The following article was copied and pasted from Religion News Service (RNS).
My purpose for posting this article was to comment on it from the perspective of a biblical Christian.
There are many Christians these days who have created their own religions, based on the ideas of men and / or the amalgamation of spiritual ideas from various world religions…. I did buy into that before I read through the Bible, but I know differently now. Such things are actually spiritually dangerous.
My comments indicate the spiritual danger in terms of what the Bible says about spiritual things. Pink numbers, for example [1], in brackets at each portion that will be critiqued; critiques are at the end of the post; they have corresponding pink numbers.
This blog also contains 3 other posts about ‘Burning Man.’ They are linked in the Study Recommendations section at the end of the post.
This article contains numerous links by RNS (orange print) that further explain elements of Burning Man and other relevant matters.
Begin RNS article:
The radical, irreverent and inclusive religion of Burning Man [1]
‘Perhaps our presence can give people the sense that religion doesn’t need to be as judgmental or scary or exclusionary as they might experience it,’ said John Brett, who helps lead the Religious AF camp at Burning Man. [2]
Milk + Honey Shabbat service and dinner during Burning Man at the Milk + Honey camp in Black Rock City, Nevada, on Friday, Sep 2, 2022. Photo © Marlena Sloss
(RNS) — Zvika Krieger never intended to go to rabbinical school. But each time he led the Burning Man Shabbat service, alongside hundreds of glittery, sweaty “burners,” dozens would line up to thank him. For some, it was their first religious service in decades. [2]
“After doing this for so many years, I started thinking, this is the pinnacle of my year,” said Krieger, who left his role last year as a director at Facebook’s parent organization, Meta, to lead a Jewish spiritual community in Berkeley, California. “I feel like I’m really helping to nourish people who are not getting served elsewhere.”
Burning Man, the annual anarchic gathering in the salt flats of Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada and scheduled for Aug. 27 – Sept. 4, is often acclaimed for its hedonism and famed for its drug-taking and public nudity. But the event has always had its spiritual side: 10 guiding principles, a nondenominational temple and recurring burning rituals. And in recent years, religious groups have been carving out their own space on “the playa” — Burning Man’s public square — offering judgement-free, radically inclusive rituals that seem to grow more popular each year. [2][3]
Fourteen years ago, Milk + Honey, a Burning Man camp founded by Jewish members, hosted a 30-person Shabbat that has since ballooned to include 1,000 participants. Each year, the sea of attendees dressed in colorful attire enjoys traditional songs and prayers interwoven with secular music selections. Krieger’s sermon usually incorporates both references to the week’s Torah reading and to Burning Man’s orgy dome, and the service concludes with a massive Shabbat dinner, with wine and challah bread aplenty.[3]
Zvika Krieger, center right with microphone, speaks during the Milk + Honey camp Shabbat service during Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada, on Friday, Sep 2, 2022. Photo © Marlena Sloss
“Shabbat literally means to pause,” said Krieger. “So it’s an opportunity to press pause on the craziness of Burning Man, that 80,000-person thumping energy of the playa, and take a breath, relax, turn inward, reflect, feel nourished, feel connected and in community.” [4]
Milk + Honey’s offerings are both sacred and profane. There’s the “bubby oracle,” a person dressed as a grandma who offers insights and postcards for writing to one’s grandmother. At the “Rituals R Us” pop-up, burners spin a wheel for their chance at scoring an impromptu (and unofficial) wedding, funeral, baptism, bat mitzvah or circumcision.
Another ritual is honored at a brunch where hot dogs take the place of lox. “We’re serving a bagel brunch, with all the fixings, and also hot dogs,” Krieger explained. “But if you want to have a hot dog, you have to get the hot dog circumcised. You have to snip the tip and put the tip in the tip jar.”[5]
Milk + Honey camp Shabbat dinner at Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada, on Friday, Sep 2, 2022. Photo © Marlena Sloss
Mainline Protestantism has its own spiritual space in the Religious As F–k camp, founded by a group of Episcopalians. This year the group of 15-25 campers, mostly from Mainline denominations, will offer morning devotions called “For Christ’s Sake!,” talks on Jesus and psychedelics and “coffee and confession.”
“We will offer them absolution and their morning caffeine,” quipped John Brett, a chaplain in San Francisco’s night ministry serving queer folks and the unhoused community.[5]
One of the highlights of the week for Brett is the group’s Ash Wednesday service, held at the nondenominational temple. Since Burning Man operates on its own clock, or the lack of one, Religious AF members don’t mind that its service comes months after Ash Wednesday on the church calendar, when Christians reflect on mortality.[5]
Gathered beneath the wooden beams of the temple, where burners grieve, contemplate and leave offerings, Brett and other group members take ashes from the previous year’s burns and impose them on the foreheads of all who wish to participate.[6]
Religious AF camp members and visitors hold an Ash Wednesday service at the Temple during Burning Man 2019 in Black Rock City, Nevada. Photo by Alex Leach
“Those who experienced religious trauma and spiritual abuse, who found their way to Burning Man and are on their own journey of meaning making, some discover us unaware that Christians might show up on the playa. Many fall into tears in our arms,” said Brett. “Perhaps our presence can give people the sense that religion doesn’t need to be as judgmental or scary or exclusionary as they might experience it in what burners call the ‘default world.’”[7]
For Gabriel Serafini, founder of the Healing Footwash camp, negotiating if or how to bring religion to Burning Man took years. The Footwash camp was started by a group of Christian Scientists who brought a makeshift Christian Science reading room to the desert where they hosted Christian Science lectures. But soon after Serafini, who was raised in Christian Science, got involved in 2013, he suggested offering foot washings instead, to emulate Jesus’ act of service to his disciples in the New Testament. [7]
Burners stop at the Healing Footwash camp during Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada. Photo courtesy Healing Footwash
The first year, the group lugged folding chairs, 55-gallon water barrels and a giant 60-by-40-foot cruciform tent into the desert, washing about 30-40 people’s feet in all. Almost a decade later, Serafini estimated that with the help of other burners, they washed the feet of between 1,000-2,000 people.
Though the group still hosts Wednesday testimony services with readings from Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy’s “Science and Health,” they now see the foot washing less as a religious service and more as an act of peacemaking.[8]
“It doesn’t matter what your religious practices are, or if you believe in God. When somebody gives this as a gift, it’s special, it’s out of the ordinary,” said Serafini. “And it’s something that leads to an almost instant connection.”
According to David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University in Boston whose podcast “How God Works” explored the spirituality of Burning Man, religious groups’ radical acceptance could be one reason for their success at Burning Man.
Religious AF camp offers Communion during Burning Man 2022 in Black Rock City, Nevada. Photo by Alex Leach
“The people who are leaving religion, as we’re seeing in all the surveys out there, most of them aren’t becoming atheists,” said DeSteno. “They’re looking for new ways to be spiritual because the current institutions don’t speak to them anymore.”[9]
DeSteno added that Burning Man has been shown to have transformational effects. In a 2022 study of 1,200 attendees of “secular” mass gatherings, including Burning Man, 63.2% reported being at least somewhat transformed by the experience, involving feelings of increased connection with something larger than oneself. In the weeks and months after an event, having a transformative experience was positively associated with generosity.[10]
Though the study doesn’t explain why these transformations happen, DeSteno suggested it could be Burning Man’s creation of a liminal space where burners rely on each other to survive a harsh environment, like a kind of rite of passage.
John Brett at Burning Man 2022 in Black Rock City, Nevada. Photo by Annie Dunlap
“I think it’s those elements of intense experiences that we don’t get much in modern experiences of faith anymore, but that can really move people emotionally,” said DeSteno. “It creates a ritualistic environment where we really can shed our identity, take on new names and new clothes and be free to have our identity reshaped and understand our interdependence.”[11]
For both Brett and Krieger, the religious nature of the rituals they offer are just one part of Burning Man’s spiritual landscape. Brett compared Burning Man to a pilgrimage — a place where global travelers gather for a divine encounter. For Krieger, whose faith is grounded in Jewish mysticism, God is everywhere at Burning Man: on the dance floor, under the stars, among the towering art pieces.[12]
“To me, the real divinity of the event is about the space where people can be open hearted, where they can connect to others and be their true authentic selves, they can be vulnerable, and they can have these transformations,” said Krieger. “The whole event itself feels spiritual to me.”[13]
Featured Image: Religious AF camp members and visitors hold an Ash Wednesday service at the Temple during Burning Man 2019 in Black Rock City, Nevada. Photo by Alex Leach [copied from this article]
END of RNS article
COMMENTS ON BURNING MAN by this blogger:
Anyone who questions my critiques, might want to just read 3 books of the New Testament: Matthew, Romans and Galatians. I would not recommend stopping with those, but recommend the entire NT and then a read of the entire Bible.
I personally walked around in numerous eastern religions, the occult, and in philosophy during my search for God after the sudden death of my mother moved me to begin understanding where I would be going after I died (see ‘About Me’ for that, which includes a PDF that opens with other aspects of my own walk before I write to members of the Baha’i Faith about their errors, in terms of the Bible, which they claim to acknowledge as revelation from God).
Critiques:
[1] The three terms used to describe Burning Man (BM) are condemned by God. The God of the Bible does not permit anyone to devise their own radical take on His revelation; He requires reverence from His worshipers; and biblical worship is NOT inclusive. One must realize he / she is a sinner, repent of sin and submit to the Holy Spirit. The recommended Bible books above cover these topics and foundational aspects of the Christian religion that even most Christians do not know.
If you would really know God and actually have someone to whom you might repent, seek consolation, receive forgiveness…, then it is worth doing some inquiry in the correct realm, the Bible.
I sought God in many wrong places for at least 15 years. He revealed Himself to me after my life crashed and burned about a decade after I gave up looking for Him via my own spiritual seeking. If you read through the entire Bible, you will discover that NO ONE ever ventured out to find God and succeeded. He draws people to Himself, then He reveals Himself to those whom He is saving from His wrath against sin.
Abraham, Moses, the patriarchs, the apostles… received a calling from God wherein He revealed Himself to them.
[2] Part of this is addressed above. It is okay, to encourage spirituality, or to introduce people in spiritual need to religion. But if you introduce them to a form of religion that God disdains, then what have you accomplished but harming their eternal souls? That is another lesson my long spiritual journey taught me; that journey ended with a complete read of the Bible, I knew then, because His Spirit had opened my eyes, that I had found spiritual truth.
I pray that some of those who are subjecting themselves to such spirituality as is discussed in this article, might be led to make such a discovery.
There are many TRENDY forms of religion these days, many of those are forms of Christianity. It is basically a given, that when spirituality is trendy, it is not true worship. The leaders of trendy religious movements have introduced elements of worldliness that render their teachings UNBIBLICAL. Jesus words, in Matthew apply here: Mat 15:8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
See, CATEGORIES, MISSION STATEMENT for a post that covers this topic in greater detail.
[3] Other posts that cover Burning Man in this blog are also under the CATEGORY of Paganism / Neopaganism. This paragraph describes why BM is a Pagan event. His words: …” is often acclaimed for its hedonism and famed for its drug-taking and public nudity. But the event has always had its spiritual side”
Biblical Christianity actually caused Paganism to go underground for many centuries, according to Dr Peter Jones; however, Paganism is currently increasing in popularity and ‘breaking out’ seemingly everywhere, while Christianity is certainly in great decline.
Dr Peter Jones wrote a few books on that topic. My long series on Paganism attempts to portray some of the topics he discussed, using current events to reveal their Pagan elements.
The entire Bible condemns Pagan practices; it also condemns the combining of Paganism with Biblical Christianity: syncretism is the term that describes that.
An example of syncretism that is currently accepted by many trendy ‘Christians’ is Christian-Yoga; God, however does not accept it.
You would never know that however, if you do not read scriptures or attend a church that actually preaches the Bible. You will be held accountable for knowing it however, just reading through the book of Matthew will bring you to that understanding.
See categories, Yoga, for two posts on that topic.
[4] Just because a person feels centered, nourished, connected to community, does not in any way indicate that he / she has performed acceptable worship to God. The Old and New Testaments cover spiritual deception, its source and the ease with which it occurs. See, Jeremiah 17; or Matthew 7 via a study Bible, or visit Bible Hub, to use their free commentaries and scriptures.
This blog is mostly dedicated to alerting people to false religious teachers / preachers. See, Categories, Prosperity Preachers; Beth Moore; Brian McLaren; Mysticism; Man-centered spirituality…. These posts contain many examples of teaching that is NOT approved by God as is defined on the pages of scripture.
[5] These two paragraphs speak of many ways in which people make up their own ways of worshiping God. The tone suggests that it is okay to experiment, fabricate, practice, pretend… to worship God. Nothing good can come from such irreverent practices. The Bible states that leaders of such worship will be judged very severely. There are apparently many levels in hell, according to Jesus in the book of Matthew.
It is a fatal error, despite the good feelings that derive from the sense of community…. This life is very short and when your life ends, you will have used up your chances to find an practice worship in truth that God has revealed. In Matthew 7, Jesus stated, warned, that the broad road is easy to find, feels good, many will be walking in it… but it leads to destruction [of one’s eternal soul].
The correct, God-ordained WAY, is difficult to find, and difficult to walk in. The beatitudes, Matthew 5, talk about how a true believer is fashioned by the Holy Spirit: spiritual poverty is first; that is the realization that one is spiritually bankrupt; mourning one’s sin is second…. Those things are anything but pleasant; however, they lead to righteousness, and in Hebrews 12, it talks about how one who has been trained by God eventually comes to delight in that.
[6] In one of my other posts on BM, I addressed this topic also. Brief review of that:
His words: …where burners grieve, contemplate and leave offerings…. The Bible encourages believers to contemplate God and to do other things like grieve, seek consolation… via prayer. The God of the Bible is living and He is the sovereign ruler of His universe. He can answer prayers and console those who grieve to Him.
The people who burn down that image, know not to whom they grieve. How can that provide comfort? Both the Old and New Testaments address idolatry.
The following words from Isaiah 44 provide a specific description of the actual idolatry of Burning Man; very relevant portions are underscored:
Isaiah 44:9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. …13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.
…Isaiah 44:14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!”
Isaiah 44:17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
Isaiah 44:18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. [My Mission Statement post explains why God shuts the eyes of some and why He raises up false teachers.]
Isa 44:19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” [worship it]
Isa 44:20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
As a very relevant aside, consider the following: pastor John MacArthur has recently preached numerous sermons about America being under judgment from God. He explained that the evidence of that can be seen in the youth rebellion of the 1960s sex and drugs; the free love movement of the ’70s; followed by the feminist movement; followed by the homosexual revolution that has morphed into the transgender movement.
He was expounding Romans 1 in all such sermons.
America, he says, is in the final stage of judgment presently, that of the reprobate mind. He said that he often wondered what that would look like, he then said that he believes it is when a biological man calls himself a woman and vice versa.
This stage of judgment could be over quickly or last a decade or two. No human can predict that; however, it is certain that America is under judgment. Acts 17 gives readers some understanding of how God is orchestrating history.
[7] I have experienced rejection by Christians and realize that is more common that it ought to be in the church; but something I’ve come to understand in my walk is that true Christians, who are being fashioned by the Holy Spirit, are taught humility, have experienced in daily life, their sinfulness… as I mentioned earlier when considering the beatitudes. Such Christians are more merciful than the superficial type who are making themselves righteous (practicing self-righteousness). The books of Romans and Galatians get into this topic, that is why I recommended them above.
His statement, …” who found their way to Burning Man and are on their own journey of meaning making…”
We all think we can do such things in the beginning of our spiritual quest. I certainly did and I thought that until I read through the Bible.
I believe that if such a seeker of spiritual things just read the Bible books I recommended above (Matthew, Romans and Galatians) via a Study Bible like the NIV which is easier than many to understand, then this FATAL spiritual error would become blatantly clear.
I am not saying that some may not actually be moved towards God by such things as the above comment in section 7, but if God is not involved in that, then it will come to nothing.
His Spirit leads and teaches. Many of the men of the Bible were drawn out of Paganism, Abraham, for example; or other false religion, Paul, false Judaism that is discussed in Galatians in another context. Therefore, God’s Spirit could take one from that experience of Burning Man to true worship if He desires.
Jesus, in John 3:1-8, talks about how the Spirit saves people by giving them spiritual birth from above. If He does not do that, one is helpless to find God; helpless to succeed in a journey of ‘meaning making’ that arrives at godly worship and life.
[8] Christian Science is a false religion; Doreen Virtue, was saved out of that and the New Age. She has many videos about such things at her YouTube site Doreen Virtue.
His words: …” they now see the foot washing less as a religious service and more as an act of peacemaking”…
In the Bible, the events of redemption are interpreted by God for man to contemplate: that is, the cross, the covenants with Abraham and Moses that preceded the New Covenant via the blood of Christ; the flood; the ark; the Passover; the sacrificial system…. Because God has provided the meanings of these in His word, followers of Christ only have to seek that via study, contemplation and prayer. The Holy Spirit leads them via those things into correct understanding.
His words under consideration here indicate that these finite men came to an different understanding. Can anyone really be confident about that? It is spiritually dangerous to rely on the changing opinions of men. There are plenty of examples of Christians doing such things too. That is why this Christian adheres to the Bible as closely as possible. I’ve been taught by God’s Spirit via many mistakes and false spiritual wanderings.
[9] Surveys apparently do speak of such trends. In considering those findings, however, I think that one must factor in the following things: *most churches do not preach the Bible today; including Pentecostals; Roman Catholics; Mormons; JWs; Christian Science; Saddleback Church; Willow Creek…. The term ‘evangelical’ currently applies to such churches. None of those are churches that follow the Christ of scriptures. I referred readers to numerous categories in this blog that cover such churches earlier.
His words, ‘new ways to be spiritual’ certainly do indicate a departure from the OLD PATH that is spoken of in the Bible. It is the only path, says God, the apostles, the prophets…. Whom will you believe?
I used to think there were many ways to God, when I was in the midst of studying Hinduism, Buddhism… but after I spiritually wrecked my life, and, by the grace of God, was moved to read through the Bible at age 53, I therein saw that there is only one way. It was documented in 1500 years of writings by 40 different authors from all walks of life, inspired by God’s Spirit…. The wonders of redemption that began to be revealed in Genesis 3 are woven throughout and conclude in Revelation. Just read it and discover the wonders of God in taking such care and patience to reveal these things to mankind.
Men, everywhere, and in all eras, have devised ways to worship God. However, they are actually, by such means, worshiping the god of their imaginations, just like the participants of the BM festival.
[10] This brief paragraph speaks to another huge problem in Christianity – the elevation of feelings and personal experience over revealed scripture and doctrine. The words of scripture are true whether you feel them or not…. Most of the false systems of Christian religion I mentioned above are busy seeking feelings and experiences.
Additionally, he combines those trendy ideas with the interpretation by fickle, finite people. Everyone has an opinion about experiences. God is the only one who can rightly define spiritual events, experiences….
In the category of Christian Music, there is a brief video by John MacArthur wherein he explains that the music ministry of a church is not the chief means of worshiping. He went into the matter of personal feelings and experiences and emphasized that worship begins with doctrinal truth. That doctrinal truth causes feelings; one may express those via singing. Good hymns, for example, contain biblical doctrine; that causes feelings of gratitude, wonder…, that is, feelings and experiences.
MacArthur also pointed out that the false churches blast congregants with loud music in dark settings… manipulating their feelings. That is, those specific feelings are not related to true worship, they come from a different source than God’s word; the manipulation of men.
[11] He is describing Pagan celebrations not biblical worship.
Such reveling is disdained by the living God. The labyrinth in the picture is often part of Hindu-type meditation. I talk about that in the post on Christian Holy Yoga. It is Pagan, not acceptable to the God of the Bible.
The apostle Paul talks of Christian unity that comes by being in submission to the Holy Spirit and working to speak the truth in love to one’s neighbors…. See Ephesians 4 and Galatians 5.
The Holy Spirit works such fruit in believers:
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
That kind of transformation is achieved by God’s work in born-again believers; as they partake of the means He appointed: Bible reading; prayer; hearing the gospel preached; fellowship with other believers….
The spirit at large during the BM Festival is certainly not God the Holy Spirit. Any perceived unity at that event is likely some lesser thing.
[12] His words: …“a place where global travelers gather for a divine encounter” One will never encounter the divine God of the Bible at such an event by doing such things. The apostle Paul speaks of such worship, saying that demons are actually being worshiped.
His words indicated that he has pantheistic leanings. Dr. Peter Jones calls that ‘oneism.’ Meaning that God is part of everything; everyone has a ‘divine spark’ within themselves, hence they can progress to being divine-like. The God of the Bible, Jones described as being of ‘twoism.’ That is, God is completely separate from His creation.
[13] His words: …”be their true authentic selves, they can be vulnerable, and they can have these transformations,” said Krieger. “The whole event itself feels spiritual to me.”
No human can have an accurate ‘opinion’ about his / her authentic self if the Bible has not been read by them. Every person has opinions about everything of experience, some are more accurate than others. How can you know you are interpreting spiritual things correctly, God’s word will tell you. He created you, mind, body and soul. He knows truth; He is its source.
Being vulnerable, in your personal interactions can be a very wonderful experience if you are speaking with one who is trustworthy, for example. But being vulnerable in general, taking in anything for an experience, can be very dangerous. That is how people become possessed by evil spirits in yoga-meditation, etc.
The ‘transformations’ spoken of in this article are not mainly spiritual. I would say that the main factors in those are the size of the crowd; the new and strange encounters with people who are wildly seeking such; the drugs and wild behavior; the desperate desire to have some deep experience and such things.
I am sure, for example, that writing on a note card, the pains of your experience that you want to grieve and then burning them with the Man, when it is ignited, will cause no real spiritual transformation. That is, if you call the things of God spiritual. Demons also offer transformations, the Bible speaks of such things. Satan is said to counterfeit all the things of God, to lead astray….
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
*****Other posts in this blog about Burning Man Festival:
Burning Man Posts:
From Post 45 in the series on Paganism:
https://sheeplywolves.com/burning-man-festival-paganism-part-45/
From Post 41 in the series on Paganism:
Part A
Part B
https://sheeplywolves.com/burning-man-festival-part-b-grieving-mourning-to-whom-paganism-part-41/
*****The book by John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: this book talks about many and diverse schemes that Satan uses to distract and mislead those who are on a spiritual pilgrimage.
In the book, the Pilgrim’s journey began via the conviction he experienced in reading the Bible and his desire to escape the coming judgment spoken of throughout the Bible, for example: Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment; Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
And from Jesus’ mouth: Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. … Mat 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….