Wounded by God’s Love
A JOURNEY OF SOUL AFTER DEATH AND
THE PRAYERS FOR THE DECEASED
Fr. Dr. J. Buciora
Part Two
According to the anthropology of the Orthodox Church, the human soul, up to the moment of death, knows only one way of life: to live with the body. The soul, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, in addition to bringing vital power[13] to the body and activating the senses, possesses a noetic ability that reaches towards God. By the grace of God, the noetic ability of the soul is immortal as the soul is immortal.[14] In theological thought, the noetic ability is described as a spirit or a “Chariot of God”.[15] Our life, as an intrinsically linked entity between soul and body, is explained as a natural and proper way of our existence. A human being is one mysterious entity: “body and psyche, where the body is knitted together with the soul in the same way that flour and water are mixed together to make dough”.[16] It is God that created us in this way.[17]
At the moment of death, there is a separation of the soul from the body that is presented in the funeral rite as a “state of unrest”. The term “state” is understood as a condition or a mode of being. There exists a profound mystery in the event of death.[18] Death is a border point in a person’s life between biological life and entrance into a spiritual reality. According to Orthodox theological interpretation, death is a violent intrusion into a God-given life that ought not to be separated.[19] As such, death is a metaphysical (immaterial or incorporeal) catastrophe of human destiny. St. John Chrysostom defines death as an unalterable executioner[20] and a traumatic event that disintegrates the unity between the soul and the body. As such, it is called the arch-manifestation of failure, disharmony, and dissonance.[21] Death is a “parasite” that will be destroyed at the second coming of Jesus Christ. In ascetic literature, the moment of death is also called a “moment of truth” or a “personal apocalypse”.[22] The essence of death is evil.[23]
At the point of death, there is a fear-trembling experience that is intrinsic for all of us, regardless of faith, education, or race.[24] According to St. Paul, humanity is “enslaved by a fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15). [25] In a way, the separation of the soul from the body is manifested by a mysterious force that invades the life of mankind.[26] As a consequence, man is afraid to die.[27] According to St. Maximos the Confessor: “nothing is more fearful than the thought of death, and nothing is more marvelous than the memory of God”. [28] The only hope that enlightens the mystery of death is the presence of God and the prayers of the Church community. This is the main reason why we constantly sing the comforting words: "Упокой Господи душу раба твого...Give rest, o Lord, to the soul of your servant". This is a plea of the family and the Church community to God to comfort and reassure the soul of the deceased one about the presence of God at the moment of death.
The separation of the soul from the body is also accentuated by a tremendous feeling of “sadness” for leaving behind loved ones. The extremities of this overwhelming feeling could be compared only to the sense of “intense sorrow and internal pain”. The soul experiences at once a reality of the unknown state of death and a heartbreaking feeling of separation with those who mourn. It is a very excruciating and mysterious stage-transition that penetrates the entire entity of the soul. The point of death is also described as a “state of indifference or estrangement towards everything” where the soul experiences, in some instances, a state of calm.[29] The soul moves towards the spiritually predisposed dimensions while reflecting upon those who stay behind. It is a feeling of jubilation, and at the same time, it is a pain of separation that does not correspond to anything familiar in the present life reality. It is a feeling of joy, but at the same time, it is a tremendous agony of leaving behind our loved ones.
After death, the soul that remains immortal after the separation from the body moves through the “process of adjustment or transition” that ends on the 40th day after death.[30] Based on the mystical experience of the Fathers of the Church and Holy Tradition, on the fortieth day, there is a mysterious culmination of the transition of the soul from this life to another spiritual dimension of life: from the earthly sphere of time to another dimension of timeless reality. By adopting modern terminology, the soul is experiencing at that time a transition to a spiritual plane that is “different” from the earthly one. The soul is conscious of its new condition. Although it is a spiritual and familiar state, it is not a natural state for the soul.[31]
The transition has certain stages of culmination that are also evident on the ninth day. Traditionally, the ninth-day Panakhyda is often explained as the representation of the nine levels of angelic orders.[32] The ninth-day prayer service accentuates the degree of awareness of the soul. The nine levels of angelic orders are also an indication of the degrees of participation of the soul in the presence of God. Without entering into the field of angelology, different levels of angels correspond to the ability of the angelic world to participate in the glory of God. It is very curious to note the fact that the soul is given the ability to experience those spiritual realms. The ability of the soul to experience the abode of the angelic spiritual world emphasizes the immense importance of humanity in the creation of the world, such that even those spiritual realms of angelic powers are represented only as a point of transition. As a result, St. Paul in his first letter to the 1 Corinthians 6:3 even stipulates the idea of us judging the angels.[33] In order to participate in this culmination of the adjustment of the soul in the other dimension and in order to assist, the local community comes together to pray to God to accept the soul and to comfort it on the other side. Our prayers comfort us and the soul of the deceased that the transition will be eased by the presence of God. At that time, the soul finishes the process of transition-adjustment in order to be enlightened by the Spirit.
The soul, in its awareness and enlightened by the Spirit, begins the process of self-reflection: partial judgement that is considered as the most profound judgement known by humanity. In contemporary Orthodox theological thought, this state is also called a mode of self-confrontation and encounter.[34] In the presence of God, the soul can’t help but self-reflect, revealing the true self. There is no room for self-deception as the soul can’t deny its own reality.[35] As a result, there is a revelation of an inner being and the most hidden depths of the heart. According to one of the venerable Orthodox Fathers, at that time a person will see “even the slightest deed done in his life, just as in a fraction of a second one sees a small impurity in a glass of water”.[36] According to contemporary Orthodox commentators, partial judgement consists in the allocation of the soul to the spiritual state, where the conscience will act as an accuser and the ultimate judge.[37]
As a self-reflection, the soul can experience the bliss of the presence of God or the fury and anguish of passions. In a self-reflecting reality of the soul, the awareness of memories and the experience of earthly life becomes the ultimate judge.[38] All the memories, even the repressed ones, will reaffirm themselves with a massive force and intensity from which there will be no escape.[39] All the scenes of earthly sins will return as the ultimate judge. One of the images illustrating this reality is an image of a mirror of the self as a reflection of inner dispositions.[40] The bliss of the presence of God is understood as the light of God searching for love in the depths of our hearts. Thus said, God will judge us with absolute and perfect love.[41] In effect, from the view of God’s creation, hell and paradise do not exist, as God invites everybody into a relationship.[42] For those who respond in a positive way to the call of God, the relationship with God will become paradise. For those who refuse to enter into a relationship with God they will experience hell as a lack of communion with God. As a consequence, heaven and hell aren’t two different places, but the same reality of two different experiences or responses to the same eternal call from God.[43] As such, the experience of a relationship with God in paradise will be the revelation of the fullness of life as opposed to the experience of hell that reveals the inability to experience the fullness of God’s gift. Hell can be understood as an existence in a “nonbeing condition” created by man as a rejection of the Love of God. According to Efthimios Zigavinos: “God is fire that illuminates and brightens the pure, and burns and obscures the unclean”.[44]
The concept of God judging us with a perfect love might be a paradox for the Western World that operates within the frame of law and punishment.[45] There is no punishment as bitter as to be scourged by perfect love.[46] The concept of paradise and hell cannot be understood as a reward and punishment, as is often understood in popular literature.[47] For those who embraced love for goodness towards the creation of God, this light will be the sweetness and delight of living with God. This state is also described in Orthodox literature as a state of “inexpressible and intense utter joy”. The feeling of sweetness, delight, and inexpressible joy of living with God are understood as a presence in the holiness of God. The experience lies beyond description and human comprehension.[48] This might be one of the reasons why in the commemorative prayer service, there is so much emphasis on the plea from the Church to place the deceased in the heavenly abode with all the saints: holiness of God. The placement of the soul, along with the saints, liberates man from the oppression of sin and places the soul in a living, eternal memory of God. For those whose consciousness is entrapped by passions, the same light of God will become a river of fire or a constant torment of the soul. This might be a reason for describing hell as a condition of the soul with the experience of the fullness of the caustic energy of God.[49] As a consequence, hell is understood as an experience of God, not as light and eternal Grace, but as eternal fire and continual torment.[50] For some Orthodox commentators, hell is understood as a state devoid of light or a dark interval.[51] Another characteristic of this state is an inert condition of isolated inactivity and lack of interpersonal relationships. The Old Testament describes this condition as: “...land of darkness and gloominess, a land of perpetual darkness where there is no light, neither can anyone see the life of mortals” (Job 10:22). Within the Orthodox Church worship, this reality is described in the following way: “Deliver me, O Lord, from the gates of hell, from chaos and darkness without light, from the lowest depths of the earth and the unquenchable fire, and from all other everlasting punishment”.[52] It is a condition of love that suffocates the soul, creating a condition of torment.[53] From the Orthodox perspective, hell is understood as a spiritual condition of the soul after death. The spiritual condition has to be understood as a separation from God, which transmits itself into the inability of the soul to participate in the ever-embracing love of God. God always extends His love to the entire creation as an unconditional gift to participate in His life. According to St. Gregory Palamas, the light of God is present everywhere, but it doesn’t shine with the same intensity on everyone. There is a dependency on the purity of heart of a particular individual and the will of God.[54] The inability of the soul to respond to this invitation manifests itself in the internal agony of the soul that is naturally predisposed to taste the heavenly mystery of the Kingdom. Monastic Orthodox literature is full of images of constantly tormented souls in the form of horrifying visions of black fallen angels of passions. Similar images are found in the Gospels themselves, where we find the images of hell, of eternal darkness and continual fire. Even Orthodox literature in the first part of the 20th century used this kind of language in order to define the reality of hell.[55] In contemporary Orthodox thought, the images of the Last Judgement, hell, eternal damnation…, have to be understood in the context of God’s love and man’s inability to respond to the call from God. In the light of God, the soul meets its own conscience using the graphic images with its own thoughts, words, and deeds.[56] The images in the past were used as an educational tool[57] to illustrate this particular condition of “immoral conscience and a bitter remorse”.[58] As such, these images and pictures that contain in themselves another reality can’t be discarded as irrelevant for the contemporary mindset. It is a “pictorial language” of metaphors and symbols in order to deliver the message of a metaphysical reality.[59] This is also the way we interpret the image of toll-houses, elaborated especially in the middle ages.[60] The scholastic representation of the theology of “hell and damnation”, as it was understood in traditional theological thought of the Orthodox Church of the middle ages, needs more clarification in light of the Church Fathers of the first seven centuries of Christianity.
According to Orthodox thought, those who die never disappear from the sight of God, as creation can’t destroy God-given existence.[61] The souls of our deceased ones possess awareness[62], noetic perception and transcendental knowledge.[63] Earthly memories and experiences are part of their continuum.[64] For some Orthodox theologians, one of the characteristics of a person that will be transferred to the other side of death will be the name of the person. The existence of a name on the other side will presuppose a unique and personal relationship with God, as well as a continuum and a transfer of a personal identity from one dimension to the other.[65] A name presupposes a unique personal reality that invokes the presence of an individual.[66] It also defines an intimacy between a particular individual and God. Very characteristic is the episode of Mary Magdalene after Christ’s Resurrection outside the tomb (John 20:16). It is only after Jesus Christ calls her by name that she recognizes Him in a very unique and personal way. The recognition from the “other side” is founded upon the unique revelation of God and human recognition and worthiness of the reality. The recognition of a name is also closely related to the Book of Life that is described as a land of the living: “…and establish their spirits in the hope of Resurrection unto life eternal, and ascribe their names in the Book of Life, in the bosom of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and in the land of the living, in the Kingdom of Heaven, in the Paradise of sweetness...”.[67] The existence of a name of an individual in the land of the living involves a living relationship with the living man. From another perspective, the lack of a name presupposes a denial of existence and a lack of communication.[68] According to Orthodox theological thought, a name provides the description of the existing reality that can distinguish itself by relation and knowledge of its own existence.[69] The existence of a name on the other side provides a particular identity and access to our identification with the deceased. In the Orthodox Funeral Rite, there exists a particular emphasis on the presence of the name in the prayer. The name is included in the plea of the Church for the forgiveness of sins: “Again we pray for the repose of the soul(s) of God (name(s)), departed this life; and that he (she, they) may be pardoned all his (her, their) sins, both voluntary and involuntary”. In the consciousness of the Orthodox Church, there exists a conviction that the presence of a name in the aspect of prayer presupposes the aspect of worthiness in the eyes of God.[70] The lack of acceptance by God is equal to the refusal to remember the name by God: “... nor will I make remembrance of their names through “…My lips”” (Ps. 15:3). There is also an aspect of a specific personal distinctiveness that exists in the theological awareness of the Orthodox Church.[71]
We should never think about the deceased as motionless spirits that are deprived of experiences or perceptions. According to Metropolitan Hierotheos: “the souls of those who have fallen asleep remember the people with whom they were connected in life, they are concerned about them, but they are in a different dimension of space and time... They hear us, they receive our prayers and pray to God for us”[72]. In effect, there is some indication of existence on the other side of death of: “knowledge and social interest”.[73] An identical idea is expressed by others, who clearly see the possibility for the soul to hear, think, and feel (Luke 20:38; Mat.22:32).[74] This idea closely corresponds to the spiritual reality of saints who have the extraordinary ability to know our thoughts and wants: “But with God’s saints this spiritual eye is refined, even during their lifetime, to the highest degree of purity possible for man, and after their death, when they have become united by God, through God’s grace it becomes still clearer and wider in the limits of its vision. Therefore the saints see very clearly, widely, and far: they see our spiritual wants, they see and hear all those who call upon them with their whole hearts- that is, those whose mental eyes are fixed straight upon them, and are not darkened or dimmed when so fixed by unbelief and doubt; in other words, when the eyes of the heart of those who pray, so to say, meet the eyes of those they call upon”.[75] What is even more interesting is that the soul acquires better precision of thought, memory clarifies and it becomes more energetic.[76] According to Dorotheos of Gaza, thoughts and memories will have as much power over the self as they did in life, indeed more so. It is especially evident in the case of the saints who are predisposed by the proximity to God to listen to our voice. In extension, those who are experiencing the presence of God, after they pass away, have the ability to hear the voice of the families and the loved ones: “The heart is the eye of the human being. The purer the heart is, the quicker, further, and clearer it can see… How easy it is to communicate with the saints”.[77]
As a result, the aspect of hearing, listening, and feeling continues with those who pass away. These elements are the eternal components of the reality that, although different, closely relates to the earthly one. In addition, according to the Synaxarion of the Meatfare, the soul has a specific ability to recognize the beloved ones and those whom it never met before.[78] This characteristic is a very important one as it emphasizes the continuum of the awareness of the soul on the other side. It is a further indication of the fact that death does not destroy the awareness of the soul, as this continues its characteristics on the other side. The ability to recognize the loved ones on the other side emphasizes the importance of the aspect of relationships we create in our life. The relationship continues, although it is a different kind of relationship in the Spirit. The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (Mt. 17:1-9) demonstrates this kind of relationship where Moses and Elijah not only know each other, but they converse with Jesus. Without any doubt, it is a relationship transformed by the very presence of the Divine that can’t be separated from their life on earth. The recognition of others is based on the experience of interpersonal relationships in life. It is the experience of the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) who remembers those left behind, as well as recognizing Lazarus being taken into the heavens. This is one of the most important explanations of the prayer of absolution read at the culmination of the Funeral Rite. The forgiveness of the sins of the deceased one puts the community and the family in the right and proper relationship with each other and God. The prayer of Absolution allows the soul of the deceased to enter into a new experience in the heavenly abode that is not preconditioned by the memories of the past.
The soul enters a “different” stage of existence where our consciousness-awareness continues (Lk. 16:19-31; 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra, Daniel 12:2).[79] The continual presence of the awareness of the soul has to be especially emphasized. The ability to recognize and to experience the presence of God requires the presence of awareness or consciousness. The aspect of awareness has to be especially applied to the existence of hell and heaven. Without the presence of awareness, even the transition of the soul in the spiritual realm would be incomprehensible.
The awareness of the human soul is preserved and strengthened by a new spiritual reality. We should hesitate to enter into a further discussion of this subject, as this requires further analysis and spiritual discernment. The emphasis on the preservation of identity and the awareness of the human soul is especially important in the modern world, which leans towards an atheistic and agnostic approach to the afterlife. The notion of the soul not having an awareness after death, especially in an atheistic world, releases humanity from the aspect of responsibility. The death of a human being, understood as non-existence, may be one of the reasons for a modern-day crisis, where all is allowed as long as it serves an individual. Destruction, war, human extermination... might be some of the effects of this approach. This kind of ideology can lead humanity only to self-extermination. In contrast, Orthodox theology emphasizes the remarkable place of humanity in the realm of life, as well as the condition of a higher calling where the awareness of humanity continues even after death.
The continuation of “Wounded by God’s Love” by Fr. Dr. J. Buciora will be published next week, on September 18.
References
13. Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, Dewdney, Synaxis Press, 1996, p.5.14. Georges Florovsky, The “Immortality of the Soul”, in: Creation and Redemption, vol. 3 in The Collected Works of Georges Florovsky, Belmont, Nordland Publishing Company, 1976; Death, The Threshold to Eternal Life, in: www.goarch.org. For further studies on the subject of the immortality of the soul in the Christian Church please look in: Constantine Cavarnos, Immortality of the Soul, Belmont, Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1993.15. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit., p. 27. It is also very important to note that the noetic ability of the soul is associated with the nous, which is described by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos: “It should be emphasized here that the nous is the eye of the soul, the purest part of the soul, the energy of the soul which acquires experience of the life of God”, in: Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, The Person in the Orthodox Tradition, (translated by Esther Williams), Levadia –Hellas, Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 1999, p. 294.16. Kyriakos C. Markides, Gifts of the Desert. The Forgotten Path of Christian Spirituality, New York, 2005, pp. 105-105; Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 51.17. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, The Christian Concept of Death, in: www.schmemann.org.18. Nokolaos P. Vassiliades, The Mystery of Death, in: GOTR 29(1984); Death, The Threshold to Eternal Life, op. cit.; Athenagoras Cavadas, The World Beyond the Grave or the After Life, Brookline, Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1988, p. 7.19. Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, op. cit.., p. 105; Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, The Person in the Orthodox Tradition, op. cit.., p. 280; Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, On Death, in: www.sourozh.org/metropolitan-anthony/ or, wwwmasarchive.org/ Archimandrite Justin Popovich, “Condemned” to Be Immortal, in: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com; Archbishop Emilianos Timiadis, Monks and their Consideration of Death, in: Diakonia vol. IX(1974)4, p.337; Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, On Death, in: www.sourozh.org/20. In: Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit.., p. 21.21. Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, Op. cit.., p.5. In: Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit.., p. 21.22. Op. cit.., 59.23. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, The Christian Concept of Death, op. cit.24. The fear of Death is discussed by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, in: Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, On Death, op. cit.; Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., pp. 52-53; Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, op. cit., p. 105; V. Rev. Vladimir Berzonsky, A Christian Ending to Life, in: Solia, XLII-Nr. 4.25. Dr. Richard J. Voyles, The Fear of Death and a False Humanity as the Human Dilemma: The Argument of Influence in Athanasius’ Christology, in: The Patristic and Byzantine Review, v.8 No. 2, 1989, p. 135.26. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 52.27. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, On Death, op. cit.; Stichera to “Lord, I have cried”, Vespers on the Saturday of the Last Judgement.28. In: The Memory of Death, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.29. Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, in: www.fatheralexander.org.30. There are various interpretations of the state of the soul after death that are briefly presented by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo in: Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, op. cit., p.5 as well as Georges Florovsky in: Georges Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, op. cit. pp. 115-117.31. Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, The Creation and Fall, Dewdney, Synaxis Press, p.12; Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, op. cit.., p. 5; Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 80; Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.32. The Church’s Prayer for the Dead, in: http://orthodoxinfo.com.33. As a point of reference, we recommend the monograph written by a contemporary theologian, Archbishop Jeremiah, look in: Jan Anchimiuk, Aniolow sadzic bedziemy, Warszawa, Chrzescijanska Akademia Teologiczna, 1981.34. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit., p. 91; a similar view is presented by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, in: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, op. cit.35. According to V. Berzonsky, this state already exists at the moment of death: We may spend a good deal of our lives in self-deceit and delusions, but when we are preparing to die, we cannot afford the luxury of falsity”, in: V. Rev. Vladimir Berzonsky, A Christian Ending to Life, in: Solia, op. cit.36. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 53.37. Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.38. Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, op. cit., p. 72: “…, and that this action takes place in and by the conscience of the soul itself, its conscience being its accuser and judge”; Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 101.39. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, p. 100. An example of this self-reflection is given by Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.40. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 100. 41. “One of the characteristic icons of the Last Judgement that embraces the Orthodox teaching on the Last Judgement is the fresco of A. Rublev from 1408 at the Holy Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir. The fresco, in opposition to the fresco of Michelangelo, portrays the Last Judgement as an optimistic and joyful event. Even the fire of the Last Judgement is represented on the icon as fire of infinite love of God towards the human race”, in: Fr. Dr. J. Buciora, “From Fear to Trust”: A Theological Discourse on Theodicy, in: http://www.uocc.ca/pdf/theology; Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 234; Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, op. cit.42. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 29.43. Protopresbyter George Metallinos, Paradise and Hell According to Orthodox Tradition, in: OrthodoxyToday.com.44. Op. cit.45. “The overemphasis of the fear of God and the sinful nature of man by the medieval theology created a certain type of mentality that paralysed and destroyed the presence of God in the mind of man. According to contemporary Orthodox thought, the basic mistake made by medieval Christian theology was the overemphasis of one of the elements of eschatology: fear over love. The medieval moralists concentrated themselves exclusively on the subject of eschatology: the end of the world, the condemnation of man, and Divine retribution. This methodology was used as an image of a fearful God, primarily as a method to convert pagans. From the Western perspective, the most thorough investigation on the subject of the theology of this was the French Revolution and the Enlightenment in Western Europe, which brought the final blow to the “theology of fear”. At the end of the 18th century, people rebelled against the belief in a fearful God and, as a consequence, the other extreme of non-existence of God appeared. It was Jean-Paul Sartre and Hegel who were the first ones in Western Europe to proclaim the death of the scholastic God. The final touch to this proclamation was made by Nietzsche, who categorically stated, ‘God is dead’. In reality, the last three centuries of the Western world were a ‘moral protest against a religion of fear’. Fear and guilt were presented by French historian J. Delumeau, who describes the centuries from the XIII the XVIII as the centuries of the ‘murderous man and horrifying God’. In reality, God’s revelation has been used by a particular religious group as a weapon to annihilate its opponents. As a consequence, the Church of the medieval age became an institution of law, punishment, and Divine justice. In essence, for the medieval Western theologians, God became a heavenly policeman who, for the purpose of law, order, justice, and punishment, was envisioned as a horrifying Judge. It was a process of Divine treachery”, in Fr. Dr. J. Buciora, “From Fear to Trust”: A Theological Discourse on Theodicy, op. cit. For additional analysis on the subject of death in Western Christendom, look in: H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Life & Death after Christendom, in: http://www.touchstonemag.com; Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, op. cit.46. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 255.47. Protopresbyter George Matallinos, Paradise and Hell According to Orthodox Tradition, op. cit.48. Op. cit.49. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., pp.26-27. The same is said by Nicholas Constas, who reflected upon the writing of St. Gregory of Nyssa, in Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 98; Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, op. cit.50. Kyriacos C. Markides, The Mountain of Silence, New York, 2002, p. 158.51. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 116; Fr. Seraphim Rose, The Soul After Death. Contemporary “After-Death” Experiences in the Light of the Orthodox Teaching on the Afterlife, Platina, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood 2004, pp. 149-150.52. Matins of the Sunday of the Last Judgement, Canticle Six.53. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 28.54. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, The Person in the Orthodox Tradition, op. cit.., p. 90.55. One of the examples could be a book written by Fr. Seraphim Rose, where, based on the patristic literature, we could find a similar interpretation, look in: Fr. Seraphim Rose, The Soul After Death. Contemporary “After-Death” Experiences in the Light of the Orthodox Teaching on the Afterlife, op. cit.56. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 105. Archbishop Lazar Puhalo puts it very eloquently in the following phrase: “There, bathed in the everlasting light of God’s love, which they rejected but cannot now escape, their conscience, which is like a never-dying worm, will torment them, and the passions they loved and heaped upon themselves in this life will be as serpents round about them”, in: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, On the Nature of Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers, op. cit.57. It is very interesting to note the approach taken by Michael Pomazansky, who describes the concept of the toll-houses as a moral and edifying concept of a pedagogical character, look in: Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, On the Question of the “Toll-Houses”. Our War is not Against Flesh and Blood, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.58. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 191.59. Bishop Kallistos Ware, The Inner Kingdom, Crestwood, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2000, p. 196; Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 191.60. The discussion on the subject of toll-houses still continues in some Orthodox circles, where the idea of twenty testing stations is also presented as a ”particular judgement”, look in: David Ritchie, The “Near-Death Experience”, in: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com; Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, On the Question of the “Toll-Houses”. Our War is not Against Flesh and Blood, in: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com; Bishop Gregory. Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, The Debate Over Aerial Toll-Houses, in: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com; Father Seraphim Rose of Platina, Answer to a Critic. Appendix III from The Soul after Death, in: http://www.orthodoxinfo.com; St. John Maximovitch, Life After Death, in: http://www.apostle1.com.61. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, The Christian Concept of Death, op. cit; Rev. Dr. Michael Azkoul, The Return of the Tollhouses, in: http://www.new-ostrog.org; Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit. p. 26.62. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 24; Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.63. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 101.64. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 100.65. Christos Yannaras, Elements of Faith: Introduction to Orthodox Theology, Edinburgh, T&T Clark, 1991, p. 66.66. Robert T. Osborn, What is in a Name?, in: SVSQ 12(1968)2, p. 79.67. Third prayer of the Vespers Service on the Feast of Pentecost; Matins of the Saturday of the Dead, Canticle Nine.68. Robert T Osborn, What is in a Name?, in: SVSQ 12(1968)2, p. 80.69. Emmanuel Clapsis, Naming God: An Orthodox View, in: The Ecumenical Review 44(1992)1, p. 101.70. Commentary on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. From the Explanation by the Blessed Theophylact, in: www.orthodoxinfo.com.71. Christos Yannaras, The Freedom of Morality, Crestwood, SVS Press, 1984, p. 23.72. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit., p. 91; Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, op. cit.., p. 91. Similar words are expressed by St. John Chrysostom: “The man who sleeps shall certainly rise up, and death is nothing else save protracted sleep. Do not say to me, ‘He who has died does not hear, does not speak, does not see, does not feel,’ since neither does a man who sleeps. If it is necessary to say something wondrous, the soul of a sleeping man somehow sleeps, but not so with him who has died, for (his soul) has awakened’, in: Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, op. cit.., p. 5.73. Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, Life after Death, op. cit.., p. 27.74. Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.; Nikolaos P. Vassiliadis, The Mystery of Death, op. cit.., p. 417.75. Father John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ.76. Op. cit. Nicholas Constas, “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”: The Middle State of Souls in Patristic and Byzantine Literature, p. 101; Bishop Alexander Mileant, Life after Death, op. cit.77. Timothy Ware, The Communion of Saints, in: The Orthodox Ethos: Essays in Honour of the Centenary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, ed. by A.J. Philippou, Oxford, Holywell Press, 1964, p. 144.78. In: O Зaгробной Жизни. Випуска изь протокола засьданія архіерейскаго Синода Русской Православной Цркви Заграницей, in: Православная Русь No. 23(1193) 1/14 Декабря. December 14, 1980.79. Sergius Bulgakov, The Orthodox Church, Crestwood, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1988, p. 182; Lazar Puhalo, The Soul, the Body, and Death, op. cit.., p. 17. 