Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

IV. The Final Judgment
Another one of the important concomitants of the return of Christ is the last
judgment, which will be of a general nature. The Lord is coming again for the very
purpose of judging the living and consigning each individual to his eternal destiny.
A. THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAST JUDGMENT IN HISTORY.
The doctrine of a final general judgment was from the very earliest times of the
Christian era connected with that of the resurrection of the dead. The general opinion
was that the dead would be raised up, in order to be judged according to the deeds
done in the body. As a solemn warning the certainty of this judgment was stressed. This
doctrine is already contained in the Apostolic Confession: “From thence He shall come
to judge the living and the dead.” The prevailing idea was that this judgment would be
accompanied with the destruction of the world. On the whole the early Church Fathers
did not speculate much about the nature of the final judgment, though Tertullian forms
an exception. Augustine sought to interpret some of the figurative statements of
Scripture respecting the judgment. In the Middle Ages the Scholastics discussed the
matter in greater detail. They, too, believed that the resurrection of the dead would be
followed immediately by the general judgment, and that this would mark the end of
time for man. It will be general in the sense that all rational creatures will appear in it,
and that it will bring a general revelation of each one’s deeds, both good and evil. Christ
will be the Judge, while others will be associated with Him in the judgment; not,
however, as judges in the strict sense of the word. Immediately after the judgment there
will be a universal conflagration. We leave out of consideration some of the other
particulars here. The Reformers shared this view in general, but added little or nothing
to the prevailing view. The same view is found in all the Protestant Confessions, which
explicitly affirm that there will be a day of judgment at the end of the world, but do not
enter into details. It has been the official view of the Churches up to the present time.
This does not mean that no other views found expression. Kant inferred from the
categorical imperative the existence of a supreme Judge who would right all wrongs in
some future life. Schelling in his famous dictum, “The history of the world is the
judgment of the world,” evidently regarded the judgment merely as a present
immanent process. Some were not inclined to grant the moral constitution of the
universe, did not believe that history was moving on to some moral termination, and
thus denied the future judgment. This idea was given a philosophical construction by
Von Hartmann. In modern liberal theology, with its emphasis on the fact that God is
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