Their Torment Ascends Unto Ages of Ages - Heaven, Hell, and Universalism According to the Holy Fathers

A collection of some of the most clear and direct teachings of the Holy Fathers on Heaven, Hell, and Universalism: the belief that in the end all will be saved, even those in hell.

Sometimes simply referred to "Apokotastisis," which in Greek means "restoration," is often referred to as the restoration of all things in Christ, in this world and in all of creation. Origen and his modern companions distort the patristic teaching and posit that ultimately everyone will use their free will to choose to love God, even after death. Let the listener hear what the Church has said, what the consensus of the Fathers is, and may we all follow the wisdom of St. Isaac the Syrian: "This life has been given to you for repentance. Do no waste it in vain pursuits."

We all must be sober, not triumphalistic nor arrogant, but must labor diligently that we may enter through the narrow gate that leads to life!

This is not a complete treatment of this most important issue. But this collection of teachings should stand as a signpost of the true teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. A fuller treatment is scheduled to be finished by Orthodox Wisdom later in 2022.

INTRODUCTION: 00:00 

Holy Scripture (KJV): 00:56 

St. Ignatius of Antioch: 04:29 

St. Justin Martyr: 05:01 

St. Theophilus of Antioch: 05:14 

St. Irenaeus of Lyons: 05:38 

St. Hippolytus of Rome: 06:08 

St. Cyprian of Carthage: 06:26 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: 06:43 

St. Basil the Great: 07:25 

St. Epiphanius of Cyprus: 08:20 

St. John Chysostom: 08:50 

Blessed Jerome of Stridonium: 09:43 

Blessed Augustine: 10:10 

St. Theodore the Studite: 12:43 

St. Symeon the New Theologian: 13:08 

St. Nicetas Stethatos: 13:48 

Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria: 14:14 

St. Symeon of Thessalonica: 14:56 

St. Elias Miniatis: 15:46 

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov: 16:44 

St. Theophan the Recluse: 18:00 

St. Cyriacus the Solitary: 20:53 

Blessed John Moschus: 21:50 

Evening Prayers by St. John Chrysostom and St. John Damascene: 23:08 

St. John Chrysostom: 23:30 

St. Amphilochius of Iconium: 24:52 

St. Ephraim the Syrian: 25:08 

Synodical Letter of St. Sophronius of Jerusalem read and accepted by the Sixth Ecumenical Council: 26:15 

Concerning the views of St. Isaac the Syrian: 29:44 

Concerning the views of St. Gregory of Nyssa: 31:51 

CONCLUSION: 

St. Paisios the Athonite: 34:47 

Prayer to the Mother of God during Compline of Great Lent: 35:15 

Evening Prayer from St. John Chrysostom: 36:14

"Here it is possible to go unto the king, and entreat, and free the condemned person: but there, no longer; for He permits it not, but they continue in the scorching torment, and in so great anguish, as it is not possible for words to tell. For if, when any are in flames here, no speech can describe their sharp pangs, much less theirs, who suffer it in that place: since here indeed all is over in a brief point of time, but in that place there is buming indeed, but what is burnt is not consumed." -St. John Chrysostom (Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, NPNF 1.10, Homily 43, p. 269.)

"We must not be going, together with the demons, to where the fire is unquenchable ... and not for a certain time, or for a year, or for a hundred or a thousand years: for the torment will not have an end, as Origen thought, but will be forever and for eternity, as the Lord said." -St. Theodore the Studite, Catechetical Instructions and Testaments (Moscow. 1908) p. 75 [in Russian]. Quoted in The Orthodox Word, “Will the Torments of Hades Have an End?”, Vol. 56, Nos. 1-2 (330-331), p.4