What is Meant by the Good Going Out to See the Punishment of the Wicked.

Chapter 22.—What is Meant by the Good Going Out to See the Punishment of the Wicked.

Caput XXII. Qualis futura sit egressio sanctorum ad uidendas poenas malorum.

But in what way shall the good go out to see the punishment of the wicked? Are they to leave their happy abodes by a bodily movement, and proceed to the places of punishment, so as to witness the torments of the wicked in their bodily presence? Certainly not; but they shall go out by knowledge. For this expression, go out, signifies that those who shall be punished shall be without. And thus the Lord also calls these places “the outer darkness,” to which is opposed that entrance concerning which it is said to the good servant, “Enter into the joy of thy Lord,” that it may not be supposed that the wicked can enter thither and be known, but rather that the good by their knowledge go out to them, because the good are to know that which is without. For those who shall be in torment shall not know what is going on within in the joy of the Lord; but they who shall enter into that joy shall know what is going on outside in the outer darkness. Therefore it is said, “They shall go out,” because they shall know what is done by those who are without. For if the prophets were able to know things that had not yet happened, by means of that indwelling of God in their minds, limited though it was, shall not the immortal saints know things that have already happened, when God shall be all in all? The seed, then, and the name of the saints shall remain in that blessedness,—the seed, to wit, of which John says, “And his seed remaineth in him;” and the name, of which it was said through Isaiah himself, “I will give them an everlasting name.” “And there shall be to them month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath,” as if it were said, Moon after moon, and rest upon rest, both of which they shall themselves be when they shall pass from the old shadows of time into the new lights of eternity. The worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched, which constitute the punishment of the wicked, are differently interpreted by different people. For some refer both to the body, others refer both to the soul; while others again refer the fire literally to the body, and the worm figuratively to the soul, which seems the more credible idea. But the present is not the time to discuss this difference, for we have undertaken to occupy this book with the last judgment, in which the good and the bad are separated: their rewards and punishments we shall more carefully discuss elsewhere.

Sed quo modo egredientur boni ad uidendas poenas malorum? Numquid corporis motu beatas illas relicturi sunt sedes et ad loca poenalia perrecturi, ut malorum tormenta conspiciant praesentia corporali? Absit; sed egredientur per scientiam. Hoc enim uerbo significatum est eos qui cruciabuntur extra futuros. Propter quod et Dominus ea loca tenebras exteriores uocat, quibus contrarius est ille ingressus, de quo dicitur seruo bono: Intra in gaudium Domini tui; ne illuc mali putentur ingredi, ut sciantur, sed ad illos potius uelut egredi scientia, qua eos cognituri sunt, boni, quia id quod extra est cognituri sunt. Qui enim erunt in poenis, quid agatur intus in gaudio Domini nescient; qui uero erunt in illo gaudio, quid agatur foris in illis tenebris exterioribus scient. Ideo dictum est: Egredientur, quia eos etiam qui foris ab eis erunt utique non latebunt. Si enim haec prophetae nondum facta nosse potuerunt per hoc, quod erat Deus, quantulumcumque erat, in eorum mortalium mentibus: quo modo inmortales sancti iam facta tunc nescient, cum Deus erit omnia in omnibus? Stabit ergo in illa beatitudine sanctorum semen in nomen; semen scilicet de quo Iohannes ait: Et semen eius in ipso manet; nomen uero de quo per hunc Esaiam dictum est: Nomen aeternum dabo eis Erit eis et mensis ex mense et sabbatum ex sabbato, tamquam luna ex luna et requies ex requie, quorum utrumque ipsi erunt cum ex his umbris ueteribus et temporalibus in illa lumina noua ac sempiterna transibunt. In poenis autem malorum et inexstinguibilis ignis et uiuacissimus uermis ab aliis adque aliis aliter adque aliter est expositus. Alii quippe utrumque ad corpus, alii utrumque ad animum rettulerunt; alii proprie ad corpus ignem, tropice ad animum uermem, quod esse credibilius uidetur. Sed nunc de hac differentia non est temporis disputare. De iudicio namque ultimo, quo fiet diremtio bonorum et malorum, hoc uolumen inplere suscepimus; de ipsis uero praemiis et poenis alias diligentius disserendum est.

Chapter 23.—What Daniel Predicted Regarding the Persecution of Antichrist, the Judgment of God, and the Kingdom of the Saints.

Caput XXIII. Quid prophetauerit Daniel de persecutione Antichristi et de iudicio Dei regnoque sanctorum.

Daniel prophesies of the last judgment in such a way as to indicate that Antichrist shall first come, and to carry on his description to the eternal reign of the saints. For when in prophetic vision he had seen four beasts, signifying four kingdoms, and the fourth conquered by a certain king, who is recognized as Antichrist, and after this the eternal kingdom of the Son of man, that is to say, of Christ, he says, “My spirit was terrified, I Daniel in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me,” etc. Some have interpreted these four kingdoms as signifying those of the Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians, and Romans. They who desire to understand the fitness of this interpretation may read Jerome’s book on Daniel, which is written with a sufficiency of care and erudition. But he who reads this passage, even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church before the last judgment of God shall introduce the eternal reign of the saints. For it is patent from the context that the time, times, and half a time, means a year, and two years, and half a year, that is to say, three years and a half. Sometimes in Scripture the same thing is indicated by months. For though the word times seems to be used here in the Latin indefinitely, that is only because the Latins have no dual, as the Greeks have, and as the Hebrews also are said to have. Times, therefore, is used for two times. As for the ten kings, whom, as it seems, Antichrist is to find in the person of ten individuals when he comes, I own I am afraid we may be deceived in this, and that he may come unexpectedly while there are not ten kings living in the Roman world. For what if this number ten signifies the whole number of kings who are to precede his coming, as totality is frequently symbolized by a thousand, or a hundred, or seven, or other numbers, which it is not necessary to recount?

Daniel de hoc ultimo iudicio sic prophetat, ut Antichristum quoque prius uenturum esse praenuntiet adque ad aeternum regnum sanctorum perducat narrationem suam. Cum enim uisione prophetica quattuor bestias significantes quattuor regna uidisset, ipsumque quartum a quodam rege superatum, qui Antichristus agnoscitur, et post haec aeternum regnum filii hominis, qui intellegitur Christus: Horruit, inquit, spiritus meus, ego Daniel, in habitudine mea, et uisus capitis mei conturbabant me. Et accessi, inquit, ad unum de stantibus, et ueritatem quaerebam ab eo de omnibus his, et dixit mihi ueritatem. Deinde, quid audierit ab illo, a quo de omnibus his quaesiuit, tamquam eo sibi exponente sic loquitur: Hae bestiae magnae quattuor quattuor regna surgent in terra, quae auferentur, et accipient regnum sancti Altissimi et obtinebunt illud usque in saeculum et usque in saeculum saeculorum. Et quaerebam, inquit, diligenter de bestia quarta, quae erat differens prae omni bestia, terribilis amplius — dentes eius ferrei et ungues eius aerei, manducans et comminuens et reliqua pedibus suis conculcans —, et de cornibus eius decem, quae, erant in capite eius, et de altero, quod adscendit et excussit de prioribus tria; cornu illud in quo erant oculi et os loquens magna, et uisus eius maior ceteris. Videbam, et cornu illud faciebat bellum cum sanctis, et praeualebat ad ipsos, donec uenit uetustus dierum, et regnum dedit sanctis Altissimi; et tempus peruenit, et regnum obtinuerunt sancti. Haec Daniel quaesisse se dixit. Deinde quid audierit continuo subiungens: Et dixit, inquit (id est ille, a quo quaesierat. respondit et dixit): Bestia quarta quartum regnum erit in terra, quod praeualebit omnibus regnis; et manducabit omnem terram, et conculcabit eam et con c ide t. Et decem cornua eius decem reges surgent; et post eos surget alius, qui superabit malis omnes, qui ante eum fuerunt; et tres reges humiliabit et uerba aduersus Altissimum loquetur et sanctos Altissimi conteret et suspicabitur mutare tempora et legem: et dabitur in manu eius usque ad tempus et tempora et dimidium tempus. Et iudicium sedebit, et principatum remouebunt ad exterminandum et perdendum usque in finem; et regnum et potestas et magnitudo regum, qui sub omni caelo sunt, data est sanctis Altissimi. Et regnum eius regnum sempiternum; et omnes principatus ipsi seruient et obaudient. Huc usque, inquit, finis sermonis. Ego Daniel; multum cogitationes meae conturbabant me, et forma mea inmutata est super me, et uerbum in corde meo conseruaui. Quattuor illa regna exposuerunt quidam Assyriorum, Persarum, Macedonum et Romanorum. Quam uero conuenienter id fecerint, qui nosse desiderant, legant presbyteri Hieronymi librum in Danielem satis erudite diligenterque conscriptum.

In another place the same Daniel says, “And there shall be a time of trouble, such as was not since there was born a nation upon earth until that time: and in that time all Thy people which shall be found written in the book shall be delivered. And many of them that sleep in the mound of earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting confusion. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and many of the just as the stars for ever.” This passage is very similar to the one we have quoted from the Gospel, at least so far as regards the resurrection of dead bodies. For those who are there said to be “in the graves” are here spoken of as “sleeping in the mound of earth,” or, as others translate, “in the dust of earth.” There it is said, “They shall come forth;” so here, “They shall arise.” There, “They that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment;” here, “Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting confusion.” Neither is it to be supposed a difference, though in place of the expression in the Gospel, “All who are in their graves,” the prophet does not say “all,” but “many of them that sleep in the mound of earth.” For many is sometimes used in Scripture for all. Thus it was said to Abraham, “I have set thee as the father of many nations,” though in another place it was said to him, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.” Of such a resurrection it is said a little afterwards to the prophet himself, “And come thou and rest: for there is yet a day till the completion of the consummation; and thou shall rest, and rise in thy lot in the end of the days.”

Antichristi tamen aduersus ecclesiam saeuissimum regnum licet exiguo spatio temporis sustinendum, donec Dei ultimo iudicio regnum sancti accipiant sempiternum, qui uel dormitans haec legit, dubitare non sinitur. Tempus quippe et tempora et dimidium temporis unum annum esse et duo et dimidium ac per hoc tres annos et semissem etiam numero dierum posterius posito dilucescit, aliquando in scripturis et mensum numero declaratur. Videntur enim tempora indefinite hic dicta lingua Latina; sed per dualem numerum dicta sunt, quem Latini non habent. Sicut autem Graeci, ita hunc dicuntur habere et Hebraei. Sic ergo dicta sunt tempora, tamquam dicerentur duo tempora. Vereri me sane fateor, ne in decem regibus, quos tamquam decem homines uidetur inuenturus Antichristus, forte fallamur, adque ita [ne] ille inopinatus adueniat, non exsistentibus tot regibus in orbe Romano. Quid si enim numero isto denario uniuersitas regum significata est. post quos ille uenturus est; sicut millenario, centenario, septenario significatur plerumque uniuersitas, et aliis adque aliis numeris, quos nunc commemorare non est necesse? Alio loco idem Daniel: Et erit, inquit, tempus tribulationis, qualis non fuit ex quo nata est gens super terram usque ad tempus illud. Et in tempore illo saluabitur populus tuus omnis, qui inuentus fuerit scriptus in libro. Et multi dormientium in terrae aggere exsurgent: hi in uitam aeternam, et hi in obprobrium et in confusionem aeternam. Et intellegentes fulgebunt sicut claritas firmamenti, et ex iustis multi sicut stellae in saecula et adhuc. Sententiae illi euangelicae est locus iste simillimus de resurrectione dumtaxat corporum mortuorum. Nam qui illic dicti sunt esse in monumentis, ipsi hic dormientes in terrae aggere, uel, sicut alii interpretati sunt, in terrae puluere; et sicut ibi procedent dictum est, ita hic exsurgent; sicut ibi qui bona. fecerunt, in resurrectionem uiiae; qui autem mala egerunt, in resurrectionem iudicii: ita et isto loco hi in uitam aeternam, et hi in obprobrium et in confusionem aeternam. Non autem diuersum putetur, quod, cum ibi positum sit omnes qui sunt in monumentis, hic non ait propheta omnes, sed multi dormientium in terrae aggere. Ponit enim aliquando scriptura pro omnibus multos. Propterea et Abrahae dictum est: Patrem multarum gentium posui te, cui tamen alio loco: In semine, inquit, tuo benedicentur omnes gentes. De tali autem resurrectione huic quoque ipsi prophetae Danieli paulo post dicitur: Et tu ueni et requiesce; adhuc enim dies in conpletionem consummationis, et requiesces et resurges in sorte tua in fine dierum.

Chapter 24.—Passages from the Psalms of David Which Predict the End of the World and the Last Judgment.

Caput XXIV. In psalmis Dauidicis, quae de fine saeculi huius et nouissimo Dei iudicio prophetentur.

There are many allusions to the last judgment in the Psalms, but for the most part only casual and slight. I cannot, however, omit to mention what is said there in express terms of the end of this world: “In the beginning hast Thou laid the foundations of the earth, O Lord; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shall endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; and as a vesture Thou shall change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.” Why is it that Porphyry, while he lauds the piety of the Hebrews in worshipping a God great and true, and terrible to the gods themselves, follows the oracles of these gods in accusing the Christians of extreme folly because they say that this world shall perish? For here we find it said in the sacred books of the Hebrews, to that God whom this great philosopher acknowledges to be terrible even to the gods themselves, “The heavens are the work of Thy hands; they shall perish.” When the heavens, the higher and more secure part of the world, perish, shall the world itself be preserved? If this idea is not relished by Jupiter, whose oracle is quoted by this philosopher as an unquestionable authority in rebuke of the credulity of the Christians, why does he not similarly rebuke the wisdom of the Hebrews as folly, seeing that the prediction is found in their most holy books? But if this Hebrew wisdom, with which Porphyry is so captivated that he extols it through the utterances of his own gods, proclaims that the heavens are to perish, how is he so infatuated as to detest the faith of the Christians partly, if not chiefly, on this account, that they believe the world is to perish?—though how the heavens are to perish if the world does not is not easy to see. And, indeed, in the sacred writings which are peculiar to ourselves, and not common to the Hebrews and us,—I mean the evangelic and apostolic books,—the following expressions are used: “The figure of this world passeth away;” “The world passeth away;” “Heaven and earth shall pass away,”—expressions which are, I fancy, somewhat milder than “They shall perish.” In the Epistle of the Apostle Peter, too, where the world which then was is said to have perished, being overflowed with water, it is sufficiently obvious what part of the world is signified by the whole, and in what sense the word perished is to be taken, and what heavens were kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. And when he says a little afterwards, “The day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great rush, and the elements shall melt with burning heat, and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burned up and then adds, “Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be?”—these heavens which are to perish may be understood to be the same which he said were kept in store reserved for fire; and the elements which are to be burned are those which are full of storm and disturbance in this lowest part of the world in which he said that these heavens were kept in store; for the higher heavens in whose firmament are set the stars are safe, and remain in their integrity. For even the expression of Scripture, that “the stars shall fall from heaven,” not to mention that a different interpretation is much preferable, rather shows that the heavens themselves shall remain, if the stars are to fall from them. This expression, then, is either figurative, as is more credible, or this phenomenon will take place in this lowest heaven, like that mentioned by Virgil,—

Multa de iudicio nouissimo dicuntur in psalmis, sed eorum plura transeunter et strictim. Hoc tamen quod de fine huius saeculi apertissime ibi dictum est, nequaquam silentio praeteribo. Principio terram tu fundasti, Domine, et opera manuum tuarum sunt caeli. Ipsi peribunt, tu autem permanes; et omnes sicut uestimentum ueterescent, et sicut opertorium mutabis eos, et mutabuntur: tu autem idem ipse es, et anni tui non deficient. Quid est quod Porphyrius, cum pietatem laudet Hebraeorum, qua magnus et uerus et ipsis numinibus terribilis ab eis colitur Deus, Christianos ob hoc arguit maximae stultitiae etiam ex oraculis deorum suorum, quod istum mundum dicunt esse periturum? Ecce in litteris pietatis Hebraeorum dicitur Deo. quem confitente tanto philosopho etiam ipsa numina perhorrescunt: Opera manuum tuarum sunt caeli, ipsi peribunt. Numquid quando caeli peribunt, mundus, cuius idem caeli superior pars est et tutior, non peribit? Si haec sententia Ioui displicet, cuius, ut scribit iste philosophus, uelut grauioris auctoritatis oraculo in Christianorum credulitate culpatur: quur non similiter sapientiam tamquam stultitiam culpat Hebraeorum, in quorum libris piissimis inuenitur? Porro si in illa sapientia, quae Porphyrio tam multum placet, ut eam deorum quoque suorum uocibus praedicet, legitur caelos esse perituros: quur usque adeo uana est ista fallacia, ut in fide Christianorum uel inter cetera uel prae ceteris hoc detestentur, quod in ea periturus creditur mundus, quo utique nisi pereunte caeli perire non possunt? Et in litteris quidem sacris, quae proprie nostrae sunt, non Hebraeis nobisque communes, id est in euangelicis et apostolicis libris legitur: Praeterit figura huius mundi; legitur: Mundus transit: legitur: Caelum et terra transibunt. Sed puto. quod praeterit, transit, transibunt aliquanto mitius dicta sunt quam peribunt. In epistula quoque apostoli Petri. ubi aqua inundatus qui tunc erat perisse dictus est mundus, satis clarum est, et quae pars mundi a toto significata. et quatenus perisse sit dicta, et qui caeli repositi igni reseruandi in diem iudicii et perditionis hominum inpiorum; et in eo quod paulo post ait: Veniet dies Domini ut fur, in quo caeli magno inpetu transcurrent, elementa autem ardentia resoluentur. et terra et quae in ipsa sunt opera exurentur: ac deinde subiecit: His omnibus pereuntibus quales oportet esse uos? possunt illi caeli intellegi perituri. quos dixit repositos igni reseruandos, et [ea] elementa accipi arsura. quae in hac ima mundi parte subsistunt procellosa et turbulenta, in qua eosdem caelos dixit esse repositos, saluis illis superioribus et in sua integritate manentibus, in quorum firmamento sunt sidera constituta. Nam et illud quod scriptum est, stellas de caelo esse casuras, praeter quod potest multo probabilius et aliter intellegi, magis ostendit mansuros esse illos caelos, si tamen stellae inde casurae sunt; cum uel tropica sit locutio, quod est credibilius, uel in isto imo caelo futurum sit, utique mirabilius quam nunc fit. Unde et illa stella Vergiliana facem ducens multa cum luce cucurrit, et Idaea se condidit silua.

“A meteor with a train of light

Athwart the sky gleamed dazzling bright,

Hoc autem quod de psalmo commemoraui, nullum caelorum uidetur relinquere, quod periturum esse non dixerit.

Then in Idæan woods was lost.”

But the passage I have quoted from the psalm seems to except none of the heavens from the destiny of destruction; for he says, “The heavens are the works of Thy hands: they shall perish;” so that, as none of them are excepted from the category of God’s works, none of them are excepted from destruction. For our opponents will not condescend to defend the Hebrew piety, which has won the approbation of their gods, by the words of the Apostle Peter, whom they vehemently detest; nor will they argue that, as the apostle in his epistle understands a part when he speaks of the whole world perishing in the flood, though only the lowest part of it, and the corresponding heavens were destroyed, so in the psalm the whole is used for a part, and it is said “They shall perish,” though only the lowest heavens are to perish. But since, as I said, they will not condescend to reason thus, lest they should seem to approve of Peter’s meaning, or ascribe as much importance to the final conflagration as we ascribe to the deluge, whereas they contend that no waters or flames could destroy the whole human race, it only remains to them to maintain that their gods lauded the wisdom of the Hebrews because they had not read this psalm.

Ubi enim dicitur: Opera manuum tuarum sunt caeli, ipsi peribunt. quam nullum eorum ab opere Dei, tam nullum eorum a perditione secernitur. Non enim dignabuntur de Petri apostoli locutione, quem uehementer oderunt, Hebraeorum defendere pietatem, deorum suorum oraculis adprobatam, ut saltem, ne totus mundus periturus esse credatur, sic a toto pars accipiatur in eo, quod dictum est: Ipsi peribunt, cum soli caeli infimi perituri sint, quem ad modum in apostolica illa epistula a toto pars accipitur, quod diluuio perisse dictus est mundus, quamuis sola eius cum suis caelis pars ima perierit. Sed quia hoc, ut dixi, non dignabuntur, ne uel apostoli Petri adprobent sensum, uel tantum concedant conflagrationi nouissimae, quantum dicimus ualuisse diluuium, qui nullis aquis, nullis flammis totum genus humanum perire posse contendunt: restat ut dicant, quod propterea di eorum Hebraeam sapientiam laudauerunt, quia istum psalmum non legerant. In psalmo etiam quadragensimo nono de iudicio Dei nouissimo intellegitur dictum: Deus manifestus ueniet, Deus noster, et non silebit.

It is the last judgment of God which is re ferred to also in the 50th Psalm in the words, “God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence: fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call the heaven above, and the earth, to judge His people. Gather His saints together to Him; they who make a covenant with Him over sacrifices.” This we understand of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we look for from heaven to judge the quick and the dead. For He shall come manifestly to judge justly the just and the unjust, who before came hiddenly to be unjustly judged by the unjust. He, I say, shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence, that is, shall make Himself known by His voice of judgment, who before, when he came hiddenly, was silent before His judge when He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and, as a lamb before the shearer, opened not His mouth as we read that it was prophesied of Him by Isaiah, and as we see it fulfilled in the Gospel. As for the fire and tempest, we have already said how these are to be interpreted when we were explaining a similar passage in Isaiah. As to the expression, “He shall call the heaven above,” as the saints and the righteous are rightly called heaven, no doubt this means what the apostle says, “We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” For if we take the bare literal sense, how is it possible to call the heaven above, as if the heaven could be anywhere else than above? And the following expression, “And the earth to judge His people,” if we supply only the words, “He shall call,” that is to say, “He shall call the earth also,” and do not supply “above,” seems to give us a meaning in accordance with sound doctrine, the heaven symbolizing those who will judge along with Christ, and the earth those who shall be judged; and thus the words, “He shall call the heaven above,” would not mean, “He shall catch up into the air,” but “He shall lift up to seats of judgment.” Possibly, too, “He shall call the heaven,” may mean, He shall call the angels in the high and lofty places, that He may descend with them to do judgment; and “He shall call the earth also” would then mean, He shall call the men on the earth to judgment. But if with the words “and the earth” we understand not only “He shall call,” but also “above,” so as to make the full sense be, He shall call the heaven above, and He shall call the earth above, then I think it is best understood of the men who shall be caught up to meet Christ in the air, and that they are called the heaven with reference to their souls, and the earth with reference to their bodies. Then what is “to judge His people,” but to separate by judgment the good from the bad, as the sheep from the goats? Then he turns to address the angels: “Gather His saints together unto Him.” For certainly a matter so important must be accomplished by the ministry of angels. And if we ask who the saints are who are gathered unto Him by the angels, we are told, “They who make a covenant with Him over sacrifices.” This is the whole life of the saints, to make a covenant with God over sacrifices. For “over sacrifices” either refers to works of mercy, which are preferable to sacrifices in the judgment of God, who says, “I desire mercy more than sacrifices,” or if “over sacrifices” means in sacrifices, then these very works of mercy are the sacrifices with which God is pleased, as I remember to have stated in the tenth book of this work; and in these works the saints make a covenant with God, because they do them for the sake of the promises which are contained in His new testament or covenant. And hence, when His saints have been gathered to Him and set at His right hand in the last judgment, Christ shall say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat,” and so on, mentioning the good works of the good, and their eternal rewards assigned by the last sentence of the Judge.

Ignis in conspectu eius ardebit, et in circuitu eius tempestas ualida. Aduocabit caelum sursum et terram discernere populum suum. Congregate illi iustos eius, qui disponunt testamento eius super sacrificia. Hoc nos de Domino Iesu Christo intellegimus, quem speramus de caelo esse uenturum ad uiuos et mortuos iudicandos. Manifestus enim ueniet inter iustos et iniustos iudicaturus iuste, qui prius uenit occultus ab iniustis iudicandus iniuste. Ipse, inquam, manifestus ueniet et non silebit, id est, in uoce iudicis euidens apparebit, qui prius cum uenisset occultus, ante iudicem siluit, quando sicut ouis ad immolandum ductus est et sicut agnus coram tondente fuit sine uoce, quem ad modum de illo per Esaiam legimus prophetatum et in euangelio uidemus inpletum. De igne uero et tempestate, cum in Esaiae prophetia tale aliquid tractaremus, quo modo essent haec intellegenda, iam diximus. Quod uero dictum est: Aduocabit caelum sursum: quoniam sancti et iusti recte caelum appellantur, nimirum hoc est, quod ait apostolus: Simul cum illis rapiemur in nubibus in obuiam Christo in aera. Nam secundum litterae superficiem, quo modo aduocatur caelum sursum, quasi possit esse nisi sursum? Quod autem adiunctum est: Et terram discernere populum suum, si tantummodo subaudiatur aduocabit, id est aduocabit et terram, nec subaudiatur sursum, hunc uidetur habere sensum secundum rectam fidem, ut caelum intellegatur in eis, qui cum illo iudicaturi sunt, et terra in eis, qui iudicandi sunt; ut aduocabit caelum sursum non hic intellegamus ‘rapiet in aera’, sed ‘in iudiciarias eriget sedes’. Potest et illud intellegi aduocabit caelum sursum ‘aduocabit angelos in supernis et excelsis locis, cum quibus descendat ad faciendum iudicium’; aduocabit et terram, id est homines in terra utique iudicandos. Si autem utrumque subaudiendum est, cum dicitur et terram, id est et aduocabit. et sursum, ut iste sit sensus: Aduocabit caelum sursum, et terram aduocabit sursum: nihil melius intellegi existimo quam omnes qui rapientur in obuiam Christo in aera, sed caelum dictum propter animas, terram propter corpora. Discernere porro populum suum, quid est nisi per iudicium separare bonos a malis, tamquam oues ab haedis? Deinde conuersio sermonis ad angelos facta est: Congregate illi iustos eius; profecto enim per angelicum ministerium res tanta peragenda est. Si autem quaerimus, quos iustos ei congregaturi sunt angeli: Qui disponunt, inquit, testamentum eius super sacrificia. Haec est omnis uita iustorum: disponere testamentum Dei super sacrificia. Aut enim opera misericordiae sunt super sacrificia, id est sacrificiis praeponenda, iuxta sententiam Dei dicentis: Misericordiam uolo quam sacrificium; aut si super sacrificia (in sacrificiis) intellegitur dictum, quo modo super terram fieri dicitur quod fit utique in terra: profecto ipsa opera misericordiae sunt sacrificia, quibus placetur Deo, sicut in libro huius operis decimo me disseruisse reminiscor; in quibus operibus disponunt iusti testamentum Dei, quia propter promissiones, quae nouo eius testamento continentur, haec faciunt. Unde congregatis sibi iustis suis et ad suam dexteram constitutis nouissimo utique iudicio dicturus est Christus: Venite, benedicti patris mei, possidete paratum uobis regnum a constitutione mundi. Esuriui enim, et dedistis mihi manducare. et cetera quae ibi proferuntur de bonorum operibus bonis et eorum praemiis sempiternis per ultimam sententiam iudicantis.

Chapter 25.—Of Malachi’s Prophecy, in Which He Speaks of the Last Judgment, and of a Cleansing Which Some are to Undergo by Purifying Punishments.

Caput XXV. De prophetia Malachielis, qua Dei iudicium ultimum declaratur et quorundam dicitur per purificatorias poenas facienda mundatio.

The prophet Malachi or Malachias, who is also called Angel, and is by some (for Jerome tells us that this is the opinion of the Hebrews) identified with Ezra the priest, others of whose writings have been received into the canon, predicts the last judgment, saying, “Behold, He cometh, saith the Lord Almighty; and who shall abide the day of His entrance? . . . for I am the Lord your God, and I change not.” From these words it more evidently appears that some shall in the last judgment suffer some kind of purgatorial punishments; for what else can be understood by the word, “Who shall abide the day of His entrance, or who shall be able to look upon Him? for He enters as a moulder’s fire, and as the herb of fullers: and He shall sit fusing and purifying as if over gold and silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and pour them out like gold and silver?” Similarly Isaiah says, “The Lord shall wash the filthiness of the sons and daughters of Zion, and shall cleanse away the blood from their midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.” Unless perhaps we should say that they are cleansed from filthiness and in a manner clarified, when the wicked are separated from them by penal judgment, so that the elimination and damnation of the one party is the purgation of the others, because they shall henceforth live free from the contamination of such men. But when he says, “And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and pour them out like gold and silver, and they shall offer to the Lord sacrifices in righteousness; and the sacrifices of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord,” he declares that those who shall be purified shall then please the Lord with sacrifices of righteousness, and consequently they themselves shall be purified from their own unrighteousness which made them displeasing to God. Now they themselves, when they have been purified, shall be sacrifices of complete and perfect righteousness; for what more acceptable offering can such persons make to God than themselves? But this question of purgatorial punishments we must defer to another time, to give it a more adequate treatment. By the sons of Levi and Judah and Jerusalem we ought to understand the Church herself, gathered not from the Hebrews only, but from other nations as well; nor such a Church as she now is, when “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” but as she shall then be, purged by the last judgment as a threshing-floor by a winnowing wind, and those of her members who need it being cleansed by fire, so that there remains absolutely not one who offers sacrifice for his sins. For all who make such offerings are assuredly in their sins, for the remission of which they make offerings, that having made to God an acceptable offering, they may then be absolved.

Propheta Malachiel siue Malachi, qui et angelus dictus est, qui etiam Esdras sacerdos, cuius alia in canonem scripta recepta sunt, ab aliquibus creditur (nam de illo hanc esse Hebraeorum opinionem dicit Hieronymus), iudicium nouissimum prophetat dicens: Ecce uenit, dicit Dominus omnipotens; et quis sustinebit diem introitus -eius, aut quis ferre poterit ut adspiciat eum? Quia ipse ingreditur quasi ignis conflatorii et quasi herba lauantium; et sedebit conflans et emundans sicut argentum et sicut aurum, et emundabit filios Leui, et fundet eos sicut aurum et argentum; et erunt Domino offerentes hostias in iustitia, et placebit Domino sacrificium Iudae et Hierusalem, sicut diebus pristinis et sicut annis prioribus. Et accedam ad uos in iudicio, et ero testis uelox super maleficos et super adulteros et super eos, qui iurant in nomine meo mendaciter, et qui fraudant mercedem mercennario et obprimunt per potentiam uiduas et percutiunt pupillos et peruertunt iudicium aduenae, et qui non timent me, dicit Dominus omnipotens; quoniam ego Dominus Deus uester, et non mutor. Ex his quae dicta sunt uidetur euidentius apparere in illo iudicio quasdam quorundam purgatorias poenas futuras. Ubi enim dicitur: Quis sustinebit diem introitus eius, aut quis ferre poterit, ut adspiciat eum? Quia ipse ingreditur quasi ignis conflatorii et quasi herba lauantium; et sedebit conflans et emundans sicut argentum et sicut aurum et emundabit filios Leui, et fundet eos sicut aurum et argentum: quid aliud intellegendum est? Dicit tale aliquid et Esaias: Lauabit Dominus sordes filiorum et filiarum Sion, et sanguinem emundabit de medio eorum spiritu iudicii et spiritu combustionis. Nisi forte sic eos dicendum est emundari a sordibus et eliquari quodam modo, cum ab eis mali per poenale iudicium separantur, ut illorum segregatio adque damnatio purgatio sit istorum, quia sine talium de cetero permixtione uicturi sunt. Sed cum dicit: Et emundabit filios Leui et fundet eos sicut aurum et argentum; et erunt Domino offerentes hostias in iustitia, et placebit Domino sacrificium Iudae et Hierusalem, utique ostendit eos ipsos, qui emundabuntur, deinceps in sacrificiis iustitiae Domino esse placituros, ac per hoc ipsi a sua iniustitia mundabuntur, in qua Domino displicebant. Hostiae porro in plena perfectaque iustitia, cum mundati fuerint, ipsi erunt. Quid enim acceptius Deo tales offerunt quam se ipsos? Verum ista quaestio de purgatoriis poenis, ut diligentius pertractetur, in tempus aliud differenda est. Filios autem Leui et ludam et Hierusalem ipsam Dei ecclesiam debemus accipere, non ex Hebraeis tantum, sed ex aliis etiam gentibus congregatam; nec talem, qualis nunc est, ubi, si dixerimus, quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et ueritas in nobis non est; sed qualis tunc erit, uelut area per uentilationem, ita per iudicium purgata nouissimum, eis quoque igne mundatis, quibus talis mundatio necessaria est, ita ut nullus omnino sit, qui offerat sacrificium pro peccatis suis. Omnes enim qui sic offerunt, profecto in peccatis sunt, pro quibus dimittendis offerunt, ut, cum obtulerint acceptumque Deo fuerit, tunc dimittantur.

Chapter 26.—Of the Sacrifices Offered to God by the Saints, Which are to Be Pleasing to Him, as in the Primitive Days and Former Years.

Caput XXVI. De sacri’ficiis, quae sancti offerent Deo sic placitura. quo modo in diebus pristinis et annis prioribus placuerunt.

And it was with the design of showing that His city shall not then follow this custom, that God said that the sons of Levi should offer sacrifices in righteousness,—not therefore in sin, and consequently not for sin. And hence we see how vainly the Jews promise themselves a return of the old times of sacrificing according to the law of the old testament, grounding on the words which follow, “And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to the Lord, as in the primitive days, and as in former years.” For in the times of the law they offered sacrifices not in righteousness but in sins, offering especially and primarily for sins, so much so that even the priest himself, whom we must suppose to have been their most righteous man, was accustomed to offer, according to God’s commandments, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. And therefore we must explain how we are to understand the words, “as in the primitive days, and as in former years;” for perhaps he alludes to the time in which our first parents were in paradise. Then, indeed, intact and pure from all stain and blemish of sin, they offered themselves to God as the purest sacrifices. But since they were banished thence on account of their transgression, and human nature was condemned in them, with the exception of the one Mediator and those who have been baptized, and are as yet infants, “there is none clean from stain, not even the babe whose life has been but for a day upon the earth.” But if it be replied that those who offer in faith may be said to offer in righteousness, because the righteous lives by faith,—he deceives himself, however, if he says that he has no sin, and therefore he does not say so, because he lives by faith,—will any man say this time of faith can be placed on an equal footing with that consummation when they who offer sacrifices in righteousness shall be purified by the fire of the last judgment? And consequently, since it must be believed that after such a cleansing the righteous shall retain no sin, assuredly that time, so far as regards its freedom from sin, can be compared to no other period, unless to that during which our first parents lived in paradise in the most innocent happiness before their transgression. It is this period, then, which is properly understood when it is said, “as in the primitive days, and as in former years.” For in Isaiah, too, after the new heavens and the new earth have been promised, among other elements in the blessedness of the saints which are there depicted by allegories and figures, from giving an adequate explanation of which I am prevented by a desire to avoid prolixity, it is said, “According to the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people.” And who that has looked at Scripture does not know where God planted the tree of life, from whose fruit He excluded our first parents when their own iniquity ejected them from paradise, and round which a terrible and fiery fence was set?

Volens autem Deus ostendere ciuitatem suam tunc in ista consuetudine non futuram dixit filios Leui oblaturos hostias in iustitia; non ergo in peccato ac per hoc non pro peccato. Unde intellegi potest in eo quod secutus adiunxit adque ait: Et placebit Domino sacrificium Iudae et Hierusalem. sicut diebus pristinis et sicut annis prioribus, frustra sibi Iudaeos secundum legem ueteris testamenti sacrificiorum suorum praeterita tempora polliceri. Non enim tunc in iustitia, sed in peccatis hostias offerebant, quando pro peccatis praecipue ac primitus offerebant, usque adeo ut sacerdos ipse. quem debemus utique credere ceteris fuisse iustiorem, secundum Dei mandatum soleret pro suis primum offerre peccatis. deinde pro populi. Quapropter exponere nos oportet, quo modo sit accipiendum quod dictum est: Sicut diebus pristinis et sicut annis prioribus. Fortassis enim tempus illud commemorat, quo primi homines in paradiso fuerunt. Tunc enim puri adque integri ab omni sorde ac labe peccati se ipsos Deo mundissimas hostias offerebant; ceterum ex quo commissae praeuaricationis causa inde dimissi sunt adque humana in eis natura damnata est, excepto uno Mediatore et post lauacrum regenerationis quibusque adhuc paruulis nemo mundus a sorde, sicut scriptum est, nec infans. cuius est unius diei uita super terram. Quod si respondetur etiam eos merito dici posse offerre hostias in iustitia, qui offerunt in fide (iustus enim ex fide uiuit; quamuis se ipsum seducat, si dixerit se non habere peccatum, et ideo non dicat, quia ex fide uiuit): numquid dicturus est quispiam hoc fidei tempus illi fini esse coaequandum, quando igne iudicii nouissimi mundabuntur, qui offerant hostias in iustitia? Ac per hoc quoniam post talem mundationem nullum peccatum iustos habituros esse credendum est, profecto illud tempus, quantum adtinet ad non habere peccatum, nulli tempori conparandum est, nisi quando primi homines in paradiso ante praeuaricationem innocentissima felicitate uixerunt. Recte itaque intellegitur hoc significatum esse, cum dictum est: Sicut diebus pristinis et sicut annis prioribus. Nam et per Esaiam postea quam caelum nouum et terra noua promissa est, inter cetera, quae ibi de sanctorum beatitudine per allegorias et aenigmata exsequitur, quibus expositionem congruam reddere nos prohibuit uitandae longitudinis cura: Secundum dies, inquit, ligni uitae erunt dies populi mei. Quis autem sacras litteras adtigit et ignorat ubi Deus plantauerit lignum uitae, a cuius cibo separatis illis hominibus, quando eos sua de paradiso eiecit iniquitas, eidem ligno circumposita est ignea terribilisque custodia?

But if any one contends that those days of the tree of life mentioned by the prophet Isaiah are the present times of the Church of Christ, and that Christ Himself is prophetically called the Tree of Life, because He is Wisdom, and of wisdom Solomon says, “It is a tree of life to all who embrace it;” and if they maintain that our first parents did not pass years in paradise, but were driven from it so soon that none of their children were begotten there, and that therefore that time cannot be alluded to in words which run, “as in the primitive days, and as in former years,” I forbear entering on this question, lest by discussing everything I become prolix, and leave the whole subject in uncertainty. For I see another meaning, which should keep us from believing that a restoration of the primitive days and former years of the legal sacrifices could have been promised to us by the prophet as a great boon. For the animals selected as victims under the old law were required to be immaculate, and free from all blemish whatever, and symbolized holy men free from all sin, the only instance of which character was found in Christ. As, therefore, after the judgment those who are worthy of such purification shall be purified even by fire, and shall be rendered thoroughly sinless, and shall offer themselves to God in righteousness, and be indeed victims immaculate and free from all blemish whatever, they shall then certainly be, “as in the primitive days, and as in former years,” when the purest victims were offered, the shadow of this future reality. For there shall then be in the body and soul of the saints the purity which was symbolized in the bodies of these victims.

Quod si quisquam illos dies ligni uitae, quos commemorauit propheta Esaias, istos qui nunc aguntur ecclesiae Christi dies esse contendit ipsumque Christum lignum uitae prophetice dictum, quia ipse est sapientia Dei, de qua Salomon ait: Lignum uitae est omnibus amplectentibus eam; nec annos egisse aliquos in paradiso illos primos homines, unde tam cito eiecti sunt, ut nullum ibi gignerent filium, et ideo non posse illud tempus intellegi in eo quod dictum est: Sicut diebus pristinis et sicut annis prioribus: istam praetereo quaestionem, ne cogar, quod prolixum est, cuncta discutere, ut aliquid horum ueritas manifesta confirmet. Video quippe alterum sensum, ne dies pristinos et annos priores carnalium sacrificiorum nobis pro magno munere per prophetam promissos fuisse credamus. Hostiae namque illae ueteris legis in quibusque pecoribus inmaculatae ac sine ullo prorsus uitio iubebantur offerri, et significabant homines sanctos, qualis solus inuentus est Christus, sine ullo omnino peccato. Proinde quia post iudicium, cum fuerint etiam igne mundati, qui eius modi mundatione sunt digni, in omnibus sanctis nullum inuenietur omnino peccatum, adque ita se ipsos offerent in iustitia, ut tales hostiae omni modo inmaculatae ac sine ullo uitio sint futurae, erunt profecto sicut pristinis diebus et sicut annis prioribus, quando in umbra huius rei futurae mundissimae offerebantur hostiae. Haec erit namque munditia tunc in inmortali carne ac mente sanctorum, quae figurabatur in illarum corporibus hostiarum.

Then, with reference to those who are worthy not of cleansing but of damnation, He says, “And I will draw near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evildoers and against adulterers;” and after enumerating other damnable crimes, He adds, “For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed.” It is as if He said, Though your fault has changed you for the worse, and my grace has changed you for the better, I am not changed. And he says that He Himself will be a witness, because in His judgment He needs no witnesses; and that He will be “swift,” either because He is to come suddenly, and the judgment which seemed to lag shall be very swift by His unexpected arrival, or because He will convince the consciences of men directly and without any prolix harangue. “For,” as it is written, “in the thoughts of the wicked His examination shall be conducted.” And the apostle says, “The thoughts accusing or else excusing, in the day in which God shall judge the hidden things of men, according to my gospel in Jesus Christ.” Thus, then, shall the Lord be a swift witness, when He shall suddenly bring back into the memory that which shall convince and punish the conscience.

Deinde propter eos, qui non mundatione, sed damnatione sunt digni: Et accedam, inquit. ad uos in iudicium, et ero testis uelox super maleficos et super adulteros. et cetera, quibus damnabilibus enumeratis criminibus addidit: Quoniam ego Dominus Deus uester, et non mutor; tamquam diceret: ‘Cum uos mutauerit et in deterius culpa uestra et in melius gratia mea, ego non mutor.’ Testem uero se dicit futurum, quia in iudicio suo non indiget testibus, eumque uelocem, siue quia repente uenturus est eritque iudicium ipso inopinato eius aduentu celerrimum, quod tardissimum uidebatur, siue quia ipsas conuincet sine ulla sermonis prolixitate conscientias. In cogitationibus enim, sicut scriptum est, inpii interrogatio erit; et apostolus: Cogitationibus, inquit, accusantibus uel etiam eicusantibus in die, qua iudicabit Deus occulta hominum secundum euangelium meum per legum Christum. Etiam sic ergo Dominus futurus testis intellegendus est uelox, cum sine mora reuocaturus est in memoriam, unde conuincat puniatque conscientiam.

Chapter 27.—Of the Separation of the Good and the Bad, Which Proclaim the Discriminating Influence of the Last Judgment.

Caput XXVII. De separatione bonorum et malorum, per quam nouissimi iudicii discretio declaratur.

The passage also which I formerly quoted for another purpose from this prophet refers to the last judgment, in which he says, “They shall be mine, saith the Lord Almighty, in the day in which I make up my gains,” etc. When this diversity between the rewards and punishments which distinguish the righteous from the wicked shall appear under that Sun of righteousness in the brightness of life eternal,—a diversity which is not discerned under this sun which shines on the vanity of this life,—there shall then be such a judgment as has never before been.

• Illud etiam, quod aliud agens in octauo decimo libro ex isto propheta posui, ad iudicium nouissimum pertinet, ubi ait: Erunt mihi, dicit Dominus omnipotens, in die qua ego facio in adquisitionem, et eligam eos sicut eligit homo filium suum qui seruit ei; et conuertar et uidebitis quid sit inter iustum et iniquum, et inter seruientem Deo et eum qui non seruit ei. Quia ecce dies uenit ardens sicut clibanus et conburet eos, et erunt omnes alienigenae et uniuersi, qui faciunt iniquitatem, stipula, et succendet eos dies ueniens, dicit Dominus omnipotens, et non relinquetur in eis radix neque ramus. Et orietur uobis, qui timetis nomen meum, sol iustitiae, et sanitas in pinnis eius, et egrediemini et salietis sicut uituli de uinculis relaxati; et conculcabitis iniquos, et erunt cinis sub pedibus uestris, dicit Dominus omnipotens. Haec distantia praemiorum adque poenarum iustos dirimens ab iniustis, quae sub isto sole in huius uitae uanitate non cernitur, quando sub illo sole iustitiae in illius uitae manifestatione clarebit, tunc profecto erit iudicium quale numquam fuit.