Christian Destiny
February 13, 2007
Dev Thakur
The Resurrection of the Body: when
Jesus returns, he will physically raise all those who have died, giving them
back their earthly bodies—but these bodies will be transformed.
1. This doctrine is stated most powerfully by
2. This doctrine was further defined in three creeds and in ecumenical councils. The Fourth Lateran Council defined that at his second coming, Jesus “will judge the living and the dead, to render to every person according to his works, both to the reprobate and to the elect. All of them will rise with their own bodies, which they now wear, so as to receive according to their deserts, whether these be good or bad.”[2]
3. So what kind of body will this be?
4. So what is Jesus’ glorified body like? “By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with this disciples.”[5] He shows them that it is his own body, as it bears the marks of his passion. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!" But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.[6] Though the same body, it is also different, no longer bound by time or space. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." [7]
5. The doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body has
profound consequences for our understanding not only of Christian destiny, but
also of the meaning of the human person, the dignity of procreation within
marriage, and the nuptial dimension of each vocation. It is also fundamental in Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.”
The Four Last Things: traditionally, these are Death,
Judgment, Heaven and Hell.
Death occurs when the soul leaves the body.
1. Death was contrary to the Creator’s plan, but
entered the world through sin.[8] For God created man incorruptible, and to
the image of his own likeness he made him. But by the envy of the devil, death
came into the world.[9] Wherefore as by one man sin entered into
this world and by sin death: and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have
sinned.[10]
2. Remembering our mortality inspires us to focus on
eternal things, while we still have time to make the choices that affect our
salvation. O Lord, make me know my
end. And what is the number of my days: that I may know what is wanting to me.[11]
3. Christ has transformed death by redeeming it. For as by the disobedience of one man,
many were made sinners: so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made
just. Now the law entered in that sin might abound. And where sin abounded,
grace did more abound. That as sin hath reigned to death: so also grace might
reign by justice unto life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord.[12]
4. For the Christian, death is the opportunity for
eternal life.
Judgment includes a particular judgment and a General Judgment.
1. Each person receives, at the moment of death, eternal retribution in his immortal soul in accordance with his works and faith: entrance into the beatific vision (immediately or after purification) or immediate and eternal damnation: this is the particular judgment.[15]
2. At the second coming of Jesus, after the resurrection of the dead, will be the General Judgment or Last Judgment. The event is dramatically recounted by the Lord himself as the separation of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
3. At the Last Judgment, each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare. The ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and the entire economy of salvation will finally be revealed.[16]
4. We do not know when this day will come (and it is therefore foolish to make predictions). “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”[17]
Heaven is the name given to that eternal perfect life in communion with the Most Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and all the saints, which is the destiny of all those who die in God’s grace and friendship.
1. Jesus opened heaven for all believers by his death and Resurrection. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.[18] “The cross is not a loss for those who have faith. The resurrection showed that Christ opened heaven's gate.”[19]
2. Heaven is beyond human understanding, but some
truths about it have been revealed. But,
as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of
man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"-- these things
God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything,
even the depths of God.[20] In parables, Jesus teaches about heaven using
various images, including heaven as the “throne of God”[21],
where we lay our treasure[22], a kingdom where the
righteous will “recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”[23],
a field, leaven[24],
and “a merchant in search of fine pearls.”[25] In other parts of Scripture, heaven is called
“life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father’s house,
the heavenly
3. In heaven, our human nature will be fulfilled, and we will live and reign with Christ. “Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness.”[27] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.[28] No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.[29]
4. In heaven we will be like gods: this is called divinization or theosis. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.[30] His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.[31]
Hell is the state of exclusion from communion with God and the blessed.
1. Jesus teaches us unambiguously about the reality of hell. In the Sermon on the Mount, He says, If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.[32] Explaining the parable of the weeds, He says, Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.[33]
2. Among the torments of hell, the chief torment is separation from God. “The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.”[34]
3. Hell is a radical consequence of free will, the destiny of those who die in mortal sin. “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice.”[35] “For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: ‘Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.’ ”[36]
4. Although it is a difficult doctrine, what else would we have God do? “To wipe out their past sins, and at all costs give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty, and offering every miraculous help? But he has done so – in the life and death of his Son. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, that is what he does.”[37]
4. Why does the Church talk about hell? First, it is a truth revealed by God. But also, as the Catechism states, “The
affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject
of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use
of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an
urgent call to conversion: ‘Enter
by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to
destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the
way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.’ ”[38]
Salvation controversies
1. The Church still teaches the doctrine of
purgatory. Purgatory is a state of
purification for those who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still bear
imperfections.
2. The Church does not teach a “doctrine of limbo.” Because the Bible states the necessity of baptism, questions arose as to what happens to “virtuous pagans” and unbaptized children who died before the age of reason. One theological opinion posited limbo, a place apart from both heaven and hell, without torment but also without the beatific vision. This opinion has been held by many learned theologians, and was once extremely popular, but it was never defined doctrinally. (It’s not even mentioned in the Catechism.)
3. The Church still gives indulgences. “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”[42] The Church is the “minister of redeption” because of the authority gives to her visible head, Peter, by Jesus himself: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.[43]
4. We cannot earn our salvation through works. The Church has always taught: “We can have merit in God's sight only because of God's free plan to associate man with the work of his grace. Merit is to be ascribed in the first place to the grace of God, and secondly to man's collaboration. Man's merit is due to God.”[44] By saying that our merit is ascribed to God’s grace, however, it does not follow that our actions don’t affect our salvation!
5. We are not saved by faith alone. Our Lord says as much in the account of the Last Judgment, when he separates the sheep and the goats by what they have done and what they have failed to do. There are many other examples from Scripture. There is only one place in all of Sacred Scripture where we find the phrase “faith alone”: You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.[45]
6. Both works and faith are gifts of God’s grace, and
both are required for salvation. The
words of Jesus in the Gospels, as well as the letters of the New Testament, are
abundantly clear that we must do good and avoid evil if we are to be saved. The
New Testament is also abundantly clear that we must have faith. As
7. God does not predestine anyone to hell. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.[48] There is no clear consensus among Catholic theologians about how grace and free will interact. But a Catholic must believe that God, who does not want anyone to perish, provides sufficient grace for all to be saved (even if this grace is only merely sufficient and not efficacious in every case). One heretical extreme is to deny God’s grace and providence (Pelagius) and the other would be to deny man’s free will (Calvin).
8. It is possible for someone to fall out of friendship with God. The increasingly popular evangelical doctrine of “once saved, always saved” is attractive (for obvious psychological reasons), but it’s unbiblical. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.[49] Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.[50] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.[51] For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.[52]
9. It’s not just about being a good/decent/nice person. “Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state—though each in his own way—are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father himself is perfect.”[53] You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.[54]
10. The Church still teaches that “outside of the Church, there is no salvation.” This doctrine (extra ecclesiam nulla salus[55]) is often misinterpreted. The most sensible thing to do is to look to the Magisterium’s interpretation. First, the Church formally rejected Fr. Feeney’s teaching that EENS means that to be saved one must be a visible member of the Church, baptized by water. Secondly, the Church understands that membership in the Church by baptism can be not only by sacramental water baptism, but also by baptism of blood and baptism of desire.[56] Finally, the Church has clarified that even those who are not explicitly united to the Church by any form of baptism may still be saved in some way, but only through the Catholic Church. “ . . . For those who are not formally and visibly members of the Church, salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is communicated by the Holy Spirit; it has a relationship with the Church, which according to the plan of the Father, has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.”[57]
[1] 1 Corinthians 15:13-15. This and all biblical citations are from the English Standard Version, unless otherwise noted.
[2] Lateran IV, Constitution 1; cf. Romans 2:6-11
[3] 1 Corinthians 15:35, 44
[4] 1 John 3:2
[5]
[6] Luke 24:36-53
[7] John 20:26
[8]
[9] Wisdom 2:23-24, Douay-Rheims
Version
[10] Romans 5:12
[11] Psalm 39:5, Douay-Rheims
Version
[12] Romans 5:19-21
[13] Philippians 1:21-23
[14] Roman Missal, Preface of Christian Death I
[15]
[16]
[17] Matthew 24:36
[18] Hebrews 9:11-12
[19] “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” (Juan Antonio Ruiz)
[20] 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
[21] Matthew 5:34
[22] Matthew 6:20
[23] Matthew 8:11
[24] Matthew 13:33
[25] Matthew 13:45
[26]
[27]
[28] John 14:3
[29] Revelation 22:3-5
[30] 1 John 3:2
[31] 2 Peter 1:3-4
[32] Matthew 5:29
[33] Matthew 13:40-42
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39] Revelation 21:27
[40] 1 Corinthians 3:15
[41] 2 Maccabees 12:46, Douay-Rheims Version
[42]
[43] Matthew 16:19
[44]
[45] James 2:24
[46] Romans 3:28
[47] James 2:14-18
[48] 2 Peter 3:9
[49] Romans 11:22
[50] Philippians 2:12
[51] 1 John 1:6
[52] 2 Peter 2:20-21
[53] Vatican II (Lumen gentium, 11 § 3)
[54] Matthew 5:48
[55] Fourth Lateran Council
[56]
[57] Dominus Iesus, 20