A. V. Pigin. "The God of all has declared to the Catholic Church a right and saving confession of faith"
After the Resurrection of Christ, His body was transformed, the Lord could easily pass through closed doors, walls, etc. From the point of view of Orthodoxy, after the Second Coming, the same transformation awaits all those worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
- "...when the dead are raised and the living are transformed, and God will be all in all."
1. Please explain whether human bodies will have the same capabilities as Christ after the resurrection?
2. How to correctly understand “...God will be all in all”? (will everyone be like God?)
3. What does it mean to become a god by Grace? Literally become a god? Or simply, as a vessel of God, accept the Grace of God?
09/18/2011, Yuri, Ukraine
Dear Yuri!
1. Archimandrite Sophrony in his book “Birth into the Unshakable Kingdom” writes: “Christ is the unshakable foundation and the highest criterion of the Church’s teaching about man - anthropology. Everything we confess regarding the humanity of Christ is a revelation of God's eternal plan for all humanity as a whole (cf. Eph. 1:4-5). The fact that the Lord, having descended to the earth, remained in His eternal Hypostasis, in no way diminishes the applicability of His experience and “example” to us, people, to whom “He was to become like in everything” (Heb. 2:17) .
If Christ is truly the Son of Man, consubstantial with us, then it follows that everything He accomplished in His earthly life is equally possible for other “sons of men.” If we recognize that He is the measure of all things, then we must also recognize the full range of possibilities of human nature as a whole... and we must hope that the saints in the coming age will receive the same fullness of deification. Otherwise, Christ would not have commanded us: “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
2. “Let God be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:27). St. Theophanes explains: “When they put on incorruptible bodies, then they will be more fully united with the humanity of the Savior, and through Him with the Divinity most sincerely. The Lord Savior, as the head, will penetrate the entire body of those being saved and combine it with Himself, and through combination with His humanity it will touch the Divinity closer, more vividly and more substantially. This is it: “God will be all in all.”
3. Man will not become God in essence, but will become like God in everything according to the Grace given to him. St. Macarius writes about this: “Just as the body of the Lord, when He ascended the mountain, was glorified and transformed into Divine glory and endless light, so the bodies of the Saints are glorified and made shining. For just as the inner glory of Christ was to such an extent spread out and shone on the body of Christ, so, likewise, in the Saints within, the real power of Christ on that day will overflow outward - onto their bodies, because even now with their minds they partake of Christ’s essence and Christ's nature. For it is written: He who is holy and sanctified is of one (Heb. 2:11); and: You have given me glory, and you have given it to them (John 17:22). Just as many lamps are lit by one fire, so it is necessary for the bodies of the Saints - these members of Christ - to become one and the same with Christ Himself (15:36)” (Instructions of St. Macarius the Great, chapter 8).
How should one correctly understand the passages in the Holy Scriptures where it is said that God “is all” (Sir. 44:29) and that “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), and also that “one God the Father, from whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6)?
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:
Both Jesus, the son of Sirach, and the holy Apostle Paul strictly adhered to biblical theology, which clearly speaks of the absoluteness of God and the relativity of created existence. The Bible very clearly expresses the idea of the inequality of these two natures - Divine and created. Therefore, the words “He is everything” (Sir. 44:29) cannot be interpreted in a pantheistic meaning. For a correct understanding, you need to take not individual words, but the entire verse together with the preceding one: “Through Him everything successfully reaches its destination, and everything is held together by His word. We can say many things, and yet we will not comprehend Him, and the end of the words: He is everything” (Sir. 44: 28-29). The idea is completely clear: no matter how much we study the created world, we cannot comprehend the greatness and wisdom of the Lord. All that remains for us to say is that “He is everything”: the Creator and Provider of the whole world. God is not only the only creative source of all created things (any form of dualism is excluded in the Bible), but also the Power through which the existence of everything is maintained.
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians about the future tense: “When all things are put in subjection to him, then the Son himself will subject himself to him who put all things under him, so that God may have all things in all” (1 Cor. 15:28). When corruption ceases and sin is completely eradicated, God will dwell in all people, in every individual believer, and act through them. Earlier, this theological thought was expressed by the Savior in the high priestly prayer: “That they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, [so] that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21).
Also in 1 Corinthians the idea is clearly expressed that everything that really exists comes from God: “We have one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we are to Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we through Him” (1 Corinthians) 8:6). The last words, “By whom are all things, and we by Him,” refer to creation and salvation.
When interpreting such passages, one must always take the general biblical context, and also take into account the peculiarities of the biblical language.
St. Athanasius the Great
St. Basil the Great
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
If the Son, according to Divinity, submits to the Father, then he would submit to Him from the beginning, just as he was God from the beginning. If at the beginning he did not submit, but he will submit later; then according to humanity - for us, and not according to Divinity - for Himself.
Refutation of the defensive speech of the evil Eunomius. Books IV-V.
St. John Chrysostom
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
St. Gregory the Theologian
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
There will be a God "God is all in all" during "dispensations"(Acts 3:21), that is, not just the Father, who completely allowed the Son into Himself, like a candle that was taken out of a big fire for a while, and then put back into it (the Sabellians will not tempt us with such a saying), but the whole God, moreover, when we, who now, according to our movements and passions, either do not have God in us at all, or have little, will cease to be many, but will become completely God-like, containing within ourselves the whole God and His oneness. This is the perfection to which we rush! And Paul himself especially hints at this. For what he says here vaguely about God, he in another place clearly assigns to Christ. In what words? – “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian and Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all and in all.”(Col.3:11) .
Words. Word 30.
St. Feofan the Recluse
When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son himself will submit all things to Him who subjected all things, so that God may be all things in all.
Everything the Apostle said - in verses 25-27 - was aimed at clarifying the words: when he gives up the kingdom to God and the Father. The essence of the matter is this: everything has been handed over to Him in power, so that he can abolish all the enemies of God and humanity. When this is accomplished, then the purpose of handing over the said power will be achieved and that power itself will not need to continue, which is why it should be abolished. And it will turn out: The Son will submit to Him who submits all things,– or, what is the same, will hand over the kingdom to God and the Father. We cannot clearly imagine what exactly this will consist of, but we cannot doubt that it will be so; We cannot doubt that although this will be according to the economy of salvation, the Son himself will submit - so, however, that this will not reveal anything, much less detract from the glory, power and power of the Only Begotten Divinity. Saint Chrysostom says: “He will submit as befits the Son of God, and not in a human way, but freely and with full authority. Otherwise, how can He sit on the throne with the Father? How is he He lives what He wills, just as the Father does(John 5:21) ? How does everything that belongs to the Father belong to Him, and everything that belongs to Him also belongs to the Father (John 17:10)? “This shows us His perfect power on a par with the Father.”
What it says here: will always conquer, that is, the Father, and before it is said: Dondezhe will conquer The Son Himself “expresses both the perfect agreement of the Son with the Father, and the fact that He who gave birth to such a powerful Son and performs such deeds is the beginning and the first cause of all good things” (St. Chrysostom).
AND God will be all in all. And now He is in everyone: for in Him we live, we move, and we are. But then this will be accomplished and manifested in a special way, so perfect that the real fulfillment of all things by God in comparison with this is like non-fulfillment. And this is not clear, but this is how it should be and will be. For such worldwide changes as the abolition of all enemies of good, the extermination of all traces of evil from all areas of existence, with the confinement of its producers in one inextricable place somewhere, as St. Chrysostom says, on the last borders of existence, and in conclusion of all the subjugation of the Son to the Father and handing over the Kingdom to Him (although we cannot well imagine this action) - such changes cannot but be accompanied by God's most sincere communion with everyone who can accommodate His communication. - God is always the most hidden; and then He will remain so. But there are degrees of His revelation. Otherwise He is in us, differently in the Angels, and from the Angels differently in the Cherubim, Seraphim and Thrones. If we then move a little higher on the ladder of perfection, then what wondrous thing is if He then reveals Himself in us so completely that the present will be comparatively insignificant.
We have fallen away from God; for reunification, the infinite goodness of God introduced the God-manhood of the Son of God. In the present period of time, through this ineffable means, reunification is taking place, it is in action, it is in motion. In His person, humanity is reunited with the Divine hypostatically, just as it is impossible for it to be united in anyone else. All, however, are reunited in His image, and this shows how this reunion is intended to be sincere. On earth it is accomplished mysteriously, through the sacraments, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. In heaven, in the glorified, it appears more substantially, but it should not be in its entirety, for they are not yet in their complete nature. When everyone is clothed in incorruptible bodies, then they will be united more fully with the humanity of the Savior, and through Him with the Divinity more sincerely. The Lord Savior, as the head, will penetrate the entire body of those being saved and unite it with Himself, and through combination with His humanity it will touch the Divinity closer, more vividly and more substantially. - This is what it is: God will be all in all. All such considerations are childish babble. But that there will be something amazingly great and glorious in the very relationship of the Divine to us and us to Him, this is an undoubted subject of hope, as marvelous as it is true.
Blessed Theodoret writes in response to these words: “Now, in essence, God is everywhere, because His nature is indescribable, and about him, according to the Apostolic word, we live and move and we are(Acts 17, 28); but not with good will in all, because He delights in those who fear Him and in those who trust in His mercy(Ps. 146:11). But even in them He is not everything, because no one is clean from filth(Job 14:4); And no one living will be justified before You(Ps. 143:2) and If you bear sins, Lord, Lord, who will stand(Ps. 129:3) ? “Therefore, although he favors for what they succeed in, he does not favor for what they sin in.” In the future life, when corruption ceases and immortality is given, there will be no place for passions, and after the final expulsion of passions, not a single type of sin will have an effect. It will finally be like this God is all in all, when everyone will be delivered from the falls, and will turn to Him, and will no longer accept inclinations for the worse. But what the divine Apostle said here about God, he said in another place about Christ, saying: where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian and Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all and in all(Col. 3, 11). He would not have attributed what belonged to the Father to the Son, if by the grace of God he had not been taught His equality.”
The first letter to the Corinthians of the Holy Apostle Paul, interpreted by St. Theophan.
St. Anthony the Great
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
Question. Then why does the Apostle clearly state that the Son is subject to the Father as greater, when he says that all things will be subject to Him, and then He will submit to Him who has subjected all things to Him? And how can He be equal to the Father? For it is clear that He, as the lesser, submits to the greater.
Answer. One must see this great preacher of God himself, that here he is speaking in a carnal sense to young and still naked souls who are too early to contemplate sublime doctrines. “Naked” – “those who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” The church assembly is the bearer of Christ, and now countries submit to Him in faith. The countries that the Church is ready to accept have not yet been completely conquered, and the full number of countries has not yet been reached, as the Apostle says, but every day the Church becomes conquering due to the fact that believers are added to it, that is, Christ becomes the conqueror, and the fullness of the countries will then be when the Church accepts submission completely and without reserve, which is Christ according to the flesh, then she too will submit in everything to Him who conquered her, as it is said here, to Christ Himself according to the flesh in everything. It happens that the letter is hidden and does not reveal all of Christ’s power and Divinity, so that they do not think that He is opposite to God, and do not make Him opposite to the Father. It’s one thing when one communicates with those who are perfect in their senses—for them, food is harder than milk. Baby food is given to sucklings. If the narrative begins with Divine things, the veils are gradually removed from the sovereignty of Christ, and it is indicated that He is equal in glory, in power, in sovereignty to God, with a loud exclamation: “We look forward to His Son from heaven, “who will transform our lowly body so that it will be conformed to the body” of His glory.”. By the action of His power He is powerful, and everything is submissive to Him. And elsewhere it says: “God was in Christ, who put the whole world in subjection to Him.”. Everything appears to be submissive to Him. Move away from childishness when the Apostle himself points out that everyone does not learn from the same books, but everyone is sent according to his likeness and everyone is led to perfection like by the hand.
Questions from St. Sylvester and the answers of St. Antonia. Question 127.
St. Ephraim Sirin
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
So, if everything is subordinate to Him, then how can you say: when everything is subject to Him, then the Son Himself will be subject to Him who subjected everything to Him.? Who will dare to say: when everything is subject to the Son, then the Son will return and submit to the Father? After all, in almost the same way, the devil said to Him on the mountain: I will give all these kingdoms and their glory to You, if I have fallen humiliated bow to me(Matthew 4:8 - . After all, if after everything is subject to Him, then He Himself will submit to Him - if, I say, this is so: then now He is not subject, - and when everything is subject to Him, then for this it will return and submit To the One who subjected everything to Him.Moreover, when the Father subjected everything to the Son, could not the Son Himself subject everything to Himself?
The devil was able to subjugate all creatures with vain hope, but really the Son could not subjugate everything to Himself? True, although the cause of all this was humiliation, it is not such that when everything submits to Him, then the Son also submits to the Father, He Who, from the beginning of centuries, without change, abides with His Father through birth. We do not say that everything was not subject to Him, but everything was subject to Him and not subject to Him. Subordinate, of course, to His Divinity, which is why he said: everything yours is mine; He will submit to the flesh, which by its nature, of course, was in subjection, but by the mercy of His grace He made it the subjugator of the highest and the lowest (Phil. 2:10).
So, when this rebellious freedom is subject to the Son by the Father, then through Him and with Him it is also subject to the Father, may God be all in all, that is: for God to be between everything, as He Himself is, and the place of everything, since even now He abides secretly and in those who do not want, but in the end it will be in everyone already and clearly: in Him the righteous will shine like the sun (Matthew 13:43), or even stronger than the sun, as far as human nature is able to perceive.
Interpretation of the epistles of the divine Paul.
St. Anastasy Sinait
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
Question: Some find it difficult to hear the apostle’s statement regarding the resurrection: “Then the Son himself will be subject to him who put all things in subjection to him” (1 Cor. 15:28).
Answer: This difficulty is inherent in the Arians and Nestorians, who want to prove that God the Word is inferior [to the Father], is a slave and a creature. They should ask the following question: how will the Son submit to the Father at the resurrection: as one who has not now submitted, or as one who has already submitted? And if they answer: “As one who did not submit,” then they are put to shame by the apostle himself, who says of Christ that He was obedient and subordinate to His Father "even to death, even death on the cross"(Phil. 2:8) .
Therefore [the question arises]: How can He who obeys His Father even to death obey Him even more at the resurrection? Of course, the Body of Christ, which is the Church of those who are being saved, as Paul testifies (see: Eph. 1.22-23; Col. 1.24), will submit to Him, reverently worshiping the Father through Christ and with Christ. Then the Son will say to God and the Father: "Behold Az, and children, even God gave Mi"(Isa. 8:18) . You told Me, Your Son: "Ask from Me as the Son, true and consubstantial, And I will give to you the tongues of your inheritance, and your possession to the ends of the earth, so that I may preserve you with mighty power.”(Ps. 2.8).
Questions and answers.
St. Neil of Sinai
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
Said: “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also” instead of us "submit to the Father" (1 Cor. 15:28). As our Head, Christ will submit to the Father for His members: "zane udi esma" Christ's, "of His flesh and of His bones", as the Apostle says (Eph. 5:30). Therefore, our submission, since we were previously disobedient and disobedient, is made by Christ with His submission, as our Receiver.
Letters on various topics. Karin, an official under the mayor.
“Let God be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), light - worthy of light, and punishing fire - worthy of eternal torment!
Letters on various topics. Dositheus.
Blazh. Augustine
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
If the Son is equal to the Father, then how is the Father greater? After all, the Lord Himself says: My Father is greater than Me(John 14:28) . But the rule of the Catholic faith is this, that when Scripture says that the Son is less than the Father, it is said in reference to His humanity, but when it is affirmed that He is equal with the Father, it is said of His Divinity.
About various issues.
He will be the goal of our desires, Whom we will contemplate without end, love without disgust and praise without fatigue. This duty, this disposition of the heart and this occupation will, of course, be common to everyone, just as eternal life itself will be common.
...The Apostle also exhorts slaves to submit to their masters and to serve them from the heart with readiness, so that if they cannot receive freedom from their masters, they themselves in some way make their service free, serving not out of feigned fear, but out of sincere affection, until unrighteousness passes away, all rulership and power of men will be abolished, and God will be all in all.
About the city of God.
There will be no need, and therefore we will be happy. We will be filled, but in God: He will become for us everything that we here desire as great.
Sermons.
The vision itself will become face to face(1 Cor. 13:12), which is the promised highest reward for the righteous. This will happen when He gives the Kingdom to God the Father. Then... a vision of His own image will be revealed, when all creation, together with the image in which the Son of God became the Son of Man, will submit to God. In this image and The Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
About the Trinity.
Blazh. Theophylact of Bulgaria
When he puts all things in subjection to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him.
Lest anyone say that although the Father did not submit to the Son, nothing prevents the Son from being stronger than Him, he completely destroys such an assumption and says that the Son will also submit to the Father, showing the complete unanimity of the Son with the Father. Therefore, know that the Father is the cause and source of this power for the Son, and that the Son is not some other force opposite to the Father. If I used a more humble expression than I should have, don’t be surprised. For Paul, when he wants to destroy something by its roots, usually uses strong expressions. For example, wanting to prove that a believing wife, living with an unbelieving husband, does not suffer harm, he said that an unbelieving husband is sanctified by his wife (1 Cor. 7:14); It’s not that he says that the husband, remaining an unbeliever, becomes a saint, but with a stronger expression he shows that the believer does not suffer any harm. So here, too, by the name of conquest, the evil thought that might have appeared in another, that the Son might be stronger than the Father, if He can do so many things, is destroyed by the roots. Gregory the Theologian says that the Son, having assimilated all that is ours to Himself, considers our subordination to be His own. Nowadays we resist God: unbelievers - because they do not recognize Him, believers - because many are driven by passions, and therefore we are not subjugated. But when some recognize Him Whom they now reject, and others, we, lag behind the passions in this life, then, without a doubt, we can say that the Son has submitted. For, having taken upon Himself the face of humanity, He imputes ours to Himself.
May God be all in all
That is, so that everything would depend on the Father; so that no one thinks that there are two beginnings, beginningless and separate. For when the enemies are under the feet of the Son, and the Son does not resist the Father, but, as befits the Son, submits to the Father; then, of course, God and the Father will be all in all. Some say that this, that is, the submission of everything, means the cessation of evil. For when there is no sin, it is obvious that God will be all in all. Then many of us will no longer indulge in impure impulses and passions, having nothing divine in us or having little of it, but we will all be God-like, we will all contain God within us, and only Him. For God will be everything to us, food, drink, clothing, and thoughts.
Interpretation of the first letter to the Corinthians of the Holy Apostle Paul.
Blazh. Hieronymus of Stridonsky
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
A full chorus of virtues God will become everything in everything, and not only the wisdom of Solomon, the meekness of the spirit of David, the zeal of Elijah and Phineas, the faith of Abraham, the perfect love of Peter... the zeal of preaching of the chosen vessel, two or three virtues in each other. God will then be entirely in everything - the entire number of saints will be glorified by the full choir of virtues, and God will be all in all.
Conversations against the Pelagians.
Origen
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
As long as I am not subject to the Father, it cannot be said that He has submitted to the Father. Not because of the Son Himself, but because of me, in whom His work is not yet completed, He cannot be said to have submitted, since, let us read: you are the body of Christ, and separately you are members(1 Cor. 12:27)
Homilies on the Book of Leviticus.
I truly don’t know why the heretics do not understand the essence of the apostle’s speech, which is contained in this statement, and blame him for his words about the submission of the Son [to the Father]... They do not understand that the submission of Christ to the Father, the blessedness of our perfection, expresses and proclaims the glorious crown of the work He has undertaken.
...I believe that what is said about God producing everything in everyone(1 Cor. 12:6) also means “God will be all in everyone.” Through everyone All It will be in such a way that the rational mind, purified to its very depths from all the impurities of sin and washed away from the stains of vice, will perceive, contemplate, recognize in everything only God and nothing but Him. To feel God, to think about God, to see God, to hold God. God will be the measure of every movement of the soul, and so will God everything in everything.
... Our Lord Christ Himself will instruct those who are able to perceive Him in His wisdom in the holy virtues, and after preliminary exercise in the holy virtues He will prevail in them until the time He submits them to the Father, Who conquered everything, which means - when they are able to perceive God, God will become for them everything in everything.
About the beginnings.
But what is this subordination by which all things must be subject to Christ? I think that this is the submission by which we ourselves wish to submit to Him, the submission by which both the apostles and all the saints who followed Christ were subordinate to Him. The submission by which we submit to Christ signifies the salvation of the conquered, which is granted by Christ, as David said: “Does not my soul submit to God? From Him comes My salvation"(Psalm 62:1)
About the beginnings. Book 1.
Ecumenius
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
As the Father, He considers everything that the Son does to be His own, and all the power that the Son possesses goes back to the Father. For, having begotten Him untimely, He Himself is the author of His power.
Fragments.
Mari Victorin
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
God is both existence and essence, although He is above all, since He is the Father of all. We should not hesitate to use the word essence in relation to God, because in the absence of words describing the highest reality, it will not be inappropriate for us to borrow familiar and understandable designations and use them in such a special meaning.
Against Aria.
Evagrius of Pontus
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
Again, what will the heretic say about God being disobedient and made sin for our sake (2 Cor. 5:21)? For it is written: When everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be in all things.. Are you not afraid, O man, that God is called through you? rebellious"? After all, He made your submission His own and, since you resist virtue, He called Himself “ rebellious" In the same way He called Himself and “ persecuted", saying: Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?(Acts 9:4) when Saul hurried to Damascus to imprison the disciples of Christ in chains. And He also called Himself “ naked", implying that one of the brothers is naked. For it says: I was naked and you clothed Me(Matt. 25:36) . And when someone is in prison, He speaks of Himself as “ prisoner"(Ibid.). He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our illnesses(Isa. 53:4; Matt. 8:17). One of these weaknesses is our disobedience - He also bore it. Therefore, the Lord takes upon Himself the misfortunes that happen to us, taking upon Himself our suffering as a result of communicating with us.
Message about faith.
Ambrosiaste
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
Here the same meaning is revealed, that the Son transfers the Kingdom to God the Father. Paul adds for clarity that the Father, transferring the kingdom to the Son, does not himself submit to Him, for there is an incongruity in the subordination of the Father to the Son. He has put everything under the feet of the Son, so that He may be as glorified as the Father is glorified... He says this because all principalities, powers, powers, and dominions will be subdued by pride and will love Christ as God; and then Christ, by the sole authority of the Father, will reveal Himself as God, but from God, so that the high and inexpressible power of the one principle will remain... For when every creation understands that its head is Christ, and the head of Christ is God the Father, this means that everything creation will feel one thing and all with one voice will recognize in the languages of heaven, earth and underground that there is only one God, from whom are all things.
On the Epistles to the Corinthians.
Lopukhin A.P.
When all things are subdued to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all.
When will he submit to Him?. According to a more accepted reading, what needs to be translated here is not: will conquer, A: will submit or will be conquered. - Then the Son himself will submit. Here is Ap. returns to the thought expressed in Art. 24. He said there that the end must come, then in v. 25-27 gave intervening remarks regarding what should precede this end. Now he says even more definitely that the very end will consist in the subordination of the Son and with Him the whole world to God. - Subordination The Son will be completely voluntary to the Father (Son will submit, but not will be conquered). By interpretation John Chrysostom, this submission of the Son must signify His complete agreement with the Father. According to bliss Augustine, here is a hint that the Son will present the elect to the Father's sight. Other interpreters attribute this subordination only to human the nature of the Son, or to the cessation of Christ's mediation between God and man. The last opinion is more correct. The Son, as the redeemer and intercessor for humanity, is given primacy over the Church and the world for a specific purpose and for a certain period, after which the Son must again take His former position son. “Through this, however, He will not lose anything: it is not He who will descend from the throne of God, but His subjects with Him will ascend to this throne... The Son returns again to the position that He left to perform His Messianic ministry - He ceases to be a mediator of the Divine world government, because that God Himself enters into direct communication with man" ( Godet). - To Him who subdued. The Son will thus return to the Father what was given to Him by the Father. - May God be all in all. These words serve to explain why the Son will return everything to the Father. Previously, through Him, God was revealed to the world - He is everything and in everything(Col III:11) . But He uses this position of His in order to bring everything to God and, in particular, so that God is all in the believers. - It should be noted that Ap. here he says: God, and not: Father. It is clear from this that he thinks here of God in all the fullness of His existence - both as the Father, and as the Son, and as the Holy Spirit. - Everything in everything- more correct: to all (creative case) in all (i.e. people). God will live in all people, in every individual believer, and act through them. They, like Christ during His earthly life, will be bearers of the holiness and love of God, through them God will fill with Himself everything, all things (cf. John XVII:21) [In this place, adherents of the doctrine of the restoration of all things to their primitive state are looking for yourself a stronghold. But as for the expression about everyone, although it can be applied to condemned people, it does not mean that all of them will be saved. It can only indicate that everyone will be directly and immediately subject to the power of God, which in relation to sinners will manifest itself in the form of justice and omnipotence. Then, if we talk about the universality of salvation, then this salvation must be considered the lot of demons, but meanwhile, verse 25 speaks of the defeat of evil forces. Therefore, it is natural to assume that here is Ap. foreshadows the formation of a society of rational and free beings who will be brought by Christ into the closest unity with God and will work for the glory of God, as Christ Himself worked during his earthly life. - The parallels to the doctrine of the general resurrection contained here are: 1 Thessalonians IV:13-17 the general judgment to which they will gather all nations, or more precisely all the pagans (παντα τά έθνη), which is spoken of in Heb. Matthew XXV:31 et seq.)].
Areopagite: God is nothing
She [The Cause of Everything; God] is not a soul, not a mind; She has no imagination, or opinion, or words, or understanding; and She is neither a word nor a thought; It cannot be expressed or understood in words; It is neither number nor order, neither magnitude nor smallness, neither equality nor inequality, neither similarity nor difference; and She does not stand, does not move, does not remain at rest; has no power and is neither force nor light; She does not live and is not life; She is neither essence, nor age, nor time; She does not have mental perception; She is not knowledge, not truth, not kingdom, not wisdom; She is not one and not unity of divinity or goodness; It is not spirit in the sense known to us, not sonship, not paternity, nor anything else accessible to our or anyone else’s perception of existence; She is not something from non-existence and not something from existence; neither existing things know Her as She is, nor She knows things as they are; She has no word, no name, no knowledge; She is neither darkness nor light, nor error nor truth; Neither affirmation nor negation is applicable to Her at all; and when we add to It or take away from It something from what is beyond Her, we neither add nor take away, since the perfect and only Cause of everything is above all affirmation, and above all denial is Her superiority, as perfect for everything is beyond the pale.
Maxim the Confessor: comprehension of the incomprehensible
When it happens in God: first, out of fiery love, he seeks an understanding of His nature, but finds consolation in this not from the knowledge of what is in Him: for this is impossible and inconceivable for every created nature, but is consoled by the knowledge of what is around Him. , somehow: eternity, infinity, indescribability, goodness, wisdom and power of the omnipotent, all-providential and all-judgmental. And only in Him is it comprehensible to everyone that He is infinite; and the very knowledge of His ignorance is knowledge that surpasses the mind
Dionysius the Areopagite: God is every charm and everything beautiful
For in the simple supernatural nature of all beauty [God], all charm and all beauty pre-exist in one form as a cause. From this Beautiful being is given to be beautiful in accordance with its own logos; and thanks to the Beautiful there is a combination, love and communication of all; and everything is united by the Beautiful; and the Beautiful is the Beginning of everything as a creative Cause, moving everything as a whole and uniting it with love for its own charm; It is both the Limit of everything and the Beloved - as the Cause that brings to perfection, for for the sake of the Beautiful everything appears; and the Pattern, for in agreement with Him everything is demarcated. Therefore, the Beautiful is identical with Good, because for every reason everything strives towards the Beautiful and Good, and there is nothing in existence that is not involved in the Beautiful and Good
Dionysius the Areopagite: God is attraction and love
For the sake of truth, we also dare to say that Himself, who is the Cause of everything thanks to the love of beauty and goodness in everything, due to the excess of loving goodness, finds itself outside of Himself, being attracted to everything that exists by Providence, as if by goodness, attraction and love, and from a state beyond that which exceeds it is brought down by a super-existent force inseparable from Him that leads outward. That is why people experienced in the divine call Him a Jealous - as one who experiences a strong and kind love for things, as one who is prompted by His loving attraction to jealousy, as one who reveals Himself to be a Jealous One, jealous of what He desires, and as zealous in caring for things. In a word, attraction and love belong to the Beautiful and the Good, have a basis in the Beautiful and the Good, and thanks to the Beautiful and the Good they exist and arise.
Climacus: love of God and love of God
Whoever wants to talk about the love of God is attempting to talk about God Himself; spreading the word about God is sinful and dangerous for the inattentive. Love is God (1 John 4:8); and whoever wants to define in words what God is, he, blinded by his mind, attempts to measure the sand in the abyss of the sea. Blessed is he who has such love for God as a passionate lover has for his beloved.
Gregory of Nyssa: every concept of God is an idol
Every concept compiled by natural understanding and assumption, in accordance with some intelligible idea, creates an idol of God, and does not proclaim God himself
Anthony of Sourozh: “Show me God!”
Many years ago a man came to me and began to ask: “Show me God!” I said that I could not do this, and added that even if I could, he would not have seen God. Because I thought then and now I think: in order to meet, to see God, we need to have something in common with Him, something that will give us eyes to see, and receptivity to catch, smell. This man then asked me why I thought so about him, and I invited him to think and say what place in the Gospel especially touches him, so that I could try to grasp what its conformity with God is. He said: “Yes, there is such a place: in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John there is a story about a woman caught in adultery.” I replied: “Okay, this is one of the most beautiful and touching stories; now sit down and think: who are you in this scene? Are you on the Lord's side and full of mercy, understanding and faith in this woman who is able to repent and become a new person? Or are you a woman who has been convicted of adultery? Or one of the elders who all walked out one by one because they knew their sins? Or one of the young ones who hesitate and hesitate?” He thought and said: “No, I am the only one of the Jews who did not go out and begin to stone this woman.” Then I said: “Thank God that He does not allow you to meet face to face with Him now!”
C.S. Lewis: The Lord is a Comfort and a Terror
God is our only consolation, and nothing causes us greater horror than Him: we need Him most of all and from Him we most want to hide. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. To hear some people say, meeting face to face with absolute goodness is a pleasure. They should think carefully; they are still playing at religion. Transmundane kindness brings with it either great relief or great danger, depending on how you respond to it. And you and I are answering incorrectly.
Alexander Schmemann: believe in God or religion?
Faith in God and in Christ - on the one hand, in religion - on the other: completely different experiences; That’s why the modern return to religion frightens me, because it is at the heart of the influx of students to us, in the ambiguous success of Orthodoxy. And I want to go out into the fresh air, see the sky and stars, touch living life and feel God in it, and not in drug-induced sacredness.
C. S. Lewis: Trinity? What's the point?
You may ask the question: “If we cannot imagine a Being who contains three personalities, then what is the point of talking about Him?” Well, perhaps there is none. However, the point is our actual involvement in the life of this triune Being, which can begin at any time - tonight, if you like
Chesterton: It's not good for God to be alone
The Triune God is a mystery to the mind, but the mystery and cruelty of the sultans are much less characteristic of him than the lonely god of Mohammed. The lonely god is not just a king, he is an eastern king. The heart of a person, especially a European, is much closer to the unclear hints and symbols of the Trinity, the image of a council where mercy and justice are equal; the belief that freedom and diversity live in the innermost center of the world. Europeans have always felt keenly that “it is not good for a person to be alone.” The craving for society was established everywhere, and Western monks supplanted Eastern hermits. Thus even asceticism became fraternal, and the dumb Trappists needed each other. Loving the complexity of life, we must undoubtedly prefer the belief in the Trinity to Unitarianism. For for us Trinitarians (so to speak), for us God himself is not an individual, but a society. The doctrine of the Trinity is a bottomless mystery, and I am not a very skilled theologian. Suffice it to say that this triple mystery invigorates like wine and warms like an English hearth; and what so confuses the mind surprisingly calms the heart. But from the desert, from the dull sand and the fierce sun, come the cruel children of the lonely God, real Unitarians, who, with a scimitar in their hand, ravaged the world - for it is not good for God to be alone.
Chesterton: Trinity - Dogma and Feeling
Enlightened people like to cite the question of the pre-eternity of the Son as an example of dogmatic pettiness and petty sectarian disputes. The same liberals always cite as an example of pure, simple Christianity, not spoiled by dogmatic disputes, the words: “God is Love.” But it’s the same thing; in any case, the second is almost meaningless without the first. Dry dogma is the logical expression of the most beautiful feeling. If the beginningless God exists before everyone else, whom did He love when there was no one to love? If He was alone in unthinkable eternity, what does it mean to say that He is Love? This mystery can only be explained mystically: apparently there is something in His nature like self-expression; He generated something and contemplated what He generated. Without this, it is truly unreasonable to complicate the last point Deities have such an idea as love. If our contemporaries are really looking for a simple religion of love, let them turn to the Nicene Creed. The trumpet of true Christianity—all the rebellion, all the love, all the mercy of Bethlehem—sounded especially loud and clear when Athanasius challenged the cold compromise of the Arians. It was he who fought for the God of Love against the god of colorless distant supervision, the god of the Stoics and agnostics. It was he who protected the Infant Christ from the gray deity of the Pharisees. He fought for that incomparably beautiful connection, that mutual closeness, thanks to which the Most Holy Trinity is full of warmth and love, like the Holy Family.
In polemics with us, supporters of the opinion about the finality of the torments of Gehenna often refer to one place in Holy Scripture. Which, in their opinion, “so clearly confirms this opinion of theirs” that they sometimes simply quote this passage of Holy Scripture as a synonym for the fact that the afterlife and unrepentant sinners have an end. We are talking about the words of the Apostle Paul, who prophesies about what will happen at the end of times: when “the last enemy is destroyed by death... may God be all in all"(1 Cor. 15: 26, 28).
The logic of our opponents is clear. They think that since God at the end of the ages will become all in all, i.e. even in the most inveterate and unrepentant sinners, this means that they too will be saved, also inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven along with the righteous.
But, firstly, this is not in the text of the epistle of St. Pavel. It does not say that all people without exception, including unrepentant sinners, will be saved. Moreover, this contradicts other places in the epistles of this apostle, where he, for example, says the following: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, neither predators will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6: 9-10). And the apostle affirms this more than once (cf. Gal. 5: 19-21; Eph. 5: 5-7).
Secondly, our opponents, drawing on their own intelligence such conclusions from this place in the epistle of St. Paul (1 Cor. 15:28), rely only on their dubious logic, i.e. to your own mind. But in interpreting Holy Scripture one should rely not on one’s fallen mind, but on the holy fathers and teachers of the Church. And if we take their interpretation of this passage of Scripture, then we will not find anything in them confirming the opinion of our opponents about the finality of the torments of Gehenna.
Thirdly, in another place in the New Testament there are words of the same Apostle Paul, very close in meaning to: “God will be all things for everyone,” and hence clarifying to us what the apostle actually meant?! We are talking about his teaching in the Athenian Areopagus about God, who “Himself gives to all life and breath and everything... In Him we live and move and are” (Acts 17: 25, 28). Translated into Russian, this is the teaching of St. Paul says: God “himself giving to all things life and breath and all things... For in Him we live and move and have our being».
Isn’t it true that these last words of the Apostle Paul almost literally correspond to his own teaching about “all things God will be in everyone” (1 Cor. 15:28)?! But in the Athenian Areopagus the apostle does not speak about the end of times, but only points to the theological teaching that the existence (existence) of every person, and indeed of any creation of God, is impossible without the action of the energies of God that constantly support this existence. This is what the prophet psalmist David said about every creature of God: “Pet away their spirit, and they will disappear and return to their dust. Thou shalt follow Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 103:29).
Obviously, in both places of Holy Scripture, St. Paul, without contradicting himself, speaks not about “universal salvation - apokatastasis,” as our opponents believe, but only that at the end of time, after the Last Judgment, the actions of these energies of God will be especially abundant, one might even say, especially blessed. But does this mean that under the influence of these especially grace-filled energies of God, unrepentant sinners will enter the Kingdom of Heaven?
To think so means not to take into account the will and freedom of the person himself - this most unrepentant sinner. And St. John Chrysostom said very well on this matter. Who, comparing the action of God's grace with the sun's rays, noted that “The sun shines on everything equally, but under its action wax becomes softer, and dirt becomes harder.” Likewise, the righteous and unrepentant sinners at the end of time. This is very clearly seen from the Savior’s prophecies about the future resurrection of the dead.
Let us note that the universal mortality of all people is a consequence of our universal complicity in the sin of our first parents: “Just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned in him” (Rom. 5: 12). “But the gift of grace is not like a crime. For if through the crime of one many were brought to death, how much more will the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound for many... For if through the crime of one death reigned through one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through one Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:15, 17).
Thus, the general resurrection of the dead is a gracious consequence of the redemptive feat of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection, as the same Apostle Paul speaks about this in detail (1 Cor. 15: 1-34). So, the general resurrection of the dead is a consequence of the abundant grace of God, which at the end of the ages should be poured out on all mankind without exception in such a way that: “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall live” (1 Cor. 15:22).
But what does the Lord Himself say about this general resurrection of the dead at the end of time?! And here’s what: “The time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; And Those who did good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil will come forth into the resurrection of condemnation."(John 5: 28-29). You see, the abundant grace of God, which gives resurrection to all people, remains abundant grace, but the final choice itself does not depend on it, but on the human heart. For the righteous, from the action of this abundant grace, it softens like wax, and they go into the resurrection of life; and for sinners, under the influence of the same grace, it becomes harder, like dirt, and they go into the resurrection of condemnation.
This is very clearly seen from the description of the Last Judgment by the Apostle and Evangelist Matthew. When the righteous are called by the Lord to enter the Kingdom of Heaven for the many good deeds that they did during their earthly life, and which the Lord appropriates to Himself, as if they were done to Him (Matthew 25: 34-36). And what about the righteous? Out of their humility, out of their humble heart, enlightened by the abundant grace of God, they deny the presence of these virtues in themselves (Matthew 25: 37-39). And it is for this that they will inherit the Kingdom (Matthew 25: 40, 46).
But as for sinners, even at the Last Judgment they act contrary to these virtues. For when the Lord denounces them as not having them during their earthly life (Matthew 25: 41-43), then instead of humbly recognizing themselves as such and bringing repentance for this before the Lord, on the contrary, they hardened their dirty from passions (primarily from pride), the heart brazenly and proudly speaks contrary to the Word of God, falsely presenting themselves as “completely righteous” who have no need for repentance (Matthew 25: 44). But the Lord “came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9: 13), - that’s why these imaginary “righteous” only in their own eyes go into fire and eternal torment (Matthew 25: 41, 46 ).
And this deep hardening of their hearts occurs despite the abundant grace of God that they have just received, having bodily risen from the dead by this grace so that God has truly become all in all to them. Except, of course, their own will and freedom, which the Lord never takes away from a person. For in this case he will cease to be a man, turning into the likeness of some kind of animal. It is by this very own will, i.e. By self-will, unrepentant sinners will inherit Gehenna! And it is not the Lord who is to blame for this, but they themselves! After all, according to all laws, both Divine and human, everyone, to the extent of their own self-will, bears responsibility for it.
This concludes the dogmatic part of the teaching about the eternity of torment after death for unrepentant sinners. And if I were only a dogmatist, I would have to fall into despondency and despair from, to put it mildly, the sharply negative reaction of a significant part of people who consider themselves Orthodox to this, in general, well-known Orthodox teaching, protected by the authority of Holy Scripture and Ecumenical Councils.
But, thank God, the Lord revealed something to me besides dogmas. Therefore, I understand quite well, especially as a result of our discussion with opponents of this teaching, why it is for them, as the Russian proverb says: “It’s not a horse’s food.” But why this is so is in itself very interesting and worthy of research, and also gives some hope to avoid despondency and despair.