www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West When is the Final Judgement in Eastern Catholicism?

Orthodox Bishop Hilarion [fatherstephen.wordpress.com] points to the Orthodox teaching that the Final Judgement occurs after the 2nd Coming. Until then, it is possible for one's destiny to be altered:

Is it possible at all that the fate of a person can be changed after his death? Is death that border beyond which some unchangeable static existence comes? Does the development of the human person not stop after death?

On the one hand, it is impossible for one to actively repent in hell; it is impossible to rectify the evil deeds one committed by appropriate good works. However, it may be possible for one to repent through a ‘change of heart’, a review of one’s values. One of the testimonies to this is the rich man of the Gospel we have already mentioned. He realized the gravity of his situation as soon as found himself in hell. Indeed, if in his lifetime he was focused on earthly pursuits and forgot God, once in hell he realized that his only hope for salvation was God[76] . Besides, according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, the fate of a person after death can be changed through the prayer of the Church. Thus, existence after death has its own dynamics. On the basis of what has been said above, we may say that after death the development of the human person does not cease, for existence after death is not a transfer from a dynamic into a static being, but rather continuation on a new level of that road which a person followed in his lifetime.

The Latin teaching, of course, is that one's fate is definitively sealed right after death.

Do Eastern Catholics hold to the Orthodox doctrine?

There is no other way to interpret Scripture, and our funeral rites support the interpretation, that the final judgment will occur at the Parousia, not before. Beyond that, we do not speculate.

Are the funeral rites online?

Is this a major source of Catholic-Orthodox contention, that is, the timing of the determination of one's ultimate fate, at death vs. at the Parousia?

How does this square with Hebrews 9:27?

Burial Service for a Layman (Hapgood Translation). [orthodoxinfo.com]


Оnly for those who want to make it one.

I agree with brother Stuart. I don't see how one group can dogmatically condemn another group on an issue on which we do not have complete knowledge (at least not in this mortal coil).

Despite the dogmatic teachings of all sides, there are caveats. On the Latin side, though it is taught that there is no repentance in Hell, no one claims to know who actually goes to hell. Accordingly, two of the Latin Church's Eucharistic Prayers include general prayers for the dead.

On the Eastern side, though it is taught that even sinful persons who have died may ultimately be saved by the prayers of the Church, she admits that there is no repentance in Hell (here we must distinguish between Hell and Hades, I think).

Orientals, unlike the Westerns and Easterns, generally do not believe in a particular judgment, and do not believe that Hell will exist until after the Final Judgment. On the other hand, we admit that there are Saints who are already glorified in heaven.

Of course, all these distinctions may be for naught given the Eternal nature of the Final Judgment.

Blessings,
Marduk

So, one may be a Roman Catholic and adopt either the Latin position (ultimate destiny determined right after death) or the Eastern position (ultimate destiny determined, finally, at the parousia)?

Well, particular judgement right after death is necessary. Prayers for intercession of the saints would make no sense otherwise.

In Orthodoxy, there is a particular judgement that occurs right after death. This judgement determines one's state (in Hades) until the the Final judgement.

In Latin theology, or so I've read, the prayers for intercession are only for those who will eventually end up in eternal Heaven. Whereas, in Orthodoxy, such prayers can be for everyone, since one's ultimate fate is not decided until the Final Judgement.

Ah, but how do they know, man, how do they know?

Also, though it is a commonly held belief that the righteous go to "eternal heaven", that's faulty eschatolology. When Christ comes again, the world will be restored, and we will all be resurrected in glorified, physical bodies--at which point the righteous get to live in this wonderful new physical world, and the wicked, well, not so much.

Correct. By "Heaven" I mean being in the glorious presence of God (whether that be in a physical body or a spiritual body), whereas "Gehenna" is the negative presence of God.

I think you're confusing prayer for intercession with prayer for the dead.

In Latin theology praying for the damned is pointless, but we don't know who's damned, so in effect we should pray for every dead.

There was a discussion on this forum some time ago, whether hell is just "negative presence" of God or whether God does punish actively.

Hebrews 9:27 refers to the particular judgement of the person.
One person said that a persons fate is not determined at death but I am not so sure about that.
The Latin idea of purgation implies that the person is among the saved but has to be purged of imperfections and come to the fullness of the Beautific Vision.
The general judgement like others have said here takes place at the end of time after the Parousia.
Stephanos I