UNDER the general heading of the Doctrine of the Last Things is embraced such subjects as “the state of men after Death; the Resurrection of the Dead; the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and the Day of Judgment. From some statements which recently came under our notice and which show inexcusable acquaintanceship with the Reformed teaching on these subjects we have thought it well to present the teaching of the Westminster Divines on these solemn subjects to our readers. In chapter viii. sec. iv. of the Confession, Christ’s Second Coming is stated in the following words: “And shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.” The Church of Christ has always held as her hope that her Lord is to return again. The teaching of the Confession on the other doctrines mentioned above may now be given as follows: “The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep) have an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the Great Day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.”—Chap. xxxii. sec. 1.
“At the Last Day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies, and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls for ever.”—Chap. xxxii. sec. ii.
“The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just, by His spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to His own glorious body”—Chap. xxxii. sec. iii.
“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
Materialists and some Socinians, according to Dr. A. A. Hodge, hold that the souls of men remain in a state of unconsciousness or suspended life from death until the moment of the resurrection. This view was advocated by C. F. Hudson in America and by Archbishop Whately in England in his View of Science Concerning a Future State as probable (Outlines of Theology, Revised Edition, p. 554). They appeal to Ps. vi. 5; Ps. cxlvi. 4; Jer. li. 57 and to those passages where death is spoken of as a “sleep.” The Thenetopsychites in the time of Origen held this view. It was revived by some Anabaptists and refuted by Calvin in his Psychopannychia, the first of his literary productions. It has never been held by any Church.—Editor.
It should be borne in mind that the statements concerning the resurrection body made by the Apostle in his famous chapter, I. Cor. xv., refers to the resurrection bodies of believers.—Editor.
an account of their thoughts, words and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil”—Chap. xxxiii. sec. 1.
“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 fulness 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 be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.”—Chap. xxxiii. sec. ii.
“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 make 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”—Chap. xxxiii. sec. iii.
The teaching of the Larger Catechism is no less definite as the following will show:
Question 86. What is the Communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death?
The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death, is, in that their souls are then made perfect in holiness, and received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which even in death continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in their beds, till at the last day they be again united to their souls. Whereas the souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies kept in their graves, as in their prisons, till the resurrection and judgment of the Great Day.”
Question 87. What are we to believe concerning the resurrection.
“We are to believe, that at the last day there shall be a general resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust: when they that are then found alive shall in a moment be changed; and the self-same bodies of the dead which were laid in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the power of Christ. The bodies of the just, by the Spirit of Christ and by virtue of His resurrection as their head, shall be raised in power, spiritual, incorruptible, and made like to His glorious body; and the bodies of the wicked shall be raised up in dishonour by Him as an offended Judge.”
Question 88. What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?
“Immediately after the resurrection shall follow the general and final judgment of angels and men; the day and hour whereof no man knoweth, that all may watch and pray, and be ever ready for the coming of the Lord.”
Question 89. What shall be done to the wicked at the Day of Judgment?
“At the Day of Judgment the wicked shall be set on Christ’s left hand, and upon clear evidence, and full conviction of their own consciences, shall have the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them; and thereupon shall be cast out from the favourable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with Christ, His saints, and all His holy angels, into hell, to be punished with unspeakable torments, both of body and soul, with the devil and his angels forever.”
Question 90. What shall be done to the righteous at the Day of Judgment?
“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 for ever 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.”
Finally there is the fine and beautiful answer to the Shorter Catechism Question—What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? Answer: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.”
The Westminster Divines appeal to Scripture for the statements made on the important and solemn doctrines in the foregoing and those who have given unbiased attention to these will be willing to admit that they gave to the Church a well-balanced and scriptural statement on the subjects dealt with.