Library › Constantine Callinicos › Greek Orthodox Catechism
Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part I. Dogmatical, 16. Our End
With what do the last Articles of the Creed deal?
They deal with our end. The eleventh Article especially deals with the resurrection of the dead, and the twelfth Article with eternal life, which will be accorded to each single person after the resurrection of the dead.
And what do you mean by the resurrection of the dead?
I mean that at the end of the world and at the Second Advent of our Lord, all the dead of all the ages shall arise from death, in order to appear, both as souls and bodies, before the Unbribed Tribunal to receive payment for all they did in this world through their bodies and through their souls. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” said the Redeemer, “that the hour cometh and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear, shall live.” (John v. 25.) “For the trumpet shall sound,” adds St. Paul, “and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed; for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. For, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” (1 Cor. xv. 52; 1 Thess. iv. 14.) The same Apostle in the First Epistle to the Corinthians tells us of the kind of bodies that will be ours at the resurrection. Their beauty and splendour, compared to our actual flesh, will be as much greater, as the magnificent plant is more superb than the tiny seed, from which it grew. An idea of the fineness and nobility of the bodies of our future resurrection is provided for us in the example of the body of the risen Saviour, which appeared to the disciples when the doors were shut.
What will follow the resurrection of the dead?
The Judgment of the whole world, and the allotting of the future of each individual either to Paradise or to Hell, according to the good or bad use they made of life. Paradise will consist of the entire absence of all sorrow and pain, inward satisfaction and peace, communion with saints and angels, and the beatific vision of God, Who is the Highest and Holiest enjoyment of the soul. Hell will consist, on the contrary, of the twinges of conscience, the consorting with evil spirits and demons, and everlasting privation from God, far from Whom the soul cannot find rest. “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” the King will say to those on His right. And then, addressing Himself to those on His left, He will say:—“Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire.” (Matt. xxv. 34,41.) These are the two future states, depicted in Holy Scripture; which has never expressed anything whatever concerning a third state, such as a temporary Purgatory, in which the souls are supposed to undergo, as through a fire, their purification from the stains of certain sins, before ultimately reaching Paradise.
Can you tell me what is the soul’s intermediate state, that is to say, the state of the departed from the time of their death until their future resurrection and judgment?
The soul’s intermediate state can be defined as a foretaste and pledge of its final condition after its resurrection and judgment. If, that is to say, the souls of the departed have lived according to the will of God, and their final lot is to be Paradise, then and henceforth they foretaste the joys of Paradise, being nearer to God, and rejoicing in His light. If they ended their lives in sin and unrepentance, then and henceforth shall they spend it in misery, and, so to speak, at the gate of Hell. The intermediate state of the soul is not, then, a sleep and unconsciousness, but an awakening and consciousness; it is a move towards its final goal, without breaking with the bonds of earth altogether. The dead have not forgotten us, nor are they indifferent to us. Hence we are in full communion with them. To those departed ones, who pleased the Heavenly Father with their holy life, we pray that they mediate on our behalf with Him, to Whom they are now nearer. To those departed ones who erred, we ask the All-Merciful to show mercy, and, if it is His will, to forgive them. Death does not separate those who have gone before from those who remain. The Judge has not come yet, in order to assign to each person a future of eternal happiness or torment. And the mercies of God are as an unfathomable abyss.