ACC ~ Revelation 20 v12

EACH PERSON WILL MENTALLY REVIEW HIS OR HER DEEDS. AUGUSTINE: 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. And if it contains the entire life record of all people, how much time would it take to read it? Are we to suppose that there will be an equal number of angels and people present in the judgment and that each person will hear his life record read out by an angel accredited to him for this task? In this supposition, there would not be one book for all but a book for each. Yet, the Apocalypse wants us to think of one book. … No, the book in question must symbolize some divine action in virtue of which each person will recall his deeds, good or bad, and review them mentally so that, without a moment’s delay, each one’s conscience will be either burdened or unburdened and thus, collectively and individually, all will be judged at the same moment. And because, in virtue of this divine illumination, each person will, so to speak, read the record of his deeds, God’s action is called a “book.” CITY OF GOD 20.14.

THE LORD JESUS WILL BE MADE MANIFEST. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: Who is free before God if not those who are declared to be by the power of him who judges the works of each one? God is said to have a book, which is not a physical book but a spiritual book, that is, the eternal memory in which the names of the elect are kept. And so the psalm says, “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” “Also another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.” The Book of Life, and Life itself, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Then he shall be opened, that is, made manifest to every creature, when he will render to each according to his work. “And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.” “God has spoken once, and I have heard these two things,” it says. And what these two things are he makes clearer when he says, “The kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the governor of the nations.”There he heard of the kingdom; here he has beheld the book. There he heard two things; here he has also seen another book. And what is contained in these two books he says there, “the power of God is also yours, O Lord, and mercy.” The power is in the judging and the mercy is in the giving of recompense. “And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.” And so he says there, “for you will recompense everyone according to his works.” TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.12.

THOSE WHO HAVE WALKED IN VIRTUE ARE IN THE BOOK OF LIFE. OECUMENIUS: By great he speaks of the just, not because they are great by any physical measurement but because of their glory and the brightness of their virtue. By small he means the sinners, since they have become as nothing through their baseness and worthlessness. “And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.” In the Gospels, the Lord says that the way that leads to destruction is broad and wide and that many walk on it, but that the way that leads to life is narrow and cramped and that not only are there few who are walking on it, but few who even find it.For this reason he saw many books and one book. There are many books because all of humankind is inscribed in them, and there is a great number in them. There is but one Book of Life, because in it are inscribed those who are the elect, that is, those blameless in virtue, who have trodden every rugged and steep path of virtue. Everyone in the books, it says, were judged deservedly according to their works. [Earlier] mention was also made of another book, which was called a “little scroll.” But now he speaks of a “book,” even a “scroll of life,” as if there were three different ones. He speaks of a “little scroll” in which are listed the most impious according to the thoughts there asserted. He also speaks of the “Book of Life” in which are listed the most pious and righteous. And finally he speaks of “books” in which all those are listed who are, as it were, in between evil and virtue. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.11-12.

THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE SINNERS WILL BE JUDGED. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: By the dead he means either all persons, since they experience the death of the body, or those who have died because of [their] transgressions. The “great and small” are either those who are older or younger, or more likely those who have done the works of death and will appropriately be punished for these acts. Or the great are the righteous and the small those sinners who are worthless because of the baseness of their soul. The books that are opened are indicative of the deeds and of the conscience of each person. There is but one book of Life in which the names of the saints are written. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.12.

THE WICKED WILL READ OF THE GOOD THEY CHOSE NOT TO DO. BEDE: “The dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.” This means that they were judged from the [two] Testaments according to what they had done and what they had not done. It is possible also to understand these books to refer to the deeds of the righteous. For in comparison with these the wicked are damned, since in the opening of these books they read of that good that they did not choose to do. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 20.12.

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