In this recording, Archimandrite Athanasios Mytilinaios (1927–2006) answers a fundamental question: “How can we overcome our fear of death?” He explains why ancient philosophy was born from man’s fear of mortality, highlights the historic paradox of Marcus Aurelius persecuting Christians, and reveals how Christ’s Descent into Hades transformed the afterlife and freed believers from the fear of the grave.
Romanian translation by Elena Dinu
Audio source: “Answers to questions“, no. 6 (in Greek), October 20th, 1985
Fr. Athanasios:
One of your questions asks: “How can we overcome our fear of death?”
Certainly, this phenomenon is universal. And as human as can be! The fear of death! Moreover, if you will, if the fear of death had not existed, or rather, if death had not existed, man would not have philosophized. As I was saying in the previous lecture, man seeks to find the truth. Fundamentally, he does so because death exists. You might say to me: “Could man not have philosophized even if death did not exist?” I tell you: At the foundation lies the phenomenon of death: “What exists beyond? Will I live eternally, or do I end up in the grave?” This question gave birth to philosophy. That is why we would say it is a universal phenomenon and, of course, because man cannot find the truth, that is why he has this fear. For a certain philosophical system might put my mind at rest regarding the subject of death, but “is what philosophy affirms actually true?” – man wonders.
You know, in the times of Jesus Christ, meaning in the times of the New Testament, all philosophical systems had been exhausted and all religions had failed. There was still something left to be said by Stoic philosophy, which, as you know, Emperor Marcus Aurelius had served. Marcus Aurelius wrote a book – “Meditations” [Thoughts to Himself] – for he was a philosopher. But what is sad regarding him is the following: he was a philosopher, he composed philosophical writings, and yet he was a persecutor of Christians. Saint Paraskevi, whose [church/feast] we are at, was martyred by Marcus Aurelius. This is a curious and contradictory thing. If you were truly a philosopher, you would have left room for the other to seek, to philosophize, to search, to believe! Why subject Christians to torments, to terrible tortures, Marcus Aurelius? It is curious!
But this fear, children, comes from the ignorance of what exists beyond. In Judaism, there is knowledge of what exists beyond, but the fear does not dissipate; the fear remains. Do you know why? Because the Jew knows through revelation what exists beyond. And what does he find out? He finds out that there is the dark Hades (the underworld, Sheol). That is why David says in one of his psalms (Ps. 38:14 / LXX): “Before You take me, Lord, from this life, let me breathe a little, let me rejoice a little in this life.” “Then, there, in Hades, who will praise You? (Ps. 6:5) While our body, with its vocal cords, wastes away in the earth? Who will praise You in Hades? Therefore, let me live!” That is why a long life was considered a gift from God, from natural things to the greatest. Remember, in the first commandment – the one “with a promise”, as it is also called (Eph. 6:2) –, which refers to honoring parents: “Honor your father and your mother, that it may go well with you and that you may live many years on the earth.” Why “live many years”? Precisely because the realm of souls, Hades, was dreadful. The ancient Greeks also spoke of Hades, but they could not verify it. “Does it exist? Does it not exist? And how does it exist?” Here we have the revelation: Hades exists and it is a terrifying place for souls. It is gloomy, it is dark, Hades! Therefore, what is a gift for the believer now? The gift for the believer is to live many years on earth. And thus to arrive in Hades as late as possible.
Christ comes! He who descended into the dark Hades, and Hades – a part of Hades, where the righteous were – became Paradise. When He said to the thief: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise,” where did the thief go? He went to Hades. Christ went a little before him, for the Lord died on the Cross at three o’clock in the afternoon. The thieves died a little later, after their legs were broken so they would die. Thus, the thief arrived shortly after. The thief did not find Hades, but he found Paradise. Exactly as Christ told him: “Truly I say to you, today you will be [with Me in Paradise]”. When is “today”? “Before the sun sets” – that is what “today” means according to the Jewish calendar – “you will be with Me in Paradise.” Therefore, the good thief who had been crucified did not go to Hades, but he went to Paradise. Thus, children, when Christ died and descended into Hades, Hades – a part of Hades, for those who did not believe and remained cold and sinful souls did not receive Christ even there, do not be surprised by this, but remained as they were and await the Judgment to go to the [eternal] Hell. The souls of the righteous received Christ, and Christ changed a part of Hades into Paradise. So Paradise is luminous, only it is incomplete, because the body is missing. Only the souls are there, dwelling in blessedness, in the glory of God; these souls are deified [experiencing theosis]. All the saints are there, but they are waiting – for, I told you, one thing is missing – they are waiting to regain their bodies lost through death or martyrdom. Thus, when the Resurrection of the dead takes place, they will pass from Paradise into the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, they will live together with their bodies; in Paradise, they are only as souls. In Hades, the sinners, as souls, [will eventually go to] the [eternal] Hell, where they will be with their bodies.
Therefore, if someone knows that Christ conquered death, if he departs from this present life – and he loves Christ and keeps His commandments – does he still fear death? This is why, children, we have the phenomenon of the martyrs. As you know, in the Old Testament we do not have martyrs, with the exception of one family: the family of the Maccabees. Although their story starts from an ethno-religious issue, their martyrdom has, in essence, all the attributes of Christian martyrdom. One of the seven children of Solomonia – herself a martyr, and their teacher, Eleazar, a martyr – do you know what he said? He said to Antiochus – this Hellene: Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, one of the successors of Alexander the Great – “Tyrant, if you now take our life and sever the members of our bodies, this I say to you: God will resurrect us” – listen to this! – “and He will restore to us the lost members of our bodies.” Behold, this is why I told you that the martyrdom of the Maccabees is a prelude to the martyrdom of the Christians. If in the Old Testament we have only these souls as martyrs, take a look at the New Testament! Millions of martyrs! Why? Because the realm of the dead is no longer the dark Hades.
Thus, the Christian no longer fears death! But I must tell you something! That is not the actual problem; the problem is whether I have been a person who has kept God’s commandments. Have I kept them as is fitting? Perhaps I have not kept them? Then I might have a fear, the fear of not knowing where I will end up. Will God justify me? We see in the lives of many saints that they had a certain fear.
And there is another element. Allow me to say that it is a natural element, even if the Christian is advancing toward martyrdom: it is the separation of the soul from the body! For this separation is an unnatural thing. And it is the price we pay for our fall, which is why there is always a fear. But this fear is either null, or almost null.
The faithful man does not have the fear of death! The faithful man, who loves Jesus Christ, does not have the fear of death! It is enough for him to have the inward assurance that Christ is victorious within him, and, of course, that death has been conquered by Christ, and thus the believer remains in Christ. And as the Apostle Paul says – you heard what I said –: “In Christ,” incorporated; that is why we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. So that, as the Apostle Paul says, when Christ shall appear – When? At His Second Coming – meaning our life, for so the Apostle Paul says: “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear” [Colossians 3:4], then our own life will also appear, our existence. For He lives and we too shall live in Him, for we are planted in Him, we are incorporated into Christ.
That is why we live the sacramental life, children, and we must live it correctly, so that the Lord may resurrect us on the last day.
This is what I had to say regarding the question: “How can we overcome our fear of death?”.
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