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You got that exactly right!

The Orthodox Christian Church, like the Catholic Church teaches that there is a partial judgment of each individual at the moment of death and a final and permanent judgment when Christ comes again.

It is important to know that humans were created by God with both a body and a soul and that the final judgment will occur after Christ's return and the general resurrection when our (transfigured) bodies are restored to each of us. (Death is the unnatural state of the human person when the body is separated from the soul and returns to dust. Christ will not judge us in this unnatural state.)

In between the partial judgment at death and the final judgment, our souls experience a taste of the blessedness of heaven or the anguish of hell. This foretaste exists even in this life before death. Holy people experience a taste of heaven in the here and now while those who are opposed to God often live a kind of hell on this earth. Since even believers are constantly falling into sin (opposition to God) we also experience times of “hellish” existence. Thankfully, while we are alive (that is before the repose of our bodies), we can use these negative experiences to repent and be restored to God. Those people who have no love for God but who seem to be living the good life with no negative consequences are actually the most pitiful among us because all their joy is based on the ephemeral things of this life and they have nothing invested in the eternal and are totally unprepared for life in the presence of God. The gospel story of the Rich Man and Lazarus describes the sad condition of the spiritually dead materialists of this world who are shocked to encounter the reality of God after death. (see Luke 16:19-31).

Heaven and hell are not “places”. God, who is love, didn't create a place of torments and punishment. Heaven and hell are how each soul experiences the loving presence of God. For those who love God, Christ's shining light is experienced as blessedness, as heaven. Those who do not love God experience this same blessed light as a hateful burning fire. The light is the same. God is the same: goodness and light. The person's perception of this reality, which is determined by the state of the heart, is what creates “heaven” and “hell”.

Unlike Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians do not teach that there is a limbo or a purgatory in the afterlife, however, the Church does teach that there is the possibility for a person's spiritual state to be improved after death (but before the final judgment) by the fervent prayers and good life of those people who loved them and are vigilantly struggling in this life.

It is essential to note that a person cannot repent for his own sins after death. (See again the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus). God gives each one of us every opportunity to repent from our selfish errors which estrange us from Him in this life. Once our bodies die, when we are in that “unnatural” bodiless condition, we can no longer repent for our sins.

However, as was already stated, those who haven't yet died, can pray for the departed. The good effect of prayers for those who have died is a mystery of love. It has to do with the fact that though each of us was created individually and uniquely, we are nevertheless connected with each other. All of humanity is in a sense one body, with Christ as the head. In God's mercy He takes into account the prayers of loved ones for the departed and the state of the soul of those waiting the final judgment can be improved. Since God is just and true, this loving assistance does not go against the basic choice that each soul has made to be either with or without God. Prayers for the dead are lifted up with the hope that forgotten, unrepented sins will be erased and that their loved one will be helped. These prayers are sent up with the knowledge that all is in the hands of our merciful and just Jesus Christ. We don't presume to know the end result and we certainly can't quantify anything with regard to the benefit of prayer or good works. We simply pray with hope and the knowledge that God will do everything short of violating our human freedom to save us. He wants everyone to enjoy eternal blessedness.

Samogon, are you an Orthodox Christian who is anti-Russian or are you anti-Orthodox in general? What are the canonical churches according to you? I'm not looking for an in depth discussion here. I'm just trying to understand where you are coming from. Thanks for the reply.

Which canonical churches are you referring to? Russian Orthodoxy is the Church of the Apostles. Putin may or may not be acting in good faith. I don't know about him. I do know that Russian Christianity has graced the world with tens of thousands of saints who bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ's love and mercy.

Who is running against Schiff? That person needs our support ASAP. Adam Schiff is my congressman and I’m eager to help show him the door.

I was at his townhall meeting last August and that man DID NOT come prepared to hear us. He came to “teach” us with his panel of pro-socialist health care speakers. It’s time for us to teach him!

“**It also created an opening for Palin herself to look calm, composed, competent, and funny in response.**

The left-wingnuts are really blessings us, aren’t they.”

This quote (because of the word funny) reminded me of an excellent post from Jim Treacher’s blog that my brother shared with me yesterday:

OBAMA VS. SNOWMAMA

It occurs to me: If Obama’s experience in this presidential campaign is itself to be considered one of his qualifications for the Oval Office, what are we to make of his performance over the last few days? Is this an indication of how he deals with adversity? Because — and this may be unfair — it seems to me that over the next 4 years, the President of the United States will face much tougher challenges than watching a cute lady with glasses make fun of him on TV.

It seems like instead of picking a strategy and seeing if it works, the Obama camp is trying everything they can possibly think of, all at once. Which is one way of doing it, I suppose. And that’s putting aside the apparent epidemic of insanity in newsrooms all over the world.

Did you guys see Hancock? Remember when Will Smith just stood there while the train hit him, and it derailed all over the place? Sarah Palin’s kind of like that, except happier.

http://jimtreacher.com/archives/001540.html

... Oh and ... Fantastic article IrishMike!! Thanks for posting it!

“I claim for myself a God given right that no earthly institution can take from me: the right to read and interpret the Bible as the Holy Spirit inspires me.”

This approach is the reason why there are so many (thousands) of Christian denominations. Each interpretor is his own authority. Each one holds to his own partial “truth”.

Question: How do you know when pride, ignorance or the evil one is misleading you? You burden yourself with an unnatural burden and expose yourself to many dangers.

Now I applaud your reading of the Bible and your study of it, but please do not forget that Christ established the Church, the body of believers, and not a bunch of independent, isolated interpreters . We were never meant to read and interpret Scriptures outside the communion of the Body of Christ. The witness of the apostles which has been handed down from generation to generation without any addition or subtraction to the teaching is the measure that determines that the teaching is true and of the Holy Spirit of God. What was been believed everywhere and always. That’s the measure of truth. That is Divine Revelation.

The Ever-Virginity of Mary was the teaching of the early Christian Church and it continues to be the teaching of the Orthodox Church to this day.

This teaching is not irrelevant to Christ. It has everything to do with the doctrine of the Incarnation. Jesus Christ is truly God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Through Mary, the Theotokos or Birthgiver of God, to use her most common Orthodox title, and the action of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ entered humanity by taking on our human nature. But Jesus Christ’s Divinity was always present in His Person.

To believe that Mary, whose experience of what we all aspire to - union with God - is most complete, had a need, desire, or interest in finishing her earthly days in anything but prayer and the contemplation of God is to diminish the reality of Jesus’ divinity.

This teaching doesn’t make sex a sin, but it does put sex along with all our earthly preoccupations in its proper place. Sex is part of our world here and now, not part of the Kingdom. The majority of saints - those individuals who achieved union with our Lord - were either virgins or ended their lives as celibates. Of course virginity is not the only way to sanctity, there is martyrdom, charity (think of the parable of the Last Judgment with the separation of the goats from the sheep) as well. But virginity is one sign that believers are already tasting the Kingdom here and now.

To believe that Mary fell from the highest state that humankind has reached - she is the Mother of the Lord - to a much more earth bound state is inconceivable. John the Baptist and John the Disciple and Evangelist who were also virgins where not more perfected than Mary.

The Bible does not contradict this teaching. In fact it upholds it. Scripture needs to be interpreted correctly in the Spirit. It’s easy to be confused by disconnected readings that are knowingly or unknowingly earth bound. This is why we need to read Scripture with the mind of the Church.

The Church’s Holy Tradition is in no way contrary to the Holy Bible. They are one and the same expression of the Life in Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, to the Glory of the Father.

Others have explained some of the teachings of the Church regarding Jesus’ earthly family. Joseph was a widower and had several other children. These are the ‘brothers’ of the Lord. They are also distant cousins. Both Joseph’s and Mary’s families were descendants of David. Joseph, the betrothed was a man much, much older than Mary. He never saw Mary as his bride. Mary belonged to Jesus, the Bridegroom.

What role did the Orthodox Church play in any "Holy" Inquisition?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Orthodox Christians are not allowed cremation.... I thought it was officially the same for Catholics (although I did know some Catholics chose this...as do a few Orthodox...but I thought it was simply something unsanctioned that was creeping into practice).

Thanks for the correction. So a spouse can select cremation as long as there is no written preference regarding burial? Does it matter what she would have wanted?

I agree it is terribly cruel of Michael to insist on this in opposition to her family's wishes.

I don't understand how Michael will be allowed to cremate Terri, a practicing Catholic. That cannot have been her request! If it is...where is the proof? I know, I know...Michael's word...

But seriously, can't THIS be successfully challenged? I don't understand.

I'm a Greek-American who has been celebrating Bush's re-election. My brother and I called one of the Greek Satellite stations this morning to register our joy over Bush's victory and to protest Greek TV's anti-Bush coverage. (Our comments were read over the air!)

That being said.... I'm disappointed about this US decision today. Part of the War against Terror is confronting the violent Muslim Albanian nationalists who are allied with our terrorist enemies in wanting to establish Islam at the expense of everything else.

The Clinton-Holbrooke-Albright-Clark policy in the Balkans was a disaster. One of the reasons I was dreading a Kerry administration was the knowledge that these same people would probably be leading his foreign policy team.

I wish the Bush administration would distance itself from the "Greater Albania" lobby which is constantly pushing for Albanian minority rights at the same time that the Albanians are violating the rights of Serbs, Macedonians, etc.

Officially recognizing the name "Macedonia" as a reward for being nice to the Albanians (again, where is the reciprocity?) seems dangerous to me.