Fathers

Revelation 20

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I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years. And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

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What the Fathers say

Revelation 20:12

Eastern Fathers

Oecumenius

And I saw, he says, the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. He calls the righteous great, not because of bodily size, but because of the glory and brilliance of virtue, and he calls the sinners small as nothing because of their lowliness and baseness. And the little scrolls were opened; and another little scroll was opened, which is the book of life. …

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Irenaeus

And in the Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth. For after the times of the kingdom, he says, "I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat upon it, from whose face the earth fled away, and the heavens; and there was no more place for them." And he sets forth, too, the things connected with the general resurrection and the judgment, mentioning "the dead, great and small." "The sea," he says, "gave up the dead which it had in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead that they contained; and the …

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 5 ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

He says he saw scrolls opened, and another scroll, but he makes clear the character of the latter, "which is the book of each person's life." The first scrolls he mentions, then, must represent the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. These will be opened to show the commandments of God, and the other scroll [will] show how these commandments were kept or disobeyed by each and every person. As for this latter scroll, if one considers it materially, it surpasses all powers of thought for size and length. …

City of God 20.14 ↗

Bede

And the dead were judged from what was written in the books, etc. That is, they were judged according to the Testaments, based on what they did or did not do from them. The books can also be understood as the deeds of the righteous, by the comparison of which the wicked are condemned, as if in the opening of the books, they read the good that they themselves did not want to do.

Commentary on Revelation ↗

Bonaventure

In this judgment, moreover, there will be an opening of the books, namely of consciences, by which the merits and demerits of all will become known both to themselves and to others, this being accomplished by the power of that book of life, namely the incarnate Word; who in the form of Divinity will be seen only by the good, but in the form of humanity, in which he will also promulgate the sentence, will be seen by the good as well as by the evil, although in that same form he will appear terrible to the reprobate and gentle to the …

Breviloquium, Part 7 ↗