3-30-95 Feast of St. John Climacus
I
Introduction
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). Within the
beatitudes, Jesus told His followers that they need to be pure in their heart in order to
see God. This vision of God is one of the blessings that pure souls shall gain as a reward
of their purity. St. Paul speaks of the future glory in I Corinthians 13:12, "For now
we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face." On this vision, St.
Augustine said "This vision is reserved as the reward of our faith..." (City of
God 507). This vision allows one to have glory within the presence of God. The glory
allows one to "...participate, according to our slender capacity, in His
peace..." (City of God 507). The soul which has the Beatific Vision participates in
God's glory. Yet to do so, the soul needs to be pure, so that there will be a capacity
within the soul to experience this glory. St. Augustine called the purification and
preparation the soul undertakes a journey: "The Soul must be purified that it may
have the power to perceive the light, and to rest in it when it is perceived. And let us
look at this purification as a kind of journey, or a voyage to our native land" (On
Christian Doctrine 525). How is the soul able to be purified, and end its journey with the
promised rest? Christian Tradition, both from the Greek East and the Latin West, has had
several individuals who reflected upon the traditions of the Church. These individuals,
trying to protect the traditions that have been handed down to them, have helped to
clarify Church Tradition. With these clarifications, both the Eastern and Western
Traditions have given their versions of this journey of the soul, and an overall Christian
Tradition can be ascertained. In both the East and in the West, the journey of the soul is
twofold. The soul begins its journey in connection with the body and continues its journey
while outside of this connection. Both also agree that the ultimate end is for the
reunification of the body and the soul, to be placed either with glory in heaven or in
torment in hell. For many, if not most, of those who will have their soul totally
purified, it will be completed in the life that is to come (that is, after the soul has
left the body, but before the final judgment). St. Symeon the New Theologian, one of the
greatest mystics that the East has produced, stated that it is possible to obtain some of
the glory while the soul is still within the body. For those who do not, they must not
lose hope. If they do not lose hope, they will eventually obtain that glory. "Even
though they do not succeed entering into the light as long as they are in the body, at
least they depart with serious hopes. They will obtain it little by little, but they will
obtain it" (qt.. in Krivocheine 205). That journey where the soul gains "little
by little" the participation with the light after soul departs from the body is
understood slightly differently in the East and in the West. Because of these differences,
both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic theologians have often overlooked each other's beliefs,
or try to show how the other has strayed from the overall Christian Tradition. Yet the
philosophical and textual background for each Tradition is ultimately the same. For the
Eastern Orthodox, the preliminary judgment of the soul after death is emphasized. The
Catholic emphasis is upon the restoration of the soul to a purified state. Though with
different emphasis, the Eastern Orthodox Tradition on the soul after death does include
purification, the the Catholic Tradition does acknowledge a preliminary judgment on the
soul. After examining the Eastern Orthodox and the Catholic Traditions separately, there
is the need to examine the overall Tradition which is being explained, and to find the
common ground between the Eastern and Western explanations. In doing so, it will be shown
that instead of greatly conflicting testimonies of Christian Tradition, the Eastern and
Western reflections are complements of each other, helping to better explain the complex
Christian Tradition on the soul after death.
II
The Toll Houses
"Reflect on the dreadful reckoning that is to come, how the harsh keepers of the toll
houses will bring before us one by one the actions, words and thoughts which they
suggested but which we accepted and made our own." Such is the warning of St.
Theodoros the Great Ascetic in his "A Century of Spiritual Texts" (Philokalia
25). This warning reflects the Eastern belief that the soul will receive a preliminary
judgment after death, and the place of that judgment is a place called the toll houses.
Accordingly, the soul will try to ascend into heaven. On its way it will be stopped and
encounter the toll houses. At the toll houses, there is traditionally up to twenty
different trials that the soul will face by the demonic powers that rule the air. At the
trials, the soul will have the aid of angels, but the demonic powers will both accuse the
person trying to enter into heaven of sins, and will try to tempt the soul with more sins.
There will be one sin that is being examined for each "booth" or
"trial." If the demonic power prevails, the soul is said to be dragged down to
hell, and the soul then has entered its state from the preliminary judgment. At each
booth, if the person prevails through the help of the angels, the soul advances to the
next stage, until at last it is freed and able to enter into heaven. The souls, both
during its advance, and the ones dragged to hell, are able to be affected by the
petitionary prayers of the Church. The soul in hell is not necessarily doomed there
forever. There will be some souls which will be judged worthy of eternal suffering at the
final judgment, but until the last judgment, souls can be affected, purified, and able to
be finally judged worthy of glory at the final judgment. The sufferings can also be ended
before the final judgment, if the soul is purified before then. Not all souls will be able
to be so purified, but all souls are seen as being able to have their sufferings lessened
in intensity.
The basis for the Eastern belief on the toll houses comes from many sources: Scripture,
Church Fathers, and the lives of many Saints. The belief that there are demonic powers in
the air, trying to prevent souls from entering into heaven can be seen within Christian
Scripture. In Ephesians 2:2, St. Paul speaks of the "ruler of the power of the
air," who is Satan. Later within the same epistle, St. Paul wrote, "For our
struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Ephesians 6:12 describes the
powers who are fighting against the Christian as "forces of evil in the heavenly
realms," that is demonic powers in the air. The fact that these demonic powers are
fighting with souls which are trying to ascend to heaven, can be seen within many texts.
One can find vivid descriptions of this struggle within the texts written about the lives
of many Saints. An example is found in the biography of St. Antony as written by St.
Athanasius:
And his understanding was opened, and he understood that it was the passing of souls, and
that the tall being who stood was the enemy who envies the faithful. And those whom he
caught and stopped from passing through are accountable to him, while those whom he was
unable to hold as they passed upwards had not been subservient to him." (Athanasius,
213-214).
Sources for belief in the toll houses come from homilies of many Church Fathers. St. Cyril
of Alexandria, in a homily written to describe the soul's journey after death, wrote,
"The holy angels hold the soul; passing with them through the air and rising, it
encounters the houses which guard the path from earth to heaven, detaining the soul and
hindering its ascent further." (qt.. in Rose 74 ). St. Macarius, an ascetic of the
fourth century, describes the demonic attack on the soul after death. "And when they
pass out of the body, if they are not completely purified, they are not permitted to go up
into the mansions of Heaven there to meet their Master. For they are driven down by the
demons of the air." (Pseudo-Macarius 222) With these and other references (from
various important Church Fathers such as St. John Chrysostom, St. John Damascene, and St.
Ephraim), the judgment of the soul in the toll houses is in the Eastern Tradition. The
judgment given after death is seen only as a preliminary judgment. The soul is seen as
being eventually sent to hell, or as being free to move its way into heaven. If the soul
is dragged down into hell, this is not necessarily the end of its journey. Until the final
judgment, the Orthodox see that there is still a possibility of change within the soul,
which is often accomplished through the prayers of faithful Christians, and with the
practice of commemoration of the dead at the Divine Liturgy. This belief is explained by
the following quote from late Archbishop John Maximovitch. "Until then [the final
judgment] changes are still possible in the condition of the souls, especially through the
offering for them the Bloodless Sacrifice (commemoration at the Liturgy), and likewise by
other prayers" (qt.. in Rose 187). That there are souls who are purified after death,
Archbishop Maximovitch also said, "Many who died in repentance, but who were unable
to manifest this while they were alive, have been freed from tortures and have obtained
repose" (qt.. in Rose 190). The Orthodox acknowledge that after the preliminary
judgment, some of the souls who were judged worthy of torture were released from their
pains. The emphasis is on the placement of the soul through the judgment of the toll
houses into that initial state of the soul after death. The possible freedom of the soul
from the prison it is put into is accepted, but not fully described.
While the soul which is "found to have wounds from wrestling or any stains or effects
of sin" is "detained" (St. Basil qt.. in Rose 34), the souls of the Saints
are able to be lifted up to Christ. This is done through a quick progression of the toll
houses, where the demonic forces have no means to accuse the Saint of sin, and no means to
tempt the Saint into sin. The toll houses are seen as a completion of the trials that the
soul undergoes on earth, and the Saints are found to be successful before their death in
this contest. A Nineteenth Century Russian Bishop, Ignatius Brianchaninov, said this quite
clearly:
The great saints of God pass through the aerial guards of the dark powers with such great
freedom because during earthly life they enter into uncompromising battle with them and,
acquiring victory over them, acquire in the depths of their heart complete freedom from
sin... (qt.. in Rose 83).
The souls of those who have been purified by the time they have died, are able to go face
to face to their beloved. It is only for those who have not totally been made purified but
are on the path to purification that the preliminary judgment brings a suffering which is
able to complete the purification.
The teaching of the toll houses is summarized by Russian Orthodox Hieromonk Seraphim Rose
in his book The Soul After Death:
What is certain is that there is a testing by demons, who appear in a frightful but human
form, accuse the newly-departed of sins and literally try to seize the subtle body of the
soul, which is grasped firmly by angels; and all of this occurs in the air above us and
can be seen by those whose eyes are open to spiritual reality (Rose 69).
III
Purgatory
The Western view of the journey of the soul is not focused on the initial judgment.
Instead, Western Fathers and the Catholic Church focused on how a soul is purified. This
process is seen by Western minds as a continuation of the purification that the soul
undergoes while still combined in the body. Church Tradition, both East and West, allow
for penance as a means to purify and discipline the soul. The Western view looks at the
nature of the soul after its departure from the body, and if there is still the need for
penance and the soul is not to be sent to hell, the soul is then said to be sent into
purgatory. The souls of those who have not been faithful, or have not striven for the
truth and purity, are sent directly to hell. Souls of those who have been purified by the
time of their death, often done through intense suffering, are able to be taken directly
into heaven. The souls in purgatory are said to be both filled with intense joy and
intense suffering. This suffering is not unjustified, but it is a sufficient punishment
that helps to reform the soul. These punishments are like the chastisements of a father
upon his children, helping to prepare them for life. St. Thomas Aquinas in Summa Contra
Gentiles book IV describes purgatory as a completion of the penance that the soul should
have undertaken while still within the body. "This purgation, of course, is made by
punishments, just as in this life their purgation would have been completed by punishments
which satisfy the debt" (St. Thomas 336). The souls in purgatory can be helped by
prayers, by commemoration at Mass, and by the actions of those who are still alive.
The West has three dominant Scriptural references for their belief that certain sins will
be remitted after death, through a process of purgation. The first comes from a statement
of Christ within the Gospels, "... whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matt. 12:32). The verse speaks
specifically of a sin which is not able to be forgiven in the age to come. This implies
that there are some sins which are able to be forgiven in the age to come. The second part
of the statement would be deemed unnecessary if no sin is able to be forgiven in the age
to come. St. Augustine, one of the great Western Saints, specifically referred to this
passage in the Scripture and wrote, "For were there not some whose sins, though not
remitted in this life, shall be remitted in that which is to come, it would not be truly
said, 'They shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, neither that which is to
come'" (City of God 470).
The Second verse of Scripture comes from I Corinthians, 3:12-15:
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw- the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because
it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If
what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the
work is burned up, the builder will suffer a loss; the builder will be saved, but only as
through fire.
This passage is understood to reflect the cleansing of the soul through fire: for those
who have nothing burnt, they shall gain a reward; that is, they are already pure and are
the Saints. For those who are burned yet saved, they are seen as having gone through the
fire and cleansing of purgatory, and yet come out preserved. While reflecting both Matthew
12:32 and this section of I Corinthians, St. Gregory the Great said:
... there must be a cleansing fire before judgment, because of some minor faults that may
remain to be purged away. Does not Christ, the Truth, say that if anyone blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit he shall not be forgiven 'either in this world or in the world to
come? ' From this statement we learn that some sins can be forgiven in this world and some
in the world to come. For if forgiveness of sins is refused for some particular sin, we
conclude logically that it is granted for others (St. Gregory the Great 247).
The last verse from Scripture which is used comes from II Maccabees 12:46. "Therefore
he made atonement for the dead, so that they might be delivered from their sin." This
verse states that one can make atonement for those who are dead. Through this atonement
the soul is able to be freed from the effects of sin. This verse is mostly used in support
of the practice of the Church to pray for the dead, but it does also express that there is
the possibility of deliverance from sin, after one has died.
The Western view of purgatory became further developed with the western Church Fathers St.
Augustine and St. Gregory the Great, but they were not the first to use such reflections.
In fact, an Eastern Church Father from the late Second Century, St. Clement of Alexandria,
wrote in his Stromata reflections upon the processes of purification of the soul. In Book
VII of the Stromata, St. Clement of Alexandria wrote about the reward given to the one who
had become perfect through purification. "After which redemption the reward and
honours are assigned to those who have become perfect; when they have got done with
purification..." (Stromata 539). The sins are expelled through the "punishment
and penalty which we undergo, in consequence of our sins, for salutary discipline"
(St. Clement Stromata 539). The discipline given to the soul for sin, is equal to that of
a loving father who disciplines his children. This reproof is needful instruction, by
"reason of the feebleness of the faith of many." (St. Clement The Instructor
229). "For reproof and rebuke, as also the original term implies, are the stripes of
the soul, chastising sins, preventing death, and leading to self-control those carried
away to licentiousness." (St. Clement The Instructor 230).
According to the Western Tradition, all of the discipline and purification had to take
place before the final judgment at the end of the world. "And let him not fancy that
there are any purgatorial pains except before that final and dreadful judgment." (St.
Augustine City of God 466). Not all souls will be purified through the purgatorial
process. A person before death must have already set out upon the journey towards God, in
order to allow for purification. The souls of those who have not been even started upon
the journey, but remained in wickedness are seen to be unchangeable in their will, as St.
Thomas Aquinas points out. "In the same way, also, the souls which immediately after
death are made miserable in punishment become unchangeable in their wills." (St.
Thomas 341).
While the souls undergoing purification are seen as suffering great pains through the
discipline they are receiving, they are also receiving great joy. Except for the souls in
heaven, these souls are closer to God then any others, and are moving closer to their
reward. St. Catherine of Genoa, a medieval mystic, reflected both upon the pains and on
the joy of the souls in purgatory:
There is no joy save that in paradise to be compared to the joy of the souls in purgatory.
This joy increases day by day, because of the way in which the love of God corresponds to
that of the soul, since the impediment to that love is worn away daily (St. Catherine 72).
The soul is suffering through the purification a fire that "feels within it a fire
like that of hell" (St. Catherine 74). St. Catherine of Genoa in her reflection on
purgatory showed that the two extremes of suffering and joy are together for the soul in
purgatory, and that "great joy and great suffering do not exclude one another"
(St. Catherine 82).
Souls in purgatory are advancing towards the final goal, God. If they are not purified
before they reach their final destination, they would be greatly hurt. The presence of God
is shut away from man, because of man's corruption. It is for man's own good. St.
Catherine of Genoa reflected that "were a soul to appear in the presence of God with
one hour of purgation still due, that would be to do it great harm" (St. Catherine
83). Purgatory is seen a a completion of God's love for man, allowing man to eventually be
within the presence of God and to obtain his final, great rest.
IV
Synthesis
The Eastern and Western views on the progress of the soul are complex systems of thought.
Both of the systems include a belief that sin damages the soul, that a soul needs to be
ready before it enters into the presence of God, that suffering is a for a soul to gain
its ultimate freedom, and that the soul can be purified while on earth or after its
departure from the body. Two traditional outlooks on the soul after death, yet there is
one overall Tradition which joins the two together. Two different systems, yet they do not
have to be seen as exclusive of each other. In fact, both the Eastern and Western systems
use many of the same sources. The Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great is used by both the
East and the West to help present their case. In his book on death in the Orthodox
perspective, Hieromonk Seraphim Rose wrote, "The entire fourth book of the Dialogues
of St. Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome (+604), for example is devoted to this subject [the
toll houses]" (Rose 3). It is not a philosophical difference that separates the
beliefs of the East and the West. It is the way they perceive the one overall Christian
Tradition that allows them to have difference in emphasis. When one examines the beliefs
of the East and the West, the one Christian Tradition that they are both preserving can be
understood. Sin is the corruption of the soul, and the corruption is like a virus which
needs medication. The procedure is painful, but it brings the patient to full health.
The message of Jesus is one that deals with the change of one's nature. Through the
sacrament of baptism, the believer is said to partake in the death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Sins done before baptism are said to be remitted. The Christian who sins
afterwards is said to need more discipline, like children. The discipline is given through
the sacrament of penance. St. Clement of Alexandria reflected upon both the remission of
sins, and the discipline that the believer undergoes. "It ought to be known, then,
that those who fall into sins after baptism are those who are subjected to discipline; for
deeds done before are remitted, and those done after are purged" (Stromata 438).
Through the sacrament of the Eucharist, Christians are said to be "partakers of the
divine nature" (2Peter 1:4). Transformation is seen to be at the heart of the
Christian message. It is only a continuation of this process after death which both the
East and the West are reflecting upon.The work of God is said to go beyond the soul's
habitation in the body.
What might be the greatest point of difference between the East and the West is not on the
how or why of the soul's progress, but on the where. The East has the soul enter into
hell, whereupon some are able to be freed. For the West, the soul is taken to a place
which is specifically meant for the completion of the soul's cleansing, purgatory. Yet the
two different explanations actually have much in common. What one needs to do while
examining both the East and West's usage of Tradition is to view what is being said on a
spiritual level. A description of the soul's progress and purification is hard to make.
The descriptions which are made are designed to help one understand the progression, but
not on the most literal level. Describing anything about the other realm of experience,
not just the process of purification, is one which requires this kind of spiritual
description. St. Gregory the Great, accepted and used by both the East and West, explains
the glory of heaven in this sense. "Surely, no one with common sense will take this
phrase literally. We may not know the person for whom the mansion was constructed, yet
from some details of the vision we can tell what kind of good works he must have performed
in his lifetime." (St. Gregory the Great 241). The description that the East gives,
if taken on a more spiritual sense, seems to be seen as the same description of the
journey that the West gives. The East describes the status of the soul to be in one of two
"locations" after the judgment of the toll houses: either in hell or in heaven.
The Saints are the ones who have been able to enter into heaven. Yet, there are two kinds
of people who are dragged down to hell: those who are to be condemned at the final
judgment, and those who will be able to be freed from hell. So it would seem that the East
is trying more to describe the fate of the soul in correlation to the punishments and
suffering it will have before the last judgment. The souls which are "dragged down to
hell" but are to be eventually let free, describes the same kind of agony and
suffering and correction that the West would have for such souls. It would correlate with
St. Catherine of Genoa's description of purgatory, whereby the soul is said to have
suffering "like that of hell" (St. Catherine 74). St. Gregory the Great, within
his Dialogues, made it clear that souls sent to hell would not be able exit hell. Peter,
who brought questions to Gregory, asked "Surely we do not hold that those who are
once plunged into hell will burn there forever?" to which St. Gregory simply replied,
"We most certainly do!" (St. Gregory the Great 254). The Orthodox view, if taken
on a mere literal level, would contradict what St. Gregory the Great wrote. Since the
Orthodox accept St. Gregory as a person who can be used to show their view of the
progression of the soul after death, it would be necessary to take the Orthodox view that
the soul is dragged to "hell" (if it is a soul which will eventually enter into
heaven) on a mere spiritual level. It is describing by analogy the kind of pain and
suffering that the soul will suffer, as if it were dragged down to hell. For the souls
which are ultimately taken to hell shall not be able to be freed from punishment. Both the
East and West accept that prayers for these souls will help them advance in their
progress, following the example of II Maccabees.
The preservation of Tradition within the East and within the West can be used to view the
Christian Tradition of the soul's journey after death. To do so, one needs to combine both
sources, and to take into account what is lacking from the emphasis of one, and replace it
into the overall scheme. In doing so, there might be more than one way to bring both sides
together, but there would still be an overall journey being described, beside all the
slight variations. The following paragraph is an example of such a combination, which
tries to explain the journey of the soul using what both the East and West recognize to be
from traditional sources.
Sin is seen as an impurity in the soul that secludes the soul, and needs to be purified
before it is able to enter into the presence of God. The complete purgatorial process
needs to be accomplished before the final judgment. The particular judgment after death,
though it is seen with fear in the East because of the encounter with the toll houses, is
a time which helps bring the soul to its appointed end. The souls which are able to ascend
directly to heaven, and have overcome sin, are examples of the type of soul which will
enter into the presence of God. The souls which are doomed forever, and have an unchanging
will to be away from the presence of God, also find within the particular judgment a
foretelling of their end. The soul of a person who has not aimed directly for perfection
shall never find itself perfect. Those souls which have aimed for perfection and are still
able to be affected and changed, the particular judgment helps bring to their appointed
end (with God), by placing them in a situation of intense correction. The temptation and
trial within the toll houses, brings to the soul much fear, and shows to the soul which
areas it needs to have corrected. The person understands the just nature of the judgment,
and willingly enters into the correction. The souls which are being corrected are
constantly changing, finding less and less obstruction between them and God, and find
their joy constantly being increased, "little by little" (St. Symeon the New
Theologian qt.. in Krivocheine 205). They are being cleansed, by the fire of correction.
The works which are imperfect are being "consumed," so that the soul is said to
be purified by the time it is done with the correction, like gold is purified in flame.
While there is much to be praised in these souls, until they are perfect they are unable
to enter into the full presence of God. St. Gregory the Great describes souls like
statues. "But the artist, even after hearing his work praised, would continue working
with chisel and hammer until the statue was perfect in every detail" (St. Gregory the
Great 209). While the soul is imperfect, the soul needs to have its finishing touches,
even if they are painful, having the blemishes chiseled away. The prayers of the faithful,
and commemoration for these souls in Liturgy, help improve the souls which are being
corrected.
This synthesis looks at both the East and the West, and accepts what is being said by both
preservers of Christian Tradition. The particular judgment of the soul is not going to be
pleasant, because it is where "spiritual warfare" is heightened, and the demonic
thrust on the soul is at its greatest. Yet through this particular judgment, a soul is
able to be taken to one of three destinations: hell, a place of restoration, or directly
into the presence of God. While souls are in the place of restoration, called purgatory in
the West, they are experiencing the correction and chastising of a loving Father; the
finishing blows onto a marble statue, making it perfect; the fire which purifies. The
souls are both experiencing the love of God, and yet are separated from the full love of
God which is only obtained by those who are in the presence of God. This is the teaching
of Christian Tradition. While various sects, especially in the West, have removed this
part of the Christian Tradition from their system of theology, the earliest Christian
teachers have accepted and taught on the journey of the soul, and its purification both
within and outside the body. The Christian Tradition is defended by its Eastern and
Western halves, and has been handed down from generation to generation both in Biblical
texts, and in the writings of the early Church.
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