The Warning and the Nature of the Last Judgment
From Translating the Tradition by Fr. Justin (Edward) Hewlett
February 16, 2026 · 22 min
About this episode
Fr. Justin discusses the significance of the Last Judgment and the warnings associated with it as Lent approaches.
Those of you who have been coming to St. John’s for a while will know that the Sunday of the Last Judgment and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus are my two least favourite passages on which to preach. Because this is a warning. We are coming to the edge of Lent, and we are deliberately given this passage to contemplate, the passage where Jesus talks about the Last Judgment. And we have to approach it carefully, with balance. But we also have to acknowledge this is very clearly a warning. And so it would be irresponsible of me to tone down that warning. And there is that temptation. It seems to be rampant now, even within the Orthodox Church, to somehow tone down what our Lord is saying here. And I think it’s understandable on a number of different levels. I think the first level on which it’s understandable is that we really are not sure about this whole concept of eternal punishment, of God judging, of this fire that is consuming, that is talked about here, prepared for the devil and his angels. I think the first thing that really gets us troubled about this is that we’re actually not quite sure that God is good. And to be fair to us and to our society, I think that’s part…
People in this episode
Host: Fr. Justin (Edward) Hewlett
Topics covered
- Last Judgment
- eternal punishment
- Christianity
- spiritual warning
- God's judgment
- Lent
Keywords
- Last Judgment
- eternal punishment
- Christianity
- spirituality
- God's judgment
- Lent
- warning
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: St. John’s
Books & works: the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the Last Judgment
Places: Orthodox Church
More episodes of Translating the Tradition
- Speaking the Truth Well, in Love · May 11, 2026 · 24 min
- The Healing of the Paralytic · May 3, 2026 · 6 min
- Myrrh-bearers and the Body of Christ · April 28, 2026 · 14 min
- Joseph and Lazarus and Injustice · April 4, 2026 · 13 min
- Our Desert Struggle · March 30, 2026 · 24 min
- The First Sin after the Flood · March 24, 2026 · 10 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Translating the Tradition podcast page.