The pagan fear of the dead and the unsettled souls in the afterlife starts to give way in Christianity to a fear of death itself, on account of personal judgment. The increasing notion of the individual person means that the final judgment starts to give way to each person's particular judgment. We see the rise of auricular confession, indulgences, concern for sexual sin.

So how did this develop over the years, and where does it leave us now?

References:

Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor: (66-70)