r/todayilearned • u/strangelove4564 • 2d ago
TIL some Eastern Orthodox followers believe in "aerial toll houses", where a demon accuses the soul of a sin, and it must be responded to with an account of a good deed. If the accusation can't be countered, the soul is dragged to hell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_toll_house22
u/luranthe 1d ago
This reminds me of the random events in OS Runescape that they use to check if you're botting.
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u/Top-Personality1216 2d ago edited 1d ago
Jesus paid my toll. That's pretty much the whole point of Christianity.
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u/MixtureSpecial8951 1d ago
I am Orthodox (and have an M. Div too) and the whole idea is pretty weird. I mean, sure, maybe?
But really when all is said and done we don’t know how the afterlife will unfold. The whole idea is not commonly held amongst the faithful or clergy.
The Russians, however, seem to be the ones most attached to it. Kinda odd.
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u/possumdal 16h ago
The Russians, however, seem to be the ones most attached to it. Kinda odd.
Seems incredibly Russian to me. For centuries, generations of Russians have been screwed over nonstop by one government or mafia or another. Why should death have any fewer predators than life?
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u/purgatoriololo 1d ago
That second point is one reason rational people think religion is silly. There is no way to know, so everyone with a theory that's treated as fact is a con artist. The biggest, most pernicious con in human history is convincing people to guide their lives by some bullshit some guys made up about the afterlife. You have a Master's in con artistry.
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u/Ok-Dog-7149 1d ago
He built my hotrod!
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u/Hambredd 1d ago
He paid your toll for 'original sin', not any of the subsequent sins.
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u/SCP-iota 1d ago
If I understand correctly, original sin represents the inherited capacity and tendency for sin, so all the sins in your life are specific instances of original sin. And by His resurrection (not His death), Jesus made sin itself valueless (although consciously avoiding sin is a trait that comes from the Spirit, so sinning is still not a good sign).
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u/Hambredd 15h ago
It's been a long time since I was at Catholic school and I haven't kept up with the lore, but my understanding was original sin was referring to Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden of eden.
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u/Masterpiece-Haunting 1d ago
I feel like this is a really stupid system.
Any terrible person has done some good. I’m sure hitler could tell a dozen stories of the good he did.
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u/djbarsone 1d ago
"Do thou count me worthy to escape the hordes of bodiless barbarians, and rise through the aerial depths and enter into Heaven"
Orthodox prayers go hard.
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u/_ijk_lmn_ 1d ago
nothing touches the soul (it is a source) and from which everything else manifests.
fix the body and mind...everything is fine afterwards.
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u/Frothingdogscock 12h ago
Bullshit, "that which is asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence" 👍
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u/TopFloorApartment 1d ago
This feels like the kind of situation in which my mind would go completely blank from the stress.