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Dogmatic Theology — Topic 16

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Dogmatic Theology — Topic 16

Chiliasm

It was a common belief in the early church that there would be two separate resurrections of the dead in time. First there will be a resurrection of the righteous who will reign with Christ for a thousand years. As a reward for their exploits and suffering, the righteous will enjoy all good things both spiritual and sensual. The Judaizing Chiliasts awaited also the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem and the Old Testament sacrifices. Only then will there be a resurrection of sinners and non-Christians who will be judged. This doctrine is called Chiliasm from χίλιοι – a thousand, and is based off a number of passages in Scripture (Rev. 20; [1 Cor. 15:23-26](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Corinthians- Chapter-15/#:~:text=But%20every%20man,destroyed%20is%20death.)). It was professed in stronger or weaker terms by St. Papias of Hierapolis, St. Justin the Philosopher, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, St. Hippolytus of Rome, St. Methodius of Patarsus, Lactantius, Tertullian, finally Apollinarius of Laodicea. Traces of it are found in the Epistle of Apostle Barnabas. When Apollinarius was condemned at the Second Ecumenical Council Chiliasm was also condemned. In the Creed the addition of “Whose kingdom shall have no end” was aimed at combating chiliasm.

Fate of men after personal judgment

The Orthodox Church distinguishes between two different states after individual judgment, one for the righteous and another for sinners, and accordingly each person ends up either in heaven or hell. The Catholics distinguish between three states: blessedness, purgatory (lat. purgatorium) and Gehenna. In the Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs (1723) it is said: “We believe that the souls of the dead are blessed or tormented according to their works. Being separated from their bodies, they immediately proceed either to joy or to sorrow and grief, but they feel neither perfect bliss nor perfect torment, for perfect bliss or perfect torment will be given only after the general resurrection, when the soul is united with the body in which it lived virtuously or perversely.” In other words, both the suffering or the blessedness that one may receive after the personal judgment is preliminary.

Individual judgment after death

The particular judgment that each person undergoes individually after bodily death is referred to as the personal judgment. The Old Testament Scriptures refer to personal judgment as follows: It is an easy thing unto the Lord in the day of death to reward a man according to his ways…in his end his deeds shall be discovered(Ecclesiasticus 11:26-27). In the New Testament it is written: It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). An indirect indication of the personal judgment after bodily death is also seen in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:9-31).

What is understood by this “judgment” or “trial?” When people define a trial, they usually think of a process that consists of two parts:

  1. The examination of the defendant’s innocence or guilt;

  2. The pronouncement of the sentence.

![](https://anothercity.org/wp- content/uploads/2018/08/tollhouses-1112x1471.jpg)In Church Tradition the judgment of God upon man is usually described in this way. But one must realize that this is no more than an imperfect illustration of God’s judgment, because God does not need to examine man’s innocence or guilt, for He as the Omniscient One knows all. Therefore, the first part of this process must be understood as bringing the soul to an awareness of its true moral condition.

The pronouncement of God’s judgment must also not be understood simply as announcing a verdict, being that God’s desire is at the same time an act of His will, which either brings us into a blissful state or rejects us from the kingdom of eternal life.

In the Tradition of the Church a particular place is occupied by the teaching on the so-called “toll-houses,” which is most fully set out in the work “On the Departure of the Soul” of St. Cyril of Alexandria and in the “Journey Through the Aerial Toll-Houses” of Blessed Theodora.[1]

How should we relate to these narratives, how should we contemplate the images they contain? When St Macarius of Egypt (V cent.) asked God to reveal to him what the posthumous trial (i.e. toll-houses) are, an Angel, appearing to the Monk, told him: “Earthly things here are the faintest reflection of heavenly things.” In other words, all these representations, contained in the narratives about the posthumous trials, must be understood in a spiritual sense. In other words, one should pay attention not to the images themselves, but to their spiritual and moral meaning.

[1] The Life of St. Basil the New // Dimitrii of Rostov. Lives of the Saints, Life 276 (March 27).

  • Personal eschatology
    • Individual judgment after death
    • Fate of men after personal judgment
    • The Catholic Teaching on Purgatory (Purgatorium)
    • Universal Eschotology
    • The Second Coming of Christ
    • The General Resurrection of the Dead
    • Chiliasm
    • The End of the World
    • The Final Judgment
    • The False Teaching of Universal Salvation (ἀποκατάστασις)

Personal eschatology

The doctrine of the ultimate fate of man and the world is called eschatology from the word ἔσχατον – limit, end, goal. It is divided into two parts: personal or individual and general or universal eschatology. The first deals with man’s temporary posthumous condition following his death, the second with the end of the world.

Physical death and the immortality of the soul

Holy Scripture says that God did not create death: God created man for incorruption and made him the image of His eternal being; however, because of the jealousy of the devil death entered into the world ([Wis. 2:23-24](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Wisdom-of-Solomon- Chapter-2/#:~:text=For%20God%20created,do%20find%20it.)). Thus, from the point of view of Christian anthropology, mortality is not a natural characteristic of man; it is “accidental,” caused by the abuse of freedom. Man would not have died if he had not sinned.

The Scriptures speak of bodily death as the passage of a person from one state to another, from one form of being to another. The apostle Peter says: Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me ([2 Pet. 1:14-15](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Peter- Chapter-1/#::text=Knowing%20that%20shortly%20I%20must%20put%20off%20this%20my%20tabernacle%2C%20even%20as%20our%20Lord%20Jesus%20Christ%20hath%20shewed%20me.)). Apostle Paul speaks about bodily death in similar terms: if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ([2 Cor. 5:1](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Corinthians- Chapter-5/#::text=For%20we%20know%20that%20if%20our%20earthly%20house%20of%20this%20tabernacle%20were%20dissolved%2C%20we%20have%20a%20building%20of%20God%2C%20an%20house%20not%20made%20with%20hands%2C%20eternal%20in%20the%20heavens.); cf. [Phil. 1:21-23](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Philippians- Chapter-1/#::text=For%20to%20me,is%20far%20better%3A)), or the time of my departure is at hand ([2 Tim. 4:6](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Timothy- Chapter-4/#::text=For%20I%20am%20now%20ready%20to%20be%20offered%2C%20and%20the%20time%20of%20my%20departure%20is%20at%20hand.)).

The Holy Scriptures state that the soul cannot be destroyed, is never extinguished: fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul(Mt. 10:28); God is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him (Lk. 20:38; cf. the parable of the rich man and Lazarus – Lk. 16: 9-31). Holy Scripture says that the soul retains a conscious existence even after death, until the day of the Second Coming and the Universal Resurrection.

1 Tim. 6:16 states that God alone is immortal. How can we reconcile these words with the doctrine of the immortality of the soul? In Christianity the immortality of the soul is understood as a gift of God’s grace. According to the words of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus, it is possible for the Creator to destroy the immortal, i.e. if God desired He could destroy His creations that possess the property of immortality. But a created spirit of its own free will cannot destroy itself.

The Catholic Teaching on Purgatory (Purgatorium)

![The Portal to Purgatory (The Divine Comedy)](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d4/bd/33/d4bd33e42b61c1a5b061a697aa4bc981 —gustave-dore-the-portal.jpg)The teaching of purgatory is inseparably linked with Catholic soteriology in general. Catholic theology distinguishes two elements in any sinful act: the guilt of sin and the punishment for sin. Catholics classify sins into mortal and forgivable sins. If a person repents of a sin, the guilt of the sin is generally forgiven, but in addition to repentance, the person must bear some punishment and thus bring satisfaction (satisfactio) to God for his sin. This can be done in many different ways: penance, various ascetic deeds (pilgrimage, increased prayers, fasting, almsgiving etc.).

For Catholics, purgatory is a kind of middle ground, an intermediate place between heaven and hell, where those who have repented but have not sufficiently satisfied God for their sins in their earthly lives end up. This deficiency is made up for by time in purgatory. The release from purgatory happens automatically after a certain period of time, which is required in order to achieve total satisfaction. But it is also possible to shorten the period of time in purgatory through the prayers of the living, through the prayers of the Church, through the bloodless sacrifice and through indulgences which are conferred on sinners by the excess works of saints.

The following passage is the basis of the doctrine of purgatory: Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire(1 Cor. 3:11-15). However, no matter how one interprets this very difficult passage, the “fire” here is still a trial, not a punishment in the Latin sense. Therefore this passage cannot serve as the basis for such a doctrine.

Often Catholics say that the doctrine of purgatory is simply a Latin version of the teaching on the toll-houses. But this is false. The teaching of the toll-houses in Orthodoxy, unlike the doctrine of purgatory among the Catholics, is not dogmatized. Furthermore, it is not connected at all with the idea of bringing satisfaction to God. By passing through the toll-houses one is not giving satisfaction to God, one is not serving a sentence, but is being brought to the awareness of his true moral state, of the outcome of his life. The main purpose of the toll-houses is the self-knowledge of the individual.

Perhaps the only logical argument in favor of the doctrine of purgatory is the well-known parable of the debtor: Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing (Mt. 5:26) or: I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite (Lk. 12:59). But it is hardly possible to base an entire doctrine on a single parable, especially as this parable has a purely ethical character.

The End of the World

Immediately after the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of the living will follow the end of the world, or in other words, its transformation, renewal and purification “through fire.” The Holy Scriptures speak thus about this time:

Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed(Ps. 102:25-26).

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind (Is. 65:17).

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible…Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger (Is. 13:9-13).

For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment(Is. 51:6).

I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come (Joel 2:10).

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Mt. 24:29).

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet. 3:10-13; see also [Rom. 8:19-23](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Romans- Chapter-8/#:~:text=For%20the%20earnest,of%20our%20body.)).

I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them(Rev. 20:11).

I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God (Rev. 21:1-3).

The False Teaching of Universal Salvation (ἀποκατάστασις)

In the ancient church some held the view that all would be saved, particularly the Origenists. This view proclaimed that eventually all would be brought back to their original pure and perfect state (apokatastasis) as they were created by God. Not only would all humans be saved eventually, but even the demons and the devil himself would reconcile with God. Thus the torments that await the condemned are not seen as unending but temporary. Some Holy Fathers, such as St. Gregory of Nyssa, suggest the possibility of the apokatastasis. This however must be understood as an inability to accept an All-Loving God as able to let His creation suffer eternally. However, the consensus of the Church Father expresses that punishment after the Final Judgment will be enteral. This doctrine was condemned at the 5th Ecumenical Council as heretical.

The Final Judgment

After the general resurrection and the renewal of the world the universal, public, terrible and final judgment will follow. Then each will be given a just reparation according to their deeds and the fates of all people will be determined for all eternity. The Holy Scriptures speak thus:

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire…the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed(Dan. 7:9-14).

The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works (Mt. 16:27).

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me…Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal ([Mt. 25:31-46](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew- Chapter-25/#:~:text=When%20the%20Son,into%20life%20eternal.); see also the parables of the wheat and the tares [Mt. 13], and of the talents [[Mt. 25:13-30](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew- Chapter-25/)].

He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead (Acts. 17:31).

Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 14-15).

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath (Rom. 2:5-8).

The General Resurrection of the Dead

The teaching on the resurrection is already present in the Old Testament. The long-suffering Job cried out:for I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God…and mine eyes shall behold, and not another ([Job 19:25-27](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Job- Chapter-19/)). Here already there is the idea of the singularity of the person before and after the resurrection. The same person who once lived on earth in the very same (yet transformed) body will participate in the events of the general resurrection.

The resurrections of the dead in the Old Testament were a symbol of the future resurrection. For example, the resurrection effected by Elijah the Prophet in Zarephath of Zidon (1 Kings 17:19-24), the resurrection accomplished by Elisha the prophet in Shunem (2 Kings 4:29-37), the raising of the dead man by touching the bones of the prophet Elisha ([2 Kings 13:21](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Kings- Chapter-13/#:~:text=And%20it%20came%20to%20pass%2C%20as%20they%20were%20burying%20a%20man%2C%20that%2C%20behold%2C%20they%20spied%20a%20band%20of%20men%3B%20and%20they%20cast%20the%20man%20into%20the%20sepulchre%20of%20Elisha%3A%20and%20when%20the%20man%20was%20let%20down%2C%20and%20touched%20the%20bones%20of%20Elisha%2C%20he%20revived%2C%20and%20stood%20up%20on%20his%20feet.)). With perfect clarity the resurrection is spoken of in the books of the Prophets. The prophet Isaiah cries out: Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise (Is. 26:19); And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2); Ezekiel 37:1-10 contains a vivid depiction of the resurrection; 2 Mac. 7:9 says, the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for his laws, unto everlasting life.

The universality of this faith in the days of the Lord’s earthly life is confirmed by the words of Martha, the sister of Lazarus:I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day (Jn. 11:24). The importance of this moment is echoed in the Troparion for Lazarus Saturday: “Giving us before Thy passion an assurance of the general resurrection, Thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead O Christ Our God.”

In the New Testament, belief in the resurrection is very clearly expressed: The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live (Jn. 5:25);I will raise him up at the last day(John 6: 40). The apostle Paul says: For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins ([1 Cor. 15:16-17](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Corinthians- Chapter-15/#:~:text=For%20if%20the,in%20your%20sins.)); i.e. for the Apostle Paul the Resurrection of Christ is the center of Christian faith, the main object of religious experience and contemplation.

The resurrection of the dead will be universal and simultaneous both for the righteous and for sinners (cf. [Jn. 5:26-29](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John- Chapter-5/#::text=For%20as%20the%20Father%20hath,unto%20the%20resurrection%20of%20damnation.); Acts 24:15). Then the transformation of the living will also follow (cf. [1 Cor. 15:51-55](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Corinthians- Chapter-15/#::text=Behold%2C%20I%20shew,is%20thy%20victory%3F); 1 Thess. 4:17).

The Second Coming of Christ

The Greek name for the Second Coming is παρουσία, the corresponding Latin name is “adventus”. The Second Coming of the Savior, unlike His First Coming to earth, will be with glory and majesty (Mt. 16:27). And He will sit on His glorious throne (Mt. 25:31). On that day, i.e. the day of the Second Coming, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (Mt. 24:30). Scripture does not specify what this sign will be, but according to ancient tradition it will be the sign of the cross. The appearance of the Savior will be physical, in His human flesh. As the angels said to the Apostles during His Ascension: this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11). The Lord will come surrounded by angels (see quotes above; cf. Jude 14).

The apostle Paul compares the coming of Christ to the trumpeting of an army or the proclamation of a jubilee year (1 Thess. 4:16). The appearing of the Saviour will be universal and visible to all: as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Mt. 24:27).

People’s responses to the Second Coming will be mixed. For the faithful His coming will be accepted as redemption. But for the faithless, for those who are not in fact of Christ, His coming will not bode well, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn (Mt 24:30; cf. [Lk. 21:28](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke- Chapter-21/#:~:text=And%20when%20these%20things%20begin%20to%20come%20to%20pass%2C%20then%20look%20up%2C%20and%20lift%20up%20your%20heads%3B%20for%20your%20redemption%20draweth%20nigh.)).

Universal Eschotology

Universal eschatology discusses the second glorious coming of Christ, the end of the world, the final judgment and the fate of men after this.

The time of the 2 nd coming of Christ is unknown

Christ Himself says of the time of His second coming, Of that day and hour no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only (Matt. 24:36). It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power (Acts 1:7). The fact that the time is unknown should arouse Christians to constant spiritual vigilance: Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is…And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch (Mk. 13:33, 37).

Signs of the imminence of the Second Coming of Christ

Although the specific time of the second coming is known to God the Father alone, Christ speaks extensively about the “signs of the times,” i.e. the signs of the closeness of His coming. They are:

  1. The preaching of the Gospel throughout all the world (Matt. 24:14, Mark 13:10). This doesn’t mean that all nations will receive the Gospel (Matt. 24:9), but rather that it will be a witness against them at the Day of Judgment ([Luke 10:10-12](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke- Chapter-10/#:~:text=But%20into%20whatsoever,for%20that%20city.)).

  2. The return of Israel to Christ ([Rom. 11:25-27](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Romans- Chapter-11/#:~:text=For%20I%20would,away%20their%20sins.)). Israel will accept Christ in the last days, right before the general resurrection of the dead (Rom. 11:15).

  3. The appearance of the Prophet Elijah (Matt. 17:11, Mark 9:12, cf. [Malachi 4:5-6](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Malachi- Chapter-4/#:~:text=Behold%2C%20I%20will,with%20a%20curse.)).

  4. The strengthening of evil (2 Thess. 2:3, 7).
    Characteristics of evil:

a. Appearance of false prophets and false christs; spreading of false teachings (Matt. 24:5, 11; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 4:3)

b. Decline of morality and lessening of love (Matt. 24:10, 12; Mark 13:12; [Luke 21:16-17](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke- Chapter-21/#::text=And%20ye%20shall,my%20name%27s%20sake.); [2 Tim. 3:1-5](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Timothy- Chapter-3/#::text=This%20know%20also,such%20turn%20away.))

c. Wars and societal crisis ([Matt. 24:6-7](https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew- Chapter-24/#:~:text=And%20ye%20shall,in%20divers%20places.); Mark 13:8)

d. Natural disasters (Matt. 24:7; Luke 21:25)

  1. Antichrist and the time of his coming.

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