Hell is not a parable! (Fr. Ephraim of Arizona)

[@otelders]

Try this if English subtitles don't appear on your device: facebook.com/otElders/videos/822308528133311/

[@bitcoin4065]

Doamne ajuta frate,cunosti pe cineva din arizona?am o cunostinta care ar vrea sa se boteze la ortodoxie e in california,terogg

[@otelders]

@@bitcoin4065 Nu ar putea sa faca o vizita pana la manastire? :) Ar fi frumos... Address 4784 N St Josephs Way Florence, Arizona 85132 Phone [phone] Website: www.stanthonysmonastery.org/ Email: [e-mail]

[@bitcoin4065]

@@otelders ba da ,face 6 ore,gaseste preot englez acolo nu?

[@otelders]

​@@bitcoin4065 Multi dintre ei sunt americani convertiti... se descurca si cu engleza...

[@bitcoin4065]

@@otelders pai or fi convertiti dar ma gandesc ca au si teologie ortodoxa ..

[@fernandoxavier5688]

I wish we had more full homilies and talks by Saint Ephraim subtitled in English. The world just needs it.

[@nnamdichrisume9384]

Lord be merciful to me a sinner

[@Orthodoxi]

In our time we went straight into the abyss. But God is ready to retrieve us as soon as any one of us chooses to get out. Christ is born!

[@lanatormas7736]

Molitvama Svetih Otaca naših, Gospode Isuse Hriste Bože naš, pomiluj nas grešne. Amin! 🙏 With the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen! 🙏

[@UrielRw86]

You are a Saint , Elder Ephraim Memory Eternal

[@bramblecino]

Hahahahaha

[@bramblecino]

He’s dead. No disrespect but there’s no eternal. Even the universe will die

[@UrielRw86]

@@bramblecino lay off the dmt man its not good for your brain

[@sakellarioudimitris7439]

@@bramblecino Why are you laughing dude?

[@bramblecino]

Guy is funny the little I understand what he is saying. Old fruity old Greek man

[@shivabreathes]

I must admit that this is a trap I have fallen into, the trap of thinking that hell is somehow just an abstract concept designed to scare us, and is not a real place. This is basically just an excuse to continue sinning, or at least to feel less guilty about sinning. If, however, I contemplate what Saint Ephraim is saying here, that hell is a real place, then my God I will start repenting at once! 🙏

[@btm7173]

Παππουλη Εφραίμ την ευχή Σας.. Την ευχή του παππού Ιωσήφ Ησυχαστη να έχουμε... Χριστός ανέστη χαρά μου. Καλό παράδεισο 😇😇😇

[@DiverseKitty]

Wonderful, let us all understand and grow closer to God. Christ is in our midst!

[@heatherstub]

He is and ever shall be. God bless you and keep you. I hope you are well. Let's make the most of the rest of Great Lent and Holy Week, so we'll be able to celebrate Pascha with our hearts lifted and our souls lightened by His Grace.

[@DiverseKitty]

@@heatherstub Thank you Heather, I hope you are well too! My grandmother passed away three days ago. She was born Roman Catholic, became protestant as she attended a protestant church with her husband, and for the past 10 years or so continued to have more debilitating dimensia where she wasn't able to recognize me anymore. But what she seemed to keep was an enthusiasm for everything Godly I spoke to her about, like prayers and holy water and icons and the Bible. I feel an amount of confidence that God will have mercy on her, but if you could pray for her I would really appreciate it. Her name is Pat Archer. Her husband, Don Archer, needs prayers too, as he is completely heartbroken now that she's gone, and they were married over 50 years! And now, I don't think my family is going to allow a funeral because of the risk of contracting coronavirus. I want us to do it anyway but I don't have any say in the matter. So please, if you are willing, pray for them, that God may have mercy on them, forgive them, and comfort them, according to His ever-loving kindness.

[@FaithinChristCrucified]

Sophia! How beautiful to hear the Greek and read the English underneath. Thank you.

[@paulwilliams9207]

And so our society is full of deceit. Lord have mercy Memory eternal memory eternal memory eternal. Wise words as always. 💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

[@PHASES_OFFICIAL]

Hell is real. Do good in your lives, do the best you can. Be the light to others in this world.

[@АлександрАнисимов-э5п]

Спасибо.

[@danavoivod4229]

Amen!Sfintiilor ajutati-ne rugam!

[@nicodimos1654]

Hristos a Înviat!!!

[@spynu85]

Adevarat a înviat !

[@bestgamersrsic]

Bless us, Jesus, for we confess Your Greatness !

[@anastasiatsatsakouli6181]

Yes there exists in our sick society today an idea that through mental training the conscience which allows guilt and therefore longing to come back to God through repentance to be ignored. Therefore immorality is rife Kyrie eleison 🙏 Kyrie eleison 🙏 Kyrie eleison

[@AleksandarAleksiev_]

Thank you very much! Thank you!

[@siriojanicolaev3389]

Slava lui Dumnezeu !!!

[@georgehage905]

Yes, we can think of and believe what we want about hell, but hell as is heaven goes beyond mere belief, thought, and consciousness. Vain are the intellects who see only this earth's knowledge rather than the Light of the knowlede of the very God manifested to his in the flesh and matter of Jesus Christ.

[@Murex5511]

Memory Eternal Geronda ☦️☦️☦️

[@fcrbcip1726]

Dumnezeu să-l odihnească!

[@elenihelenmelb]

Thank you+ Glory be to God for all things+ Hell was created for Satan and his demons - they themselves fell from God - Satan chose to oppose God and choose his ‘own’ dominion because he had lost the AGAPE -(Α γαπ Ω - love - God is LOVE+ Hell is a place AWAY from God - there where you will be VOID of love and what you chose in this earthly life of how you lived is where ones eternal soul will belong - if one is repented with true tears and humble prayers and walking the path of Christs teachings then Gods Mercy applies to ALL that truly seek it, not artificial tears or repentance but TRUE humble soft heart - PRIDE was the sin of Satan(lucifer) and then it overtook him in all his thoughts - Satan hated God for creating Man and sought to destroy Gods children - deception and it begins in the mind(NOUS) those evil or negative or proud thoughts in our mind are actual whispers of demons - take no notice but -sign yourselves with the Cross and pray, those thoughts will disappear - Glory be to God for all things+++ ICXC NIKA

[@1214gooner]

This isn’t the orthodox teaching. Hell is not a place. The fire of God blesses those who love Him, and torments those who’ve refused Him. The latter is hell.

[@Alex-hz2xg]

@@1214gooner Hell is separation from God John 15:4-6 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

[@Yasen.Dobrev]

@@1214gooner Hello. Hell is not only a state of the soul. It is a state of the soul indeed, too. But the Encyclical of the Local Council of Constantinople, 1722 says that paradise and hell are places, i.e. they are created: "We the godly, following the truth and turning away from such innovations, confess and accept two places for the souls of the dead, paradise and hell,for the righteous and sinners, as the holy Scriptures teach us. We do not accept a third place, a purgatory, by any means, since neither Scripture nor the holy Fathers have taught us any such thing. However, we believe that these two places have many abodes. ...None of the teachers of the Church have handed down or taught such a purgatory, but they all speak of one single place of punishment, Hades, just as they teach about one luminous and bright place, Paradise. But both places also have different abodes as we said : and since the souls of the holy and righteous go indisputably to Paradise and those of the sinners go to hell , of whom the profane and those who have sinned unforgivably are punished forever and those who have offended forgivably and moderately hope to gain freedom through the unspeakable Mercy of God . For on behalf of such souls, that is of the moderately and forgivably sinful, there are in the Church prayers, supplications. Liturgies, as well as memorial services and almsgiving, that those souls may receive the favour and comfort. Thus when the Church prays for the souls of those who are lying asleep, we hope that there will be comfort for them from God, but not through fire and purgatory, but through Divine Love for mankind, whereby the infinite goodness of God is seen." (As found in "Life After Death" by Met. Hierotheos of Nafpkatos, pg. 160-162,further referenced from with note 23 pg. 161: John Romanides: Texts of Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology, ed. Pournaras, Thessaloniki 1982, p. 574-576). It is important to be mentioned that the encyclical says that souls of those who have are punished in hell for having sinned unforgiveably (in reference to Matthew 12:32), will be punished forever in hell, i.e. punished also after the physical resurrection and the unification of the soul with the body.

[@sandachera9471]

Felicitări

[@pawelsawicki7003]

Very interesting

[@alexandermarkus9587]

Some Greeks today say that Hell is a state and not a place

[@milkamustakylytar5204]

E f c h a r i s t o . some decades ago, i thought hell is only here, at earth. But now i'm convinced, God-divorced spiritual-humankind is having it's eternal hell ever. = to them, Christ was not Crucified & then Surrected. - i think now : in Theory, what ever might be godservant's or godservantess' religious orientation ; - the Key is humble oneself totally. => So all that is left from one, is Christ . Because Christ is All we got, weather we have faith in Him, or anti-faith in Him.

[@srb.bln36]

Milka Mustakylytär so how does one get out of hell? You said Christ is everything if we follow with Christ everything will be okay, but you said we are in hell for eternity what does it give us to be with Christ?

[@yeshuaistheking]

Pray for me. I want to join the orthodox church but I don’t know how to overcome this veneration of saints thing. It seems like idle worship to me.

[@otelders]

We are a big family, so it's natural to ask our departed mother or grandfather to help us with their prayers...

[@SpyridonJohn1633]

Wait, didn't he ask St. Joseph if he could bless him to go to America and start monasteries? Then when Joseph denied him this blessing, didn't he go off and start monasteries anyways, thus disobey him? And he never repented, right? Which is why all his monasteries are Greek ethno- philotystic, and his "abbotts" will deny the eucharist for literal years? That just for something as small as a flippant bad thought about someone brought about by provoked anger, one could be denied the Eucharist by them for 3 full years? Isn't also true that all his monasteries are nothing more than over crowded sweatshops where you could have 3-4 Monks in one cell. Where each monk has a quota of whatever they've been tasked with, and if they don't make their quotas, they're starved, denied Communion, or even cast out of the Monasteries? I only ask because when I was a monk, our monastery was visited by ex-Ephraim nuns from Quebec who told us all these things. And when they were excommunicated by the Ephraimite monastery, they went to the OCA, and were told by the OCA about his disobedience, and other scandals. Was I given false information by disgruntled nuns, or is everyone calling Ephraim a Saint just diluded by his illusions?

[@daisyduck4477]

True hell is outer darkness

[@ionikiosslone6777]

The First Resurrection 11/15/04 From The Lord, Our God and Savior The Word of The Lord Spoken to Timothy For All Those Who Have Ears to Hear (Regarding the state of the dead[1]) "Thus says The Lord: All people sleep in death, both those who have done good and those who have done evil. In no way are they among the living, nor are they aware. They know nothing at all, for all their thoughts have perished with them.[2] All remain at rest, until the day I call them to awake; some to the first, the resurrection of life, and many more to the second, the resurrection of judgment.[3] Blessed and holy are those who take part in the first resurrection. For over them the second death[4] has no power, as it is written.[5]" ~ "Yet The Messiah did indeed pay the penalty for your sins, even unto death... He is risen, the firstborn from the dead;[6] by which you are also delivered from death, if you so choose to receive of His life, if you so choose to embrace Him as He truly is! For He alone will stretch out His hand in that day And lift His beloved from the grave in which all must sleep, Save those who remain awake at His coming, as it is written[7]... And behold, the time is indeed coming, when all Who are in the grave will hear His voice and come out... Those who have done good, to the resurrection of life... And those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment[8]... I AM THE LORD." www.answersonlygodcangive.com/Regarding_the_First_and_Second_Resurrection

[@2esh4]

"... hell of souls is at the level of consciousness, and it is not a reality, a hypostatic one." Doesn't this sort of contradict the theory of theosis, which is common in Orthodox Church

[@otelders]

Usually a theological error has broader implications... that's why Holy Fathers were very careful with this.

[@coolguyt657]

I’m Greek orthodox and I thought we don’t believe in hell I’m confused?? Someone please help!!

[@coolguyt657]

@@JackHill1453 I believe in hell myself by the way!!!

[@ambeseat]

You should speak to several Orthodox Priest. Remember in the Bible the story of the rich man and Lazarus. How Lazarus told the rich man there is a big chasm between you and me. Lazarus in heaven, the rich man in hell.

[@tessalogan586]

What's dogma?

[@m.oconnor7048]

White text for subtitles, please! The subtitles are very difficult to read.

[@nektariosh3470]

How many clergy teach this anymore? Some make it seem a little more than angst. Lord have mercy

[@pana9366]

Why Father Tomas Hopko explains this differently then? There are so many different opinions on this topic. I am so confused.

[@otelders]

Safest way is to ask our spiritual father, otherwise we might get confused in these sensitive topics...

[@pana9366]

@@otelders I agree and brw I don’t have one. 🤯 I think that there is no explanation for this. It seems like everyone has different views. Thanks btw.

[@petrochemicals8]

You sin with your body so according God's judgement and absolute justice you shall suffer with your body... Otherwise we should be angels without body in order to suffer with just our conscious. People confuse the "middle state" which is just after death ,just soul without body with the hell or paradise. Conception - Middle State( biological death ) - Ressurection (full body uncorrupted now) So according orthodox teachings hell and suffering refers to the eternal uncorrupted body AFTER the common Ressurection by Jesus Christ.

[@ionikiosslone6777]

SATAN IS THE TORMENTOR! Thus by your own mouths, you have unwittingly called your Satan your ways and your doings! Stop profaning My name and desecrating the Glory of My majesty, for you have surely blasphemed The Spirit of Truth! Again I say, repent, and have greater understanding of My Mercy, which endures forever. For The Son of Man did indeed sleep in the heart of the earth, His tomb, for three days and three nights [18], yet by no means did He descend into the evils of man’s imaginings! [19] Become again a child of God, and seek to know Me as I truly am. Beloved ones, the eternal state of My punishment [20] is the second death [21], the grave from which one shall never be raised. For they have been cast out, forever separated from God and their part in life. So then those under condemnation are dead. In no way are they part of the living, nor are they living in torment; they know nothing at all. [22] Their inheritance is lost, they have been blotted out, once again [23] Thus all those who believe in The Son And obey His voice shall rise and live... Yet those who hate The Son will not see Life, For the wrath of God remains upon them [24]... Says The Lord. ~ (The Volumes of Truth, Volume 3) The Father and The Son - ARE ECHAD --- ONE ---- THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES THROUGH BOTH!!!

[@LogicAndMath]

Orthodox elders say that Jesus doesn't send anyone to hell, yet if Hell is not a parable, why does Jesus say many times in the New Testament about a man who doesn't do his master's will: "tie his hands and feet and throw him into hell where fire doesn't extinguish and worms don't subside" , yet it's ironic that Orthodoxy teaches there's no fire in hell and there can be no worms in the transcendetal world either, so clearly hell is parable according to Jesus words, y'all just afraid of being sceptic and not asking questions, just because some prolific elder said something, doesn't mean everything is true, many saints were wrong in the past about their future-telling.

[@mememan6174]

Is that a woman's voice?

[@otelders]

It's the voice of Elder Ephraim...

[@katherine3486]

Is this Elder Ephraim himself? It sounds like a woman, a Nun.

[@otelders]

Yes... This is his voice.

[@Razamaniac]

and this is a good chance to tell you that you must not speak for people like that, especially for people you cannot reach (not just you) like the saints of Christ. Once a woman said to a friend of hers for Father Serapheim in secret: he wears his woolen jacket like a woman and laughed. When Father Serapheim came to ask who is next for confession, he looked at her and said: ''Leave, you are not worthy''. Because she didn't go to him to confess with a spirit of rependance but to mock and gossip and that was a blasphemy to the holy mistery. We must never talk like that.

[@Razamaniac]

@JP Homestead and child like character as well

[@qwikss4469]

@@Razamaniac wow, Fr. Seraphim didn’t even hear her, yet he knew. God given holiness.

[@Razamaniac]

@@qwikss4469 Saint Paisios said for Fr Serafim that he is the true teacher, *''you have a whole teacher there and you come to me ?''*

[@ajaydalaya2195]

Hell is just a state of mind. If you do a mistake and realize it, the pain it gets you itself is hellish. Do good things in life as its your true nature. Waking up and being aware is the moto and not doing good things just out of fear of hell. It's sad, some saints believe everything in the Bible and quran and Torah as it is without interpreting it intellectually.

[@katherinegeorge2400]

Your interpretation has not done you well at all, you are fooling yourself. They are real places.

[@Altegore]

@@katherinegeorge2400 If hell is a real place (and not a consequential state of mind and heart due to our countless godless decisions) - how can you love such a monstrosity foolishly called "father"? How can you bring yourself to love such a vision of a "father" where he's basically throwing you away to a pack of rabbid pitbulls just cause you aren't according to his will? Sounds like dumb bullshit to me but if it's true and you are correct? Then such a "father" deserves no love at all.

[@katherinegeorge2400]

@@Altegore What you are saying is dumb bullshit. Maybe if you would read spiritual Orthodox books you would understand. Meanwhile you make up things you want to believe in.

[@Altegore]

@@katherinegeorge2400 So, be it true or not, you accept a possibility where, say... your child is in a dungeon forever, in constant torture by demons out of a worst nightmare??? Or in a physical lake of fire? And you will be singing songs to God someplace in the sky while your child is being ripped apart endlessly over and over by monsters??? And you will be at peace as all this is taking place FOREVER?

[@katherinegeorge2400]

@@Altegore You need to read more about the after life. Talk to your priest, better yet read what the Saints say. Read Orthodox books.

[@bayreuth79]

I do not have much respect for religion motivated by fear. The Church Fathers believed in Universal Salvation. Read Ilaria Ramelli's scholarly book to realise this.

[@bezagebremedhine5102]

What is universal salvation. Is this the new kind of western"spiritual philosophy " the bible is clear that if we don't believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ is The Son of God and that He died for us and Resurrected, there will be consequences. Off course for nonbelievers who never had the chance to learn the truth saint Paul said they will be judged based on their law. Since most western Christianity is based on self pleasure and I can do all things and still get what I want mentality, most in the West won't accept it. That is why most in US are changing religion like a fashion each season, until they find the "spiritual" pathway that submits to their passion and philosophy. Please don't bring such false utopia to our Orthodoxy.

[@bayreuth79]

@@bezagebremedhine5102 No, it is not. Universal salvation (apokatastasis) goes back to the Church Fathers. There is no doubt whatsoever that St Gregory of Nyssa, for example, believed in universal salvation, as indeed most of the Greek fathers did. It is also taught in scripture, which is precisely where St Gregory of Nyssa derived his doctrine. The Orthodox Church is based on the theology of the Greek Church Fathers, so you can't ignore the consensus among the fathers regarding universal salvation. Read Ilaria Ramelli's book (900 pages) which documents the fact that universal salvation was orthodoxy for most church fathers. The irony is that the notion of an eternal hell is a _Western_ notion that came in through Augustine, which was based on a Latin mistranslation of the Greek NT.

[@garrettolson4137]

Brother, this is categorically untrue. The apokatastasis was condemned by the Fifth Ecumenical Council - read their canons. It is true that some of the Fathers believed in something like this, but these are opinions not shared by the Orthodox Church at large. Merely naming some book as though it represents the teaching of the Orthodox Church does not make it so. This teaching (also sometimes called Origenism, after Origen) is condemned not just by the Fifth Ecumenical Council, but by many fathers (St. John Chrysostom, St. John Climacus, etc) as demonic, precisely because it completely undercuts the primary teaching of Our Lord - to REPENT. If all are saved, there is no need to repent. All of the Fathers believed that God will do everything in His power to save us from this terrible eternal reality, but that He will never override the incredible gift of our free will. God wishes to have a relationship of love and complete communion with us - what kind of love is it that forces itself upon the object of love? What kind of love is it that overrides the free choice of a person who doesn't want anything to do with you? This is not love at all - it is rape. Communion requires the free choice of those entering into communion. God seeks this communion with us with all His heart, but he will not force Himself upon us. He leaves us to freely choose to commune with Him - it is truly said that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Do not make Our Lord into a rapist. Please repent of this terrible blasphemy. May God have mercy on us.

[@bayreuth79]

@@garrettolson4137 You understand neither apokatastasis nor the Fifth Ecumenical Council, which is why so many modern orthodox theologians believe in it (John Behr, Andrew Louth, Kallistos Ware, D B Hart, and so on). The Council did not condemn the Patristic doctrine of apokatastasis and theologians who believe in universal salvation also believe in hell (but hell as a place of temporary but painful purification rather than vindictive punishment). The Greek Church Fathers believed in it: You only have to consult their writings.

[@bayreuth79]

@@garrettolson4137 I would advise you to cease being an orthodox fundamentalist. It does you no credit. The fact is that Gregory of Nyssa- and many other fathers- taught universal salvation. Its a _Patristic_ doctrine.