The Second Coming and Resurrection
As taught in the Eastern Orthodox tradition
The literal return of Christ and the bodily resurrection of all humanity.
In the life of the Orthodox Church, the doctrine of the Second Coming (the Parousia) and the General Resurrection is not merely a "future event" to be calculated or speculated upon with charts and timelines; rather, it is the fundamental horizon of the Christian life. To ask what this subtopic answers within the Orthodox tradition is to ask: "What is the ultimate destiny of the human person and the entire cosmos?" For the Orthodox, the answer is the total victory of Christ over death, the restoration of the shattered image of God in man, and the transfiguration of the universe into a "new heaven and a new earth." While many modern traditions treat eschatology (the study of the "last things") as a separate, often frightening department of theology, the Orthodox tradition views it as the fulfillment of the Liturgy.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the specific biblical terminology used by St. Paul and the Apostles to describe the Second Coming and the General Resurrection.
- **Distinguish** the Orthodox understanding of the "Meeting in the Air" (*apantesis*) from modern dispensationalist theories such as the "Secret Rapture."
- **Explain** the theological necessity of the bodily resurrection in contrast to the Platonic notion of the "immortality of the soul" alone.
- **Articulate** the relationship between the Person of Jesus Christ as the "Firstfruits" and the future resurrection of all humanity.
- **Trace** the development of the doctrine within the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and the historical context of the first four centuries of the Church.
- **Defend** the Orthodox view of Judgment as the manifestation of God's love, utilizing the teachings of the Church Fathers.
- **Apply** the doctrine of the "Last Day" to the current liturgical and prayer life of the believer, specifically regarding the "Memory of Death" and the "Eighth Day."
- **Compare** the Orthodox vision of the "New Heavens and New Earth" with purely spiritualized or escapist views of the afterlife.
Scripture
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