F13 reasoning: Return of Christ and final judgement

Reasoning steps: Return of Christ and final judgement

Verdicts: F13 · Return of Christ and final judgement. Method: conventions, scoring and proximity eras. Scripture is the primary measure; fathers are weighed by era (Era I to c. 150 = 1.0, II = 0.8, III = 0.6, IV = 0.4).

F13.1: Return of Christ and final judgement

Step F13.1.1: Scripture

Acts 1:11 (‘will come in the same way’); Matt 25:31–46; Acts 17:31 (a day to judge the world by a man he has appointed); 2 Cor 5:10; 2 Tim 4:1 (‘who is to judge the living and the dead’).

Step F13.1.2: Patristic evidence

Didache (Era I): ’the world shall see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven’. Polycarp: ‘He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead’. Irenaeus: ‘His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father’. Sources: didache-f13-s1 · polycarp-f13-s1 · irenaeus-f13-s1.

Step F13.1.3: Weighing decision

Unanimous from Era I. Verdict: consensus.

Confidence: High.

Step F13.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

Scripture (benchmark): A visible return (Acts 1:11) and universal judgement (Matt 25; 2 Cor 5:10). (Scripture confidence: high)
Assessment: Scripture and Era I agree; all nine confess it.

F13.2: Is the time of the return unknown, calling for readiness?

Step F13.2.1: Scripture

Matt 24:36 (‘concerning that day and hour no one knows’); 24:42–44; Acts 1:7; 1 Thess 5:2 (’like a thief in the night’).

Step F13.2.2: Patristic evidence

Didache (Era I): ‘be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord comes’. Sources: didache-f13-s2.

Step F13.2.3: Weighing decision

Unanimous. Date-setting is absent from the fathers we checked. Verdict: consensus.

Confidence: High.

Step F13.2.4: Source-proximity weighing

Scripture (benchmark): No one knows the day or hour (Matt 24:36; Acts 1:7). (Scripture confidence: high)
Assessment: Scripture and Era I agree; all nine confess it.

F13.3: Will Christ judge all people according to their deeds / the gospel?

Step F13.3.1: Scripture

Matt 25:31–46 (sheep and goats separated by what was done to ’the least of these’); John 5:28–29 (’those who have done good … those who have done evil’); Acts 17:31; Rom 2:6–16 (God ‘will render to each one according to his works’ … judged by the gospel); 2 Cor 5:10 (‘receive what is due for what he has done in the body’); Rev 20:11–15 (judged ‘according to what they had done’). Distinct from F13.1 (that he returns and judges) by the criterion: deeds under the gospel. Duration and mode of final punishment are T10.

Step F13.3.2: Patristic evidence

Polycarp (Era I): ‘we must all appear at the judgment-seat of Christ, and must every one give an account of himself’. Justin (Era II): ’each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his actions’. Augustine (Era III): from Revelation, ’the dead were judged … according to their deeds’ / ’every man according to their works’. Sources: polycarp-f13-s2 · justin-martyr-f13-s1 · augustine-f13-s1.

Step F13.3.3: Weighing decision

Reading A: final judgement ignores deeds, or only some people are judged. Reading B: Christ judges all according to their deeds under the gospel. B is chosen. Matt 25, Rom 2, and 2 Cor 5:10 are explicit; Polycarp, Justin, and Augustine agree. How faith and works relate in justification is S01; hell’s duration is T10.

Confidence: High.