Orthodox Teachings on the Resurrection & Salvation

The Resurrection of Christ stands at the very center of the Christian faith. Pascha, the feast of Christ’s Resurrection, is called “the feast of feasts” in the Orthodox Church — the event through which death itself is overcome. As the Paschal hymn proclaims, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” Without the Resurrection, St. Paul writes, our faith would be in vain; because of it, we have certain hope.

Orthodox Christians understand salvation not merely as a legal pardon for sin, but as the healing and restoration of human nature itself. Sin is understood as a sickness that separates us from God and distorts the image in which we were created; salvation is the process of being healed, restored, and brought back into communion with Him through Christ, who took on our human nature in order to redeem it.

Because Christ rose bodily from the dead, His Resurrection is the promise and the pattern for our own. Orthodox Christians look forward not only to the salvation of the soul, but to the resurrection of the body and the renewal of all creation, when Christ will be “all in all.” This hope shapes how we live, worship, and understand suffering and death even now.

We warmly invite you to experience this hope firsthand — especially during Great Lent and Holy Week leading up to Pascha, the high point of the Church year. If you have questions about what Orthodox Christians believe about the Resurrection and salvation, Fr. Joseph would be glad to talk with you.