Heaven and Hell

[JosephA]

In another posting, a website describing the Orthodox view of Heaven and Hell was presented:
http://aggreen.net/beliefs/heaven_hell.html
I've never read anything like this when it comes to the afterlife. Is this considered true Orthodox belief?
Thank you for your thoughts.

[joasia]

Joseph,

This is an Orthodox view. It focuses more on the wording of the different expressions of hell/hades/gehenna, but there is a musch more spiritual understanding.

This place of damnation, is a place that our souls feel when we know we are in the wrong. We've felt it in our own personal circumstances, but it is so much more significant and important when it comes to our souls.

I will give you my understanding about it, from what I've read of the holy fathers. When we die, we come to the true understanding of what is real. This world is a fanatasy land. By fantasy, I mean that we put so much importance in so many useful, worldly issues. And we really don't sense how close Christ is to us, even when we Commune.

When we die, all that is striped away and we see only the true reality of what we are made of...our spirits, our souls. And we see what is the real function of this world we exist in. And if we have always rejected it, then we will be in a state that our souls will reject God.

It is only based on our free will. We lived in a state of denial and when we die, we will take that with us.

Just as we would not want someone to be forced to love us, because it would feel fake, then so much more would God not want to force us to love Him. So, when we die, if we choose not to have accepted Him, for the full truth, then we will not accept Him afterwards. We have to take responsibility for our actions.

But, in the afterlife, we become fully aware of God's existence, which makes it torture and unbearable, because now we know the full truth and we had rejected it and it's too late.

The hell is not because of a physical place...the hell is because we realize what a big mistake we've made and it can't be reversed.

How many times have you made a mistake, bad decision or whatever in which you repremanded yourself, but could not get over it? Hell is a kazillion times worse....you designed it for yourself.

It's your own place of self-condemnation. But, during all your time of life, God had been contacting you. You just didn't care to hear Him.

That's my opinion on it.

In Christ, Joanna