192 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
192 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
The Last Judgment
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World Scripture
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THE LAST JUDGMENT
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Hope in a Last Judgment has always been an answer to the problem of theodicy.
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The dominion of evil in this world will finally be overthrown, and the
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righteousness of God will be vindicated, when He judges all humankind at the
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end of days. Evil will be vanquished once and for all, and the glorious realm
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of God's full sovereignty will appear--the Kingdom of God.
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Variations on this theme are represented by the passages in this section. In
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the passages from the Avesta and the Old Testament, the Last Judgment and the
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emerging Kingdom of God are said to occur on the earth. On the other hand, in
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the passages from the Qur'an and the New Testament, the earth will be destroyed
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and the redeemed will live in heaven. Consequently, the Last Judgment may be
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interpreted either as a supernatural event at the world's end--typically the
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stance of Islam and most strains of traditional Christianity--or as a social,
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political, and religious renovation of this world--a view common to Judaism and
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some new religions, for example in a passage cited below from a scripture of
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Sekai-Kyusei-Kyo, a new religion from Japan.
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The kingdom of Heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered
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fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and
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sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the
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close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the
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righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and
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gnash their teeth.
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1. Christianity. Matthew 13.47-50
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Matthew 13.47-50: Cf. Matthew 16.27, p. 172; Lotus Sutra 16, p. 947.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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And then when retribution
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shall come for their offenses,
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Then, O Wise One, Thy Kingdom
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shall be established by Good Thought,
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For those who, in fulfilment,
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deliver evil into the hands of Truth!
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And then may we be those
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who make life renovated,
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O Lord, Immortals of the Wise One,
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and O Truth, bring your alliance,
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That to us your minds may gather
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where wisdom would be in dispute!
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Then, indeed, shall occur
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the collapse of the growth of evil,
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Then they shall join the promised reward:
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blessed abode of Good Thought,
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Of the Wise One, and of Right,
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they who earn in good reputation!
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2. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 30.8-10
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For the windows of heaven are opened,
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and the foundations of the earth tremble.
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The earth is utterly broken,
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the earth is rent asunder,
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the earth is violently shaken.
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The earth staggers like a drunken man,
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it sways like a hut;
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its transgression lies heavy upon it,
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and it falls, and will not rise again.
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On that day the Lord will punish
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the hosts of heaven, in heaven,
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and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
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They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit;
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they will be shut up in a prison,
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and after many days they will be punished.
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Then the moon will be confounded,
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and the sun ashamed;
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for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
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and before its elders he will manifest his glory.
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3. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 24.18-23
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When the Trumpet shall sound one blast
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And the earth with its mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash,
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Then, on that day, will the Event befall.
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Heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail,
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Yasna 30.8-10: 'Good Thought,' 'Truth,' and 'Immortals of the Wise One' are
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personified attributes of the Wise Lord. See Yasna 43.5, p. 172; 48.4, p. 353;
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Zamyad Yast 19.11-12, p. 950. On the triumph of truth, cf. Qur'an 17.85, p.
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470; Ramkali-ki-Var, M.1, p. 470. Isaiah 24.18-23: Cf. Isaiah 2.12-17, p.
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354.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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The angels will be on its sides, and eight will uphold the Throne of their
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Lord that day, above them.
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On that day you will be exposed; not a secret of yours will be hidden.
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Then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he will say,
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"Take, read my book!
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Surely I knew that I should have to meet my reckoning."
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Then he will be in blissful state
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In a high Garden
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Whose clusters are in easy reach.
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[They will say to him,] "Eat and drink at ease for that you sent on before
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you in past days."
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But as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say, "Oh,
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would that I had not been given my book
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And knew not what my reckoning!
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Oh, would that it had been death!
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My wealth has not availed me,
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My power has gone from me."
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"Take him and fetter him
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And then expose him to hellfire.
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Then insert him in a chain of seventy cubits' length.
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Lo! he used not to believe in God the Tremendous,
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And urged not on the feeding of the wretched,
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Therefore has he no lover here this day,
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Nor any food save filth
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Which none but sinners eat."
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4. Islam. Qur'an 69.13-37
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Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions
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and saying, "Where is the promise of [Christ's] coming? For ever since the
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fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning
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of creation." They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God
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heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of
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water, through that which the world that then existed was deluged with water
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and perished. But by the same word the heavens and the earth have been stored
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up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly
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men. But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is
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as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow
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about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not
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wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the
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day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away
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with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth
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and the works that are upon it will be burned up.
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5. Christianity. 2 Peter 3.3-10
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Qur'an 69.13-37: Cf. Qur'an 17.13-17, p. 299; 39.68-75, p. 301; 99, p. 845;
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also Revelation 20.11-12, p. 299. 2 Peter 3.3-10: Peter is urging patience to
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Christians who misunderstood the promise of Christ's Second Coming, thinking
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that it should have occurred within a few years after his Ascension. Cf. 1
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Thessalonians 5.2-6, pp. 638f.; John 12.46-50, pp. 551f.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Deem not that God is unaware of what the wicked do. He but gives them a
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respite till a day when eyes shall stare [in terror], as they come hurrying on
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in fear, their heads upraised, their gaze returning not to them, and their
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hearts as air. And warn mankind of a day when the doom will come upon them,
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and those who did wrong will say, "Our Lord! Reprieve us for a little while. We
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will obey Thy call and will follow the Messengers." [It will be answered,]
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"Did you not swear before that there would be no end for you? And have you not
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dwelt in the dwellings of those who wronged themselves of old and has it not
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become plain to you how We dealt with them, and made examples for you? Verily
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they have plotted their plot, and their plot is with God, though their plot
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were one whereby mountains should be moved. So think not that God will fail to
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keep His promise to His Messengers. Lo! God is Mighty, Able to Requite.
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On the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and the
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heavens likewise, and they will come forth unto God, the One, the Almighty. You
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will see the guilty on that day linked together in chains, their raiment of
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pitch, and the Fire covering their faces--that God may repay each soul what it
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has earned. Lo! God is swift at reckoning.
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6. Islam. Qur'an 14.42-51
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Civilization as we know it is only transitory; it will finally pass away as the
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new age dawns and the true civilization is born. That will mark the end of
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the "provisional" world we live in today. God wills a reckoning for the old
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civilization and the establishment of a new one, and the time of His reckoning
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is at last drawing near.
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Until now evil forces have had wide latitude in civilization, but in the
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transition from the old to the new, they will be weeded out. All people will
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go through an inexorable process of cleansing. The world will be terribly
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afflicted in payment for untold sins gathered over millennia. The great
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affliction is the sign that all societies and nations are being purified, and
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it will lift humankind to a new level of existence where good prevails.
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The transition, which is actually upon us now, is the last stage before the
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beginning of an earthly paradise. In the upheaval, every sphere of life and
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every corner of civilization will be transformed. Those who believe in God and
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repent will witness the coming of the new world, and they will be able to start
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on the road to salvation. But those still heavily burdened with sin and unable
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to overcome their malicious ways will end this life in absolute misery and may
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find no salvation in the next.
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7. Sekai-Kyusei-Kyo. Johrei
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