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The heretical teaching of '''Aerial Toll-Houses''' regards the soul's journey after its departure from the body, and is related to the [[w:particular judgment|particular judgment]]. In its most general form, it refers to the idea that Christ and being faithful to the end to the Orthodox life is not enough, but rather somehow after death, the demons attempt gain greater powers than Christ in us and are able to find drag a basis for taking soul away from Christ to drag the soul to Hades, while . While the angels and the prayers of the living defend the soul if it can be defended. Whether the soul is finally seized by the demons, or taken to heaven depends on the state of the soul at death. In either case, the soul then experiences a foretaste of what it can expect after the [[w:final judgment|final judgment]]. According to Fr. Thomas Hopko, the teaching 's broadcast on toll houses opposes much of the Toll Houses what is found in virtually every Father taught by Seraphim Rose on toll houses, but he does allow for some parts of the Church toll houses to be allowed.<ref>Fr. Thomas Hopko on the Toll-houses, http://audio.ancientfaith.com/illuminedheart/hopko_tolls.mp3</ref>

==Patristic evidenceHoly Scripture ==

In [http://wwwThe idea or theology of toll houses contradicts much of what has been revealed in Holy Orthodox Scriptures.orthodoxinfo.com/Although we do not know all that happens after death/vita-antony.aspx , we know that at the life moment of death, our first Holy Saint, St. Anthony the Great]Stephen, he saw a vision of souls rising towards heaven and some being stopped by a large demon and cast down. Likewise [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book1.html Stour LORD Jesus Christ standing to receive his soul. Bede] recorded certain visions There is no mention whatsoever of a Celtic Saint who saw a any demons appearing to terrify the soul arising and fighting off demons with of our Holy Martyr at moment of death, but rather, we have much rejoicing in the writings of Holy Scripture regarding the help defeat of angels death and his reposed wife's soulour Hope in Christ at moment of death.

In " being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the Philokaliaheavens opened, Stand the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Diadochos of Photiki (ca 400 – 486 a" <ref> http://www.dbiblegateway.) statescom/passage/?search=Acts+7&version=KJV and <http: //www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207&version=WHNU </ref>

:"If we do not confess Also our involuntary sins as we should, we shall discover and ill-defined fear Apostle Paul mentions his yearning for death to be so strong cause he was going to be in ourselves at the hour presence of our deathLORD Jesus Christ <ref> http://www.biblegateway. We who love the Lord should pray com/passage/?search=Acts%207&version=WHNU </ref> "I eagerly expect and hope that we may I will in no way be without fear at ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that time; for if we are afraid then, we now as always Christ will not be able freely exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to pass by the rulers of the nether worldme, to live is Christ and to die is gain. They will have as their advocate If I am to plead against us go on living in the fear which our soul experiences because of its own wickednessbody, this will mean fruitful labor for me. But Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the soul two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which rejoices is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the love of Godbody." Again , at the hour no mention of its departure, is lifted with the angels any trepidation of peace above all the hosts demonic activities post death as taught by proponents of darknesstoll houses. As St. For it John Chrysostom said: "The cause of much evil is given wings by spiritual love, since it ceaselessly carries within itself the love which 'is the fulfilling lack of knowledge of the law' (Rom. 13:10).Holy Scriptures"<ref>Philokalia, Volume I, p. 295</ref>

In Even a man caught in sin and dying on the Alphabetical Sayings cross, is promised to be in paradise with our LORD. "One of the Desert Fatherscriminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, Theophilus of Antioch (who reposed “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in 412 aparadise.d” Obviously our LORD and Head of our Orthodox Church grants no credence to such faulty ideas about demons having powers to overcome the repentant or the faithful Orthodox.) we find:

:"The same Abba Theophilus said, "What fear, what trembling, what uneasiness will there be for us when We know that our soul is separated from the body. Then indeed the force and strength of the adverse powers come against Holy Apostle warned us, the rulers of darkness, those who command the world of evil, the principalities, the powers, the spirits of evil. They accuse our souls as in a lawsuit, bringing before it all the sins it has committed, whether deliberately or through ignorance, from its youth until the time when it has been taken away. So they stand accusing it of all it has done. Furthermore, what anxiety do you suppose the soul will have at that hour, until sentence is pronounced and it gains its liberty. That is its hour of affliction, until it sees what will happen even if an Angel were to it. On the other hand, the divine powers stand on the opposite side, appear and they present the good deeds of the soul. Consider the fear and trembling of the soul standing between them until in judgment it receives the sentence of the righteous judge. If it is judged worthy, the demons will receive their punishment, and it will be carried away by the angels. Then thereafter you will be without disquiet, or rather you will live according teach something contradictory to that which is written: “Even as the habitation our Orthodox Theology of those who rejoice is in you.” (Ps. 87.7) Then will the Scripture be fulfilled: “Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35.10).:"Then your liberated soul will go on to that joy and ineffable glory in which it will be established. But if it is found to have lived carelesslyFaith, it will hear that terrible voice: "Take away the ungodly, that he may not see the glory of the Lord." (cf. Isaiah 26.10) Then the day of anger, the day of affliction, the day of darkness and shadow seizes upon it. Abandoned we were to outer darkness and condemned cling to everlasting fire it will be punished through the ages without end. Where then is the vanity of the world? Where is the vain-glory? Where is carnal life? Where is enjoyment? Where is imagination? Where is ease? Where is boasting? Riches? Nobility? Father, mother, brother? Who could take the soul out of its pains when it is burning what has been taught in the fireour Holy Tradition, and remove it from bitter torments?" not change our doctrines for even an angel or any man. <ref>The Sayings of the Desert Fathershttp: The Alphabetical Collection, translated by Benedicta Ward, p//www.biblegateway. 81-82)com/passage/?search=Galatians%201&version=KJV </ref>

St. Mark of Ephesus wrote: :"But if souls have departed this life in faith and love, while nevertheless carrying away with themselves certain faults, whether small ones over which they have not repented So when we look at all, or great ones for which – even thought they have repented over them – they did not undertake to show fruits the writings of repentance: such soulsthe fathers, we believe, must be cleansed from this kind of sin, but not by means of some purgatorial fire or a definite punishment in there are times when some place (for this, taught as we have said, has not been handed down to us)Origen and St. But some must be cleansed in they very departure from the body, thanks only to fearMacarius supposedly taught, as St. Gregory the Dialogist literally shows; while others must be cleansed after the departure from the body, either while remaining belief in the same earthly placeSalvation of all including demons, before they come to worship God and are honored with the lot but since this contradicts The Theology of the blessedThe Church, or – if their sins were more serious we cannot and bind them, for a longer duration – they are kept in hell [i.e., Hades], but must not in order to remain forever in fire and torment, but as accept it no matter who said it were in prison and confinement under guard.Some present " <ref>First Homily: Refutation of the Latin Chapters concerning Purgatorial Fire, by St. Mark of Ephesus. QtdPatristic" proof texts to back up their belief in heretical gnostic toll houses. In "The Soul After Death, p 208f)</ref>

==Liturgical EvidencePatristic evidence==

In both It is falsely reported that all Church fathers buy into this idea of toll houses as taught by modern neo-gnostics hidden within the Greek and Slavonic Euchologionwalls of Orthodox Churches. For example, in one tried to attribute to St. Anthony the canon for Great the departure idea of these demonic powers by referencing the soul following [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/death/vita-antony.aspx], but ST. Anthony The Great's biography by St. Andrew , we find in Ode 7: "All holy angels Athanasius provides no evidence for toll houses; however St. Anthony's vision of the Almighty God, have mercy upon me and save me from all death of one does provide more reason to doubt the evil teachings of toll-houses<ref> http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.toc.html </ref> The iconography of the Church also contradicts this attribute to St. Anthony The Great since St.Anthony is shown as one who "used to " be afraid of God, but now he loves God. <ref> http://www.comeandseeicons.com/a/rsb10.htm </ref>

In the Octoechos, there are many references to the Toll HousesIt is said that some Celtic St. supposedly saw visions of his wife's soul fighting off demons with help of angels <ref> http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book1.html </ref>

:The Gnostic origins of the tollhouse theory have been identified. As those familiar with the literature on the subject know, the pseudo-Christian adaptation of the "tollhouses"When my has its roots in the ancient Egyptian religion. Osiris, we are told, was the great Judge, attended by 42 assessors which the soul is about to be forcibly parted must face once it has separated from my the body's limbs. It must be examined by each one of them. If the soul successfully passes the tests, it can say, then stand by my side "I am pure" and scatter is transferred to "the sky," where it enjoys a material paradise, such as was the lot of kings, according to the counsels Pyramid Text. The fate of my bodiless foes the unworthy was torture and smash destruction by the teeth myriad of those demons who implacably seek inhabited the underworld. The wicked soul might be torn to swallow me downpieces by the 42 terrible judges, so that I may pass unhindered through burned in furnaces, or drowned in the rulers abyss. <ref> "Soul" in The Encyclopedia of darkness who wait in the airReligion and Ethics (vol.II). Ed. by J. Hastings. New York, 1921, O Bride p.753. </ref> The similarities between Egyptian thanatology (doctrine of Goddeath) and the Gnostic belief is astonishing says ArchBishop Lazar Puhalo and Fr." [Michael Azkoul <ref> http://www.anastasisnew-ostrog.org/return_tollhouses.ukhtml </weekday_vespers1ref>.htm Octoechos"the "tollhousers" fail to distinguish between the authentic writings of the Fathers and works attributed to them (dubia et spuria), such as the pseudo-Cyril (of Alexandria), Tone TwoDeparture of the Soul or pseudo-Chrysostom, Friday Vespers]On Remembering the Dead. They often fail to check the current translation with the Greek, Latin or Syriac original. Worst of all, the "tollhouse" advocates read their beliefs into the writings of the Fathers (and the Scriptures). Sometimes they have deliberately altered the text 18 for the sake of their misconceived beliefs. Often their confusion over the activity of the demons in this present life with their ostensible activity during the soul's ascent to the Particular Judgment, may have determined their interpretation of crucial texts." <ref> The Toll-House Myth: The Neo-Gnosticism of Fr Seraphim Rose, by Fr. Michael Azkoul. Dewdney, B.C., 1996, pp.28-31 </ref>

:"Pilot my wretched soul, pure Virgin, Archbishop Lazar's work has excerpts from the writings of all Church Fathers from the Greek to Latin and have compassion on itSyriac Fathers, as it slides under a multitude soundly repudiating the idea that toll houses are supported by the fathers of offences into our Church. Unfortunately, there are some modern pious Saints who can be traced to the deep Russian academia in the second half of destruction; and at the 19th century to support even the shocking idea that The Theotokos was so fearful hour of her death snatch me from and meeting of the accusing demons that she had to have her Son come and rescue her from every punishment." [http://www.anastasis.org.uk/weekday_vespers1having to face her sins after her death.htm Ode 6, Tone 1 Midnight Office for Sunday] In We must thank God that The Orthodox Church has never taught the [http://www.saintjonah.org/services/midnightdoc.doc Saturday Midnight Office]infallibility of a Bishop or a Saint, but rather The Church and our Apostolic Tradition help guard us from the prayer onslaught of Stthe enemy who seeks to lead astray the faithful. Eustratius, contains the following:

" in his Commentary on the Epistle to Ephesians (Homily 22:1), Chrysostom implicitly denies any doctrine of the aerial "tollhouses."And nowExplaining the verse, O MasterPut on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, let Thy hand shelter me and let Thy mercy descend upon mebut against principalities, for my soul is distracted and pained at its departure from this my wretched and filthy bodyagainst powers, lest against the evil design rulers of the adversary overtake it and make it stumble into the darkness for the unknown and known sins amassed by me of this world, against spiritual wickedness in this lifehigh places. Be merciful Wherefore, take unto me, O Master, and let not my soul see you the dark countenances whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil spiritsday, but let and have done it be received by Thine Angels bright and shining, to stand (Eph. Glorify Thy holy name and by Thy might set me before Thy divine judgment seat. When I am being judged6:11-14), suffer not St John writes that the word "wiles" means that the hand demons have no power to compel us to any course of action. They use strategy against us. They are rulers of "the world" or "age," not as governing the prince of this world should take hold of me , for, as the Scriptures are wont to throw medo, "world" is equated with "wicked practices." The demons dwell in "high places," in the "air" or "places in the heavens." The "evil day" exists in the "present evil age" (Gal.1:4). In a sinnerword, these verses do not, into as "tollhousers" think, apply to the depths encounter of hadesthe departed soul with the demons. In another discourse, but stand by me and be unto me a savior and mediator..St John makes precisely this observation." <ref>See The Unabbreviated Horologion or Book Now so as to know that a soul which departs from the body does not fall under the tyranny of the Hoursdevil, ed. Fr. Laurence Campbell (Jordanvillelisten to St Paul who says, NY: Holy Trinity Monastery`He who is dead is freed from sin, 1995)' that is, phe no longer sins. 34For if while the soul dwells in the body the devil cannot bring violence upon it, and The Great Horologion it is palpable that when it departs he likewise has no power over it." (Boston, MAHom. De Lazaro II. 2 PG48 984)." <ref> http: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1997), p//www.new-ostrog.org/return_tollhouses. 48html#18 </ref>

==The Number St Gregory the Theologian's Panegyric (eulogy) to his brother, Caesarius. "I believe the words of the wise, that every fair and God-beloved soul, when set free from the bonds of the body, departs hence, at once enjoys a sense and perception of the blessings which await it, inasmuch as that which darkened it has been purged away, or laid aside - I know not how else to term it - and feels a wondrous pleasure and exultation, and goes rejoicing to meet the Lord....Then, a little later, it receives its kindred flesh which once shared in its pursuits of things above, from the earth which both gave and had been entrusted with it, and in some ways known to God, Who knit them together and dissolved their union, enters now with it upon the inheritance of glory there. And as it shared through their close union, in its hardships, so also it bestows upon it a portion of the Toll Houses==joys, gathering it up entirely into itself, and becoming with it one in spirit and mind and in God, the mortal and the mutable being swallowed in life" (Paneg.Frat. Caes. 21).

The most detailed version ''Majority of the ideas supporting modern strange neognostic heresy of toll-houses occurs can be found in a vision of writing attributed to one Gregory of Thrace, apparently from supposed written in the 10th century. The There the demons accuse the soul at each toll-house of sins. In some cases the demon might accuse the soul of sins that they tempted her with, but it didn't comply with, or of sins that she repented for, and in that cases one of the angels, the one which was the persons guardian angel, speaks for the person, saying that those are lies, and that payment is not necessary, taking the soul to the next toll-house. If a person has unrepented sins, and does not have enough good deeds and prayers of the living to pay for them, the demons of the corresponding toll-house grab him, and take him to hades to await the final judgment. This vision recounts the toll-houses in the following order:

==Are They Literal?==Many of the Orthodox who accept the doctrine of the toll-houses do not take the form or all the teachings from the vision of Gregory literally. Thus for example Fr. Thomas Hopko maintains that one should not try to associate a particular time after death to the process, nor should one take the toll-houses as being literally "in the air," or necessarily twenty in number. Likewise, he makes no mention in his argument for them of the doctrine of bargaining for sins (which is similar in some ways to the Latin doctrine of merits). Instead, his description, drawing on St. John Chrysostom and the Fifty Homilies of St. Macarius of Egypt, among others, takes the toll-house encounters to describe the attempt of the demons to assault the soul with its own vulnerability to sin, or to entice it away from God, and describes passing through the toll-houses as the purification of the soul.<ref>Fr. Thomas Hopko on the Toll-houses, http://audio.ancientfaith.com/illuminedheart/hopko_tolls.mp3</ref>. St. Theophan the Recluse likewise said that what the demons are seeking is "passions," and suggested that, although the toll-houses are often depicted as frightening, the demons might equally well try to entice the soul by appealing to one of its weaknesses. Some others go so far as to say that the demons and angels are metaphors for the sins and virtues of the soul.

[[Image:puhalo.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, censing an icon of Fr. Seraphim (Rose)]].There is disagreement in certain circles regarding 's popularity has caused the status of this teaching within most problems for the Orthodox Churchcircles these days. Some, including [[Archbishop]] [[Lazar (Puhalo) of Ottawa]], consider this teaching controversial, even false (describing it as gnostic or of pagan origin). The traditional proponents of the teaching argue that it appears in the hymnology of the Church,<ref>January 27, The Recovery of the Holy Relics of our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom, Troparion 1, Ode 5 of Orthros: "Grant me to pass untroubled through the host of noetic satraps and the tyrannic battalion of the lower air in the hour of my departureFr..."</ref> <ref>Parakletike, Friday Vespers, Second Mode: "When my soul is about to be separated violently from the members of the body, then, O Bride of God, come to my aid; scatter the counsels of the fleshless enemies Michael Azkoul and shatter their millstones, by which other Orthodox theologians are doing all they seek can to devour me mercilessly; that, unhindered, I may pass through the rulers of darkness standing in the air."</ref> in stories of the lives of saints (for example, the Life of St. [[Anthony the Great]], written by [[Athanasius of Alexandria|St. Athanasius the Great]], the life of St. [[Basil the New]], and St. [[Theodora]]), in the homilies of St. [[Cyril of Alexandria]]<ref> St. [[Cyril of Alexandria]] ''Ephesi praedicata depoito Nestorio, ACO''.14(5².405D) as referenced by Lampe, G.W.H., ''A Patristic Greek Lexicon'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1961, p.1387</ref> in the Discourses of [[Abba Isaiah]],<ref>''The Twenty-nine Discourses of our Holy Father Isaiah,'' Volos, 1962, p. 37 (in Greek): "[Live] every day having death stop this heresy before your eyes, and concerning yourselves with how you will come out from the body, how you will pass by the powers of darkness what will meet you it takes root in the air, and how you will answer before God..."</ref> the [[Philokalia]], the [[Ladder of Divine Ascent]], and the [[Dogmatics of the more Orthodox Church]] by Blessed [[Justin Popovich]]circles. Several contemporary Obviously we cannot allow pagan doctrines to enter our Church figures speak about toll-houses.<ref> ===Opposition===*[http://orthodoxinfoconstans_wright.tripod.com/death/soul_taxingnotolls.aspx The Taxing html Against the Gnostic Story of Soulsthe Judging Demons - the "Toll-Houses"] by Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos)</ref> <ref>*[http://orthodoxinfowww.rickross.com/deathreference/ephraim/criticephraim11.aspx Answer to a Critic, Appendix III from The Soul After Deathhtml Two troubling teachings reported] by Father [[Seraphim Rose]] of Platina</ref> <ref>Vid. Ephraim, Elder, Archbishop Lazar Puhalo *[http://www.amazonnew-ostrog.comorg/Counsels-Holy-Mountain-Selected-Homilies/dp/0966700023 ''Counsels from toll_main.html Regarding the Holy Mountain,''Toll Houses] St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monasteryvarious articles by Archbishop Lazar, Arizona, 1999, ppFr. 436Michael Pomazansky, 447.</ref> <ref>Cavarnos, Constantine, ''and others*[http://www.amazonorthodoxcanada.comorg/Future-Life-According-Orthodox-Teaching/dp/0911165061 The Future Life According to Orthodox Teaching,]'' Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, Etna, California, 1985, ppqa. 24-26.</ref> Secondly, not a single Church Father ever wrote even one sentence expressing doubt about this teaching (which is present in its most general form in the Church since at least fourth century), although their discussions of the topic are always about general struggles with "tax-collector" demons, lacking the details present in Gregory's vision (apart from one pseudo-Makarian story which also mentions numerous toll-houses html Questions and a bargaining over sins at each one). Thirdly, some of the greatest modern authorities of the Orthodox Church, such as St. Ignatius Brianchaninov<ref>A Word on Death, chapter "Aerial toll-houses"</ref> and St. [[Theophan the RecluseAnswers: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo]],<ref>What is spiritual life, and how to obtain it, chapter "Perfect preparation for the Mystery of Repentance"</ref> insisted not only on the truthfulness, but on the necessity of this teaching in the spiritual life of a Christian.

===SupportModernist supposed support===