My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
CONDEMNED TO HELL (GEHENNAH) FOR ETERNITY
The Lord said, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better
for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go
hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched–‘where
Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:42-44).
Depicting in the brightest and most joyful features the Eternal Life of the Righteous after the Universal Judgment, the word of God speaks with the same positiveness and certainty concerning the Eternal torments of evil men. “Depart from Me, ye cursed , into Everlasting fire,” the Son of Man will say on the Day of Judgment, “and these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:41, 46). It is vivid how in the Holy Scripture portrays hell (gehennah) as a terrible place of suffering. Our Lord spoke frequently on horrific conditions in gehennah where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The holy Apostle John the Theologian in Revelation referred to it as “a lake of fire” (Revelation 19:30). Saint John Damascene says, “Sinners will be given over to everlasting fire, which will NOT be a material fire such as we are accustomed to, but A FIRE SUCH AS GOD MIGHT KNOW.”
Saint John Chrysostom comments, “that many are terrified only of gehennah; but I think that the deprivation of that glory (of the Kingdom of God) IS A TORMENT MORE CRUEL THAN GEHENNA” (Homily 23 on Matthew). “This deprivation of good things,” he reflects in a different place, ‘will cause such torment, such sorrow and oppression, that even if no punishment awaited those who sin here, it in itself (THIS DEPRIVATION) can torment and disturb our souls more powerfully than the torments of gehenna… I think that he who is deprived of it should weep not so much over the torments of gehenna as over being deprived of the good things of heaven, for this alone is the cruelest of all punishments” (Homily 1, to Theodore).
The Church, basing itself on the word of God, acknowledges the torments of gehenna to be eternal and unending, and therefore it condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Synod the FALSE TEACHING of the Origenists that the demons and impious people would suffer in hell only for a certain definite time, and then would be restored to their original condition of innocence (apokatastasis in Greek). The condemnation at the Universal Judgment is called in the book of Revelation of Saint John the Theologian the “second death” (Revelation 20:14). Saint Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, meditating on the terrible punishment of hell, THAT IS THE DEPRIVATION OF MAN FROM BEING IN COMMUNION WITH GOD, writes: O miserable sinner! So is it a small loss, is it a small sorrow to lose God Who is all sweetness, all joy, all desire and all insatiable satiety? Who is all Light, all Wisdom, and Source of Wisdom? Is it a small sorrow to lose God Whose beauty exceeds every beauty, His wisdom exceeds every wisdom, His sweetness every sweetness? Whose sing ray of glory, shining in hell, would turn hell into Paradise? …For by losing God, he lost both body and soul, both earth and heaven, both temporal and eternal things; that is he has lost everything too!.”
Orthodox theology on Eternal Hell, does not indicate that God purposely torments people by some cruel and unreasonable means. Our Lord does not take pleasure in the punishment and agony of His children, whom He loves unconditionally. Nor does it mean that He desires to “separate Himself” from His people. The truth is that God wants all people to be saved and inherit His Heavenly Kingdom. However, God permits, Saints and sinners alike, to live forever. All people will be raised from the dead into eternal life: “those that have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:29). For those who love God, resurrection from the dead and the presence of God will be Paradise. For those who hate God, resurrection from the dead and the presence of God will be hell. This is the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church. All people have a choice in this earthly life either to believe in God or not to believe in Him. Either to abide by His commandments or not to. Either to accept salvation through Jesus Christ Who sacrificed His life on the Cross to save all of mankind or to reject it altogether. Either to desire and strive to gain the Kingdom of Heaven or to accept death and darkness for all eternity. The decision must take place here and now because there is no repentance after death.
“God neither rejoices nor grows angry, for to rejoice and to be offended are passions; nor is He won over by the gifts of those who honor Him, for that would mean He is swayed by pleasure… He is good, and He only bestows blessings and never does harm, remaining always the same. We men, on the other hand, if we remain good through resembling God, are united to Him; but if we become evil through not resembling God, we are separated from Him. By living in holiness, we cleave to God; but by becoming wicked we make Him our enemy. It is not that He grows angry with us in an arbitrary way, but it is our own sins that prevent God from shining within us, and expose us to the demons who punish us.” According to Saint Theophan the Recluse: “The Righteous will go into eternal life, but the satanized sinners into eternal torments, in communion with demons.”
It is JESUS CHRIST WHO WILL JUDGE , not God the Father. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has received the power of judgment “because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:27). “For the Father judges no one, but has committed ALL JUDGMENT TO THE SON, ‘that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him… For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth–those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:22-29). Christ in His Glory will be THE JUDGE OF THE WORLD AT THE Second Coming.
Thus, man’s Final Judgment and Eternal destiny depends completely on whether a person loves God and his fellow men or that he hates God and his neighbor. It depends on whether or not a person loves light more than the darkness. It depends on whether or not a person loves Love and Light itself. In the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus a dialogue takes place between Abraham and the rich man and what is revealed is that there is a great gulf separating the two which signifies that there is no possibility of transfer between heaven and hell after death. The rich man goes to hell because of his hardness of heart; Lazarus to heaven because of his humble faith. “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented” (Luke 16:25).
The Orthodox Church is firm in its belief of the existence of hell since the Lord Himself spoke about it frequently and as a warning to all. There are those of heterodox and heretical Christian denominations that deny outright the existence of hell, of Satan, of evil, of sin, of miracles, of the Divinity of Jesus Christ and even of heaven. These of course are blatant heresies that are spread to permit and condone immoral and sinful behavior and life. We clearly witness the spiritual corruption of these groups and their countless blasphemies and distortions of the Holy Scriptures. Their message is antichristian and they are attempting to undermine the Divine and Eternal Message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To bring defective reasoning and confusion of thought among the Christian faithful. There are many other heretics over the centuries that attempted to do this and they failed miserably. They too will fail because they have declared war on the Divine Founder and the Holy Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, and He will NEVER ALLOW IT! A more severe punishment is imposed on those who profess to be Christians, because he who has enjoyed greater instruction will deserve greater punishment when he or she transgresses.
On the Day of Judgment the Judge will turn to them with a gladsome and bright glance and will say to them in a kind voice: “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). The Eternal Kingdom of God is the ultimate end of our good struggles. The blessedness of Paradise cannot be measured with any holy joy in the present world.
(Next: The Kingdom of Glory: Eternal Paradise)
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“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 