The Shepherd, March 2009
THIS preparation of the members of the Church, and also of all people who want to see God as Light, is essentially a therapeutic treatment, which must begin and end in this life. The therapy must take place and be completed in this life. For after death, there is no repentance.
This therapeutic treatment is the essence and primary content of Orthodox Tradition, as well as being the principal concern of the Orthodox Church.
It is composed of the following three stages of spiritual ascent: Purification from passions, illumination by the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and deification, again by the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
It is also the case that if someone does not at least arrive at the state of partial illumination in this life, he is unable to see God as Light either in this life or in the next.
It is, therefore, clear that the Fathers of the Church concern themselves with man as he is today, at this moment. And the one needing treatment is each person, who has the responsibility before God to begin this task today, in this life, because in this life he is able to do so; not after death. And this person himself will decide if he will follow this therapeutic path or not.
Christ said: “I am the way.” The Way towards what? Not only towards the next life. Christ is primarily the Way in this life. Christ is the Way to His Father and to our Father. Christ is revealed to man first in this life, and He shows him the path to His Father. This path is Christ Himself.
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THE QUESTION, now, is: Is religion equated with a teaching concerning the immortality of the soul, and also with a teaching concerning the existence of God for the future life? Likewise, is it equated with the victory of full justice? That is, do we need religion because there must be a Just God, Who will pronounce the final judgment on all people, so that the unjust might be punished in Hell and the just (the good children) be rewarded in Paradise?
If the answer is yes, well then, religion must exist, first of all so that justice might ultimately prevail and, secondly, so that man’s desire for bliss will not remain unfulfilled. Is it possible, in other words, for the good child not to live a blissful life after death? It is not possible! And let us say he was wronged in this life. In other words, is it possible for all of these wronged people, that is, the good children, not to be vindicated in the future life? It is not possible! And should they not lead a pleasant existence there, a life of bliss? Of course! But for this to happen, there has to be life after death, as well as a good and just God, Who must make a good and just distribution! Is it not so? There has to be [such a God], according to the understanding of the Middle Ages, that is, of Western theology.
With regard to all of these things, however, modern psychology
comes along and explodes everything.
It tells us that these perceptions are psychological; for man has inside him a sense of justice, which is what demands that the bad children be punished and the good children be rewarded! And since the rewarding fails to take place in this life, human imagination puts forth the idea that these things must be fulfilled in another life, for which reason a weak person, as well as one who loves justice and has profound and earnest feelings about justice, becomes religious and believes the doctrines of the religion that he follows.
In other words, he believes because the doctrine in which he believes serves his psychological need for justice to be rendered. This reason does not have philosophical—that is, metaphysical—foundations, but only psychological foundations.
What is correct, however, about the foregoing line of thought is that if justice and bliss will ever prevail for good people, they will have to prevail in this life. For such people do not know if they will have another life, since the arguments we mentioned for the existence of another life are purely psychological arguments and not scientific arguments—that is, arguments founded on experience and the scientific method.
Thus, these people believe in a life after death simply because they want to believe. And this is why the essence of their religion is the existence of another life where injustice is punished & justice rewarded.
For these reasons, then, one sees that sober people today in Europe and America no longer accept these foundations of religion and have been led to agnosticism, while their counterparts in Eastern Europe have been led to atheism.
In recent years, however, one finds many Communists who have abandoned the harsh atheism of the past and have become agnostics. In this respect, they resemble the agnostics of Europe and America.
On the other side, there are churchgoers in Communist countries and America who continue to believe in life after death because, as we explained, they want to believe, without having scientific arguments to support their beliefs. This is the general situation.
Now, what is the Orthodox position on all of these issues?
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