The End of the World
Will the body rise? Will the world end?
Main teaching: De fide
The big question
Many people think Christianity is about the soul going to heaven when you die, and that is the end of the story. But the Creed ends with “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting”, and speaks of Christ coming “to judge the living and the dead”. What does the Church teach about the end of the world, and why does the body matter?
What the Church teaches
Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead (Nicene Creed; DH 150; CCC 668–682).
All the dead will rise, each with their own body (Lateran IV; DH 801; CCC 988–1001).
There will be a general judgement of all people (Lateran IV, DH 801; Benedictus Deus, DH 1002; CCC 1038–1041).
God will renew the universe: there will be a new heaven and a new earth (CCC 1042–1050).
How sure is this? De fide. See CCC 988–1060.
Where it comes from
Scripture. At the Ascension the angels tell the apostles, “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). No one knows when: “of that day and hour no one knows” (Matthew 24:36).
Jesus teaches the resurrection of all: “the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28–29). St Paul describes the change: “What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable… It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42–44).
The whole creation shares in the hope: it “will be set free from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). The Bible’s last prayer is for Christ’s coming: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
The early Church. Pagans mocked the Christian belief in the resurrection of the body. Tertullian (died about 220) answered that “the flesh is the hinge of salvation” (On the Resurrection of the Flesh 8; CCC 1015). God created the body, the Son took a body, and our bodies are fed by his body in the Eucharist: how could the body be left out of salvation?
How theologians explain it
Why the body rises. A human being is body and soul together (Lesson 4.3). The soul without its body is not a complete human person. So salvation is not complete until the body is raised. Christ’s own Resurrection is the first instance and the cause of ours (Lesson 6.3).
The same body, transformed. We rise in our own bodies, not new ones. But the risen bodies of the just will be glorified, like Christ’s. Following St Paul, theologians describe four qualities of the glorified body:
| Quality | Meaning | Contrast with now |
|---|---|---|
| Impassibility | Free from suffering and death | Now we suffer and die |
| Clarity | Radiant with the soul’s glory | Now the body hides the soul |
| Agility | Moving with ease, at the soul’s will | Now the body is heavy and tires |
| Subtlety | Fully subject to the spirit | Now the body resists the spirit |
These are the common teaching of theologians, drawn from Scripture’s descriptions of the risen Christ, not defined in detail.
The general judgement. At the end, Christ will judge all people together, body and soul. It does not change the particular judgement, but reveals to all the truth of each life, the justice of God’s ways, and how his providence brought good even out of evil (CCC 1039–1040). It is described in Christ’s parable of the sheep and the goats, where what counts is love shown to “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31–46).
A new creation. The world will not simply be destroyed. It will be transformed and renewed, so that the material universe shares in the glory of God’s children (CCC 1047). That is part of why Christians care for the earth: it has a future in God’s plan.
What the Church rejects. The Church rejects millenarianism, the expectation of an earthly kingdom of Christ before the end, and every attempt to bring about a perfect kingdom within history by political means (CCC 676). It also discourages setting dates: Christ said no one knows the day or the hour. Before the end, the Church will pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many (CCC 675).
Philosophy bridge
Lesson 4.3 showed that the soul is the form of the body. A form is naturally made to be united with its matter. So a soul without its body is incomplete, and the resurrection is not an extra added to salvation but its natural completion. The philosophy course’s hylomorphism is what makes this clear.
What the Church does not claim
- Not that the end is only for the soul. The body rises, and the universe is renewed.
- Not that we can predict the date. “Of that day and hour no one knows.”
- Not the “rapture” as taught by some Protestant groups. The Church teaches one glorious return of Christ, not a secret removal of believers before a period of tribulation.
- Not that the world is simply thrown away. It is transformed into a new creation.
Check your understanding
- Name the four truths about the end of the world taught in this lesson.
Show answer
Christ will come again in glory; all the dead will rise with their own bodies; there will be a general judgement; and God will make a new heaven and a new earth.
- Why does the body need to rise, if the soul already lives on after death?
Show answer
Because a human being is body and soul together. The soul without its body is not a complete person, so salvation is complete only when the body is raised.
- Name and explain two qualities of the glorified body.
Show answer
Any two of: impassibility (free from suffering and death); clarity (radiant with the soul’s glory); agility (moving with ease at the soul’s will); subtlety (fully subject to the spirit).
- What does Tertullian mean by “the flesh is the hinge of salvation”?
Show answer
That salvation turns on the body: God created it, the Son took a body, and we receive his body in the Eucharist. So the body cannot be left out of salvation; it will rise.
- What does the Church teach about predicting the date of the end of the world?
Show answer
That no one can know it. Christ said “of that day and hour no one knows” (Matthew 24:36), so attempts to set dates are mistaken.