Breviloquium

Next something must be added concerning the concomitants of the judgment, which are two, namely, the conflagration of worldly fires and the resurrection of bodies.¹

Concerning the conflagration, then, this must be held: fire will precede the face of the Judge, by which the face of the earth will be burned, so that the form of this world² will perish in the conflagration of worldly fires, just as the deluge came about through the inundation of waters. — It is said, however, that the form of this world will pass away, not with respect to the total destruction of this sensible world, but because through the action of that fire, setting all elemental things ablaze, plants and animals will be consumed, the elements, especially air and earth, will be purified and renewed, the just will be purified and the reprobate burned; once these things have been done, the movement of heaven will also cease, so that, with the number of the elect completed, there may in some way be a renewal and rewarding of worldly bodies.³

The reason for understanding the foregoing is this: because the universal principle of things, since it is most wise, although in all things that it does it observes the order of wisdom, must attend most especially in those things that pertain to consummation; so that the first may not disagree with the middle, nor the middle with the last, but in all things most fittingly ordered there may appear the ordering wisdom, goodness, and loftiness of that first principle. Since, therefore, God according to his most orderly wisdom orders this entire sensible world and made the greater world for the sake of the lesser world, namely, man,⁴ who has been placed in the middle between God and these lower things; hence, in order that all things may correspond to one another and the dwelling may have harmony with its dweller, this world ought to have been established in a good and peaceful state when man was rightly ordered; when man fell, this world too ought to have become worse; when man was disturbed, it ought to have been disturbed; when man was purified, it ought to have been purified; when man was renewed, it ought to have been renewed; and when man was consummated, it ought to have been brought to rest.⁵

First, therefore, since this world must be disturbed when man is disturbed, just as it stood with him who stood and in a certain way fell with him who fell; and since at the future judgment, in order to display the severity of the Judge, it is necessary that the hearts of all, and especially of sinners who have despised the Lord of all, be terrified, so that every creature may receive divine zeal⁶ and be conformed to the author, and also be conformed to the dweller: it is necessary that the hinges of the whole world be moved most dreadfully. And because nothing acts more intensely, swiftly, and dreadfully in moving the other elements than fire rushing together from here and there, from every part; hence it is necessary that fire precede the face of that Judge, not from one part only but from every part of the world, because there is a confluence there of elemental and terrestrial fire, purgatorial and even infernal fire, so that by the infernal fire the reprobate may be burned, by purgatorial fire the just purified, by terrestrial fire the things born of the earth consumed, by elemental fire the elements rendered more subtle and prepared for a state of renewal, and along with this the rest may be thrown into confusion, so that not only men and demons but also the angels, seeing it, may be terrified.

Again, since this world must be purified when man is to be purified,⁷ and man in the state of the final time needs to be purified from the dross of avarice and malice, just as in the first time from the dregs of lust; he also needs to be purified swiftly, thoroughly, and perfectly: hence, just as the first world was destroyed and in a certain way purified by the element of water, which is cold, against the heat and dross of lust, so the final world by fire, on account of the refreshment of charity⁸ and the coldness of malice and avarice, which will reign at the end as in the old age of the world itself. Since these have the greatest adhesiveness, it is necessary that the purifying agent be of intimate, violent, and accelerated action; and this cannot be found in any element other than fire. And therefore, just as the deluge came about through the inundation of waters, so through the action of the fire the face of this sensible world will be burned.⁹

Moreover, since this world must be renewed together with renewed man; and nothing can be renewed into a new form unless it strips off oldness and in a certain way is disposed by a new disposition superinduced: hence, since fire especially has the power of expelling an alien form, and also has a subtilizing power and is akin to celestial nature: therefore through it the highest purification and renewal must take place, so that, since it has a twofold efficacy, in one respect it precedes the Judge's coming, but in the other it must follow. And since renewal is unto a newness that no longer returns to oldness, and thereby unto incorruptible newness, which it is not in the power of any creature to give: hence, although in that purification and renewal fire does something by natural power, such as to set ablaze, purify, rarefy, and make subtle, nevertheless it is necessary that together with that natural power there be a power operating above nature, by whose command the beginning of the conflagration will occur, and by whose power its completion will likewise occur.¹⁰

Finally, since this world must be consummated together with consummated man; and man is consummated then, when in glory the number of the elect has been completed, toward which state all things tend as toward the ultimate and complete end: once the completion of that number has occurred, it is necessary that the movements of celestial nature be terminated and brought to rest; it is also necessary that elemental transformations be terminated; and consequently it is also necessary that generation, which occurs in animals¹¹ and plants, be terminated. For since all these things are ordered to the most noble form, which is the rational soul, once a state has been established in souls, it is necessary that a state and completion also be established in the other preceding things. — And therefore celestial bodies, having attained rest and fullness of light, are said to be rewarded. The elements, however, which no longer have the power of multiplying through mutual transformation, are said to perish, not with respect to substance, but with respect to mutual action and passion, and this especially with respect to active qualities. Plants and sentient beings, however, since they do not have the power for perpetual life and everlasting duration, such as is fitting to the state of that nobility, must be consumed in their own nature, yet in such a way that they are preserved in their principles and in a certain way in something similar, namely, in man, who has a likeness to every genus of creature;¹² and therefore in his renewal and glorification all things can be said to be renewed and in a certain way rewarded.¹³