Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

the present, Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:27-29; Acts 25:24; Rom. 2:5-11; Heb. 9:27; 10:27; II Pet.
3:7; Rev. 20:11-15. These passages do not refer to a process, but to a very definite event at
the end of time. It is represented as accompanied by other historical events, such as the
coming of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the renewal of heaven and
earth.
C. ERRONEOUS VIEWS RESPECTING THE JUDGMENT.
1. THE JUDGMENT PURELY METAPHORICAL. According to Schleiermacher and many
other German scholars the Biblical descriptions of the last judgment are to be
understood as symbolical indications of the fact that the world and the Church will
finally be separated. This explanation serves to evaporate the whole idea of a forensic
judgment for the public determination of the final state of man. It is an explanation
which surely does not do justice to the strong statements of Scripture respecting the
future judgment as a formal, public, and final declaration.
2. THE JUDGMENT EXCLUSIVELY IMMANENT. Schelling’s dictum that “the history of the
world is the judgment of the world” undoubtedly contains an element of truth. There
are, as was pointed out in the preceding, manifestations of the retributive justice of God
in the history of nations and individuals. The rewards or punishments may be of a
positive character, or may be the natural result of the good or evil done. But when many
liberal scholars claim that the divine judgment is wholly immanent and is determined
entirely by the moral order of the world, they certainly fail to do justice to the
representations of Scripture. Their view of the judgment as “self-acting” makes God an
otiose God, who merely looks on and approves of the distribution of rewards and
punishments. It completely destroys the idea of the judgment as an outward and visible
event, which will occur at some definite time in the future. Moreover, it cannot satisfy
the longings of the human heart for perfect justice. Historical judgments are always
only partial and sometimes impress men as a travesty on justice. There always has been
and still is occasion for the perplexity of Job and Asaph.
3. THE JUDGMENT NOT A SINGLE EVENT. Present day Premillenarians speak of three
different future judgments. They distinguish: (a) A judgment of the risen and living
saints at the parousia or the coming of the Lord, which serves the purpose of
vindicating the saints publicly, rewarding each one according to his works, and
assigning to them their respective places in the coming millennial kingdom. (b) A
judgment at the revelation of Christ (the day of the Lord), immediately after the great
tribulation, in which, according to the prevailing view, the Gentile nations are judged as
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