Resurrection of the dead in Orthodoxy. Resurrection of the Dead

— Resurrection according to the Old and New Testaments

The belief in the resurrection of bodies already existed during the Old Testament, as evidenced by book of maccabees: "The King of the world will raise us, who died for his laws, to eternal life (2 Macc 7.9). ...it is desirable for someone who is dying from people to place hope in God that He will revive again (2 Macc 7:14)". (Wed. 992)

But during the time of Jesus Christ, not everyone believed in the resurrection. “The Pharisees and many other contemporaries of the Lord looked forward to the resurrection. Jesus firmly teaches this. To the Sadducees who deny the resurrection, He answers: “Are you being led astray by this, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God”? (Mk 12.24). Belief in the resurrection is based on faith in God, who "is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living" (Mk 12.27). 993)

- IN resurrection of the body (flesh)

The resurrection is that thanks to the risen Christ we will receive our body, but a completely transformed one. “Resurrection of the flesh” means that “there will be not only life for the immortal soul, but also that our “mortal bodies” (Rom 8:11) will come to life again." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 990)

“By death the soul is separated from the body, but in the resurrection God will restore incorruptible life to our transfigured body, uniting it with our soul. Just as Christ was resurrected and lives forever, we will all be resurrected on the last day.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1016)

— Resurrection must not be confused with the immortality of the soul

Many believers mistakenly confuse the immortality of the soul with the resurrection of the flesh. When thinking or talking about the resurrection of the dead, they often think or talk about the immortality of the soul. According to their incorrect opinion, the final destiny of man is the eternal existence - in a spiritual way - of only one immortal soul, separated forever from the body.

It is not right. One cannot equate bodily resurrection with the immortality of the soul. Resurrection in the precise sense refers not to the soul, but to the flesh. "The flesh is the axis of salvation." We believe in God the Creator of flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh to redeem the flesh; We believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the completion of creation and the redemption of the flesh." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1015)

— Resurrection of the Condemned

Will the condemned rise from the dead?

After death, only the immortal soul of saved or condemned people exists. However, all the dead will be resurrected: both the saved and the condemned. After the resurrection, all those saved and condemned will exist forever as physical-spiritual beings. According to the Savior, “the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who do good will come out into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29; cf. Acts 24:15: cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 998)

— The dignity of the human body

What is the dignity of the human body?

The dignity of man - both soul and body - especially since these two elements are called to eternal existence and life. The soul never dies, even after the death of the human body; it will be resurrected by Christ on the last day of earthly history.

“In anticipation of this day, the body and soul of the believer already participate in the dignity of “belonging to Christ”; hence the demand for respect for one’s own body, but also for the body of one’s neighbor, especially when he suffers; The body (...) is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. God raised the Lord, and He will also resurrect us by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? (...) ...and you are not your own. (...) Therefore glorify God in your bodies (Cor 6:13-15. 19-20). " (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1004)

NEW BODY AFTER THE RESURRECTION

— Body after resurrection

What will our body be like after the resurrection?

"We believe in the true resurrection of the flesh that we now have." However, a corruptible body is sown into the grave, and an incorruptible body is raised, “a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44).”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1017)

A believer would like to know how the dead will be resurrected. “This “how” surpasses our imagination and our understanding; it is accessible only in faith.” It is impossible for us to determine exactly what our body will be like after the resurrection, but it will be different from today.

St. Paul teaches: “But someone will say, “How will the dead be raised?” and in what body will they come?" Reckless! what you sow will not come to life unless it dies. And when you sow, you are not sowing the body to come, but a naked grain, whatever happens, wheat or whatever. But God gives it a body , as he wants, and to each seed his own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh; but man has one flesh, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, another of birds. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but another is the glory of the heavenly, another earthly. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory. So also at the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power "The spiritual body is sown, the spiritual body is raised. There is a spiritual body, and there is a spiritual body." (1 Cor 15:35-44)

—The body of the saved will be conformed to the glorious body of the risen Christ

“Christ rose again in His flesh: “Behold My hands and My feet: it is I Myself.” (Luke 24:39); but He did not return to earthly life. Likewise, in Him, “all will rise again in the flesh that they now have,” but this “humiliated body (...) will be conformed to His glorious body.” (Phil 3:21), the “spiritual body” will arise ( 1 Cor 15:44)" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 999)

St. Paul makes clear that the saved will be like the risen Christ because their resurrection will be a participation in the life of the Lord who rose from the dead.“So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living soul”; and the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. But not the spiritual first, but the spiritual, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven (Christ). As is the earthly, so are the earthly; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. But I tell you this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God..." (1 Cor 15:45-50).

— When people “resurrect from the dead, then they will neither marry nor give in marriage” (Mk 20, 12)

The Savior said that life after the resurrection will be different from the current one. “Then the Sadducees came to Him, who say that there is no resurrection, and asked Him, saying: Teacher! Moses wrote to us: If anyone's brother dies and leaves his wife, but leaves no children, then let his brother take his wife and restore seed to his brother. There were seven brothers: the first took a wife and, dying, left no children. The second one took her and died, and he left no children; also the third one. Seven took her for themselves and left no children. After all, the wife died. So, in the resurrection, when they rise again, which of them will she be the wife of? For seven had her as a wife? Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you being led astray by this, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God?” For when they rise from the dead, then they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like angels in heaven. And about the dead, that they will rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, how God said to him at the bush: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. So, you are very mistaken." (Mk 20, 12-27)

EXISTENCE FROM DEATH TO RESURRECTION

What is the fate of the soul before the resurrection of the body?

— The existence of a person does not cease after death until the resurrection of the body

Resurrection on the "last day" (cf. John 6:54) cannot be understood in such a way that the existence of a person ceases after his death until the second coming of Christ in glory. This does not happen because every person has an immortal soul that is not destroyed when he dies.

“In death - the separation of soul and flesh - human flesh falls into corruption, while the soul goes towards God, continuing to remain in anticipation of being united with its glorified flesh. God in His omnipotence will finally return imperishable life to our bodies by uniting them with our souls, by the power of the resurrection of Jesus." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 997) “We firmly believe, and this is our hope, that just as Christ has truly risen from the dead and lives forever, so the righteous after their death will live forever with the risen Christ and He will resurrect them on the last day.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 989)

Before the flesh is resurrected, the soul after death already rejoices in heaven, suffers in hell or is cleansed in purgatory.

How should we understand that a person will not lose his identity either after death or after resurrection?

- I will always be myself

Neither after death nor after resurrection will we lose our self or our identity. After death, when only our immortal and immaterial soul will live, we will remain the same persons we were during earthly life.

Likewise, receiving another body through resurrection does not mean turning into some other being. After all, a child’s body is different from the body of an adult, but both the child and then the adult are the same being. Although a child’s thoughts and feelings are different from those of an adult, they are still one person. We believe that Holy Virgin in heaven there is the same Mary who lived in our world.

REVIVAL BY THE HOLY TRINITY AT THE END OF THE CENTURIES

Who will resurrect my body?

— Resurrection is the exclusive work of the Holy Trinity

The Savior said: "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25) “He is already giving a sign and a guarantee of this, restoring life to some of the dead and thereby announcing His resurrection, which, however, will be of a different order. He speaks of this unique event as the “sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39), about sign of the temple: He announces his resurrection on the third day after death." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 994)

Yet the resurrection will be not only the work of Christ, but also of the entire Holy Trinity."How Christ's resurrection, so ours will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 989). This matter is extraordinary. "our faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and in His creative, saving and sanctifying action, finds its highest point in proclaiming the resurrection of the dead at the end of time and eternal life." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 988) Thanks to the Almighty Holy Trinity, mortal flesh will be resurrected to eternal life.

— The day of our bodily resurrection

When will God resurrect my body?

The resurrection will take place "on the last day" (John 6.39-40.44. 54; 11.24); "at the end of the world." The second coming of Christ in glory, called the parousia, will be the day of our resurrection. (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1001).“When Christ, our life, appears,” teaches St. Paul, “then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:4; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16). “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Rom 8, 11).

St. Paul testifies: “Christ rose from the dead, the firstborn of those who died. For as death came through man, He was melted through man and resurrection of the dead. Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life, each in his own order: Christ the firstborn, then those of Christ at His coming. And then the end, when He will hand over the Kingdom to God and the Father, when He will abolish all authority and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Because He put everything under His feet. When it is said that all things are subject to Him, it is clear that except Him Who put all things under Him. When he puts all things in subjection to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all: " (1 Cor 15:20-28)

— Spiritual death and spiritual resurrection

Resurrection in the precise sense means the revival by the Most Holy Trinity of the human body with new life on the day of Christ's coming in glory. Still, there is also spiritual death and spiritual resurrection, which is carried out in the sacrament of baptism.

— Participation in the death and resurrection of Christ

“If it is true that Christ will resurrect us “on the last day,” it is also true that in a sense we have already been resurrected with Christ. Indeed, thanks to the Holy Spirit, Christian life on earth is now a participation in the death and resurrection of Christ: Having been buried with Him in baptism, in Him you were also raised again by faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead (...)" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1002)

— New life and new behavior

“Having been united with Christ in baptism, believers already actually participate in the heavenly life of the risen Christ, but this life is still “hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3.3). "...and he (...) raised us up with Him, and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2.6). "

The essence of this spiritual resurrection is participation in the life of the risen Christ and a new behavior based on perfect love for God and neighbor. " So, if you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God (Col 2.12; 3.1).

THE EUCHARIST AND OUR RESURRECTION

What connection is there between the Eucharist and our future resurrection?

- "I will resurrect him on the last day." (John 6:54)

Jesus Christ will resurrect on the last day those who believed in Him, who ate His Body and drank His Blood. “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54) (Wed. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 994) .

— We will also “appear with Him in glory” (Col 3.4)

When we receive communion, the risen and living Christ unites us completely with Himself. Thanks to this union, we become like Him: now spiritually, and on the last day of history - also physically, since we will appear with Him in the glory of the resurrection. "Nourished by His Body in the Eucharist, we already belong to the Body of Christ. When we rise on the last day, we will also "appear with Him in glory." (Col 3.4)." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1003)

— Anticipation of the transformation of our body by Christ

Our “participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of the transformation of our body by Christ: Just as the bread that came from the earth, thanking God, ceases to be ordinary bread, but becomes the Eucharist, composed of two essences, earthly and heavenly, so the body ours who participate in the Eucharist are no longer corruptible, for they have hope of resurrection." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1000)

RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

with a statement of the circumstances preceding the general resurrection of the dead and subsequent after it, based on the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, Holy Tradition, interpretations of the holy fathers and reasoning of common sense, with a description of cases of resurrection dead bodies set forth in the Holy Scriptures and accomplished at a later time

Permitted for publication by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church

Full or partial reproduction of this publication by any means, including electronic, mechanical or magnetic media, including photocopying, is permitted only with the written permission of NEW MYSL PUBLISHING HOUSE LLC.

All rights to the publication and title are reserved.

Reproduction is possible only with the written permission of NEW MYSL PUBLISHING HOUSE LLC.

Preface

The mystery of the resurrection of the dead is great and incomprehensible to us. And it is precisely the inability of the resurrection to the human mind that makes believing in it so difficult for many. It is difficult to imagine that not just some part of the human race will be resurrected, but all people in general. It is much easier to believe that the prophet Elijah raised the dead or that during His lifetime our Lord raised the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of the leader of the synagogue and the brother of two sisters - Lazarus; but the doctrine of the resurrection of all people, righteous and unrighteous, is difficult for the mind. Just think: countries with a population of millions are teeming with people and the soil of the earth is literally fertilized human bodies for entire millennia, when people died, in addition to natural death, from other causes - in numerous wars, from floods and fires, from famine and pestilence, at sea and on land, from human hands and from animal teeth - and all these multitudes, without exception, will rise from their graves - not one of those born of a woman will rest in the sleep of death forever, then the question involuntarily arises: “is this possible?”

In addition, let us remember in which scary places there may be human bodies!.. Many died in mines at a depth of hundreds of meters; many were washed away by sea straits and carried into deep caves of the ancient ocean; many are buried under mountains that fell from volcanic upheavals and walled up in granite rocks... And where are there no remains of humans? They are everywhere!.. And in the ground that we walk on, and in the grass that we trample, and in the trees that we cut down, and in the sources of water that we drink, and in the grains of the field that we eat, and in the air we breathe. No one can point to even one place on globe, where there would be no ashes of the sons of Adam, or to speak of at least one wind that did not contain elusive particles of what was once called man, and to show at least one wave that could not be called a solution from the remains of man. But be that as it may, however scattered the individual parts of dismantled machines may be in the great workshop of the universe, the almighty Mechanic will collect them and compose them again into primitive machines, of which some will receive not only a newly primitive appearance, but also a renewed gilded appearance. “He will renew our lowly body so that it will be conformed to His glorious Body.”

This means that in the resurrection of the dead one cannot see anything contrary to nature, nothing unnatural, although none of the forces now acting on our bodies is capable of producing such an effect in us, this is possible only for a force that has not yet manifested itself, for a force that is in the power of God .

The upcoming general resurrection of the dead must be distinguished from the temporary resurrections of the dead that Christ and his disciples performed (the resurrections of the daughter of Jairus, Lazarus, who lay in the tomb for four days, and others). It was a return to life, after which death is inevitable. But the general resurrection from the dead will be an eternal resurrection, in which the souls of people will forever be united with their incorruptible bodies. Then the righteous will rise transformed and enlightened.

The glorious doctrine of the resurrection of the dead removes our sorrow for the dead believers close to us. We know that that corporeal mortal composition, which we place in the coffin and cover with grave dust in the dark abode of death, at the sound of the Archangel's trumpet, on the bright morning of the resurrection will rise incorruptible, in a wonderful, unfading beauty, bestowed by the Creator for heavenly glory. What we sow in weakness will arise in strength; we sow in humiliation, we shall rise in glory; we sow “a spiritual body, a spiritual body will arise”... The materiality of our body will lose its coarseness and its desire for corruption, and our body itself will pass from the “spiritual to the spiritual,” that is, it will obey not the base desires of the animal soul, but the highest will of the free spirit . At the present stage of our earthly existence, we are surrounded by weakness: often what we desire, we cannot accomplish, and this confirms the saying of our Lord: “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”... In our resurrected state, such a discrepancy between body and spirit will disappear: the body will be as cheerful and free as the spirit, fulfilling every desire unconditionally in everything. Now our body, by its nature, falls under various limitations and inabilities from which the pure spirit is excluded... For example, it can move only under the same conditions under which all other animals move, with the only difference being that it cannot move as fast and easy as many of them. Then it will receive the ability, without any obstacles, by mere inspiration of the spirit, to be transported with incredible lightning speed through the vast superstellar spaces in the immeasurable universe of God. The planets will serve him only as steps on a ladder to ascend to the Throne of the Eternal Father. This will be a “spiritual body” - an in all respects submissive instrument of the spirit, similar to the glorious Body of the risen Lord.

In everyone's heart religious person there is the confidence to see again your blood relatives, old friends, dear acquaintances and generally good neighbors - those who, by the inscrutable will of Providence, have passed into the afterlife. This happy confidence is pleasant and dear to man as a social being. The affirmation of this confidence and its revitalization is facilitated by the revealed teaching of the resurrection of the dead.

Recovering in memory the teaching of Jesus Christ and the apostles about the resurrection of the dead, bringing it through the prism of consciousness can and should be a sufficient justification for this publication.

Chapter 1
The Incomprehensible Mystery of the Resurrection

"Body of the future"

There is one thought in the human soul that lies deeper than all other thoughts - this is the thought of one’s own death and the death of loved ones. “Death,” said one French historian, “was the first mystery that presented itself to man; she set him on the path to other mysteries.” But, if in relation to any other secret we allow a skeptical question: why do you need to know it? Live without further ado, and take from life what you can and want to take; then in the face of this first secret such advice is inappropriate.

“Live,” teaches the philosophy of earthly well-being.

“But that’s exactly what I want,” the soul answers. “I want life, but what I get is death.”

- Okay, okay, I won’t think about my death, but during my lifetime a person close to me dies: his death deprives me of the best joy of life, don’t I really need to dwell on that too?

- Yes, try not to think about that either.

But for this, the soul needs to cease to be what it is - a human soul. This means saying to the soul: die, die before the death of the body, in order to give this body the opportunity to live a serene, “natural” life until its appointed hour strikes. Here the madness of the council reaches its climax, and the soul escapes from the clutches of this death, the second, and the first death and the first secret again becomes a motionless ghost before it. It is impossible to break out of this circle, and man realized this long ago. How did he live all these long millennia, what did he live with, and what was it that hid this ghost from him that prevented him from living?

There is a wonderful story among many wild tribes of Africa and the islands of the Great Ocean. The month sends a messenger to a man (according to some versions - a hare, according to others - a chameleon) and tells him to tell the man: just as I (the month) die and am reborn again, so you (the man) will die and be reborn again. But this news did not reach its destination - the chameleon crawled too slowly, and the hare distorted it, conveying: as the month dies, so will the man and will not rise again. At the same time, the month itself, which sent the first good news, did not want to confirm it anymore. So the man was left with bad news in his hands and with a vague hope in his heart for a new, better embassy.

It seems difficult to better convey in figurative form those feelings with which the human soul lived and still lives today. Death and birth pass before her like links in an endless chain. “You have returned,” the savages say at the sight of a son born after the death of his father, but the thought early suggests that this descendant is not a resurrected parent, but another, independent personality, claiming personal immortality. The immortality of the race, no matter how high it stands in cult terms, is still unable to quench the thirst for individual immortality, and does not bring the news that a person will not die. Only one month fully masters this secret of personal immortality. His ashen soul does not float for long without his light-like body - a little time passes and he puts on it again, again and again he is resurrected to life, he is resurrected not in a son, not in a descendant, but in his own renewed flesh. Here is the news of personal resurrection, continuously flowing from the heavenly heights, but across the face of the earth it creeps with a cold, deceptive radiance, like a lazy chameleon, on earthly objects it plays with unfaithful runaway bunnies, and not life, but death looks out from everywhere as hollows of black, deep shadows. The messengers conveyed the covenant of the month poorly.

But in vain they shout to man from all sides: you will die. With a gaze full of hope, he looks straight into the face of the sender, catches its rays before they crashed to the ground, and feels that they bring him a different message, it does not reach his heart in a clear form, it is drowned out by the hostile noise heard around, but he knows that if this noise ceases, the voice of truth will tell him the truth, he even knows what this voice will tell him.

Death, meanwhile, clearly triumphed: centuries and millennia passed, people were born and died, but each new grave not only did not pour new drops of despair into the soul, threatening to overwhelm the measure of its patience and faith, on the contrary, the further, the more magnificent the funeral arrangements were. rituals, the more care was taken to ensure the body's peace after death. Funeral feasts were replaced by funeral feasts, days of remembrance were included in the annual circle of holidays, tombs were expanded and decorated, art preserved for posterity the features of the dear dead; already at the very end of the ancient period and in the most skeptical and noisy centers of education, the famous “collegia funeratica”, grave-digging societies, arose, providing a dignified burial for everyone, even the poorest. Even when people died in droves, as, for example, in war. And then it was sacrilege to leave the bodies unburied, and we remember the story of the victors at the Argenus Islands, who were almost executed by their compatriots for leaving the bodies of their fallen brothers in the sea in the heat of battle. The earthly well-being secured by victory was less necessary for the remaining relatives than the afterlife peace of the dead, inseparable from the peace of their bodies. These bodies smoldered and disintegrated into dust before the eyes of the living - people went to the aid of death and decay, they began to burn the bodies or gave them to birds to eat, but the ashes and bones collected in urns were kept as carefully as embalmed corpses . If the body disappeared in a foreign land and it was impossible to get it, the relatives on their native side buried the ghost, erected tombs without ashes and knew that this also brought eternal peace to the deceased. was needed everlasting memory, it provided reality beyond the grave, but for this it needed at least a grain of the tangible, at least one name, written or reverently passed on from generation to generation. This was the seed from which the entire posthumous life of the soul grew, this grain of dust clothed this soul with flesh. But how thin this flesh must have been! In fact, after death the soul was only a shadow, and only food brought to the grave temporarily revived and fleshed it out. Odysseus found his mother’s soul in the underworld, but the pale shadow sits mute and in oblivion. The voice of the soothsayer teaches Odysseus how to awaken her:

« Easy remedy To this I will open in a few words:
One of the lifeless shadows that gets close to blood
If you give it, he will begin to talk to you intelligently; but silently
The one who you will not allow to bleed will move away from you...
The mother approached the blood, got drunk and recognized her son.”

The mystery of heaven has now reached the earth: just as I (the month) die and am reborn again, so you (man) will die and be reborn again, resurrected in the same person and in the same flesh, only transformed, fragrant, royal, similar to the light-like body of the month.

When heaven saw that many hearts were ready to accept the news of the value and immortality of the body, and only pride in front of this body prevented others from accepting it, it left the proud to wander at the crossroads and sent a new faithful messenger to those who were ready to reverently approach the flesh and to the dust, with a pure heart, stand on the morning watch of their resurrection... The month and the sun prepared these hearts to receive the joyful news, and now a little star taught them.

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother and, falling, they worshiped Him and opened their treasures. They brought Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh,” gifts with which the royal bodies were decorated, blossomed and fragrant both during life and after death.

But this baby was also a great chosen one, he was selected from fourteen thousand newborn lives: such a selection had never been seen even by the Roman lake. Egypt sheltered him from death in the shadow of its tombs and preserved his living young body as carefully as it preserved its thousand-year-old dead. This body was a vessel of grace-filled gifts: it worked miracles with its clay, breath, clothes, its voice awakened the dead, a dazzling light emanated from it. His face breathed with love for all the sorrowing and humiliated, but when the love of the humiliated washed His feet precious world, He put this waste of the world above other works of love. This was the beginning of his burial. But first, this body suffered for a long time, was ulcerated, devoid of appearance and grandeur. In those days, the full, resurrected month stood above the earth, spring sun It became brighter, but it also dimmed in anticipation of the glory of the coming resurrection. His death was wordless, but his coffin was with the rich - a clean shroud and a hundred liters of myrrh and aloes - this was only the threshold of his burial: after the Sabbath rest had passed, new incense was ready to be poured out on him... It could remain incorruptible and fragrant for a long time, – it became like this forever. In vain, on that memorable morning, human love looked for him “among the dead” - only the shrouds and the sir remained there. It itself stood before the disciples alive, as before, they touched its bones and flesh, which “the spirit does not have,” and put their fingers into the wounds, which proud pagan beauty fears; it took food, its tongue taught the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but all this - both bones and flesh - passed through locked doors, disappeared and reappeared, and finally ascended to heaven, to appear again in the same way at the end of days... It was also a new, glorious body, and, free over space and time, it did not leave the earth even after ascending to heaven. Earthly bread and wine - food and life of the human body - by the power of His victorious Name, became His true flesh and blood and feeding the bodies of those who believed in His resurrection, made them partakers of His eternal glory... This was the body of the Church, whose head was the Firstborn from the dead, and members - sons of the resurrection.

The struggle between spring and winter is over: eternal spring blooms in the hearts of those who believe in the first resurrection and those who await the coming resurrection. The stamp of this faith and this hope has imprinted the entire life of the Church over all the long centuries of its earthly existence.

This news of eternal spring reaches us and reaches us in a new, wondrous way. In Rome, in that same Rome where people once so strictly selected bodies worthy of life, other bodies are now being discovered, chosen for a new life. better life. From the depths of the catacombs, from underground graves, where I have not looked for many centuries human eye, the ever-festive Church of the Apostolic days emerges into the daylight of our everyday life. Protestantism looks at it in amazement: a religion of pure spirit and direct communion with God, which considers itself a direct heir to the apostolic covenants; it sees before it not a Protestant parish, united by the community of faith in the Crucified One and alien to any traces of religious “materialism”, but before it is the Church of icons, relics, saints, church Mother of God Intercessor, as St. calls Her. Irenaeus, royal Oranta of the catacombs. The Church of the essential body and blood, the Divine members (“coelestia membra”), the Church of prayers for the departed, the living Church of the living... But through the gaze of a daughter, the conciliar universal Church looks at her. After all, she is flesh of flesh and bone of the bones of this catacomb Apostolic Church, she only rose above the ground, out of the ground, when the days of persecution ended. Like a pointed grass from sown seeds, drilling the earth, its domes and bell towers rose like the golden wheat of God; a warm wind stirring the fields, a festive message spreads across it, but its roots are motionlessly growing stronger in the ground...

Its altars stand above the relics, the faces of the saints look out from everywhere, the temple is full of incense, rejoices in hymns... The Church washes its children with the water of baptism, anoints their bodies with myrrh and oil, calls them to the marriage union with the grace-filled sacrament, brings them to the holy chalice, nourishes them with the true body and true blood of the Lord, - continues on earth the same work that she once performed in the dungeons, over the tombs of the martyrs, which she learned from the first, fragrant tomb, where only for a short time the Chief of her life and her Head was forgotten in the sleep of death.

Just as I died and rose again, so you, man, will die and be reborn again - a person who once believed in the month now lives by this new testament of the Sun and truth.

(from the book “The Future Body” by F. Andreev. Sergiev Posad, 1914)

The ancient world's idea of ​​the resurrection of bodies

History presents us with a person everywhere and always in worries, in worry about his future. Humanity has always thought about the cradle of a child and the coffin of an old man and has always directed its gaze beyond the limits of this cramped space.

Everywhere the question about the future has been and is being raised, everywhere the answer to it has been heard and is being heard; only this answer varies depending on the degree of development of thought and education.

Of all the objects that a person knows, there is nothing more hidden to his mind than the future life; of all the questions about future life none confuses the human mind as much as the question of the resurrection of the body.

How did a person solve and solve this difficult question?

This is what the ancient pagan world presents to us this time.

In the poetic representations of Greek folk fantasy we see a gloomy view of the human body. Ulysses, the hero of Homer's poems, wants to talk with the dead.

With his sword he digs a ditch and fills it with sacrificial blood. Obeying the power of a mysterious spell, pale shadows come one with another and, having tasted the black blood, begin to speak. Between them, Ulysses recognizes his mother.

“Caught up (says the hero) with my heart, I wanted to hug
I am the departed mother's soul;
Three times I stretched out my hands to her, striving with love,
Three times she slipped between my hands
A shadow or a sleepy dream, tearing out a groan from me.”
And then the shadow answers Ulysses’ question:
“My dear son, the most ill-fated among people...
Such is the fate of all the dead who lose their lives.
Strong veins no longer bind either muscles or bones;
Suddenly the funeral fire destroys with piercing force
Everything, only the hot life will leave the cold bones:
Then, having flown away like a dream, their soul disappears.”

In the poems of Homer, in the thoughts of the ancient Greeks, there is a future for man; but this future consists in the fact that the body is destroyed by fire, and the soul, becoming a shadow, wanders in eternal darkness. However, such a gloomy view of the future is gradually brightened up by the Greek imagination, but even among the most best philosophers Greeks we find the darkest view of the human body.

So, for example, Socrates, defining what death is, in accordance with the general belief, considers it only the detachment of the soul from the body, which he views as a transitory shell of the soul.

Showing distinctive features a true philosopher, he says that “a sage worthy of his name, trying to understand the truth, throughout his life more and more renounces the body, because the body with its feelings closes the truth from him and, demanding concern for itself, distracts him from understanding. Isn’t this the detachment of the soul from the body called death?.. The job of a philosopher is to detach the soul from the body; therefore he understands what death is.”

If we transport our thoughts to the vast expanses of India, Tibet, China, and listen to the voices of the Brahmins, learned Buddhists and learned Chinese, from here we will receive even sadder impressions. "Life is long fabric sorrows and disasters, they taught there; salvation consists in not living; deep, uninterrupted sleep is better than any happiness here. The most best wish- to stop the functions of the human body as soon as possible, to be destroyed, to fall asleep, to lose the feeling of one’s misfortunes, deprived of self-knowledge.”

The question of the resurrection of the body is almost the only question that humanity has neither thought nor wondered about. It is clear what impression the sermon on the resurrection of the body must have made on people who had never heard of it before. In Athens, where the speeches of Demosthenes and Aeschylus were heard, the Apostle Paul walks among the temples and statues that aroused astonishment. Throughout the squares and porticos he preaches about the Crucified One, Who revealed the One True God, Who far surpasses the ideals of Plato. The inquisitive Athenians listen to the apostle's sermon... But as soon as the apostle began to preach about the resurrection of the dead, he only said: “there will be a resurrection of the dead, the righteous and the unjust,” when the philosophers who listened to him immediately laughed at him, considering his teaching pointless, and some wanted to listen to his teaching about resurrection at another time, that is, they made a polite hint to stop preaching about such, as it seemed to them, an absurd teaching.

But what seemed absurd to the pagan sages in this case, has been the subject of faith of the Church of Christ from its very beginning to the present time.

What is the teaching of the Church on the resurrection of the body?

Three main questions come to the fore here: is the resurrection of the human body possible and, if possible, then what is its purpose?.. If there is both a purpose and the possibility of resurrection, then what state will our bodies be in after the resurrection?

Let us answer these questions with the words of Scripture.

That the resurrection of bodies is possible is obvious if we take into account the omnipotence of God.

When the Sadducees rejected the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ directly told them: you are deceived because you do not know the power, that is, the omnipotence of God (Matthew 22:29). He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:54). In addition, Jesus Christ himself demonstrated the possibility of the resurrection of bodies, when he actually raised the dead during the days of his ministry on earth, raised many saints in Jerusalem at the moments of his death, and finally resurrected himself.

Developing the teaching of the Savior, the apostles also believed in the omnipotence of God as the basis for the possibility of the resurrection of the dead: “God raised the Lord, and will raise us also by His power,” taught the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 6:14).

When in the first times of Christianity this possibility seemed strange and incomprehensible to some, the fathers and teachers of the Church drew everyone’s attention to the very experiences of God’s omnipotence in nature. Here is what Tertullian says on this matter: “Everything in nature is renewed; everything in it begins at the same time when it ended - both for this and for this it ends in order to begin. Nothing perishes except for life. Everything in the world that is transformed in this way testifies to the resurrection of the dead. God revealed this earlier in creation than in letters; He preached first with his power rather than with his voice.”

He sent nature as a teacher to man when he only intended to send prophets. Indeed, we see that in nature everything is arranged by God in such a way that the death of one creature at the same time serves as the beginning of life for another, and for the most part- the best, the most perfect. How much more perfect, for example, is a tree with many leaves in comparison with the grain from the decay of which it receives the beginning of its existence!

What is the purpose of the resurrection of the human body? Is there any need for this resurrection?

After the glorious victory over death, the triumph of the Conqueror of death will be completed with just reward - “to each according to his works” (Rom. 2:6). For God's justice it is not possible to err in one's definitions. But how will the just Judge pronounce his final sentence, when one soul without a body is not yet fat man? According to the teaching of Holy Scripture, the body is essential for a person to fully exist: it is an instrument of the spirit. If God's justice must reward everyone for everything that was done by him during earthly life, then it must reward not only the human soul, but also the body, as an accomplice in the actions of the soul. There is no need to prove here that the body really participates in mental actions - and, moreover, participates not as some kind of dead instrument in the hands of the artist, but as something closely connected with the soul. This truth, clear to everyone, leads us to the conclusion that neither a body without a soul, nor a soul without a body constitutes a fully developed human nature. Bearing in mind, therefore, on the one hand, the justice of God, on the other, our actions and the reason for them, we cannot help but believe the words of the apostle: “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [according to what] he while living in the body, he did good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10). Our domestic speaker St. Demetrius of Rostov speaks quite characteristically about the resurrection of the body. It represents a dispute between the soul and the body about whether the soul or the body is to blame for the crimes committed on earth. “He says,” he says, “the soul to the body: cursed are you, accursed body, for you have deceived me with your sinful lust, and you have led me into cruel iniquities. The body speaks to the soul: Cursed are you, my accursed soul, for you have ruled me evilly, and with your mind given to you by God, like a rein and a bridle, you have not restrained me from evil deeds: but in everything you have deigned to me: and even when I desired a sin, you deigned and cooperated: and they completely angered our Creator God. The soul also speaks: woe to you, my accursed body, for you have embittered your neighbor, robbed, kidnapped strangers, stole and killed. The body in response says: Woe to you, my accursed soul, for in all this you have helped me; You have been my mentor and friend in everything, and what you do is nothing without you. Thus, those who bicker with each other, and one reproaching and swearing at the other, will be brought out to accept condemnation according to their deeds.”

Thus, the soul and body together must suffer the punishment they deserve. In fact, we have many things that neither the soul without the body, nor the body without the soul can do.

Whether we teach others to do good or evil, whether we help our neighbors or offend them, we do this with the help of our bodily organs. And if the soul and body act together, then together they should be rewarded and punished.

This is how Athenagoras, a Christian philosopher of the 2nd century, talks about this: “It cannot be,” he says, “that the soul alone should receive retribution for what it did with the body; for it in itself would not be involved in those sins that arise from sensual pleasures. Likewise, one body should not accept retribution for all deeds, because it is equally subject to the power of the laws of nature, as well as to the power of reason; but for every deed the whole person, consisting of soul and body, must receive reward. If the bodies are not resurrected, then divine justice will not be given to either the body or the soul. Justice will not be given to the body because it will not receive the slightest part in the rewards of the soul for those labors in which it took a great part in enduring; and the soul will not be given justice, since it alone will bear punishment for many sins that it would not have committed if it had not been in union with the body.”

Many similar judgments can be found among other defenders of Christianity, and all of them, in accordance with the teachings of the Orthodox Church, assert that on the Day of the Last Judgment our body must be resurrected in order, together with our soul, to accept deeds worthy of reward or punishment.

What state will the resurrected bodies be in? What qualities will they have and are they the same as those people have on earth?

That the resurrected bodies will be essentially the same as those that were united with known souls during the present life, this naturally follows from the concept of resurrection, which, of course, does not mean the formation or creation of something new, but the restoration and revival of the same the one who died. Jesus Christ, who set the example of resurrection, was resurrected in his own body(John 20, 25–27); Holy Scripture says that “all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God” (John 5:28) and, having heard, will come to life; therefore, those bodies that are buried will be resurrected. However, being essentially the same, the bodies will be very different in their properties from the real ones. So they will not have the rudeness that they have on earth. The resurrected bodies will be thin, light-like, in the likeness of the resurrected body of Jesus, since the Apostle Paul says that we “will then be clothed in the image of the heavenly man” (1 Cor. 15:49), i.e., Jesus Christ.

The apostle defines the particular properties of resurrected bodies as follows: “the spiritual body is sown (that is, dies), the spiritual body is raised, it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption, it is sown not in honor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is fitting for this corruptible to put on incorruption, and for this dead one to put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:42-44, 53); that is, our resurrected bodies will be adapted to the then state of our spirit - and will be incorruptible, indestructible and immortal.

Let us turn to the objections that have existed and exist against the dogma of the resurrection of bodies.

The truth of the general resurrection of the dead is clearly and definitely revealed in Holy Scripture. It also flows from the basic forces of our immortal spirit and from the concept of God, eternal, omnipotent and all-righteous. Jesus Christ himself spoke more than once about the resurrection of the dead: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming, and has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard it, they will live” (John 5:25)

“Marvel not at this; for the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29). The Savior confirmed the sermon about the resurrection with the Sacrament of Communion: “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.”

I will raise him up on the last day” (6:54). The Apostle Paul says: “Christ is risen from the dead, the firstborn of those who died. For just as death is through man, so is the resurrection of the dead through man. Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will live” (1 Cor. 15, 20, 21, 22).

After the opening of the gates of Hell by Jesus Christ and his Resurrection from the dead on the first Tuesday after Easter week, the Holy Church shared the joy of the Resurrection of Christ with the dead in the hope of a general resurrection. At the moment of the general resurrection, the bodies of dead people will change, in essence the bodies will be the same as those we now have, but in quality they will be different from the current bodies - they will be spiritual, incorruptible and immortal.

The Apostle Paul says: “A natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised... we will not all die, but we will all be changed, suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we (the survivors) will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:44, 51, 52). On this day it is supposed to commemorate the dead, and this day in Christianity is called “Radonitsa”.

Easter chants continue in the church and after the liturgy on this day, an ecumenical memorial service is held in the church. Since ancient times, on this day they visit the graves of their close relatives, remember them and eat. The doctrine of remembrance of the dead is based both on Holy Scripture and especially on Holy Tradition. The whole mystery of the resurrection of the dead is always before our eyes, but we do not always see. She apparently appears to us in nature and confirms our faith and exposes our lack of faith.

The resurrection of the dead will follow simultaneously with the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and consists in the fact that the bodies of all the dead will unite with their souls and come to life. The prophet Isaiah said: “Your dead will live, your dead bodies will rise!”

Arise and rejoice, cast into the dust: for Your dew is the dew of plants, and the earth will cast out the dead” (Isaiah 26:19.) The prophet Ezekel contemplated the very resurrection of the dead in a vision of a field strewn with dry human bones. From these bones, according to God’s word spoken by the Son of Man, human joints were formed and, perhaps, in the same way as during the primitive creation of man, the Spirit will then animate them.

According to the word of the Lord, spoken by the prophet, first there was a movement in the bones, bone to bone began to connect, each in its place; then they were connected by sinews, clothed with flesh and covered with skin; finally, according to the same second voice of God, uttered by the Son of Man, the spirit of life entered into them - and they all came to life, stood on their feet, and formed a great multitude of people (chapter 37, 1-10. Ezekel).

To the unbelievers, in response to their question about the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ said: “You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures or the power of God. Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22,29,31,32). The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for with Him all are alive” (Luke 20:38).

Jesus Christ indicates the purpose of his coming to earth as follows: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15-16). Changes will follow in the physical, spiritual and overall visible world will change, from perishable to imperishable. The state of people's souls after death is described in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verses 19-31. Thus, the souls of the righteous are in anticipation of eternal bliss, and the souls of sinners are in anticipation of eternal torment. The state of the soul of the deceased is determined at a private trial, which takes place after the death of each person.

Death has important in the life of every person, it is the limit by which the time of earthly exploits ends and the time of retribution begins. But since private judgment is not final, the souls of sinful people who died with faith in Christ and repentance can receive relief from the sufferings of the afterlife and even.

And some can be delivered from suffering with the help of the prayer of the Church and the offering of the bloodless sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ for them. For this purpose, the commemoration of the dead was established in the Orthodox Church, which has always been performed since the times of the apostles.

The Holy Apostle John says: “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that does not lead to death, then let him pray, and God will give him life” (John 5:16) He writes about the need to develop spiritual space and prayer for the sinful authorities who oppress us in his In his letter to Bishop Timothy, the Holy Apostle Paul:

And so, first of all, I ask you to make prayers, forgiveness, supplications, thanksgiving for all people, for kings and for all those in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and serene life in all piety and purity, for this is good and pleasing to our Savior God, who wants everything people were saved and came to the knowledge of the truth” (Tim. 2:1-4).

About the righteous, the Holy Apostle James says: “Confess your actions to each other and pray for each other in order to be healed; The fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16). The Holy Apostle Paul wrote about the purpose of life on earth in his epistle to Christians: “Whether we live, we live for the Lord, or whether we die, we die for the Lord, and therefore whether we live or die, we are always the Lord’s” (Epistle to Rom. 14:8).

Through the prophet Hosea, the Lord said: “I will redeem them from the power of hell, I will deliver them from death: Death! where is your sting? Hell! where is your victory? I will have no repentance for that” (Hos. 13, 14). Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John says: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; and if she dies, she will bear much fruit” (John 12:24). Thus, by the righteous decree of God, our mortal body, like a seed, is destined first to die and decay, and then to rise again. To write the article, material from the Law of God was used.

...The time is coming when everyone in the graves
They will hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life,
and those who did evil - into the resurrection of condemnation.
In. 5, 28-29

When the history of mankind comes to its end, when, after many troubles and sorrows, our Lord Jesus Christ comes to earth again with glory to judge the living and the dead, then everyone who has ever lived on earth will be resurrected, both the righteous and sinners, Christians, will rise from their graves and the pagans who died thousands of years ago and died just before the second Coming of Christ. Not a single dead person will remain in the grave - everyone will be resurrected at the coming Last Judgment. It is very difficult, and perhaps impossible, to imagine these events, but, based on the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church, we will still try to find answers to some questions regarding the general resurrection of the dead. Archpriest Mikhail Vorobyov, a teacher at the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary, will help us with this.

- Father Michael, how do we know about the coming resurrection of the dead?

— First of all, of course, from the Holy Scriptures. There are many places in both the Old and New Testaments that talk about the general future resurrection. For example, the prophet Ezekiel contemplated the resurrection of the dead, when the dry bones with which the field was strewn began to come closer to each other, become overgrown with veins and flesh, and finally came to life and stood on their feet - a very, very great horde(Ezek. 37 , 10). In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself repeatedly speaks about the coming resurrection: He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day(In. 6 , 54). In addition, the Gospel of Matthew says that at the moment of Christ's death ...the coffins opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected and, coming out of their tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many(Matt. 27 , 52-53). And, of course, the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, which speaks quite clearly and unambiguously about the general resurrection and the subsequent Last Judgment: When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all nations will be gathered before Him(Matt. 25 , 31-32).

- Yes, but these passages of Holy Scripture speak of the resurrection of only some. So, maybe not everyone will be resurrected, but only the righteous or saints?

- No, every person who has ever lived on earth will be resurrected. ...All who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation.(In. 5 , 28-29). It says "everything". The Apostle Paul writes: Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life.(1 Cor. 15 , 22). Once an essence created by God cannot disappear, and each person, each person is his own special essence.

— It turns out that Seraphim of Sarov, and Pushkin, and even our relatives and friends will be resurrected?

- Not only friends, but also enemies... And such historical characters, like Hitler and Stalin... Even suicides will be resurrected, so suicide is completely meaningless. In general, the resurrection will occur regardless of a person’s free will. Reality will change, a different existence will come, and the resurrection from the dead will be a consequence of the change in reality. For example, there was ice, but with increasing temperature the ice turns into water. There were dead, but reality will change - and the dead will come to life. Therefore, a person’s personal qualities do not play any role during the general resurrection; they will be considered at the Last Judgment following the resurrection.

- What kind of bodies will people have?

- Well, you know... I’m afraid that no one will answer your question in such a formulation...

The only thing that is unconditional is that the coming general resurrection will be the resurrection of man in the unity of spirit, soul and body. Orthodox Church does not profess the immortality of the soul, like many ancient religions, but precisely the bodily resurrection. Only now the body will be different, transformed, free from imperfections, diseases, deformities that are the consequences of sin. The Apostle Paul speaks convincingly about this coming transformation: We will not all die, but we will all change(1 Cor. 15 , 51). At the same time, the Apostle Paul indicates an essential sign of a new transformed, deified, if you like, body. This sign is incorruptibility. First Corinthians says this clearly and unambiguously: But someone will say: how will the dead be raised? and in what body will they come? Reckless! what you sow will not come to life unless it dies... There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of those in heaven is one, and that of the earth is another. There is another glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; sown in humiliation, raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; the spiritual body is sown, the spiritual body is raised. There is a spiritual body, and there is a spiritual body. So it is written: the first man Adam became a living soul; and the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. But not the spiritual first, but the spiritual, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second person is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, so are the earthy; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of earth, we will also bear the image of heaven... For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality.(1 Cor. 15 , 35-49, 53).

The transformation of the human world into re-existence is a consequence of the transformation of the whole world, of all creation. Since the world will be different, the person’s body will be different. The world will become more perfect, and the body-mental-spiritual state of a person will also become more perfect. And the fact that the transfiguration of all creation is its deification is also very clearly revealed by the Apostle Paul, who says that in the transfigured world God will be all in all(1 Cor. 15 , 28). We especially note that the Apostle Peter, who can hardly be called a complete like-minded person of the Apostle Paul, speaks of the state of a person awarded the Heavenly Kingdom also as deification: ...Great and precious promises have been given to us, so that through them you may become partakers of the Divine nature... for thus free entry into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be opened for you(2 Pet. 1 , 4, 11).

- At what age will people be resurrected - the age at which they died, or will everyone be resurrected young?

- At any age, a person’s personality is enriched by relevant experience. Even extreme old age with all the infirmities, with all the Alzheimer’s, also creates a certain experience (at least the experience of dying!), which, from the point of view of the individual, has its own value. An old man values ​​his childhood, his youth, his maturity, and even his old age...

Resurrection of the Dead- recovery physical bodies people in a new state, which will occur with the second coming. The resurrection of the dead, according to the Apostle Paul, will happen in the blink of an eye ().

The prologue to the resurrection of the dead is the resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ. By His deed on the cross and death, and then subsequent ones, the Lord transformed human nature and opened the path of resurrection to all people.

At the same time, the redemptive work of the God-man did not cancel the human one. A person voluntarily accepts or rejects the feat of the God-man, voluntarily follows the path of repentance and cleansing from, or continues to develop his passions, entering into hostility with. By accepting the feat of the God-man, a Christian is called upon to repeat His life in some way - to die with Christ, to voluntarily crucify his passions and lusts in this world, to be transformed by the fulfillment gospel commandments. For a struggling Christian, the resurrection will be the “resurrection of life” - such a person does not come to judgment, for he has passed from death to life (). As for the person who rejected God, resurrection will also come for him, but as a “resurrection of condemnation” ().

Thus, at the resurrection of the dead, there will be a restoration of human nature in its entirety - human souls connect with human bodies. However, sinners will be alienated from God by the lack of their own decisive will to good. God will truly be in everyone, “but only in He will He abide “mercifully,” and in the wicked “unmercifully,” says St. .

God, by His Power, will raise the dead incorruptible, and the body of the resurrected will be incorruptible and immortal, as a result of which it will not need either food or drink. According to St. Apostle Paul: “Our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform our lowliness in accordance with the body of His glory as He can through the action of His power” ().

“What is this “humiliated body” that the Lord will transform according to the body of His glory?” asks St. . – It is obvious that the body that is falls to the ground and is humiliated. Its transformation (consists in the fact) that it, mortal and corruptible, will become immortal and incorruptible, not by its own essence, but by the action of the Lord, who is able to clothe the mortal with the immortal and the corruptible with the incorruptible.” Following St. , interpreting the same words of the apostle, the Lord “on the day of our resurrection” will “transform the body of our humiliation,” which inside in the grave (in the grave) becomes insignificant dust, “and will make” it “conformed to the body of His glory,” that is, immortal life, which He clothed “according to the strength of His might, that He might subdue all things to Himself.” The saint teaches that after the resurrection “those who are saved will receive an unchangeable, impassive, subtle body, just like the body of the Lord was after the Resurrection, passing through locked doors, not getting tired, not needing food, sleep and drink.” The Holy One, following Holy Scripture, speaks of the transfigured body of the righteous in symbols of light: “...What will those who rise from the dead be like? Listen to your Lord Himself, who says: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (). Do I need to mention the brilliance of the sun? Since believers must be transformed in accordance with the lightness of Christ the Lord Himself, as the Apostle Paul testifies: “our life,” he says, “is in heaven, from there we wait for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humility, as if this were conformed to the body of His glory" (), - then, without a doubt, this mortal flesh will be transformed in accordance with the lordship of Christ, the mortal will be clothed with immortality, what was sown in weakness will then rise in strength (cf.)." The saint also considers the bodies of the resurrected righteous to be luminous, indicating that they will be involved in the uncreated radiance with which the flesh of the Lord shone on Tabor: “Like the body of the Lord, when He ascended the mountain and was transformed into Divine glory and endless light, so the bodies of the saints are glorified and become shining. For just as the inner glory was then spread out on the body of Christ and shone forth, in the same way, in the saints, the power of Christ existing within will on that day overflow outward - onto their bodies, because even now with their minds they partake of His essence and nature.”

According to the teachings of St. Fathers, the bodies of unrepentant sinners will not become bodies of Divine glory, which the righteous will possess. The bodies of unrepentant sinners will reflect the passions nesting in them, recreate inner world transgressors of the Divine commandments will be disgusted. According to the words of Blessed Theodoret, those worthy of heaven will be clothed with heavenly glory, and those unworthy, having only earthly things in their thoughts, “will take on a robe corresponding to their will.”

St. John Chrysostom notes: “Death...for us is twofold; therefore the resurrection must be twofold. We, who died a double death, are resurrected by a double resurrection. We alone have so far been resurrected from sin, for we were buried with Him in baptism and rose with Him through baptism. This one resurrection is liberation from sins; and the second resurrection is the resurrection of the body.” “The resurrection of the soul is its union with Life, which is Christ,” writes St. - “just as a dead body, unless it receives and merges with the soul in some unfused way, does not exist and is not called alive and cannot live, so the soul cannot live on its own unless it is united by an ineffable union and is not united unfused with God Who truly is Eternal Life."