The Four Last Things

Paper Summary:

Over the many millennia man has walked the earth there are questions that have been asked by many people of differing creeds and faiths. Perhaps the most prevalent, according to the paper's author, are "What will happen to me after I die?", "Where will I go or will I just disappear?" and "What is death?". The paper examines the four things of which, according to Catholic doctrine, man can be sure. These are death, judgment, heaven, and hell. The paper covers all four of these 'last things' and their significance to humanity. After examining each of these ideas, the author presents his final conclusions.

Outline:
The End of Life as We Know It: Death
The Moment of Truth: Judgment
To Be Saved: Heaven
Cast into the Fire: Hell
Conclusion
Bibliography

From the Paper:

"Death itself can be quick or long; merciful or painful; foreseen or sudden. Human beings shamelessly live in sin under the false delusion of earthly pleasure. If you died at this very moment, do you think you would go to heaven? Impenitence is "the absence, the privation, of that contrition which alone can destroy in the sinner the moral consequences of his revolt against God" (Garrigou-Lagrange, 24). There are two types of impenitence, temporal and final. Temporal impenitence can exist throughout life, but may not exist at the moment of death (24). Temporal impenitence is the lack of confession for one's sins (24). If temporal impenitence does exist at the moment of death, it is called final impenitence. Final impenitence is further split into two different forms. The first is the impenitence of fact. The impenitence of fact is the style of final impenitence that is created by the severe lacking or nonexistence of repentance for one's sins (24). The second kind of final impenitence is the impenitence of will. Impenitence of will is similar to impenitence of fact because it has an absence of repentance, however impenitence of the will includes the decision (on part of the individual) not to atone for his or her sins (24). In the Gospel book of Mark, Jesus says "Except you do penance, you shall perish" (Mark 1.15). In other words, if one doesn't rid themselves of temporal impenitence before it leads to final impenitence, they will face certain damnation. Temporal impenitence can be only destroyed by "satisfactory reparation" (Garrigou-Lagrange, 24). Satisfactory reparation includes regret for one's sin and acts of penitence (such as charity toward God) in compensation for the temporal impenitence (24)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Garrigou-Lagrange, Reginald. Life Everlasting. EWTN Library. 20 Nov. 2008 <http://www.ewtn.com/library/spirit/life_ev.txt>.
• Luebering, Carol. "The 'Last Things': Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell." The Catholic Update. May 2008.
• Pohle, Rev. Joseph. Eschatology or the Catholic Doctrine of the Last Things. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1920.
• The New American Bible. Canada: World Bible Publishers, 1987
• The Vicar. Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell I. Advent 4, 2008.

More papers on The Four Last Things:

• Essay # 29399 : "Heironymous Bosch"
• Analytical Essay # 25094 : "The Brothers Karamazov"
• Admission Essay # 103982 : "Application to University"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: