Orthodox Eschatology encompasses a broad scope of topics, including things such as the Second Coming of Christ, General and Last Judgements (see my Purgatory article), the resurrection of the dead, heaven and hell, the Kingdom of Glory (new creation of heaven and earth), etc. For this I am going to focus briefly on a couple of these aspects of Eschatology. May God grant me wisdom and guide us all in His mercy. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Kingdom of Glory
The Kingdom of Glory regarding the topic of eschatology means the transformation of the world into “a new and better world” (Pomazansky, 2009, p. 176) where God’s Kingdom is fully established and He reigns in full glory. In this Kingdom of Glory, there is no death, no evil, no sorrows, etc. “Then will come to an end the Kingdom of Grace, the existence of the Church on earth, the militant Church ; it will enter into this Kingdom of glory and will merge with the heavenly Church” (Pomazansky, 2009, p. 176). This kingdom is both paradoxically future tense and present tense.
The Kingdom of Glory is eternal life bestowed upon the faithful of the Church, it is the communion of God, of Theosis actualized and achieved. It is the fulfillment of the purpose of Jesus Christ, to unite God and man together again. It is heaven. Paradoxically the Kingdom already is, and is to come at the same time. “The Kingdom of God does not consist of food or drink, but of righteousness, peace and joy and in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). The Kingdom is intimately associated with the Holy Spirit as well.
“The history of the world will still culminate in the attainment of the goal established for it by God 's Providence : the triumph of God’s righteousness, following which there will be the Kingdom of Glory, when “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15 : 28)” (Pomazansky, 2009, p. 64). Part of this is in what Christ taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom Come.” We await the Kingdom, to see more of the beauty of God, to live fully in Him. This Kingdom of Glory follows after the Resurrection of believers and the Final Judgment. The Kingdom already exists, but when it comes it transforms the world into the Kingdom of Glory.
Heaven, Hell, & The Eternal Fire of God
St. Maximus the Confessor says the following, “And the fire “which proceeds before the face of the Lord” burning “His enemies” is the energies of God. For they characterize the face of God, that is, His goodness, love of humankind, meekness, and things similar to these. These energies enlighten those who are like them and burn up those who oppose and have been alienated from the likeness.” (St. Maximus; Questions & Doubts, Question 99).
Thus, the concept of heaven & hell is different in the East than it is in the West. As the Psalmist says, “if I make my bed in hell, You are there.” (Psalm 139:8). There is nothing that truly escapes the presence of God, hell is therefore the love of God rejected. For those who love the Lord, His Presence will be infinite joy, paradise and eternal life. For those who hate the Lord, the same Presence will be infinite torture, hell and eternal death.
Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, the greatest modern Orthodox theologian (in my opinion) who is expected to be canonized in 2025 by the Romanian Orthodox Church, says that hell is paradoxically both being eternally in God’s presence and being separated from Him at the same time. He states that hell is full of people who want to sin and can’t.
In the presence of God of which He is “everywhere present and fillest all things” as we say in the Trisagion prayer, they cannot come out of themselves. They become selfishly engrossed in their own prideful desires, thus cutting themselves off from God in separation while still being in His presence. And in this presence of perfection and Life, Truth, etc Himself, they are tormented at the reality of being unable to love anyone but themselves.
(Quite a sobering read! Christ grant us to be worthy by You into entrance into Thy Kingdom).
To take more from Holy Scripture to show this proof of Orthodox Eschatology; The Lord is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), He will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28), then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom (Matthew 13:43). God baptizes us into the same fire (Matthew 3:11). It is very much our own orientation towards God’s call to us that determines our experience in the Kingdom to come. Rather, from God’s point of view there is no heaven and hell, it’s just Him, it just is, He is Life, Truth, Light, etc. He just is. That’s why Yahweh says “I am He Who is.” And Jesus says, “I AM.”
To choose anything other than God necessitates death. So, heaven and hell is more accurately described as two separate situations in one place, vs. the traditional western model of two separate situations in two places (Protopresbyter George Metallinos, St. James Orthodox Church). Most precisely he says, it’s actually one experience that’s only perceived as different depending upon our orientation towards our Father in heaven.
Ultimately, paradise is an uncreated reality, yet we often times think of it only in a created sense. “The Franks created the myth that paradise and hell are both created realities. It is a myth, that the damned will not be looking upon God; just as the "absence of God" is equally a myth. The Franks had also perceived the fires of hell as something created, like Dante's Inferno.” (Ibid).
This fire, as both St. Paul and St. Peter tell us, tests and proves our faith as well. This experience of God in His Divine Energies (uncreated not created) continues today in the life of the Church. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall test every man’s work of what sort it is.” - 1 Corinthians 3:13. 1 Peter 1:7 says the same thing, our faith will be tested in the fire.
In the life of the Church, we experience God here and now, while it’s fullness is truly yet to come, it is not something inaccessible to us in the here and now as some may have been taught to believe. For the Lord says “I have come to cast fire on the earth!” (Luke 12:49). He is a consuming fire as already stated, thus our experience with Him is an experience of said fire. How do we experience God? The life of the Church, the Eucharist, Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, Faithfulness, Living out His Commandments, and most of all by Loving!
The Eucharist, which is Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, continues with the same theme of an all-consuming fire. St. John Chrysostom states the following, “The Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil.” You could boldly proclaim, that Christ baptized us in fire (Matthew 3:11) and gives us the same fire in His Body and Blood to help us commune with Him, and to keep our own going amidst the struggle towards the Kingdom of Heaven. To become like Him in His fire, so that when the bell tolls for us, in the next life the fire will not be foreign to us. But we will be totally at peace in the eternal Kairos of His presence.
Signs Of The End
Regarding signs of the end of the world leading up to the Kingdom of Glory, I would like to mention from the outset that we should not be obsessive over this, our main focus should be on Christ, becoming like Him. For the vast majority of people the “end of the world” is the end of your life. Additionally, Matthew chapter 24 starts off with signs of the Second Coming of Christ.
The Gospel will be heard by the entire world. (Matthew 24:14). St. John Maximovitch seems to imply this is the Orthodox understanding of the gospel spread and heard by the whole world.
Weak faith across the earth, apostasy, lovers of self, evil manifested greatly and promoted. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, Luke 18:8). Fr. Thomas Hopko states this is when great apostasy happens, same for St. Theophan the Recluse. The name Christian is heard everywhere but few are actually found to be one, even within the Orthodox Church.
Antichrist, a definitive person who appears before the end of the world. This no one knows who, but it will be a sort of counterfeit Incarnation. Like our Lord Jesus Christ became fully man to save us, the devil will use an actual man, controlling him fully (the devil will not become a man himself). For more info on this I recommend St. Cyril’s Catechetical Lectures.
Sources
Eastern Orthodox Bible (EOB), St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology.
Pomazansky, M. (2009, February 1). Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.
Protopresbyter George Metallinos. Paradise & Hell In The Orthodox Tradition. St. James Orthodox Church.
St. Maximus The Confessor. (2021, August 15). Questions & Doubts. Northern Illinois University Press.
Fr. Dumitru Staniloae. Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Volume 6 The Fulfillment of Creation. Holy Cross.
INCORRECT ON HELL - - Fifth paragraph , last sentence : 'For those who hate the Lord , the same Presence will be infinite torture , hell and eternal death' . . . . Let's change gears , let's look at the 2 Demoniacs of the Gadarenes . Juvenile 'delinquents' through and through and a scourge to every house-wife w a garden as well as every farmer who's barn has been spray painted w indecencies . Now JESUS is News - all have heard his fame - yet out of earshot, only to be seen , item ONE flees to parts unknown while item TWO runs , yes , runs towards JESUS prostrating himself in worship (we know it's worship bc he begs to go w JESUS) . Items ONE and TWO are identical , nearly impossible to differentiate , same sex , age , strength , temperament , and each possessing a Legion of demons . . . . . Upon item TWO's unconditional devotion towards JESUS his Legion of d's are removed (and being 'disembodied spirits' lacking the comfort of being clothed) they beg permission to inhabit the warmth of nearby actual living pigs . In Matt 24 we 'again' have identical persons - one taken , the other left - and this event states the 'taken one' is to become a corpse ........so now . we have a 'rapture' of the 'unrighteous' as a prelude to 'Thy Kingdom come' (1000 yr / Seventh Day / Isaiah's child playing at serpent's hole) and after that interlude , a final temptation , an impending Battle at Armageddon , a rapture again (but of the righteous this time) concurrent w a judgement to the Lake of Fire of the invaders w their flesh of clay being burnt up turning again into primordial invisible essence , the 'nothing' that is yet the matrix of all Creation . imho . . . . AND OH YES , the 'entity , the worm that dieth not' , which is a spiritual essence from the mating of Fallen Angels w human women and which became 'dis-embodied' in the Great Flood and that became embodied into mankind a la item ONE and item TWO aka Demoniacs of the Gadarenes as well as everyone possessing a 'familiar spirit' , well that worm essence gets to stand w Satan around the Lake of Fire and lament (that's their torment) that they have nothing to show for their troubles - - not tortured eternally , just removed from society like being sent off to prison. . . . . . In the end , we see our FATHER is not a ritual serial abuser , never has been - never will be , and we may talk sensibly of Him to our young children and they can pour out their hearts unafraid to Him in JOY . ................... ..... shalom to all , al jenkins