Four last things

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Hieronymus Bosch's 1500 painting The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. The four outer discs depict (clockwise from top left) Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

In Christian eschatology, the Four Last Things or four last things of man (Latin: quattuor novissima[1]) are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, the four last stages of the soul in life and the afterlife.[2][3] They are often commended as a collective topic for pious meditation; Saint Philip Neri wrote, "Beginners in religion ought to exercise themselves principally in meditation on the Four Last Things."[4] Traditionally, the sermons preached on the four Sundays of Advent were on the Four Last Things.[5]

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".[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:

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange's L'eternelle vie et la profondeur de l'ame (1947) has been published in English as Life Everlasting: A Theological Treatise on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell (1991); however, the sections are "Soul immensity in our present life", "Death and judgement", "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven".[15]

Artworks

The Four Last Things are a common theme of artistic and literary works as well as theological works.

Works about the Four Last Things
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 [16][17]
"One Thing is Needful, or Serious Meditations upon the Four Last Things" Poem John Bunyan 1683 [18]
"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 [19]
"The Four Last Things" Sculpture Joseph Stammel c.1760 In Admont Abbey [20]
"The Four Last Things" Oratorio Joseph Leopold Eybler 1810 German title Die vier letzten Dinge; HV 137 [21]
"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 [22]
The Four Last Things Poetry collection Madeleva Wolff 1959 Poems with theological themes
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 [23]

References

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  8. Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-860634-6
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Further reading

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External links