[Doctrina foederum, sive systema theologica didacticae et elencticae (Amstelodami , 1691)]

Johannes Braunius (1628–1708), a venerable divine of the Dutch Reformed tradition, was born at Kaiserslautern in the year of our Lord 1628, and was trained in sacred learning at the illustrious University of Leiden, where he sat under the eminent Johannes Coccejus. Nurtured in the federal and covenantal theology of the Reformation, Braunius gave himself to the laborious study of the Hebrew tongue and the Levitical institutions of the Old Testament, wherein he discerned types and shadows of gospel mysteries. He ministered as a faithful pastor and was later appointed to the chair of theology at the University of Groningen in 1681, a post he held unto his death nearly three decades thereafter. His life was adorned not only with erudition, but with devotion, uniting the careful exposition of Scripture with reverence for the covenant mercies of God. Among his chief works stands Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, a deep and learned commentary upon the vestments and ordinances of the Aaronic priesthood, drawn from the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of Exodus and the sixteenth of Leviticus, showing forth the typological beauty of the ceremonial law as fulfilled in Christ. Likewise, his Doctrina Foedorum offered a comprehensive system of didactic and elenctic theology, built upon the foundation of federal theology, expounding the covenant of works and grace with scholastic clarity. In all his writings, Braunius exhibited that rare balance of penetrating intellect and humble piety, ever seeking the edification of the church and the glory of the Redeemer, whose garments of righteousness he found prefigured in those of the ancient priesthood. He fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1708, full of days and full of faith.

Johannes Braunius (1628–1708), a venerable divine of the Dutch Reformed tradition, was born at Kaiserslautern in the year of our Lord 1628, and was trained in sacred learning at the illustrious University of Leiden, where he sat under the eminent Johannes Coccejus. Nurtured in the federal and covenantal theology of the Reformation, Braunius gave himself to the laborious study of the Hebrew tongue and the Levitical institutions of the Old Testament, wherein he discerned types and shadows of gospel mysteries. He ministered as a faithful pastor and was later appointed to the chair of theology at the University of Groningen in 1681, a post he held unto his death nearly three decades thereafter. His life was adorned not only with erudition, but with devotion, uniting the careful exposition of Scripture with reverence for the covenant mercies of God. Among his chief works stands Vestitus Sacerdotum Hebraeorum, a deep and learned commentary upon the vestments and ordinances of the Aaronic priesthood, drawn from the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of Exodus and the sixteenth of Leviticus, showing forth the typological beauty of the ceremonial law as fulfilled in Christ. Likewise, his Doctrina Foedorum offered a comprehensive system of didactic and elenctic theology, built upon the foundation of federal theology, expounding the covenant of works and grace with scholastic clarity. In all his writings, Braunius exhibited that rare balance of penetrating intellect and humble piety, ever seeking the edification of the church and the glory of the Redeemer, whose garments of righteousness he found prefigured in those of the ancient priesthood. He fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1708, full of days and full of faith.

Table of Contents:

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Chapter XXXV: Of the Final Judgment & the End of the Ages

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I. True Rewards and Punishments at the Last Judgment

Although those who die in the Lord are blessed immediately after their departure, and their works follow them (Revelation 14:13), so that the soul of the godly is said to be straightway carried into Abraham’s bosom, but the soul of the ungodly into hell, where it is afflicted with dreadful torments (Luke 16:24), nevertheless, true rewards and punishments, in body and soul, shall be distributed on the last and final day of judgment.

II. Proof of the Final Judgment

The Epicureans, Sadducees, and other profane ones, as they deny the Resurrection of the Flesh, so also the Final Judgment (2 Peter 3:4). But how false their opinion is, and that God on the last day shall execute judgment upon all men, is proved by these reasons:

  1. God’s Justice. It is evident from the very justice of God: for it is just that wickedness be punished, and virtue crowned. But since this doth not happen in this life, when oftentimes it goeth well with the wicked and ill with the good, it is just and right that it be done in the life to come: which God Himself intimateth in His Word (2 Thessalonians 1:6; Luke 16:23; Ecclesiastes 12:1).
  2. Human Conscience. From the very conscience of man. For there is none who doth not shudder at wickedness: which horror of conscience is nothing else but a certain tormentor, who in the name of God summoneth the wicked before His judgment to receive the just punishment of their wickedness. For the Gentiles have the law of God written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else defending one another (Romans 2:15).
  3. Testimony of the Heathen. From the testimony of the heathen themselves. Let their poets be seen, especially Juvenal (Satire 12), Plutarch (On Consolation to Apollonius), and others, who feign judges on the last day: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. Such things are found in abundance among profane authors, though they have defiled the truth with many trifles and fables.
  4. The Word of God. The Word of God everywhere inculcateth this truth. It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31; Matthew 12:36; Psalm 50; Ecclesiastes 3; 12:1).

III. God Alone Is the Judge, Peculiarly Through Christ

The Judge is God alone. For He alone is the Lawgiver who can save and destroy (James 4:12). Yet in a special manner, judgment is attributed to Christ. For Christ is ordained of God to be the Judge of the quick and the dead (Acts 10:42). See Acts 17:31; John 5:22, 27; 2 Corinthians 5:10. He shall judge, moreover, in His divine and human nature:

  1. Because He judgeth as King; but He is King as Mediator; and He is Mediator as God and man. Therefore, as God and man, He shall judge.
  2. It is evident, for the Father hath given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man (John 5:27).
  3. He shall be seen coming to judgment, as He was seen departing into heaven (Acts 1:11). But He shall be seen in His human nature, not His divine.

IV. Christ’s Authority in Judgment

Christ shall also judge by His own authority, as God and supreme Judge, not only as a judge delegated by God, or as it were an interpreter of God the Father, as the Socinians impiously teach. Nor doth the passage in John 5:22 hinder: “The Father hath given all judgment unto the Son”; for it followeth not thence that Christ by His own nature doth not exercise judgment. For though He hath all power by His nature to exercise judgment, yet the Father hath given it to Him economically, according to the counsel of peace between the Father and the Son. Therefore, Christ straightway addeth: “that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John 5:23). In the same sense is verse 20 to be understood.

V. Angels as Attendants of Christ

As judges are wont to have their attendants and officers, so also Christ’s attendants are the angels (Matthew 24:31; 13:49; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

VI. Those to Be Judged

Those who shall be judged are:

  1. Angels. Angels (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Matthew 25:41), for then the angels shall receive their final sentence, and shall lose all power to harm the godly and deceive men, as they do in this life. Otherwise, the evil angels are already judged, and always carry their punishment within them. For the prince of this world is already judged (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 16:11).
  2. Men. Men also, and indeed all, both living and dead (Acts 10:42). We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).

VII. The Cause of Judgment