Four last things
In
The 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia states "The eschatological summary which speaks of the 'four last things' (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) is popular rather than scientific. For systematic treatment it is best to distinguish between (A) individual and (B) universal and cosmic eschatology, including under (A): (1) death; (2) the particular judgment; (3) heaven, or eternal happiness; (4) purgatory, or the intermediate state; (5) hell, or eternal punishment; and under (B): (6) the approach of the end of the world; (7) the resurrection of the body; (8) the general judgment; and (9) the final consummation of all things.".[6] Pope John Paul II wrote in 1984 that the "judgment" component encompasses both particular judgment and general judgment.[7]
Books
Numerous theologians and Christian apologists have written on the Four Last Things; published accounts include:
16th century and earlier
- Cordiale quattuor novissimorum (15th century) attributed to Gerardus de Vliederhoven and to Denis le Chartreux; translated into French by Jean Miélot and thence into English as Cordiale, or Four Last Things by Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers in 1479[8]
- The Four Last Things (1522) by Thomas More; unfinished (published posthumously).[9]
17th century
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- The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven (1631) by Robert Bolton; published posthumously in 1639[10]
- The four last things: death, judgment, hell, heaven by Martin of Cochem[11]
- Four Last Things (1649) by William Sheppard, whose preface supported the Rump Parliament against the Presbyterians[12][13]
- Sinnliche Beschreibung der vier letzten Dinge ("A Sensuous Representation of the Four Last Things") (1675) by Angelus Silesius
- Four Last Things–Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell (1691) by William Bates[14]
18th century
- Myfyrdodau bucheddol ar y pedwar peth diweddaf ("Devout musings on the four last things") (1714) by John Morgan
- Thoughts upon the Four Last Things (1734) by Joseph Trapp[15]
- Four discourses on the four last things (1751) by Thomas Greene
20th century
- The Four Last Things (1960) by Harry Williams
- L'eternelle vie et la profondeur de l'ame (1947) by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. Published in English as Life Everlasting: A Theological Treatise on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell[16]
- The Last Things: Concerning Death, Purification After Death, Resurrection, Judgment, and Eternity (1965) by Romano Guardini[17]
A Catholic sermon on the Four Last Things features in James Joyce's novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916); a "hellfire" sermon in the Protestant revivalist tradition appears in Stella Gibbons's Cold Comfort Farm (1932).
The four last things
Death
Or as Alphonsus Liguori wrote in his meditations: "We must die: how awful is the decree! We must die. The sentence is passed: It is appointed for all men once to die. Heb. 9:27"[19]
The Last Judgment
Of the
Heaven
Of heaven, Richard Challoner in his famous work Think Well On't writes, " Consider, that if God's justice is so terrible in regard to his enemies, how much more will his mercy, his goodness, his bounty declare itself in favour of his friends! Mercy and goodness are his favourite attributes, in which he most delights: his tender mercies says the royal prophet, Ps. 144. are over all his works.[20]
Hell
Luis de la Puente writes concerning The nature of hell: "Hell is a perpetual prison, full of fire and of innumerable and very terrible torments, to chastise perpetually such as die in mortal sin. Or, again, hell is an eternal state, wherein sinners, for the punishment of their sins, want all that good which they may desire for their content, and endure all kinds of evils which they may fear for their torment. So that in hell is joined together the privation of all that good which men enjoy in this life and angels in the other, and the presence of all those evils which afflict men in this life and the devils in the other."[21]
Artworks
The Four Last Things are a common theme of artistic and literary works as well as theological works.
| Work | Type | Creator | Year | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things | Painting | Hieronymus Bosch | c.1500 | ||
| Christ painting the Four Last Things in the Christian Heart | Engraving | Anton Wierix |
1585 | One of 18 copperplate engravings published as Cor Iesu amanti sacrum | [22][23] |
| "One Thing is Needful, or Serious Meditations upon the Four Last Things" | Poem | John Bunyan | 1683 | [24] | |
| The Four Last Things (German: Die vier letzten Dinge) | Sculpture | Anton Neu, based on ideas from the Asam brothers | 1751 | Stucco cartouches in the vestibule of Weltenburg Abbey chapel | [25] |
| The Four Last Things | Sculpture | Josef Stammel | c.1760 | In Admont Abbey | [26] |
| Novissima (Portuguese: Novíssimos) | Paintings | José Gervásio de Sousa Lobo | 1792–3 | Originally made for the sacristy of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black Men in Ouro Preto; currently in the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in the same city. | [27] |
| Die vier letzten Dinge | Oratorio | Joseph Leopold Eybler | 1810 | [28] | |
| Die letzten Dinge | Oratorio | Louis Spohr | 1826 | ||
| Cantata of the Last Things of Man | Cantata | Ladislav Vycpálek | 1920–22 | Czech title Kantáta o posledních věcech člověka | [29] |
| The Four Last Things | Poetry collection | Madeleva Wolff | 1959 | Poems with theological themes | |
| No. 18 (unfinished) | Film | Harry Everett Smith | 1990s | Intended as his masterwork | |
| "Die vier letzten Dinge (Quasi una Sinfonia da Requiem)" | Symphony | Horst Lohse | 1996–97 | For organ and orchestra | [30] |
References
- ISBN 978-0-56765568-4. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-89870662-8. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-59752562-6. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ Bacci, Pietro Giacomo (1847). "Maxims and sayings". The Life of Saint Philip Neri, Apostle of Rome, and Founder of the Congregation of the Oratory. T. Richardson & Son. p. 444; February 18. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-19818680-9. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Eschatology". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1909. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- Apostolic Exhortations. Holy See. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ISBN 0-19-860634-6
- ^ "The four last things: Thomas More (1903)". Internet Archive. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Mr. Boltons last and learned worke of the foure last things, death, iudgement, hell and heaven. With his assises-sermons, and notes on Iustice Nicolls his funerall. Together with the life and death of the authour : Bolton, Robert, 1572–1631". Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ "The four last things : death, judgment, hell, heaven : Martin, von Cochem, 1634–1712". Internet Archive. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-521-89091-5.
- ISBN 978-0-521-29213-9.
- ^ Bates, William. The Four Last Things, Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Manchester: S. Johnson. Retrieved 19 November 2015 – via Internet Archive.
- ISBN 9780801873911. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-89555203-7. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ISBN 1-94989948-9.
- ^ Cochem, Martin of (1899). . The four last things: death, judgment, hell, heaven. Benziger Brothers.
- ^ a b Liguori, Alphonus (1836). . The Way of Salvation: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Dublin.
- ^ Challoner, Richard (1801). . Think Well On't or, Reflections on the great truths of the Christian religion for every day of the month. T. Haydock.
- ^ de la Puente, Lius (1852). . Meditations On The Mysteries Of Our Holy Faith. Richarson and Son.
- ISBN 9781861898326. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ISBN 9780691090726. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ One thing is needful, or, Serious meditations upon the four last things, death, judgment and heaven, hell unto which is added Ebal and Gerizzim, or, The blessing and the curse : with prison meditations and a catalogue of all this author's books / by John Bunyan. London: Nath. Ponder. 1683. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Die Kirche" (in German). Weltenburg Abbey. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ "the four last things". Stift Admont. Admont Abbey. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ISSN 1807-6971. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- ISBN 9781107005891. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- JSTOR 911531.
- ^ "Archiv". Horst Lohse Komponist (in German). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
Further reading
- Göttler, Christine (2010). Last Things: Art and the Religious Imagination in the Age of Reform. ISD. ISBN 978-250352397-2. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- Kowzan, Jacek (2012-01-17). "Memorare Novissima Tua; The Iconography of the Four Last Things as a Representation of the Religious Identity.". In Cardarelli, Sandra; Anderson, Emily Jane; Richards, John (eds.). Art and Identity: Visual Culture, Politics and Religion in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Cambridge Scholars. pp. 97–126. ISBN 978-1-44383670-8. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- Thiel, John E. (September 2013). Icons of Hope: The "Last Things" in Catholic Imagination. University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 9780268042394.
External links
Media related to The Four Last Things at Wikimedia Commons
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