20 November 2025
"Will come to judge the living and the dead"":
The Certainty of Death and Judgement
By Stefan Kaminski
Benjamin Franklin is most readily credited with coining the idea that, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. Its origins are less interesting, though, than its relationship to the truth.
It may indeed be tempting to correlate the question of paying taxes – a somewhat thorny issue at the present time, and one that will likely raise strong feelings – to that of our final judgement. Certainly, one’s fiscal contribution to the common good and respect for civil authority are moral duties that form part of our Christian life. Images arise of St Matthew standing at the Pearly Gates with your collated tax returns, debating heatedly with St Peter over the definition of self-employment and the proper declaration of takings (St Peter being known for a ‘fishy’ approach to this).
However, even taxes do not possess the same existential certainty as that which follows death: namely, our judgement before God. The importance of this element for the Christian faith is such that it accounts for one of the twelve statements of the Apostles’ Creed, besides taking its place in the Nicene profession of faith.
In a sense, this is but part of the “whole-sighted vision” I wrote of in the previous post, that best describes the Christian view of reality. Neither can we be concerned with only this world now, nor can we live in expectation of the next life without a concrete correspondence to our actions in this earthly one. Judgement forms the junction between these two distinct, but existentially-continuous, phases of human life.
For the sake of clarity, it is worth noting that two different judgements are being referenced here: the Creed speaks of Christ’s return and the final judgement of all the living and the dead – depicted by Michelangelo on the wall of the Sistine Chapel; whereas our own, individual judgement is what follows immediately after our death. Why this apparent duplication and complication?
As always, the distinction makes sense in the joined-up thinking of our faith as a whole. The Last Judgement corresponds with the Second Coming of Christ “in his glory… [when] all the nations will be gathered before him” (Matt 25:31-32). This is the moment when all of creation and of God’s redemptive plan will be brought to its fulfilment and revealed for its full meaning (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1040). It is the time at the end of the time spoken of in St John’s Book of Revelation, which will follow the resurrection of all of the dead. It is in this fully restored state – of having been resurrected in our bodies, corresponding to the fullness of our human existence as a unity of body and soul – that the sheep and the goats will be separated for the fullness of eternal life in the new heaven and new earth (cf. Matt 25:46; 2 Pet 3:13).
In the meantime, each of us faces the certainty of death: an event that will not await the Second Coming. And as with our tax returns, an ‘evaluation’ and ‘judgement’ on what is owed or not owed will be immediately forthcoming. Thus, Christ promises the good thief, “today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk 23:43), and speaks of the immediate reward of the poor man, Lazarus, in the parable (Lk 16:22). On the strength of the Gospel teaching and St Paul’s writings, the Church has always confirmed the existence of this particular judgement of each individual at the end of one’s life, where the soul will enter into one or other of the possible states (either heaven immediately or via purgatory, or hell), and there rest until the final trumpet sounds (1 Cor 15:52).
A clear and real belief in these certainties (less so the fiscal elements) is important for giving our moral life on this earth its proper ‘shape’. Contrary to a materialist mentality, all that we do (humanly speaking) does have meaning and bear consequence, even if we cannot see this in the present. The realities of the ‘Four Last Things’ (death, judgement, heaven and hell) are an essential part of catechesis, of evangelisation and of our own spiritual consciousness. If, “at the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love” (St John of the Cross), then it is never too early to start learning how to love according to Christ’s commandment.