Judgement (of the Dead)

Judgement (of the Dead). Although religions differ in the extent to which they allow that humans are free in their choices and actions, they insist that humans are responsible and accountable for their thoughts and actions; and that in different ways their thoughts and actions now will affect their future outcome. In religions which believe in rebirth and karma (Indian religions), a kind of judgement is always operating in and through this life, and the next form of rebirth may be in a heaven or hell, and in that sense there is not only judgement through life but also of the dead. Yama is thus associated with that judgement.

In W. religions, the status and descriptions of the judgement of the dead have become increasingly precise. Initially (in biblical Judaism), the idea scarcely exists, since there was no belief in a personal and substantial life after death. The emphasis in later Judaism has been on the final eschatological judgement exercised by God on the world, especially in the return of the messiah. Early Christianity absorbed the Jewish perspective, but made the theme of judgement far more prominent as a consequence of the belief that the messiah (i.e. Christ) had arrived in the person of Jesus. Jesus becomes the agent of God's judgement, especially in his second coming, Parousia (e.g. Acts 10. 42, 17. 31; 2 Corinthians 5. 10). The issue of this judgement turns partly on belief and recognition of Jesus as Christ and as the Son of the Father (e.g. John 5. 22 ff.), but also on actions which exemplify the nature of agape (active and disinterested love). This is particularly apparent in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. 31–46.

In Islam, the precision of judgement in relation to the works which people have done is even more exact. The events of the Day of Resurrection and the Day of Judgement are described in literal detail, in both Qur'ān and ḥadīth: see YAUM AL-QIYĀMA and YAUM AL-DĪN.