's end. He offers a fresh compendium of the thought of saints and sages as diverse as Aquinas, Augustine, Dante, and more.
167 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1998
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July 12, 2009
In Roman Catholic theology, we have the doctrine of the Last Things, or those things that ought to be in our minds from time to time as to our Ultimate End: Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell. For (and again, in Roman Catholic theology), we all shall die; we all shall be judged, and, based on that judgement, we shall all end up in Heaven or in Hell. And, even for those readers of my Weblog, or of these Book Reviews on Goodreads, cannot doubt that we all will die at some point, even if some of my Six or Seven Loyal Readers may disagree on what happens after that point. (For those who do not wish to read of this review in my Weblog, I will observe that you can’t take this book from me; it’s not only a great book, but one which should be re-read every ten years or so, or more often if one is in Dire Danger of Imminent Death.
First, the author notes that these are not only the Four Things that are Last, but the Four Things that will forever last. He takes each section (though not quite in order: Death, Judgement, Hell, and then Heaven), and carefully notes the state of thought on each subject, not only in ancient and current Catholic thought (he quotes sections from Augustine, Aquinas, Pope John Paul II, and the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is currently Pope Benedict XVI), but also gives extensive quotations from Flannery O’Connor, C. S. Lewis, James Joyce, Gerard Manley Hopkins, T. S. Eliot, and a host of others.
The reflections contain many fascinating, well, reflections; if I was the kind of person who could bring herself to highlight books (I haven’t done so, since I was in college marking up textbooks, and that was back when the earth’s crust was still cooling). One needs to know that one will die; one needs to know that one will be judged. And, based on that judgement, one will either spend Eternity with God, or without God – and which way one goes will be in large part self-determined. Sin, after all, is separation from God and from Man; those who are in Hell (either theologically, or here even now upon this earth) are there because they willfully separated themselves from God. Free Will is a tricky thing; God loves us enough to let us follow our own way, even if that way is the dumbest thing possible; and if we chose to not be with Him for Eternity, so be it. (And before I start a firestorm of comment, the key word is ‘willfully’; sin has to be a willful act, so if one didn’t know that one was committing a sin, then one was not indeed committing a sin.
One should come out of reflections on the Last Things with a healthy Fear of the Lord; not to be scared stiff (pun intended), but to be properly cognizant that at the end, one will be faced with Death, Judgement, then Hell or Heaven; and one should take healthy stock of one’s current state, and to correct any instances of Separation from God or Man.
“Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.”
- Ash Wednesday, T. S. Eliot
First, the author notes that these are not only the Four Things that are Last, but the Four Things that will forever last. He takes each section (though not quite in order: Death, Judgement, Hell, and then Heaven), and carefully notes the state of thought on each subject, not only in ancient and current Catholic thought (he quotes sections from Augustine, Aquinas, Pope John Paul II, and the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is currently Pope Benedict XVI), but also gives extensive quotations from Flannery O’Connor, C. S. Lewis, James Joyce, Gerard Manley Hopkins, T. S. Eliot, and a host of others.
The reflections contain many fascinating, well, reflections; if I was the kind of person who could bring herself to highlight books (I haven’t done so, since I was in college marking up textbooks, and that was back when the earth’s crust was still cooling). One needs to know that one will die; one needs to know that one will be judged. And, based on that judgement, one will either spend Eternity with God, or without God – and which way one goes will be in large part self-determined. Sin, after all, is separation from God and from Man; those who are in Hell (either theologically, or here even now upon this earth) are there because they willfully separated themselves from God. Free Will is a tricky thing; God loves us enough to let us follow our own way, even if that way is the dumbest thing possible; and if we chose to not be with Him for Eternity, so be it. (And before I start a firestorm of comment, the key word is ‘willfully’; sin has to be a willful act, so if one didn’t know that one was committing a sin, then one was not indeed committing a sin.
One should come out of reflections on the Last Things with a healthy Fear of the Lord; not to be scared stiff (pun intended), but to be properly cognizant that at the end, one will be faced with Death, Judgement, then Hell or Heaven; and one should take healthy stock of one’s current state, and to correct any instances of Separation from God or Man.
“Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.”
- Ash Wednesday, T. S. Eliot
September 22, 2024
A CATHOLIC PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY LOOKS AT ESCHATOLOGY
Regis Martin is professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville; he was written many other books, such as 'The Suffering of Love: Christ's Descent into the Hell of Human Hopelessness,' 'Still Point: Loss, Longing and Our Search for God,' 'What Is The Church?, 'etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1998 book, "The answers to these questions... are to be found in the Church's doctrine of the Last Things. Eschatology... is very simply the fruit of the Church's most profound reflection on the meaning of Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven (also Purgatory, Limbo, and Second Coming of Christ, and the End of Transfiguration of the World)." (Pg. 15)
He points out, "man is a being born to die. Or, more to the point... man alone knows he must die. Animals do not know this; not even in the midst of their dying can they detach themselves sufficiently from the even to meditate on its meaning. It is for man alone to entertain thoughts and fears of impending extinction." (Pg. 68)
He observes, "Now the Church of course traditionally speaks of Judgment in two ways, both the Particular, or Proximate, Judgment... and the Final, of General, Judgment, which awaits all mankind at the end of the world ... Certainly it is necessary and fitting that the soul, in all its particularity of life and history, be made to confront itself in that blinding moment of awareness before God that immediately follows upon the death of the body... To put off that realization until the General Judgment at the end of history would leave the soul in unnecessary suspense about its ultimate fate." (Pg. 102-103)
He notes, "What, then, is the truth about Hell, which, despite the obvious howls of modern disapproval, the Church persists in teaching?... The first and most obvious point it would seem useful to make about Hell is that if it does not exist then Christ, who so clearly and frequently refers to it in the pages of holy Scripture, is a liar... If Jesus had taken such pains to warn us away from Hell, it can only be that it must exist and that some of us may yet be in peril of going there." (Pg. 111-112)
But he adds, "as regards... the tantalizing prospect of knowing who in fact is in Hell, writhing among exquisite fires of unending torment, the Church has no information whatsoever and, indeed, is forbidden even to speculate. Neither the number of the lost nor the names of any whom we might imagine to be love have ever been revealed. It is simply not part of the sacred deposit of faith... Nor is it seemly in inquire... we can be certain of neither Judas Iscariot's damnation nor that of Adolf Hitler... However infamous the chronicles of wicked men, it is not for other men, still less for Christ's Church, to pronounce on their eternal destiny." (Pg. 134-135)
This book will be of keen interest to (mostly) Catholics, wanting to know more about these doctrinal areas.
Regis Martin is professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville; he was written many other books, such as 'The Suffering of Love: Christ's Descent into the Hell of Human Hopelessness,' 'Still Point: Loss, Longing and Our Search for God,' 'What Is The Church?, 'etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1998 book, "The answers to these questions... are to be found in the Church's doctrine of the Last Things. Eschatology... is very simply the fruit of the Church's most profound reflection on the meaning of Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven (also Purgatory, Limbo, and Second Coming of Christ, and the End of Transfiguration of the World)." (Pg. 15)
He points out, "man is a being born to die. Or, more to the point... man alone knows he must die. Animals do not know this; not even in the midst of their dying can they detach themselves sufficiently from the even to meditate on its meaning. It is for man alone to entertain thoughts and fears of impending extinction." (Pg. 68)
He observes, "Now the Church of course traditionally speaks of Judgment in two ways, both the Particular, or Proximate, Judgment... and the Final, of General, Judgment, which awaits all mankind at the end of the world ... Certainly it is necessary and fitting that the soul, in all its particularity of life and history, be made to confront itself in that blinding moment of awareness before God that immediately follows upon the death of the body... To put off that realization until the General Judgment at the end of history would leave the soul in unnecessary suspense about its ultimate fate." (Pg. 102-103)
He notes, "What, then, is the truth about Hell, which, despite the obvious howls of modern disapproval, the Church persists in teaching?... The first and most obvious point it would seem useful to make about Hell is that if it does not exist then Christ, who so clearly and frequently refers to it in the pages of holy Scripture, is a liar... If Jesus had taken such pains to warn us away from Hell, it can only be that it must exist and that some of us may yet be in peril of going there." (Pg. 111-112)
But he adds, "as regards... the tantalizing prospect of knowing who in fact is in Hell, writhing among exquisite fires of unending torment, the Church has no information whatsoever and, indeed, is forbidden even to speculate. Neither the number of the lost nor the names of any whom we might imagine to be love have ever been revealed. It is simply not part of the sacred deposit of faith... Nor is it seemly in inquire... we can be certain of neither Judas Iscariot's damnation nor that of Adolf Hitler... However infamous the chronicles of wicked men, it is not for other men, still less for Christ's Church, to pronounce on their eternal destiny." (Pg. 134-135)
This book will be of keen interest to (mostly) Catholics, wanting to know more about these doctrinal areas.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews