Your View on The Aerial Toll Houses (Orthodox Only Please)

ArmyMatt

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Thank you to the gentleman who shared the story and perspective in the now-closed thread.

To the young man who began that thread: no, the Toll Houses aren’t really that funny. Or maybe it’s just me, since my dad passed away recently.

to answer your point on the other thread, the toll house teaching is only dark and murky because folks who deny the teaching, only focus on the demons and what they do. ignoring the saints, angels, prayers of the Church, and the Lord Himself and how they all help the soul. St Theognostos teaches that the righteous soul can even assault the demons as the demons try to assault them, because the soul is emboldened by God's love and mercy. so of course it's gonna appear dark and dismal, when you only want to focus on the dark and dismal side.

may your father's soul dwell with the blessed!
 
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Lyrasong

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Here's a video about Toll-Houses in the pre-schism Western Church.

Check it out :




Thanks so much for putting together all of the information in this thread. Sorry for posting instead on the other.

The view of the immediate afterlife seems generally to have been somewhat different in the pre-Schism West when compared with the views flourishing at the same approximate time, in the East. It appears to be a little more positive. Other than the papal utterance, was there any direct teaching - regarding demonic accusations of the soul upon death - by early Western saints?
 
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Lyrasong

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to answer your point on the other thread, the toll house teaching is only dark and murky because folks who deny the teaching, only focus on the demons and what they do. ignoring the saints, angels, prayers of the Church, and the Lord Himself and how they all help the soul. St Theognostos teaches that the righteous soul can even assault the demons as the demons try to assault them, because the soul is emboldened by God's love and mercy. so of course it's gonna appear dark and dismal, when you only want to focus on the dark and dismal side.

may your father's soul dwell with the blessed!

Thank you for your good wishes for my dad. I feel concerned for him, because (at the risk of seeming unbalanced) I have ‘seen’ him in my mind in a place that kind of resembles an underground parking garage. He is alone, but I’ve felt that his guardian angel is with him.

My dad was a believer in Christ and had been baptized, but of course, was not Orthodox. I am hoping that the image I perceived of him was just an imagination, but at least he seemed to be in a safe place. It is hard to imagine a loved one struggling so greatly in body, then having to be horribly accused by evil beings.

In the Psalms, King David expressed such great hope in the salvation of the Lord. He was a man of great passion who stumbled deeply, but he loved God with equal passion and depth. And the Lord loved him. Surely He will have mercy on my dad. Please say a prayer for him.

I will try to focus on the Lord, the angels, saints and blessed loved ones rather than the opposite; will also be doing some of the reading suggested by the kind original poster.

Thanks very much.
 
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ArmyMatt

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Thank you for your good wishes for my dad. I feel concerned for him, because (at the risk of seeming unbalanced) I have ‘seen’ him in my mind in a place that kind of resembles an underground parking garage. He is alone, but I’ve felt that his guardian angel is with him.

My dad was a believer in Christ and had been baptized, but of course, was not Orthodox. I am hoping that the image I perceived of him was just an imagination, but at least he seemed to be in a safe place. It is hard to imagine a loved one struggling so greatly in body, then having to be horribly accused by evil beings.

In the Psalms, King David expressed such great hope in the salvation of the Lord. He was a man of great passion who stumbled deeply, but he loved God with equal passion and depth. And the Lord loved him. Surely He will have mercy on my dad. Please say a prayer for him.

I will try to focus on the Lord, the angels, saints and blessed loved ones rather than the opposite; will also be doing some of the reading suggested by the kind original poster.

Thanks very much.

will do, and that's the key to the toll houses. just like how the demons can't mess with us (even though they are present) in this life if we focus on Christ, it's the same thing at death.
 
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Jude1:3Contendforthefaith

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Here's the reader version of "The Departure of the Soul" that is less expensive :

The Departure of the Soul: Reader\'s Edition


40-5__the_departure_of_the_soul-readers_edition_800_c.png


.
 
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Hermit76

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I didn't read through the whole thread. However, I tend to lean toward Fr. Seraphim Rose's thoughts on the Toll Houses. However, I would not be disturbed if they were representative and not literal. Either way, the account of Theodora's experience is a good way to examine oneself by going through all of the listed Toll Houses. One needs to exercise care though to not live reactionary in fear but in love for God. I spent way too many years as a protestant who lived in fear of hell without experiencing the love of God through healthy obedience.
 
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abacabb3

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ArmyMatt

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I suppose people take issue with St Basil the New's rendition of them, but if we are not hung up on being literalists, we must accept them.

usually the ones who deny the toll houses are the ones who only insist on the literalist view.
 
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