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.
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