What Happens our Soul After death?

“Where does our soul go after our death while we’re waiting for our judgment? 

To give an answer to this we have to begin by recognizing that much about life after death remains a mystery—especially when we try to grasp it only with our rational minds.

My spiritual teacher often reminds me: “This is God’s business.” And he’s right. We’re not capable of understanding every detail about how God works, but we are given glimpses through Scripture and the experience of the saints.

Jesus does give us a  glimpse in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. We also have St. Paul’s mysterious account of being caught up into heaven, and the highly symbolic vision in the book of Revelation.

As we grow spiritually, some things do become clearer—not just intellectually, but in the heart. Still, our focus shouldn’t rest too heavily on speculative details about the afterlife. Instead, we must ask: Am I living in a way that prepares me to be like Christ and united with Him?

We must be cautious about our curiosity about these things. The real aim is not to satisfy curiosity, but to cultivate a life that leads us to become like Christ and to enter into communion with Him—both now and in the life to come.

Let me try to give you some answers based on the teaching of the Church.

In Orthodoxy, when a person dies, it is understood that the soul separates from the body and enters a temporary, spiritual state of existence. This is not the final judgment, but rather a foretaste of what is to come.

1. The Soul is Conscious After Death

The Church teaches that the soul remains aware and conscious after death. It experiences a foretaste of either blessedness or suffering, depending on the spiritual condition of the soul.

2. Particular Judgment

Immediately after death, there is a kind of “particular judgment”—not the final judgment, but a revealing of the soul’s direction. While controversial, it is often spoken of symbolically in terms of the “toll houses” in some of the writings of saints and monastics. This imagery expresses that the soul passes through stages where its spiritual condition is revealed.

3. Awaiting the Final Judgment

The soul remains in this state until the resurrection of the body and the final judgment, which will occur at Christ’s Second Coming. At that time, soul and body will be reunited, and every person will stand before Christ. Then comes the full and eternal judgment (cf. Matthew 25:31–46).

So in summary:

• After death: the soul is separated from the body and enters a spiritual state.

• Particular judgment: the soul experiences a foretaste of heaven or hell.

• Final judgment: at the Second Coming, body and soul are reunited, and the eternal destiny is fully and finally revealed.

How about the Good Thief?

A thoughtful question to rase about the man to whom Christ said: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Orthodoxy understands this not to contradict the teaching above, but to confirm it in a deeper way.

1. Paradise is not yet the fullness of heaven.

Before Christ’s Resurrection, the gates of heaven were closed. But Christ’s death on the Cross and descent into Hades (1 Peter 3:19, Eph. 4:9–10) opened the way for the righteous to enter into Paradise. So the Good Thief was the first to enter, not because he was “extra special,” but because he truly repented and confessed Christ in the final hour.

2. “Today” means real communion with Christ.

“Paradise” in this context refers to being in communion with Christ, the beginning of that blessed state which all the righteous experience in the soul after death. So yes—the Good Thief was with Christ that very day, just as the souls of the righteous now are.

But this was not yet the final judgment or resurrection. The Good Thief, like all of us, still awaits the resurrection of the body at the end of the ages.

In Orthodoxy, death is not the end but a passage, and the Church surrounds the departed with prayer and remembrance, asking God to grant them rest and mercy. We don’t presume to know anyone’s final state, and that’s why we continue to pray for the dead.

Scriptural support for the Particular Judgement.

Let’s look at key scriptural supports for the particular judgment and the state of the soul after death:

1. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus – Luke 16:19–31

“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom.” (vv. 22–23)

• This parable clearly shows conscious existence of both souls after death.

• The rich man is in torment; Lazarus is comforted in Abraham’s bosom.

• There is a clear separation, and the state of each soul reflects their earthly lives.

• Judgment has occurred, but this is before the resurrection and final judgment.

Orthodox takeaway: This strongly supports a particular judgment—a discernment of the soul’s condition at death, resulting in a provisional (but very real) state of either rest or torment.

2. “It is appointed for man to die once…” – Hebrews 9:27

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…”

• This indicates that judgment follows immediately after death.

• Again, this does not exclude a final judgment at the end of the age—it simply shows that some kind of reckoning happens right after death.

3. The Good Thief – Luke 23:43

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

• Jesus promises immediate blessedness to the penitent thief.

• This supports the immediate experience of Paradise (communion with Christ) for the righteous, even before the final resurrection.

4. 2 Corinthians 5:8–10 – “Away from the body… present with the Lord”

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord… For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…”

• Paul speaks of a post-death experience of being with Christ, while also affirming that we will all appear before Christ for judgment.

• Suggests a two-stage understanding: the soul is with the Lord after death, but the final judgment is still to come.

5. Revelation 6:9–10 – Souls under the altar

“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain… They cried out, ‘How long, O Lord… until you judge?’”

• These are souls, consciously aware, waiting for the final judgment.

• They are in a state of conscious rest and prayer, not asleep or unconscious.

• They know that the final judgment has not yet occurred.

6. Philippians 1:23

“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

• Again, a sense of immediate presence with Christ after death.

• Yet the final resurrection and judgment are still future.

A Simple Answer

That all said, the simple way to think about these important questions based on Orthodox teaching is as follows.

When we die, a mysterious separation takes place as the soul leaves the body. This is not always peaceful—it may involve a spiritual struggle, especially if the soul is still deeply attached to passions and sins.

 Once separated, the soul enters a spiritual realm unfamiliar to our worldly senses, and begins a mystical journey. While not universally accepted as a teaching due to its worldly flavor, some Church Fathers describe this as a passage through spiritual “toll houses,” a symbolic way of expressing how the soul encounters temptations, accusations, and memories of its sins, as well as the help of angels and the fruit of its repentance. The condition of our soul at death is important.

A soul that has come to know God—that has been healed and transformed by grace, and has learned to live in communion with Christ—will be drawn to the light and recognize its guardian angel and the presence of Christ.

A soul still bound by passions, unrepented sins, and spiritual blindness may experience this light as painful or terrifying, and may be drawn instead to the darkened spiritual realm of the demons.

In this way, the particular judgment is both God’s discernment and our own self-revealing: the soul naturally moves toward the condition it has cultivated in life.

The soul then awaits the final judgment, at which time the body will be raised and reunited with the soul, now spiritualized. Only then will each person enter into the fullness of either eternal life or eternal separation from God.

This is why the Church prays fervently for the departed, offers memorial services, and encourages each soul to prepare for death through repentance, confession, prayer, and communion. The way we live now shapes the way we will die—and the way we will live forever.