Life after Death According to the Orthodox Tradition

by Jean-Claude Larchet, G. John Champoux (Translator)

This book offers an accessible and well organized synthesis of the ancient Christian understanding of death and the afterlife. French philosopher and patrologist Jean-Claude Larchet draws both from Scriptures and a multiplicity of early Christian writings, both Greek and Latin, in demolishing false conceptions such as reincarnation, whilst setting forth with clarity an authentically Christian understanding.The reader will gain understanding of both the time and modalities of the bodily resurrection, the nature of the Particular and the Universal judgments, and of the Church's intercessory prayer for the departed. He notes that some divergences between eastern and western traditions have existed since the fifth century and argues that these became of much greater importance after the twelfth century, when the Roman Catholic Church developed the notion of Purgatory.This work will be of benefit both to the Orthodox Christian reader in enhancing their own understanding of the Church's teaching, and to Roman Catholics, Protestants, and others who desire to become acquainted with the fullness of the Christian tradition on death and the afterlife. All will encounter the abundant heritage of “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Genres: Christianity, Religion, Theology, Spirituality

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2001

About the author

Jean-Claude Larchet, né le 9 août 1949 à Badonviller (Meurthe-et-Moselle), est un patrologue et théologien orthodoxe français.

Auteur de nombreux ouvrages publiés aux éditions du Cerf et traduits dans dix-neuf langues, il est notamment spécialiste de Maxime le Confesseur.

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a small shelf of Orthodox books on life after death; I think this superb synthesis by Jean-Claude Larchet is the best of the lot by a good margin. Larchet applies his usual sober judgment and vast scholarship to produce a powerful summary of the Fathers' teaching on death, the progress of the soul after death, its fate in the time before the Last Judgment, and finally what the Church has to say about the Last Judgment itself. He concludes with a sobering chapter entitled "Preparing Oneself for Death and the Life Beyond."

Not surprisingly, a lot of space is given to the "Toll House" teaching, its support and its detractors. This is necessary because a small gaggle of Orthodox writers have kept a debate going about the topic for several decades. Larchet simply presents the massive body of Patristic evidence for the teaching, then presents some helpful comments to put it in perspective.

I had one quibble with this magnificent book. It seems that somewhere in the home stretch, the proofreader went out for coffee: the final chapters are full of typos.

This is a powerful, sobering book. I think any reader who wants to know what the Church has taught about life and death through the ages will come away informed and edified. I'll close with a striking quote from Abba Isaiah from Larchet's closing chapter:

Think to yourself daily, I have only this day to do something in this world, and you will not sin before God.