Soul & Afterlife

The Assyrian Church of the East teaches that each person possesses an immortal soul created in the image of God. At death, the soul separates from the body and undergoes a particular judgment, in which the soul is judged individually before God. The intermediate state—the time between death and the final resurrection—involves conscious existence in either a state of blessing or separation from God, though the precise nature of the intermediate state is not elaborated in church teaching.

The church affirms the doctrine of bodily resurrection at the Last Day, when all souls will be reunited with their bodies in the general resurrection. This is a core doctrine maintained from Apostolic tradition and expressed in the ancient liturgies. The church teaches the communion of saints, and prayers for the departed are offered in the Divine Liturgy, expressing the conviction that the living Church remains in spiritual communion with those who have died and that intercessory prayer supports the departed.