Orthodox Forge

Eschatology and the After Life

How are the body and soul of a righteous person reunited on the Great Day of the Lord?

Q1417 · The Resurrected Body

A number of questions trouble the minds of some, including: How is the righteous body reunited with its righteous soul? When the two have been united anew, the body feels

indebted to the sanctified soul; for she has submitted to the Holy Spirit of God and sanctified her will, having invested her joy in obedience to the commandment of her beloved God. She has invited the Savior to establish His kingdom within her and walked in truth by the spirit of adoption by the Father. Likewise, the soul realizes its debt to the body which exercised its senses in the spirit of holiness, and strove to study the Holy Bible, fast, pray, and keep vigil in the spirit of praise. There is no room for reproach between them; when the believer stands on the Day of the Lord, he is grateful for His work in his soul, body, and all his faculties.

St. Augustine says, “Because so perfect shall then be the harmony between flesh and spirit, the spirit keeping alive the subjugated flesh without the need of any nourishment, that no part of our nature shall be in discord with another; but as we shall be free from enemies without, so we shall not have ourselves for enemies within.”1286

The Fathers cited

  • St. Augustine