1. The Life Review
World Scripture
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12.14
For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Matthew 10.26
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
Revelation 20.11-12
When the earth is shaken with her earthquake And the earth yields up her burdens, And man says, “What ails her?” That day she will relate her chronicles Because your Lord inspires her. That day mankind will issue forth in scattered groups to be shown their deeds. And whoever has done good, an atom’s weight will see it then, And whoever has done ill, an atom’s weight will see it then.
Qur’an 99
And every man’s augury have We fastened to his own neck, and We shall bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will find wide open. “Read your book! Your soul suffices as a reckoner against you this day.”
Qur’an 17.13-14
After you depart this life, God shall demand a reckoning of your deeds That in His ledger are recorded. Those that are rebellious, shall be summoned. Azrael, the angel of death, will hover over them, And trapped in a blind alley they will know not any escape. Saith Nanak, Falsehood must be destroyed; Truth in the end shall prevail.
Adi Granth, Ramkali-ki-Var 13, M.1, p. 953 (Sikhism)
On the day when man’s time arrives to depart from the world, when the body is broken and the soul seeks to leave it, on that day man is privileged to see things that he was not permitted to see before, when the body was in full vigor. Three messengers stand over him and take an account of his life and of all that he has done in this world, and he admits all with his mouth and signs the account with his hand… as it is written, “that every man should acknowledge his works.”
(Job 37:7) Zohar 1.79a (Judaism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
At the fateful moment of death, all the facts of a person’s past life will pass through his mind as images. No one needs to explain to him what kind of person he is; he will know it by himself. The life he inherited from his ancestors, the circumstances he faced, the situation he leaves behind, and all his past will appear as images in his mind at the last moment of his life.
A person who left behind a valuable moment during his earthly life will recognize it: “There was truth. I left behind something more precious than my life.” However, another person will admit, “I spent my whole life course from birth to death as merely a passerby.” Reflecting on all his past actions and feeling no desire to remember them, he feels miserable. For the person whose face is filled with joy as he reflects on his past, death is not to be feared; it is a moment of comfort. His past will not die and his reality will not die…
If a person gave his life while struggling to save his brother, a kinsman or a stranger, at the moment of death that fact will appear as an unforgettable image. But times of self-centered happiness, even moments of basking in the glory and acclaim of many people, will not bring any effect.
What does it mean to be good, to be persons of truth who can stand on their own before God? Truth and goodness do not begin from us or end in us. Truth and goodness are established when something begins in us and brings results for others, or begins in others and brings results in us. It is the same with all existences in heaven and earth; they have to establish reciprocal relationships of give and take according to the Principle.
If one’s past life was entirely a life of giving, there will be no fear on the path of death. A shining past is a life of giving everything to others, sacrificing for others, shedding tears for others, investing life for others, desiring for others, concentrating all one’s vitality and investing it for others… For ordinary people facing the vicissitudes of the fallen world, their path of life is sometimes up and sometimes down. They make plans from one year to the next, or maybe plan their future for ten or twenty years, but always centered on themselves. However, when they meet their final destiny, all their records of sacrificing others for their own benefit will bind them.
(31:308-10, June 7, 1970)