Pope Shenouda the Third's "After Death There is no Repentance" sermon

Pope Shenouda III has a popular sermon that preaches the importance of Repentance before Death

First time I heard it, it was a bit longer than the video linked to above, and a bit worse.

A friend was playing it from his mobile phone to me, sharing it with me as something he liked.

My reaction was immediate and surprised even me, I was very sad, and with a serious face I told him that this is full of wrong ideas!

Now I've been seeing it a lot, tossed around the internet, so I'll try to explain here why I hate it.

Note: I will ignore the teaching in it that concerns the idea of "repentance after death", it is not the focus of this entry.

The main problems with this bit of spiritual teaching are:

1- It is investing in guilt. We may disagree how useful that is, but in all cases it is a cheap shot. It can make an old, good woman feel scared to death. Can we at least agree that this is not a good thing?

2- The idea that we repent to be saved from Hell is just flat out wrong, to put it mildly. We stay with God because we love God. You don't get married (The Bride & Groom metaphor is probably the most biblically common to describe our relationship to God) to someone you hate but fear. You do not get married to avoid his wrath!

3- The idea about Repentance, as if it is something to be done but we're too lazy to, is absurd. That is especially true about the part where someone would say "I will repent before I die".

I have only one proper response to this, have you ever thought like this? Don't tell me that some people do, I am asking about you (& don't answer, just think about it). Have you ever thought like this?? Well, you can't really think like this, I'll get to why later.

4- The idea about repentance shows that the idea on Sin isn't very sound either.

Whoever sins is a slave. Slaves are poor wretches who have little control over their lives, and cannot just "quit" being slaves.

Repentance is the liberating force coming from God, that we have to accept and so be free.

Any mention of repentance -after Christ came- that doesn't include Christ as part of the equation is misleading.

The epitome of wrong ideas about Sin is the part where we may say a sinner is effectively telling God "I hate you and defy you, and will keep hating you & defying you till I die".

Now, some people might actually say that at some point, some people are angry with God, and some even hate Him... but those are the ones who do not know Him, do not believe in His goodness or do not believe in His love. They may well say they will hate & defy God, but it won't be because they think they have a long life ahead of them & they plan to repent right before dying!

This brings us back to what makes repentance right before death a comical idea! Sin makes you miserable here and now, on this earth & in this life. If you realize that then postponing your freedom would be a bad joke, exactly like a slave thinking "hmm... I could stay enslaved, be flogged by my cruel master all my life, then pack up & leave five minutes before I die!"

If, however, you do not realize that, or you hate God and don't know Him, then you won't be thinking that you'll repent at all, not ever!

You see, it is comical because it cannot actually happen. You don't think like that if you actually are a sinner. So if you do think that, you couldn't actually be one of those sinners (because you don't seem to know what it does to you!), nor actually hate God (because you wouldn't think you'll repent later on)... you would just be a misguided person.

5- The idea about "people in hell" and how they wish for a minute of life on earth to repent is very sad, but it's also very untrue. It seems we have forgotten what hell is.

Let me elaborate, you live blind & separated from God, then you die and you stay blind & separated from God, this is what we call hell (whether you believe the Fire and Brimstone is literal or not, that statement holds true).

Now, nothing much has changed, you've just departed this world into another, with the same pain & agony. This means that a person in hell would not be wishing for a moment in life to repent, he would be cursing himself & others & maybe even God, but he wouldn't repent (for that is what "wishing to repent" effectively is, from the human side, followed by God intervening) & not be heard.

St. Isaac the Syrian has some excellent writings on this subject, I would strongly recommend reading them.

All the above, as well as other ideas, feelings and sensibilities, make me see this part-of-a-sermon as really harmful.

This is serious, people... The presentation itself is not theoretical theological teaching, but it is a by-product of many misconceptions about Sin, Repentance, Hell, People and God. And when you mix it with some nice Christian Graphics and some sad music, you get a pop product that can affect people badly, without them even noticing.

I'd like you to understand that if I do believe all what i said above (and I do), then I cannot just shut up about it, I must say why I think it's wrong & harmful teaching, in the hope that someone would see the harm and avoid it. So with all due respect for HH Pope Shenouda III, I cannot refrain from writing all that out of respect for him or anybody else, because this is not about him.

If I am wrong about all that, that would be fine and I accept to be taught with a more enlightened teaching; but I cannot believe it's harmful and just sit & watch it circulate without so much as a comment.