Can you be saved after death?

[concretecamper]

Actually, either or both, will do nicely. Thank you.

I'll reference what I was referring to:

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.480 Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom":481 "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."482 Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

Abraham's bosom is commonly referred to as Limbo of the Dead.

 

[bbbbbbb]

I'll reference what I was referring to:

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, "hell" - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.480 Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into "Abraham's bosom":481 "It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell."482 Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

Abraham's bosom is commonly referred to as Limbo of the Dead.

You might associate Abraham's bosom with the Limbo of the Dead, but the Catechism of your denomination does not.

 

[concretecamper]

You might associate Abraham's bosom with the Limbo of the Dead, but the Catechism of your denomination does not.

 

[Anthony2019]

As we know Jesus preached to spirits in prison, which means this is not the end in meaning closed heaven for those spirits. Catholics are talking for purgatory, while orthodox are talking for temporary hell. But why do the souls need to be tormented, isn't better they to serve God in afterlife until they become worthy?

I do not know exactly what will happen in the afterlife. All I do know is that God is sovereign, and in His perfect love and justice, He will always do what is right. No-one will ever be able to accuse God of being unkind or unfair.

A number of years ago, I supported a friend of mine by attending an employment tribunal court. The odds were very much against him. The room was filled with legal representatives who quoted the law, chapter and verse, claiming that his case had already passed the limitation period and that his appeal for an extension should be rejected. The judge listened to my friend very attentively and sympathetically, taking into account his personal circumstances, his state of physical and mental wellbeing, and to the dismay of my friend's legal opponents who were desperately trying to throw out his case, the judge in his wisdom chose to grant him an extension on compassionate grounds.

True justice is kind and compassionate. It respects the law and seeks to interpret and apply it in a way that is fair, balanced and reasonable.

If this is the best our judicial system can offer, then how much more can we rely on the justice of God, who is infinitely wiser, fairer, loving and more compassionate.

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:8-13 NIV

 

[Butterball1]

As we know Jesus preached to spirits in prison, which means this is not the end in meaning closed heaven for those spirits.

Christ's Spirit through Noah preached to these people while they were still alive prior to the flood, (1 Peter 1:11). Yet at the present time Peter wrote his epistle those people were presently in prison. Therefore they were not in prison back when they were preached to prior to the flood. It's a figure of speech called a prolepsis:
Preaching to the Spirits in Prison

Example, one may say "I dated my wife for 2 years before I married her."

She was not my wife for those 2 years we dated. I would be bringing 2 different time frames together, a present time and fact she is now my wife to a past time we dated...attaching a current fact to a past event. Peter was attaching a current fact of those people being NOW in prison to a past event when they were preached to prior to the flood while they were still alive.

NASB "in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,"
Even though 'now' is not in the original it gives the sense of the meaning of the verse

 

[The Liturgist]

What Goodhuman is referring to is an Orthodox teaching that after death, the soul is accompanied by angels and demons through what are referred to as the "aerial tollhouses" where demons accuse the soul of various sins. Basically, it is a partial description of the particular judgement upon death where as experience a foretaste of heaven or hell. We believe that St. Paul hints at this in Ephesians 6:12-13 (part of Paul's "armor of God", where we struggle not against rulers but in the heavenly realms). Jesus describes it in his teaching of Lazarus and the rich man.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

Although it is common throughout the entire Orthodox church, Slavs and Russians take it more literally, whereas we Greeks lean more of a metaphorical understanding of it.

The monks at Elder Ephrem’s monasteries take it very literally, moreso than Fr. Seraphim Rose. But those monasteries represent the Greek church of the 18th century, before the successive introduction of versions of the Violakis Typikon. Aside from using the New Calendar, its basically a literal import of the ideals of Mount Athos and the Church of Sinai.

 

[The Liturgist]

I do believe personally in prayer for the dead for the reasons CS Lewis gave, and am looking to restore it in my parish. The trick is selling it to reformed Protestants. But I have been slowly dialing up the churchmanship to higher and higher levels (level 9 would have everything an English language Orthodox liturgy would have, level 10 would be in a liturgical language or be a pontifical or hierarchical liturgy, and level 11 would be a hierarchical liturgy in a liturgical language...Syriac, Latin, Koine Greek, Church Slavonic, Geez, Coptic...take your pick).