SECTION 2

WHEN THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT TAKES PLACE
i. Historical Development of the Dogma. — The Catholic dogma that the soul is judged im- mediately after death has passed through a long process of clarification in the minds of the faith- ful. There was no official definition of it by the Church until the Middle Ages.
a) In the primitive Church vague ideas were current in regard to the immediate fate of the de- parted.
Not to speak of the Chiliasts, the Hypnopsychites, and the Thnetopsychites, even some orthodox writers har- bored erroneous notions concerning the fate of the soul after death. Thus St. Justin Martyr seems to have held that the disembodied souls in the interval between death and the General Resurrection enjoy a natural beati- tude. 1 St. Irenaeus imagined them dwelling in a sort of paradise (locus amoenitatis) distinct from Heaven. 2 Ter- tullian believed that the martyrs entered into the beatific vision immediately after death. 8 St. Hilary speaks of a temporary imprisonment (custodia) of the soul. 4
It would, however, be wrong to suppose that these Pa-
1 Dial, 80. 8 De Animo, 55.
2 Adv, Hatreses, V, 31, *. 4 In Ps., iao, n. 16.
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tristic writers erred in regard to the substance of the dogma. There are many passages in their writings which, at least virtually, inculcate the orthodox view, as when they speak of our Lord's descent into Hell and the inter- cession of the saints.
b) It was the universal belief of the early Christians that the wicked are buried in Hell im- mediately after death.
The dread sentence, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire," 5 was regarded as the confirmation of a previous judgment and an accentuation of the pun- ishment imposed on both the soul and its risen body. In accordance with this ancient belief, Benedict XII de- fined in his dogmatic Bull " Benedictus Deus," A. D. 1336, " that ... the souls of those who depart this life in the state of mortal sin descend into Hell immediately after death and are there subject to infernal torments." 6 A similar passage occurs in the profession of faith sub- mitted by the Greek Emperor Michael Palaeologus at the Council of Lyons, A. D. 1274/ which was embodied in the Decree of Union adopted at Florence, in 1439. 8
c) The clarification of ideas with regard to the fate of the just proceeded more slowly.
It was believed at an early date that the just, too, are
B Matth. XXV, 41. descendant, mox [£ e. statim] in
e " DeHnimus quod • . • animae infernum descendere, poenis tarn en
descendentium in actuali peccato disparibus puniendas." (Denzinger-
mortali mox post mortem suam ad Bannwart, n. 464). interna descendunt. ubi poenis in- 8 The bearing of this dogmatic de-
fernalibus cruciantur" (Denringer- cition on the lot of unbaptized in-
Bannwart, n. 531). fants is explained in Pohle-Preuss,
1 " Illorum autem animas, qui in God the Author of Nature and the
mortal* peccato vel cum solo originali Supernatural, pp. 304 sq.
24 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN
judged immediately after death; but there was uncer- tainty as to whether they were forthwith admitted to the vision of the Blessed Trinity or enjoyed some inferior kind of beatitude. This uncertainty continued even after the Second Council of Lyons (1274) had declared that "the souls of the just are received immediately into Heaven." 9 As late as 1330 certain Franciscan theolo- gians are said to have taught that the souls of the just enjoy the vision of Christ as man (in forma servi), but that the beatific vision of God (in forma Dei) was reserved until after the Last Judgment. It is but fair to add, however, that Wadding denies this charge against his fellow-religious. 10 If the Franciscans really held the opinion in question, they shared their mistake with Pope John XXII, who about 1331 privately taught the same doctrine. 11 In 1336 Pope Benedict XII, in his afore- mentioned Bull, defined that those who depart this life in the state of sanctifying grace " behold the divine essence intuitively and face to face." 12 The Council of Florence cleared away the last remaining doubt by adding the words: "They clearly behold God Himself, one and tri-une, as He is." 18
2. Proof from Revelation. — Sacred Scrip- ture teaches that the fate of every man is de- cided immediately after death and that the ulti-
» " Illorum [scU. iustorum} o»t- mas mox in caelum recipi." (Den- ringer- Bannwart, n. 464).
10 Annates Minorum, ad annum 1331, 2nd ed., Vol. VII, p. 118.
ix He did not, however, make an ex cathedra decision on the subject, as the opponents of papal infalli- bility assert. Cfr. Hefele, Concili- engeschkhte, Vol. VI, 2nd ed., pp.
622 sqq., Freiburg 1890.
12 ". . . vident divinam essen- Ham visione intuitivi et etiam fad- aii." ( Denzinger-Bann wart, n. 531).
18 ". . . et intueri clare ipsum Deum trinum et unum, sicuti est.*' (Denzinger-Baimwart, n. 693). — Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, God: His Knowability, Essence, and Attributes, 2nd ed., p. xo8, St Louis 1914.
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mate condition of the, Blessed and the damned respectively is essentially the same before and after the General Resurrection.
a) Ecclus. XI, 28: "It is easy before God in the day of death to reward every one according to his ways." 14 If God rewards every one ac- cording to his deserts "in the day of death," He must send the souls of the just to Heaven and those of the wicked to Hell immediately after their separation from the body. This is confirmed in the parable which says that "the rich man also died, and was buried in Hell." 15
St. Hilary writes : " Lazarus was carried by angels to the place prepared for the Elect in Abraham's bosom, whereas Dives was buried forthwith in the place of pun- ishment." 19 St. Gregory the Great teaches : " As beati- tude causes the Elect to be glad, so, it is necessary to be- lieve, fire torments the wicked from the day of their death." 17 St. John Chrysostom expresses the same thought in a striking simile : " As criminals are dragged in chains from jail to the seat of judgment, so the souls of the departed are forthwith brought before that terrible judgment seat, burdened with the various punish- ments due to their sins." *•
b) The fate of the just is illustrated by the ex-
14 Ecclus. XI, 28: " Quoniam fa* torum et in Abrahae sinu locaverunt,
tile est coram Deo in die obitus re- alium statim poena* regio [scil. in-
tribuere unicuique secundum via* fernum] sm see pit."
suos." if Dial., XV, fl8: " Sicut electos
10 Luke XXIII, 43. beatitudo hetificat, ita credi necesse
i« In Ps., 2, n. 48: " testes nobis est quod a die exitus eni ignis repro-
[sunt] evangelicus dives et pauper, bos exurat."
quorum unum angeli in sedibus bea- it Horn, in Matth., XIV, n. 4.
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26 THE LAST THINGS OF MAN
ample of Lazarus, who "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" immediately after his demise, 10 and by Christ's promise to the good thief, "This day thou shalt be with me in para- dise." 20 The terms "Abraham's bosom" and "paradise," strictly speaking, signify the litnbus Patrum, but we know that since the Ascension of our Lord the limbo has made way for Heaven.
An even more convincing text is 2 Cor. V, 6 sqq. : "We know that, while we are in the body («%iowtc5 cv tw crw/ian) w e are absent from the Lord ^UBrffiovfiev dir4 tov Ktyuov), for we walk by faith, and not by sight. But we are confident and have a good will to be absent rather from the body and to be present with the Lord." To "be in the body" means to "walk by faith," to "be present with the Lord," to enjoy the beatific vision, for which the Apostle betrays such a keen desire in his Epis- tle to the Philippians (I, 21 sqq.). The only means of attaining this end is "absence from the body," i. e. death. Consequently, according to St. Paul, the Elect enter upon their celestial in- heritance immediately after death.
The Fathers held this dogma implicitly rather than explicitly. St. Cyprian says: "What a dignity it is, and what a security, ... in a moment to close the eyes with which men and the world are looked upon, and at
19 Luke XVI, 22. 20 Luke XXIII, 43-
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once to open them to behold God and Christ ! 99 21 The Acts of the Martyrs and many ancient liturgies testify to the belief of the primitive Church that those who lay down their lives for the true faith immediately enter into Heaven. 22 That the early Christians held the same belief with regard to all the just is evident from the fact that they prayed to other saints besides the martyrs for their intercession in Heaven.
Incidentally it may be noted that the dogma with which we are dealing involves another, namely our Lord's descent into Hell. After the death of Christ His soul went down into Limbo to deliver the souls of the just from the temporary punishment they were suffering, and to introduce them to the beatific vision of God. 28 To deny that these souls now enjoy the beatific vision would involve a rejection of the dogma of Christ's descent into Hell. 24
21 De Exhort. Martyr., n. 13: " Quanta est dignitas et quanta se- curitas, . . . ctaudere in moment o oculos, quibus homines .videbantur et mundus, et aperiri eosdem statim, ut Deus videatur et Christus."
22 Cfr. Coustant, Praef. ad Opera
S. Hilarii, f 6, sect. 3, n. 219.
28 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, Soteriology, 2nd ed., pp. 91 sqq., St. Louis 191 6.
24 Cfr. H. Hurtcr, S.J., Compen- dium Theol. Dogma*., Vol. Ill, the*. 268.
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