Man is made up of soul and body
By Abbot Tryphon, November 29, 2014
Our Orthodox faith does not teach the duality of body and soul, but rather that the whole of man is made up of both soul and body. Since the soul is the whole man, we do not put the emphasis of our being on the soul at the expense of the body. Because of this teaching, we see the Mysteries (Sacraments) sanctify the whole person, who is made up of both soul and body. The body is not some sort of housing for the soul, for because of Christ’s resurrection, we have the possibility of resurrection.
In Orthodox soteriology (the doctrine of salvation), both the soul and the body of all will survive after death. Resurrection is not reserved for only for believers, for both saints and sinners will rise from the dead. The importance of life after death is not the prolongation of life, but the transcending of death, which happens through our life in Christ.
The immortality of the soul is not by nature, but by God’s grace. The soul did not exist before the body, but was willed into being by our Creator God. That given, the soul will await the bodily resurrection in order to be reunited with the body. For those who do not have God, eternity will be living without participating in the divinising and illuminating energy of God. Saint Maximus the Confessor says that the righteous will live “ever will-being” (the good eternal life), while sinners will live “ever ill-being” (a tragic eternal life).
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2014/11/soul-body/
Grace
The uncreated grace of God
By Abbot Tryphon, December 3, 2014
According to Orthodox teaching the uncreated grace of God that illuminates the righteous, also burns the sinner. This teaching is directly related to the fact that man is a person who can never be brought into non-existence, or non-being, precisely because Christ’s resurrection is the resurrection of nature, but not of will. Since fire has two properties, that of burning, and that of illumination, the righteous will enjoy eternity within this illumination, whereas the unrighteous will experience the same fire as an eternal torment. This is based on the goodness of God, and not of the satisfaction of divine justice.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2014/12/grace/.
***
