What is the Orthodox Christian view on this? (by "Orthodox" I mean the opposite of heretical, not "Official Orthodox Church doctrine")
We do know the following:-
We know that Jesus said,
"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in γέεννα géenna (gehennah)" -- Matthew 10:28
Gehennah is the word that Jesus used as a symbol of a state of everlasting destruction every time He spoke of everlasting destruction. (Mat.5:22, 29 & 30 | Mark 9:43, 45 & 47; Mat.10:28; Mat.18:9; Mat.23:15 & 33; Luke 12:5; James 3:6),
but whenever He or the apostles spoke of the place of departed souls (Lazarus and the rich man etc), the word haides is used, which is also the word that the LXX always uses to translate the Hebrew word sheol.
Both words were consistently translated as "hell" by the translators of the KJV.
In the Revelation of Jesus Christ to His churches, John saw a vision of all whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life experiencing a second death, which the Revelation also calls the lake of fire - but Jesus also begins to close His Revelation with the words:
Revelation 22
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.
Adam had the right to freely eat of the tree of life before he disobeyed God's commandment - and obedience required no action on Adam's part. It was disobedience that required an action, which was brought about by a conscious choice.
So it was disobedience that brought death to Adam. Continued obedience would not have been an action, but it would have been evidence of believing the Word of God, in Whom John 1:4 tells us is life. That life is imparted to the one who believes.
According the the Revelation only those who do His commandments will have the right to the tree of life, and obedience requires no action but only faith (believing in) the Word of God in Whom is life,
so we do not attain this (already given) gift of God ourselves through obedience, any more than Adam could, but only through faith (believing in) Christ. We can only experience death through acts of disobedience.
"And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life." -- 1 John 5:11-12.
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." - John 1:4.
Everlasting life is in the Word, and we are told:
"For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;” -- John 5:26
We are not told that any other human has life in himself.
But we ARE told that God has given us life, and that this life is in His Son, and that we receive it through faith.
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 6
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Genesis 2
9 And out of the ground made Yhwh God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
16 And Yhwh God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
22 And Yhwh God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore Yhwh God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Revelation 2
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Assemblies; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Garden of God.
Revelation 22
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
It's clear that (eternal) Life is imparted by the One in Whom is life.
We are also told in scripture that our dead bodies will be resurrected through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and by the same power.
Everlasting life in a body that does not die is also called "immortality", and this is what we are told about Christ:
“Who only hath (ἔχω échō) immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” -- 1 Timothy 6:16.
The word échō (Strongs 02192) expresses possession.
So is 1 Timothy 6:16 telling us that we will all possess our own immortality, or is it telling us that the One who has life in Himself alone possesses immortality, and that all humans will come to share in the same immortality that is the last Adam's (Christ's) immortality - also since it is through HIS resurrection and the power of HIS resurrection that all will be raised bodily from the dead?
The interpretation of the second death is for the eschatology board, so I won't comment on it here.
But it's clear that we are not told that all human beings have life in ourselves - it's the life of Christ that is given to us through faith in Him. What about immortality?
We do know the following:-
We know that Jesus said,
"Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in γέεννα géenna (gehennah)" -- Matthew 10:28
Gehennah is the word that Jesus used as a symbol of a state of everlasting destruction every time He spoke of everlasting destruction. (Mat.5:22, 29 & 30 | Mark 9:43, 45 & 47; Mat.10:28; Mat.18:9; Mat.23:15 & 33; Luke 12:5; James 3:6),
but whenever He or the apostles spoke of the place of departed souls (Lazarus and the rich man etc), the word haides is used, which is also the word that the LXX always uses to translate the Hebrew word sheol.
Both words were consistently translated as "hell" by the translators of the KJV.
In the Revelation of Jesus Christ to His churches, John saw a vision of all whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life experiencing a second death, which the Revelation also calls the lake of fire - but Jesus also begins to close His Revelation with the words:
Revelation 22
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.
Adam had the right to freely eat of the tree of life before he disobeyed God's commandment - and obedience required no action on Adam's part. It was disobedience that required an action, which was brought about by a conscious choice.
So it was disobedience that brought death to Adam. Continued obedience would not have been an action, but it would have been evidence of believing the Word of God, in Whom John 1:4 tells us is life. That life is imparted to the one who believes.
According the the Revelation only those who do His commandments will have the right to the tree of life, and obedience requires no action but only faith (believing in) the Word of God in Whom is life,
so we do not attain this (already given) gift of God ourselves through obedience, any more than Adam could, but only through faith (believing in) Christ. We can only experience death through acts of disobedience.
"And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life." -- 1 John 5:11-12.
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men." - John 1:4.
Everlasting life is in the Word, and we are told:
"For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;” -- John 5:26
We are not told that any other human has life in himself.
But we ARE told that God has given us life, and that this life is in His Son, and that we receive it through faith.
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 6
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Genesis 2
9 And out of the ground made Yhwh God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
16 And Yhwh God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
22 And Yhwh God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore Yhwh God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Revelation 2
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Assemblies; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Garden of God.
Revelation 22
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
It's clear that (eternal) Life is imparted by the One in Whom is life.
We are also told in scripture that our dead bodies will be resurrected through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and by the same power.
Everlasting life in a body that does not die is also called "immortality", and this is what we are told about Christ:
“Who only hath (ἔχω échō) immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” -- 1 Timothy 6:16.
The word échō (Strongs 02192) expresses possession.
So is 1 Timothy 6:16 telling us that we will all possess our own immortality, or is it telling us that the One who has life in Himself alone possesses immortality, and that all humans will come to share in the same immortality that is the last Adam's (Christ's) immortality - also since it is through HIS resurrection and the power of HIS resurrection that all will be raised bodily from the dead?
The interpretation of the second death is for the eschatology board, so I won't comment on it here.
But it's clear that we are not told that all human beings have life in ourselves - it's the life of Christ that is given to us through faith in Him. What about immortality?
Last edited: