The Presbyterian Church of India's Confession of Faith Article X deals with the
doctrine of the Last Day. Its main theme is the resurrection of the dead and the
subsequent "final judgment" where the living and the dead "shall be judged
according to the deeds done in this present life." But the understanding and
interpretation of the word "shall be judged according to the deeds" has often
been held in tension with the basic theological principle of the Reformation, namely,
"justification by grace alone through faith."
Beside this tension it poses, Article X is silent upon important eschatological themes
like the immediate state of the dead, the second coming of Christ and millennialism which
were major concerns of Mizo Christians soon after they embraced Christianity. The main
focus of the Article X thus seems to be the impending judgment according to one's deeds on
the Last Day. Taking all these into account, this book seeks to analyse the concept and
the nature of "shall be judged according to the deeds" in Article X.
Asserting the interrelatedness of the concepts "judgment according to the
deeds" and "justification by grace alone through faith," this book explores
the biblical and theological background, and analyses the contextual understanding, of the
concept of "judgment" in the afterlife and seeks its implication for shaping the
present eschatological imagination of the Mizo Presbyterian Church in particular, and the
wider Presbyterian families in India in general.
Contents
List of Abbreviations
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1. The Presence of the Future : The Present for the Future
2. The Concept of "Judgment According to the Deeds" : An Overview
3. Eschatological Concept of the Early Mizo Christians
4. Eschatology in the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church of India
5. General Appraisal of Article X of the Presbyterian Church of India's Confession of
Faith
Appendix
Bibliography
Rev. Laldingluaia is an Ordained Minister of the Presbyterian Church
of India, Mizoram Synod, teaching Christian Theology and Ethics at the Aizawl Theological
College, Aizawl, Mizoram. Prior to that assignment, he had been fully engaged in pastoral
ministry in rural context both in and outside Mizoram for a number of years. His areas of
interest include the theology of Augustine and John Calvin, Christian eschatology,
theological hermeneutics and the interface of science and theology.
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