Republican fear-mongering has now devolved to, “Something, somewhere will happen, and it’ll be very bad. I will not be elaborating or taking any questions.”
The Orthodox understanding of hell differs from how it’s commonly understood in the West. We understand hell to be essentially the same thing as heaven, only experienced differently. After death, everyone is surrounded by the infinite love and presence of God. For those who are turned toward him in faith, they experience this as the epitome of joy and peace, while those who are turned away from him toward their own sinful corruption experience this as pain. The difference lies not in God but in how the individual, shaped by the choices they have made and the person they have become, receives and experiences him.
In addition, while it is a minority view, universal reconciliation is a perfectly valid Orthodox position, one based on the teachings of venerable Church Fathers such as St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Isaac of Nineveh. Under this understanding, God’s love is ameliorative as well as perfect, and it cleanses and purifies even those who stand in rejection of him. Hell is seen as a state of purification rather than eternal torment, and will eventually bring all created beings into a full and blissful communion with him. Some may have a longer journey to take, but everyone will eventually be saved and experience God exactly as he intended for us.
God, at least according to the Orthodox, Christian understanding, is not a sin calculator programmed to mete out punishment for actions which fit specified criteria. Rather, he is a person (three Persons, technically, but one Being), and he is one who is good and loves mankind, and is intimately familiar with every detail of your life and motivation for your actions. His relationship with each individual is personal, and he acts towards them in full understanding of who they are and where they were coming from. It is not a one size fits all rulebook.
If you’re looking for the most believable conspiracy theories out there, I’d say the one that says Jeffrey Epstein was murdered and it was covered up as a suicide is way up there.
1·2 years ago
532·2 years ago
10·2 years ago
Couldn’t agree more, that’s one of my favorite “Holodeck run amok” episodes!