Last Judgment, The

The Last Judgment, or Day of Judgment, is a theological belief that refers to the last day of earth's history in which the faith and “faith enacted” of every person who has ever lived is reviewed by God. While all of the main world religions have this concept embedded in their religious belief systems to some degree, it is in the theological texts, statements of beliefs and liturgies of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam that this concept is most clearly delineated. Despite the differences in beliefs, outlooks, or conception, the unifying understanding is that this is the time when God, the initial creator being, completes the cycle of humanity's history by finalizing or doing away with the issue of sin and its linked consequence of death, and commences or creates a new earthly form of paradise.

Despite the large range of differences in theological perspectives, there are a number of similar concepts and understandings that underpin the various belief structures of the Last Judgment. While not inferring there is unity of belief among the commonalities of focus with regard to this area, the one persistent common denominator is the notion that death for believers is no longer a factor in their continuing existence. Thus, this entry uses the notion of death as a means to delineate the foundational elements that relate to the Last Judgment as a holistic uniting perspective.

Concepts of Language, Death, and Judgment

For the majority of the world's great religions, the texts that detail and describe the Last Judgment are couched in a genre and associated language use that is typically eschatological (deals with the times of the end) and in many cases apocalyptic (deals with God interceding directly into the affairs and time of humanity). The language use of these texts is one typified by symbols and metaphors as seen in the Christian books of Revelation and Daniel. While there are various forms of exegesis related to apocalyptic literature across the religious belief systems, it is generally accepted that despite the difficulty in understanding the precise meanings of these symbolic forms, when it comes to the associated meanings of death in these texts, the meaning and implications are much clearer. The overall [Page 636]language use is intended to reveal the devastating effects that God has on unbelievers when He directly steps into the human world to execute final judgment. In a general sense, the Day of Judgment for believers represents a final and everlasting release from death, whereas for unbelievers it represents a total and eternal separation from God through a perpetual death or a life in hell, or Hades. An example of this release from death is found in the second chapter of the Christian book of Revelation in which believers are said to not suffer “the second death,” which is a reference to being vindicated or redeemed in the Last Day Judgment. The sense of being separated from God, or suffering the “second death,” is found in chapter 4 of the same text in the symbolic entrance of the Four Riders of the Apocalypse. Both of these motifs are also found as reoccurring themes in the last five chapters of Daniel, an apocalyptic and eschatological text (in the Old Testament Christian canon) held as the epitome of overcoming the curse of death and evil for both Jews and Christians.

...