LIFE AFTER DEATH   o  ·   1  ·   2  ·   3  ·   4  ·   5  ·   6     7     8  ·   9  ·   10  ·   o   © Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos   PARADISE AND HELL Holy Scripture on Paradise and Hell The holy Fathers on Paradise and Hell Paradise and Hell in the life of the Church The theological and ecclesiological consequences of this truth   [ BACK ] PARADISE AND HELL

The Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the body, the appearing of all men before the dread judgement seat of Christ and, naturally, the final judgement, culminate in Paradise and Hell. The righteous will attain Paradise, eternal life, and the sinners Hell.

Paradise is at the beginning of man's history, while at the end there will be Paradise and Hell. Therefore both Paradise and Hell are spoken of in the whole Bible.

A basic teaching in the Bible is that after his creation man was placed in Paradise, and then he lost his communion with God. From that time on there has been within man the quest for this life of Paradise. By His incarnation Christ gave every man the possibility of returning to Paradise and attaining communion with the Triune God. Thus throughout one's life, especially if one lives within the Church and strives to keep God's commandments and to participate in His grace, one is struggling to be saved and to enter into Paradise.

Therefore the subject "Paradise and Hell”is one of the central themes of the Bible and of the Church. However, we need to study and analyse just what Paradise and Hell are, how they are interpreted in the Orthodox patristic Tradition. This work is necessary and indispensable for the additional reason that in this way we shall be able not only to interpret Holy Scripture, but also to see the work of the Church. As will be seen in what follows, this subject is most important, because it shows the essence and work of the Church. We cannot see the mission of the Church without examining the orthodox conception of Paradise and Hell. Hence the consequences of this interpretation are immense.

In this section we shall be concerned not with the topic of the intelligible and perceptible Paradise as the Old Testament describes it for us, but chiefly with Paradise and Hell in the teaching of Christ and the holy Apostles.

There are three passages in the New Testament which speak of Paradise. The first is Christ's assurance to the thief on the Cross: "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23, 43). The Paradise of which Christ is speaking is the Kingdom of God itself. It is noteworthy that the Kingdom of God and Paradise are regarded as the same, for the thief asks him "Remember me, Lord, when you come into your Kingdom” (Lk. 23, 42), and Christ assures him of his entry to Paradise. St. Theophylactus's interpretation on this theme is noteworthy: "The thief is in Paradise, that is, the kingdom, and not only he, but also all whom Paul lists, but he has not enjoyed the complete inheritance of the blessings"¹.

The second passage which speaks of Paradise is mentioned by the Apostle Paul and is connected with an experience which the Apostle had: "And I know such a man - whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows - how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12, 3-4).

Interpreting this passage, Nicodemus the Hagiorite says: "Paradise is a Persian word and means a garden planted with different trees...". At the same time he says that the Apostle Paul's being caught up into Paradise means, according to several interpreters, "the time when he was taught the mystical and ineffable words about Paradise which to this day are hidden from us". According to the vision, the Apostle Paul was taken up to the third heaven, that is to say he passed the three heavens practical philosophy, natural theoria, reached mystical theology, which is the third heaven, and from there was taken into Paradise, as St. Maximus the Confessor says. Thus he was initiated into what was the tree of life in the middle of Paradise, what were the tree of knowledge, the Cherubim and the fiery sword which guarded the gate of Eden, just what were the two trees of life and of the knowledge of good and evil, and all the other great truths which the Old Testament presents².

The third passage is in the Book of Revelation. The bishop of Ephesus is told, among other things: "To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Rev. 2, 7). According to Andrew of Caesaraea, `tree of life' is a periphrastic reference to eternal life. God promises "to share the good things of the future age"³. Likewise according to Aretha of Caesaraea "The blessed Paradise is to be understood as ever-living life"⁴.

Therefore Paradise, eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven are the same thing. At this point we shall not undertake to analyse further what Paradise is, relative to the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven. The fact is that Paradise is eternal life in communion and unity with the Triune God.

The word Hell comes from the verb `kolazo' and has two meanings. One is `pruning' and the other is `punishment'. It is mainly used in the second meaning in Holy Scripture, but from the point of view that it is not God who punishes, but a person punishes himself because he does not accept the God's gift. In any case the lack of communion with God is a man's punishment, especially when we think that man was created in the image and likenss of God, and this is the deepest goal of his existence.

Two passages in Holy Scripture refer explicitly to Hell.

One is in Christ's words about the future Judgement. Christ said: "And these will go into everlasting punishment (kolasi), but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25, 46). If this passage is connected with the preceding: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25, 41), it seems that Hell is identified with the everlasting fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels and not for man.

The other passage in Scripture which contains the word Hell is found in the first epistle of John the Evangelist: "Perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 Jn. 4, 18). To be sure, he refers not specifically to Hell, the manner of life of the unrighteous after the Second Coming of Christ, but to the punishment which is linked with fear and is alien to love.

The life of Hell is rendered in Holy Scripture in other terms and other expressions, such as "everlasting fire” (Matt. 25, 41), "outer darkness” (Matt. 25, 30), "hell fire” (Matt. 5, 22), and so forth. But it is not my purpose here to analyse these words as well. We shall somehow touch on them in another section when we examine the consequences of the teaching of the holy Fathers about Paradise and Hell.

It is very important that we look at the teaching of the holy Fathers about Paradise and Hell, because they are the unerring teachers of the Church, the bearers of the undefiled Paradise, and therefore the Bible cannot be interpreted without their God-inspired teaching. Besides, the Church, which is the divine-human Body of Christ, writes Holy Scripture and interprets it.

The general teaching of the holy Fathers of the Church is that Paradise and Hell do not exist from God's point of view, but from man's. It is true that Paradise and Hell exist as two ways of life, but it is not God who created them. In the patristic tradition it is clear that there are not two ways, but God Himself is Paradise for the saints and God Himself is Hell for the sinners.

This is inseparably linked with the teaching of the Fathers about reconciliation and man's enmity towards God. Nowhere in holy Scripture does it appear that God is reconciled with men, but that Christ reconciles man to God. Moreover it appears in the whole patristic Tradition that God is never opposed to man, but man opposes himself to God by having no communion and participation with Him. Thus man makes God his enemy and God does not make man his enemy. Through the sin which he commits, man sees God in an angry and hostile way⁵. We shall look at this subject as we present briefly the teaching of the particular Fathers of the Church.

We may well begin with St. Isaac the Syrian, who speaks about what is Paradise and what is Hell.

Speaking of Paradise, he says that it is the love of God. And naturally when we refer to love we mean chiefly and foremost the uncreated energy of God. He writes: "Paradise is the love of God, wherein is the enjoyment of all blessedness"⁶. But also referring to Hell he says almost the same things, that even Hell is the scourge of love. He writes: "I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna, are scourged by the scourge of love. Nay, what is so bitter and vehement as the torment of love?"⁷.

So Hell is the torment of the love of God. Besides, as St. Isaac says, the sorrow caused in the heart by sin against the love of God, "is more poignant than any fear of punishment"⁸. It really is a punishment when we deny and oppose anyone's love. It is terrible when we are loved and we behave inappropriately. If we compare this to the love of God, we can understand the torment of Hell. And it is connected with what St. Isaac says again, that it would be improper for a man to think "that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of the love of God"⁹.

So even those being punished will receive the love of God. God will love all men, both righteous and sinners, but they will not all feel this love at the same depth and in the same way. In any case it is absurd for us to maintain that Hell is the absence of God.

These things mean that men's experiences of God will be different. "To each by himself the Master will give according to the measure of his excellence and his worthiness. “For there the order of those who teach and those who learn will cease, and in each will be the ardent love of all. “Thus there will be one who will give His grace to all, that is, God Himself, but men will receive it according to their capacity. The love of God will fall on all men, but it will act in a twofold way, punishing the sinners and giving joy to the righteous. St. Isaac the Syrian, expressing the Orthodox Tradition on this subject, writes: "The power of love works in two ways: it torments sinners, even as happens here when a friend suffers from a friend; but it becomes a source of joy for those who have observed its duties"¹⁰.

Therefore the same love of God, the same energy will fall upon all men, but it will work differently. But how shall this difference be?

God said to Moses: "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Ex. 33, 19). The Apostle Paul, citing this Old Testament passage, concludes: "Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills, He hardens” (Rom. 9, 18). It needs to be interpreted in Orthodox terms. How does God want to have mercy on one and want to harden another? Is there favouritism in God?

According to the interpretation of Theophylactus of Bulgaria, this is connected with the nature of man and not with God's action. St. Theophylactus says: "Just as the sun softens the wax candle but hardens clay, not arbitrarily but because of the different materials of the wax candle and the clay: so also God is said to harden the clay heart of the Pharaoh"¹¹. Therefore the grace of God, that is to say His love, which will radiate to all, will work according to a man's spiritual condition.

St. Basil the Great subscribes to this view. Interpreting the passage from the Psalms "the voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire” (Ps. 29, 7), he says that this miracle happened to the Three Children in the fiery furnace. The fire in this case was divided into two, so that while it was burning those outside it, it was cooling the Children, as if they were under the shadow of a tree. In what follows he observes that the fire which had been prepared by God for the devil and his angels "is cut by the voice of the Lord". Fire has two powers, the caustic and illuminating energies, and that is why it burns and sheds light. Thus those worthy of the fire will feel its caustic quality and those worthy of lighting will feel the illuminating property of the fire. Therefore he finishes very expressively: "The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire' and in the dividing, the fire of hell is without light, and the light of peace remains unburnt"¹².

So the fire of Hell will be dark, it will be deprived of the illuminating quality, while the light of the righteous will be acaustic, without the burning quality, and this will be the result of a different energy of God. Nevertheless, this suggests that according to his condition a person may receive even the uncreated energy of God.

This interpretation concerning Paradise and Hell is not only that of St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Basil the Great, but is a general teaching of the Fathers of the Church, who interpret apophatically what is said about the eternal fire and eternal life. When we speak of apophaticism we do not mean that the Fathers distort the teaching of the Church, speaking abstractly and reflectively, but that as they interpret these themes they try to free them from the categories of human thought and from images of sensory things¹³. On this point too one can see how the Orthodox-Greek Fathers differ from the Franco-Latins who considered these realities as created¹⁴.

This is the way St. Gregory the Theologian too explains this important truth, which, as will be seen, has great significance for the ecclesiastical and spiritual life.

He advises his listeners to accept the teachings of the Church about the resurrection of the body, the judgement, and the recompense to the righteous. These things should be received from the point of view that the future life will be "light for those whose mind is purified", of course "in proportion to their degree of purity", and we call this the Kingdom of Heaven. It is darkness "to those who have blinded their ruling organ", which in reality is alienation from God, "in proportion to their blindness here"¹⁵. So eternal life is light for those who have purified their nous - and of course according to the depth of that purity - and darkness for those whose nous is blind, who have not been illuminated by this life and have not attained illumination and deification.

We can also look at this difference from the point of view of sensory realities. One and the same sun "gives light to healthy sight but darkens ailing eyes". It is not the sun but the state of the eye which is at fault. Precisely the same sort of thing will happen at the Second Coming of Christ. Christ is one, "but He stands for a fall and resurrection: a fall for the unfaithful, resurrrection for the faithful"¹⁶. One and the same Word of God, even now too, and very much more at that time, is both "terrible for those not worthy in their nature, and benevolently receptive to those thus made ready"¹⁷. So not all are found worthy of the same order and class, but one is worthy of one, and another of the other, "each, I think, according to his own purification"¹⁸. A man will taste one and the same uncreated energy of God in accordance with the purity of his heart and nous.

Therefore, also according to St. Gregory the Theologian, God Himself is Paradise and Hell for man, since each man tastes God's energy according to the condition of his soul. Thus in one of his doxological phrases he can exclaim: "O Trinity, Whom I have been granted to worship and proclaim, Who will some day be known to all, to some through illumination, to others through punishment!"¹⁹ The same God is both illumination and hell for men. The saint's words are clear and revealing.

I should also like to mention St. Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessalonica, who underlines the same teaching.

Referring to the words of John the Forerunnner about Christ, who "will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire", he says that these words are meant to bring out this truth that men will receive proportionately either the punishing or the illuminating quality of grace. He puts it this way: "He says: `He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire', that is to say, with illumination and punishment, according to the disposition of each"²⁰.

To be sure, we must look at this teaching of St. Gregory Palamas in the full theological perspective of the uncreated grace of God. The saint teaches that the whole creation shares in the uncreated grace of God, but not in the same way and at the same depth. Thus the saints' share of the grace of God is different from that of the rest of creation. He emphasises: "If one thing is to be shared by all but is not shared in the same way, but differently, ... even if everything has a share of all the things of God, yet we see the difference of the share of the saints as large and great"²¹.

Besides, we know from the whole teaching of the Church that God's uncreated grace takes different names according to the effects which its work has. If it purifies a person it is called purifying, if it illuminates it is called illuminating, if it deifies it is called deifying. Likewise sometimes it is described as bestowing being, sometimes as life-giving and sometimes as making wise. So all creation partakes of the uncreated grace of God, but differently. And therefore the deifying grace of which the saints partake should not be confused with other energies. The same thing is true of the grace of God in the eternal life. The righteous will share the illuminative and deifying energy, while the sinners and unpurified will experience the caustic and punishing energy of God.

We find this teaching also in the ascetic writings of various saints. For example, St. John of the Ladder says that the same fire is called both "that which consumes and that which illuminates". He is referring to the holy and supracelestial fire which is the grace of God. The grace of God which men receive in this life "burns some because they still lack purification", and others "it enlightens in proportion to the perfection which they have achieved"²². Indeed the grace of God does not purify unrepentant sinners in the next life, but what St. John of the Ladder says applies now. And it is testified by ascetic experience that at first the saints feel the grace of God as a fire which burns their passions, and afterwards, to the extent that their heart is purified, they also feel the grace of God as light. Contempory men who see God on their ascetic pilgrimage affirm that as far as one repents and in grace experiences Hell, to that extent also grace, even without one's expecting it, is turned into uncreated light. It is the same grace of God which at first purifies the man, and when he reaches a great depth of repentance and purification, it is seen as light. Consequently it is not a question of created things and human emotional states, but of experience of the uncreated grace of God.

The things which the holy Fathers of the Church describe and we have analysed above, making use of the witness of several great Fathers, we see clearly also in the life of the Church. Besides, the holy Fathers whom we have quoted are not speculative philosophers who ponder the topics of the faith, but they interpret the experiences of the Church and are expressive of the revelation which exists in the Church. I shall use two simple examples to show that what we have said is a common conviction and experience of the Church.

One example is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Holy Communion works according to the condition of the person. If he is impure, it burns him, if he is struggling to be purified or is deified, then it works in accordance with that.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians about this: "so that whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11, 27). In order to confirm the result: "for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep” (1 Cor. 11, 30). And this is because "he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement to himself” (1 Cor. 11, 29). That is to say, while the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is life for the purified and deified, for the unpurified it is judgement and death - even bodily. Many are weak and dead, as the Apostle Paul affirms, from unworthily partaking of the Precious Gifts. Therefore the Apostle Paul advises: "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup” (1 Cor. 11, 28).

This "let him examine”in connection with the Apostle Paul's whole spirit, according to which one should have the grace of God in one's heart, and in connection with the passage "for it is good that the heart be established by grace" (Heb. 13, 9) indicates that in order to appproach Holy Communion one should examine one's spiritual state. Holy Communion for the purified is pure, for the illuminated it is illumination, for the deified it is theosis and for the unpurified and unrepentant it is judgement and condemnation, Hell.

Therefore in the liturgical prayers the priest asks God that the Holy Communion should not be unto judgement and condemnation, but unto the remission of sins. The prayer of St. John Chrysostom is characteristic: "count us worthy to partake of thy heavenly and dread Mysteries of this holy and spiritual Table with a pure conscience, unto the remission of sins, unto the forgiveness of trespasses, unto commmunion of the Holy Spirit, unto inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, unto boldness before thee, not unto judgement or unto condemnation".

We can see the same spirit in all the prayers of the service of Communion both before and after Communion.

What happens now in Holy Communion will happen in the Second Coming at the appearing of God. For those who have been purified and have repented, God will be Paradise, while for those who have not been purified God will be Hell.

The other example is from the Old Testament, which is nevertheless an expression of the teaching of the Church. Looking at the iconography of the Second Coming of Christ as it is pictured in the narthex of monasteries, we observe that the light which encircles the saints comes forth from the throne of God, and from the throne of God the river of fire is pouring forth, burning up all the unrepentant sinners. The same source is the source both of the light and of the fire. And this expresses wonderfully the teaching of the Fathers of the Church, which we have seen, about the illuminating and caustic properties of divine grace. This is indeed linked to the condition of a man.

The things which we have said so far are not theoretical truths, but are related to the whole life of the Church. Moreover, the teaching of the holy Fathers about Paradise and Hell is a key to the interpretation of Holy Scripture and the patristic texts and the life of the Church. In this section we shall examine more analytically the effects of the orthodox view of Paradise and Hell on the ecclesiastical and spiritual life.

a) Paradise and Hell are an energy of the uncreated grace of God, as men experience it, and therefore they are uncreated. According to the holy Fathers of the Church, there is not an uncreated Paradise and a created Hell, as the Franco-Latin tradition teaches. The Franks, following Augustine, believed that the punished will not see God and therefore they considered the fire of Hell to be created. Dante's Hell and the descriptions of the punished are well known. Thus the Franks imagined the world to be three-storeyed, consisting of the unchanging heaven for the fortunate, a changing earth for the testing of men and a changeable underworld for those being punished and purified. Another consequence of this view is the teaching of the Franks about the purifying fire²³.

Therefore Paradise and Hell exist not in the form of a threat and a punishment on the part of God but in the form of an illness and a cure. Those who are cured and those who are purified experience the illuminating energy of divine grace, while the uncured and ill experience the caustic energy of God.

In Holy Scripture the glory of God is characterised by the opposites light - darkness, and fire - darkness, or glory - cloud, and lightning - smoke. Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God "in light - divine darkness", while the selfish and impure see God the judge as "fire - darkness"²⁴.

Thus Paradise is called both light and darkness. From the linguistic side it appears that they are opposite ideas, because light is the opposite of darkness and darkness is opposite to light. Actually, in the patristic tradition darkness is light "because of the surpassing brightness". Likewise Hell is characterised by the images fire and darkness. But these two images are opposites.

Therefore Hell is neither fire nor darkness, as we know these realities. And naturally Paradise is neither light nor darkness as we know these realities. Therefore the Fathers prefer apophatic terminology, in order to avoid confusion.

The point is that neither Paradise nor Hell is a created reality; they are uncreated. The righteous and sinners will see God in another life, but while the righteous will have participation and communion with God, the sinners will not participate . This is seen in the parable of the foolish Rich Man. The Rich Man saw Abraham, and Lazarus in his bosom, but he did not participate in God and therefore he was burning. He received the caustic energy of the vision of God. Although it is a parable, nevertheless it expresses reality. The use of the form of a parable is in order for truths to be expressed.

b) Inasmuch as people have different experiences of divine grace according to their spiritual condition, purification is needed already in this life. Purification, according to the holy Fathers, takes place mainly in man's heart and nous. The nous is the ruling part of the soul, through which the person has participation and communion with God. Darkening of the ruling part is called alienation; not that the person is separated from God, but that he does not participate. Through the fall of man and his sin the nous has been darkened and become identified with reason, the passions and the surrounding world. Now purification of the nous is necessary.

St. Gregory emphasises epigrammatically: "Therefore a man must purify himself first, and then have converse. “If someone wants to reach God and attain knowledge of Him, without first having gone through the necessary testing, which is purification of the heart, then the same will happen as with so many other cases which we meet in Holy Scripture and which St. Gregory the Theologian mentions. What will happen is what happend to the Israelites who could not see the face of Moses illuminated by the grace of God. Or what happened to Manoah, who cried: "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" (Judges 14, 22). There will happen what also happened to the Apostle Peter, who after the miraculous catch of fish said: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful person". There will happen also what happened to the Apostle Paul, who lost his sight, because he saw the Christ whom he had persecuted, without first having been cleansed of the persecutions. There will also happen what happened to the centurion who, although he asked Christ for healing, out of fear did not invite him to come to his home, and this is anyway praised by Christ. Saying these things St. Gregory the Theologian makes the following observation. If one of us is still a centurion, serving the ruler of this world, and therefore is unclean, let him realise it and let him say the word of the centurion: "I am not worthy that you should come under my roof". But let him not remain in this condition. If he wishes to see Christ, then let him do what Zacchaeus did. Let him receive the Word in his home, after having previously climbed up into the sycamore tree, "mortifying his limbs on the earth and raising up the body of humility".

A sense of our uncleanness is required, but also a struggle for purification and a cure. We need to purify ourselves and beautify our souls, and furthermore to be illuminated by the power and energy of Christ. Therefore when we guard our heart in every way, that is to say, when we put watchfulness into our heart and when we prepare our heart for spiritual ascents, then "we give ourselves the light of spiritual knowledge; in this case we speak of the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, and we illuminate others". Therefore St. Gregory the Theologian writes epigrammatically: "Meanwhile let us purify ourselves and be initiated before the Word so that we may indeed benefit, having been made godlike, and greeted the coming Word”²⁵.

Thus in Orthodoxy there is constant talk of purification and repentance, according to Christ's teaching: "repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4, 17). Only within repentance does a man know God from experience, because God is not an epistemological theory or idea, but is seen.

c) The deepest work of the Church is to cure man, to purify the nous and the heart. After being purified the man must acquire an illuminated nous in order to see God and in order that there may be Paradise and the Kingdom of Heaven for him.

This happens through the sacraments and asceticism. And actually these two things should be connected. The asceticism, as it seems in the patristic tradition, precedes Baptism and follows after it, precedes Communion and follows after it. When we isolate the sacraments from ascesis, and ascesis from the sacraments, we pervert the ecclesiastical life.

If one examines the prayer book carefully, one will find that it is a healing way. It is, we may say slightly parabolically, a spiritual medical writing about the cure of man's soul. And, indeed, this cure, as it appears clearly in all the prayers of the sacraments, is chiefly directed towards the cure of the nous, the illumination of the nous. Therefore the priest does not simply "cut”tickets for Paradise, but he cures the person, so that when he sees God, He will be for him the God of Paradise and not of Hell, since all of us, both righteous and sinners, shall see God. If one examines carefully the Frankish "asceticism", one will see that it is aimed at guiding the person to the vision of God. But the problem is not this, since we shall all see God and converse with Him. Moreover, the Lord describes this in the passage about the Coming Judgement. The point is for a man to have been cured when he see God.

Orthodoxy has a method of cure. It appears among other things in the subtitle of the Philokalia. It says: "Philokalia of the holy neptics in which through practice and the vision of God the nous is purified, illuminated and perfected".

d) We should not have a lively desire to see the glory of God, as many curious people do, and therefore use many methods, eastern meditation and other methods. Such curiosity, apart from the fact that it can lead us astray, can also trace a different path. In the Orthodox Church precisely because God becomes Hell for the impure, we feel that the primary task is to purify our souls. The purification is connected with the cure of the man, and of course the cure is the attainment of selfless love.

e) Hell is not the absence of God, as is usually said, but the presence and vision of God as fire. And of course, as we said in another section, we can already taste Paradise and Hell. I could better say that the way in which we will experience His Second Coming depends on how we experience God now.

According to Elias the Presbyter, Paradise is the vision of intelligible realities. In this vision the gnostic, that is, he who has acquired the knowledge of God, "enters into prayer as into his own home". The man engaged in ascetic practice, that is in the stage of purification, "is regarded as a passer-by", since he has the desire to enter but is prevented by the barrier of his spiritual age²⁶. Paradise is dispassion, which in reality is the transformation of the passible aspect of the soul. Elias the Presbyter says that the Paradise of dispassion is hidden within us and is "an image of that in which the righteous will dwell"²⁷.

According to St. Gregory of Sinai, fire and darkness and worm and tartary, that is to say Hell, is "ubiquitous self-indulgence, total tenebrific ignorance, all-pervasive lecherous titivation, and the fearfulness and foul stench of sin". Thus wantonness, ignorance and darkness, fright and the evil smell of sin are the experience of Hell even now. And all these things are even now "active as firstfruits of hell's torments"²⁸.

The conclusion of this analysis is that the Church is a Hospital and Sanitorium which cures man. It is also the most basic work of the priests. With this perspective one can give one's attention to other tasks as well. For instance, the priest can interest himself in the most general problems of the people, in philanthropy and charity and so forth, but the main thing is to cure man.

This is the philanthropic work par excellence, which will have eternal consequences. For what is the use of only being interested in material needs and not caring about one's eternal future? Such a Church can even be regarded as, and is, practically a worldly Church. Man was not formed in order to be used up only in the present place, but to advance also to what is made up of soul and body.

There are some who accuse the Church of being indifferent to social needs and standing apart from the social and other struggles. No one denies that in this respect the effectiveness of the Church should be increased. But the question is being put: Is death not a social problem? Apart from the fact that every man is tormented by his own death, since he carries it from his birth, since he is born to die, at the same time he is tormented by the death of those dear to him. Does not death create social and pesonal problems? The Church is concerned with this terrible problem of death and is helping man to overcome it by the life in Christ.

Yet, when the Church concerns itself with the cure of man's nous, this has direct social consequences. The cured man is peaceful, sincere, dispassionate and therefore a fine family man, a fine citizen. Besides, just as during socially troubled times a hospital continues to cure, so also the Church during many troubles does not lose its therapeutic character and is curing people.

Therefore, living in the Church, we must be cured by all the means which it has, sacraments and ascesis, by the method which it employs, so that even now, but especially then, at the Second Coming of Christ, the grace of God may have an illuminating and saving effect, not a punishing one.

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