We are Judged

Eternal Fires of Hell⁵

 " The whole Church of the true God holds and professes as its creed, that Christ shall come from heaven to judge quick and dead, this we call the last day, or last time, of the divine judgement. For we do not know how many days this judgement may occupy; but no one who reads the Scriptures, however negligently need by told that in them "day" is customarily used for "time". And when we speak of the day of God's judgement, we add the word last or final for this reason, because even now God judges, and has judged from the beginning of human history, banishing from paradise and excluding from the tree of life, those first men who perpetrated so great a sin." ¹

Throughout the Christian religion and faith, the idea of suffering after death, purgatory, is a strong factor in pushing many people towards living a good, gracious life. As humans, we are made in the image of God, and our goal and function is to better ourselves, to make ourselves closer to God, act in a way that shows our true potential. In going against our potential and sinning against ourselves and God, we move closer to Satan and sin. With sin and vice, comes suffering, for we must pay for every grievance we commit against ourselves and God. In Saint Augustine's book, "City of God", he tackles the subject of sinning, eternal suffering, hell, and Satan.

"For pain is really an experience of the soul, not the body, even when the cause of pain is presented to the soul by the body - when pain is felt in the part where the body is hurt." ²

St. Augustine, compared to the works of someone such as Dante, speaks more of Gods judgement on mankind, as apposed to Dante's direct message of what happens to earthly sinners. Augustine speaks more in line of how, as humans, we should be prepared to accept our fate for the crimes or good deeds we have committed in our physical life, and time on Earth.

The Pains of Hell⁴

Moving into chapter 2, Augustine note that God does not judge man by the amount of wealth or social status he might have, but rather what he does with such things, and how he values such things. A man who is wealthy and socially established could be more humble than a poor lowly beggar on the street, and vice versa. Someone with vast wealth could use that wealth and social status to commit heinous crimes, or to be a good person and commit good acts of charity. God judges these men based on their actions not on their material worth, their material wants and wishes. The more a man commits sins, even if he acts the good role of Christian, he is more likely to be judged harsher than a true devote Christian. But as St. Augustine notes, there are many times where it appears that such cruel and evil men, actually might appear to live better lives then those who are devote and true to God. St. Augustine addresses this:

"But now, as it is, since we not only see good men involved in the ills of life, and bad men enjoying the good of it, which seems unjust, but also that evil often overtakes evil men and good surprises the good,the rather on this account are God's judgments unsearchable, and His ways past finding out. Although, therefore, we do not know by what judgments these things are done or permitted to be done by God, with whom is the highest virtue, the highest wisdom, the highest justice, no infirmity, no rashness, no unrighteousness, yet it is salutary for us to learn to hold cheap such things, be they good or evil, as attach indifferently to good men and bad, and to covet those good things which belong only to good men, and flee those evils which belong only to evil men." ³

St. Augustine quickly addresses the fears that might occur in much of mankind, when it comes to burning in the eternal fires of hell. God judges us all, equally, and fully. He lets no small kind act go unnoticed, and neither does he allow any big evil act go unnoticed either. He address the question of why sometimes God's judgement might seem unfair, but he also comforts those who would fear they aren't doing enough to be in God's good judgement. Those who commit outrageous sins will ultimately pay much more then those who can be easily forgiven, especially if asked to be forgiven.

Augustine shows us that when the good struggle more than the bad, when the good being to question their efforts and will, this is simply God testing them, for he lets nothing happen that isn't supposed to happen. It is God's will that his followers who are loyal and of the utmost good, be strong and not fall to petty weaknesses. Those who fall easily into greed do not gain his forgiveness as easily as a loyal Christian might. Good men suffer in the physical, but are rewarded with eternal good and light, while Evil men have good physical lives, but pay eternally in the fires of hell for their earthly sins and passions. It is a distinction that men should become familiar with. To carry Christ and God with us through our hard times so they can be there with us through the good times. But the suffering allows us to remember that not everything is permanent and we must always strive for good and not let the good times make us vulnerable to sins and lust.



¹ St. Augustine, “City of God”, Waxkeep publishing, March 2013, Pg. 1392-1393
² St. Augustine, “City of God”, Waxkeep publishing, March 2013, Pg. 966
³ St. Augustine, “City of God”, Waxkeep publishing, March 2013, Pg. 1395
⁴ The Pains of Hell, http://tradcatknight.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-pains-of-hell.html
⁵ Shawn Bawulski and the Problem of Hell: Part One, http://www.mandm.org.nz/2014/04/shawn-bawulski-and-the-problem-of-hell-part-one.html