Kid-Sized Eschatology

Eschatology, the study of Last Things, is hard enough to understand; it's a little harder when you get it from a five-year old.

I walk the kids to the bus stop each morning. I use that time to talk to them about things from the mundane to the sublime.

Today Nod-girl turns to me (apropos of nothing) and asks: "On the Last Day will all the people come back?"

I assured her that on the Last Day there would be the resurrection of the dead and then the Judgement and all the people would "come back".

Blynken pipes up, "Just the good people, right?"

"No," I explain, "of both the good and the bad. You see, the soul is immortal and cannot be killed." I went on to explain how the body and soul are one thing that goes together, that death is a temporary separation, and you get your body back on the Last Day at the Judgement. With the sheep on His right ...

"Right", interrupts Nod-girl, "and then we'll hear boats".