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The Four Last Things 1


In Christian eschatology, the Four Last Things (of man) are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, the four last stages of the soul in life and the afterlife. They are often commended as a collective topic for pious meditation. St Philip Neri "Beginners in religion ought to exercise themselves principally in meditation on the Four Last Things." Traditionally, the sermons preached on the four Sundays of Advent were on the Four Last Things.
Puritan tomes on the subject include

The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven (1631) by Robert Bolton; published posthumously in 1639
Four Last Things–Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell (1691) by William Bates
John Bunyan published a poem in 1683  One thing is needful or serious meditations upon the Four Last Things

The Four Last Things are a common theme of artistic and literary works as well as theological works.