Chap. XX.—Of the Judgment of Christ, of Christians, and of the Soul.

After these things the lower regions shall be opened, and the dead shall rise again, on whom the same King and God shall pass judgment, to whom the supreme Father shall give the great power both of judging and of reigning. And respecting this judgment and reign, it is thus found in the Erythræan Sibyl:—  

Then in another:—  

And in another place in the same:—  

Not all men, however, shall then be judged by God, but those only who have been exercised in the religion of God. For they who have not known God, since sentence cannot be passed upon them for their acquittal, are already judged and condemned, since the Holy Scriptures testify that the wicked shall not arise to judgment.1387    The reference is to Ps. i. 5: “The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment.” They shall indeed arise, but it will be to “the resurrection of damnation.” See Dan. xii. 2; John v. 28, 29; Acts xxiv. 15.   Therefore they who have known God shall be judged, and their deeds, that is, their evil works, shall be compared and weighed against their good ones: so that if those which are good and just are more1388    Good and bad actions will not be compared by reference to number: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”—Jas. ii. 10. [The figure, however, is not dissimilar in Job xxxi. 6. We must be judged by our works, though saved by faith in Christ.]   and weighty, they may be given to a life of blessedness; but if the evil exceed, they may be condemned to punishment. Here, perhaps, some one will say, If the soul is immortal, how is it represented as capable of suffering, and sensible of punishment? For if it shall be punished on account of its deserts, it is plain that it will be sensible of pain, and even of death. If it is not liable to death, not even to pain, it follows that it is not capable of suffering.  

This question or argument is thus met by the Stoics: that the souls of men continue to exist, and are not annihilated1389    In nihilum resolvi.   by the intervention of death: that the souls, moreover, of those who have been just, being pure, and incapable of suffering, and happy, return to the heavenly abodes from which they had their origin, or are borne to some happy plains, where they may enjoy wonderful pleasures; but that the wicked, since they have defiled themselves with evil passions, have a kind of middle nature, between that of an immortal and a mortal, and have something of weakness, from the contagion of the flesh; and being enslaved to its desires and lusts, they contract an indelible stain and earthly blot; and when this has become entirely inherent through length of time, souls are given over to its nature, so that, though they cannot altogether be extinguished, inasmuch as they are from God, nevertheless they become liable to torment through the taint of the body, which being burnt in by means of sins, produces a feeling of pain. Which sentiment is thus expressed by the poet:1390    Virg., Æneid, vi. 735.  —  

These things are near to the truth.1391    [1 Cor. iii. 13–15. An approximation to this truth is recognised by our author in a heathen poet. See p. 217, n. 2.]   For the soul, when separated from the body, is, as the same poet says,1392    Virg., Æneid, vi. 702.   such as  

because it is a spirit, and by its very slightness incapable of being perceived, but only by us who are corporeal but capable of being perceived by God, since it belongs to Him to be able to do all things.  

CAPUT XX. De Christi judicio, de Christianis, atque de anima.

Post haec aperientur inferi, et resurgent mortui: de quibus judicium magnum idem ipse rex ac Deus faciet, cui summus pater, et judicandi, et regnandi dabit maximam potestatem; de quo judicio et regno apud Erythraeam Sibyllam sic invenitur: Ὁππότε καὶ τὸ λάβη τέλος αἴσιμον, ἡδὲ βροτοῖσι Καὶ δὴ ἀφίξηται κρίσις ἀθανάτοιο θεοῖο, Ἥξει ἑπ᾽ ἀνθρώπους μεγάλη κρίσις ἡδὲ καὶ ἀρχή.Deinde apud aliam: Ταρτάρεον δὲ χάος τότε δείξει γαῖα χανοῦσα Ἥξουσιν δὲ ἐπὶ βῆμα θεοῦ βασιλῆος ἄπαντες.0799A Et alio loco apud eamdem: Οὐρανὸν εἱλίξων 0799A γαίης κηυθμώνας ἀνοίξω; Και τότ᾽ ἀναστήσω νεκροὺς, μοῖραν ἀναλύσας Καὶ θαυάτου κέντρον, καὶ ὕστερον εἰς κρίσιν ἄξω, Κρίνων εὐσεβέων καὶ δυσσεβέων βίον ἀνδρῶν.Nec tamen universi tunc a Deo judicabuntur: sed ii tantum qui sunt in Dei religione versati. Nam qui Deum non agnoverunt, quoniam sententia de his in absolutionem ferri non potest, jam judicati damnatique sunt, sanctis litteris contestantibus, non resurrecturos esse impios in judicium. Judicabuntur ergo qui Deum scierunt, et facinora eorum, id est mala opera cum bonis collata ponderabuntur; ut si plura et gravia fuerint bona justaque, dentur ad vitam beatam: si autem mala superaverint, condemnentur ad poenam. Hic fortasse dixerit quispiam: Si est immortalis 0799B anima, quomodo patibilis inducitur, ac poenam sentiens? Si enim ob merita punietur, sentiet utique dolorem, atque ita etiam mortem. Si morti non est obnoxia, nec dolori quidem, patibilis igitur non est.

Huic quaestioni, sive argumento, a Stoicis ita occurritur: Animas quidem hominum permanere, nec interventu mortis in nihilum resolvi: sed eorum, qui justi fuerunt, puras, et impatibiles, et beatas ad sedem coelestem, unde illis origo sit, remeare; vel in campos quosdam fortunatos rapi, ubi fruantur miris voluptatibus: impiorum vero, quoniam se malis cupiditatibus inquinaverunt, mediam quamdam gerere 0800A inter immortalem mortalemque naturam, et habere aliquid imbecillitatis ex contagione carnis. Cujus desideriis ac libidinibus addictae ineluibilem quemdam fucum trahant labemque terrenam; quae cum temporis diuturnitate penitus inhaeserit, ejus naturae reddi animas, ut si non extinguibiles in totum, quoniam ex Deo sunt, tamen cruciabiles fiant per corporis maculam, quae peccatis inusta, sensum doloris attribuit. Quam sententiam poeta sic explicavit: Quin et supremo cum lumine vita reliquit, Non tamen omne malum miseris, nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes; penitusque necesse est, Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris. Ergo exercentur poenis, veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt.Haec propemodum vera sunt. Anima enim, cum divortium fecit a corpore, est, ut ait idem poeta, 0800B Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.quia spiritus est ipsa tenuitate incomprehensibilis: sed nobis, qui sumus corporales; Deo autem, cui subjacet posse omnia, comprehensibilis.