Beatific Vision

BEATIFIC VISION: The direct and unhindered vision of God, which is part of the reserved blessedness of the redeemed (I Cor. xiii, 12; I John iii, 2; Rev. xxii, 3, 4). The conception of its nature must necessarily be very vague, but belief in its existence is said to be founded upon Scripture and reason. The only question concerns its time. This has been much disputed. The Greek Church and many Protestants, especially Lutherans and Calvinists, put the vision after the judgment day (so Dr. Hodge, Systematic Theology, iii, 860). According to the view prevalent among Roman Catholic theologians, the vision, though essentially complete before the resurrection, is not integrally so until the soul is reunited to the glorified body (consult H. Hurter, Theologiæ dogmaticæ compendium, vol. iii, De Deo consummatore, chap. v, 10th ed., Innsbruck, 1900).