The Creed, Article 7: He Shall Come Again
In brief
The seventh article of the Creed turns from what Christ has done to what He will do: "and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end." Having confessed the Ascension in the article before, the Church now looks ahead to Christ's return, the judgment of all, and a Kingdom with no closing date. It is the Creed's one clause about the future, and it is spoken with hope, not dread.
"He shall come again"
The article opens by picking up where the last one left off. Christ has ascended and "sits at the right hand of the Father" — and from there, the Creed says, "He shall come again." The Greek word the tradition uses for this return is parousia, meaning an arrival or a royal presence. The same Jesus who left is the one who returns; this is not a different figure or a symbol. At the Ascension the angels told the apostles as much: "this same Jesus… shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
The word "again" matters. The first coming was in weakness — a child in a manger, a man crucified under Pontius Pilate. The second coming is "with glory," openly and unmistakably, so that, as the Gospels say, every eye will see Him. The Church does not try to date it; Christ Himself said the day and hour are known to the Father alone. The Creed teaches watchfulness, not calculation.
"to judge the living and the dead"
Christ returns as judge. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory," He said, "and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (Matthew 25:31) — and the great scene of the sheep and the goats follows. "The living and the dead" means everyone without exception: those alive at His coming and all who have ever died, raised to stand before Him. No one is outside this.
Orthodox teaching understands the Last Judgment less as a courtroom verdict imposed from outside than as the moment when the truth of each life is finally revealed in the light of Christ's love. The measure Christ names in Matthew 25 is startlingly concrete: the hungry fed, the stranger welcomed, the prisoner visited. The judgment is real and it is serious — but its judge is the one who was crucified for us, and that changes how the Church waits for it.
"Whose Kingdom shall have no end"
The article closes with a phrase aimed at a specific error. In the fourth century some taught that Christ's reign was temporary — that having subdued all things, He would hand back the Kingdom and cease to rule. The Creed answers flatly: His Kingdom "shall have no end." What He inaugurates does not expire.
So the Creed's forward-looking article ends not in fear but in a horizon without a wall. The One born of Mary and risen from the dead reigns, and His reign is the future itself. This clause of the Symbol of Faith is why Orthodox Christians can face death and the end of all things with the cry of Pascha rather than dread.