<P> In Christian eschatology, the Four Last Things or four last things of man (Latin: quattuor novissima) 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; Saint Philip Neri wrote, "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 . </P> <P> The 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia states "The eschatological summary which speaks of the' four last things' (death, judgment, heaven, and hell) is popular rather than scientific . For systematic treatment it is best to distinguish between (A) individual and (B) universal and cosmic eschatology". Pope John Paul II wrote in 1984 that the "judgment" component encompasses both particular judgment and general judgment . </P>

What are the four last things in catholicism