A second view of the last judgment assumes it to be a process now in progress. In the Old Testament the Messianic period is spoken of as the " last day," " the last time," u the end of days," " the end of the world," and is represented as a time of conflict and of judgment. The Jews expected that when the Messiah came, the severest judgments would fall upon the heathen, and that the chosen people would be greatly exalted and blessed. This was the day of judgment. Those who give substantially the same interpretation to the Old Testament prophecies, hold that the day of judgment covers the whole period between the first and second advents of Christ.
A third doctrine is that the world in its progress works out all possible manifestations of God, so that according to the stereo- typed dictum of Schelling, Die Weltgeschichte ist das Welt- gericht ; the history of the world is the judgment of the world, Premillenarians use precisely the same words, although not in the same philosophical sense. With them uto judge" is to reign; and when Christ comes to establish his personal reign upon earth, the last judgment will begin, and " the judgment of God is the administration of the government of God." x
A fourth theory may be mentioned. There are certain immut- able laws, either independent, as some say, of the will of God, or dependent on his voluntary constitution, which secure that the righteous shall be happy and the wicked miserable ; and this is all that either reason or Scripture, properly understood, teaches of rewards and punishment.
A fifth doctrine is that the day of judgment is a protracted future dispensation, as just mentioned, to commence with the second advent of Christ, and to continue during the thousand years of his personal reign upon the earth. This theory is con- nected with the doctrine of the pre-millenial advent of Christ.
The Church Doctrine.
By the Church doctrine is meant that doctrine which is held by the Church universal ; by Romanists and Protestants in the West, and by the Greeks in the East. That doctrine includes the following points : —
1. The final judgment is a definite future event (not a pro- tracted process), when the eternal destiny of men and of angels shall be finally determined and publicly, manifested. That this ib the doctrine of the Bible, is proved by such passages as the
i The Last Times, by Joseph A. Seiss, D. D., Philadelphia, 1866, p. HI.
846 PART IV. Ch. IV.- THE SECOND ADVENT.
following : Matthew xi. 24, " It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee ; " Matthew xiii. 30, " Let both grow together until the harvest : and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them : but gather the wheat into my barn ; " verse 39, " The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels ; " verse 49, " So shall it be at the end of the world : the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just ; " John xii. 48, " The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day ; " Acts xviii. 31, God " hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness ; " Romans ii. 5, " The day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God ; " and 1 Corinthians iv. 5, " Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come." It is true that the word "day" in Scripture is often used for an indefinite period ; as " the day of the Lord," is the time of the Lord. And, therefore, it does not follow from the use of this word, that the judgment is to be commenced and ended in the space of twenty-four hours. Nevertheless, the way in which the word is used in this connection, and the circumstances with which the judgment is connected, show that a definite and limited period, and not a protracted dispensation, is intended by the term. The appearance of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the gathering of the nations, are not events which are to be protracted through years or centuries.
2. Christ is to be the judge. John v. 22, 23, " The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son ; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father ; " verse 27, " And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." Peter, in Acts x. 34-43, says that God " anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power ; " had " raised " Him from the dead " and shewed Him openly," and " commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead." Paul, in his speech on Mars' Hill, tells the Athenians that God " hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained ; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." (Acts xvii. 31.) And in 2 Corinthians v. 10, he says, " We must all ap- pear before the judgment-seat of Christ." Our Lord says that He will say to the wicked, " Depart from me, ye that work iniquity."