Title: Theology of the Beyond  Author: Candido Pozo, SJ  Translator: Rev. Mark A. Pilon  ISBN: 0-8189-1300-2  Paperback: xl + 642 pp.  Price: $34.95 + shipping  To Order call:  1 800-343-ALBA (2522)  Please have your Master, Visa  or American Express card ready. To order online click here.

Following the theological method proposed in Vatican II's decree Optatum totius, Theology of the Beyond is an extraordinarily comprehensive, systematic, and up-to-date study of what the Church teaches about death, heaven, hell and purgatory from a biblical, patristic, and theological point of view. An ecumenically rich work, it is a valuable tool for both the theological specialist and the average layperson interested in getting to know more about this subject that affects us all. Originally published in Spanish, this master work has been translated into several languages and has gone through a number of revisions and editions. This edition reflects the very latest of these. In addition to a final eschatology, which is subsequent to the end of history, the Church affirms the existence of an eschatalogy that extends for every person from his own death until the end of time, that is, until the resurrection of the dead. This phase, commonly denominated intermediate eschatology, is likewise studied at length in this monumental work.

 

Father Candido Pozo, S.J., an excellent systematic theologian and scholar, taught for several years at the Gregorian University in rome and then at Granada, Burgos and Toledo in Spain. On the occasion of his 80th birthday he was compared to St. Thomas Aquinas, "a witness and seeker after truth, searcher and witness for God, the wisest of saints and holiest of the wise, teacher and example to all theologians and those who, in faith and in communion with the Church, seek to understand and to inquire into the teachings of the faith." Father Mark Pilon, STL, STD, is presently a Professor of Theology at Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. He earlier translated a commentary on the Credo of the People of God (now out of print). Reviews           The English version of the fifth edition of the work published in Spanish under the title Teología del más allá. this volume deals with the theology of the beyond, what is customarily referred to as the treatise on the last things, or eschatology. It seeks to say what the church teaches about death, heaven, hell, and purgatory from a biblical, patristic, and theological viewpoint. After a fifteen-page introduction, it discusses the notion of eschatalogy, the parousia, immortality and resurrection, the resurrection of the dead, eternal life, the retribution of the damned, theology of death, intermediate eschatology as full retribution and purgatory - the idea of purification beyond this world. The three appendixes concern the eschatalogical doctrine of Vatican II, concluding reflections, and selected notes. Pozo, a Jesuit priest, taught systematic theology a the Gregorian University in Rome and then at Granada, Burgos, and Toledo in Spain. --Vol. 54, no. 2, 2010, New Testament Abstracts           The theological study of the last things is called "eschatology." The last things are death, particular judgment, heaven, hell, purgatory, the Parousia or the Second Coming of Christ, resurrection of the dead, general judgment and eternal life. All of these topics are treated extensively by Candido Pozo, a well-known Spanish theologian. The book was first published in 1980 and has gone through five editions. This latest one has been translated into English by Mark A. Pilon, who teaches theology at Christendom College in Virginia.           The book contains three parts. The first part deals with the definition of eschatology. Here the author distinguishes between the Catholic understanding of eschatology and the Protestant view as represented by Rudolph Bultmann, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Jurgen Moltmann.           The main treatment of the subject is found in parts two and three. The author makes a distinction between "final" eschatology and "intermediate" eschatology. Final eschatology has to do with those things that happen at the end of the world when Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. In this section Father Pozo presents the teaching of the Bible, the Fathers of the Church and the Magisterium on the following points: Parousia, immortality, resurrection of the dead, eternal life and the retribution of the damned, or hell.           The third part presents the teaching of the same sources on death, immediate retribution of heaven or hell, and purgatory for those who need cleansing for the temporal punishment due to sins. There is an appendix on the eschatological doctrine of Vatican II. Here he shows that Vatican II is in conformity with tradition on the theology of the last things. There is also a final appendix that offers some concluding reflections of the author.           This is a book of great scholarship. The footnotes are extensive, often taking up half of each page. In addition there is a detailed bibliography of authors, both ancient and recent. In fact, the original has so many footnotes that the translator has moved many of them to a special third appendix so as not to intimidate many potential readers. Here the serious student will find many more bibliographical references for further study of each point.           The book, though quite long, is not hard to read, especially if the reader skips the extensive footnotes. The author stresses the truth of the Catholic teaching that each person has a conscious survival in the life after death, and that each person goes either to heaven or to hell, depending on his or her merits and whether or not he or she dies in the state of sanctifying grace. Those destined for heaven may have to be first purified or cleansed in purgatory before being admitted to the presence of the all-holy God, since nothing unclean can appear before him. These points are treated in the section on "intermediate eschatology."           The author refutes the views of some Protestants and others about such things as reincarnation, lack of consciousness of souls between death and the Parousia, the denial of hell, and the denial of the existence of purgatory. In this sense the book is thoroughly Catholic and in conformity with the constant teaching of the Magisterium of the Church. The book is recommended to teachers for courses on the last things and for those who wish to make a thorough study of eschatology. --Fr. Kenneth Baker in the February 2010 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review Top of Page