REPLY TO QUESTION AB0UT THE
EVERLASTING DESTINY
OF HUMAN BEINGS
EVERLASTING VS. ETERNAL LIFE
&
CAN HUMANS EVER BECOME ANGELS?[updated 6-11-99]
The body dies and rises again; the soul is immortal. We get baptized, partake of Christ's Body and Blood, and receive the other Mysteries in faith in order that through the Grace given us we may become partakers of the divine nature and rise again to be with Christ our God.
Endless differences between evil-doers and those who by Grace have been divinized in Christ are basically a matter of human dignity. If we, like the animals, were never able to do anything of transfinite worth--i.e. anything with sempiternally good or bad consequences--we might as well be robots in the first place. If we knew that all the suffering for whatever good one does wouldn't make any lasting difference, or that all of the evil that a genericide commits wouldn't leave the tyrant ultimately worse off than the Saints, what would our existence come down to in terms of its worth? The taking away of all lasting differences entails the consequence of evacuating our actions of ultimate meaning, for ultimate meaning depends on differences sub specie aeternitatiss between what is or can be and what isn't or can't be. If we all ultimately ended up in more or less (i.e. different degrees of) the same condition, we would be unable ever to offend our loving God--or the devil, for that matter--in any crucial way. In that situation, we would ultimately be on the same level with the animals--or rather worse, since WE possess reason and freewill--in short, responsibility. No one thinks that people incapable (through mental deficiency or madness) of choosing the better or of refraining from the worse are to be held guilty because of their condition. (In Orthodox opinion, no one in one's right mind could say that any human shares the guilt of our first ancestors' sins; the Orthodox reject this horrible Western doctrine. Neither those who baptize infants because of their sins nor those who refuse to baptize those who have not arrived at the age of reason do not apply the same logic to those who are incapable of incrurring guilt by reaons of their being feeble-minded or insane.)
An individual has got a right to ask questions the way you do; every avowed religion is vulnerable to questioners, though of course the wrong kind of skepticism renders questions and answers more or less in vain. (I stand open to correction on this.) As an individual has the right to ask what kind of God it would be that got peeved and meted out punishments because someone ate crustacean fish, washed dishes that have contained different kinds of food in the same sink, rang a doorbell on Shabbat rather than knocking, etc., . . . or required a man's widow and servants to be thrown on his funeral pyre . . . or required the torture and murder of unbelievers or even of idolaters? With equal justice, you have got a right to ask questions about Orthodox doctrine, even though you may know--or perhaps precisely because you do know--that the holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church have worried about the same questions and, after every answer has been tried, have ascertained that only one answer out of the whole lot avoids doing despite to the Faith. For my part, I'm sure that if hell were an unreasonable doctrine (rather than being subject to unreasonable interpretations the way it can be), it would not have survived in the survival of the fittest among all possible views on the matter. However, the matter is not trivial; the aeviternal destiny of humans is about as important as anything purely human can be.
The Orthodox discourage enbalming (especially if the deceased had communicated recently before dying) and try to bury those fallen asleep in Christ on the day after death. There is no traditional service for burying otherdox people, though the priest can accompanying the body to the grave singing a trisagion. Special commemorations of the departed on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after dying have been explained with very Biblical analogies. Memorials are not allowed on holy glorious Pascha and the twelve major festivals or from the Sabbath of Lazaros through the Lordsday of St. Thomas. Commemorations are made every year on the anniversary of death and on the name day of the deceased. Special general commemorations of those fallen asleep take place on the Sabbaths of Souls--the Sabbath preceding Meatfare Lordsday and the Sabbath before holy Pentecost, in a lesser manner on the Sabbaths preceding Cheesfare Lordsday and the Lordsday of the first week of the holy Great Fast, and in fact on every Sabbath of the year.
Note that the Orthodox do not believe that infants inherit the guilt of Adam and Eve and are therefore not rejected when they die in infancy. There is no limbo or expiatory purgatory in Orthodoxy. But see below on the "middle state."
As for adults, the writer was greatly impressed by the tender scene in which the obviously Denominationist Forest Gump (in the film similarly titled) was standing at the grave of his wife. A Denominationist can comfort oneself that the person mourned for has gone to a better life; but that falls far short of what an Orthodox person can do--chiefly, to pray for the deceased, both individually and at the august eucharistic Sacrifice. To be bereft of this is to be truly bereaved. Anniversary services at the death of a beloved person involve the whole community in the matter.
DEATH AND THE FUTURE LIFE
The future life according to Orthodox teaching
by the very learned Fr. C. Cavarnos
Fr. Cavarnos sets out from attested examples of persons who have been clinically deceased and are brought back to life, concluding that when the soul is separated from the body, it maintains consciousness and can think, feel, and remember what occurs. He proceeds to observe that the body is the soul's instrument, which, according to St. Thalassios, the soul gives life to. When one is sick, the other gets sick also. The "loosening" or separation of the soul from the body is referred to as a "departure"--an "exodos," as the Fathers phrased it. Going over to the immaterial, spiritual world, a place of joy in which the soul beholds the uncreated divine Light, the soul is borne by Angels; cf. Lazaros in Luke 16:22 and the vision of St. Anthony the Great concerning the death of Ammoun--confirmed thirty days later by messengers from Nitria. The Angels not only bear the soul--the holier the soul, the more Angels thought St. Symeon of Thessalonica--; they protect the soul from "the enemy," according to St. Symeon of Thessalonica. The soul has the form of the body it was the soul of, according to St. Makarios of Egypt; its content is Light, to judge by the account of a vision by St. Anthony and the elders' vision of St. Paphnutios' soul recorded in the Evergetinos (to order which, CLICK HERE).
At death, there takes place the "particular Judgment," according to blessed Archbishop Theophilos, who inferred this from scriptural and patristic teachings. The Saints [and sinless infants] are judged to go to Heaven. Those who have believed but fallen short will be tested and judged "as though by fire" [1 Cor. 3:15] "according to their works" [i.e. the works wrought through and with Christ in His members; cf. Ps. 17/28:4, Mt. 16:27, Rom. 2:6, 2 Cor. 11:15, Apoc. 2:23; this is not being saved by one's works without Grace: Rom. 11:6, Gal. 2:16, 2 Tim. 1:9, Tts. 3:5, etc.)]. Those who have rejected Christ or done evil will be judged (2 Tim. 4:1, 1 Pet. 4:5) and then committed to hell.
This is the "middle state," a state that has been called "sleeping," yet one in which the soul retains its memories and self-consciousness, according to Abba Dorotheos, who infers this from the recount of Lazaros in Luke 16. The souls know one another, according to St. Athanasios the Great. Speaking of eternal things in temporal terms, the soul "awaits" the resurrection of its body and the final Judgment. St. Makarios recognized "levels" in both (1) Paradise (the Bosom of Abraham and the Kingdom of God/Heaven) and (2) hell (hades and gehenna) according to the measure of one's faith. As for (1), St. Gregory of Sinai interpreted the many mansions of John 14:2 and the differences in glory of 1 Cor. 15:41 in similar terms--heaven being a "place of Light." (The chapter, 1 Cor. 15, is very important for Christian beliefs about of the afterlife.) As for (2), St. Efrem the Syrian distinguished the Gehenna [Mat. 5:22,29, 10:28] of fire as an "outer hell" from Hades, an "inner hell" (the "outer" darkness of Mat. 8:12, 22:13, 25:30 is contrasted with an "inner darkness." Those who have rejected Christ and those who have done evil are committed or relegated to a place of torment, as related in the story of Lazaros in Luke 16. This is the Gehenna of fire--the outer hell of St. Efrem the Syrian. It is a place of everlasting fire [Mt. 3:10, (7:19,) 13:42,50, (18:8,) 25:41, (and Mark 9:43-48, Luke 3:9, and John 15:6, 2 Thes. 1:8,) Apoc. 21:8]. The Son of God is the righteous and merciful judge of the departed (John 5:22, Acts 10:42 [many Psalms refer to God's eternal mercy]). Demons are the prosecutors, and they snatch their own--the evildoers. Those have never heard of Jesus Christ and had no chance to reject Christ are presumably consigned to a lesser darkness of milder punishment.
The long an short of the following is that in the middle state as well as in the final state, there is the Bosom of Abraham, a lower level of Heaven, and a higher Paradise; a similar difference is found in the lesser darkness of hades and the outer darkness of the gehenna of fire. One proceeds there at death as the result of Christ's Particular Judgment. It is perhaps wrong to refer to a middle "state," since Orthodoxy accepts the possibility of a change for the better in the middle state, at least among those who are sent to Heaven--though "time" is a catachrestic usage for everlasting existence, since the afterlife is of course unlike our present temporal life. The God-enlightened John of Damaskos wrote a treatise Concerning the departed faithful: that the liturgies and charities [like lighting a candle, a "burnt offering" of oil and wax, or making charitable donations] performed for them redound to their benefit. Those fallen asleep in Christ are thus able to move up to a higher level in Heaven because of the efficacy of the Church's intercessions (Jas. 5:16). Damaskinos the Studite (i.e. of the Studion Monastery) spoke in this connection of the importance of commemorations of the departed (on the third, ninth, fortieth days of death and annually) as helping "the souls of the departed in the Bosom of Abraham and in His [Jesus Christ's] Kingdom." More recently, St. Nektarios of Aiyina, in his Study concerning the immortality of the soul and the holy memorial services, even envisioned the possibility of delivering souls--the Churches "faithful . . . who have reposed in full communion with the Body and Blood of Christ the Savior"--even from sufferings in hades though the prayers of the Church--on the grounds that the final verdict on them has not yet been pronounced--since a final verdict is reserved for the second and dread Coming of our Lord Christ. But he adds that the Salvation of such souls is a hope, not a predictable certainty. By the Church's prayers, St. Nektarios means not only the faithful living but also the Saints and especially the most holy Virgin Theotokos. While the Church cannot pray the doomed out of hell, she can pray for the lightening of their torments. While some deny the possibility of progress in the middle state, the Church's prayers for those fallen asleep make sense only in a context in which betterment is conceivable.
Fr. Cavarnos refers to the vision of St. Paul the Apostle (2 Cor. 12:2-4) and similar visions of various Saints concerning Paradise. Light is prominent in some of these narratives. In the Evergitinos, St. Gregory the Dialogist speaks of those who have died, seen or heard of the torments of hell, and then been returned to life; this is a providential act of the divine compassion to save them and others who hear the account of the after-death experience. After-death experiences of those who later returned to life are described by Elder Ebbasa to the monk Peter, his disciple, and by St. Metrophanes, the disciple of St. Dionysios the Orator (both monastics on Mt. Athos during the 16tgh and 17th centuries), who related what took place with a pious Christian named Demetrios.
At the Second Coming of OLGS Jeus Christ, the body of each person fallen asleep will rise again to join that person's immortal soul. At the Last Judgment, the bodies of the righteous will shine like light and be incorruptible, while those of sinners will be deprived of the uncreated and eternal light of God and have an odious appearance. Fr. Cavarnos cites hymns of St. Symeon expressing the sentiment concerning the bodies of the saved. Their risen bodies will not be like those we have now, but, though "material," will be able to do things like passing through doors (cf. John 20:26).
At the final Judgment, the sheep will be separated from the goats, as Jesus we read in Mat. 25. After the Last Judgment, "the blessedness and glory of the righteous will be fuller, while the torment of sinners will be complete," as their bodies participate in the life to come. The final Divinization of the faithful in the Vision of uncreated Light, God's uncreated Energies, is the goal of Salvation. Fr. Cavarnos says that the Church teaches that there will be continual progress for those in Paradise--as is true of the Angels even now, according to St. John of the Ladder; cf. Mat. 13:12. St. Symeon the more recent theologian and St. Gregory of Sinai agree. It is a heresy, however, to suppose that progress is possible for those in hell--so that they might leave hell and enter Heaven.
The remainder of this little volume is taken up with copious citations from the Bible, the Fathers, and the Church's hymnody.Note that the "middle state" in a peripheral part of heaven or hell following death is considered to be a foretatste of the fuller bliss or punishment to ensue after the Last Judgment. Like asking departed Saints for their prayers, prayers for those fallen asleep in Christ are justified by our common membership in the Body of Christ and Communion of Saints. (See also 2 Mac. 12:42, and 2 Tim. 1:18.)
Relatives and close ones of the dead: Do for them what is needful for them and within your power. Use your money not for outward adornment of the coffin and grave but in order to help those in need--in memory of your close ones who have died--for temples, where prayers for them are offered. Show mercy to the dead, take care of their souls. Before us all stands the same path. And as we will then wish to be remembered in prayer, let us accordingly be ourselves merciful to the dead.
[St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco]The average temple-goer appears not to understand the difference between eternity (which has neither beginning nor end; only God is eternal) and being everlasting--æviternal. The "last things" are often blithely spoken of with little realization of the implications that the terms entail. Humans and even the holy Angels--a totally different species from humans, one that humans can never become--are creatures having a beginning. (To suppose that a human could become an Angel is comparable with supposing that a mouse could become a cat.) If the Angels and divinized members of Christ's risen Body, divinized by the vision of the uncreated Light of God's Nature, can live in eternity or eternal life, what they have is everlasting life.
The Fathers sometime regarded good humans, especially the Theotokos, as superior to the holy Angels in some respects. After all, the Theotokos bore Christ, and the faithful become members of Christ. God became a human, not a devil or fallen Angel. The main grounds for the Fathers' esteem of human nature lies in their linking the material and spiritual parts of the cosmos, at least after God the Son became incarnate--both divine and human. This overcame the divisions of humanity--it even (as St. Maximos taught) overcame the ultimate division of the sexes. But the Fathers also spoke of humans coming to live an "angelic" life and being like the Angels in this or that other respect. Both Angels and humans are rational beings with freewill; in this respect they stand over against the rest of creation.
An Orthodox person should consult one's priest about funeral (kedeía) arrangements and burial (taphé, where the Trisagion for the Dead is sung) customs. The Orthodox do not approve of cremation--or of embalming, except where the law requires it; hence, funerals are held as soon after death as possible, with a wake being held the night before--during which Psalms are sung. The funeral is held in Church; ask your priest about the funeral of an unbaptized or excommunicate adult. Laypeople are buried facing East; and mourners sprinkle earth on the coffin in the Grave. Certain days of the ecclesiastical year do not allow funerals or subsequent memorial services. The family of the deceased usually provides refreshments after the burial; and a kóllyva (a platter of boiled wheat mixed with raisins, herbs, and with a sugar covering; a cross is traced on top, and the initials of the departed are traced on its sides) is provided for each memorial service--on the (third, ninth, and) fortieth day of death and annually from then on --and also on the name day of the one fallen asleep. Note that a person's Christian name (the name given at Baptism or on becoming a monk of a given degree of advancement) is used in prayers for those fallen asleep. If a memorial cannot be held on a given date, it is held on a day near its proper date; the fortieth day is usually held on a Lordsday. There are also general memorials at certain times during the year for all Orthodox Christians fallen asleep .
In his debate with the papal theologians over their teaching of "Purgatory," the noble St. Mark of Ephesos described the situation of those who have fallen asleep thus:
We affirm that neither have the righteous yet received the fulness of their lot and that blessëd condition for which they have prepared themselves here through works, nor have sinners, after death, been led away into eternal punishment in which they are to be tormented eternally. Rather, both the one [destiny] and the other must necessarily take place after the Judgment of that Last Day and the resurrection of all.
The question of the destiny of pious non-Orthodox Christians naturally arises. Except for heresiarchs (founders or leaders of heretical teachings), the best Orthodox view is one that makes a strict diremption between judging teachings and judging persons--leaving the judging of sinners to God (Mat. 7:1, etc., in the Sermon on the Mountain). Since the Orthodox believe that the pléroma or fulness of Grace resides only in the Orthodox Church, they naturally view Christians outside of the Church as in a very risky position; while the Orthodox do not wish to limit the divine economy, especially in relation to Christians who are ignorant of Orthodoxy and her truths, the Orthodox uphold the Bible (e.g. the Jesus's account of Lazaros and the rich man) in holding the Salvation of evil persons and even the most devout non-Orthodox Christians as uncertain and unguaranteed--of which there are degrees of nearness to and distance from (Luke 12:47-48) that truth which St. John of Damaskos said "must be preferred to absolutely all else, even life itself. It is desired to be lived with, and it is preferable to die for it than to live apart from it." While being ever mindful of St. Paul's words in Gal. 1:8-9, the Orthodox attitude towards those outside of the Church, the Ark of Salvation, is neither universalist nor relativist. Pronouncements of even the most traditionalist groups profess ignorance about the exact fate of this or that person outside of the home of Grace and Ark of Salvation--which doesn't mean that they think those known to God as heresiarchs or evil-doers or unbelievers will escape Satan's fate. Those who are not indwelt by the Spirit and have not become members of Christ have no hope. As far as respect goes, one can respect a pious otherdox more than a faithless Orthodox. But that is not the same thing as judging their soterial progress.
