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The Orthodox Church is intentionally reticent about the afterlife, as it acknowledges the mystery, especially of things that have not yet occurred. Beyond the second coming of Jesus, bodily resurrection, and final judgment, all of which are affirmed in the Nicene Creed (325 AD), Orthodoxy does not teach much else in any definitive manner.
In Christianity, heaven is traditionally the location of the throne of God and the angels of God, [2] [3] and in most forms of Christianity it is the abode of the righteous dead in the afterlife. In some Christian denominations it is understood as a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.
Ascension Rock, inside the Chapel of the Ascension (Jerusalem), is said to bear the imprint of Jesus' right foot as he left Earth and ascended into heaven.. The Christian Old Testament, which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible, follows the Jewish narrative and mentions that Enoch was "taken" by God, and that Elijah was bodily assumed into Heaven on a chariot of fire.
The traditional Orthodox icon of the Resurrection of Jesus, partially inspired by the apocryphal Acts of Pilate (4th c.), does not depict simply the physical act of Christ coming out of the Tomb, but rather it reveals what Orthodox Christians believe to be the spiritual reality of what his Death and Resurrection accomplished.
Theotokos or Mother of God: title given only to the Virgin Mary, since she gave birth to Jesus, who Orthodox Christians believe is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and thus God [52] [53] [54] Unmercenary Healer: a saint who used the power of God to heal maladies and injuries without payment [55] (e.g. St. Pantaleon) [56]
Some theological traditions, including most Protestants, Anabaptists and Eastern Orthodox, teach that the intermediate state is a disembodied foretaste of the final state. [7] Therefore, those who die in Christ go into the presence of God (or the bosom of Abraham ) where they experience joy and rest while they await their resurrection (cf. Luke ...
The Ladder of Divine Ascent is an important icon kept and exhibited at Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai, situated at the base of Mount Sinai in Egypt. The gold ground is typical of icons such as this, which was manufactured in the 12th century after a manuscript written by the 6th century monk John Climacus who based it on the biblical description of Jacob's ladder.
Some Orthodox believe in a teaching of "aerial toll-houses" for the souls of the dead. According to this theory, which is rejected by other Orthodox but appears in the hymnology of the church, [85] "following a person's death the soul leaves the body and is escorted to God by angels. During this journey the soul passes through an aerial realm ...