Creeds and Confessions on the Final Judgment

In what is known as the Apostles' Creed, we read this of Jesus Christ: "The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." This language can be found in a statement as early as the fourth century: Marcellus of Ancry (340). It may go back as early as the third century. It, too, has been a familiar public confession by Trinitarian churches for many centuries.

In these formulations, God's final judgment of both the living and the dead is said to take place in the future. It cannot have been an event in the past.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) devotes its final chapter, XXXIII, to a consideration of "The Final Judgment." It says that this judgment will be in the future.

I. God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged; but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.

II. The end of God's appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

III. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.

The Larger Catechism (1647) explicitly refers to the joining together of all the saints, which will occur at the time of the resurrection. Notice the reference to being caught up in the clouds. At that time, the transformed saints will judge the angels.

Question 90: What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?

Answer: At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds, shall be set on his right hand, and there openly acknowledged and acquitted, shall join with him in the judging of reprobate angels and men, and shall be received into heaven, where they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery; filled with inconceivable joys, made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and holy angels, but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity. And this is the perfect and full communion, which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ in glory, at the resurrection and day of judgment.

We come now to the issue at hand: the revival of Manicheanism within the church.

• Heresy Is a Reaction Against Orthodoxy

• Corruption and Incorruption

• Church Militant and Church Triumphant
• Final Judgments in Matthew 25
• Creeds and Confessions on the Final Judgment
• Heretical Preterism
• The Deviant Theology of J. Stuart Russell
• The Structural Necessity of Subversion
• "But I Don't Believe That!"
• Dealing Institutionally With Heretical Preterism