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The City of God

Chapter 5.--The Passages in Which the Saviour Declares that There Shall Be a Divine Judgment in the End of the World.

The Saviour Himself, while reproving the cities in which He had done great works, but which had not believed, and while setting them in unfavorable comparison with foreign cities, says, "But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you." ¹ And a little after He says, "Verily, I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee." ² Here He most plainly predicts that a day of judgment is to come. And in another place He says, "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the utter most parts of the earth to hear the words of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here." ³ Two things we learn from this passage, that a judgment is to take place, and that it is to take place at the resurrection of the dead. For when He spoke of the Ninevites and the queen of the south, He certainly spoke of dead persons, and yet He said that they should rise up in the day of judgment. He did not say, "They shall condemn," as if they themselves were to be the judges, but because, in comparison with them, the others shall be justly condemned.

Again, in another passage, in which He was speaking of the present intermingling and future separation of the good and bad,--the separation which shall be made in the day of judgment,--He adduced a comparison drawn from the sown wheat and the tares sown among them, and gave this explanation of it to His disciples: "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man," ⁴ etc. Here, indeed, He did not name the judgment or the day of judgment, but indicated it much more clearly by describing the circumstances, and foretold that it should take place in the end of the world.

In like manner He says to His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." ⁵ Here we learn that Jesus shall judge with His disciples. And therefore He said elsewhere to the Jews, "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges." ⁶ Neither ought we to suppose that only twelve men shall judge along with Him, though He says that they shall sit upon twelve thrones; for by the number twelve is signified the completeness of the multitude of those who shall judge. For the two parts of the number seven (which commonly symbolizes totality), that is to say four and three, multiplied into one another, give twelve. For four times three, or three times four, are twelve. There are other meanings, too, in this number twelve. Were not this the right interpretation of the twelve thrones, then since we read that Matthias was ordained an apostle in the room of Judas the traitor, the Apostle Paul, though he labored more than them all, ⁷ should have no throne of judgment; but he unmistakeably considers himself to be included in the number of the judges when he says, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" ⁸ The same rule is to be observed in applying the number twelve to those who are to be judged. For though it was said, "judging the twelve tribes of Israel," the tribe of Levi, which is the thirteenth, shall not on this account be exempt from judgment, neither shall judgment be passed only on Israel and not on the other nations. And by the words "in the regeneration," He certainly meant the resurrection of the dead to be understood; for our flesh shall be regenerated by incorruption, as our soul is regenerated by faith.

Many passages I omit, because, though they seem to refer to the last judgment, yet on a closer examination they are found to be ambiguous, or to allude rather to some other event,--whether to that coming of the Saviour which continually occurs in His Church, that is, in His members, in which comes little by little, and piece by piece, since the whole Church is His body, or to the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem. For when He speaks even of this, He often uses language which is applicable to the end of the world and that last and great day of judgment, so that these two events cannot be distinguished unless all the corresponding passages bearing on the subject in the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are compared with one another,--for some things are put more obscurely by one evangelist and more plainly by another,--so that it becomes apparent what things are meant to be referred to one event. It is this which I have been at pains to do in a letter which I wrote to Hesychius of blessed memory, bishop of Salon, and entitled, "Of the End of the World." ⁹

I shall now cite from the Gospel according to Matthew the passage which speaks of the separation of the good from the wicked by the most efficacious and final judgment of Christ: "When the Son of man," he says, "shall come in His glory, . . . then shall He say also unto them on His left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." ¹⁰ Then He in like manner recounts to the wicked the things they had not done, but which He had said those on the right hand had done. And when they ask when they had seen Him in need of these things, He replies that, inasmuch as they had not done it to the least of His brethren, they had not done it unto Him, and concludes His address in the words, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Moreover, the evangelist John most distinctly states that He had predicted that the judgment should be at the resurrection of the dead. For after saying, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father: he that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him;" He immediately adds, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death to life." ¹¹ Here He said that believers on Him should not come into judgment. How, then, shall they be separated from the wicked by judgment, and be set at His right hand, unless judgment be in this passage used for condemnation? For into judgment, in this sense, they shall not come who hear His word, and believe on Him that sent Him.

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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput V: Quibus sententiis domini saluatoris diuinum iudicium futurum in fine saeculi declaretur.

Ergo ipse saluator cum obiurgaret ciuitates, in quibus uirtutes magnas fecerat neque crediderant, et eis alienigenas anteponeret: uerumtamen, inquit, dico uobis, Tyro et Sidoni remissius erit in die iudicii quam uobis; et paulo post alteri ciuitati: amen, inquit, dico uobis, quia terrae Sodomorum remissius erit in die iudicii quam tibi - hic euidentissime praedicat diem iudicii esse uenturum - ; et alio loco: uiri Nineuitae, inquit, surgent in iudicio cum generatione ista et condemnabunt eam; quia paenitentiam egerunt in praedicatione Ionae, et ecce plus quam Iona hic. regina Austri surget in iudicio cum generatione ista et condemnabit eam; quia uenit a finibus terrae audire sapientiam Salomonis, et ecce plus quam Salomon hic. duas res hoc loco discimus, et uenturum esse iudicium et cum mortuorum resurrectione uenturum. de Nineuitis enim et regina Austri quando ista dicebat, de mortuis sine dubio loquebatur, quos tamen in die iudicii resurrecturos esse praedixit. nec ideo dixit: condemnabunt, quia ipsi iudicabunt; sed quia ex ipsorum conparatione isti merito damnabuntur. rursus alio loco, cum de hominum bonorum et malorum nunc permixtione, postea separatione, quae utique die iudicii futura est, loqueretur, adhibuit similitudinem de tritico seminato et superseminatis zizaniis, eamque suis exponens discipulis: qui seminat, inquit, bonum semen, est filius hominis; ager autem est mundus; bonum uero semen hi sunt filii regni; zizania autem filii sunt nequam; inimicus autem, qui seminauit ea, est diabolus; messis uero consummatio saeculi est, messores autem angeli sunt. sicut ergo colliguntur zizania et igni comburuntur, sic erit in consummatione saeculi. mittet filius hominis angelos suos, et colligunt de regno eius omnia scandala et eos, qui faciunt iniquitatem, et mittunt eos in caminum ignis; ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium. tunc iusti fulgebunt sicut sol in regno patris eorum. qui habet aures, audiat. hic iudicium quidem uel diem iudicii non nominauit, sed eum multo clarius ipsis rebus expressit et in fine saeculi futurum esse praedixit. item discipulis suis: amen, inquit, dico uobis, quod uos, qui secuti estis me, in regeneratione, cum sederit filius hominis in sede maiestatis suae, sedebitis et uos super sedes duodecim iudicantes duodecim tribus Israel. hic discimus cum suis discipulis iudicaturum Iesum. unde et alibi Iudaeis dixit: si ego in Beelzebub eicio daemonia, filii uestri in quo eiciunt? ideo ipsi iudices erunt uestri. nec quoniam super duodecim sedes sessuros esse ait, duodecim solos homines cum illo iudicaturos putare debemus. duodenario quippe numero uniuersa quaedam significata est iudicantium multitudo propter duas partes numeri septenarii, quo significatur plerumque uniuersitas; quae duae partes, id est tria et quattuor altera per alteram multiplicatae duodecim faciunt; nam et quattuor ter et tria quater duodecim sunt, et si qua alia huius duodenarii numeri, quae ad hoc ualeat, ratio reperitur. alioquin, quoniam in locum Iudae traditoris apostolum Matthiam legimus ordinatum, apostolus Paulus, qui plus omnibus illis laborauit, ubi ad iudicandum sedeat non habebit; qui profecto cum aliis sanctis ad numerum iudicum se pertinere demonstrat, cum dicit: nescitis quia angelos iudicabimus? de ipsis quoque iudicandis in hoc numero duodenario similis causa est. non enim quia dictum est: iudicantes duodecim tribus Israel, tribus Leui, quae tertia decima est, ab eis iudicanda non erit, aut solum illum populum, non etiam gentes ceteras iudicabunt. quod autem ait: in regeneratione, procul dubio mortuorum resurrectionem nomine uoluit regenerationis intellegi. sic enim caro nostra regenerabitur per incorruptionem, quemadmodum est anima nostra regenerata per fidem. multa praetereo, quae de ultimo iudicio ita dici uidentur, ut diligenter considerata reperiantur ambigua uel magis ad aliud pertinentia, siue scilicet ad eum saluatoris aduentum, quo per totum hoc tempus in ecclesia sua uenit, hoc est in membris suis, particulatim atque paulatim, quoniam tota corpus est eius, siue ad excidium terrenae Hierusalem, quia et de illo cum loquitur, plerumque sic loquitur, tamquam de fine saeculi atque illo die iudicii nouissimo et magno loquatur; ita ut dignosci non possit omnino, nisi ea, quae apud tres euangelistas Matthaeum, Marcum et Lucam de hac re similiter dicta sunt, inter se omnia conferantur. quaedam quippe alter obscurius, alter explicat planius, ut ea, quae ad unam rem pertinentia dicuntur, appareat unde dicantur. quod facere utcumque curaui in quadam epistula, quam rescripsi ad beatae memoriae uirum Hesychium, Salonitanae urbis episcopum, cuius epistulae titulus est: de fine saeculi. proinde iam illud hic dicam, quod in euangelio secundum Matthaeum de separatione bonorum et malorum legitur per iudicium praesentissimum atque nouissimum Christi. cum autem uenerit, inquit, filius hominis in maiestate sua, et omnes angeli cum eo, tunc sedebit super sedem maiestatis suae, et congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes, et separabit eos ab inuicem, sicut pastor segregat oues ab haedis, et statuet oues quidem a dextris suis, haedos autem a sinistris. tunc dicet rex his, qui a dextris eius erunt: uenite, benedicti patris mei, possidete paratum uobis regnum a constitutione mundi. esuriui enim, et dedistis mihi manducare; sitiui, et dedistis mihi bibere; hospes eram, et collegistis me; nudus, et operuistis me; infirmus, et uisitastis me in carcere eram, et uenistis ad me. tunc respondebunt ei iusti dicentes: domine, quando te uidimus esurientem, et pauimus; sitientem, et dedimus potum? quando autem te uidimus hospitem, et collegimus te; aut nudum, et cooperuimus te? aut quando te uidimus infirmum aut in carcere, et uenimus ad te? et respondens rex dicet illis: amen dico uobis, quamdiu fecistis uni de his fratribus meis minimis, mihi fecistis. tunc dicet, inquit, et his qui a sinistris erunt: discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis eius. deinde similiter etiam his enumerat, quod illa non fecerint, quae dextros fecisse memorauit. similiterque interrogantibus, quando eum uiderint in horum indigentia constitutum: quod minimis suis non factum est, sibi factum non fuisse respondet; sermonemque concludens: et ibunt, inquit, hi in supplicium aeternum, iusti autem in uitam aeternam. Iohannes uero euangelista apertissime narrat eum in resurrectione mortuorum futurum praedixisse iudicium. cum enim dixisset: neque enim pater iudicat quemquam, sed iudicium omne dedit filio, ut omnes honorificent filium, sicut honorificant patrem; qui non honorificat filium, non honorificat patrem, qui misit illum, protinus addidit: amen, amen dico uobis, quia, qui uerbum meum audit et credit ei qui misit me, habet uitam aeternam, et in iudicium non uenit, sed transiit a morte in uitam. ecce hic dixit fideles suos in iudicium non uenire. quomodo ergo per iudicium separabuntur a malis et ad eius dexteram stabunt, nisi quia hoc loco iudicium pro damnatione posuit? in tale quippe iudicium non uenient, qui audiunt uerbum eius et credunt ei, qui misit illum.