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Summa Theologiae · Suppl., q. 89, a. 5

Whether all men will be present at the judgment?

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Supplement, question 89, Of Those Who Will Judge and of Those Who Will Be Judged at the General Judgment, article 5. About 2 min.

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From the Supplement, compiled after Aquinas’s death from his Commentary on the Sentences and transcribed here from the 1917 to 1922 printings. About the Supplement.

Text: Summa Theologiae, Supplement to the Third Part (Supplementum Tertiae Partis), transcribed from Internet Archive scans, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. The Supplement, compiled after Aquinas’s death from his earlier Commentary on the Sentences, in the same English Dominican translation as the Gutenberg Parts. Transcribed by Bibliotheca Catholica from the OCR of four Internet Archive scans of the pre-1931 printings (Questions 1 to 33 from the 1917 Washbourne and Benziger volume, 34 to 68 from the 1922 volume, 69 to 86 from the 1921 volume, and 87 to 99 from the 1922 Benziger volume), with OCR errors corrected and doubtful passages marked, not rewritten. 99 questions and 446 articles. The two appendices printed after Question 99 are not included. Sources, SHA-256 of each OCR file, and the method are in the source record. Rights: Public domain (US)

The Supplement is not a Project Gutenberg text. It is Bibliotheca Catholica’s transcription of public-domain scans at the Internet Archive; obvious OCR errors were corrected, and passages marked “OCR uncertain” could not be confidently corrected, so check them against the linked scan page.

One passage on this page is marked “OCR uncertain”; check it against the scan.

Objection 1: It would seem that men will not all be present at the judgment. For it is written (Matth. xix. 28): You

.. Shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. But all men do not belong to those twelve tribes. Therefore it would seem that men will not all be present at the judgment.

Obj. 2: Further, The same apparently is to be gathered from Ps. i. 5, The wicked shall not rise again in judgment.

Obj. 3: Further, A man is brought to judgment that his merits may be discussed. But some there are who have acquired no merits, such as children who died before reaching the perfect age. Therefore they need not be present at the judgment. Now there are many such. Therefore it would seem that not all will be present.

On the contrary, It is written (Acts x. 42) that Christ was appointed by God to be judge of the living and of the dead. Now this division comprises all men, no matter how the living be distinct from the dead. Therefore all men will be present at the judgment.

[*Cf, P. L., Q. CVIIL., A. 8.]

Further, It is written (Apoc. i. 7): Behold He cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him. Now this would not be so unless all were present at the judgment. Therefore, etc.

I answer that, The judicial power was bestowed on Christ as man, in reward for the humility which He showed forth in His passion. Now in His passion He shed His blood for all in point of sufficiency, although through meeting with an obstacle in some, it had not its effect in all. Therefore it is fitting that all men should assemble at the judgment, to see His exaltation in His human nature, in respect of which He was appointed by God tobe judge of the living and of the dead.

Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says (De Civ. Det, xx. 5), 1 does not follow from the saying, ' Judging the twelve tribes of Israel,' that the tribe of Levi, which is the thirteenth, is not to be guaged, or that they will judge that people alone, and not other nations. The reason why all other nations are denoted by the twelve tribes is because they were called by Christ to take the place of the twelve tribes. [OCR uncertain: guaged. Check the scan, image 41.]

Reply Obj. 2: The words, The wicked shall not rise in judgment, if referred to all sinners, mean that they will not arise to judge. But if the wicked denote unbelievers, the sense is that they will not arise to be judged, because they are already judged (Jo. iii. 18). All, however, will rise again to assemble at the judgment and witness the glory of the Judge.

Reply Obj. 3: Even children who have died before reaching the perfect age will be present at the judgment, not to be judged, but to see the Judge's glory.

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Also online, linked only: the same translation at New Advent and the Latin text at Corpus Thomisticum. Neither is copied here.

Source: Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica, Supplement to the Third Part. Internet Archive scans: Third Part, Fourth Number (QQ. LXXXIV to Suppl. XXXIII), 1917, Third Part (Supplement), QQ. XXXIV to LXVIII, 1922, Third Part (Supplement), QQ. LXIX to LXXXVI, 1921, and Third Part (Supplement), QQ. LXXXVII to XCIX and Appendices, 1922; two curled pages of the 1921 volume are read from another scan of the same printing. Public domain in the USA. Printed in 1917, 1921, and 1922, before 1931. Outside the U.S., check local copyright rules. Transcription, OCR file checksums, and method: source record.