Article 32

Of the last judgment; of hell, and the damnation of unbelievers, we confess: That in the last day, when Christ Jesus will appear in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, all nations will be gathered before His judgment seat, and He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left. Over these, Christ Jesus is ordained by His Father judge of the living and the dead. He will regard no person, nor need the testimony of anyone; for the heart, mind and thoughts of everyone are manifest before Him as an open book. This righteous judge will judge the whole world in righteousness, and as the great Shepherd of the sheep will pronounce an eternal, irrevocable judgment upon them, rewarding each in his own body according to what he has done. To all the believing, begotten children of God who in this life, as obedient sheep, heard and followed the voice of Christ, He will say: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." And to all unbelievers, who would not have Christ and His word in this life, but, as disobedient, obstinate goats, rejected them, He will say: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

In that last day of the Lord the righteous God will deprive this world of all good gifts; so that the sun, moon and stars will lose their brightness, and all the light and glory of the world will be changed into everlasting darkness. At that time the earth, waters and streams will be turned into burning pitch and brimstone, which will burn forever and ever. And since this earth is called hell in many places in Scripture, and no other hell is mentioned anywhere, it is regarded as hell and the place of damnation; in which fiery pool and outer darkness all unbelievers will finally have to suffer the burning of hell and eternal damnation; and so they will at last be punished and tormented with the visible things which they chose and served in this life in preference to the eternal and invisible.

Into that place of darkness and fiery pool all unbelievers will be sentenced by Christ after the resurrection, their souls having been united with their bodies. Then that which is written concerning this last, sad day of separation will be fulfilled; namely, that of two, one will be taken in the field, in the bed, and at the mill, and be caught up in the air to meet the Lord; but the others will be left, and be sentenced into that pool of darkness, where they will be tormented with the devil and his angels, burning, and suffering for all eternity, forever deprived of all grace and mercy from God, which is the second death.

Of the last judgment, and how the whole human race will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive each in his own body an eternal sentence, read: "And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he who was ordained of God to be the judge of the living and the dead." Acts 10, verse 42.

"Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained." Acts 17, verse 31; Psalm 7, verse 11.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad." Second Corinthians 5, verse 10; Romans 14, verse 10.

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Revelation 20, verse 12; Daniel 7, verse 10.

"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him all nations will be gathered: and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." Matthew 25, verses 31 and 32; Matthew 16, verse 27; Matthew 26, verse 64; Second Thessalonians 1, verse 7.

Of hell and the place of damnation, read: "For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And its streams will be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land will become burning pitch. It will not be quenched night or day; its smoke will go up forever." Isaiah 34, verses 8 to 10; Second Peter 3, verse 10; Sirach 16, verse 18.

"And it came to pass, as he (Moses) had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split apart: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that belonged to Korah, and all their goods." Numbers 16, verses 31 and 32.

Read further concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, how they were overturned and condemned and made an example; and how the earth is called hell. Genesis 19, verse 24; Jude, verse 7; Acts 2, verses 27 and 31; Psalm 16, verse 11.

"That they might know that by whatever a man sins, by that same thing he will also be punished." Wisdom 11, verse 16.

"Your gold and silver are corroded; and the rust of them will be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh like fire." James 5, verse 3.

How the souls of unbelievers are reserved by God until the last day of vengeance, to be tormented with their bodies after the resurrection, read: "For after death the judgment will come, when we will live again: and then the names of the righteous will be manifest, and the works of the ungodly will be declared." Second Esdras 14, verse 35.

"For behold, the day comes that will burn as an oven; and all the proud, indeed, and all that do wickedly will be stubble: and the day that comes will burn them up, says the Lord." Malachi 4, verse 1.

"The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust for the day of judgment to be punished." Second Peter 3, verse 9.

Them "he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day." Jude, verse 6; Matthew 25, verse 30; Romans 14, verse 10; Second Corinthians 5, verse 10.

Read further concerning the fearful and intolerable pain of hell. Judith 16, verse 17; Mark 9, verse 46; Matthew 22, verse 13; Matthew 24, verse 51; Matthew 25, verses 30 and 41; Revelation 19, verse 20; Revelation 21, verse 8.