On the Last Sunday of Lent “we
commemorate the Second and Incorruptible Coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ”. The expression “we commemorate” of the Book of Saints
confirms that our Church, as the Body of Christ, re-enacts in its
worship the Second Coming of Christ as an “event” and not just
something that is historically expected. The reason is, that through
the Divine Eucharist, we are transported to the celestial kingdom,
to meta-history. It is in this orthodox perspective, that the
subject of paradise and hell is approached.
In the Gospels (Matthew, ch.5),
mention is made of “kingdom” and “eternal fire”. In this excerpt,
which is cited during the Liturgy of this Sunday, the “kingdom” is
the divine destination of mankind. The “fire” is “prepared” for the
devil and his angels (demons), not because God desired it, but
because they are impenitent. The “kingdom” is “prepared” for those
who remain faithful to the will of God. “Kingdom” (the uncreated
glory) is Paradise. “Fire” (eternal) is hell (eternal hell, v.46).
At the beginning of history, God invites man into paradise, into a
communion with His uncreated Grace. At the end of history, man has
to face paradise and hell. What this means, we shall see, further
down. We do however stress that it is one of the central subjects
of our faith – it is Orthodox Christianity’s philosopher’s stone.
1.
Mention of paradise and hell in the New Testament is frequent. In
Luke 23, 43, Christ says to the robber on the cross: “Today you will
be with me in paradise”. However, the robber also refers to
paradise, when he says: “Remember me, Lord…in your kingdom”.
According to Theofylaktos of Bulgaria (P 123, 1106), “for the robber
was in paradise, in other words, the kingdom”. The Apostle Paul
(Corinthians II, 12: 3-4) confesses that, while still in this
lifetime, he was “swept up to paradise and heard unspoken words,
which are inappropriate for man to repeat.” In Revelations, we
read: “To the victor, I shall give him to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the paradise of my God” (2,7). And Arethas of Caesaria
interprets: “paradise is understood to be the blessed and eternal
life” (PG 106, 529). Paradise-eternal life-kingdom of God, are all
related.
References on hell: Matthew 25, 46
(“to eternal damnation”), 25, 41 (“eternal fire”), 25 30 (“the
outermost darkness”), 5, 22 (“the place of fire”). John I, 4, 18
(“…for fear contains hell”). These are ways that express what we
mean by “hell”.
2.
Paradise and hell are not two different places. (This
version is an idolatrous concept.) They signify two different
situations (ways), which originate from the same uncreated source,
and are perceived by man as two, different experiences. Or, more
precisely, they are the same experience, except that they are
perceived differently by man, depending on man’s internal state.
This experience is: the sight of Christ inside the uncreated light
of His divinity, of His “glory”. From the moment of His Second
Coming, through to all eternity, all people will be seeing Christ in
His uncreated light. That is when “those who worked good deeds in
their lifetime will go towards the resurrection of their life, while
those who worked evil in their lifetime will go towards the
resurrection of judgment” (John 5, 29). In the presence of Christ,
mankind will be separated (“sheep” and “goats”, to His right and His
left). In other words, they will be discerned in two separate
groups: those who will be looking upon Christ as paradise (the
“exceeding good, the radiant”) and those who will be looking upon
Christ as hell (“the all-consuming fire”, Hebrews 12,29).
Paradise and hell are the same
reality. This is what is depicted in the portrayal of the Second
Coming. From Christ a river flows forth: it is radiant like a
golden light at the upper end of it, where the saints are. At its
lower end, the same river is fiery, and it is in that part of the
river that the demons and the unrepentant (“the never repentant”
according to a hymn) are depicted. This is why in Luke 2, 34 we
read that Christ stands “as the fall and the resurrection of many”.
Christ becomes the resurrection into eternal life, for those who
accepted Him and who followed the suggested means of healing the
heart; and to those who rejected Him, He becomes their demise and
their hell.
Patristic testimonies:
Saint John of Sinai (of the Ladder) says that the uncreated light of
Christ is “an all-consuming fire and an illuminating light”. Saint
Gregory Palamas (E.P.E. II, 498) observes: “Thus, it is said, He
will baptize you by the Holy Spirit and by fire: in other words, by
illumination and punishment, depending on each person’s
predisposition, which will bring upon him that which he deserves.”
Elsewhere, (Essays, P. Christou Publications, vol.2, page 145): The
light of Christ, “albeit one and accessible to all, is not partaken
of uniformly, but differently”.
Consequently, paradise and hell
are not a reward or a punishment (condemnation), but the way that we
individually experience the sight of Christ, depending on the
condition of our heart. God doesn’t punish in essence, although,
for educative purposes, the Scripture does mention punishment. The
more spiritual that one becomes, the better he can comprehend the
language of the Scripture and our traditions. Man’s condition
(clean-unclean, repentant-unrepentant) is the factor that determines
the acceptance of the Light as “paradise” or “hell”.
3.
The anthropological issue in Orthodoxy is that man will eternally
look upon Christ as paradise and not as hell; that man will partake
of His heavenly and eternal “kingdom”. And this is where we see the
difference between Christianity as Orthodoxy and the various other
religions. The other religions promise a certain “blissful” state,
even after death. Orthodoxy however is not a quest for bliss, but a
cure from the illness of religion, as the late father John Romanides
so patristically teaches. Orthodoxy is an open hospital within
history (“spiritual infirmary” according to Saint John the
Chrysostom), which offers the healing (catharsis) of the heart, in
order to finally attain “theosis”- the only destination of man. This
is the course that has been so comprehensively described by father
John Romanides and the Rev. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos
(Vlachos); it is the healing of mankind, as experienced by all of
our Saints.
This is the meaning of life in the
body of Christ (the Church). This is the Church’s reason for
existence. This is what Christ’s whole redemptory work aspired to.
Saint Gregory Palamas (4th Homily on the Second Coming)
says that the pre-eternal will of God for man is “to find a place in
the majesty of the divine kingdom”- to reach theosis. That was the
purpose of creation. And he continues: “But even His divine and
secret kenosis, His god-human conduct, His redemptory passions, and
every single mystery (in other words, all of Christ’s opus on earth)
were all providentially and omnisciently pre-determined for this
very end (purpose).
4.
The important thing, however, is that not all people respond to this
invitation of Christ, and that is why not everyone partakes in the
same way of His uncreated glory. This is taught by Christ, in the
parable of the rich and the poor Lazarus (Luke, ch.16). Man refuses
Christ’s offer, he becomes God’s enemy and rejects the redemption
offered by Christ (which is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,
because it is within the Holy Spirit that we accept the calling of
Christ). This is the “never repentant” person referred to in the
hymn. God “never bears enmity”, the blessed Chrysostom observes; it
is we who become His enemies; we are the ones who
reject Him. The unrepentant man becomes demonized, because he
has chosen to. God doesn’t want this. Saint Gregory Palamas
says: “…for this was not My pre-existing will; I did not create you
for this purpose; I did not prepare the pyre for you. This undying
pyre was pre-fired for the demons who bear the unchanging trait of
evil, to whom your own unrepentant opinion attracted you.” “The
co-habitation with mischievous angels is arbitrary (voluntary).”
(same as prev.) In other words, it is something that is freely
chosen by man.
Both the rich man and Lazarus were
looking upon the same reality, i.e., God in His uncreated light. The
rich man reached the Truth, the sight of Christ, but could not
partake of it, as Lazarus did. The poor Lazarus received
“consolation”, whereas the rich man received “anguish”. Christ’s
words, that they: “have Moses and the prophets” –for those still in
the world- signifies that we are all inexcusable. Because we have
the Saints, who have experienced theosis and who call upon us to
accede to their way of life so that we too might reach theosis like
they did. We therefore conclude that those who have chosen evil
ways – like the rich man - are inexcusable.
Our stance towards our fellow man
is indicative of our inner state, and that is why this will be the
criterion of Judgment Day during Christ’s Second Coming (Matthew,
ch.25). This doesn’t imply that faith, or man’s faithfulness to
Christ is disregarded; faith is naturally a prerequisite, because
our stance towards each other will show whether or not we have God
inside us. The first Sundays of the Triodion preceding Lent revolve
around fellow man. On the first of these Sundays, the (seemingly
pious) Pharisee justifies (sanctifies) himself and rejects
(derogates) the Tax-collector. On the second Sunday, the “elder”
brother (a repetition of the seemingly pious Pharisee) is sorrowed
by the return (salvation) of his brother. Likewise seemingly pious,
he too had false piety, which did not produce love. On the third
(carnival) Sunday, this stance reaches Christ’s seat of judgment,
and is evidenced as the criterion for our eternal life.
5.
The experience of paradise or hell is beyond words or the senses.
It is an uncreated reality, and not a created one. The Franks
created the myth that paradise and hell are both created realities.
It is a myth, that the damned will not be looking upon God; just as
the “absence of God” is equally a myth. The Franks had also
perceived the fires of hell as something created (e.g. Dante’s
Inferno). Orthodox tradition has remained faithful to the
Scriptural claim that the damned shall see God (like the rich man of
the parable), but will perceive Him only as “an all-consuming
fire”. The Frankish scholastics accepted hell as punishment and the
deprivation of a tangible vision of the divine essence. Biblically
and patristically however, “hell” is understood as man’s failure to
collaborate with Divine Grace, in order to reach the “illuminating”
view of God (paradise) and selfless love (per Corinthians I, 13:8):
“love….. does not demand any reciprocation”). Consequently, there
is no such thing as “God’s absence”, only His presence. That is why
His Second Coming is dire (“o, what an hour it will be then”, we
chant in the Laudatory hymns). It is an irrefutable reality, toward
which Orthodoxy is permanently oriented (“I anticipate resurrection
of the dead…”)
The damned - those who are
depraved at heart, just like the Pharisees (Mark 3:5: “in the
callousness of their hearts”) - eternally perceive the pyre of hell
as their salvation! It is because their condition is not
susceptible to any other form of salvation. They too are
“finalized” – they reach the end of their road – but only the
righteous reach the end of the road as saved persons. The others
finish as damned. “Salvation” to them is hell, since in their
lifetime, they pursued only pleasure. The rich man of the parable
had “enjoyed all of his riches”. The poor Lazarus uncomplainingly
endured “every suffering”. The Apostle Paul expresses this
(Corinthians I, 3 :13-15): “Each person’s work, whatever it is, will
be tested by fire. If their work survives the test, then whatever
they built, will be rewarded accordingly. If one’s work is burnt by
the fire, then he will suffer losses; he shall be saved, thus, as
though by fire.” The righteous and the unrepentant shall both pass
through the uncreated “fire” of divine presence, however, the one
shall pass through unscathed, while the other shall be burnt. He too
is “saved”, but only in the way that one passes through a fire.
Efthimios Zigavinos (12th century) observes in this
respect: “God as fire that illuminates and brightens the pure, and
burns and obscures the unclean.” And Theodoritos Kyrou regarding
this “saving” writes: “One is also saved by fire, being tested by
it”, just as when one passes through fire. If he has an appropriate
protective cover, he will not be burnt, otherwise, he may be
“saved”, but he will be charred!
Consequently, the fire of hell has
nothing in common with the Frankish “purgatory”, nor is it created,
nor is it punishment, or an intermediate stage. A viewpoint such as
this, is virtually a transferal of one’s accountability to God. But
the accountability is entirely our own, whether we choose to accept
or reject the salvation (healing) that is offered by God.
“Spiritual death” is the viewing of the uncreated light, of divine
glory, as a pyre, as fire. Saint John the Chrysostom in his 9th
homily on Corinthians I, notes: “Hell is
never-ending…...sinners shall be judged into a never-ending
suffering. As for the “being burnt altogether”, it means this: that
he does not withstand the strength of the fire.” And he
continues : “And
he (Paul) says, it means this: that he shall not be thus burnt also
- like his works – into nothingness, but he shall continue to exist,
only inside that fire. He therefore considers this as his
“salvation”. For it is customary for us to say “saved in the fire”,
when referring to materials that are not totally burnt away”.
Scholastic
perceptions-interpretations, which, through Dante’s work (Inferno)
have permeated our world, have consequences that amount to
idolatrous views. An example is the separation of paradise and hell
as two different places. This has happened, because they did not
distinguish between the created and the uncreated. Also, the denial
of hell’s eternity, with their idea of the “restoration” of
everything, or the concept of a “good God” (Bon Dieu). God is
indeed “benevolent: (Matthew 8,17), since He offers salvation to
everyone. (“He wants all to be saved…..” Timothy I, 2,4) However,
the words of our Lord as heard during the funeral service are
formidable: “I cannot do anything on my own; just as I hear, thus I
judge, and my judgment is fair”.(John 5,30). Equally manufactured
is the concept of “theodicy”, which applies in this case. Everything
is finally attributed to God alone (i.e., if He intends to redeem or
condemn), without taking into consideration man’s “collaboration” as
a factor of redemption. Salvation is possible, only within the
framework of collaboration between man and Divine Grace. According
to the blessed Chrysostom, “the utmost, almost everything, is God’s;
He did however leave something little to us”. That “little
something” is our acceptance of God’s invitation. The robber on the
cross was saved, “by using the key request of ‘remember me’…”!
Also idolatrous is the perception of a God becoming outraged against
a sinner, whereas we mentioned earlier that God “never shows
enmity”. This is a juridical perception of God, which also leads to
the prospect of “penances” in confessions as forms of punishment,
and not as medications (means of healing).
6.
The mystery of paradise-hell is also experienced in the life of the
Church in the world. During the sacraments, there is a participation
of the faithful in Grace, so that Grace may be activated in our
lives, by our course towards Christ. Especially during the Divine
Eucharist, the uncreated –holy communion- becomes inside us either
paradise or hell, depending on our condition. But mostly, our
participation in Holy Communion is a participation in paradise or
hell, throughout history. That is why we beseech God, prior to
receiving Holy Communion, to render the Precious Gifts inside us
“not as judgment or condemnation”, or “as eternal damnation”. This
is why participation in Holy Communion is linked to the overall
spiritual course of the faithful. When we approach Holy Communion
uncleansed and unrepentant, we are condemned (burnt). Holy
Communion inside us becomes the “inferno” and “spiritual death”.
Not because it is transformed into those things of course, but
because our own uncleanliness cannot accept Holy Communion as
“paradise”. Given that Holy Communion is called “medication for
immortality” (Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, 2nd
century), the same thing exactly occurs as with any medication. If
our organism does not have the prerequisites to absorb the
medication, then the medication will produce side-effects and will
kill instead of heal. It is not the medication that is responsible,
but the condition of our organism. It must be stressed, that if we
do not accept Christianity as a therapeutic process, and its
sacraments as spiritual medication, then we are led to a
“religionizing” of Christianity; in other words, we “idolatrize” it.
And unfortunately, this is a frequent occurrence, when we perceive
Christianity as a “religion”.
Besides, this lifetime is
evaluated in the light of the twin criterion of paradise-hell. “Ask
first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness”, our Christ
recommends (Matthew 6,33). Vasileios the Great tells the Young
(ch.3) “Everything we do is in preparation of another life”. Our
life must be a continuous preparation for our participation in
“paradise” – our community with the Uncreated John 17,3). And
everything begins from this lifetime. That is why the Apostle Paul
says: “Behold, now is the opportune time. Behold, now is the day of
redemption.” (Corinthians II, 6:2) Every moment of our lives is of
redemptive importance. Either we gain eternity, the eternal
community with God, or we lose it. This is why oriental religions
and cults that preach reincarnations are injuring mankind: they are
virtually transferring the problem to other, (nonexistent of course)
lifetimes. The thing is, however, that only one life corresponds to
each of us, whether we are saved or condemned. This is why
Vasileios the Great continues: “those things therefore that lead us
towards that life, we need to say should be cherished and pursued
with all our might; and those that do not lead us there, we should
disregard, as something of no value”. This is the criterion of
Christian living. A Christian continuously chooses whatever favors
his salvation. We gain paradise or lose it and end up in hell, in
this lifetime. That is why John the Evangelist says: “Whomsoever
believes in Him shall not be judged; whomsoever does not believe in
Him, has already been judged, for not having believed in the name of
the only-begotten Son of God.” (3, 18)
Consequently, the work of the
church is not to “send” people to paradise or to hell, but to
prepare them for the final judgment. The work of the Clergy is
therapeutic and not moralistic or character-shaping, in the temporal
sense of the word. The essence of life in Christ is preserved in
monasteries – naturally wherever they are Orthodox and of course
patristic. The purpose of the Church’s offered therapy is not to
create “useful” citizens and essentially “usable” ones, but citizens
of the celestial (uncreated) kingdom. Such citizens are the
Confessors and the Martyrs - the true faithful, the saints.
However, this is also the way
that our mission is supervised: What are we inviting people to? To
the Church as a Hospital/Therapy Center, or just an ideology that is
labelled “Christian”?
More often than not, we strive to secure a place in “paradise”,
instead of striving to be healed. That is why we focus on rituals
and not on therapy. This of course does not signify a rejection of
worship. But, without ascesis (spiritual exercise, ascetic
lifestyle, act of therapy), worship cannot hallow us. The Grace
that pours forth from it remains inert inside us. Orthodoxy doesn’t
make any promises to send mankind to any sort of paradise or hell;
but it does have the power – as evidenced by the incorruptible and
miracle-working relics of our saints (incorruptibility=theosis) – to
prepare man, so that he may forever look upon the Uncreated Grace
and the Kingdom of Christ as Paradise, and not as Hell.
