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.
The 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia states: "The eschatological summary which speaks of "The Four Last Things" (Death, Judgement, 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 "Judgement" component encompasses both Particular Judgement and General Judgement.