Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - October, 2005

Resurrection of the Body

By George Aramath

What is the Orthodox position on resurrection of the body? What will the body be like? Must Orthodox believe in the resurrection of the body?

For an Orthodox, the resurrection of the body takes place at the Second Coming of Christ. Death occurs when the soul separates from the body, but at resurrection, the soul will be reunited with the body. This resurrection of the body will involve its restoration from decay of any kind, meaning that if the body has been eaten by worms, burnt, etc., it will nonetheless be made whole again. 

But this resurrected body will be made entirely new, with an extensive ‘upgrade’. It will be incorruptible, meaning that it will no longer be affected biologically. In addition, the body will be glorified and become spiritual. It will be strong and will not need nourishment, food, etc. And all the resurrected bodies will have the same age, that of Christ (1). Essentially, the resurrected body will be similar to the body of Christ after His resurrection.

On the other hand, this condition of the resurrected body will not be of the same degree for everyone. Yes, the new bodies of sinners will no longer die again or be corruptible, but it will not be spiritual or glorified. Each person will shine and radiate according to his/her spiritual condition(1). Those who were in darkness and sin during their life on earth will continue to face this darkness in the afterlife.

An Orthodox must believe in the resurrection of the body; for this is one of the essential beliefs of faith in the church. For we confess in the creed that we “look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the new life in the world to come”. Many may question how this resurrection is possible. One can point to the Omnipotent God who resurrected Lazarus and others during His ministry. They may point to the miracle of the beginnings of our life, from an embryo, and how resurrection is the beginning of another life. To take it a step further, they may answer that God, who created man out of the soil of the earth, can certainly recreate man from the soil once again. But essentially, an Orthodox must believe in the resurrection of the body or else he, too, would be denying Christ’s resurrection. If Christ had not risen and conquered death, then we also would be enslaved in the consequences of sin. But through His victory, we are able to be renewed through the resurrection of our bodies. If an Orthodox does not believe this, then he has missed the purpose of God’s incarnation and cannot partake fully in His glorious resurrection.

(1) Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos, Life After Death