What does Papias say about Final Judgment?

This will be a shorter blog post because the writings of Papias we currently have don’t add much to the discussion of how the Apostolic Fathers understood hell. Papias may well have had much to say about the topic. Unfortunately, none of his writings have survived over the centuries, and all we have left are little fragments of his writings quoted by other Church Fathers.

There are two Papias quotes we will examine for this blog that will give us a little glimpse into his understanding of the end times, final judgment, and the aftermath.

A Millennial Reign on Earth

Eusebius’ Church History (4th century) has become one of the core sources to learn about Papias and his writings. In Church History 3.36.1-2, Eusebius briefly shares some stories and theology Papias shared, which includes Papias believing the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead will lead to Christ reigning on earth for a thousand years. Assuming he is getting this Revelation 20, Papias seemed to hold to a fairly literal understanding of John’s apocalyptic vision. On a side note, Eusebius disagrees with this interpretation.

A Future of Prosperity and Harmony

One Church Father who is both earlier than Eusebius and has a more positive view of Papias is Irenaeus (late 2nd century). Quoting from one of Papias’ writings, Irenaeus mentions in Against Heresies 5.33.3-4 a Jesus quote not found in the canonical Gospels where Jesus gives a prosperity vision of what the saints will receive in the future.

For this blog, we won’t examine the Jesus quote because it isn’t very relevant to the discussion of hell, but we will look more into it when we do a proper introduction to Papias. To summarize, Jesus describes to His disciples a peaceful future with riches and prosperity. The description Jesus uses bears similarities to the promise Isaac gives to Jacob in Genesis 27:28, implying Jesus and His Kingdom being the fulfillment of Isaac’s blessing. (Carlson, 2021, Pg. 340)

Conclusion

From the little we have from Papias, we can piece together some ideas of what the resurrection and New Earth will look like for the elect, but the content gives us nothing in regards to hell and eternal punishment. Until we discover credible manuscripts of Papias, this is all we have at the moment.

Bibliography

Eusebius. Church History 3.36.1-2.

Irenaeus. Against Heresies 5.33.3-4.

Carlson, S. (2021). The Fragments of Papias. In M. Bird and S. Harrower, The Cambridge Companion to the Apostolic Fathers. University Printing House, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.