| For if the prophets were able to know things that had not yet happened, by means of that indwelling of God in their minds, limited though it was, shall not the immortal saints know things that have already happened, when God shall be all in all? 1Corinthians 15:28 The seed, then, and the name of the saints shall remain in that blessedness, – the seed, to wit, of which John says, And his seed remains in him; 1 John 3:9 and the name, of which it was said through Isaiah himself, I will give them an everlasting name. Isaiah 56:5 And there shall be to them month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath, as if it were said, Moon after moon, and rest upon rest, both of which they shall themselves be when they shall pass from the old shadows of time into the new lights of eternity. The worm that dies not, and the fire that is not quenched, which constitute the punishment of the wicked, are differently interpreted by different people. For some refer both to the body, others refer both to the soul; while others again refer the fire literally to the body, and the worm figuratively to the soul, which seems the more credible idea. But the present is not the time to discuss this difference, for we have undertaken to occupy this book with the last judgment, in which the good and the bad are separated: their rewards and punishments we shall more carefully discuss elsewhere. Chapter 23.– What Daniel Predicted Regarding the Persecution of Antichrist, the Judgment of God, and the Kingdom of the Saints. Daniel prophesies of the last judgment in such a way as to indicate that Antichrist shall first come, and to carry on his description to the eternal reign of the saints. For when in prophetic vision he had seen four beasts, signifying four kingdoms, and the fourth conquered by a certain king, who is recognized as Antichrist, and after this the eternal kingdom of the Son of man, that is to say, of Christ, he says, My spirit was terrified, I Daniel in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me, etc. |
| But if any one contends that those days of the tree of life mentioned by the prophet Isaiah are the present times of the Church of Christ, and that Christ Himself is prophetically called the Tree of Life, because He is Wisdom, and of wisdom Solomon says, It is a tree of life to all who embrace it; Proverbs 3:18 and if they maintain that our first parents did not pass years in paradise, but were driven from it so soon that none of their children were begotten there, and that therefore that time cannot be alluded to in words which run, as in the primitive days, and as in former years, I forbear entering on this question, lest by discussing everything I become prolix, and leave the whole subject in uncertainty. For I see another meaning, which should keep us from believing that a restoration of the primitive days and former years of the legal sacrifices could have been promised to us by the prophet as a great boon. For the animals selected as victims under the old law were required to be immaculate, and free from all blemish whatever, and symbolized holy men free from all sin, the only instance of which character was found in Christ. As, therefore, after the judgment those who are worthy of such purification shall be purified even by fire, and shall be rendered thoroughly sinless, and shall offer themselves to God in righteousness, and be indeed victims immaculate and free from all blemish whatever, they shall then certainly be, as in the primitive days, and as in former years, when the purest victims were offered, the shadow of this future reality. For there shall then be in the body and soul of the saints the purity which was symbolized in the bodies of these victims. Then, with reference to those who are worthy not of cleansing but of damnation, He says, And I will draw near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evildoers and against adulterers; and after enumerating other damnable crimes, He adds, For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed. It is as if He said, Though your fault has changed you for the worse, and my grace has changed you for the better, I am not changed. And he says that He Himself will be a witness, because in His judgment He needs no witnesses; and that He will be swift, either because He is to come suddenly, and the judgment which seemed to lag shall be very swift by His unexpected arrival, or because He will convince the consciences of men directly and without any prolix harangue. For, as it is written, in the thoughts of the wicked His examination shall be conducted. Wisdom 1:9 And the apostle says, The thoughts accusing or else excusing, in the day in which God shall judge the hidden things of men, according to my gospel in Jesus Christ. Romans 2:15–16 Thus, then, shall the Lord be a swift witness, when He shall suddenly bring back into the memory that which shall convince and punish the conscience. |
| Chapter 29.– Of the Coming of Elias Before the Judgment, that the Jews May Be Converted to Christ by His Preaching and Explanation of Scripture. After admonishing them to give heed to the law of Moses, as he foresaw that for a long time to come they would not understand it spiritually and rightly, he went on to say, And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the great and signal day of the Lord come: and he shall turn the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his next of kin, lest I come and utterly smite the earth. Malachi 4:5–6 It is a familiar theme in the conversation and heart of the faithful, that in the last days before the judgment the Jews shall believe in the true Christ, that is, our Christ, by means of this great and admirable prophet Elias who shall expound the law to them. For not without reason do we hope that before the coming of our Judge and Saviour Elias shall come, because we have good reason to believe that he is now alive; for, as Scripture most distinctly informs us, 2 Kings 2:11 he was taken up from this life in a chariot of fire. When, therefore, he has come, he shall give a spiritual explanation of the law which the Jews at present understand carnally, and shall thus turn the heart of the father to the son, that is, the heart of fathers to their children; for the Septuagint translators have frequently put the singular for the plural number. And the meaning is, that the sons, that is, the Jews, shall understand the law as the fathers, that is, the prophets, and among them Moses himself, understood it. For the heart of the fathers shall be turned to their children when the children understand the law as their fathers did; and the heart of the children shall be turned to their fathers when they have the same sentiments as the fathers. The Septuagint used the expression, and the heart of a man to his next of kin, because fathers and children are eminently neighbors to one another. Another and a preferable sense can be found in the words of the Septuagint translators, who have translated Scripture with an eye to prophecy, the sense, viz., that Elias shall turn the heart of God the Father to the Son, not certainly as if he should bring about this love of the Father for the Son, but meaning that he should make it known, and that the Jews also, who had previously hated, should then love the Son who is our Christ. |
| The decision to grant autocephaly to parts of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was often taken by the Holy Synod or councils of this church. Thus, the Patriarchate of Constantinople granted autocephalous status to the churches of Greece (1850), Serbia (1879), Rumania (1885) and Albania (1937) which were once under its jurisdiction. Autocephaly throughout history has been granted, apart from at councils, not only by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but by other churches. Thus, in the fifth century the autocephaly of the Church of Georgia was granted by the Greek Patriarchate of Antioch, while in the twentieth century the Moscow Patriarchate granted autocephaly to the Polish Orthodox Church (1948), the Orthodox Church of Czechoslovakia (1951) and the Orthodox Church in America (1970). In 2022 the Macedonian Orthodox Church of the Ohrid archdiocese received autocephaly from the Serbian Orthodox Church. His Holiness the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras in a letter to the locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne of the Russian Orthodox Church the metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna Pimen of 24 th June 1970 wrote: “Special canons which precisely define all things concerning autocephaly are not to be found within ecclesiastical legislation. The granting of autocephaly remains within the competency of the entire Church and in no way can be considered to be the right of any autocephalous church. The final judgment on the issue of autocephaly belongs to a church-wide council representing all of the local Orthodox Churches and particularly to an Ecumenical Council.” The notion of the order of granting autocephaly as the conciliar affair of the ‘entire Church’ formed the basis of a draft document on autocephaly and the means of granting it which was examined at the inter-Orthodox preparatory commission in 1994 and at the fourth pan-Orthodox preconciliar meeting of 2009. The draft document conditionally laid out the order of granting autocephalous status thus: 1. Through the consent of the local council of the mother church that part of it is to receive autocephaly; 2. The Ecumenical Patriarch is to obtain the consensus of all the local Orthodox Churches unanimously expressed at their councils; 3. On the basis of the consent of the Mother Church and a pan-Orthodox consensus, autocephaly is to be proclaimed by means of issuing a Tomos which “is signed by the Ecumenical Patriarch and attested by the signatures upon it of the blessed primates of the holy autocephalous churches invited to do so by the Ecumenical Patriarch.” This last provision did not definitively set out the order of signing the actual Tomos, even though this in no way lessened the importance of the agreements reached on the remaining provisions. |
| As to the expression, He shall call the heaven above, as the saints and the righteous are rightly called heaven, no doubt this means what the apostle says, We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 For if we take the bare literal sense, how is it possible to call the heaven above, as if the heaven could be anywhere else than above? And the following expression, And the earth to judge His people, if we supply only the words, He shall call, that is to say, He shall call the earth also, and do not supply above, seems to give us a meaning in accordance with sound doctrine, the heaven symbolizing those who will judge along with Christ, and the earth those who shall be judged; and thus the words, He shall call the heaven above, would not mean, He shall catch up into the air, but He shall lift up to seats of judgment. Possibly, too, He shall call the heaven, may mean, He shall call the angels in the high and lofty places, that He may descend with them to do judgment; and He shall call the earth also would then mean, He shall call the men on the earth to judgment. But if with the words and the earth we understand not only He shall call, but also above, so as to make the full sense be, He shall call the heaven above, and He shall call the earth above, then I think it is best understood of the men who shall be caught up to meet Christ in the air, and that they are called the heaven with reference to their souls, and the earth with reference to their bodies. Then what is to judge His people, but to separate by judgment the good from the bad, as the sheep from the goats? Then he turns to address the angels: Gather His saintstogether unto Him. For certainly a matter so important must be accomplished by the ministry of angels. And if we ask who the saints are who are gathered unto Him by the angels, we are told, They who make a covenant with Him over sacrifices. This is the whole life of the saints, to make a covenant with God over sacrifices. |
| Chapter 21.– Utterances of the Prophet Isaiah Regarding the Resurrection of the Dead and the Retributive Judgment. The prophet Isaiah says, The dead shall rise again, and all who were in the graves shall rise again; and all who are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew which is from You is their health, and the earth of the wicked shall fall. Isaiah 26:19 All the former part of this passage relates to the resurrection of the blessed; but the words, the earth of the wicked shall fall, is rightly understood as meaning that the bodies of the wicked shall fall into the ruin of damnation. And if we would more exactly and carefully scrutinize the words which refer to the resurrection of the good, we may refer to the first resurrection the words, the dead shall rise again, and to the second the following words, and all who were in the graves shall rise again. And if we ask what relates to those saints whom the Lord at His coming shall find alive upon earth, the following clause may suitably be referred to them; All who are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew which is from You is their health. By health in this place it is best to understand immortality. For that is the most perfect health which is not repaired by nourishment as by a daily remedy. In like manner the same prophet, affording hope to the good and terrifying the wicked regarding the day of judgment, says, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will flow down upon them as a river of peace, and upon the glory of the Gentiles as a rushing torrent; their sons shall be carried on the shoulders, and shall be comforted on the knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so shall I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall rise up like a herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known by His worshippers, and He shall threaten the contumacious. For, behold, the Lord shall come as a fire, and as a whirlwind His chariots, to execute vengeance with indignation, and wasting with a flame of fire. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Eschatology WENDY PAULA NICHOLSON Eschatology (from the Greek, “doctrine of the last things”) is concerned with mysteries which will be revealed at the Judgment. However, in the Orthodox faith, eschatology is a reality now as well as in times to come. The uncreated energies of God transform the created order at any point in time, fulfilling the promise of the kingdom even before the end of our age. It is, above all, in the church and its sacraments, particularly in the divine liturgy, that this fulfillment is realized, when uncreated grace breaks through the limits of our fallen temporal existence, offering healing and a foretaste of Eternity. As Vladimir Lossky put it: “Eschatology becomes present at the moment when man becomes capable of cooperating in the divine plan” (Lossky 1989: 224). The extent to which this cooperation is reached in the created realm is believed to determine the experience of entry into the uncreated realm of God after death: what will become an individual’s judgment of paradise or hell. Orthodoxy practices a notable level of caution in interpreting the biblical apocalyptic narratives. It is generally accepted that apocalyptic literature uses coded expressions equal to the mystery of the age to come, something beyond our experience. The practice of Nipsis (watchfulness) and the “remembrance of death” are ways in which the majority of the faithful will more profitably heed Christ’s instruction: “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” ( Mt. 24.42 ) After the time of St. Augustine (5th century), the church came to regard “chili- asm” or “millenarianism” (the idea that before the Last Judgment Christ will return for a thousand year earthly reign), as an error in the interpretation of Revelation 20.4. Augustine rejects the idea as “carnal” and interprets the thousand year reign as the current age of the church, over which Christ already reigns with the saints (Augustine 1993: 426–31). There is scant evidence that chiliasm has ever been condemned by an ecumenical council (pace Pomazansky 1983: 344) and the idea is present in the writings of early Latin fathers, as well as in St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, and St. Hippolytus. However, by reducing the kingdom to a finite duration analogous to an earthly regime, chiliasm runs counter to the Orthodox belief and experience that we are already invited to enjoy uninterrupted and unending participation in God’s uncreated grace. |
| The debate between Greeks and Latins, in which Mark was the main Greek spokesman, showed a radical difference of perspective. While the Latins took for granted their legalistic approach to divine justicewhich, according to them, requires a retribution for every sinful actthe Greeks interpreted sin less in terms of the acts committed than in terms of a moral and spiritual disease which was to be healed by divine forbearance and love. The Latins also emphasized the idea of an individual judgment by God of each soul, a judgment which distributes the souls into three categories: the just, the wicked, and those in a middle categorywho need to be «purified» by fire. The Greeks, meanwhile, without denying a particular judgment after death or agreeing on the existence of the three categories, maintained that neither the just nor the wicked will attain their final state of either bliss or condemnation before the last day. Both sides agreed that prayers for the departed are necessary and helpful, but Mark of Ephesus insisted that even the just need them; he referred, in particular, to the Eucharistic canon of Chrysostom " " s liturgy, which offers the «bloodless sacrifice» for «patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and every righteous spirit made perfect in faith,» and even for the Virgin Mary herself. Obviously he understood the state of the blessed, not as a legal and static justification, but as a never-ending ascent, into which the entire communion of saintsthe Church in heaven and the Church on earthhas been initiated in Christ. 455 In the communion of the Body of Christ, all members of the Church, living or dead, are interdependent and united by ties of love and mutual concern; thus, the prayers of the Church on earth and the intercession of the saints in heaven can effectively help all sinners, i.e., all men, to get closer to God. This communion of saints, however, is still in expectation of the ultimate fulfillment of the parousia and of the general resurrection, when a decisive, though mysterious, landmark will be reached for each individual destiny. |
| Now, the question arises: Is the distinction between “Being” and “Acting” in God, or, in other terms, between the Divine “Essence” and “Energy”, a genuine and ontological distinction – in re ipsa; or is it merely a mental or logical distinction, as it were, κατ πνοιαν, which should not be interpreted objectively, lest the Simplicity of the Divine Being is compromised. 36 There cannot be the slightest doubt that for St. Athanasius it was a real and ontological difference. Otherwise his main argument against the Arians would have been invalidated and destroyed. Indeed, the mystery remains. The very Being of God is “incomprehensible” for the human intellect: this was the common conviction of the Greek Fathers in the Fourth century – the Cappadocians, St. John Chrysostom, and others. And yet there is always ample room for understanding. Not only do we distinguish between “Being” and “Will”; but it is not the same thing, even for God, “to be” and “to act”. This was the deepest conviction of St. Athanasius. The Patristic Age and Eschatology: An Introduction This article originally appeared in Studio, Patristica, Vol. II, ed. Kurt Aland and F. L. Cross (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1956), 235 250. Reprinted by permission of the author I Four “last things” are traditionally listed: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. These four are “the last things of man.” And there are four “last things” of mankind: the Last Day, the Resurrection of the Flesh, the Final Judgment, and the End of the World. 37 The major item, however, is missing in this listing, namely “the Last Adam”, Christ Himself, and His Body, the Church. For indeed Eschatology is not just one particular section of the Christian theological system, but rather its basis and foundation, its guiding and inspiring principle, or, as it were, the climate of the whole of Christian thinking. Christianity is essentially eschatological, and the Church is an “eschatological community”, since she is the New Testament, the ultimate and the final, and, consequently, “the last”. |
| For he says that the Lord Himself shall come as a fire, to those, that is to say, to whom His coming shall be penal. By His chariots (for the word is plural) we suitably understand the ministration of angels. And when he says that all flesh and all the earth shall be judged with His fire and sword, we do not understand the spiritual and holy to be included, but the earthly and carnal, of whom it is said that they mind earthly things, Philippians 3:19 and to be carnally minded is death, Romans 8:6 and whom the Lord calls simply flesh when He says, My Spirit shall not always remain in these men, for they are flesh. Genesis 6:3 As to the words, Many shall be wounded by the Lord, this wounding shall produce the second death. It is possible, indeed, to understand fire, sword, and wound in a good sense. For the Lord said that He wished to send fire on the earth. Luke 12:49 And the cloven tongues appeared to them as fire when the Holy Spirit came. Acts 2:3 And our Lord says, I am not come to send peace on earth, but a sword. Matthew 10:34 And Scripture says that the word of God is a doubly sharp sword, Hebrews 4:12 on account of the two edges, the two Testaments. And in the Song of Songs the holy Church says that she is wounded with love, Song of Songs 2:5 – pierced, as it were, with the arrow of love. But here, where we read or hear that the Lord shall come to execute vengeance, it is obvious in what sense we are to understand these expressions. After briefly mentioning those who shall be consumed in this judgment, speaking of the wicked and sinners under the figure of the meats forbidden by the old law, from which they had not abstained, he summarily recounts the grace of the new testament, from the first coming of the Saviour to the last judgment, of which we now speak; and herewith he concludes his prophecy. For he relates that the Lord declares that He is coming to gather all nations, that they may come and witness His glory. Isaiah 66:18 For, as the apostle says, All have sinned and are in want of the glory of God.Romans 3:23 And he says that He will do wonders among them, at which they shall marvel and believe in Him; and that from them He will send forth those that are saved into various nations, and distant islands which have not heard His name nor seen His glory, and that they shall declare His glory among the nations, and shall bring the brethren of those to whom the prophet was speaking, i.e., shall bring to the faith under God the Father the brethren of the elect Israelites; and that they shall bring from all nations an offering to the Lord on beasts of burden and waggons (which are understood to mean the aids furnished by God in the shape of angelic or human ministry), to the holy city Jerusalem, which at present is scattered over the earth, in the faithful saints. |
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