QUESTION:
3/13/2010: Dear Fr,
What is the Orthodox position on the fate of the soul after death prior to the last judgement? Roman Catholics believe - and it has been defined a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church - that the soul goes immediately to a particular judgement. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification [purgatory] or immediately, -- or immediate and everlasting damnation". At the last judgement, the Catechism states, after the resurrection of the dead, the Father "through his Son Jesus Christ will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end and the body will be restored to the soul."
I realise that Orthodoxy rejects the teaching of purgatory. I also believe that Orthodoxy does not have a concept of a particular judgement. Is this true? Certainly some Orthodox seem to believe that the soul will not enter heaven or hell until the Last Judgement. There also seems to be some heated debate among Orthodox about the toll houses. I would be grateful if you could elaborate on these matters.
Kind regards,
Stephen.
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ANSWER:
Orthodox Christians do believe in a particular judgment in the sense that there is an awareness of one's standing before God at death or soon thereafter. However, you are right that the traditional patristic and Orthodox position (defended by St Mark of Ephesus at Florence), is that the fullness of blessedness is to be experienced in the age to come, at the resurrection of the body. This was a controversial topic in the Latin West and there is a different perspective on this point.
There is an article (PDF) on Toll House on the orthodoxanswers.org website... |
