Source: Pemptousia
May 10, 2021
The event of Christ’s Resurrection is the continuation not of the Passion, but of providence, that is, God’s undertaking for the salvation of humankind. Had Christ ended up in the grave and remained there, everything would have been in vain. Our faith would have been in vain, our preaching pointless and everything we do to no avail. If we take away Christ’s Resurrection, everything collapses and, automatically, nothing’s left at all. But if Christ rose, then it follows that all people will be raised in Christ. Saint Paul says that just as we all became mortal through one man, Adam, because we inherit death from the first human person, so, through another person, Christ, we shall all be raised and stand before God. This event of the Resurrection is the corner-stone of our faith and the resurrection of all people is the point which prevents us from agreeing with the theory of reincarnation.
This theory was condemned by the Church long ago through synods and decisions of the holy Fathers. It has re-appeared today, arising mainly from philosophical, ancient Greek or Hindu circles, and is troubling for lots of people, since it gives them various rational explanations for the phenomena of this life. This view of things is completely unacceptable for the Church, because if there’s reincarnation, there’s no resurrection. Resurrection means resurrection of the human body. Our soul doesn’t die; it always exists. Death is merely the biological separation of the soul from the body. The body is surrendered to the grave and the soul proceeds to the realm of the spirits. At the hour of the general resurrection the dead bodies will be raised, they’ll change, they’ll become imperishable, as was the body of Christ after his Resurrection, they’ll be reunited with their souls and will share in the uncreated grace of God, not merely in the spirit, but as whole people, body and soul. Therefore ‘I await the resurrection of the dead’.
... Read the rest at Pemptousia.
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