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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 nations, according to the attitude they have assumed to the evangelizing
remnant of Israel (the least of the brethren of the Lord). The entrance of these nations into the
kingdom depends on the outcome. This is the judgment mentioned in Matt. 25:31-46. It is
separated from the earlier judgment by a period of seven years. (c) A judgment of the wicked
dead before the great white throne, described in Rev. 20:11-15. The dead are judged according
to their works, and these determine the degree of punishment which they will receive. This
judgment will be more than a thousand years later than the preceding one. It should be noted,
however, that the Bible always speaks of the future judgment as a single event. It teaches us to
look forward, not to days, but to the day of judgment, John 5:28,29; Acts 17:31; II Pet. 3:7, also
called “that day,” Matt. 7:22; II Tim. 4:8, and “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God,” Rom. 2:5. Premillenarians feel the force of this argument, for they reply that
it may be a day of a thousand years. Moreover, there are passages of Scripture from which it is