Becoming a Christian

People in modern times often join churches more easily than they did in ancient times. Usually what happens in many cases is that a non-Christian goes to a church and listens to a sermon. Then, he makes a decision at the end of the sermon to become a Christian. He goes forward during the altar call, talks to the pastor, reads some Bible verses with him, repents, and then is admitted as a member of the church. Sometime later, the pastor baptizes him.

In ancient times, it was more difficult for a non-Christian to become a Christian. He had to become a catechumen and then spend some time receiving instruction in the Christian faith. His religious instruction might last three years. There is evidence in the writings of the ancient Church Fathers that this was the practice. St. Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian lived in the second century. Both of them mentioned the existence of catechumens in the Church in their writings.

For when the Greeks, having arrested the slaves of Christian catechumens, then used force against them, in order to learn from them some secret thing [practised] among Christians, these slaves, having nothing to say that would meet the wishes of their tormentors, except that they had heard from their masters that the divine communion was the body and blood of Christ, and imagining that it was actually flesh and blood, gave their inquisitors answer to that effect. Then these latter, assuming such to be the case with regard to the practices of Christians, gave information regarding it to other Greeks, and sought to compel the martyrs Sanctus and Blandina to confess, under the influence of torture, [that the allegation was correct]. To these men Blandina replied very admirably in these words: “How should those persons endure such [accusations], who, for the sake of the practice [of piety], did not avail themselves even of the flesh that was permitted [them to eat]? ” (Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, Fragment XIII, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 570, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

But he who culls what is useful for the advantage of the catechumens, and especially when they are Greeks [and the Earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof (I Cor. 10:26)], must not abstain from erudition, like irrational animals; but he must collect as many aids as possible for his hearers. But he must by no means linger over these studies, except solely for the advantage accruing from them; so that, on grasping and obtaining this, he may be able to take his departure home to the true philosophy, which is a strong cable for the soul, providing security from everything. (The Stromata, Book VI, chapter 11, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 500, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

I affirm that not one of the Faithful has ever a crown upon his head, except at a time of trial. That is the case with all, from catechumens to confessors and martyrs, or (as the case may be) deniers. (The Chaplet, chapter 2, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 93, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Then Perpetua was received by a certain one who was still a catechumen, Rusticus by name, who kept close to her; and she, as if aroused from sleep, so deeply had she been in the Spirit and in an ecstasy, began to look round her, and to say to the amazement of all, “I cannot tell when we are to be led out to that cow.” And when she had heard what had already happened, she did not believe it until she had perceived certain signs of injury in her body and in her dress, and had recognised the catechumen. Afterwards causing that catechumen and the brother to approach, she addressed them, saying, “Stand fast in the faith, and love one another, all of you, and be not offended at my sufferings.” (The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas, chapter 6, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 705, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

To many, nowadays, that may seem absurd to require someone to receive religious instruction for such a long period of time before being baptized. However, it really is not absurd. Think about what happens after one is baptized. After baptism, one is supposed to receive the Sacrament of Chrismation and be sealed with the Holy Spirit.* Many pastors do not do this today though. Afterwards, they receive Communion for the first time. According to the teaching of the Church Fathers, the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.**

St. Paul says:

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (I Cor. 11:27-30)

If someone were to partake of the Eucharist without realizing that it is Jesus Christ's Body and Blood under the appearance and form of Bread and Wine and without having properly prepared himself to receive Communion by prayer, fasting, and repentance, then he might eat and drink damnation to himself.

So, people need to learn about the Sacraments before receiving the Sacraments. That is one reason for have a period of religious instruction before baptism.

People also need to understand some things about God. I have met people who are members of various churches, but have some really strange and non-Christian views of God. I have met people who think of God as being everything. They confuse God's creation with God Himself. I have met people who do not even know that Jesus Christ is God, but they are members of a church that teaches that He is. I have even met preachers of certain churches who teach the people in their churches certain ancient heresies, not knowing that what they are teaching is heretical and not in the least bit Christian. For example, I have met some preachers who do not believe in the Virgin birth of Christ or the resurrection of the body when Christ returns to judge the world. These are very basic Christian doctrines that are found in the writings of the Church Fathers and even in some Protestant creedal statements, like the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833.*** This is another good reason for catechism — to make sure that people understand certain basic Orthodox Christian doctrines.

Actually, catechism classes were done by Protestant Churches after the Protestant Reformation. People had to become catechumens in a Protestant church before they were permitted to join the church. With the emergence of modern evangelical movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, catechism classes were largely done away with by many Protestant Churches.

The Orthodox Church still adheres to the ancient practice of catechism before receiving the Sacraments. For most people wanting to join an Orthodox church today, the catechumenate lasts anywhere from six months to a year. It may last longer, however. That is up to the discretion of the priest and bishop. The children of Orthodox Christian parents, however, are permitted to receive the Sacraments, but they must receive proper Orthodox religious instruction while they are growing up. I will talk about infant baptism in a later blog.

Steve

* They who are baptized must after Baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the Kingdom of Christ. (Canon XLVIII, Council of Laodicea, met between 343 and 381 A.D., vol. 14, p. 154, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Thereupon, they are first sealed or anointed with the holy oil upon the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears; and when we seal them, we say, “The Seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Canon VII, First Council of Constantinople, 381 A.D., vol. 14, p. 185, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

** They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. (Epistle to the Smynaeans, chapter VII, by St. Ignatius of Antioch, died in 107 or 110 A.D., vol. 1, p. 89, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. (The First Apology of Justin, chapter LXVI, by St. Justin the Martyr, 110-165 A.D., vol. 1, p. 185, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Then, again, how can they say that the flesh, which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to corruption, and does not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either alter their opinion, or cease from offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity. (Against Heresies, Book IV, chapter 18, paragraph 5, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 486, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him? — even as the blessed Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that “we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” (Eph. 5:30) He does not speak these words of some spiritual and invisible man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh (St. Luke 24:39); but [he refers to] that dispensation [by which the Lord became] an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones, — that [flesh] which is nourished by the cup which is His blood, and receives increase from the bread which is His body. And just as a cutting from the vine planted in the ground fructifies in its season, or as a corn of wheat falling into the earth and becoming decomposed, rises with manifold increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves for the use of men, and having received the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ; so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption (I Cor. 15:53), because the strength of God is made perfect in weakness (II Cor. 12:9), in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, and exalted against God, our minds becoming ungrateful; but learning by experience that we possess eternal duration from the excelling power of this Being, not from our own nature, we may neither undervalue that glory which surrounds God as He is, nor be ignorant of our own nature, but that we may know what God can effect, and what benefits man receives, and thus never wander from the true comprehension of things as they are, that is, both with regard to God and with regard to man. And might it not be the case, perhaps, as I have already observed, that for this purpose God permitted our resolution into the common dust of mortality, that we, being instructed by every mode, may be accurate in all things for the future, being ignorant neither of God nor of ourselves? (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 2, paragraph 3, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 528, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

*** There is much still in those particular Protestant creedal documents that the Orthodox Church would disagree with, but some very basic doctrines, such as those of the Holy Trinity, the Virgin birth of Christ, and the resurrection of the body, are found in them.

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Typology in the Story of Susanna

In the Septuagint version of Daniel there is a story about a righteous and God-fearing woman named Susanna. Some wicked elders among the Jews falsely accused her of having committed adultery with a young man in her garden. The prophet Daniel defended her of these charges and she was acquitted. This story contains some prophetic imagery that pertains to Christ, the Church, and the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation.

I have decided to let St. Hippolytus explain the typology in the story about Susanna.

What is narrated here, happened at a later time, although it is placed before the first book (at the beginning of the book). For it was a custom with the writers to narrate many things in an inverted order in their writings. For we find also in the prophets some visions recorded among the first and fulfilled among the last; and again, on the other hand, some recorded among the last and fulfilled first. And this was done by the disposition of the Spirit, that the devil might not understand the things spoken in parables by the prophets, and might not a second time lay his snares and ruin man.

“Called Joacim.”* (Dan. 1:1, LXX) This Joacim, being a stranger in Babylon, obtains Susannah in marriage. And she was the daughter of Chelcias the priest (II Kings 22:8, LXX), who found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, when Josiah the king commanded him to purify the holy of holies. His brother was Jeremiah the prophet, who was carried, with the remnant that was left after the deportation of the people to Babylon, into Egypt, and dwelt in Taphnae (Jer. 1:1; 43:8); and, while prophesying there, he was stoned to death by the people.

“A very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord,” etc. (Dan. 1:2, LXX) For by the fruit produced, the tree also is easily known. For men who are pious and zealous for the law, bring into the world children worthy of God; such as he was who became a prophet and witness of Christ, and she who was found chaste and faithful in Babylon, whose honour and chastity were the occasion of the manifestation of the blessed Daniel as a prophet.

“Now Joacim was a great rich man,” etc. (Dan. 1:4, LXX) We must therefore seek the explanation of this. For how could those who were captives, and had been made subject to the Babylonians, meet together in the same place, as if they were their own masters? In this matter, therefore, we should observe that Nebuchadnezzar, after their deportation, treated them kindly, and permitted them to meet together, and do all things according to the law.

“And at noon Susannah went into (her husband’s garden).” (Dan. 1:7, LXX) Susannah prefigured the Church; and Joacim, her husband, Christ; and the garden, the calling of the saints, who are planted like fruitful trees in the Church. And Babylon is the world; and the two elders are set forth as a figure of the two peoples that plot against the Church—the one, namely, of the circumcision, and the other of the Gentiles. For the words, “were appointed rulers of the people and judges,” (mean) that in this world they exercise authority and rule, judging the righteous unrighteously.

“And the two elders saw her.” (Dan. 1:8, LXX) These things the rulers of the Jews wish now to expunge from the book, and assert that these things did not happen in Babylon, because they are ashamed of what was done then by the elders.

“And they perverted their own mind.” (Dan. 1:9, LXX) For how, indeed, can those who have been the enemies and corruptors of the Church judge righteously, or look up to heaven with pure heart, when they have become the slaves of the prince of this world?

“And they were both wounded with her (love).” (Dan. 1:10, LXX) This word is to be taken in truth; for always the two peoples, being wounded (instigated) by Satan working in them, strive to raise persecutions and afflictions against the Church, and seek how they may corrupt her, though they do not agree with each other.

“And they watched diligently.” (Dan. 1:12, LXX) And this, too, is to be noted. For up to the present time both the Gentiles and the Jews of the circumcision watch and busy themselves with the dealings of the Church, desiring to suborn false witnesses against us, as the apostle says: “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 2:4)

It is a kind of sin to be anxious to give the mind to women.

“And when they were gone out, they parted the one from the other.” (Dan. 1:14, LXX) As to their parting the one from the other at the hour of dinner (luncheon), this signifies that in the matter of earthly meats the Jews and the Gentiles are not at one; but in their views, and in all worldly matters, they are of one mind, and can meet each other.

“And asking one another, they acknowledged their lust.” (Dan. 1:14, LXX) Thus, in revealing themselves to each other, they foreshadow the time when they shall be proved by their thoughts, and shall have to give account to God for all the sin which they have done, as Solomon says: “And scrutiny shall destroy the ungodly.” (Prov. 1:32, LXX) For these are convicted by the scrutiny.

“As they watched a fit time.” (Dan. 1:15, LXX) What fit time but that of the passover, at which the layer is prepared in the garden for those who burn, and Susannah washes herself, and is presented as a pure bride to God?

“With two maids only.” (Dan. 1:15, LXX) For when the Church desires to take the laver according to use, she must of necessity have two handmaids to accompany her. For it is by faith on Christ and love to God that the Church confesses and receives the laver.

“And she said to her maids, Bring me oil.” (Dan. 1:17, LXX) For faith and love prepare oil and unguents to those who are washed. But what were these unguents, but the commandments of the holy Word? And what was the oil, but the power of the Holy Spirit, with which believers are anointed as with ointment after the laver of washing?** All these things were figuratively represented in the blessed Susannah, for our sakes, that we who now believe on God might not regard the things that are done now in the Church as strange, but believe them all to have been set forth in figure by the patriarchs of old, as the apostle also says: “Now these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the world are come.” (I Cor. 10:11)

“And they went out at privy doors” (Dan. 1:18, LXX); showing thus by anticipation, that he who desires to partake of the water in the garden must renounce the broad gate, and enter by the strait and narrow. (St. Matt. 7:13,14)

“And they saw not the elders.” (Dan. 1:18, LXX) For as of old the devil was concealed in the serpent in the garden, so now too, concealed in the elders. he fired them with his own lust, that he might again a second time corrupt Eve.

“Behold, the garden doors are shut.” (Dan. 1:20, LXX) wicked rulers, and filled with the workings of the devil, did Moses deliver these things to you? And while ye read the law yourselves, do ye teach others thus? Thou that sayest, “Thou shalt not kill,” dost thou kill? Thou that sayest, “Thou shall not covet,” dost thou desire to corrupt the wife of thy neighbour?

“And we are in love with thee.” (Dan. 1:20, LXX) Why, ye lawless, do ye strive to gain over a chaste anti guileless soul by deceitful words, in order to satisfy your own lust?

“If thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee.” (Dan. 1:21, LXX) This wicked audacity with which you begin, comes of the deceitfulness that lurks in you from the beginning And there was in reality a young man with her, that one of yours; one from heaven, not to have intercourse with her, but to bear witness to her truth.

“And Susannah sighed.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) The blessed Susannah, then, when she heard these words, was troubled in her heart, and set a watch upon her mouth, not wishing to be defiled by the wicked elders. Now it is in our power also to apprehend the real meaning of all that befell Susannah. For you may find this also fulfilled in the present condition of the Church. For when the two peoples conspire to destroy any of the saints, they watch for a fit time, and enter the house of God while all there are praying and praising God, and seize some of them, and carry them off, and keep hold of them, saying, Come, consent with us, and worship our Gods; and if not, we will bear witness against you. And when they refuse, they drag them before the court and accuse them of acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, and condemn them to death.

“I am straitened on every side.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) Behold the words of a chaste woman, and one dear to God: “I am straitened on every side.” For the Church is afflicted and straitened, not only by the Jews, but also by the Gentiles, and by those who are called Christians, but are not such in reality. For they, observing her chaste and happy life, strive to ruin her.

“For if I do this thing, it is death to me.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) For to be disobedient to God, and obedient to men, works eternal death and punishment.

“And if I do it not, I cannot escape your hands.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) And this indeed is said with truth. For they who are brought into judgment for the sake of God’s name, if they do what is commanded them by men, die to God, and shall live in the world. But if they refuse to do what is commanded them by men, they escape not the hands of their judges, but are condemned by them.

“It is better for me not to do it.” (Dan. 1:23, LXX) For it is better to die by the hand of wicked men and live with God, than, by consenting to them, to be delivered from them and fall into the hands of God.

“And Susannah cried with a loud voice.” (Dan. 1:24, LXX) And to whom did Susannah cry but to God? as Isaiah says: “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He shall say, Lo, here I am.” (Isaiah 58:9)

“And the two elders cried out against her.” For the wicked never cease to cry out against us, and to say: Away with such from off the earth, for it is not fit that they should live. In an evangelical sense, Susannah despised them who kill the body, in order that she might save her soul from death. Now sin is the death of the soul, and especially (the sin of) adultery. For when the soul that is united with Christ forsakes its faith, it is given over to perpetual death, viz., eternal punishment. And in confirmation of this, in the case of the transgression and violation of marriage unions in the flesh, the law has decreed the penalty of death.

“Then ran the one and opened the gates” (Dan. 1:25, LXX); pointing to the broad and spacious way on which they who follow such persons perish.

“Now Susannah was a very delicate woman.” (Dan. 1:31, LXX) Not that she had meretricious adornments about her person, as Jezebel had, or eyes painted with divers colours; but that she had the adornment of faith, and chastity, and sanctity.

St. Susanna

“And laid their hands upon her head” (Dan. 1:34, LXX); that at least by touching her they might satisfy their lust.

“And she was weeping.” (Dan. 1:35, LXX) For by her tears she attracted the (regard of) the Word from heaven, who was with tears to raise the dead Lazarus.

“Then the assembly believed them.” (Dan. 1:41, LXX) It becomes us, then, to be stedfast in every duty, and to give no heed to lies, and to yield no obsequious obedience to the persons of rulers, knowing that we have to give account to God; but if we follow the truth, and aim at the exact rule of faith, we shall be well-pleasing to God.

“And the Lord heard her voice.” (Dan. 1:44, LXX) For those who call upon Him from a pure heart, God heareth. But from those who (call upon Him) in deceit and hypocrisy, God turneth away His face.

“O thou that art waxen old in wickedness.” (Dan. 1:52, LXX) Now, since at the outset, in the introduction, we explained that the two elders are to be taken as a type of the two peoples, that of the circumcision and that of the Gentiles, which are always enemies of the Church; let us mark the words of Daniel. and learn that the Scripture deals falsely with us in nothing. For, addressing the first elder, he censures him as one instructed in the law; while he addresses the other as a Gentile, calling him “the seed of Chanaan” (Dan. 1:56, LXX), although he was then among the circumcision.

“For even now the angel of God.” (Dan. 1:55, LXX) He shows also, that when Susannah prayed to God, and was heard, the angel was sent then to help her, just as was the case in the instance of Tobias and Sara. (Tobit 3:17) For when they prayed, the supplication of both of them was heard in the same day and the same hour, and the angel Raphael was sent to heal them both.

“And they arose against the two elders” (Dan. 1:61, LXX); that the saying might be fulfilled, “Whoso diggeth a pit for his neighhour, shall fall therein.” (Prov. 26:27)

To all these things, therefore, we ought to give heed, beloved, fearing lest any one be overtaken in any transgression, and risk the loss of his soul, knowing as we do that God is the Judge of all; and the Word Himself is the Eye which nothing that is done in the world escapes. Therefore, always watchful in heart and pure in life, let us imitate Susannah. (Fragments from Commentaries, "On Susannah," by St. Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, pp. 191-194, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

The Jews and the Protestants unfortunately placed this story about Susanna in the Apocrypha. It is in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles though. It is a very good story and it is full of practical wisdom as well as prophetic material that point to Christ and the Church.

Steve

* Our Lord's grandfather's name is Joachim. He is the Virgin Mary's father.

** A reference to the Sacrament of Chrismation.

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Is There Salvation Outside the Church?

One lesson that we learn from the story of Noah's ark is that there is safety in the Church. Only eight people were saved from the waters of the Flood. Everyone who was not in the ark perished. The ark typifies the Church. Just as there was no salvation outside the ark, so there is no salvation outside the Church.

In explaining this concept, I need to first talk about salvation — what it is and what are we saved from. Then, I will explain the path to salvation. Finally, I will explain what exactly is the Church.

For many people, salvation is nothing more than having one's sins forgiven. The concern with many people is whether or not God accepts them. Forgiveness is part of the salvation package, but it is not the only part of the package. Freedom from the enslaving power of sin is also part of that salvation package. When we sin repeatedly, we become enslaved to sin. (St. John 8:34; Rom. 6:16,17; II Pet. 2:19) As servants of sin, we need to be set free from our sins. We need to become servants of righteousness and not sin. (Rom. 6:18-22) This is a lifelong process. It is not something that happens instantaneously after saying a short prayer. It requires work and discipline. So, becoming a holy and righteous person in one's life is also part of the salvation package. Another problem that we have is that we die. Our bodies are mortal, but are souls are immortal. Actually, we all have started dying from the very moment that we were born. Our bodies need to be saved from death. They need to be made immortal. The deliverance of our bodies from corruption and mortality is also part of the salvation package.

I will deal with the first part of the salvation package now. We all sin and we do need God to forgive us. God has already sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins. (Heb. 10:12; I John 4:14) Jesus died on the Cross and bore our sins in His body. (I Pet. 2:24) He carried them to the Father and the Father forgave us. (Col. 1:14) Jesus and the Holy Spirit forgave us, too. (Col. 3:13; II Cor. 5:19; 13:14) There is, therefore, forgiveness for those who sin. However, under the New Covenant, God forgives people's past sins at their baptisms. (Acts 2:38; 22:16) Baptism is a Sacrament of the Church. One cannot receive baptism unless one first goes to church. So, the Church is important in receiving forgiveness of sins.

Baptism is also important in helping us live the life that God wants us to live. When we are baptized, our fallen natures are regenerated so that we can more easily obey God's commandments.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. (St. John 3:5)

After one is baptized, one must be chrismated. Chrismation is the Sacrament of the Church that is given to those who have been newly baptized. It is important that one be chrismated so that one can be sealed with the Holy Spirit. (II Cor. 1:21,22; Eph. 4:30) This sealing of the Holy Spirit helps one to effectively fight the spiritual battle against the devil, the world, and fleshly desires. An unchrismated person is ill-equipped to fight the ongoing spiritual battle over his or her soul. One can only receive chrismation in the Church.

Another thing the Holy Spirit does is give life to our mortal bodies. (Rom. 8:11) We need the Holy Spirit so that our bodies can become immortal in the general resurrection of the dead at Christ's return.

Then, there is the Eucharist. After one receives baptism and chrismation, one receives the immortal, resurrected Body and Blood of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is for the healing of soul and body. When we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ becomes part of our bodies. By becoming part of our bodies, we become part of our Lord's body. St. Paul said:

For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. (Eph. 5:30)

and:

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? (I Cor. 6:15)

Just as He was resurrected, so then all those who are united to Him in the Eucharist will be resurrected after they die. One receives not just part of Jesus in the Eucharist. One receives all of Him. We receive His soul, His body, His humanity, His divinity — all of Him. So, He heals not only our bodies when we receive Him, but also our souls. In order to receive the Eucharist, one needs to go to church.

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (St. John 6:53,54)

As we live our lives, we are faced with temptations. We commit sins and we need forgiveness of these sins. We may even become enslaved to new sins after our baptisms. To fight these spiritual battles and gain victory over temptations and habitual sins, we must do what the Church prescribes for us to do — fasting, prayer, Bible reading, Confession, Eucharist, obedience.

Fasting is something that Jesus and the apostles did. (St. Matt. 4:1-11; Acts 13:2; II Cor. 6:1-5) We fast in order to be able to win our battles against Satan, his demons, and our own fleshly desires.

Prayer is talking with God. We need to pray daily. There are different types of prayer. There is liturgical prayer, that is, praying the prayers in an Orthodox prayer book. This is a spiritual discipline. By practicing liturgical prayer, we exercise our souls. We do a spiritual work-out, just like an athlete does a physical work-out when he does physical exercises. There is also spontaneous prayer. This is praying off of the tops of our hearts. It is a free form of prayer. Our spontaneous prayers are greatly improved when we practice liturgical prayer. So, we should not only pray spontaneously, but also liturgically. Then, there is the Jesus Prayer: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner." This is a prayer that we should pray as we go through the day. If we pray the prayer enough times, it will become a background prayer in our subconscious minds.

Then, there are the prayers to the Saints, angels, and the Mother of God. We need to remember that they know what we are doing and want to help us. (Heb. 12:1,2,22,23; St. Luke 15:10) They help us by praying for us. Talking to the Saints and the angels in prayer is actually quite Scriptural. In the Book of Daniel, the three holy children say to some of the Old Testament Saints:

O ye spirits and souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever. (Dan. 4:87, LXX; Song of the Three Holy Children 64, Protestant Apocrypha)

In the Psalms, the Psalmists Aggaeus and Zacharias say to the angels:

Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts. (Psalm 148:2, LXX)

Having séances to raise the dead is, of course, forbidden.

There shall not be found in thee one who purges his son or his daughter with fire, one who uses divination, who deals with omens, and augury, a sorcerer employing incantation, one who has in him a divining spirit, and observer of signs, questioning the dead. (Deut. 18:10,11, LXX)

I once read a story about a young Russian girl who had ventured out into the woods by herself. She met a man in the woods who tried to rape her. He was unsuccessful, though. As the young girl struggled against her attacker, she continued to pray a prayer to the Mother of God. She prayed the Kontakion of the Feast of the Annunciation — a prayer that is also prayed in Orthodox evening prayers.

"To thee, O Mother of God, victorious leader of the triumphant hosts, we, thy servants, delivered from evil, sing our grateful thanks: but since thou possessest invincible might, set us free from every calamity, that we may cry unto thee: Hail, O Bride Unwedded. Most glorious ever-virgin Mother of Christ our God, bring our prayer to thy Son and our God, that by thee He might save our souls. All my hope I lay upon thee, Divine Mother, preserve me beneath thy protection. O Virgin Mother of God, despise me not, a sinner, who seek thy help and thine intercession; for in thee hath my soul hoped; have mercy upon me," the young girl prayed repeatedly.

As she continued to pray, a woman appeared and shook her finger at the man who was trying to rape her. The man became frightened and left the young girl alone.

Later, the man who tried to rape this young Russian girl went to her house. When he walked in, he saw an icon of the Mother of God on a table in her home. He pointed to the icon and said to the girl, "There she is. She is the one I saw when I tried to hurt you."

The lesson from this story is plain. We do need heavenly help. We need help from God. That is true, but God often provides us help through His Saints, angels, and the Most Holy Theotokos.

We need to make friends in high places and talk to them as well as to God. They are part of the Church. So then, even when we are not in church, even when we are alone by ourselves, the Church is still present with us through the Saints and angels. We need the Church.

Reading the Bible is also important. In the Bible we see what is God's will for our lives. We see how He wants us to live our lives. We see what kind of people we must strive to be if we want the second part of the salvation package — holiness and righteousness of life. However, we still need the Church. The Church is the "pillar and ground of the truth." (I Tim. 3:15) The Church helps us understand the Bible rightly. If we read the Bible without the Church's guidance, we might get the wrong interpretation and start believing things that are not true.

The Sacrament of Repentance is also important. We can ask God to forgive our sins in our personal prayers at home. Many of the prayers in the prayer book contain petitions to God to remit our sins. Even the Lord's Prayer is like this. In it, we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (St. Matt. 6:12) However, we need accountability to someone. Otherwise, we might have a tendency to continue committing the same sins over and over again. We need a priest to hear our confessions. In the Sacrament of Repentance, we receive absolution. Our sins are remitted. (St. John 20:23) We also receive spiritual guidance. Confession is good for the soul. Once again, we need the Church.

I have already mentioned the Eucharist and how important it is for our salvation. Obedience is the next thing we need to practice. After all, those who want salvation are trying to become obedient to God. Jesus said:

He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. (St. John 14:21)

To understand how important obedience is, think about this example. There is a man who commits fornication with women. He is a "Romeo" kind of guy — one who has no trouble seducing a woman. He becomes a Christian and is baptized. All of his sins are forgiven. However, he goes back to being what he was. He continues to seduce women. He continues to commit fornication. Every time he does it, he says, "God forgive me." He feels guilty one day and confides in someone about his sins. His confidant tells him that he is "saved by grace." This person explains to him that "God sees him through the blood of Jesus." The man continues to think that he is "saved," but he still fornicates with women. He is enslaved to the sin of fornication. One day, the man dies in a car accident. Is he really saved?

Forgiven, but not being made holy. He has part of the salvation package, but not the rest of it; and actually, the part of the package he thought he had — the forgiveness part, he did not have at all. St. Paul said that fornicators are excluded from the Kingdom of God and that they are under God's judgment.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. (I Cor. 6:9,10)

But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. (Heb. 13:4)

He said that people who sow to the flesh, like the fornicator was doing when he was indulging in his carnal desires, reap corruption and not everlasting life. They will be in the resurrection of the unrighteous and not in the resurrection of the just when Christ returns.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Gal. 6:7,8)

As for the forgiveness part of the salvation package, all of the fornicator's past sins are now remembered by God on account of him returning to his old sinful way of living. God now rewards him for none of his righteous deeds that he did after his baptism.

But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, according to all the transgressions which the transgressor has wrought, none of his righteousness which he has wrought shall be at all remembered: in his trespass wherein he has trespassed, and in his sins wherein he has sinned, in them shall he die. (Ezek. 18:24, LXX)

Now, I will deal with the question: What is the Church? The Church is not made up of just one individual. It is made up of many. So, the so-called "stay-at-home" Christian is not a church by himself.

Each member of the Church is a Christian. Christians acknowledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. So, Jews are not part of the Church. They do not believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Christians worship the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So then, Unitarians and Muslims are also not part of the Church.

In the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed it says that there is "one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church." The Church is holy. It is the Bride of Christ. (II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9; 22:17) So, she is special to Him. The Church is catholic. Catholic means universal. It also means complete. The Church is made up of people from many different ethnic backgrounds. It is not confined to just one particular nation. There are Russians, Greeks, Arabs, Serbs, Americans, British, French, Irish, Mexicans, and all sorts of other people who make up the Church. The Church is complete in the sense that it has everything we need for our salvation: the Sacraments, the assistance of the Saints and angels, the Divine Liturgy and the other liturgical services, the clergy, and many other things. The Church is apostolic. It has bishops that can trace their lineage of ordination all the way back to the apostles. The Church did not begin in the 16th century, nor did it originate in the 19th century. It began in the first century after Jesus ascended into Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples. The Church is also apostolic in the sense that it continues to teach the apostolic faith. It is possible to verify that it is doing so by comparing its teachings with those of the majority of the Church Fathers and all of the Ecumenical Church Councils.

The question may, then, arise as to the salvation of those outside the Church. There is salvation in the Church. That is definitely true. The Orthodox Church, however, does not have an official statement on the subject of whether or not anyone outside the visible Church can be saved as far as I know. I have asked a priest about this once and he told me that some say that only the faithful Orthodox will be saved, others say that everyone but the Orthodox will be saved (That I think is a statement made in humility.), and others say that the faithful Orthodox will be saved along with some others who have an invisible connection to the Church known only to God.

There are two Bible verses that are often used by Orthodox when talking about the possible salvation of those outside of the visible Church.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. (St. Matt. 7:1)

and:

But them that are without God judgeth. (I Cor. 5:13)

We say in response to such a question, "We do not judge them. God judges them."

We have to remember that God loves everyone (Wisd. 11:24; St. John 3:16) and desires that everyone be saved. (I Tim. 2:4; II Pet. 3:9) So, maybe God does have some way of saving those outside of the visible Church. However, we do not know for a fact that He does. Out of love for our fellow man, we Orthodox should, of course, still desire everyone's salvation, but no, it is not all right for someone to pursue his or her salvation outside of the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We should still point them in our direction. We should try to lead them to the Orthodox Christian faith. The Church is the Ark of Salvation and there is safety in the Ark.

Steve

The Typology in the Story of Noah's Ark

I think that it is interesting to look at the typology in various Old Testament stories. Various people and things in those Old Testament stories are types of something else. They represent other things.

In one such story, the salvation of man is prefigured. This story is the story of Noah's ark. God told Noah to build an ark out of square timber.

And the Lord God said to Noe, A period of all men is come before Me; because the Earth has been filled with iniquity by them, and, behold, I destroy them and the Earth. Make therefore for thyself an ark of square timber. (Gen. 6:14,15, LXX)

The square timbers are the members of the Church.

That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Noah was 500 years old when God told him to build the ark. (Gen. 5:32) Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came. (Gen. 7:6) He spent one hundred years building the ark.

That Noah was five hundred years old when God told him to make the ark, and six hundred when he entered the ark; which shows that the ark was made during one hundred years, which seem to correspond to the years of an age of the world. So the sixth age is occupied with the construction of the Church by the preaching of the gospel. The man who avails himself of the offer of salvation is made like a square beam, fitted for every good work, and forms part of the sacred fabric. Again, it was the second month of the six hundredth year when Noah entered the ark, and in two months there are sixty days; so that here, as in every multiple of six, we have the number denoting the sixth age. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 18, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The wood of the ark is the Cross of Christ.

Of this dove, the dove of Noe, according to some, was in part a figure. For as in his time by means of wood and of water there came salvation to themselves, and the beginning of a new generation, and the dove returned to him towards evening with an olive branch; thus, say they, the Holy Ghost also descended upon the true Noe, the Author of the second birth, who draws together into one the wills of all nations, of whom the various dispositions of the animals in the ark were a figure: — Him at whose coming the spiritual wolves feed with the lambs, in whose Church the calf, and the lion, and the ox, feed in the same pasture, as we behold to this day the rulers of the world guided and taught by Churchmen. The spiritual dove therefore, as some interpret, came down at the season of His baptism, that He might shew that it is He who by the wood of the Cross saves them who believe, He who at eventide should grant salvation through His death. (Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XVII, paragraph 10, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 126, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Take another testimony. All flesh was corrupt by its iniquities. “My Spirit,” says God, “shall not remain among men, because they are flesh.” (Gen. 6:3) Whereby God shows that the grace of the Spirit is turned away by carnal impurity and the pollution of grave sin. Upon which, God, willing to restore what was lacking, sent the flood and bade just Noah go up into the ark. And he, after having, as the flood was passing off, sent forth first a raven which did not return, sent forth a dove which is said to have returned with an olive twig. (Gen. 7:1) You see the water, you see the wood [of the ark], you see the dove, and do you hesitate as to the mystery?

The water, then, is that in which the flesh is dipped, that all carnal sin may be washed away. All wickedness is there buried. The wood is that on which the Lord Jesus was fastened when He suffered for us. The dove is that in the form of which the Holy Spirit descended, as you have read in the New Testament (St. Matt. 3:16), Who inspires in you peace of soul and tranquillity of mind. The raven is the figure of sin, which goes forth and does not return, if, in you, too, inwardly and outwardly righteousness be preserved. (The Book Concerning the Mysteries, chapter 3, paragraphs 10 and 11, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Under the Sacramental sign of the flood, however, in which the righteous were rescued by the wood, there was also a fore-announcement of the Church which was to be, which Christ, its King and God, has raised on high; by the mystery of His Cross, in safety from the submersion of this world. (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 19, paragraph 32, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 3, p. 303, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Once of old there occurred a flood over the whole Earth, the object of which was that sinners might be destroyed. And, nevertheless, those who escaped in the ark exhibited a Sacramental sign of the Church that was to be, which at present is floating on the waves of the world, and is delivered from submersion by the wood of the Cross of Christ. (On the Catechising of the Uninstructed, chapter 27, paragraph 53, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 3, p. 313, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

That Noah, with his family is saved by water and wood, as the family of Christ is saved by baptism, as representing the suffering of the Cross. That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side. That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body. That the breadth reaches to fifty cubits; as the apostle says, “Our heart is enlarged” (II Cor. 6:11), that is, with spiritual love, of which he says again, “The love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:5) For in the fiftieth day after His resurrection, Christ sent His Holy Spirit to enlarge the hearts of His disciples. That it is three hundred cubits long, to make up six times fifty; as there are six periods in the history of the world during which Christ has never ceased to be preached, — in five foretold by the prophets, and in the sixth proclaimed in the gospel. That it is thirty cubits high, a tenth part of the length; because Christ is our height, who in his thirtieth year gave His sanction to the doctrine of the Gospel, by declaring that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. Now the ten commandments are to be the heart of the Law; and so the length of the ark is ten times thirty. Noah himself, too, was the tenth from Adam. That the beams of the ark are fastened within and without with pitch, to signify by compact union the forbearance of love, which keeps the brotherly connection from being impaired, and the bond of peace from being broken by the offences which try the Church either from without or from within. For pitch is a glutinous substance, of great energy and force, to represent the ardor of love which, with great power of endurance, beareth all things in the maintenance of spiritual communion. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

In the Book of Wisdom, the author of this book talks about Noah's ark. He said, "Blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh." (Wisd. 14:7)

Again, one preparing himself to sail, and about to pass through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel that carrieth him. For verily desire of gain devised that, and the workman built it by his skill. But thy providence, O Father, governeth it: for thou hast made a way in the sea, and a safe path in the waves; shewing that thou canst save from all danger: yea, though a man went to sea without art. Nevertheless thou wouldest not that the works of thy wisdom should be idle, and therefore do men commit their lives to a small piece of wood, and passing the rough sea in a weak vessel are saved. For in the old time also, when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world governed by thy hand escaped in a weak vessel, and left to all ages a seed of generation. For blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh. (Wisd. 14:1-7)

The wood in this passage is the wood of the ark, but it also refers to the Cross of Christ. Forgiveness of sins and a change of heart resulting in a righteous life come from the Cross. (Col. 2:13,14; Rom. 14:9; II Cor. 5:15; Gal. 6:14; I Pet. 2:24)

God told him to make the ark three hundred cubits (450 feet) long, 50 cubits (75 feet) wide, and thirty cubits (45 feet) high.

Thou shalt make the ark in compartments, and thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And thus shalt thou make the ark; three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits the height of it. Thou shalt narrow the ark in making it, and in a cubit above thou shalt finish it. (Gen. 6:15-17, LXX)

The numbers 300, 50, and 30 have symbolical significance. The letter that represents the number 300 in Greek is the letter, t. This letter represents the Cross of Christ. Fifty represents redemption or remission of sins. The fiftieth Psalm (Psalm 51 in the Hebrew) is a penitential Psalm asking God for mercy and forgiveness of sins. Fifty is also the number that represents the age to come. Seven time seven is forty-nine. Seven days are in a week. Seven represents completion or perfection. Seven times seven is the completion of all weeks — the fullness of time. 49 plus one equals fifty. Fifty is one more than the forty-nine. It is the number beyond the fullness of time — the age to come. Fifty also represents the coming of the Holy Spirit. There are fifty days from Pascha (Orthodox Easter) to Pentecost. Thirty is the age at which Christ began His public ministry preaching the Gospel. (St. Luke 3:23) So, this number represents the preaching of the Gospel.

And because the Cross was to express the grace [of our redemption] by the letter T, he says also, “Three Hundred.” (The Epistle of Barnabas, chapter 9, written in about 100 A.D., vol. 1, p. 143, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

For by this sign he prostrated the heaps
Of bandits; with Christ’s People ’countering them
Without much soldiery, with cavalry
Three hundred — the Greek letter Tau, in truth,
That number is — with torches armed, and horns
Of blowers with the mouth: then was the fleece,
The people of Christ’s sheep, from holy seed
Born (for the earth means nations various,
And scattered through the orb), which fleece the word
Nourishes; night death’s image; Tau the sign
Of the dear Cross; the horn the heraldings
Of life. (Five Books in Reply to Marcion, Book III, lines 113-124, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 4, p. 153, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Holy Gideon then saw the mystery beforehand. Next he chose out three hundred for the battle, so as to show that the world should be freed from the incursion of worse enemies, not by the multitude of their number, but by the mystery of the Cross. (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book I, preface, paragraph 5, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 94, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Lastly, it was not without meaning that Judas Iscariot valued that ointment at three hundred pence, which seems certainly by the statement of the price itself to set forth the Lord’s Cross. (St. John 12:3-5) (Three Books on the Holy Spirit, Book III, chapter 17, paragraph 127, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 153, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Not only “of dogs” he hath said, but “of Thy dogs:” nor are their teeth praised, but their tongue is: for it was not indeed to no purpose, not without a great mystery, that Gedeon was bidden to lead those alone, who should lap the water of the river like dogs; and of such sort not more than three hundred among so great a multitude were found. In which number is the sign of the Cross because of the letter T, which in the Greek numeral characters signifieth three hundred. (Psalm LXVIII, paragraph 29, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 8, p. 295, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

For the squares of wood indicate that the square form, producing right angles, pervades all, and points out security. And the length of the structure was three hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty, and the height thirty; and above, the ark ends in a cubit, narrowing to a cubit from the broad base like a pyramid, the symbol of those who are purified and tested by fire. And this geometrical proportion has a place, for the transport of those holy abodes, whose differences are indicated by the differences of the numbers set down below.

And the numbers introduced are sixfold, as three hundred is six times fifty; and tenfold, as three hundred is ten times thirty; and containing one and two-thirds (επιδίμοιροι), for fifty is one and two-thirds of thirty.

Now there are some who say that three hundred cubits are the symbol of the Lord’s sign; and fifty, of hope and of the remission given at Pentecost; and thirty, or as in some, twelve, they say points out the preaching [of the Gospel]; because the Lord preached in His thirtieth year; and the apostles were twelve. And the structure’s terminating in a cubit is the symbol of the advancement of the righteous to oneness and to “the unity of the faith.” (The Stromata, Book VI, chapter 11, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 500, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Let us inquire, further, why there are one hundred and fifty psalms. That the number fifty is sacred, is manifest from the days of the celebrated festival of Pentecost, which indicates release from labours, and (the possession of) joy. For which reason neither fasting nor bending the knee is decreed for those days. For this is a symbol of the great assembly that is reserved for future times. Of which times there was a shadow in the land of Israel in the year called among the Hebrews “Jobel” (Jubilee), which is the fiftieth year in number, and brings with it liberty for the slave, and release from debt, and the like. And the holy Gospel knows also the remission of the number fifty, and of that number which is cognate with it, and stands by it, viz., five hundred; for it is not without a purpose that we have given us there the remission of fifty pence and of five hundred. (St. Luke 7:41) Thus, then, it was also meet that the hymns to God on account of the destruction of enemies, and in thanksgiving for the goodness of God, should contain not simply one set of fifty, but three such, for the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.

The number fifty, moreover, contains seven sevens, or a Sabbath of Sabbaths; and also over and above these full Sabbaths, a new beginning, in the eight, of a really new rest that remains above the Sabbaths. And let any one who is able, observe this (as it is carried out) in the Psalms with more, indeed, than human accuracy, so as to find out the reasons in each case, as we shall set them forth. Thus, for instance, it is not without a purpose that the eighth psalm has the inscription, “On the wine-presses,” as it comprehends the perfection of fruits in the eight; for the time for the enjoyment of the fruits of the true vine could not be before the eight. And again, the second psalm inscribed "On the wine-presses,” is the eightieth, containing another eighth number, viz., in the tenth multiple. The eighty-third, again, is made up by the union of two holy numbers, viz., the eight in the tenth multiple, and the three in the first multiple. And the fiftieth psalm is a prayer for the remission of sins, and a confession. For as, according to the Gospel, the fiftieth obtained remission, confirming thereby that understanding of the jubilee, so he who offers up such petitions in full confession hopes to gain remission in no other number than the fiftieth. And again, there are also certain others which are called “Songs of degrees,” in number fifteen, as was also the number of the steps of the Temple, and which show thereby, perhaps, that the “steps” (or “degrees”) are comprehended within the number seven and the number eight. And these songs of degrees begin after the one hundred and twentieth psalm, which is called simply “a psalm,” as the more accurate copies give it. And this is the number of the perfection of the life of man. (Gen. 6:3) And the hundredth psalm, which begins thus, “I will sing of mercy and judgment, O Lord,” embraces the life of the saint in fellowship with God. And the one hundred and fiftieth ends with these words,” Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.” (On the Psalms, paragraphs 3 & 4, by St Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, p. 199, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Thus the veneration paid to the number Seven gave rise also to the veneration of Pentecost. For seven being multiplied by seven generates fifty all but one day, which we borrow from the world to come, at once the Eighth and the first, or rather one and indestructible. For the present sabbatism of our souls can find its cessation there, that a portion may be given to seven and also to eight (so some of our predecessors have interpreted this passage of Solomon). (Eccl. 11:2) (Oration XLI, paragraph 2, by St. Gregory the Theologian, 325-391 A.D., vol. 7, p. 379, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

So also the number fifty, which is connected with the advent of the Holy Spirit, is made up of seven times seven, and one over. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

For as fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which was ordered by Moses to be offered by slaying the typical lamb (Ex. 12:3-14), to signify, indeed, the future death of the Lord) to the day when Moses received the Law written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, so, in like manner, from the death and resurrection of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), there were fifty complete days up to the time when the finger of God — that is, the Holy Spirit — gathered together in one perfect company those who believed. (Compare St. Matt. 12:28 with St. Luke 11:20; Acts 2:1-21)) (On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter 28, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 5, p. 95, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

That it is thirty cubits high, a tenth part of the length; because Christ is our height, who in his thirtieth year gave His sanction to the doctrine of the Gospel, by declaring that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Noah's ark is a type of the Church. Just as there was salvation from the Flood in the ark, so is there salvation in the Church. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The ark is the Church.

For just as, after the waters of the deluge, by which the old iniquity was purged — after the baptism, so to say, of the world — a dove was the herald which announced to the Earth the assuagement of celestial wrath, when she had been sent her way out of the ark, and had returned with the olive-branch, a sign which even among the nations is the fore-token of peace; so by the self-same law of heavenly effect, to earth — that is, to our flesh — as it emerges from the font, after its old sins flies the dove of the Holy Spirit, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where is the Church, the typified ark. (On Baptism, chapter 8, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Is not nature herself then a teacher of modesty? Following her example, the modesty of men, which I suppose is so called from the mode of knowing what is seemly, has covered and veiled what it has found hid in the frame of our body; like that door which Noah was bidden to make in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16); wherein we find a figure of the Church, and also of the human body, for through that door the remnants of food were cast out. (Three Books on the Duties of the Clergy, Book I, chapter 18, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 14, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16), whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate CXX, paragraph 2, by Blessed Augustine, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 434, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

So too in the case of the ark which the apostle Peter interprets as a type of the Church (I Pet. 3:20,21), Noah brings in for his three sons one wife apiece and not two. (Gen. 7:13) (Letter CXXIII, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 234, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

God told him to put a door in the side of the ark.

And the door of the ark thou shalt make on the side; with lower, second, and third stories thou shalt make it. (Gen. 6:17, LXX)

The ark is also the body of Christ. The door of the ark is the side of Christ.

That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body. (Reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book XII, paragraph 14, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 188, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other who was, crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs: but one of the soldiers with a spear laid open His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” A suggestive word was made use of by the evangelist, in not saying pierced, or wounded His side, or anything else, but “opened; that thereby, in a sense, the gate of life might be thrown open, from whence have flowed forth the Sacraments of the Church, without which there is no entrance to the life which is the true life. That blood was shed for the remission of sins; that water it is that makes up the health-giving cup, and supplies at once the laver of baptism and water for drinking. This was announced beforehand, when Noah was commanded to make a door in the side of the ark (Gen. 6:16), whereby the animals might enter which were not destined to perish in the Flood, and by which the Church was prefigured. Because of this, the first woman was formed from the side of the man when asleep (Gen. 2:22), and was called Life, and the mother of all living. (Gen. 3:20) Truly it pointed to a great good, prior to the great evil of the transgression (in the guise of one thus lying asleep). This second Adam bowed His head and fell asleep on the Cross, that a spouse might be formed for Him from that which flowed from the sleeper’s side. O death, whereby the dead are raised anew to life! What can be purer than such blood? What more health-giving than such a wound? (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate CXX, paragraph 2, by Blessed Augustine, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 434, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

There were eight people who entered the ark. Eight is the number that represents the resurrection.

That Noah, counting his family, was the eighth; because the hope of our resurrection has appeared in Christ, who rose from the dead on the eighth day, that is, on the day after the seventh, or Sabbath day. This day was the third from His passion; but in the ordinary reckoning of days, it is both the eighth and the first. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

There were unclean and clean animals in the ark. This means that the Church is made up of people from all nations.

And of the clean cattle take in to thee sevens, male and female, and of the unclean cattle pairs male and female. And of clean flying creatures of the sky sevens, male and female, and of all unclean flying creatures pairs, male and female, to maintain seed on all the Earth. (Gen. 7:2,3, LXX)

That all kinds of animals are inclosed in the ark; as the Church contains all nations, which was also set forth in the vessel shown to Peter. (Acts 10:9-16) That clean and unclean animals are in the ark; as good and bad take part in the Sacraments of the Church. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

That the clean are in sevens, and the unclean in twos; not because the bad are fewer than the good, but because the good preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; and the Spirit is spoken of in Scripture as having a sevenfold operation, as being “the Holy Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and piety, and of the fear of God.” (Isaiah 11:2,3, LXX) (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 15, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The water of the Flood is baptism.

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Pet. 3:20,21)

When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah (Gen. 8:8-11) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan (St. Matt. 3:16), and, carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the whole world. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

In the time of Noah God washed away the sin of the world by water. (Gen. 6:17; 7:11,12) (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 9, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 78, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

It rained forty days and forty nights.

And the flood was upon the Earth forty days and forty nights, and the water abounded greatly and bore up the ark, and it was lifted on high from off the earth. (Gen. 7:17, LXX)

Forty is ten times four. Four represents the four corners of the Earth. Ten represents the Ten Commandments. The rainwater is baptism.

That it rained for forty days and forty nights; as the Sacrament of heavenly Baptism washes away all the guilt of the sins against the Ten Commandments throughout all the four quarters of the world (four times ten is forty), whether that guilt has been contracted in the day of prosperity or in the night of adversity. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 17, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The waters rose 15 cubits over the mountains. Fifteen is made up of the numbers 7 and 8. Seven represents rest. Eight represents resurrection.

Fifteen cubits upwards was the water raised, and it covered all the high mountains. (Gen. 7:20, LXX)

There is here a combination of seven and eight; for the water rose fifteen cubits above the mountains, pointing to a profound mystery in baptism, — the Sacrament of our regeneration. For the seventh day of rest is connected with the eighth of resurrection. For when the saints receive again their bodies after the rest of the intermediate state, the rest will not cease; but rather the whole man, body and soul united, renewed in the immortal health, will attain to the realization of his hope in the enjoyment of eternal life. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The water was on the Earth for 150 days. 150 is made up of the numbers 70 and 80. 70 is 7 times 10. 80 is 8 times 10.

And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:3, LXX)

Seven and eight are also combined in the number of one hundred and fifty, made up of seventy and eighty, which was the number of days during which the water prevailed, pointing out the deep import of baptism in consecrating the new man to hold the faith of rest and resurrection. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The raven and and the dove represent two different types of people: the selfish and the unselfish.

Accordingly, when such are delivered from these same afflictions, they exult with loud voices, whereby it is made manifest that they are ravens, not doves. It was with good reason that a raven was sent forth from the ark, and returned not again; a dove was sent forth, and it returned. These two birds Noah sent forth. (Gen. 8:6-9) He had there the raven, and also the dove. That ark contained both kinds; and if the ark was a figure of the Church, you see indeed that in the present Deluge of the world, the Church must of necessity contain both kinds, as well the raven as the dove. Who are the ravens? They who seek their own. Who are the doves? They who seek the things that are Christ’s. (Phil. 2:21) (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VI, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, pp. 39-40, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The raven also represents sin.

The raven is the figure of sin, which goes forth and does not return, if, in you, too, inwardly and outwardly righteousness be preserved. (The Book Concerning the Mysteries, chapter 3, paragraphs 10 and 11, by St. Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 A.D., vol. 10, p. 318, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The dove represents also the Holy Spirit.

When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah (Gen. 8:8-11) as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan (St. Matt. 3:16), and, carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, brings tidings of peace to the whole world. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

But why by means of a dove? Many things were said, and I am not able, nor is there need that I should go over all; — principally, however, to denote peace, because also the trees which were baptized outside, because the dove found in them fruit, it brought to the ark, as you remember the dove sent out by Noah from the ark, which floated on the flood and was washed by baptism, was not submerged. When, then, it was sent forth, it brought an olive branch; but it had not leaves alone, it had also fruit. (Gen. 8:8-11) This, then, we ought to wish for our brethren who are baptized outside, that they may have fruit; the dove will not permit them to remain outside, but bring them back to the ark. For the whole of fruit is charity, without which a man is nothing, whatever else he have. (Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, Tractate VII, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 7, p. 49, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

But why in the fashion of a dove? Gentle is that creature, and pure. Forasmuch then as the Spirit too is “a Spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6:1), He therefore appears in this sort. And besides, He is reminding us of an ancient history. For so, when once a common shipwreck had overtaken the whole world, and our race was in danger of perishing, this creature appeared, and indicated the deliverance from the tempest, and bearing an olive branch (Gen. 8:11), published the good tidings of the common calm of the whole world; all which was a type of the things to come. (Homilies on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Homily XII, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 10, p. 77, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The sinful people of the world who were destroyed during the flood represent our sins.

When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. (Letter LXIX, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 145, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The olive branch represents the oil of catechumens and perpetual peace.

For just as, after the waters of the deluge, by which the old iniquity was purged — after the baptism, so to say, of the world — a dove was the herald which announced to the Earth the assuagement of celestial wrath, when she had been sent her way out of the ark, and had returned with the olive-branch, a sign which even among the nations is the fore-token of peace; so by the self-same law of heavenly effect, to earth — that is, to our flesh — as it emerges from the font, after its old sins flies the dove of the Holy Spirit, bringing us the peace of God, sent out from the heavens where is the Church, the typified ark. (On Baptism, chapter 8, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

And the only reason why we find it easy to understand that perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark (Gen. 8:11), is that we know both that the smooth touch of olive oil is not easily spoiled by a fluid of another kind, and that the tree itself is an evergreen. (On Christian Doctrine, Book II, chapter 16, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 2, p. 543, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Olive oil is employed in baptism as a significant of our anointing, and as making us anointed, and as announcing to us through the Holy Spirit God’s pity: for it was the fruit of the olive that the dove brought to those who were saved from the flood. (Gen. 8:11) (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 9, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 79, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The ark rested in the mountains of Ararat on the 27th day of the seventh month.

And the water subsided, and went off the earth, and after an hundred and fifty days the water was diminished, and the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. (Gen. 8:3, LXX)

Twenty-seven is three cubed. Three is the number of the Trinity.

That mention is made of the twenty seventh day of the month; as we have already seen the significance of the square in the beams. Here especially it is significant; for as twenty-seven is the cube of three, there is a trinity in the means by which we are, as it were, squared, or fitted for every good work. (Reply to Faustus, Book XII, paragraph 19, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 4, p. 189, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

The Flood also prefigures the end of the age when Christ comes to judge the world. In Noah's day, the world was destroyed by water. When Christ returns, the world will be destroyed by fire. (Actually, it will not be literally destroyed. It will be cleansed by fire. "The Earth abideth forever. " — Eccl. 1:4)

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the Earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (II Pet. 3:6,7)

Just as Noah and his family repopulated the Earth after the Flood, so, in my opinion, the resurrected righteous will populate the Earth and indeed the entire universe.

Noah when he was commanded to enter the ark and was entrusted with the preservation of the seed of the world received this command, "Go in," saith the Lord, "thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives." (Gen. 6:18) He separated them from their wives in order that with purity they might escape the flood and that shipwreck of the whole world. After the cessation of the flood, however, He said, "Go forth of the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives." (Gen. 8:16) Lo, again, marriage is granted for the sake of the multiplication of the race. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, chapter 24, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

If, however, any shall endeavour to allegorize [prophecies] of this kind, they shall not be found consistent with themselves in all points, and shall be confuted by the teaching of the very expressions [in question]. For example: “When the cities” of the Gentiles “shall be desolate, so that they be not inhabited, and the houses so that there shall be no men in them and the land shall be left desolate.” (Isaiah 6:11, LXX) “For, behold,” says Isaiah, “the day of the Lord cometh past remedy, full of fury and wrath, to lay waste the city of the Earth, and to root sinners out of it.” (Isaiah 13:9, LXX) And again he says, “Let him be taken away, that he behold not the glory of God.” (Isaiah 26:10, LXX) And when these things are done, he says, “God will remove men far away, and those that are left shall multiply in the Earth.” (Isaiah 6:12, LXX) “And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them themselves: and plant vineyards, and eat of them themselves.” (Isaiah 65:21, LXX) For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] the righteous shall reign in the Earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from Heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked One. For it is in reference to them that the prophet says: “And those that are left shall multiply upon the Earth.” (Isaiah 6:12, LXX) And Jeremiah the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon Earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem, and that [His] kingdom shall be in it, saying, “Look around Jerusalem towards the East, and behold the joy which comes to thee from God Himself. Behold, thy sons shall come whom thou hast sent forth: they shall come in a band from the East even unto the West, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in that splendour which is from thy God. O Jerusalem, put off thy robe of mourning and of affliction, and put on that beauty of eternal splendour from thy God. Gird thyself with the double garment of that righteousness proceeding from thy God; place the mitre of eternal glory upon thine head. For God will show thy glory to the whole Earth under Heaven. For thy name shall for ever be called by God Himself, the peace of righteousness and glory to him that worships God. Arise, Jerusalem, stand on high, and look towards the East, and behold thy sons from the rising of the sun, even to the West, by the Word of that Holy One, rejoicing in the very remembrance of God. For the footmen have gone forth from thee, while they were drawn away by the enemy. God shall bring them in to thee, being borne with glory as the throne of a kingdom. For God has decreed that every high mountain shall be brought low, and the eternal hills, and that the valleys be filled, so that the surface of the Earth be rendered smooth, that Israel, the glory of God, may walk in safety. The woods, too, shall make shady places, and every sweet-smelling tree shall be for Israel itself by the command of God. For God shall go before with joy in the light of His splendour, with the pity and righteousness which proceeds from Him.” (Baruch 4:36-5:9) (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 35, paragraph 1, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 565, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

It is not an official doctrine of the Orthodox Church that the resurrected righteous will procreate in the resurrection. It is a theological opinion that we are allowed to have or not have. Based on many different things I have looked at in the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers and based on our modern knowledge of human physiology, I would have to say that procreation in the afterlife would be possible and even permissible. The Church Fathers taught that the bodies of the righteous will be resurrected whole and entire and all of their bodily parts will be fully functional. A man's body continues to produce sperm and fluids for his sex glands. A woman's body has ovaries with eggs in them. In my own personal opinion, I think that an immortal woman's ovaries will never run out of eggs. The process of oogenesis that goes on while a baby girl is in the womb of her mother and terminates before she is born will in an immortal woman's body continue on throughout all eternity whenever her eggs become depleted as result of menstruation or procreation. That is my own personal opinion. Why, then, would a man be resurrected with a body that continues to produce sperm and a woman be resurrected with a body that has ovaries filled with eggs? For procreation. That I think is the common sense answer.

Contrary to the teaching of the Encratites who taught that sex and procreation are evil, the Church says that sex and procreation are good. It is the abuse and misuse of sex that are evil, but not the sex act itself when it is legitimately done with one's spouse.

Anyway, the truth about procreation in the afterlife lies somewhere between two heresies: the heresy of the Encratites and that of Cerinthus. The Encratites taught that sex and procreation are evil. The Church says that sex and procreation are good and to say that they are evil is to say that God created evil when He created man with the capacity to have sex and procreate. Cerinthus taught that in the resurrection there would be sexual orgies and sumptuous banquets. This is also a heresy. God does not save us from excessively loving pleasure so that we can go back to overindulging in it. St. Paul called the unrighteous "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." (II Tim. 3:4) However, he did also say that God "gives us richly all things to enjoy." (I Tim. 6:17) He also said that "the bed is undefiled." (Heb. 13:4) He means the bed of legitimate sex is undefiled, that is, for the married in this age. Somewhere between these two heresies lies the truth regarding procreation in the afterlife.

Contrary to the teaching of Cerinthus, the Church condemns his heresy which says that there will be sex orgies and sumptuous banquets in the Kingdom of God after the general resurrection of the dead. God does not save us from being addicted to carnal pleasure so that we can be enslaved to it again. However, sex may still be practiced by men and women with their legitimate procreative partners in the afterlife. The Church has no official dogma on the subject of procreation in the afterlife. Much about the afterlife is still a mystery.

In future blogs, I will talk more about the typology in some Old Testament passages of Scripture and about baptism and chrismation. I will continue on looking at the life of Christ as it is related in the Gospels and at His teachings. The Gospel is, after all, the life and teachings of Christ.

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts