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Catechism of the Orthodox Eastern Church (1888)
Ignatios Moschakis, tr. Baker, 1894
5. Part 1, Chapter 5: Concerning the Life that is to Come
§ 45. What Does the Creed Say Concerning the Life that is to Come?
“I look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”
Through these last sentences of our Creed we are taught that there is a life to come in which the dead will be raised, in order that they, too, as well as the living, may give an account of their own deeds. Our Lord said, “The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of God, . . . and shall go forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment” (St. John v. 25, 29). And the Apostle Paul says, “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also them which have fallen asleep through Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thess. iv. 14). The same Apostle says that a spiritual body will be raised (1 Cor. xv. 44). Man was made, as we saw elsewhere, in the image and likeness of God; he does not consist only of the body which dies, but of a soul which remains immortal, and passes on into eternal life. “God created man to be immortal” (Wis. Sol. ii. 23). In this life that is to come men will be rewarded or punished, according to the good or evil deeds that they have done. “God will render to each man according to his works” (Rom. ii. 6). Our Lord, describing the future life, says that all men will be gathered together in the sight of God, Who will separate the just from the unjust, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats: and the just He will put on His right hand, and the unjust on His left hand. And to the just He will say, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit eternal life; because I was hungry, and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me to drink; I was naked, and ye clothed Me; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me; whatsoever ye did to the poor, ye did to Me.” And to the unrighteous He will say, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into eternal punishment; because I was hungry, and ye gave Me not to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me not to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.” “And these (the unrighteous) shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto eternal life” (St. Matt. xxv. 41, etc.).
§ 46. We Have Proofs of the Existence of a Life to Come, and of the Immortality of the Soul.
All we men perceive that there is one power within us, which is different from the body—a power which remains unchanged, while our body is being completely changed; a power which reflects, thinks, and acts freely. 1. Now, since material things are not unchangeable, neither are they endowed with a free mind and will, the power that exists within us—that is, the soul—cannot be a body, or anything material; and it follows that it is immaterial, and for this reason incorruptible and immortal. 2. All men perceive that righteousness ought to be rewarded and unrighteousness punished, because when we observe that one good deed is not rewarded, and one evil deed is not punished, we are grieved and vexed. Nevertheless the good do not always receive their reward or enjoy happiness while on this earth, nor are evil men always punished and unfortunate in this life; from which we conclude absolutely that there is a life to come in which righteousness will be rewarded and unrighteousness punished. 3. All men have been made by the Creator such that we are not contented with what is mortal only and belongs to time, but we strive after what is incorruptible and eternal, and long for it; and of all creatures that exist we men alone love God, Who is eternal. But God would be cruel and unjust, were He to breathe into us such noble longings, if they are to remain continually unfulfilled,—such love towards the eternal God, except eternal life exists. All nations and peoples in every age and place have believed, and do believe, in the existence of a life to come; that the soul is not brought to an end after death, but follows out its existence. If men had invented this faith, then, it would not have been so universal; because that which is the invention of man exists at a stated epoch and a stated place, and not everywhere, and at all times. Man, then, is born with faith in the immortality of the soul, and this because his soul is truly immortal.