About the Soul After Death

[@OrthodoxTalks]

This is not an easy topic (well...none of them is...) but still, there are many views on life after death even within the Orthodox Church. I do not claim this to be the only true view because the future life is a mystery on its own. Hope this video will provide some grounds for positive thoughts... Asking for your prayers, Fr. Ivan

[@CynthiaKarolak-hf3cj]

I'm Russian Orthodox and very proud of my faith. Amen

[@CynthiaKarolak-hf3cj]

My husband passed away and I am lost without him. I pray he is in the arms of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 🙏💝

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

​@@CynthiaKarolak-hf3cjHe is...for sure. He is waiting for you

[@FA18_Driver]

Pride is a sin. Be humble my child. I’m humbled by my orthodoxy.

[@MatthewFloor]

There are no proud people in heaven

[@FA18_Driver]

@@MatthewFloor Allelujah

[@jamesbarksdale978]

Thank you, Father. I'm not Orthodox, but have been interested in it for some time. Your videos are so succinct and clear, and I glean something from each one. Blessings!

[@OrthodoxTalks]

Thanks be to God for giving us strength to carry each other’s burden!

[@joepavone3586]

As an Orthodox inquirer-that was very informative and gives me hope for my late brother and late Mother. Thank you Father.

[@carolflower9672]

Thank you Father Ivan for your clear explanation of our Soul & body after death.

[@OrthodoxChristian809]

That was lovely, thank you so much 🙏🏻☦️🕊️

[@josueinhan8436]

Father, as a Reformed Christian, I'd like to understand more how our prayers affect the state of departed souls in light of what the Bible says. And how an Orthodox is supposed to deal with the silence of the Scriptures about praying to the departed? Thanks a lot!

[@OrthodoxTalks]

We pray to God for the souls of the departed Who alone can change their state of being. This is the main theme of prayers for the departed this life. At the same time, we understand that only God knows if those people want to be with Him. Not having that information ourselves, we humbly ask God from the bottom of our loving hearts to grant them a "place of repose where all the righteous dwell." In addition, our prayers of love for the departed can be understood as witness to our sincere desire to see those people with us in Heavenly Kingdom. Again, only God can change the state of being of the departed this life (Ps.15:10 or Ps. 16:10 depending on the Bible you have) and our prayers are directed to Him alone. We do not pray TO the departed we pray FOR the departed this life. This has been the tradition from the very beginning of the Church starting with the first martyrs for Christ.

[@Calciu_83]

Thank you Fr

[@balsamitrovic4346]

Amin

[@stalkek]

Thank you Father

[@katme5479]

Thank you for clarifying this. You have corrected my errors. God have mercy

[@Zachary-Nichols]

Thank you for the video

[@dystopian-future]

Father, I was s...x...lly assaulted and since this I feel my sould has been damaged and broken and with it I carry great ptsd, anxiety and depression. You mentioned that after death, the soul does not change. Does this mean if I go to heaven (if God has mercy on me), that my soul in heaven, being unchanged, will forever be broken and damaged and hurt due to this horrible act of r...pe that I suffered here on earth? I feel like that means I will never truly have peace for all of eternity, but the constant reminder of what happened to me will plague my soul forever!

[@OrthodoxTalks]

I’m sorry to hear about what happened to you. I’ll pray for you to become whole again. I said about our souls not being able to change in the context of repentance. Repentance is a change (μετάνοια). Once we are there, we are left to God’s mercy, His love and His righteous judgment. Our soul won’t be able to repent (change). However, God will heal every wound and make us whole again! So, in heaven you will definitely find peace in Christ and no longer feel broken, depressed. So, put your trust in our Savior Jesus Christ here on earth and you will definitely be healed in heaven!

[@dystopian-future]

Thank you so much for this Father, I find it very comforting@@OrthodoxTalks

[@clivejames5058]

@dystopian-future. If it's of any help, I discovered on my mother's death-bed that I was the product of rape. It was a terrible shock but actually explained why my mother had been cold towards me all my life and not my siblings. After the initial trauma and through prayer I was able to forgive my mother unconditionally as well as myself (as I always thought it was me who had done something wrong). I have no thoughts for the perpetrator, who was a long dead Uncle but for my mother and myself, I found peace through lots of love and prayer and taking joy in my faith. It took several months but eventually I found I had no anger towards her and no open wound in myself. God Bless.

[@TheMasterandreas]

God bless you ☦️❤️

[@Terri7665]

thank you fr, in what way or how do our prayers help the departed?

[@OrthodoxTalks]

Simply put, our prayers are witnessing that we would like to see our departed relatives and friends with us in God’s Heavenly Kingdom. The prayer of the Church for them add even more witnesses to that. If the souls of the departed are longing for God as well then God can apply His mercy to those souls. Help is not possible to the ones that reject God.

[@Athonite]

Thank you, Fr. Ivan! I've seen a lot of spicy debates about the tollhouses. I admit, I lost some sleep thinking about them myself.

[@OrthodoxTalks]

Wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

[@genesiskeglar6372]

Yeah seriously

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

There are no debates! There are orthodox and there are protestants. Debate closed. Lazar Puhalo was deposed and is a heretic.

[@kevinjanghj]

Fr. Ivan, are there any places in Orthodox tradition where there is an understanding of the Particular Judgement as a life review, in which the soul accesses everything that he or she has committed in the body while alive? Near Death Experiences by Christian and non-believer alike often seem to have this motif of the life review, and some of those who saw it (either Christian before or after the NDE) report that they see other souls in extreme pain from the consequences of their sins, as if the life review was too much for them.

[@OrthodoxTalks]

In our Creed or Symbol of Faith there is no mention of what life after death is like. However, our tradition does have some ideas about it. In writings of the Holy Fathers (such as Saints John Chrysostom, John of Ladder, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian to name the few) the idea of a particular judgement is present. Our hagiography is also full of examples and Church hymnography reflects same idea, especially service for the departed. However, those are only images or how we think it possibly is. These images or understanding can vary in different traditional representations. Since there was no clear revelation about the immediate life after death we only speculate about it using that little scriptural references that we do have. It sure carries pedagogical meaning.

[@micahburnside2281]

Which church fathers first outlined the orthodox teachings about the soul after death?

[@letifrinette8360]

Hi father I would like to know whether married couples will still be together in the next life? I read that the perspective of the Orthodox Church is that marriage is eternal (in a spiritual sense). Is this correct?

[@WisdomSeeker369]

☦️🕊🔥📿

[@Arcadian1821]

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Jesus will not put demons above you. Christ is the judge.

[@JoyOfTheLORD.]

I don’t quite agree with the judgement theology about our soul. The only way to be in the presence of God is to be redeemed and in dwelt by the Holy Spirit. You need to be forgiven of all sin. According to scripture, when we pass from this life to the next, we will need to give an account for how we stewarded our life. However, the believer is not JUDGED by these things. We are judged by whether we believe on Jesus or not. The believer is seen as righteous by God because they have been marked by the Holy Spirit, and our faith is accounted to us as righteousness. So because of how salvation works, i don’t believe that the believer is judged based on their bad and good deeds, but that God will judge them as righteous. However, they will still need to give an account for their assignment in this life and how they stewarded what God gave them. This is how i believe it might be, but if i misunderstood what were saying, please explain so that i understand what you meant.

[@OrthodoxTalks]

I agree with what you said about our judgement. I don’t know if you saw this video Why there is going to be the Last Judgment kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKeTfZiIjpKprM0

[@Pilgrimsrummet]

From 20 years of rather thourough studies, I must say that the concept of reincarnation holds some deep truths to it. Please, if anyone haven't studied the topic in depth, I mean esoterically, then spare me any dogmatic points. Yes, glad you asked, I am a christian and Jesus did come in the flesh.

[@johnnyd2383]

Reincarnation is pagan teaching and has no place in Christianity.

[@Pilgrimsrummet]

Have you done full research?@@johnnyd2383

[@mrjustadude1]

It doesn't really matter if you like the idea or not based on 20 years of studies. It's a Heterodox opinion

[@Pilgrimsrummet]

@@mrjustadude1 Opinions are worth two dead flies. Truth is truth.

[@DANtheMANofSIPA]

Toll houses are not a heresy but we also should not be required to believe it

[@OrthodoxTalks]

Agree

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

Tollhouses are ORTHODOX AND NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO DENY THEM. NOTHING OF ORTHODOX TRADITION IS ALLOWED TO BE DENIED!

[@mmr1137]

​@@alexpanagiotis4706It is not "tradition". In order to become tradition it must be accepted by all Church fathers and also to be reccognised on some Ecumenical council. When St. Mark of Ephesus rejected catholic dogma about Purgatory during Council of Florence in 1449 he didn't say anything about aerial toll houses. So if aerial toll houses was considered serious Orthodox Church and St. Mark of Ephesus would mention that 100%.

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

@@mmr1137 IT WAS ACCEPTED BY ALL CHURCH FATHERS

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

@@mmr1137 St. Mark of Ephesus did not deny the mediate state of souls. The question was a created fire that purifies.

[@aknightwhosaysni2475]

"The dead know nothing" What is it people don't understand about that?

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

The dead know everything!

[@guyanehkeshishian5638]

That was written before Jesus Christ.

[@aknightwhosaysni2475]

So people don't die then. You both prefer to believe Satan's first lie.

[@aknightwhosaysni2475]

@alexpanagiotis4706 If the dead know everything, why does the bible say the dead know nothing. You need to explain your silly comment. Which recieved a silly heart ❤️ from channel

[@alexpanagiotis4706]

@@aknightwhosaysni2475 American protestant nonsense

[@MatthewFloor]

It’s appointed a man once to die and then the judgment Hebrews 9:27 I only trust the Bible

[@lauramatos1181]

How is this different from what the Orthodox tradition (the Church that gave you the Bible) says? This verse doesnt go into details so it’s not going against anything the Church says.

[@danbujor5991]

Bodies are just material elements, dirt. The life force that came from God return to Him, and saved souls wait in Paradise (next to the place for the devil's and followers) for the resurection.

[@danbujor5991]

I see the souls in front of God ONLY after the resurrection, NOT before. Definitely no biblical support for praying to save the dead.

[@josueinhan8436]

So you're missing texts like the Parable of Rich Man and Lazarus, the Souls praying to God under His altar, in the Book of Revelation; also you're ignoring what the Apostle Paul says here: "I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed." (Ph 1:23). Look that even in Paradise, the souls are yet before the face of the Lord, they are "with Christ" there.

[@OrthodoxTalks]

The Bible is a part of the same Holy Tradition of the Church as prayers for the dead.

[@mmr1137]

Can you give me Biblical reference dor that? As we know Jesus died, was in spiritual world and resurected on third day. And after he resurected he was 40 days with people before he went to heaven.

[@clivejames5058]

@danbujor5991 The New Testament does contain a plausible instance of prayer for the dead. After praying for the household of a man named Onesiphorus, the apostle Paul goes on to pray “may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day” (2 Tim. 1:18). Paul twice mentions “the household of Onesiphorus” (2 Tim. 1:16, 4:19), but does not greet him with the rest of his household and speaks of him only in the past tense. Many scholars have concluded that Onesiphorus had passed away and thus Paul was praying for the departed. There is also 2 Macc. 12:42.

[@joepavone3586]

@@clivejames5058 good points

[@danbujor5991]

Rethink that. The body has a sinful nature that works against us and God. Very, very wrong to say that OUR body will be resurrected. We will get a CELESTIAL perfect immortal body.