Judgment Day
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in theology, the day on which God shall judge the world by the instrumentality of Jesus (Acts xvii: 31), meting out rewards and punishments as justice may require (Matt. xxv: 31-46). When 1,000 years from the birth of Christ were almost completed, it was generally believed that the judgment day was at hand, and every means was adopted to conciliate the us to his ap 7th book in It was period ta ed by mex It conintroduction 6-ili: 6), the narrative first appendix (xviicond one (xix-xxl.), to have been at work back on ancient docualways accepted as New Testament it is xill: 20 and Heb a determination, judge or court inal. In logic, in the mind twe which are the whether complex ancing that they ch other, or that does not belong is therefore afow is white; opeans. In of the human nts are formed. which ined Singular: (a) The (b) Justice (Is. punishment which a calamity sent iction on account (Exod. xii: 12; 8). (2) Plural: nal enactments of the ruished from the coral laws (Exod. 13, 20, 89, 48, 62, d, a term applied forms of trial by at, walking upon DITOR, one te awarded a cerdamages, etc. in the case. in theology, the ll judge the world ty of Jesus (Acts out rewards and punmay require (Matt. 1,000 years from were almost comelly believed that the hand, and every to conciliate the Church and gain the favor of its Divine Lord. Among other steps adopted was to hand over estates as no longer needed to the ecclesiastical authorities, the reason assigned being thus expressed Appropinquante mundi termino (the end of the world being now at hand).
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The doctrine Collier's summarised in 1921 "the day on which God shall judge the world by the instrumentality of Jesus" still stands in Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant teaching much as stated, with the same proof texts from Acts 17 and Matthew 25. What has moved is the history: Collier's confident claim that as the year 1000 approached "it was generally believed that the judgment day was at hand" is now treated sceptically by medievalists, who read charter phrases like appropinquante mundi termino as conventional pious formula rather than evidence of mass panic, and who point out that few contemporary chroniclers mention any such terror. Expectation of an imminent end has meanwhile kept producing dated predictions in the century since 1921, none of which came off. (The entry as reprinted here is badly garbled, with fragments of neighbouring articles on "judgment" in logic and law spliced into it.)
Written for this edition, 2026.