1. Second Part
The Christian Notion of
Eschatology
The Last Things
Notes taken from Escatologia by J. Jose Alviar
Notes taken from Escatologia by J. Jose Alviar

2. Eschatology:
Initiated Eschatology
• Earthly Life (Baptism and Post-Baptismal Life)
• Death
• Purification Beyond This World

3. SECOND PART:
INITIATED ESCHATOLOGY

4. EARTHLY LIFE
(Baptism and Post-Baptismal Life)
• The history of the incorporation of each man to
Christ and his Pasch happens in successive steps.
• It already begins in the mortal life of the
individual with the reception of Baptism.
• Thanks to the sacramental ablution, the subject
dies to sin and begins to possess a new life,
experiencing in this way his first configuration
with the Lord who has died and is risen.
• This is what we confess with joy in the Creed:
“I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”

5. • A new horizon is then opened before the
creature, of progressive insertion into the
Person and Life of Christ.
• Such progress is possible, in the first place,
thanks to the sacraments—especially the
Eucharist—which works in the Christian a
deeper configuration with the Lord; and
thanks also to the progressive struggle of the
believer to avoid sin and to participate more
fully in the sanctity of Christ.

6. • Post-baptismal life then becomes Christian
existence (man’s increasingly intense
appropriation of supernatural life—the Life of
Christ—initially infused by Baptism); or, also,
Paschal existence (his deepening insertion
into the death and Resurrection of the Lord,
with each sacramental participation, each
conversion, each act of contrition, each time
he begins again).

7. 1. The Hope of Renewal, in the Bible
• The hope of a renewed existence is already
found in the Old Testament, particularly in the
traditions which imply faith in God who is the
Liberator of the people, Creator of the world,
and Fount of life.
• These lines of hope converge in the New
Testament in the Person of Jesus.

8. a) Old Testament Revelation of God who is
Liberator, Creator and Giver of Life
• The sacrament of Baptism—together with its
mystical counterpart, the Pasch of Jesus—is
prefigured in the Old Testament in many and
diverse ways.
• We recall here three traditions which, in a special
way, serve as preparation for the New Testament
mystery of renewal in Life in Christ:
(1) the “Exodus” tradition;
(2) the “creation” tradition; and
(3) the “resurrection” tradition.

9. b) The Pasch of Jesus Christ, fount of
new life for men
• The lines of hope of the Old Testament lead to
Jesus, who by himself leads the way from the
darkness of the sepulcher to the light of the
morning of the Resurrection.
• The Pasch of Jesus appears in New Testament
texts as the fount from which springs a
radically new life for men, with Baptism and
the Eucharist as the principal channels
through which this life reaches men in history.

10. 2. Patristic Doctrine about the Insertion of
Man in the Pasch of the Lord
• The first generations of Christians followed
the Christological-Paschal line indicated by
New Testament Revelation. In their writings
forcefully appear:
(1) belief in an authentic Christification which
sacramental initiation works out in the
subject, by which
(2) a holy life is demanded of the neophyte, and
(3) a glorious inheritance is promised to him.

11. 3. Theological Reflection: Initiation of the
Pasch in the Earthly Life of Man
• The sacrament of Baptism inserts man into the
Paschal mystery of Jesus.
• This insertion into the Pasch brings with it
identification with its Protagonist, who is Christ.
• “To die” through Baptism means not only to die
to sin, but also “to die to oneself”, to give up the
“I” so that Christ may occupy the center of the
person: it is no longer I that live, but Christ who
lives in me.
• The baptized is led to continually “actualize” the
Pasch of the Lord throughout his earthly
existence.

12. 3. Theological Reflection: Initiation of the
Pasch in the Earthly Life of Man
• To receive the sacraments (especially the
Eucharist), to die to sin and egoism, to practice
penance and mortification, to undergo
conversion as many times as necessary, to
progress in virtue and holiness… are other
“milestones” in the eschatological-Paschal
journey of the Christian.
• Christian eschatology would show to man, not
only the meaning of death (to-die-in-Christ; to
die hopeful), but also the meaning of earthly life
as spatium (time) to carve the Christological mark
in his personal existence.

13. DEATH
• The phase post mortem et ante resurrectionem of
the individual is surrounded in mystery.
• Revelation gives us some guiding light:
1) Although death (in a sense) is natural to man, faith
teaches us that it is a consequence of sin.
2) For a Christian, death is the means to participate in
the Pasch and to incorporate himself more fully in
the Lord.
3) Death does not end the existence of man. But it
does end the time of personal preparation for
definitive communion with God.

14. DEATH
4) Mox post mortem (right after death), the
individual enters a state of definitive
soteriological character (either salvation or
perdition).
5) For someone who would die in the grace of God
but without possessing complete sanctity there
is reserved further purification.
• Affirmations (4) and (5) above have as a
corollary the notion of a particular judgment.

15. 1. The Negative Aspect of Death, in
the Old Testament
a) Death, consequence of separation from the
Living God
• Death is contrary to the original divine plan
for creation.
• In fact, it also goes contrary to man’s longing.

16. b) The appearance of hope in spite of
death
• In the Old Testament: Death that awaits
every man does not necessarily imply a total
disaster. And this is for two reasons:
(1) because personal existence continues in
some way after death; and
(2) because certain types of death have value
before God and have a reward.

17. (i) The notion of subsistence
• Gradually, the hope for total victory over
death appears.
• Victory over death is expressed in two forms.
– The more important form is the resurrection of
the dead.
– The second speaks of a spiritual principle of man,
the soul (psyche), which, after separating from the
body upon death, is capable of subsisting.

18. (ii) Value of the death of the just man
• Early Jewish thinking considered early death as a
punishment from God.
• But in the second part of the book of Isaias, the
death of the Servant of Yahweh which Chapter 53
narrates has an eminently positive value: It is a
holocaust of expiation and reconciliation that
makes the Servant deserve eternal glory.
• To offer one’s own life in sacrifice means to
transport one’s own death to the level of God, in
some way removing it from its old association
with sin.

19. 2. The Change of Sign of Death,
Worked Out by Christ
a) Old and new doctrine about death, in the Synoptics
• There are in the Synoptics texts that echo the old
association of death with sin.
– For example, the use of the term nekros to refer to the
sinner is noteworthy.
• Nevertheless, the key idea is one of victory: Jesus
conquers both sin and death. He forgives sins, works
resurrections, and above all himself resurrects after
dying. His Paschal mystery is the fulfillment of the
hope of the Old Testament:
– On one hand, his death is pleasing to God and useful to
men.
– On the other, it is a death which ends in glorious
resurrection. It can be affirmed that Christ, with his Pasch,
liberates death itself from the somber dominion of sin.

20. b) The triumph of Christ over sin and
death, according to St Paul
• St Paul offers a deep teaching regarding the
mysterious connection between sin and death
which ends up in a joyous note: Christ has
already triumphed over both powers.

21. c) The Life brought by Christ,
according to St John
• In St John we find, in the first place, statements
regarding the lordship of Christ over death.
• The ultimate reason of such lordship is this: As divine
Word, he has the fullness of Life; he has it always in
the bosom of the Father.
• In this context, the death of Jesus is understood as
exaltation, for it serves as a launching pad for his
definitive victory.
• His passage through death on his way to the
Resurrection is part of the manifestation of his
absolute sovereignty.
• The disciple of the Lord can, in his turn, follow the
same steps of the One who was dead and is now alive.

22. Death as Passage to the Retribution and Union
with Christ, in Tradition and the Magisterium
• The first generation of Christians centered much of
their thought around the Parousia and the end of the
world, since there was no experience yet of the long
waiting for the Return of the Lord.
• However, as time went by and the first disciples died,
the question of the destiny of the dead naturally
started to occupy their minds.
• Christian reflection then followed two preferential
lines: one which developed especially during times of
persecution that considers death—above all death
through martyrdom—as a new link with Christ and a
participation in his Paschal mystery; and the other
which also had a long development that sees a mystery
of subsistence and retribution beyond death.

23. a) Death as a means for union with
Christ
• In the eyes of Christians, this identification
with Christ converts martyrs into valid
intercessors before God.
• The prayers and liturgical practices related to
the martyrs that we have since the earliest
times reveal a faith that there are saints
definitively incorporated into Christ, who
lovingly watch over those who still live on
earth.

24. b) Death as the beginning of definitive
retribution
• The great majority of ancient writers refer to
retribution in one way or another immediately
after death for all men.
• The reasoning of these ancient writers reveals
something important: Even though they use the
idea of the subsistence of the soul after death,
they do not accept the Hellenic approaches.
• Confronted with the Platonic ideal of eudaimonia
(adopted by the Gnostics), of a soul totally
liberated from matter, Christian thinkers prefer
to maintain the unfinished character of
retribution which affects only the spiritual part of
man.

25. b) Death as the beginning of definitive
retribution
• Already in modern times, Vatican II offers in the
Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium a picture
of post mortem retribution with notable
“relational” characteristics. Chapter 7, no. 48
reminds us that judgment and retribution for
each man occurs right after death; no. 49 deals
with the present union between the Church
triumphant, Church suffering and Church
militant, and describes the blessedness of the
saints even before the resurrection.

26. The teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
(1992) about death can be summarized as follows:
— Death is a mystery.
— It is a mystery rooted in the mysterium iniquitatis.
— Christ, upon assuming death itself, changed its
(negative) sign.
— For the Christian, to die has a positive value: physical
death completes Baptism’s “dying with Christ”.
— Death opens up to Life.
— It is also possible for death to lead to a negative destiny:
hell.
— It can be said, therefore, that retribution starts after
death.
— Death closes the time that the individual disposes to
decide his definitive destiny.
— Only at the end of time will retribution acquire its
complete form.

27. 2. Theological Reflection: Death, Anthropologic
Mystery Illuminated by Christ
a) Relational, Christological and Paschal dimension
of death
• Eschatology sees the final fullness as a
consummation of the potency of relation
between the divine Persons and created persons.
• Very significantly, the Catechism of the Catholic
Church refers to death as “The Christian’s Last
Passover”.
• With this Christological-Paschal view, the believer
sees the opportunity that is offered him to
personally face death as Christ did—filially and
confidently—to thus convert his own dying into a
definitive seal of his Christiformation, the sure

28. b) The particular judgment
(i) The particular judgment as a corollary of the
doctrine of retribution mox post mortem
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
“Death puts an end to human life as the time
open to either accepting or rejecting the divine
grace manifested in Christ.
• The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily
in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in
his second Coming, but also repeatedly affirms
that each will be rewarded immediately after
death in accordance with his works and faith.”
(no. 1021)

29. • In recent times the theory of the final option
has been proposed (cf. L. Boros, 1962) which
affirms that with death (release from the
limitations inherent in earthly existence) there
would be the possibility for the first totally
personal act of man.
• It errs in undervaluing the equally decisive
character of the accumulation of free
decisions taken throughout one’s earthly life.

30. (ii) Towards a Christological and
Trinitarian concept of the particular
judgment
• The only real assessment that can be made of
a mortal life is with reference to Christ.
– Did the individual cultivate or not his union with
the Lord?
– Did he obey or place obstacles to the motions of
the Spirit of the Son?
– Did he shape his personal life as a filial Amen, or
as a Non serviam to the Father?

31. c) One single life; definite character of
earthly life, versus reincarnation theories
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms:
“Death is the end of man’s earthly pilgrimage, of
the time of grace and mercy which God offers
him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping
with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate
destiny.
• When ‘the single course of our earthly life’ is
completed, we shall not return to other earthly
lives: ‘It is appointed for men to die once.’
• There is no ‘reincarnation’ after death.” (no.
1013)

32. PURIFICATION BEYOND THIS WORLD
• “Those who die in God’s grace and friendship
imperfectly purified, although they are assured of
their eternal salvation, undergo a purification
after death, so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of God.” (Catechism of
the Catholic Church, no. 1054)
• The doctrine of “Purgatory” contains two
dogmatic affirmations:
(1) the existence of a purification stage through which
all those who die in the grace of God but without
being fully ripe for divine communion have to go; and
(2) the usefulness of the prayer of the living for the
dead who are in their purification stage.

33. 1. Scriptural Basis of the Doctrine of
Purification after Death
a) The necessity for purification before Holy God, in the
Old Testament
(i) Divine Sanctity, human purification
• In the Old Testament, we find an insistence on three
ideas which underlie the notion of post mortem
purification:
1) Only Yahweh is holy, and only holy ones can get close to
Him: Due to this truth, man feels and suffers a need for
purification.
2) It is Yahweh who purifies; but man should desire
purification and ask for it with the help or mediation of
others.
3) Man reaches salvation not only individually, but forming
part of a community.

34. (ii) Prayer for the dead in 2Machabees
• In 2Machabees, we notice an important development
in Old Testament Revelation.
– It tells us how, after a battle, Judas and his soldiers find
little idols in the clothes of the fallen Jews.
– Judas prays with his soldiers “asking that their sin be
completely pardoned.”
• We can therefore affirm that by the end of the Old
Testament period we already find formulated the
belief that the living, fulfilling a role of solidarity and
intercession, could somehow make up for the
purification which the dead failed to do in life.

35. b) Progressive and communitarian character of
human sanctity, in the New Testament
• Jesus takes up again the primordial reasoning of
the law of sanctity: “Be perfect as your heavenly
father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
• Only the clean of heart shall see God (cf.
Matthew 5:8).
• The writings of the New Testament also deepen
our understanding of the communitarian aspect
of salvation:
• Christ, the hagios, clean, without stain of sin,
offers himself as the Lamb to take away the sin of
mankind, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaias of the
suffering Servant and Savior.

36. b) Progressive and communitarian character of
human sanctity, in the New Testament
• Christians, as members of a priestly people,
participate in the priestly action of Christ,
offering their persons in union with the Lord
as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
• The more one is united to Jesus and becomes
a son of the Father, the more he participates
in the intercessory power of Christ before the
Father, and—as intimate friend of God—is
able to intercede for others.

37. 2. History of the Dogma of Purification
Beyond This World
a) The ancient tradition of praying for the dead
• The Patristic idea of post mortem purification is
born, not so much out of speculation, as from the
real perception of different degrees of sanctity in
Christians.
• From here arise spontaneously, since the earliest
times, two different practices: the invocation of
the martyrs and other great saints; and
intercessory prayer for the other dead.
• At the beginning of the 3rd century, Tertullian
speaks of the practice of praying for the dead as
something received by Tradition (and, therefore,
very old).

38. b) Development of the doctrine of post
mortem purification in the Fathers
• The thinkers of the school of Alexandria
propose the peculiar theory of a fire which is
applied to dead sinners to obtain their
regeneration, converting even the impenitent
(theory of the apokatastasis).
• Clement of Alexandria believes that this fire is
applied only to sinful souls, “applying it to the
unrepentant against his will”.
• In the final analysis, this would imply that hell
is temporal.

39. b) Development of the doctrine of post
mortem purification in the Fathers
• Origen, successor of Clement in the school of
Alexandria, speaks also of a “fuego sabio”
(wise fire) which produces varied effects:
depending on the cases, it can burn, cleanse,
or delight.

40. c) The divergent perspectives of the
East and the West
• Both the Greek Church and the Latin Church
coincide in the basic idea of a possible stage of
purification beyond this world.
• Divergences did not arise until the 13th
century, when the Greeks start to show
discomfort regarding certain aspects in the
development of Latin theology.

41. c) The divergent perspectives of the
East and the West
• Among them is the linguistic transition (since
the 12th century), from the adjective
purgatorius (purgatorius ignis), to the subject
purgatorium which connotes a place (since
the Greeks would rather speak of a state or
situation).
• Still, Pope Innocent IV in a 1254 letter believes
that the Greeks coincide with the Latin Church
in the substance of the doctrine.

42. d) Luther’s rejection of Purgatory, and
the response of Trent
• The basic ideas of Luther that lead him to finally reject
the doctrine of Purgatory are:
(1) sola Scriptura (Luther declares that there is no mention
of the doctrine of Purgatory in Sacred Scripture); and
(2) sola gratia, sola fide (If the justice of the Son imputed
to us is more than enough to save us, if we sinful men
have no capacity to obtain salvation for ourselves and
for others, what is the point of speaking of imperfect
sanctity in the believer? And what is the point of
speaking of the value of any action of the living in behalf
of the dead?)

43. d) Luther’s rejection of Purgatory, and
the response of Trent
• The Council of Trent reaffirms the existence of
Purgatory and deals with the practice of
offering suffrages for the dead.
• If we see this in the context of a global
defense of the Church as “mystery-in-the-
institution”, we would understand that the
defense of indulgences is a defense of
“solidarity in salvation”, the solidarity of the
saints with the imperfect, of the living with
the dead.

44. • In this way, the question of indulgences (a
tragic divisive point for Christians in the 16th
century) becomes linked to an immense
mystery: the salvation by God of men, with
men.

45. e) Purification beyond this world and the communion
of saints, in the contemporary Magisterium
• The experience of real imperfection of sanctity in
the life of particular Christians, together with the
conviction that nothing imperfect can be
admitted to the divine company, leads naturally
to the practice of imploring God to admit the
deceased to his presence.
• Such a pious activity is, basically, the expression
of a filial desire—in union with Jesus—addressed
to the Father. Simply, the children of God dare
to ask, and they know they are heard.

46. 3. Theological Reflection: Purgatory
as Mystery of Final Maturation
a) The gradual character of sanctity, a process
which can remain unfinished during earthly
life
• Given that no one with the shadow of moral
imperfection can be united to Holy God, the
question spontaneously arises: What happens
to the imperfect who die? Church Tradition
formulates the answer in terms of a purifying
stage after mortal life.

47. • The doctrine of Purgatory simply means that
the process of perfection, if it is not
completely fulfilled in this life, can be
continued and consummated after death for
those who die as friends of God.
• The purgatory state, understood as a mystery
of final maturation, is very consistent with the
holiness, justice and mercy of God.

48. b) Theological and personal dimension
of purification beyond this world
• Charity infused in the creature by the Holy
Spirit produces the ardent desire to be
pleasing to the Father, like the Son.
• A suffering of love arises in the individual who
dies united to Christ but who sees himself still
imperfectly configured to him and therefore
unfit to stand before the Father.
• We are dealing, then, with a pain of delay,
analogous to the nostalgia of Christians for
the Parousia.

49. c) Communitarian dimension of the mystery,
solidarity in salvation: the mystery of the
communion of saints
• The Kingdom, still in its incipient state, is a
united community of salvation.
• It begins with the Incarnation, and grows
throughout history with the incorporation of
more and more men.
• The Person of Jesus is like an anchor fixed
inside the Trinity which permits all men to
access the divine intimacy: first during earthly
life through Baptism; and after death which for
the just is a dying-in-Christ.

50. c) Communitarian dimension of the mystery,
solidarity in salvation: the mystery of the
communion of saints
• From his seat at the right hand of the Father, Jesus
intercedes for the living and the dead.
• And those who are associated with him pray
together with him: The members who are still on
earth pray with him for the dead, while the saints
who are already definitively incorporated to him
pray for the living, in an organic mystery of charity.
• We find ourselves immersed in a great
transpersonal and supra-temporal network of
charity.