Question about the time right after death

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FishyPete

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I’ve always wondered this.

I whole heatedly believe we see the Lord after our death, before purgatory of course, for our initial judgement and mercy (thank you God for that!)… so I’ve always wondered the following…

What does a good Muslim person or Jewish person or in a nut shell, non-Christian person see after death. The reason I ask is, won’t they be terrified upon seeing Jesus (and i don’t mean terrified of him, i mean they expected something else obviously)

I’ve always answered myself in this way - Jesus being one with the Father, is pure love and Mercy, therefore anyone destined for heaven, no matter their religion (or lack thereof) could not possibly be afraid.

Would the first words out of their mouth be “Lord, i’m sorry I wasn’t brought up to believe in you.” or, “Lord, i’m sorry I never took the time to know you, I should have.”

Would our Lord’s response be: “It’s ok I know you loved my in your heart…”?

I know its a silly question, but I’ve always wondered this…

It came up again in my mind recently when a Muslim family happily helped me with my broken down car. My Christianity was full on display with my cross around my neck and in my car. I thanked them and prayed for them that night that that small act of kindness to a Christian like me (a least among many believe me) would earn them an eternal reward if God would have it.

Any thoughts. And thank you for taking the time to read my question!
 
Good question. I do not know. God will give them understanding.
 
After death everyone sees Jesus, for he said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6). Whatever fear each soul experiences will vary but I think C.S. Lewis brilliantly depicted the encounter between a Calorman and Aslan in end of The Last Battle:
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis:
But I said, “Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash.”

He answered, “Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me.”

Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, “Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one?”

The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, “It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child?”

I said, “Lord, thou knowest how much I understand.” But I said also (for the truth constrained me), “Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days.”

“Beloved,” said the Glorious One, “unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.”
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CCC 846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.

CCC 847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.
 
MatthewTrainor said:
After death everyone sees Jesus, for he said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6). Whatever fear each soul experiences will vary but I think C.S. Lewis brilliantly depicted the encounter between a Calorman and Aslan in end of The Last Battle:
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Wow! What a great answer. Thanks!!
 
Polycarp1 said:
CCC 846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.

CCC 847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.
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Thanks for the detailed answer. Appreciate it.

I did know this though… But my question stems more from the reaction of a good non-Christian.

I think MatthewTrainor (above) provided a wonderful answer.
 
I think CS Lewis (like he did so often) said it best, in the last of the **Narnia **novels, The Last Battle:

In the course of that narrative, a youth from Calormen (which people did not serve Aslan, the Lion of Narnia, but the local deity Tash) comes upon Aslan, but must admit that he was no servant of his, but of Tash. To which Aslan responded. “All the service thou hast done unto Tash, I accept as done unto me.”

Replace the Lion of Narnia by the Lion of Judah :)🙂 and Tash by the head of any other faith, and we can hope that something vaguely comparable happens in these people’s deaths.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
I think CS Lewis (like he did so often) said it best, in the last of the **Narnia **novels, The Last Battle:

In the course of that narrative, a youth from Calormen (which people did not serve Aslan, the Lion of Narnia, but the local deity Tash) comes upon Aslan, but must admit that he was no servant of his, but of Tash. To which Aslan responded. “All the service thou hast done unto Tash, I accept as done unto me.”

Replace the Lion of Narnia by the Lion of Judah :)🙂 and Tash by the head of any other faith, and we can hope that something vaguely comparable happens in these people’s deaths.

ICXC NIKA
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Agreed. It’s a fantastic answer to my question.
 
I think about this quite a bit too, but realistically, it is probably nothing even remotely close to how we think it will be. We use our physical brains to think, to form mental images, its almost impossible for us, as a human, to speculate about existing in a place without time, its just not something we can imagine

I have a great fear of dying though, a fear of ‘being stuck’ in a terrible place or state of being, and not being able to do anything about it.

I also have a feeling, those last few earthly seconds, when we are on the verge of death, ‘time’ probably changes, while someone watching another die, and it takes about 2 minutes, but for the person going thru it, it probably seems like hours or even days, and Id imagine A WHOLE LOT goes on during this time.
 
mikekle said:
I think about this quite a bit too, but realistically, it is probably nothing even remotely close to how we think it will be. We use our physical brains to think, to form mental images, its almost impossible for us, as a human, to speculate about existing in a place without time, its just not something we can imagine

I have a great fear of dying though, a fear of ‘being stuck’ in a terrible place or state of being, and not being able to do anything about it.

I also have a feeling, those last few earthly seconds, when we are on the verge of death, ‘time’ probably changes, while someone watching another die, and it takes about 2 minutes, but for the person going thru it, it probably seems like hours or even days, and Id imagine A WHOLE LOT goes on during this time.
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We will have a spiritual body, and because there is no time in death we will not have to “wait” in the state of death.

However, it is possibly that the “dying” may seem to be prolonged, since the victim no longer even has his breathing to measure time by.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
We will have a spiritual body, and because there is no time in death we will not have to “wait” in the state of death.

ICXC NIKA
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But will it SEEM/ FEEL like waiting or time passing?

Simply standing before God, him giving our judgement, experiencing hell, or heaven at first, etc, those things may FEEL like time passing to us when we go thru them.

I know this is basically spitballing, and no way for us to accurately guess what being in ‘no time’ is like or even what it feels like. LOL
 
Will these people not know that we have all sinned against the Most High? That is what merits Hell.

And from where does the belief come that people literally see Jesus after death during the particular judgment? I’ve always assumed that the particular judgment is already set. It’s not like you can accept Christ after death if you’ve already been given a chance.
 
mikekle said:
But will it SEEM/ FEEL like waiting or time passing?

Simply standing before God, him giving our judgement, experiencing hell, or heaven at first, etc, those things may FEEL like time passing to us when we go thru them.

I know this is basically spitballing, and no way for us to accurately guess what being in ‘no time’ is like or even what it feels like. LOL
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Death is almost like sleep? (That’s a popular analogy in modern culture, probably because they “don’t know” what happens.) However, it can be a peaceful dream or a nightmare, depending. Now, that is certainly not to say that Heaven and Hell are simply illusory or something like that. Not at all! But this is perhaps one analogy before the resurrection of the dead.
 
Hatikvah said:
It’s not like you can accept Christ after death if you’ve already been given a chance.
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Dont you suppose those last few earthly seconds, when we are breathing our last couple breaths…its likely quite a bit happens/ things resolved during this time, maybe everyone is shown the truth and we are given a last chance, right before the millisecond our earthly body dies?
 
mikekle said:
Dont you suppose those last few earthly seconds, when we are breathing our last couple breaths…its likely quite a bit happens/ things resolved during this time, maybe everyone is shown the truth and we are given a last chance, right before the millisecond our earthly body dies?
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Well, perhaps. But remember, “so long as we are living” we are given this chance. God is merciful, so that is certainly an option that we can take without going into universalism (indeed, a doctrine vilified by most).

But I’m speaking about the particular judgment. We do not have the opportunity there. CCC 1023 says:
Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ.
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According to some NDEs people are greeted by family members, some see Jesus, and experience a great unconditional love from God, as well as a life review. Fr. Spitzer writes about NDEs in his last book.
 
mikekle said:
Dont you suppose those last few earthly seconds, when we are breathing our last couple breaths…its likely quite a bit happens/ things resolved during this time, maybe everyone is shown the truth and we are given a last chance, right before the millisecond our earthly body dies?
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Even in the ostensibly dead human body, the “mind” might not have died (there is initially still blood in the head), and we can’t know what might or might not occur spiritually in that still living mind.

ICXC NIKA
 
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