The Spiritual World: On the Existence of Demons (11)

...continued from part ten.

17. The Influence of Evil Spirits on People After Their Death

The influence of evil spirits on people does not end with the limits of a person’s earthly life, but continues after death. According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, Angels of God and tormenting spirits appear to people who are dying, when the soul is separated from the body. Jesus Christ Himself, in the Parable of the Rich Fool, says: “And God said: Fool! This night your soul will be required of you” (Luke 12:20) – or "they will take," which in Slavonic is “istyazut”, i.e. evil spirits; and in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus He said: “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). “Then the angels led Lazarus away”, reasons Saint John Chrysostom. “On the contrary, the soul of that (rich man) was taken by some terrible forces, perhaps sent for this, for the soul does not depart from this life by itself, since this is impossible. If we, moving from one city to another, need a guide, then the soul, torn from the body and presented to the future life, will need guides even more. Therefore, flying away from the body, it is afraid and trembles; the consciousness of sins always torments us, but especially at that hour when we are about to be led away to the tortures there.”

The Frightening Vision of Saint Anthony the Great

The Vision of Anthony, 16th cent. Russian miniature

When [Anthony] once had a discussion with certain men who had come to him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place will be after this life, the following night one from above called him, saying, "Anthony, rise, go out and look." Having gone out therefore (for he knew whom he ought to obey) looking up, he beheld one standing and reaching to the clouds, tall, hideous, and fearful, and others ascending as though they were winged. And the figure stretched forth his hands, and some of those who were ascending were stayed by him, while others flew above, and having escaped heaven-ward, were borne aloft free from care. At such, therefore, the giant gnashed his teeth, but rejoiced over those who fell back. And immediately a voice came to Anthony, "Do you understand what you see?" And his understanding was opened, and he understood that it was the passing of souls, and that the tall being who stood was the enemy who envies the faithful. And those whom he caught and stopped from passing through are accountable to him, while those whom he was unable to hold as they passed upwards had not been subservient to him. So having seen this, and as it were being reminded, he struggled the more daily to advance towards those things which were before. 

From the Life of Anthony by St. Athanasius the Great, Ch. 66.

St. John Chrysostom on Whether Disembodied Souls Wander the Earth

By St. John Chrysostom

(From Homily 28 "On Matthew))

Nor indeed is it possible for a soul, torn away from the body, to wander here any more. For "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God" (Wisdom 3:1); and if of the righteous, then children's souls also; for neither are they wicked. And the souls too of sinners are straightway led away hence. And it is evident from Lazarus and the rich man; and elsewhere too Christ says, "This day they require your soul of you" (Luke 12:20). And it may not be that a soul, when it is gone forth from the body, should wander here; nor is the reason hard to see. For if we, going about on the earth which is familiar and well known to us, being encompassed with a body, when we are journeying in a strange road, know not which way to go unless we have some one to lead us; how should the soul, being rent away from the body, and having gone out from all her accustomed region, know where to walk without one to show her the way?

The Death of Christ in the Air Cleansed the Atmosphere of Demons (St. Athanasius the Great)

By St. Athanasius the Great

And once more, if the devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from heaven, wanders about our lower atmosphere, and there bearing rule over his fellow spirits, as his peers in disobedience, not only works illusions by their means in them that are deceived, but tries to hinder them that are going up (and about this the Apostle says: "According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience" [Eph. 2:2]); while the Lord came to cast down the devil, and clear the air and prepare the way for us up into heaven, as said the Apostle: "Through the veil, that is to say, His flesh" [Heb. 10:20] — and this must needs be by death — well, by what other kind of death could this have come to pass, than by one which took place in the air, I mean the cross? For only he that meets his end on the cross dies in the air. Whence it was quite fitting that the Lord suffered this death. For thus being lifted up He cleared the air of the malignity both of the devil and of demons of all kinds, as He says: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" [Lk. 10:18]; and made a new opening of the way up into heaven as He says once more: "Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors" [Ps. 24:9]. For it was not the Word Himself that needed an opening of the gates, being Lord of all; nor were any of His works closed to their Maker; but we it was that needed it, whom He carried up by His own body. For as He offered it to death on behalf of all, so by it He once more made ready the way up into the heavens.

From On the Incarnation.

How Should We Understand the Visions of Aerial Toll Houses?

By John Sanidopoulos

In modern times a teaching has arisen and become popular among Orthodox Christians regarding what is known as the Aerial or Celestial Toll Houses. It is based on numerous references to ecclesiastical fathers and writers from the early days of the Church to the present. It was especially developed after the tenth century in Slavic circles, while hardly ever mentioned in any detail by Greek writers. Taken literally, it refers to the idea that upon death the soul of an individual is escorted by angels through the celestial atmosphere, and it goes through a number of tolls or customs where demons accuse the soul of particular sins they committed in life. The escorting angel tries to defend the soul as much as possible, but if a soul is found to be guilty of a particular sin, then with the evidence mounted against the soul the demon takes it and drags it to Hades. This is a foretaste of the Final Judgment, when these condemned souls will be united with their bodies in the general resurrection and cast into the eternal lake of fire with Satan and his demons.