Who Will Judge On The Last Day?

[SJacob7]

Will God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit judge us on the last day? Thank you.

 

[peter26]

Jesus will be the judge. One of many examples stating this is the Te Deum

Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.

or in Latin

Tu ad déxteram Dei sedes, in glória Patris.
Judex créderis esse ventúrus.

 

[Goya]

Will God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit judge us on the last day? Thank you.

It would appear that Christ will be the judge:

Tradition:

“…He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”–Nicene Creed

And

“…He sitteth at the right hand of the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead”–Apostles Creed.

And in the Bible:

2 Cor 5:10:

10 All of us have a scrutiny to undergo before Christ’s judgement-seat, for each to reap what his mortal life has earned, good or ill, according to his deeds.

newadvent.org/bible/2co005.htm#vrs10

2 Tim 4:1

I adjure thee in the sight of God, and of Jesus Christ, who is to be the judge of living and dead, in the name of his coming, and of his kingdom

newadvent.org/bible/2ti004.htm#vrs1

fwiw.

 

[GNM1999]

In some paintings and other things the Archangel Michael plays a prominent role in the second coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I could be wrong however.

 

[bsy]

Jesus Christ

Matthew 25 The Judgment of the Nations

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’
41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
46And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

---

 

[mikekle]

Jesus Christ

Matthew 25 The Judgment of the Nations

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32 and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’
41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
46And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

---

I wonder a lot about this event, Im familiar with the scripture on it, but Im wondering if each person will get their chance to appear before God and be judged (like a courtroom), or if it will be different, I cant imagine every person from every nation at one place at one time, all being judged simultaneously.

If each person has their chance, I wonder if we will get to speak or defend ourselves in some way? if so, that ‘waiting line’ may seem like eternity, but I guess no one would be in a rush, nowhere else to be!

Ive always imagined this all takes place instantly when you die and you are not even aware you are being judged, then you just ‘wake up’ in whatever eternity you were sent.

 

[Nita]

I wonder a lot about this event, Im familiar with the scripture on it, but Im wondering if each person will get their chance to appear before God and be judged (like a courtroom),

Each person has their own personal judgment right after we die.

or if it will be different, …

It (the general judgment) will be different from the personal judgment.

If each person has their chance, I wonder if we will get to speak or defend ourselves in some way? …!

What defense could we possibly offer that our all-knowing God had not already taken into account.
We’ll see our souls as they truly are; therefore we will KNOW our guilt or innocence. There will be no mitigating circumstances that God will need us to inform Him of.

Ive always imagined this all takes place instantly when you die and you are not even aware you are being judged, then you just ‘wake up’ in whatever eternity you were sent.

There won’t be any waking up; we’ll be awake through the whole thing.

 

[bsy]

I wonder a lot about this event, Im familiar with the scripture on it, but Im wondering if each person will get their chance to appear before God and be judged (like a courtroom), or if it will be different, I cant imagine every person from every nation at one place at one time, all being judged simultaneously.

If each person has their chance, I wonder if we will get to speak or defend ourselves in some way? if so, that ‘waiting line’ may seem like eternity, but I guess no one would be in a rush, nowhere else to be!

Ive always imagined this all takes place instantly when you die and you are not even aware you are being judged, then you just ‘wake up’ in whatever eternity you were sent.

Jesus will come to judge all human beings on the Last Day. This is the general judgment after the resurrection of the dead, but those who die before the end of the world will have to face their particular judgment.

As to details and order, we do not really know…

What we know is time in Heaven is different from time on earth

2Peter 3:8 with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.

 

[SJacob7]

Thank you for your responses. I was under the impression that Jesus was our judge on the last day, but it’s nice to get confirmation of it.

So, can we say that Catholics along with other religions that don’t believe in Jesus or His deity will be judged by the same God? I’m having problems with it. If they don’t believe in Jesus, how can we Catholics along with none believing religions be judged by the same God? It’s just something I’m having troubles with. Thanks!

SJ

 

[Goya]

Thank you for your responses. I was under the impression that Jesus was our judge on the last day, but it’s nice to get confirmation of it.

So, can we say that Catholics along with other religions that don’t believe in Jesus or His deity will be judged by the same God? I’m having problems with it. If they don’t believe in Jesus, how can we Catholics along with none believing religions be judged by the same God? It’s just something I’m having troubles with. Thanks!

SJ

Sure it sounds a bit unfair on its face, but look at it from the bigger picture:

1. All of humanity is/was damned by default, upon the sin of Adam and Eave;
2. It is merciful and loving of God, to open the door a crack, and allow some in;
3. The Faith held by the Church was granted to her–by Christ, to His Apostles, through them/their successors, to us. It is THE Faith Christ entrusted to us–as for those outside ofHis Church…well the Lord will save those whom He sees fit, according to His Will (i.e.–in ways known only to God).

We can’t spend our time worrying about what is only known and/or knowable by God, when there is plenty we need to be, learn and do, within the known/knowable, which we have yet be/learn/do.

IOW–let us worry about what we can control…and leave the rest to God.

jmho/fwiw

 

[TimothyH]

Thank you for your responses. I was under the impression that Jesus was our judge on the last day, but it’s nice to get confirmation of it.

So, can we say that Catholics along with other religions that don’t believe in Jesus or His deity will be judged by the same God? I’m having problems with it. If they don’t believe in Jesus, how can we Catholics along with none believing religions be judged by the same God? It’s just something I’m having troubles with. Thanks!

SJ

Not believing the sky is blue doesn’t change the fact that the sky is blue.

***You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. *(John 4:22)

-Tim-

 

[bsy]

Thank you for your responses. I was under the impression that Jesus was our judge on the last day, but it’s nice to get confirmation of it.

So, can we say that Catholics along with other religions that don’t believe in Jesus or His deity will be judged by the same God? I’m having problems with it. If they don’t believe in Jesus, how can we Catholics along with none believing religions be judged by the same God? It’s just something I’m having troubles with. Thanks!

SJ

Hi, hope this article helps
catholic.com/magazine/articles/what-no-salvation-outside-the-church-means

 

[Mintaka]

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I thought I should add one of the interesting side bits that the Church has always taught.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 –

“Do you not know that the saints shall judge this world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things of this world?”

There is an old tradition that the saints (and particularly the Apostles) will not only participate in the general judgment, but also be judges under Jesus at that time. This follows the Jewish idea of having not just a single judge, but also a sort of jury or assembly who “sit in the gates” and judge cases together. You will remember that this also happened to Jesus: he wasn’t judged only by the High Priest, but also by a vote of the Sanhedrin.

This is probably why Paul doesn’t just say that humans should never judge. Instead he says that they shouldn’t judge until the Lord comes and presents all the evidence:

“…He that judges me is the Lord. Therefore, do not judge before the time; until the Lord come, Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise from God.”

• 1 Corinthians 4:5

We actually have a picture of the saints acting as subsidiary judges in the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 4:4 –

"And round about the throne [Greek: *tou thronou

] were four and twenty thrones thronous]; and upon the thrones thronous], four and twenty ancients sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads were crowns of gold."

The usual interpretation is that the 24 “ancients” or “elders” are the Twelve Patriarchs of Israel and the Twelve Apostles.

Anyway, you will notice in Revelation that every time that Jesus passes a judgment, the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures (aka the 4 Evangelists) ratify His judgment by saying that it’s a good judgment and falling down before Him. Then you also see all the crowd of the saints (representing the assembly of the people) also singing or shouting their ratification of the judgment.

So yeah, it’s not just a show of enthusiasm; it’s a legal action.

You also see this in the Passion story. The reason that Jesus’ enemies brought a crowd to Pilate’s palace to demand Jesus’ death was that they wanted to present the appearance of a ratification of this Jesus guy’s execution by the Romans by having it look like it was okayed by the assembly of the people, even if it was actually done in an illegal and corrupt manner that didn’t include most of the people. (And it was the Romans doing it anyway, so the Jewish people couldn’t have ratified it if they had wanted. Silliness and putting on a political show, that’s all that really happened.)

There are a lot of places in the Bible where you will see this done; and even outside Israel you see things like Abraham’s land buys being ratified not just by the landowner, but by all the neighbors and the whole local population. You also get people being legally acclaimed by those who sit in the gates and by all the people, like Ruth being approved as a “valiant woman.”

 

[Mintaka]

Which brings us to St. Patrick’s Day.

There are a lot of old legends that St. Paul was told that he would help judge the congregations that he had founded, because he was their apostle. Similar legends exist for many early missionaries. So it’s not surprising that the Irish also have a similar legend about St. Patrick.

Here’s an elaborate version of it, from the early 9th century “Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,” as translated from Middle Irish by Whitley Stokes. I’ve altered it slightly for better understanding.

"Thereafter Patrick got him into the wilderness - that is, to Cruachan Oigle [a mountain now called Croagh Patrick], after the manner of Moses and Elijah and Christ; and for forty days and forty nights he fasted in that place, having four stones about him and a stone under him, even as Moses fasted on Mount Sinai when the Law was delivered unto him. For they, Moses and Patrick, were alike in many ways. One hundred and twenty years was the age of them both. Each was a leader of people: forty nights on mountains they fasted, and the burial-places of both are uncertain.

Now when Easter was at hand, the mountain was filled against him with devils in the shapes of black birds. Patrick sings psalms of cursing against them, and he weeps and strikes his bell, until a gap broke in it, ut dixit Patricius so that Patrick said] -

        I fear to go to the round Rick:
        bands without piety (are) against me,
        Fear has seized me for a time,
        ten hundred heads (are) contending with me.

The devils flee at once upon the sea, as far as eye can reach, and drown themselves in that place [like the devils in the Gadarene swine], and no devil visited the land of Ireland from that time to the end of seven days and seven months and seven years.

Then there came a great host of angels in the shapes of white birds, and they sang noble music to the Lord to comfort Patrick. Some say that it is an equal number he will take with him to heaven.

Then the angel Victor [the angel who often spoke to Patrick in these legends] said to him, ‘Go to thy people for the solemn festival of Easter.’

Patrick said, ‘Since I was tormented, I will not go till I am satisfied, and until seven things are given to me by the Lord: namely, that at Doomsday hell be not shut upon whichsoever of the men of Ireland repenteth before death, were it even for the space of a single hour; that outlanders may not inhabit this island [well, that didn’t work]; that the sea may come over it seven years before Doomsday [to prevent the Irish suffering worse tribulations, or being tricked by Antichrist - yup, not as popular a provision in legend!]; that seven persons every Thursday and twelve every Saturday I may free from the punishments of hell [ie, somebody who would otherwise be damned to Hell will not be damned]; that whoever shall sing my hymn on the day of his death may be a dweller in heaven, as I promised unto Sechnall; and that on Doomsday I may bring from the punishments of hell for every hair of my cloak, seven of those that shall visit it [referring to St.Patrick’s woolen cloak, which was a famous relic that attracted pilgrimage]; and that I myself may be judge over the men of Ireland on Doomsday.’

‘All this shall be granted to thee.’ said the angel, ‘for all the household of heaven have besought Him for thee.’

‘A blessing upon the King,’ said Patrick, ‘and upon the household.’

Patrick struck his bell, so that all the men of Ireland, both living and dead, heard it. Thereafter he blessed the men of Ireland from the Rick, and he orders seven of his household (who are still) alive to guard the men of Ireland, to wit: a man at Cruachan Aigle, and a man at Benn Gulbain, and a man in Sliabh Bethad, and a man in Sliabh Cua, and the married pair at Cluain Iraird, and Domangort of Sliabh Slangai.

He went from the Rick thereafter, and celebrated Easter at Achad Fobair.

 

[SJacob7]

Ok, here’s more evidence that Jesus will be the judge on the last day.

Acts 10:42

He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

So, how can we Catholics believe that Jesus will be the judge on the last day, but tell the Muslims that “together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day”? We know Jesus is the judge. Muslims don’t believe it. At the very least it’s a false statement.

 

[Mintaka]

It’s a partially true statement.

For example, there are plenty of pagan religions that don’t believe that there will be any judgment of the dead, or that the dead are only divided into heroes and normal people. Other pagan religions have a judge of the dead who isn’t even close to being the One God, or even who is a demon or evil being or lesser spirit.

So yes, it would be more exact to say, “Muslims and Catholics all believe in a Last Judgment by God, but we Catholics believe that the Judge is specifically Jesus Christ, God the Son.” But that’s not the format for that particular statement.

The other difficulty is that there’s a lot of difference among various Muslim groups on what they think happens at the Last Judgment and what happens afterward. Yet I don’t see you complaining about the simplification of that part being a “false statement,” and how it doesn’t mention the Twelve Imams or whatever.

 

[SJacob7]

It’s a partially true statement.

For example, there are plenty of pagan religions that don’t believe that there will be any judgment of the dead, or that the dead are only divided into heroes and normal people. Other pagan religions have a judge of the dead who isn’t even close to being the One God, or even who is a demon or evil being or lesser spirit.

So yes, it would be more exact to say, “Muslims and Catholics all believe in a Last Judgment by God, but we Catholics believe that the Judge is specifically Jesus Christ, God the Son.” But that’s not the format for that particular statement.

The other difficulty is that there’s a lot of difference among various Muslim groups on what they think happens at the Last Judgment and what happens afterward. Yet I don’t see you complaining about the simplification of that part being a “false statement,” and how it doesn’t mention the Twelve Imams or whatever.

I’m really not complaining, and I don’t care to even try to bring up what other religions believe! I’m merely stating what I see as a contradiction between a Catholic document and a Catholic belief.

The Catechism states regarding the Church’s relationship with the Muslims. …* and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day."330*

But our belief is that Jesus is the Judge on the last day. Which, of course, the Muslims don’t believe. I’m just trying to understand why it is written this way when we know that the Muslims don’t believe in Jesus. Thanks.

 

[djames99]

One of the things every man is to prove is if he had responded to the grace that revealed to him the true Church, or, that he responded by the sufficient grace for him to seek knowledge and discover it. It will depend on his degree of ignorance, and how well he cared for his conscience by bringing it to perfection. Catholics will have had available the added graces that are available only in the Church, especially the sacrament of Reconciliation which is also available to non Catholics who meet certain conditions.

All things will be measured against the standard of the Church, and to what degree of vincible or invincible ignorance he finds himself in.

 

[Usagi]

Ok, here’s more evidence that Jesus will be the judge on the last day.

Acts 10:42

He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.

So, how can we Catholics believe that Jesus will be the judge on the last day, but tell the Muslims that “together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day”? We know Jesus is the judge. Muslims don’t believe it. At the very least it’s a false statement.

Jesus is God, not some.other being separate from God.

So we can affirm that both religions believe in the One True God who will judge everyone on the last day. Neither group is ignorant of the fact that we believe Jesus to be the Incarnation of that God while they do not.

Most Jews seem to be okay with the idea that we Christians also worship the God of Israel, even though we believe things about Him that they flatly deny. Same deal.

 

[steve_b]

Will God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit judge us on the last day? Thank you.

**2 Tim 4: **4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead,…