Biblical Perspectives, Vol. 12 No. 1-2, 2004.
Review article
Divine Judgment
Gerhard F. Hasel
; Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA
Abstract
The judgment theme is as pervasive in the Bible as the theme of salvation. Judgment and salvation are the twin topics that weave themselves like threads from Genesis to Revelation. This is because salvation and judgment reflect the twin characteristics of mercy and justice in the nature of God. Therefore, the double themes of salvation and judgment, refecting divine mercy and justice, cannot and rust not be separated; otherwise both lose their fullness and mutual complementarity.
Judgment deserves careful attention, since it is involved in the issues of (a) divine justice in an unjust world (theodicy), (b) retribution for wrong done, (c) the suffering of the innocent, (d) the resolution of the conflict of good and evil, and (e) the end of sin and suffering. But above all, final judgment vindicates the Creator—His character, law, and governance— in the minds of all created intelligences, whether loyal or lost, thereby obtaining eternal security and peace for the universe. Judgment is thus portrayed in Scripture as an essential part of the “eternal gospel” (Rev. 14:6, 7).
Keywords
God's-Judgment; Judgment-and-Salvation; Righteousness; God-and-Evil; Gospel
Hrčak ID:
100642
URI
Publication date:
18.5.2004.
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