Subject on general resurrection appears early enough in the prophetic sermon. As we see, Isaiah of Jerusalem already speaks about it rather clearly. As for the subject of afterlife, whether it is good or bad, it is said practically nothing of it in the biblical books, and what is mentioned all the same, is not connected with the revelations received by the authors of the corresponding books, but is borrowed from the heathen experience before the existence of the Bible. And there is nothing surprising in it. Indeed, what is this afterlife, with which is written a lot, for example, in the Egyptian and Greek sacred books? After all, it is a certain state, which can be called full life only in a certain sense.

Certainly, the consciousness in this posthumous state that describe these sources, remains to man, it is not here this biblical hell, not this world of darkness, where strictly speaking, there is no life at all. But indeed, man, as conceived and created by God, is not reduced to the only consciousness, although the consciousness is indeed the base of man’s spiritual life. Man is a human being, possessing nature, psychic, quite as physical.

And this nature is necessary for him in particular for a full spiritual life. Because the conservation of consciousness only, even if in all its plenitude and clarity, is not sufficient for such a life. And God revealed to people that at the end of the road of each, awaits not afterlife, but the resurrection, this return in life in all its transformed plenitude, of which we can only find worthy of man, as of the image of God.

People who don’t read the Bible and don’t believe in God often say "it is God’s punishment", in relation to themselves or to other people, being in a difficult situation. But is it possible to lay a claim to God for having jumped from the ninth floor, you break to death? Scarcely can we find the inevitable action of the law of universal gravitation as a punishment. Unless we require from God explanations, on what account He established such laws. Even from a human point of view, such claims are ridiculous and absurd: the Creator has the right to decide Alone, without consultation with the creation, of which laws define the functioning of the world. And the disdain of the fundamental laws of the universe brings inevitably to terrible consequences. The ignorance of the law or the refusal to recognize that the law exists doesn’t mean that it stops acting, and stops to present to us each time its terrible account. And that is the demonstration of judgment. The ignorance of the law doesn’t free us from responsibility. Because the possibility of knowing it is given to us. They are all written in the Bible. But will that teach us something? Are the fruits of evil in the world little for me? Is work not enough for me here? We can close eyes on what does not concern us directly, but because of that His judgments will not in any case stop coming true in the earth and, if we don’t believe by words, then we shall learn the truth by terrible human methods.

The theme of universal resurrection appears quite early in prophetic preaching. Isaiah of Jerusalem already speaks of it quite clearly. As for existence after death—whether blessed or wretched—the biblical books say practically nothing about it, and what little they do mention is based not on revelation received by their authors but on pre-biblical pagan experience.

There is nothing surprising about this. What, after all, is the afterlife described at length, for example, in Egyptian and Greek sacred books? Ultimately it is a condition that can be called life in the full sense only with certain qualifications. Human consciousness is indeed preserved in the state after death described by these sources; this is not the biblical Sheol, the realm of shadows where, strictly speaking, there is no life at all. Yet the human being as God conceived and created him cannot be reduced to consciousness alone, even though self-awareness truly is the foundation of spiritual life. A human being possesses both a psychic and a physical nature, and this nature is necessary precisely for a full spiritual life. The preservation of consciousness alone, even in all its fullness and clarity, is therefore insufficient for such a life.

And God revealed to His people that what awaits everyone at the end of the journey is not an afterlife but resurrection—a return to life in all its transfigured fullness, the only life that can be considered worthy of a human being as the image of God.