Robyn Lebron Death and Afterlife Grace is the center of the Alexandrian theology, for God first l oved us, foreknew us, chose us, predestined us, called us, justified us and glorified us He wills, decides, and acts for our salvation, but we never enjoy this free salvation unwillingly God wills that all men might be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, for He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked He offered His Son as the sacrifice for the whole world Nevertheless, God asked us to choose the way we desire and to declare this choice through practical faith Thus, the good deeds that we practice by the divine grace are necessary and essential Judgment and Salvation The Coptic Church teaches the principle of penance and confession The priest and the confessor feel that they are together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which convicts men of sins and forgives sins in order to obtain a communion with the Holy Trinity According to their doctrine, all men after death go into Hades, a place without sorrow or joy After the general judgment, they enter into heaven or are cast into hell; and meanwhile, the intercessions and pious works of the living have an influence on the final destiny of the departed There are three heavens: the first one is the heaven of birds, the second one is the space, and the third one is the paradise of joy St Paul caught a glimpse of paradise when he described the third heaven After the restoration of humanity, the faithful who kept God’s commandments will enjoy the eternal presence of God Special Doctrine An Effort toward Union For over 1,500 years, the Eastern (Byzantine) Orthodox churches and the Oriental Orthodox churches have remained separated Only thirty years ago they came together for the first of four unofficial theological consultations: Aarhus (1964), Bistol (1967), Geneva (1970), and Addis Ababa (1971) These were followed by the establishment of a between ~ 174 ~