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Author: Renton Mathes - Moss Media Online - Posted: Apr 3rd, 2025 3:00 PM MDT
Fig.1, Dingman, The Last Judgment (photo creds: Google images)
The Icon of the Last Judgment, through its cultural variation and time tested consistency, ties together the Christian worldview, uniting the multiplicity throughout history into an image of final summation. In a beautiful way, this parallels the commission of Christ here represented to reconcile all of creation. Meaning the icon is participating in what it is representing on a different level of reality, making it a map of or a bridge to higher manifestations of this pattern. Perfectly exemplifying the concept of Catholicity from the Greek Katholikos which means whole or entire. This wholeness extends through the concept of judgment as the icon expresses both the theology of general judgment (what is commonly thought of as the last judgment, when the entire world is judged), and the particular judgment (that which the individual faces after death). Moving between the scales of reality to encapsulate all of human experience.
(Fig.1, Dingman, The Last Judgment).
Dingmans icon (Fig.1) is a great place to start, as it is visually clear and simplifies many of the elements found in more traditional versions of the icon. Beginning with an overall view, we see that there are clearly two sides and three layers. The two sides are divided evenly by Christ with his hands gesturing in different directions, the right hand up and the left hand down (Goldfrank, 1995). This is an important place to begin because the proper way to read the icon is not from the viewer's perspective, but actually from Christs’. The left side from our perspective becomes the side of Christs’ right hand, and so the right side becomes the side of the left hand. Reading the image this way gives the viewer the proper keys to interpret what exactly these images mean, where they come from, and why they are organized in this manner. Beginning with the side of the left hand, where Christ points down, we can understand why this might be considered “the bad side” with the horrifying scene of hell at the bottom, but this is too simplistic a reading. It is better understood as the side which moves outward from Christ. This is why immediately next to Christ on the left hand side is John the Baptist, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Jn 1:21, referencing Is 40:3), pointing to the coming of Christ from the outer limit of the world. After John the Baptist we see Paul, the apostle to the foreigner. Who traveled once to murderously pursue the followers of Christ, but was converted to spread the Gospel outwards planting churches and writing letters. These two represent the positive side of the left hand, but it is true that (for most people) the left hand is a disobedient hand, not to be relied upon when it comes to fine detail. Thus at the extreme end of the icon, the left hand side expresses a breakdown in functioning and obedience. The side where judgment must ‘cut off’ that which denies or rebels against God (Himka, 2008). In the final summation, people who have given up on controlling their passions will be allowed to continue moving outward, swept up in what manifests as a river of fire draining into the mouth of death where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 24:31, 25:30).
Juxtaposing the grim scene at the bottom left, we see on the right standing at the gates to the earthly paradise, Saint Peter and Saint Paul together. Saint Peter is holding the keys which allow entrance past the cherubim. Moving inward we see a progression from the marginally saved to the mount of salvation, starting with the good thief carrying his cross who accepted Christ at the end of his life. Inward from him is Abraham holding the souls of mankind in his bosom providing rest to those recently departed (this is often seen as an example of the consequence of particular judgment based on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man). Moving inward still is the mother of God flanked on either side by the two archangels Michael and Gabriel representing the ideal of the church. Note that Mary is postured to reflect Christ with her hands in a similar orientation, showing that the church is to look to Christ as the example. Mary draws us up to Jesus’ right hand side opposite John the Baptist as she was the one who pointed to his coming from within the culture, as in the wedding of Cana (from John 2). The three in the center (Jesus, Mary, and John) make up what is called ‘the Deeisis’, from the Greek word for ‘pray unto God’, showing the importance of prayer even up to the very last day. This order is referenced in Matt 20:21 when a woman asks Jesus to take her two sons to sit on his right and left hand sides with him in the kingdom. Jesus responds “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of (Mary), and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with (John)?” They were the first to point to Christ in this world, and through which he could fulfill its salvation. Next to the mother of God we find Saint Peter again for he is the apostle to the jews, the people with whom Jesus shares blood relation (Matt 1:1-17) or the people on the inside. Saint Peter is also considered to be the rock of the church, meaning he is the foundation, the place of stability for the building of a home or city. As opposed to the wilderness which is characterized by the shifting sands of the desert, the thick bramble of the woods, or the ever oscillating waves of the ocean, symbolic of the potential for change of which Saint Paul underwent. The importance of both Peter and Paul together entering paradise points again to this unified whole, or way in which Christ ties together everything from the center to the margin into himself.
Moving back to where we find Christ as judge; judges are to be understood by their ability to do justice, from the Latin: ‘Jus’, which means to render unto each their due. “A man is just if he is in a right relationship with God and his fellow men” (Suelzer, 2003) for God is the source of all that is good and righteous. There is a great deal of biblical reference to Christ’s position as a judge aiding the oppressed. “The Lord therefore be a judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand” (1Sam 24:15, see also Gen 16:5). Christ’s role here is to reconcile creation, or in the words of Suelzer: “[Judgment] means settling a dispute, making things right” (2003). Traditionally, in the Hebrew scriptures, “Judgment was lived out in this life” (Suelzer, 2003), as is wrestled with in the book of Job. Particular judgment was recognized as one's “prosperity, posterity, [and] longevity”, a position argued for by Job’s friends. “To live wretchedly and be cut off from life early without descendents [was] regarded as evidence of God's judgment against a man” (Suelzer, 2003). This was held until late in the jewish faith when ideas of resurrection started to develop an influence. In the new testament, there is a differentiation of ‘particular’ judgment, as in the story of Lazurus and the rich man from Luke 16:19-31, and ‘general’ judgment. Which refers to the final judgment on all men on the last day, also known as the Day of the Lord. In the Hebrew scripture, the Day of the Lord is related with the judgment of cities like Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19.1-29) and the flood (Gen 6.5 - 8.19). It is “A time when God’s destiny for his people [will] be fully and finally realized” (Suelzer, 2003). The prophets argue that not all of Israel will be judged positively. They ask, “What will the day of the Lord mean for you? Darkness and not light” (Am 5:18), “A day of wrath and burning anger” (Is 13:9). As these ideas spread, judgment became cosmic in scope to the point where it was necessary for God to intervene in history at the end of time. A time of devastation and destruction towards a new order. Proceeded by the raising of the dead so all could participate in this unifying act. “Some [rise to] everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12.2).
The act of judgment is the completion of what God intended to achieve given humanity’s free response to his initial loving motivation. Judgment is therefore seen as being the 3rd stage of the dialogue between God and God's free creatures on salvation. Schematically, this dialogue begins with “God's loving and merciful initiative” or God's plan for harmony as in the Garden of Eden (Wright, 2003). The second stage is “that of the creature's free response to this loving initiative… the creature either consents to act according to God's purpose” moving towards Him, “or in a greater or lesser degree rejects it and thus estranges itself from God and God's intentions” (Wright, 2003). The third stage is “God's reassertion of the divine purpose in the face of this created free response” (Wright, 2003). God includes that which humanity has freely created in his final justification. Thus we see in the book of revelation scenes reinstating paradise on earth with angels and divine figures utilizing man-made objects as in the trumpet, and the sealed scroll, etc.. God takes what is generated from humanity through history to further extend the glory of his creation. Even those who are cut off from God are preserved in his reconciliation, and in just fashion are allotted that which they so deserve.
Returning to the second layer on the left hand side of the icon (Fig.1), we see both water and land with all its diverse creatures, vomiting out people at the trumpet call of an angel (the resurrection of the dead from Rev 11:11. See also Matt 27:52, which depicts the waking of the saints from death at the time of the crucifixion). The animals here are representative of the passions and desires of humanity, which symbolically consume us when we give in to them. If consciously done repeatedly, we can become trapped in our sins much like those in the fiery river. At the end of time we will be given back at the command of Christ to consciousness, freed from our bodily passions so as to fully participate in the divine judgment. This river, previously mentioned, extends all the way from Christ’s left foot (referring to the vision of Dan 7 as well as to the serpent in Gen 3) to the edge of the icon. Showing that at every step along our journey in life, we could fall into sin. However, equally so, this shows how Christ fills the world and is our redeemer even at its very edge.
Fig.2, Dingman, The ascension (Photo creds: Google images)
This is how we can understand the layers of Christ in this image, for just as he stands as judge upon the world, he also sits upon the rainbow (referencing the covenant with Noah in Gen 9:13, see also Matt 24:39) like in the icon of the ascension (Fig.2). This comes from the book of Acts which states that Christ will return the same way he ascended (1:11).
Fig.3, Dingman, The resurrection. Photo creds: Google Images
Christ as judge is also layered with the crucifixion, as the cross sits on the prepared throne or Etimasia just beneath him. The Etimasia is meant to be a space set aside for the Lord and is adorned with the bible and the instruments of the passion (The cross, the spear, and the vinegar sponge). The crucifix represents the act of Christ moving down into the lowest place to redeem humanity, as in the icon of the resurrection which depicts Christ smashing the doors of death (Fig.3), and showing the path to the kingdom of God (It is noted in Matt 27:51 that, during the crucifixion, when Christ enters the depths of hades, he also tears the veil on the holy of holies. Entering simultaneously the lowest and highest places). Beside the Etimasia are the two archangels Michael (in red) and Gabriel (in blue) who echo Christ’s hand positions with their scrolls. Which quote from scripture Christ’s call to his flock, who, like a good shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:33-34). On the right hand stands Gabriel, often seen as the angel of peace and music. As for the goats, he says they did not feed, cloth, or aid him when he was sick and in need and so are called to “depart from me, ye cursed, and into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41). Here stands Michael on the left, who is often depicted as the angel of war and armaments. “These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt 25:46). In more traditional versions of the icon (Fig.4), Adam and Eve are found next to the Etimasia, similarly to how they are depicted in the icon of the resurrection (Fig.3), praying on behalf of their children which encompasses all humanity (Knorre, 2022). Again we see how this is a densely packed image dealing with the sum total of all things aligning towards Christ’s unity. The cross itself is another fractal of what the last judgment accomplishes; it is an image of everything, a central point intersected by two axes, containing all four directions within a single identity. The vertical (symbolic for heaven, as in the divine ladder) and the horizontal (symbolic for earth, or space, the breadth of the world) are brought together into a unified image. To understand how this shape relates to the mission of Jesus, we can look to Matt 24:29. Which depicts a scene of the coming judgment, where the son of man comes in glory on the clouds, “and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” bringing the four winds and four corners of the world under Christ’s justice. Wright understands this about Christ’s mission when he says, “Scripture gives indications that the second coming, resurrection of the dead, and the last judgment are really only diverse aspects of one single consummating divine intervention”. He goes on to integrate the incarnation and all subsequent acts of Christ’s life into this by saying, Christ, at the incarnation, “received from the father the commission to redeem fallen humanity… to establish an eternal kingdom…” And later that, “All the events of the… life of Christ are directed to the fulfillment of this commission” which will occur at the last judgment instating God’s divine kingdom (2003). Knorre considers this concept of a Last Judgment to be “one of the most important themes in Chirstian art,” seeing that, “It is a combination of various biblical stories from the old and new testament, and the gospels unified into a single picture” (2022). The act of the Last judgment is the culmination of Christ's purpose for through him all was created, as is made clear by John's gospel (Jn 1.1-5), and through him once more the world shall be rectified. Moving on briefly from Dingman’s work to the more traditional version from Mshanets (Fig. 4), the complexity and depth of this image becomes immediately apparent. Everything we have previously discussed remains present albeit further elaborated and detailed.
(Fig. 4, Mshanets).
The reason for introducing this second icon is to provide additional support for the thesis that this icon functionally coheres to that which it represents. By weaving culture and history into scripture and theology, this icon from Mshanets integrates the East-Slavic experience into the picture of final reality. Compared with western versions, the icons of Slavic origin tend to show mercy in their depictions of alcoholics in hell, possibly due to a cultural sensitivity to the issue (Knorre, 2013). Looking to the third row on Christ’s left hand side, there stands several groups representative of the foriegn nations of the world who will be included in the judgment. Beside the Jews, the group closest to the center, is Moses, chastising them for the crucifixion. Himka notes, importantly, that the diverse nations of the world are not here to be condemned but are included to show the universality of Christ’s judgment extending out into the entire world (2008). The gathering of people into their nations before judgment comes from Dan 7.13-14, Matt 25.31-32, and the life of Saint Basil the New. Opposite them stand the female anchorites on the outermost edge, then male anchorites next to them. These are people who withdrew from secular society to give their whole life in prayer, asceticism, or for the eucharist (Goldfrank, 1995). A clear example of how the right hand's tendency towards moving inward can manifest an extreme isolation. As for the gulf between these two groups, we find a motif unique to East-Slavic representations emerging sometime around the late 15th or early 16th centuries (Goldfrank, 1995), that of the massive snake coiling from the right heel of Adam all the way down into the mouth of the two-headed beast. Along the snake are 21 rings traditionally understood to be tollbooths all of which must be passed by the individual during the particular judgment. Each station represents a sin and is presided over by one angel and one devil (Himka, 2008). In Russian/ Ukrainian tradition, you offer excessive prayers and donations for forty days after one has passed with the hope that it will influence the angel to aid in the deceased’s immediate judgment. There is, however, a cynical perspective which argues that the toll booths could have been introduced and expanded upon to prolong the immediate judgment thus requiring more monetary sacrifice for the recently deceased. This would benefit the church whose economy relied on these sorts of donations during this time. Regardless of this, the snake remains a “Symbol of a redemptive victory over original sin for any soul that would successfully traverse [it]” (Goldfrank, 1995). Here, the snake acts as a bridge between immediate and final judgment, heaven and hell, and, with regard to the icon's composition, a visual bridge to carry the eye from one end to the other. You might even say it rescues your gaze from the belly of the beast, reminding the viewer of the fall of Adam and the need for prayer. Icons themselves are understood to be more than simple works of art, rather they are “windows into the spiritual reality”, a “visual gospel'', and a “prelude to the final transfiguration of the world” (Nicolaides, 2016). Due to the wide lack of literacy in the early Christian world, icons became an accessible way to grasp theology without needing to read complex textbooks (supposedly, icons were instrumental in converting pagans to the Christian faith. Likely due to their immediate accessibility by the senses (Nicolaides, 2016)). They participate in Christ’s mission in that they “are a meeting point between heaven and earth… taken together they form an image of God's kingdom” (Nicolaides, 2016). They serve as a guide to the new Jerusalem in which past present and future coexist. Finally, John’s gospel has been interpreted as saying “Judgment has already occurred” (Jn 5.25; 12.31). Each of us faces the Lord not just at the end of time, not just at the end of our particular lives, but also at every moment within our lives as we participate in this pattern of moving out and back in. Whether its at the level of faith or love for Christ or at the level of our breath, to be alive is to participate in the pattern of this icon. Understanding this, we can see that all of human experience is contained and rectified under the justice brought through Christ.
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