Summa in a Year Day 301: General Judgement
Mar 2, 2026
A lively tour of questions about what people will know after rising again and how everyone's deeds will be revealed. Discussion jumps from how quickly actions are perceived to why a public judgment is necessary. The timing and likely location of the final judgment get attention. Theories about whether the verdict is spoken aloud or conveyed mentally add a surprising twist.
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Conscience Will Recall Every Deed At Judgment
- After the resurrection each person will recall every moral act because conscience must testify at the divine judgment.
- Aquinas argues the one divine power will cause universal recollection so conscience can witness both good and evil deeds for just judgment.
Public Knowledge Shows God's Justice And Mercy
- At the last judgment everyone will know others' merits and demerits so God's justice and mercy are openly manifest.
- Aquinas says knowing others' merits helps praise God's justice and mercy and makes sentences appear evidently just.
Blessed See Instantly While Damned Need Divine Aid
- The blessed may intuitively see all merits at once, but the damned will need divine power to recall sins rapidly.
- Aquinas proposes a middle view: the wicked consider sins in quick succession aided externally by divine power.
