Topic
The Final Judgment
The judgment of all people after the resurrection, described in Scripture as a day on which the books are opened and each person receives what is due for what was done.
Also called: last judgment, judgment day, great white throne, day of judgment
Scripture speaks of a day of judgment, and Jesus can say that the day will be more bearable for one place than for another. That treats what happens on the day as itself the reckoning, rather than as the doorway to a sentence still being served.
The same day is called the day of judgment and of the destruction of the ungodly, which places verdict and outcome on one occasion. Hebrews sets a single appointment: it is appointed for people to die once, and after that comes judgment.
How long the day lasts is not stated, and this site does not claim to know. What the texts tie together is the sentence and its execution.
What this is not
Terms in this dispute are routinely collapsed into one another. These distinctions are what keep the argument honest.
- The final judgment follows the resurrection, so it is later than the intermediate state.
- Judgment and the carrying out of the sentence are distinguishable, though Scripture sets them on one day.
- A judgment of works is affirmed for the righteous too, and is not the same as condemnation.
Principal passages
- Revelation 20:11-15
- 2 Peter 3:7
- Hebrews 9:27Listed in the Scripture index
- Matthew 25:31-46
- Romans 2:5-6Listed in the Scripture index
Where this is argued in the case
- S23 The Day of JudgmentThe language of a day, and what it means for when full justice is administered.
- S03 Revelation 20: The Lake of Fire and the Second DeathWhere the clause about unending torment sits in the passage, what the lake of fire does to Death and Hades, and how much weight the placement can carry.
- S06 Weeping, Gnashing of Teeth, and Outer DarknessWhat the two words mean in their other biblical occurrences, where the phrase is located in each parable, and why it appears with and without fire.
- S20 Why No Place Is Prepared for the UnrighteousThe three parties in Matthew 25, the parables where the righteous have a container and the wicked have none, and the limits of the argument.
- S09 Why Final Judgment Is DelayedWhy continued existence before judgment is evidence of God sustaining, not of inherent immortality.
Objections that turn on this
- S28 Are the Wicked Still Present After Revelation 20?The recapitulation reading, the promise that righteousness dwells in the new creation, and the tree-of-life argument for anyone who reads it literally.
- S30 Is Annihilation Really Punishment?Two answers: finite experiences genuinely matter, and exclusion from eternal life is itself the ultimate loss.
Related topics
Sources for this topic
- Joseph Dear. The Bible Teaches Annihilationism. 1st edition, PDF version. 2016. approximately 590 pages View original of The Bible Teaches Annihilationism (opens in a new tab) Details
Found an error or have a counterargument?
This project aims to present the strongest biblical case it can, not to avoid criticism. Factual corrections, better sources, serious counterarguments and accessibility reports are all welcome.
Submit a correction or counterargument