Four last things

In Christian eschatology, the Four Last Things or four last things of man (Latin: quattuor novissima) are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, the four last stages of the soul in life and the afterlife. They are often commended as a collective topic for pious meditation; Saint Philip Neri wrote, "Beginners in religion ought to exercise themselves principally in meditation on the Four Last Things." Traditionally, the sermons preached on the four Sundays of Advent were on the Four Last Things.

The 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia states "The eschatological summary which speaks of the 'four last things' (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) is popular rather than scientific. For systematic treatment it is best to distinguish between (A) individual and (B) universal and cosmic eschatology".Pope John Paul II wrote in 1984 that the "judgment" component encompasses both particular judgment and general judgment.

Numerous theologians and Christian apologists have written on the Four Last Things; published accounts include:

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange's L'eternelle vie et la profondeur de l'ame (1947) has been published in English as Life Everlasting: A Theological Treatise on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell (1991); however, the sections are "Soul immensity in our present life", "Death and judgement", "Hell", "Purgatory", and "Heaven".

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