The resurrection of the dead in our day. General resurrection of the dead

The Resurrection of the Dead Closely connected with the Second Coming of Christ is the resurrection of the dead, which is the undoubted faith of the Church, and therefore in the Creed we confess: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.” When we talk about the resurrection of the dead, then

[Greek ἀνάστασις (τῶν) νεκρῶν], the renewal of life in the body after death.

The idea of ​​V. m. in the ancient world

Some myths and religions. the practices of various ancient cultures contain the idea of ​​resuming bodily life after death. These include primarily the so-called. myths about dying and resurrecting gods, such as ancient egypt. the myth of Osiris and myths similar to it about the death and awakening to a new life of Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, Baal, Dumuzi, etc. The mythology of all these deities contains a common plot, according to which they lose their divine dignity for a while, undergoing death in the fight against the forces of evil, either at the hands of the mother goddess angry with them, or their divine partner. Then, through the efforts of Ph.D. their divine relative who found and revived their body, they return to life again, defeat the enemy and restore their former status. The content of these myths, as a rule, was reflected in the festivities held periodically in honor of the deities - their main characters. The news of such traditions was comprehensively analyzed by J. Frazer, who interpreted them as agricultural fertility cults, based on the agricultural (plant) cycle. However, in present The time of such generalizations is recognized as generally problematic, primarily because of the fragmentary nature of the available sources, which, in particular, does not allow in some cases to accurately establish the frequency of repetition of these festivities.

Belief in the victory over death won by a deity, as a rule, had no consequences for ideas about the posthumous fate of an individual. The exception is the myth of Osiris, whose fate was for the Egyptians the basis of hope for their own resurrection (Baj. 1996, p. 49-50; aka. 1997, p. 39-40). However, due to the absence in ancient Egypt. texts of instructions on k.-l. eschatology and the difficulties associated with the interpretation of the anthropological ideas reflected in them, it remains unclear whether the “resurrection” of God and the V. m. associated with it was considered as a return to the world of the living, or only as a continuation of being in the world of the dead. “Resurrected”, Osiris does not return to earth, but becomes the lord of the afterlife, and the soul and spirit of the righteous after his death “leave the body and live with the blessed and the gods in heaven, but the physical body does not really come to life and never leaves the tomb” ( Budge, 1996, p. 120). V. m. in ancient Egypt. texts, it is conceived as the acquisition by the soul of a person (more precisely, by the soul of his spirit - the ancient Egyptian “khu”) of a new spiritual body (sahu), which differed from the earthly body (khat). At the same time, the proper burial and preservation of khats with the performance of all the necessary prayers and rituals ensured the development and existence of sahu. Soon after the death of everyone, the judgment of the gods awaits, after which the justified one finds happiness and bliss in the kingdom of Osiris, and the one found guilty is immediately given to be eaten by the Eater of the Dead - the monster Amamat. According to some researchers (Baj. 1997, pp. 41-45), there are grounds for assuming the belief of the Egyptians in the universal V. m. texts are not available.

According to Vedic beliefs, the deceased, buried in compliance with all the necessary rituals, acquires a new, glorified body (Rig Veda X 15. 14); the earthly body and its mental functions disintegrate into the original elements (Rigveda X 16.3). At the same time, since ind. beliefs know neither the end of the world nor the universal V. m., the gathering and restoration of each individual, performed in heaven, begins immediately after his death. The carrier of individuality at this time is the other "I" of the deceased, his essence, form or personality. The heavenly body, unlike the earthly one, has complete freedom from all kinds of sins and mistakes. According to some ideas, the remains of the deceased after burning are connected with this glorified celestial body, according to others, the celestial body is in no way connected with the earthly one.

In Dr. In China, overcoming death became the central idea of ​​Taoism, within which a detailed doctrine of immortality was developed. According to this doctrine, the extension of life in the body is possible through the unity of a person with Tao - the ontological fundamental principle of being and the law of everything that exists. Immortality can be achieved by one who, having set himself this task, follows a system of prescriptions, including strict regulation of nutrition and sexual relations, respiratory and physical gymnastics, a moral code and the practice of contemplation. According to Taoist teachings, in a person who consistently and correctly fulfills all the necessary prescriptions, an “immortal embryo” (xian tai) develops, which carries the basis of eternal life. In the Middle Ages In Taoist treatises, the quality of the "embryo" determines the gradation of immortals into 3 ranks: "heavenly immortals" (tian xian) - ascended to heaven as god-like beings; "earthly immortals" (di xian) - living in special places on earth; “immortals freed from a corpse” (shi jie xian) - those who resurrected after death (cf .: Torchinov. S. 65-83).

Evidence of the faith of the ancient Iranians in V. m. is contained in the texts of the Avesta (Yasht 19.11), the epic Bundahishn (30) and the Apocalypse Zatspram (34). According to the Bundahishna, all the dead - both righteous and sinful - will be resurrected at the end of time. Saoshyant (Soshyans) and his assistants: first the first man Gayomard and the first couple Mashya and Mashyan, then all the rest. The resurrection process should take 57 years. To Zoroaster's question about the participation of those whose bodies were “carried away by the wind and carried away by the water”, Ahura Mazda (the supreme deity of Zoroastrianism) answers that decomposed bodies are easier to restore than to re-create from nothing. The resurrected will retain their lifetime appearance, so that they can be recognized by their relatives and friends. They will receive the drink of immortality prepared by Saoshyant and his assistants and become "immortal forever and ever." V. m. will be followed by judgment and the distribution of rewards or retribution to all people "in accordance with their deeds." The proximity of the doctrine of V. m., contained in the Zoroastrian texts, to the biblical one gives reason to some researchers to assume its influence on the formation of the eschatology of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Beuys. Zoroastrians. S. 40).

In Islamic teaching, the “day of resurrection” (yawum al-qiyama) should immediately precede the Last Judgment (Sura 23.16), after which the righteous will go to heaven, and the sinners to hell. Belief in bodily V. m. is recognized as one of the criteria for orthodoxy.

Lit.: Brückner M . Der sterbende und auferstehende Gottheiland. Tube., 1908; Baudissin W. G. Adonis und Esmun: Eine Untersuch. z. Geschichte d. Glaubens an Auferstehungsgötter u. an Heilgötter. Lpz., 1911; Kees H. Totenglauben und Jenseitsvorstellungen der alten Ägypter. Lpz., 1926; Noetscher F. Altorientalischer und alttestamentlicher Auferstehungsglaube. Würzburg, 1928; Thausing G. Der Auferstehungsgedanke in ägyptischen religiosen Texten. Lpz., 1943; idem. Betrachtungen zur altägyptischen Auferstehung // Kairos. 1965. Bd. 7. S. 187-194; Edsman C. M. The Body and Eternal Life. Stockholm, 1946; Cumont F. The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism. N.Y., 1956; Schmidt W. H. Baals Tod und Auferstehung // ZRG. 1963. Bd. 5. S. 1-13; Konig F . Der Glaube an die Auferstehung der Toten in den Gathas // FS V. Christian. W., 1965. S. 69-73; Potscher W. Die Auferstehung in der klassischen Antike // Kairos. 1965. Bd. 7. S. 208-215; Mayer R. Der Auferstehungsglaube in der iranischen Religion // Ibid. S. 194-207; Otto E. Osiris und Amun: Kult und heilige Stätten. Munch., 1966; Lipinskaya Ya ., Marcinyak M . Mythology of Ancient Egypt: Per. from Polish. M., 1983; Frazier D. D . Golden Bough: Research. magic and religion: Per. from English. M., 1983; Boys M . Zoroastrians: Beliefs and Practices: Per. from English. SPb., 1994; Budge E. U . Egyptian religion. Egyptian magic: Per. from English. M., 1996; he is. The Journey of the Soul in the Realm of the Dead: The Egyptian Book of the Dead. M., 1997; Cancer I. AT . Myths of the Ancient and Early Middle Ages. Iran. SPb., 1998; Torchinov E. BUT . Taoism: The Experience of the Historical Religion. descriptions. SPb., 1998; Vasiliev L . FROM . Cults, religions, traditions in China. M., 2001; Clement K. The life of the dead in the religions of mankind / Per. with him. A. E. Makhova. M., 2002.

E.P.B.

V. m. in the Old Testament

The Old Testament idea of ​​V. m. is based on the fact that God is the only master of life and death. He “deaths and makes alive, brings down to hell and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6; cf.: Deut 32:39); He "delivers from the grave" (Ps 102:4). Thanks to Him, man can escape hell and corruption (Ps 15:10). The world is also under His control. Myths about dying and resurrecting gods, to-rye natural cults Dr. The East was created on the basis of observations of the spring revival of life, were alien to the Israeli people. For him, the rebirth of nature, whether it occurs in the spring or at the time of the universal tempest (Ps 103:29-30), is accomplished under the influence of the life-giving Spirit of God. Yahweh can bring back to life a whole people who have realized their unfaithfulness to God, which led them to spiritual decay (Hos 6:1-2), which is exactly what happens after the Babylonian captivity, when captive Israel returns to life, like withered bones, resurrected “according to the word of the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:1-14). The Lord of life will raise up Jerusalem from the dust (Is 52:1-2), revive the "dead" whom the earth will "spew out" and resurrect the "dead bodies" (Is 26:19-20). These metaphorical images, addressed primarily to the history of the Israeli people, at the same time have an eschatological perspective. They express absolute confidence in the victory over death, the “last enemy” of mankind (1 Cor 15:26): “From the power of hell I will redeem them, from death I will deliver them. Death! Where is your pity? Hell! Where is your victory? (Hos 13:14).

Along with the prophecies about V. m., implying the whole people of God, the Old Testament revelation contains prophecies about the individual resurrection. In this regard, of particular interest is the biblical story about the “lad Yahweh”, in which the Old Testament tradition saw the image of a righteous man who suffered, like Job, undeservedly, died and was buried “with the evildoers”, however, later. returned to life and became an “intercessor” “for transgressors” (Is 53). This image had propaedeutic significance. With his help, the people of God gradually came to the idea of ​​sacrificial suffering, which could have a redemptive character. In the New Testament tradition, the “lad Yahweh” is always associated with the Messiah, whose suffering, death and return to life are given great attention in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. There is no direct mention of the resurrection in the Masoretic text of the book. However, according to Qumran. version, the words of the prophet “He will look with contentment on the feat of His soul” (Is 53.11), referring to the “lad Yahweh”, can be read: “After the sufferings of His soul, He will be satisfied with the light” (1QIsab: ; compare: LXX: ἀπὸ τοῦ πόνου τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς) - and in the context of this narrative can be interpreted as a prophecy about V. m.

Prop. Daniel announces not only the awakening from the sleep of death, but also the reward of the righteous and sinners. “Many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth,” he describes his revelation, “will awaken, some to eternal life, others to eternal reproach and shame” (Dan 12.2). The martyrdom engendered by the persecution of Tsar Antiochus IV Epiphanes reveals that faith in V. m. lives among the common people. 7 brothers, together with their mother, courageously go to death for the "father's laws", having an unshakable confidence that "the King of the world will resurrect (them. - M. I.) ... for eternal life" (2 Macc 7; 9. 11, 22). For the tormentors, “there will be no resurrection into life” (2 Macc 7:14), that is, not a resurrection in general, but a “resurrection of life,” instead of which a “resurrection of condemnation” awaits them (Jn 5:29). According to some biblical commentators (Blessed Jerome of Stridon, St. Epiphanius of Cyprus), faith in V. m. expresses rights. Job (19.25-26), but St. John Chrysostom expresses a different opinion (cf. Ioan. Chrysost. In Ep. 1 ad Cor. 38.3).

In a hidden form, the idea of ​​V. m. is also contained in other places of the Old Testament Scripture. This was pointed out by Jesus Christ, who denounced the Sadducees: “And about the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mt 22:31-32; Mk 12:26-27); app. Paul, noting the strength of Abraham's faith: "By faith Abraham, being tempted, offered up Isaac... for he thought that God was able to raise him from the dead, and therefore he received him as a sign" (Heb 11:17-19); app. Peter, who saw in Ps 15:10 an indication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:27-31).

Patristic exegesis finds in the OT the prototypes of bud. V. m .: in the salvation of Noah in the ark (Genesis 7. 23), in the deliverance of the Israelites from the persecution of the pharaoh when crossing the Red Sea (Ex. 14), in the salvation of the prophets. Jonah from the whale, in the belly of which the prophet spent “three days and three nights” (Jonah 2. 1-11), in the miraculous deliverance of 3 Jewish men thrown by Nebuchadnezzar “into a fiery furnace” (Dan 3. 12-28 ), in the taking of the prophet. Elijah to heaven (2 Kings 2.11), etc.

Along with the idea of ​​universal V. m. and its prototypes, the Old Testament revelation describes cases of individual resurrection of the dead: Prop. Elijah the son of a widow from the city of Sarepta (1 Kings 17:19-23), Prop. Elisha, the son of a resident of the city of Sonama (2 Kings 4. 32-37) and a dead man, whose body, at the unexpected approach of hostile Moabites, was thrown by those who buried in the cave where the prophet was buried. Elisha (2 Kings 13:20-21).

In glory. translation of the Holy The Scriptures verb "to rise" in the expressions: "For this sake the wicked will not rise for judgment, below the sinner in the council of the righteous" (Ps 1.5); “Let God arise, and his enemies be scattered” (Ps 67.2); “Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for you have inherited it in all the nations” (Ps 81.8) - used incorrectly. In all these cases, the verb was used in the translation of ancient Greek. ἀνίστημι, with the help of which, in turn, 70 interpreters translated Hebrew. (get up, stand) Such a use should not be considered correct, because to describe the bodily return to life after death in Hebrew. and ancient Greek languages ​​that do not have, unlike Slavs. the language of the special verb "to resurrect", the verbs ἀνίστημι and not enough. In such cases, they should be accompanied by explanatory words: “from the dead”, “from the grave”, “from Sheol”, etc., which are not in Ps 1.5; 67.2; 81. 8. The consequences of this transfer were twofold. In one case (Ps 1.5) an error was introduced into the biblical teaching about V. m., according to which everyone will be resurrected and brought to judgment: both the righteous and the “wicked”. In 2 other cases (Ps 67.2; 81.8) glory. the translators ascribed to the Jews an uncharacteristic idea of ​​the resurrection of God (more precisely, the God-man), giving both psalms a messianic meaning. However, despite the admitted inaccuracy, glory. the translation of these verses was not only preserved in the biblical text, but also entered the liturgical heritage of Orthodoxy. Churches.

V. m. in the New Testament

A feature of the New Testament gospel about V. m. is that it always traces an inextricable link between the universal V. m. and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the belief that Christ has risen is for the apostles a convincing basis for faith in V. m. “If ... Christ is preached that He has risen from the dead, then how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen” (1 Cor 15:12-13). Moreover, this faith is strengthened by Christ's testimony of Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (Jn 11:25). Being the “second Adam” (cf.: 1 Cor 15. 45-48), who realized the “capacity for immortality” by “obedience and integrity” (Florovskiy . 1998, p. 245), Jesus Christ defeated death, the potential “ability” to -Roy “by his disobedience revealed and realized” the “first Adam” (Ibid.). Now Christ. life must pass under the sign of the resurrection: “Rise, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph 5:14). Earthly life, in fact, is already an anticipation of V. m., for “we know that ... we have passed from death into life ...” (1 John 3. 14). Communion to a new life takes place in the sacrament of Baptism, where a Christian, participating in the death of Christ, is buried with Him and, having passed through the burial, resurrects with Him. “We,” writes App. Paul, were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we are united to Him in the likeness of His death, we must also be united in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom 6:3-5). Baptismal participation in the death and resurrection of Christ finds its continuation in the subsequent life of a person who must renew the "sinful body" (Rom. 6:6). This can only be done by crucifying the “old man” with Christ (Rom 6:6). “If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Rom 6:8; cf. 1 Tim 2:11). This faith should determine the whole subsequent life of a Christian as a “new” person, born in Christ: “If you have risen with Christ, then look for things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father. Think about things above, not about things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-3). To continue this life, the Christian is given the food of immortality, taking which he "will live forever" (Jn 6:58). This food is the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ, Who said about it: "He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (Jn 6:54).

At the resurrection there will be a holistic restoration of personality. However, this restoration is not a return to the previous state in which the person remained before death. To describe it, Paul uses the image of grain thrown into the ground when sowing: this grain is just “bare grain”, and “not a future body” (1 Cor 15.37). “So it is with the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; sown in humiliation, raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; a natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised” (1 Cor 15:42-44). Ap. Paul sees here a new way of human existence, the body of which becomes spiritual, incorruptible and immortal (1 Cor 15:35-53). The resurrection for the apostle is at the same time a transfiguration, the moment when the “mortal” (Rom. 8.2) and “lowly body” Christ “transforms so that it will be in conformity with His glorious body” (Philippians 3.21). Man is resurrected for eternity, because death, the “last enemy” of the human race, has been destroyed (1 Cor 15:26). Like Christ, he "dies no more"; over him "death no longer has ... power" (Rom. 6:9). In the transfigured state, there will be no need for a marriage relationship for a person; “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven” (Mt 22:30). The state of people after the general resurrection differs from the state of those whose resurrection cases are described in the Bible. Resurrected by Jesus Christ - right. Lazarus (Jn 11:43-44), son of a widow from the city of Nain (Lk 7:11-15), daughter of the head of the synagogue (Mt 5:35-43), Ap. Peter is right. Tabitha (Acts 9:36-41) returned to the same life they lived before their death. The mortality of their nature was not destroyed by the resurrection, so death awaited them again. At the same time, according to the "secret" of the last times, discovered by St. Paul, people who lived to see the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will not die at all: “I tell you a secret: we will not all die, but we will all be changed suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed” (1 Cor 15:51-52). To this secret. Paul once again addresses in the 1st Epistle to the Thessalonians: “... we who are alive, remaining until the coming of the Lord, will not forestall the dead, because the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ rise before. Then we, the survivors, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Using the images of the Jewish apocalypses, ap. Paul in the quoted epistles describes the moment of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, during which the dead will be resurrected, and the living will be changed. The consequences of this change will be the same as the consequences of V. m.: those who have changed will become incorruptible and immortal.

A certain difficulty for understanding is the text of the book. Revelation (20:4-6), which speaks of “the first resurrection,” “the second death,” and the thousand-year reign of the righteous. Throughout the history of Christianity, this text has been understood in different ways and even gave rise to chiliastic aspirations (see Chiliasm), recognizing 2 V. m .: first, the righteous will rise and reign on earth with Christ for a thousand years, and then the resurrection of the rest of the people will come. However, such an interpretation of the text was not accepted by the Church, the patristic tradition of which, as one of the main arguments, opposed the words of Jesus Christ to it: “All who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; And those who have done good will go out into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28-29). In accordance with this tradition, which recognizes not only bodily but also spiritual death and not only bodily but also spiritual resurrection, St. John Chrysostom remarks: “Death ... we have two kinds; therefore the resurrection must be twofold. We who died a double death are resurrected with a double resurrection. We alone have so far risen from sin, for we were buried with Him in baptism and were raised with Him through baptism. This one resurrection is deliverance from sins; and the second resurrection is the resurrection of the body” (Ioan. Chrysost. Adv. ebr. 4). The Seer, however, apparently speaks of the 1st Vessel, in which there were not the beheaded themselves “for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God”, but only “the souls of the beheaded” (Rev. 20:4). “The decapitated lived, actually were alive, before the eyes of the seer. On earth they died, but here, in heaven, in a vision, John sees them alive ”(Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible. T. 11. S. 559-600). The bodily V. m., “the righteous and the unrighteous” (Acts 24:15), will be universal; “all that are in the tombs will come out” (Jn 5:28-29). This will happen not because of the potential ability for self-resurrection supposedly inherent in man, but because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which opened the way to immortality. Christ is the “firstborn of the dead” (1 Cor 15:20), who laid the “eschatological beginning” (Florovsky 1998, p. 245) of new life and V. m.

The patristic teaching about V. m.

The theme of V. m. for St. Fathers and teachers of the Church was so significant that many of them devoted special works to her (Athenagoras; Tertullian; Clement of Alexandria; Origen; St. Methodius, Bishop of Patara; St. Ephraim the Syrian, etc.). This theme appears already in the Didache, where the first Christians confess immortality revealed through Jesus Christ (cf.: Didache. 10), and V. m. The latter, according to this monument, will not be universal; its author claims that it will take place, “but not for everyone, but as it is said: the Lord will come and all the saints with Him” (Ibid. 16), apparently believing that only “all the saints” will be resurrected.

For St. Clement, Ep. Rimsky, the recognition of V. m. is not only a manifestation of faith in a Divine miracle, but also the result of observations of the surrounding world, in which there is a "resurrection that takes place at any time." “Day and night represent the resurrection to us; ... the great power of the Providence of the Lord resurrects the sown seeds in the form of a new crop (Clem. Rom. Ep. I ad Cor. 24); “by means of a bird” (meaning the legendary phoenix bird resurrecting every 500 years) the Lord “reveals” His promise about V. m. (Idem. 25-26). From the words of St. Clement “The Creator of all things will resurrect those who, in the hope of good faith, served Him holy” (Ibidem), it is difficult to conclude whether Rome denied. the bishop of the universal V. m., or in this case spoke only about the “resurrection of life”, without mentioning the “resurrection of condemnation” (Jn 5.29). In 2 Corinthians, attributed to St. Clement, universal V. m. is recognized. “None of you,” the author of the epistle notes, “should say that this flesh will not be judged and will not rise again” (Clem. Rom. Ep. II ad Cor. 9).

St. Ignatius the God-bearer substantiates his belief in V. m. not only by the fact that Christians, “breaking ... bread”, eat “the medicine of immortality ... protecting from death” (Ign. Eph. 20), but also by the fact that “ the bonds, this spiritual pearl”, which he carries on himself, paradoxically break the bonds of death and lead to V. m. (Ibid. 11), which makes a person free. “I am condemned... (and) still a slave,” writes the Saint of Antioch, going to the execution for the confession of Jesus Christ. “But if I suffer, I will be the scapegoat of Jesus and rise free in Him” (Ign. Ep. ad Rom. four).

Protecting Christ. the doctrine of V. m., the ancient apologists primarily paid attention to the nature of the human soul. The soul was created by God, they pointed out, and as such cannot have natural immortality. “You should not call (her. - M. I.) ... immortal,” says the martyr. Justin the Philosopher, a Christian who met him, - for if she is immortal, then she is without beginning ”(Iust. Martyr. Dial. 5). A Christian argues in terms of Hellenic philosophy, for which the immortality of the soul meant its eternity, uncreation, and even divinity. Only that which has neither beginning nor end is capable of existing infinitely, eternally “pre-existing”. The creationist understanding of the origin of the world was in conflict with the conclusion of pagan philosophy, so Christianity, represented by apologists, abandoned such an understanding of immortality. The soul does not have a source of life in itself, it is not self-sufficient. “By itself,” notes Tatian, “the soul ... is not immortal, Hellenes, but mortal. However, she may not die” (Tat . Contr. graec. 13). Tatian's last remark shows that Christians reject only "Hellenic immortality", that is, immortality by nature, and recognize immortality by grace, bestowed by the Source of life, that is, God. The soul does not have the property of immortality; she, according to schmch. Irenaeus of Lyons, participates in life, which God grants her (Iren . Adv. haer. II 34). The Hellenistic understanding of immortality is so far removed from Christ. teachings about V. m., which are under its influence, according to St. Justin, they cannot even be called Christians. “If,” he writes, “you meet such people who ... do not recognize the resurrection of the dead and think that their souls immediately after death are taken to heaven, then do not consider them Christians” (Iust. Martyr. Dial. 80) . It is generally impossible to talk about the immortality and resurrection of a person, meaning only his soul or only his body. “If neither the one (soul. - M. I.), nor the other (body. - M. I.) separately constitute a person, but only a creature consisting of a combination of one and the other is called a person, and God called a person to life and resurrection, then, as he notes unknown author treatise "On the Resurrection", attributed to St. Justin, - He called not a part, but the whole, that is, soul and body. For is it not absurd, while the one and the other are connected together in their being, to keep one, and the other not ”(Iust. Martyr. De resurrect. 8). Since God, according to Athenagoras of Athens, gave “independent being and life” to the whole person, and not “to the nature of the soul in itself (and not) to the nature of the body separately”, then after death a person ceases to exist as a person, “and so he impossible unless he rises again” (Athenag. De resurrect. 15).

The author of the treatise "On the Resurrection" identifies 3 main arguments of the modern. to him opponents of bodily V. m .: 1) it is impossible to either collect or bring back to life the body of a dead person, turned into dust and scattered over the face of the earth; 2) besides, there is no need for this, since this body is just earthly dust, defiled and stained with sins, and it would be unworthy for God to restore it; 3) the doctrine of bodily V. m. contradicts the Gospel, in which the state of the resurrected is described as an angelic state. Consistently refuting these arguments, the author of the treatise, first of all, points to the Divine omnipotence, thanks to which man was created “out of nothing”. At the same time, he denounces his opponents, using even pagan ideas about the "greatness of the power of the gods" (Iust. Martyr. De resurrect. 5). He proves the failure of the 2nd argument by means of the doctrine of creation and redemption. The dignity of the human body is very high, since the latter appears in the Divine creative act and God Himself uses "the dust of the earth" to create it. At the same time, the author of the treatise likens the Creator to an artist, the “work” of which, if destroyed, can be restored again from the same substance from which the first “image” was made (Iust. Martyr. De resurrect. 6-9 ). As for the angelic state of the resurrected nature, in which people “neither marry nor are given in marriage” (Mt 22:30), it should not be considered unnatural or unrealizable. In a similar state was Christ Himself and all those who led virgin lives (Iust. Martyr. De resurrect. 3). In the course of a discussion with his opponents, the author of the treatise angrily rejects their ironic remarks: “So if the flesh rises, it will rise the same as it dies: if someone with one eye dies, then one-eyed one will rise; lame to lame... Oh, hearts truly blinded by the eyes! Did they not see that on earth the blind received their sight, the lame walked according to His (Jesus Christ.-M.I.) word? The Savior did all this, firstly, in order to fulfill what was said about Him through the prophets: “The blind see, the deaf hear,” and so on. (Is 35.5); secondly, to make sure that at the resurrection the flesh will rise in its entirety ... ”(Iust. Martyr. De resurrect. 4). The author of the treatise sees one of the reasons for disbelief in V. m. in the fact that his opponents “have not yet seen the resurrected dead” (Iust. Martyr. De resurrect. 18). He tries to dispel this disbelief in the following way: suppose, he reasons, that "we did not exist in the body and someone would tell us that new bodies can be formed from a small drop of human semen." Can we believe it, he asks? Something similar happens with human bodies buried in the ground, "like seeds"; they "are able, by God's command, to rise in due time and put on incorruption" (Ibidem).

The apologist Tatian opposes his faith in the bodily V. of m. to the faith of the Stoics in the periodic return of the world and man to their original state. For him, there are no obstacles to V. m. Even if the body burns in the fire, or perishes in the depths of the sea, or it is torn to pieces by animals, it is stored "in the treasury of the rich Lord." "King God, when he wants, will restore to its former state the essence that is visible to Him alone," concludes Tatian (Tat. Contr. graec. 6), although he does not explain what the "essence" of a dead body is and how he understands restoring this body to its "previous state".

As if continuing Tatian's reasoning, Athenagoras of Athens asks a more complex question than Tatian: if the animals that tore a man to pieces and ate him, themselves after. will be eaten by other people, or if there are cases of cannibalism, what will be the resurrected bodies of these people? Athenagoras' answer seems debatable. The apologist believes that the body of a person, directly or through the food of animals that enters the body of another person, is never connected with the latter in a substantial way, is not assimilated and rejected in one way or another (Athenag. De resurrect. 4-7), because the Creator human bodies "are not assigned as food to any animal", and even more so - to man. He "according to the dignity of nature determined the grave only on earth", and not in the organisms of living beings (Ibid. 8). “The bodies of people,” Athenagoras concludes, “can never connect with bodies like them, for which this food is unnatural, although it often passes through their womb due to some terrible misfortune” (Ibidem). The Athenian apologist, as well as the author of the treatise "On the Resurrection", refutes the arguments of those who believed that God could not or would not want to resurrect the bodies of dead people, while emphasizing that man was created for eternity and that death cannot become for her obstacle (Ibid. 2-3, 10, 13). Considering human deeds through the prism of Divine justice, Athenagoras notes that during the life of people, these deeds do not always correspond to adequate retribution. Observations lead him to the conclusion about the need for V. m., universal judgment and subsequent eternal life, in which a person will reap what he sowed in his earthly life (Ibid. 19). Another argument in favor of V. m. for Athenagoras is the unity of the spiritual and bodily nature of man. He talks a lot about how the state and manifestation of a person’s body affect his soul, and his spiritual state affects his outward behavior(Ibid. 18, 21-23); therefore, it would be unfair to lay the responsibility for the life lived by a person and his actions only on his soul. “If good deeds are rewarded,” Athenagoras writes, “then, obviously, injustice will be done to the body, which participated with the soul in the labors in doing good and does not participate in the reward for good deeds ... When (the same) they will be judged sin, justice will not be observed in relation to the soul if it alone is punished for those sins that it has committed, moved by the body and carried away by its aspirations or movements ... ”(Ibid. 21). Consequently, the apologist concludes, a person must rise and be judged as a spiritual and bodily being.

St. Theophilus of Antioch compares a person to a vessel, in which “some kind of flaw” is found; such a vessel is "cast anew or remade". “So it is with a man through death; for he is destroyed in some way, so that at the resurrection he will appear healthy, that is, clean, righteous and immortal ”(Theoph. Antioch. Ad Autol. II 26).

One should not think, notes Minucius Felix, that the body, after the death of a person, turning "into dust or moisture, into ashes or steam, disappears" without a trace, "God preserves its elements." Continuing this theme, the author of "Octavia" is one of the first in Christ. liter-re touches upon the problem of cremation of human bodies. Christians who believe in the power of God, which preserves the “elements” of these bodies until the universal V. m., are not afraid of “any harm from the burning of the dead.” They oppose cremation for another reason - because they adhere to "the ancient and best custom of burying the dead in the ground" (Min. Fel. Octavius. 34). Minucius Felix, continuing the apologetic tradition, notes that "all nature, to our consolation, inspires the thought of a future resurrection." As for the recognition of the fact of V. m., here he gives amazing evidence that in his time “very many” showed not so much unbelief in the resurrection as unwillingness to personally participate in it, because because of their immoral life, “it is more pleasant for them to completely to be destroyed than to be resurrected for torment” (Ibidem).

Similar cases were known to St. Irenaeus of Lyons. He knew heretics who would not want to be resurrected. However, “although (they) will not, they will rise in the flesh to recognize the power of the One who raises them from the dead. But they will not be counted with the righteous ... ”(Iren. Adv. haer. I 22. 1). In the 2nd book. "Against Heresies" St. Irenaeus shows the failure of the ancient idea of ​​"eternal return", which excludes the possibility of future. bodily V. m. (Ibid. II 14. 4). This possibility is opened up by the second Adam, who headed the human race and made “in Himself the beginnings of the resurrection of man” (Ibid. III 19.3), because the human body does not have the ability for self-resurrection. “Our bodies do not rise according to their own nature, but by the power of God” (Ibid. V 6.2). This force manifests itself as life, which, according to St. Irenaeus, undoubtedly stronger than death: “For if death has killed, then why does not life, by its coming, give life to a person?” (Ibid. V 12.1). An argument in favor of bodily V. m. for St. Irenaeus is also served by the very fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christianity treated the human body with contempt and professed, like paganism, only the immortality of the soul, then Christ “would not have risen on the third day, but having died on the Cross, he would have immediately ascended, leaving the body to the earth” (Ibid. V 31. 1) . Recognizing the universal V. m., St. Irenaeus, however, believed that it would not be simultaneous. First, the righteous will be resurrected, who will reign on earth with Christ; when this period ends, all the rest will be resurrected (Ibid. V 34.2; 35.1).

A detailed presentation of the topic under consideration is contained in Tertullian's polemical work "On the Resurrection of the Flesh". Its author does not disregard a single problem associated with V. m., while making a number of conclusions that coincide with the conclusions of previous fathers. During one of the polemical discussions, Tertullian used the evidence widespread in his time in favor of V. m., based on the high dignity of man, created by God Himself. In response, he heard the objection: “And the world is the work of God, and yet“ the image of this world ”, according to the testimony of the apostle,“ passes away ”(cf.: 1 Cor 7.31), and the restoration of the world is not promised" (Tertull. De resurr . 5). "If the universe ... is not restored," then the restoration of man as part of the universe loses all meaning (Ibidem). Tertullian is trying to refute this objection with the help of the doctrine of man, although a part of the universe, but such, to-paradise is not "the same with the whole." The universe is only a "servant" of man; the latter, “as her master, was created by the Lord (a Domino) so that he could be her master (dominus)” (Ibidem). It is hard to say why Tertullian did not use Christ in his refutation. the doctrine of the world in which a person lives. Claiming that "the restoration of peace is not promised," his opponent was wrong. There is such a promise in Christianity. Ap. Paul testifies that "creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Rom 8:21). Then, according to the book. Revelation, "a new heaven and a new earth" will appear (Rev. 21.1), which, according to the terminology of Tertullian's opponent, will represent the "restored universe." Tertullian's idea of ​​the human body as an "anchor of salvation" worthy of both resurrection and all kinds of glorification is original. The anthropology of Tertullian defines for the body not only a service role: it in itself is “happy and glorious” if it “struggles”, “languishes”, “is exterminated with mortal torments, burning with the desire to die for Christ, just as He died for him”, if according to resurrection "can appear before the face of Christ the Lord" (Tertull. De resurr. 8). This does not contradict the words of ap. Paul: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God,” “for with flesh and blood it is not the resurrection that is denied, but the Kingdom of God,” and moreover, with such “flesh and blood” who did not put on Christ during their lifetime (1 Cor 15 50-51). In the treatise, Tertullian also opposes those who understood the expression “to rise from the dead” as an allegory, with the help of which the state of a person who has known God or the truth is described (Tertull. De resurr. 19, 22).

For the description of V. of m. Hippolytus of Rome resorts mainly to the selection of texts from St. Scriptures relating this event (Hipp. De Christ. et Antichrist. 65-66). “The beginning (ἀπαρχή) of the resurrection of all people” (Ibid. 46) for him is the One “who gives life to all ... Who Himself is resurrection and life” (Hipp . Contr. Noet. 18). The period of posthumous stay of human bodies in the grave of St. Hippolytus considers it as a time of preparation for the V. m. At this time, the bodies are, as it were, in a melting furnace in order to be melted into new bodies (Hipp. De univ. // PG. 10. Col. 800 AC), which will be clean ( καθαρά), transparent (διαυγῆ) and light (λάμποντα) (Hipp . In Dan. 4, 56).

Clement of Alexandria and Origen bring together the teaching of the Stoics about the world, periodically burned in fire and reborn again, with Christ. the doctrine of V. m. (Clem. Alex. Strom. V 1, 9; Orig. Contra Cels. V 20-21). The sexual distinctions of the resurrected bodies, according to Clement, will disappear; the reward for a holy life “is promised not to a husband or wife, but to a person in general, the reward is where the sexual desires, here (on earth. - M. I.) separating the two human sexes, will disappear” (Clem. Alex. Paed. I 4, ten).

The position taken by Origen on the issue of V. m. is disputable and ambiguous. Recognizing the factual side of this event and defending it in a polemic with the pagans, he refers to the narratives of the pagan philosophers Plato about Era, who came to life 12 days after his death and told about what he saw in the underworld, and Heraclid "about a lifeless woman" who also returned to life (Orig. Contra Cels. II 16). At the same time, the Alexandrian teacher opposes those in the Holy. Scripture erroneously saw evidence against the resurrection of wicked people (Orig. In Ps. 1).

Origen's statements about the nature of resurrected bodies are not easily generalized. On the one hand, he admits “that death produces only a change in the body; its substance, of course, continues to exist and, by the will of the Creator, will in due time be restored to life again ”(Orig. De princip. III 6. 5). In another place, he writes: “If it is necessary for us (after the resurrection. - M. I.) to be in bodies (and this, of course, is necessary), then we must not be in other bodies, but precisely in ours” (Ibid. II 10.1). At the same time, Origen comes out with sharp criticism of the supporters of a literal understanding of the Holy. Scriptures that believed that the resurrected bodies would not be "deprived of the ability to eat, drink and do all that is characteristic of flesh and blood", and even marry and bear children (Ibid. II 11. 2). On the other hand, he suggests that, according to Krom, the resurrected bodies must undergo a significant transformation. The need for it will be caused by the fact that these bodies will find themselves in fundamentally new conditions of existence. In earthly life, Origen argues, the bodies fully corresponded to the conditions in which they were. If people had the need to become water creatures, then they would have bodies "peculiar to fish." In the same way, “those who intend to inherit the kingdom of heaven and live in places different from the present must necessarily use spiritual bodies (ἀναγκαῖον χρῆσθαι σώμασι πνευματικοῖς)” (Orig . In Ps. 1 // PG. 12. Col. 1093).

In the treatise "Against Celsus" Origen calls these bodies "heavenly" (Orig. Contra Cels. VII 32). The substance of these bodies "does not disappear or be destroyed, although it will never be what it was before" (Orig. De resurrect. // PG. 11. Col. 97). To explain how the mortal body is transformed into the resurrected body, Origen resorts to the concept expressed by the Greek. term εἶδος. With this word, it denotes a certain appearance, thanks to Krom, the individual identity of the body is preserved both during life, when there is a continuous metabolism in the body, constantly changing it, and after death, when the body breaks up into its component parts. Εἶδος is stable in the flow of material exchange taking place in the organism; generated by the life-giving force contained in the human seed (as in any other seed), it remains even after death, so that at the moment of V. m. to manifest its constructive effect. As a result of this action, a body will appear similar to the ethereal bodies of heavenly angels, radiating bright light (ὁποῖά ἐστι τὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων σώματα, αἰθέρια καὶ αὐγ Matοειδὲς φῶ ς - Orig. XVII). At the same time, it will no longer be visible, tangible, and even acquire the ability to “change in accordance with the place in which it will stay” (Orig. De resurrect. // PG. 11. Col. 98).

The main opponent of Origen in the matter under discussion was the schmch. Methodius of Patara. He criticized both the very concept of eidos and its ability to preserve the individual identity of a person and the continuity of his existence. Origen's attempt to see the "appearance" of the resurrected bodies in Moses and Elijah who appeared on Tabor for schmch. Methodius is unconvincing, because "both Moses and Elijah appeared to the apostles, having no flesh, but only appearance" (Method. Olymp. De resurrect.). In addition, the appearance of these prophets took place before their resurrection and before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who “transformed” the “lowly body” of man into a “body of glory” (cf. Phil 3:21). Since “the numerical identity of the material composition” (Florovsky . 1998, p. 429) after the resurrection, as Origen believed, is not preserved, “it must follow,” concludes schmch. Methodius, - that the resurrection will consist only (in the resurrection) of one kind ... which will be imprinted in the spiritual body ”(Method. Olymp. De resurrect.). But how, in such a case, can a species be resurrected, rhetorically asks St. Patara, “which never falls away”? (Ibidem). The strongest argument against Origen's views for ssmch. Methodius is the Incarnation and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is why Christ became incarnate, "and wore the flesh," in order to save and resurrect her, and not to get rid of her. Explaining the apostolic text "as we bore the image of earth, we will also wear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor 15.49), schmch. Methodius remarks: “If anyone decides to name the flesh itself in the dusty image, and another spiritual body besides the flesh in the heavenly image, let him think in advance that Christ, the heavenly man ... wore members of the same kind, the same image and the same flesh with ours. .. If He did not take on the flesh for the liberation and resurrection of the flesh, then why did He wear flesh in vain, which He did not intend to either save or resurrect? But the Son of God does nothing in vain” (Ibidem).

St. Basil the Great in his writings repeatedly mentions the V. m. At the same time, he basically generalizes and repeats what was expressed on this topic by the previous fathers of the Church. To the question about the nature of the “resurrection body”, the Cappadocian saint answers: “At the time of the resurrection we will take on the flesh, neither subject to death nor subject to sin” (μήτε ὑπόδικον Θανάτω, μήτε ὑπεύθυνον ἁμαρτία - Basil . 6 . Magn 2).

St. Gregory the Theologian, who did not specifically deal with issues of eschatology, writes little about the universal V. m., first of all criticizing the supporters of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, who denied the universal V. m. Gregory, their teaching is “empty bookish fun”, and his adherents are narrow-minded people, because “they either clothe the soul, like a man in clothes, or indecently expose it, bothering themselves in vain, turning the wheel of the wicked Ixion, and force it to be either a beast , then a plant, then a man, then a bird, then a snake, then a dog, then a fish, and sometimes both twice, if the wheel turns like that ”(Greg. Nazianz. Carm. dogm. // PG. 37. Col. 449A) . V. m., according to St. Gregory, will be "instantaneous" (πᾶν τὸ πλάσμα συνάγουσα ἐν βραχεῖ τῷ πλάστῃ - Idem . Or. 40 // PG. 36. Col. 361A); “the last day, by a divine gesture, will gather everyone together from the ends of the earth, even if someone was turned to dust or lost members in illness” / PG. 37. Col. 1A). St. Gregory does not explain how the soul will unite with the body, because, as he notes, this is known only to God, who united and separated them (τρόπον ὃν οἶδεν ὁ ταῦτα συνδήσας καὶ διαλύσας Θεός - Or. PG 3. 21 // Col. PG. 25 // Col. PG. 25 .784A).

The position taken on the issue of V. m. St. Gregory of Nyssa, takes into account all the diversity of views on this issue and is, in the words of Archpriest. George Florovsky, "eschatological synthesis". The main attention in this "synthesis" is drawn to the anastasic views of Origen and his opponent ssmch. Methodius of Olympus. St. Gregory, as Florovsky notes, “is trying to combine both views, to combine the “truth” of Origen with the “truth” of Methodius” (Florovskiy . 1998, pp. 430-431). Like Origen, he uses the concept of eidos, but unlike the Alexandrian teacher, he recognizes the identity of the elements that make up the mortal and resurrected bodies. Otherwise, says St. Gregory, one would have to speak not about the resurrection, but about the creation of a new man. After death, the body is not destroyed, but decomposed. Its destruction would mean turning into nothing, and decomposition is a resolution again to those elements of the world of which it consisted (cf.: Greg . Nyss . Or. catech. 8; idem . Dial. de anima et resurr. // PG 46. ​​Col. 76). Mixing with the elements, the elements of the decomposed body are not "depersonalized", but carry the signs of their former belonging to the body. A similar phenomenon is also observed during the life of a person, when his “body changes with increase and decrease ... But with any change, a distinctive appearance remains immutable in itself, which does not once and forever lose the signs placed on it by nature, but with all changes in the body showing in itself their own characteristics” (Greg . Nyss . De hom. opif. 27). Something similar can be observed in the surrounding reality. So "the habit of the animal to the house" allows him to return from the herd to his master, and "mercury spilled from the vessel ... divided into small balls, crumbles on the ground, not mixing with anything," due to which it can be easily collected again in vessel. In turn, in the soul, “like an imprint of a seal”, a “distinctive appearance” is preserved, “and after detachment from the body, some signs of our connection remain”, that is, the connection of the soul and body, which took place during the life of a person. Thanks to this, for example, the gospel Lazarus and the rich man recognized each other after their death, although their bodies were buried in a grave (Ibidem). At the moment of V. m., according to the “signs of connection”, the soul recognizes the elements of its body and unites with them. However, this connection will not be a return of a person to his former spiritual-corporeal nature. Then a person’s restoration will occur “in its original state” (cf. Nyss. Dial. de anima et resurr. // PG. 46 Col. 156); Interpreting the text of Genesis 3. 21, St. Gregory remarks: “We will put off this deadly and vile chiton, imposed on us from the skins of dumb animals (and hearing about the skin, I think to understand the appearance of a dumb nature, in which we put on, having mastered with passion); then everything that was on us from the skin of the dumb, we will overthrow from ourselves when we take off the chiton. And what we perceive from the skin of the dumb is carnal mixing, conception, birth, impurity, nipples, food, eruption, gradual coming to perfect age, maturity of age, old age, illness, death ”(Greg. Nyss. Dial. de anima et resurr. // P. G. 46. Col. 148). Using the traditional the apostolic and patristic image of grain and an ear, the Nyssa saint notes that “the first ear was the first man Adam”, however, later. he, and together with him we were “dried by the heat of vice” and crumbled into separate “bare” grains. However, “the earth, having received us, decomposed by death, in the spring of resurrection, will again show this bare grain of the body as an ear of good growth, branched, straight and stretching to heavenly heights ... adorned with incorruption and other divine signs” (Ibid. // PG. 46. Col. 157). To these signs, St. Gregory also refers to "glory", "honor", "strength", while pointing out that the body itself does not possess them; they "belong to the proper nature of God" and were given to man as the bearer of the Divine image in the act of creation (Ibidem).

Eschatological Conversations of St. John Chrysostom, including his sermons on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the universal V. m., are pastoral in nature. The importance of faith in spirituality, according to the saint, can hardly be overestimated: it makes the whole earthly life of a person meaningful in essence; it fills it with “tranquility and peace”, educates a person in a responsible attitude to his deeds performed under the sign of eternity, helps to overcome the feeling of hopelessness generated by the vanity and perishability of the surrounding world. The absence of such faith deprives a person of incentives for a moral way of life and for the fight against evil (Ioan. Chrysost. De resurrect. 1; cf.: Idem. In Ep. 1 ad Cor. 17. 3).

Considerable attention is paid to the question of the nature and condition of resurrected bodies by Blessed. Jerome, leading a debate about V. m. with the Origenists. Although the bodies, as he notes, will be immortal and incorruptible, these are the same bodies that were once buried in graves. They will even retain sexual characteristics, although, like angels, they will not marry (cf. Mt 22.30; Ep. 84.5, 6 // PL. 22. Col. 747-748).

Similar views are expressed by Blessed. Augustine. Unlike St. Gregory of Nyssa, who saw in the resurrected bodies their “initial state”, he believes in the greater spirituality of these bodies, which will no longer need material food, since the resurrected flesh “will not only be the same as it is now even with the most best condition health, but even such as it was in the first people before the fall. Although they would not have died if they had not sinned, nevertheless, as people, they used food, because they did not yet have spiritual, but animated earthly bodies ”(Aug. De civ. Dei. XIII 20). Continuing the thought blzh. Jerome on the Preservation of Resurrected Bodies of Sexual Characteristics, Blessed. Augustine notes that these bodies will only be freed from the "defects" generated by sin. The very difference between the sexes "is not a defect, but nature" (Ibid. XXII 17). As "lack" lust will be overcome, so that sexual characteristics will serve as an occasion not for "copulation and birth", but for the glorification of the "new beauty" of the human body (Ibidem). Concerning the age of the resurrected bodies, Blessed. Augustine made various assumptions. He did not dispute the opinion that the age of the resurrected people would be the same as that of Jesus Christ, nor that all people would be resurrected at the same age at which they died (Ibid. XXII 15-20).

Theology of V. m.

is one of the main divisions of Christ. anthropology, which describes a person who acquires a new mode of existence in the resurrection. In the question of the posthumous fate of man, Christ. theology fundamentally differs from the views of those ancient pagan philosophers who taught about the “restoration of everything” (ἀποκατάστασις τῶν πάντων), including man, in the “eternal return”, or “eternal repetition”. Despite the fact that “everything returns in the same image (ἐν ᾧ ἔσμεν σχῆμα)” (Florovsky . 1935, p. 161), in the ancient world, which perceived the body as a “dungeon” of the soul, this postulate did not give rise to any optimistic aspirations. This world, which has always abhorred the human body, dreamed of disincarnation; the mistake was not so much that pagan philosophers looked pessimistically at the body, in the captivity of which the soul is often really located, and it needs to be freed from this captivity. Ap. Paul, who experienced first hand the power of sin that dominates man, also exclaimed bitterly: “I am a poor man! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24). The impossibility of changing the body, which was forever doomed to bear the seal of corruption, led to the fact that it could only be abhorred or ashamed. “Why fix this mortal appearance for a long time - and that’s already enough that we now wear it,” Porfiry notes, describing Plotinus’ relationship to the body (Porphyr. Vita Plot. I). Therefore, disincarnation remained the only refuge where one could hide from the “body of death”, since neither the V. m. itself, nor the “resurrection body” found recognition. Ap. Paul, who preached about bodily V. m., for which he was called by the Athenian philosophers “sueslov” (Acts 17.18), contrasted the Hellenic wisdom with the maxim: “We, being in this hut, sigh under a burden, because we do not want to be unburdened, but put on, that the mortal may be swallowed up with life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). In this text, as St. John Chrysostom, ap. Paul "applies death blow those who humiliate the bodily nature and condemn our flesh. The meaning of his words is as follows. It is not the flesh, as he says so, that we want to lay aside from ourselves, but corruption; not the body, but death. Another is the body and another is death; another is the body, and another is corruption. Neither the body is corruption, nor corruption is the body. True, the body is perishable, but it is not corruption. The body is mortal, but is not death. The body was the work of God, but corruption and death were introduced by sin. So, I want, he says, to remove from me what is alien, not mine. And what is alien is not a body, but corruption and death that have stuck to it ”(Ioan. Chrysost. De resurrect. 6).

The conditions of sinful existence, in which man found himself, made it paradoxical to comprehend the mystery of his life and his resurrection: this mystery is revealed through the mystery of death. At the same time, it should be noted that immortality was not a property of human nature from the very beginning. Man by himself, that is, outside of God, was mortal from the very moment of creation, as a result of which he appeared in the world. “Creature,” writes St. Athanasius I the Great, - brought into the world from non-existence, still exists above the abyss of "nothing", always ready to be overthrown" (Athanas. Alex. De incarn. Verbi. 4-5). Neither "creature" in general, nor man in particular, possessed the natural property of immortality; they were only partakers of the life graciously given by its Only Source. When the connection with this Source was interrupted by sin, then, according to St. Athanasius, "the violation of God's commandment returned people to their natural state (εἰς τὸ κατὰ φύσιν)" (Ibidem), i.e., to a state of mortality. Therefore, the understanding of death as the separation of the soul from the body does not explain its whole mystery; in the true sense, death is the separation of man from God, the Giver of Life. “Sin breaks the thread of life,” therefore, one can say about a sinner that he lives a “dead life” (Vasiliadis N. Sacrament of Death: Translated from New Greek Serg. P., 1998. P. 69). Such a life has no prospects: it leads a person into a dead end and gives rise to a feeling of hopelessness. And only thanks to Jesus Christ, who conquered all the anomalies of human existence, the last of which is death (1 Cor 15:26; see Art. Resurrection of Jesus Christ), the reign of death was overcome. And although the latter is still the end of earthly life, it also becomes the beginning of a new human existence. Divine wisdom and power transform the "enemy" of the human race into its benefactor. “The afterlife of man, in the understanding of St. Gregory of Nyssa, there is a path of purification, and in particular, the bodily composition of a person is purified and renewed in this circulation of nature, as if in a kind of melting furnace. And that's why the renewed body will be restored... St. Gregory calls death "beneficial", and this is a general and constant patristic thought... Death is the dues of sin, but at the same time healing... God in death, as it were, melts down the vessel of our body" (Florovsky, 1998, p. 432- 433). In Christ, as the Conqueror of death and hell, as the Firstborn of the new creation, there is the greatest paradox of faith: life comes through death, while being trampled upon by death itself. Moreover, it is trampled not only in the incarnate Word. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ destroys the absoluteness of death. Therefore, St. John Chrysostom calls death "dormition" (Ioan. Chrysost. In Ep. ad Hebr. 17. 2). The “Last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45) restores the original integrity of creation, violated by the first Adam, and introduces man into a new higher order of being. “After the victory of Christ over death, resurrection became the general law of creation - not only mankind, but also animals, plants, stones, the entire cosmos, because each of us leads it” (Lossky V. Dogmatic Theology. S. 288). Only thanks to the resurrection of Jesus Christ "the cosmic process, the arrow of which is turned to the victory of being over non-existence, life over death, good over evil ... achieves ... the triumph of its idea" (Tuberovsky A. M. Resurrection of Christ. Serg. P ., 1916, p. 14).

V. m. will be universal, because the mortality of human nature is overcome in Christ. Moreover, this overcoming, according to Nikolai Cabasilas, did not depend on people, just as their birth does not depend on them. However, the restoration of human nature, which acquired the property of immortality in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, should be distinguished from the restoration of life in God, which is not achieved without personal participation in this process. If the nature and content of life after the resurrection is largely determined by the person himself even before his death and, accordingly, resurrects for life in God or for the “second death” (Rev. 20.6), then “Christ’s death and resurrection bring immortality and incorruption to all equally for every man has the same nature as the Man Christ Jesus” (Nicol. Cabas. De vita in Christo. II 86-96).

At the moment of V. m., human nature will be in a transformed state. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church, describing this state in different ways, in the main expressed what they had in common with St. Paul thought: Christ "will transform our destroyed body so that it will be conformable to His glorious body" (Philippians 3:21). The fathers and teachers of the Church were one in that the resurrected body would be “spiritual,” but in the understanding of what constitutes a “spiritual body” (cf.: 1 Cor 15:37, 44) and a “body of glory” (Phil 3 21), there was no complete unity among them. In different ways, they also determined the possibility of preserving the personality of a person, his individual existence from the moment of the collapse of human nature caused by death, until the moment of V. m. However, these discrepancies show the existence of different theological opinions on questions, answers to resurrection. According to Florovsky, these are questions not so much of faith as "how much of a metaphysical interpretation" (Florovskiy 1998, p. 430).

The mystery of V. m. begins to be revealed already in the Baptism of a person, although in this sacrament a person does not yet become immortal. The grace of Baptism, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, only “raises to incorruption what is born in corruptible nature” (Greg. Nyss. Or. catech. 33). Baptism is only a “likeness of the resurrection”, only an “imitation” (μίμησις), and not the resurrection itself, which cannot be already because the person has not yet died (Ibid. 35). The “likeness of the resurrection” is preceded by the “likeness of death,” which also occurs in Baptism (Rom. 6:3-5). The Sacrament of Baptism is gracious and effective, it truly is a “rebirth” (ἀναγέννησις), but at the same time, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, only the beginning (ἀρχή); bud. V. m. has in it only its "embryos" (Greg. Nyss. Or. сatech. 35). Spiritually born in Baptism, a Christian must live in cooperation with Christ, have the same “feelings” with Him (Phil 2:5), suffer with Him “in order to be glorified with Him” (Rom 8:17). Otherwise, that is, when “we ... - as St. Ignatius the God-bearer - are not ready to die voluntarily in the image of His suffering, His life is not in us ”(Ignatius Ep. ad Magn. 5), and the grace of Baptism ceases to work in us. “This is not only an ascetic or moral instruction, or just a threat. This is the ontological law of spiritual life, the law of being itself. ...The return of health to a person acquires meaning exclusively in communion with God and life in Christ. For those who are in hopeless darkness, for ... those who have cut themselves off from God, even the resurrection itself must seem groundless and superfluous ”(Florovsky. 1998. p. 247).

The problem of universal V. m. in Russian religious philosophy

Much attention was paid to this problem by Rev. Sergei Bulgakov, who comprehensively covered all the main provisions of the anastasic doctrine. His views are based on the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since, according to his opinion, “The God-man is all-man,” then His resurrection “ontologically is universal”, it “includes, although it is carried out only on the last day, in the Parousia of Christ” (Bulgakov. Bride of the Lamb. Ch 3, p. 456). Objecting to N. F. Fedorov, Bulgakov emphasized that the universal V. m. is a transcendent, and not an immanent action of God in the world and, as such, is not the result of “and the achievement of cosmic and historical evolution.” By virtue of its transcendence, it turns out to be "outside of earthly time or above it." The “future century” is the “new time”, which just begins with V. m. (Ibid., p. 458). Bulgakov solves the problem of individual resurrection through the prism of his doctrine of the “soul of the world”, developed on the basis of his recognition of the cosmos as a “living” and “animate” whole, which is a body (Bulgakov S. Philosophy of Economics. M., 1912. Ch 1: The World as an Economy, pp. 80, 125). Therefore, "the resurrection of the dead is accomplished by God's action precisely in the soul of the world." God resurrects not only the “separate human soul”, but also the entire “whole Adam” (Bulgakov, The Bride of the Lamb, Part 3, p. 466). This does not mean that the “qualitative diversity” of people and the unique individuality of each person are destroyed in the process of V. m. “There are individual differences in the creature already at creation, they have their imprint in the whole, in the soul of the world. And these differences are fully realized at the resurrection” (Ibid., p. 467). As for the state of the resurrected body, Bulgakov did not recognize its “exact physical correspondence” to the human body before his death, since the latter experiences “empirical states” that are peculiar to him only “in this world of sin and death.” In the resurrection, a new body will arise, in which the “ideal, intelligible image of a person as a person” will be reflected (Ibid., p. 467). Thinking like St. Gregory of Nyssa, about “signs of connection”, thanks to which the soul is connected to the body at the moment of V. m., prot. Sergius tried to clarify the "general thought" "about the individual particles of the body, especially marked by the seal (σφραγίς) of the spirit living in it." In his opinion, this thought "refers not so much to the fluid matter of the body, but to the individual form, to the connection of the soul with the world corporeal substance, the body of bodies." The concept of "the body of bodies" corresponds to the idea contained in his "Philosophy of Economics", according to which the whole universe is "the peripheral body of man." Bulgakov allowed the recognition of the existence "in the universe of a deliberate seed" atom "belonging" to the body of every person. With the help of such an atom, it is precisely “the crystallization of corporality takes place”, however, it itself is rather not a material particle, but “so to speak, an energy center that finds a place for itself in the universe and forms a mediation between the soul and the body as a world substance”. The "energy center" is located in the soul and as such is characterized by immortality. “And it is precisely to this center that the action of the soul is applied, in the resurrection acquiring new strength in itself to recreate the body and to restore the connection of the soul, and through it the spirit with the world, in which the resurrection actually consists” (Ibid., p. 469). The Transformed State of the Resurrected Man Fr. S. Bulgakov considered within the framework of the sophiological concept developed by him, since this state reveals the beauty of the created world. "The natural (same) beauty of creation and in it a person (and) is, - as he believed, - his Sophian prototype, created Sophia." Although “the whole fullness of creation” is involved in this prototype, “creature sophia”, like all creation, “is in the process of formation”. It was not finally revealed in man before the fall; in the sinner, however, this Sophianity is "only in a darkened form." Only thanks to the Incarnation of God "the Sophian prototype of every person" becomes "transparent and obvious." As for the resurrection, according to Bulgakov, it is "the final identification of man through the manifestation in him of his prototype." However, this does not end with the peculiar philosophical and anthropological concept of Prot. Sergius, the rationale for which he unsuccessfully sought in Christ. theology. Christ. the thinker goes further and elevates the "sophiion" of man to a higher metaphysical level. As the "accomplishment of creation," for him it becomes the manifestation of Divine Sophia. “In the resurrection,” concluded Fr. Sergius, - a person appears in the light of the Divine Sophia, in that Sophia, by the power of which and for the sake of which he was created. This sophia in resurrection is, as it were, a new, second act of the creation of man, “in incorruption, power and glory” (Ibid., pp. 477-478).

Anastasic views of Vl. S. Solovyov find their basis in the philosopher's peculiar understanding of the nature of evil and progress. Solovyov was characterized, according to the just remark of Florovsky, “a strange insensitivity to evil, to the very recent years life... Evil, in Solovyov's perception, is only discord, disorder, chaos... In other words, the disorganization of being... Therefore, overcoming evil comes down to re-organization or simply organization of the world... And this is already happening. by the power of the most natural development "(Florovsky. Ways of Russian theology. S. 314). Moreover, such a state of being is not only the result of the appearance of sin in the world, which in turn caused death and decay. Solovyov called “dead” already the primordial matter itself, from which the Creator creates the Universe, and he sees the struggle between life and death at all stages of the appearance of this Universe. “The continuous war between them - between the living spirit and dead matter - forms, in essence, the entire history of the universe ... What a great victory, apparently, was life when, among the inert inorganic matter, myriads of living beings, the primary rudiments of vegetable and the animal kingdom. Living force takes possession of dead elements... But death only laughs at all this magnificence... It knows that the beauty of nature is only a motley, bright cover on a continuously decaying corpse...” (Sobr. soch. St. Petersburg, 19112. Vol. 10. p. 34). Since death, according to Solovyov, has always existed, then overcoming it is not only and not so much a process of fighting sin, but a process of the “natural development” of the world. This process is irreversible; it bears, in the words of Florovsky, "the character of natural necessity" (Florovskiy, Ways of Russian Theology, p. 315). Therefore, Solovyov firmly believed in progress and always remained a supporter of evolutionary theory development of the world. He did not seem to notice the worldwide catastrophe generated by sin. For him, even the idea of ​​V. m. was quite “natural” (Letters. St. Petersburg, 1911, vol. 3, pp. 39-40). “If by miracle,” he wrote, “to understand a fact that contradicts the general course of things and therefore impossible, then the resurrection is the direct opposite of a miracle - this is a fact absolutely necessary in the general course of things; if by miracle we mean a fact that happened for the first time, unprecedented, then the resurrection of the “first-born from the dead” is, of course, a miracle - exactly the same as the appearance of the first organic cell among the inorganic world or the appearance ... of the first man among the orangutans ”(Ibid. ). Therefore, the theological problem of V. m. becomes for Solovyov a problem of natural science, which brings him closer to Fedorov in this matter, although Solovyov did not adhere to the idea of ​​self-resurrection developed by Fedorov. The world, according to Solovyov, moves towards V. m. in a natural way. On this path there is a constant struggle (continuous war) between life and death. It covers the entire history of the universe and extends to the entire history of mankind, while being divided into several. stages. At the 1st stage, the “organization of visible nature” takes place, as a result of which only a partial victory of life over death is achieved. The struggle between them “enters a new phase” at the 2nd stage, which begins with the appearance in the world of a “reasonable being”, that is, a person who possesses not only “ physical strength”, inevitably conquered by death, but also by “mental strength”, and most importantly - “moral strength”, the infinity of which “gives life absolute fullness” (Ibid., vol. 10, p. 36). However, this fullness is realized only at the 3rd stage in the person of the God-Man, who possessed absolute "spiritual power", with the help of which He defeated death. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ ends the 1st half of the historical process and begins the 2nd - the history of Christianity - during which the full revelation of the Kingdom of God and the birth of spiritual humanity should be realized. And the Kingdom of God "is the same as the reality of an unconditional moral order, or, which is the same, the general resurrection and restoration of all (ἀποκατάστασις τῶν πάντων)". Thus, according to Solovyov, the “gathering” of the world takes place in the process of its historical development (Ibid., vol. 8, p. 220).

The idea of ​​V. m. is the main one in the philosophical legacy of Fedorov. For the philosopher, she is “not only alpha and omega, but also vita and all other letters of the alphabet, in a word, everything. Point out to me, - he addresses his opponent, - from my small notes at least one, which would not speak of the resurrection directly or indirectly, explicitly or covertly ... ”(Fedorov N. F. Philosophy of the common cause. M., 1913 T. 2, p. 44). In an effort to reveal the content of this idea, Fedorov tried, first of all, to establish what led a person to death. He believed that the appearance of death was caused by "a whole series of betrayals", which "mankind committed in its fall." 1st - "treason to the Heavenly Father", in which Fedorov, apparently, saw original sin - was committed "at the beginning". 2nd "consisted in leaving agriculture, i.e., the ashes of their ancestors," for the sake of life in the city; this is “treason to the clan and tribe”, since a person preferred “legal and economic” relations to family-communal relations (Ibid. Verny, 1906, vol. 1, p. 338). “Abandonment of agriculture” and “treason to the clan and tribe” paradoxically led to the fact that “man made himself dependent on fate (that is, on the annual circulation of the earth), subordinated himself to the earth.” At the same time, he also changed the commandments to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28), turning “reproduction ... into an unbridled generative force”, while it should be an “artistic process” of “reproducing oneself in other creatures”. Fedorov likened this process to "the birth of the Son from the Father, the procession of the Holy Spirit from Him." As a result of the betrayal, a person lost "those conductors", with the help of which he could carry out "transitions of phenomena from one to another" in the world. So “gradual transitions turned into upheavals, thunderstorms, droughts, earthquakes, in a word, the solar system turned into a world, into a variable star with an eleven-year or some other period of various disasters” (Ibid., p. 332). In these "treason" Fedorov saw the manifestation of sin, which reveals the difference between his understanding of sin and Christ. creeds. Although the word “sin” is found quite often in his works, it was about the nature of sin, its essence, origin and manifestation that the philosopher had rather vague and erroneous ideas. Therefore, even in death, he constantly thought about the reasons for which, according to Florovsky, he “did not feel ... the dark sting of sin” (Florovsky, Ways of Russian Theology, p. 323). “The ulcer of the fall” for him is only that “man has lost his cosmic power and might” (Ibid., p. 325), as a result of which the “blind” “deadly force” of nature began to dominate the world. It was “in nature, in its unconsciousness” that Fedorov saw the root of evil (Fedorov N. F. Philosophy of the common cause. T. 1. S. 320). “Nature,” he argued, “is our common enemy, one, everywhere and always present, living in us and outside of us” (Ibid., vol. 2, p. 247). Accordingly, the overcoming of evil and victory over death are achieved only "within the limits of nature, by the forces of man and nature" (Florovsky, Ways of Russian Theology, p. 324). Although Fedorov admitted that the beginning of the resurrection was laid by Jesus Christ, bud. V. m. is not a miracle for him. It is a process of natural restoration of the dead, which must be carried out by their descendants living on earth. Fedorov called this process "the resurrection of the fathers" or "patrophication". “The resurrection of the fathers” is a “commandment”, “Divine decree”, which people are obliged to fulfill (Fedorov N. F. Philosophy of the common cause. T. 1. P. 139) in order to carry out the “immanent” resurrection (Ibid. pp. 13, 32) and avoid the resurrection of the “transcendent”, which is possible only if people do not fulfill their destiny. The "transcendental" resurrection, in contrast to the "immanent" one, will be a Divine miracle. However, this miracle will turn out to be only a manifestation of God's wrath towards unfaithful people (Ibid., pp. 486-487).

Fedorov called "patrophication" a "common cause", in which all living people should participate for the sake of universal V. m. and the transformation of the world around. He does not describe the role of the individual in this matter, since everything personal and individual is usually assessed negatively by him. “Recognizing the personality as the central subject of the philosophy of history,” he noted, “historiosophy provides unification to the action of blind force ... The activity of personalities creates not history, but comedy world history(Ibid., p. 38). This strange conclusion of Fedorov fully follows from his philosophy of the “common cause”: “the individual remains and should be only an organ of the clan” (Florovsky, Ways of Russian Theology, p. 325). Therefore, it is not surprising that Fedorov did not write anything about the spiritual transformation of the individual, about her life in Christ and about her individual resurrection. Before the “general”, everything “personal” either recedes into the background, or, most often, disappears altogether.

The “common cause” is a two-pronged process consisting of the “regulation” of nature and the overcoming of death. It is aimed at “using the forces of all to turn the unconscious cycle” of the surrounding world “into a conscious, universal resurrection” (Fedorov N. F. Philosophy of the common cause. T. 2. P. 104).

In the process of regulation, nature must turn "from a blind destructive force into a recreative one." And this will become possible only when, by common efforts, people introduce a reasonable principle into nature and curb its elements. Then “nature in us” will begin not only “to be aware of itself, but also to govern itself” and “it will no longer destroy anything, but in the era of blindness it will restore, resurrect everything that was destroyed” (Ibid., p. 247). Regulation is not limited to our planet. It will turn "the blind movements of the planets and the entire solar system into mind-controlled sons of men" (Ibid., p. 252). The “project” proposed by Fedorov is striking in its fantasticness. In addition to the regulation of nature, it includes the refusal of people from reproduction, because "reproduction causes the mutual extermination of creatures and carried away on the same path, on the path of extermination, and man." According to Fedorov, “the generative force is only a perversion of that force of life that could be used to restore, or resurrect, the life of rational beings” (Ibid. T. 1. P. 345). In order to overcome the “generic force” in oneself, Fedorov recommended learning to manage the “psychophysiological process” and “replacing the birth of children like oneself, one’s fathers and ancestors (atavism) with the return to the fathers of the life received from them” (Ibid., p. 442). For such a return (i.e., the resurrection of the fathers), people must "achieve ... the knowledge and control of all the molecules and atoms of the external world." This will allow them to “gather what is scattered, combine what is decomposed, that is, put it into the bodies of their fathers, which they had at their death ...” (Ibid.). They will be helped in this by the presence of a common "vibration" that exists in the molecules and in the dust of the dead and "in living beings related to the dead." Science should also contribute to the "resurrection of the fathers." Its representatives are entrusted with the duty to "search for the molecules that were part of the creatures that gave them life." In the process of such a search, natural elements are used as tools controlled by the human will (Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 273-274).

Although the resurrection, according to Fedorov, will occur in earthly life and in a natural way, the philosopher believed that the state of the “resurrected fathers” would not be a repetition of their former state. The universal resurrection for him was "the realization of metaphysical perfection, universal happiness" (Ibid., p. 77). In another place, he wrote: “Resurrection is the fullness of mental, moral and artistic life” (Ibid., p. 207). The opportunity to achieve the transformed state of resurrected people for Fedorov was opened up in the same “common cause”, thanks to which “non-brotherhood” between people would be eliminated. Resurrection will have an impact on the entire system of the universe; it "is the transformation of the universe from chaos, towards which it is heading, into space, i.e., into the splendor of incorruptibility and indestructibility."

Such is the "project" of the general resurrection, which Fedorov proposed to implement in fact without Divine help. This “project” was called “fantastic” by some (Zenkovsky V., Prot. History of Russian Philosophy. P., 19892. Vol. 2. S. 142), by others - “religious-magical” (Florovsky. 1998. S. 330), the third - "illusory" (Pazilova V.P. Critical analysis of the religious-philosophical teachings of N.F. Fedorov. M., 1985. P. 43).

V. I. Nesmelov showed great interest in the idea of ​​a universal V. m. In the disclosure of this idea, he was occupied with 2 main questions: what will be the universal V. m. and what will the resurrected body turn out to be. He seeks the answer to the 1st question with the help of the apocalyptic texts of the apostles Peter (2 Peter 3:10) and Paul (1 Cor 15:51; cf.: 1 Thess 4:15, 17). Nesmelov believed that at the moment of the death of the Universe, “in the flames of the world fire”, the people inhabiting it would also die. However, at the same moment, "the spirit of each person ... forms a new body for itself in relation to the conditions of the existence of a new world." This will be possible due to the fact that "Christ will return the power of the creativeness of life" to the human spirit "as the owner of eternal human nature." Therefore, one can speak about the death of people captured by the global fire only in a relative sense: they “actually will not die, but only change,” because they creatively transform their “real” bodies “into new bodies.” As for people who died before the death of the Universe, their souls also “instantly form new bodies for themselves, and they, therefore, will rise from the dead” (V. I. Nesmelov. Science of Man. St. Petersburg, 2000. V. 2. S. 400). Thus, according to Nesmelov, Divine omnipotence, although it will manifest itself in the act of universal V. m., however, not directly, but through the “return” to the human soul of creative power capable of “forming” a new body. Nesmelov understood this process as a repetition of “the same creative process of life by which the living bodies of people are formed in the present period of their earthly existence” (Ibid., p. 408). He believed that the image of grain used by ap. Paul to describe the universal V. m. (1 Cor 15. 35-45).

Nesmelov's answer to the question of what the resurrected body will be seems to be one of the most successful in Russian. religious philosophy. Since the resurrected body is often called the “same” body with which a person lived on earth, Nesmelov tries to clarify this definition and comes to the conclusion that it does not correspond to the nature of the resurrected body. The body is not “the same” even during a person’s life: while a person “lives, he does not remain unchanged for a single second, because his physical life takes place only through physiological metabolism, and as a result, during his earthly life, a person actually can replace several bodily organisms” (Ibid., p. 406). The assumption that the resurrected body will be the same as it was at the time of death is also untenable, because “the bodily composition of a deceased person can enter in parts into the bodily composition of countless other people ... due to the mechanical cycle of physical life” (There same, p. 403). Decaying, the body of a deceased person “may enter into the composition of a plant, and the plant ... into the body of an animal, and the body of an animal ... into the composition of the human body” (Ibid.). As a result, at the time of the general resurrection, on the one hand, “hundreds and thousands of different applicants can appear for the same elements of the bodily organization,” and on the other hand, “owners of other people's property” will appear, Nesmelov noted not without irony. Even Divine omnipotence will not be able to solve such a problem, because “God cannot, of course, deprive one person in order to make up the body of another person” (Ibid.). These considerations led Nesmelov to the following conclusion: the body will be resurrected "regardless of those material elements that, during a person's earthly life, were successively part of his material organism" (Ibid., p. 404). This conclusion, according to Nesmelov, is not contradicted by the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, whose body did not undergo decay and did not mix with the elements of nature, for in this fact the most important thing is that Christ was resurrected, and not that His body did not undergo decomposition. The identity of a person before his death and after his resurrection does not require the “obligatory identity” of his dead and resurrected body, for it is “created exclusively by the unity of his personality” (Ibid., pp. 406-407). Thus, the identity of a person, according to Nesmelov, is provided by his personality, and not by the identity of the various states of his body. If we turn to the concept of "eidos", used by Origen and St. Grigory Nyssa, it can be said that Nesmelov’s personality is precisely the same eidos, with the help of which the identity of a person is achieved before and after V. m., although the identity of the elements that make up the mortal and resurrected body is not for Nesmelov was mandatory.

Lit .: Vinogradov N . On the final fate of the world and man. M., 1887; Favorsky D., Fr. Christ. dogmas about the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead in connection with the philosophy. the doctrine of the afterlife of man // ViR. 1899. V. 2. Part 1. S. 325-352, 371-388; Bogdashevsky D . AND . The reality of the resurrection of the dead according to St. app. Paul // TKDA. 1902. No. 1. S. 61-98; Strakhov P . FROM . The idea of ​​the resurrection in prechrist. philosophy consciousness // BV. 1913. No. 3. S. 453-479; No. 4, pp. 769-783 (Ibid., revised title: Resurrection. M., 1916); Florovsky G. AT . On the death of the godmother // PM. 1930. Issue. 2. S. 148-187; he is. On the Resurrection of the Dead // Relocation of Souls. P., 1935. S. 135-167; he is. Dogma and history. M., 1998; Bulgakov S., prot. Bride of the Lamb. P., 1945. S. 455; Hich J. Death and Eternal Life. L., 1976; Scheffczyk L . Auferstehung. Einsiedeln, 1976; Ratzinger J. Eschatologie: Tod und ewiges Leben. Regensburg, 1990; Tikhomirov E. BUT . The afterlife, or the last fate of man. SPb., . Serg. P., 1999

M . FROM . Ivanov

It will consist in the fact that the bodies of all the dead will unite with their souls and come to life. According to the Word of God, then “those who did good will go out into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil into the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:25, 29).

Even in the Old Testament, on the basis of Divine Revelation, the righteous had faith in the general resurrection of the dead.

Faith in the resurrection of the dead was expressed by Abraham, at the sacrifice of his son Isaac (Heb. 11, 17), Job, amid his grave suffering: “But I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise up from the dust this decaying skin of mine, and I will see God in my flesh" (Job 19:25-26); prophet Isaiah: "Thy dead will live, dead bodies will rise! Rise and triumph, cast down in the dust: for Thy dew is the dew of plants, and the earth will vomit the dead" (Is. 26, 19), prophet Daniel who predicted that the dead “will awaken, some to eternal life, others to eternal reproach and shame. And those who are wise will shine like the luminaries in the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:2-3).

Prophet Ezekiel contemplated the very resurrection of the dead in the vision of a field strewn with dry bones, which, by the will of the Spirit of God, were united with one another, clothed tightly and animated by the spirit (Ezek. ch. 37).

Through the prophet Hosea, the Lord said: “From the power of hell I will redeem them, from death I will deliver them: Death! where is your sting?

Jesus Christ Himself spoke more than once about the resurrection of the dead clearly and definitely: “Truly, truly, I say to you: the time is coming, and it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live ... and those who have done good will go out into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil into the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:25, 29).

The Savior confirms the sermon on the resurrection with the Sacrament of Communion: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54).

Answering the unbelieving Sadducees to their question about the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ said: "You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. About the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God does not is the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22, 29, 31, 32).

When the Savior speaks about the purpose of His coming to earth, he points precisely to eternal life: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3, 15-16 ).

During His stay on earth, the Savior raised the dead and Himself rose from the tomb, becoming, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, the firstborn of the dead (1 Cor. 15:20).

The apostles placed the truth of the resurrection of the dead beyond any doubt and proved it by their very close connection with the resurrection of Christ.

The Apostle Paul says: "Christ is risen from the dead, the firstborn of those who have died. For as death is through a man, so is the resurrection of the dead through a man. As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15, 20, 21, 22 ).

In addition, the apostle Paul points to phenomena in visible nature that convince us of the truth of the resurrection. “Someone will say: how will the dead rise? And in what body will they come? Reckless! What you sow will not come to life if it does not die. or whatever it is, but God gives him a body as he wills, and to each seed his own body... So it is with the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in humiliation, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; a natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised" (1 Cor. 15:35-44).

The Lord Himself says: "If a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, it will remain alone; but if it dies, it will bear much fruit" (John 12:24).
The resurrection of the dead will be universal and simultaneous, both for the righteous and for sinners. “Those who have done good will go out into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29). "There will be a resurrection of the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous" (Acts 24:15).

The bodies of the resurrected people will essentially be the same bodies that we now have, but in quality they will be different from the current bodies - they will be spiritual - incorruptible and immortal. The bodies of those people who will still be alive during the second coming of the Savior will also change.

The Apostle Paul says: “A spiritual body is sown, a spiritual body is raised... we will not all die, but we will all be changed, suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, but we (the survivors) will be changed "(1 Cor. 15, 44, 51, 52)," our residence is in heaven, from where we also expect the Savior the Lord Jesus, who will transform our lowly body in accordance with the body of His glory, as He can by the action of His power "( Php 3:20-21).

Saints Barsanuphius and John write:

“... our bodies will rise up with bones, veins and hair and will remain so forever; only they will be brighter and more glorious, according to the voice of the Lord, who says: then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 13:43), expressing through that the glory of the bodies of the Saints. … These same bodies will rise then, but only they will become incorruptible, immortal and glorious. … The Lord will make our bodies light-like, similar to His body, as the Apostle John said: when He appears, then we will be like Him (1 John 3:2). For the Son of God is Light, and the righteous, according to the words of the Apostle, are sons of God (2 Corinthians 6:8) and sons of Light (1 Thessalonians 5:5); therefore it is said that the Lord will transform (our bodies).

The bodies of resurrected people will be completely free from the exhaustion and infirmities of the present life. They will be spiritual, heavenly, having no earthly bodily needs, life after resurrection will be similar to the life of incorporeal angelic spirits, according to the Lord's word (Luke 20:3).

Rev. Barsanuphius and John:

“But God said so about the future state that people will be equal to the angels (Luke 20:36), not eating or drinking, and not having lust. And for God nothing is impossible; for he already showed this to Moses when he gave him power for forty days and nights not to eat food. He who created this can also create that a person will be in a similar state for all eternity.

St. John of Damascus teaches that after the resurrection, “the saved will receive a body that is unchanged, passionless, subtle, what was the body of the Lord after the Resurrection, passing through locked doors, not weary, not in need of food, sleep and drink.”

St. John Chrysostom He speaks:
“Since believers must be transformed in accordance with the lordship of Christ the Lord Himself, as the apostle Paul testifies ... then, without a doubt, this mortal flesh will be transformed in accordance with the lordship of Christ, the mortal will be clothed with immortality, then sown in weakness will then rise in power.”

However image of the resurrection the righteous will be different from the sinners.

The bodies of people will visibly reflect the state of their spirit.

“Some will become like light, others like darkness,” says St. Ephraim the Syrian ("On the fear of God and the last judgment").

Lord Jesus Christ said about the resurrection of the saints: "then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43).

St. Apostle Paul says:
“the (body) is sown in humiliation, it rises in glory” (1 Cor. 15:43), “the glory of the sun is different, the glory of the moon is different, the glory of the stars is different; and star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15, 41-42).

Rev. Macarius the Great writes about the bodies in which people will be resurrected:

“...according to the Holy Scriptures, Christ will come from heaven, and will resurrect all the tribes of Adam, all those who have died from the beginning, and will divide them into two parts, and which have His own sign, that is, the seal of the Spirit, those, speaking as His own, He will put at His right hand . For he says, My sheep hear my voice (John 10:27); and know mine, and know me mine (14). Then their bodies for good deeds will be clothed with divine glory, and they themselves will be filled with the spiritual glory that they still had in their souls. And thus, glorified by the divine light and caught up to heaven at the meeting of the Lord in the air, according to what is written, we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17), reigning with Him forever and ever. For to the extent that each one, for his faith and diligence, is worthy to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, to the same extent his body will be glorified on that day. What the soul has now collected in its inner treasury, then it will open and appear outside the body.

... if the soul is now pre-glorified and has entered into union with the Spirit, then the bodies will be worthy of a part in the resurrection.

And that the souls of the righteous become the light of heaven, about this the Lord himself said to the Apostles: you are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

The resurrection of mortified souls is still happening today, but the resurrection of bodies will be on that day. But just as the stars established in the sky are not all equal, and one differs from the other in lightness and size: so also in the spiritual progress of the same Spirit there are according to the measure of faith, and one turns out to be richer than the other.

And just as the kingdom of darkness and sin are hidden in the soul until the day of resurrection, when the very body of sinners is covered with darkness now hidden in the soul: so is the kingdom of light and the heavenly image - Jesus Christ mysteriously now illuminates the soul and reigns in the soul of the saints; but, remaining hidden from human eyes, we really see Christ with one soulful eyes until the day of resurrection, when the body itself will be covered and glorified by the light of the Lord, which is still present in the human soul, so that then the body itself reigns together with the soul, even now who receives the kingdom of Christ into herself, who is at rest and illuminated by eternal light.

... the time of the resurrection, in which their bodies will be glorified by the inexpressible light that is still hidden in them, that is, by the power of the Spirit, which will then be their clothing, food, drink, joy, gladness, peace, clothing, eternal life. For with all the splendor of the lordship and beauty of heaven, then the Spirit of the Godhead will be made for them, which they have now been honored to receive into themselves.

St. rights. John of Kronstadt:

The moral law of God is constantly operating in the world, according to which every good is rewarded internally, and every evil is punished; Evil is accompanied by sorrow and tightness of the heart, while good is accompanied by peace, joy, and space of the heart.
The present state of our souls prefigures the future. The future will be a continuation of the present state of the internal, only in a modified form in relation to its degree.

Rev. Parthenius of Kyiv:

Like the heavenly and on earth there is paradise, there is also hell, only invisible, since God is in heaven, He is also on earth; only here everything is invisible, and there everything is visible: God, and heaven, and hell.

Rev. Efrem Sirin:

“The soul in its dignity is higher than the body, the spirit is higher than it, and the hidden Deity is higher than its spirit. But at the end, the flesh will be clothed with the beauty of the soul, the soul with the splendor of the spirit, and the spirit will become like the majesty of God...”

As for sinners, their bodies will also rise in a new form, but having received incorruption and spirituality, they will at the same time reflect their state of mind. The bodies of unrepentant sinners will reflect the passions that they catered to during earthly life, they will be dark and terrible. According to the word of the blessed Theodoret, those who are worthy of heaven will be clothed with heavenly glory, and the unworthy, having only earthly thoughts in their thoughts, “will take on a garment corresponding to their will.”

Their bodies, according to Rev. Macarius the Great, will not have on themselves the seal of the Spirit, that sign by which the Lord will “place at His right hand” the righteous, proclaiming as His own.

“Let us also think about what shame will seize us even before the torment. Then, before our eyes, the saints will put on a magnificent, inexpressible robe woven from their good deeds. And we will see ourselves not just naked and deprived of this brilliant glory, but dark, blackened and exhaling a stench - as they have made themselves in this world with deeds of darkness, luxury and depravity.

The Universal Judgment is called the Last Judgment because the state in which a person appears on it will decide his eternal fate, and the sentence received on it will no longer be possible to change.

Blessed Theophylact(Archbishop of Bulgaria) writes:

“In the present age, we can act and act one way or another, but in the future the forces of the soul will be bound, and it will not be possible for us to do any good to atone for sins; "then there will be gnashing of teeth" is fruitless remorse. "Many are called", that is, God calls many, more precisely, all, but "few are chosen", few are saved, worthy of election from God. Election depends on God, but to be chosen or not is our business.”

St. Right. John of Kronstadt warns:

Many live outside of grace, not realizing its importance and necessity for themselves and not seeking it, according to the Lord's word: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Many live in all abundance and contentment, enjoy flourishing health, eat with pleasure, drink, walk, amuse themselves, compose, work in various branches of human activity, but they do not have the grace of God in their hearts, this priceless Christian treasure, without which a Christian cannot to be a true Christian and heir to the kingdom of heaven.