Orthodoxy for Orthamerica - Faith and Love

As I learn to put on this great Tradition known as Orthodoxy, almost every part of my person is being affected. It is truly a glorious thing, and I am very grateful for the experience. With that said, I find that my blog might also benefit from a more Orthodox approach.

For some time now I have been trying to grasp the way that the Orthodox experience operates (no small task). While, I am but an infant in this Orthodoxy, some things are beginning to pull together. One of these things is the purposeful design within Orthodoxy for transmitting the whole paradosis (tradition). For example, in the liturgical cycles there are a series of interweaving themes that continuously pass on particular aspects of the paradosis (tradition). These themes are found in the yearly, seasonal, weekly, daily, feasts, and fasts that are assigned to each day of the year.

To each day falls a set of hymns and readings that encompass the whole tradition. These all work together to present the fullness of that which we call Orthodox Christianity.

I intend to bring my blog inline with this methodology. Not that I will necessarily write about the theme of a particular day, but I will be attempting to weave the scriptures, the ancient fathers, the hymnody, the liturgies, and the contemporary fathers writings together into one unit. I have chosen to try this approach because I believe that this is precisely the beauty and the power that drives Orthodoxy.

At times I may even comment on them. However, if I do comment I will clearly state is under “COMMENTS”. I do not want to confuse my comments with that which the church has called the paradosis.

My hope is that this approach might in some tiny way make the beauty of Orthodoxy visible to America.

Here goes:

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Faith and Love

St Paul of Tarsus (1^st cent.)

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin… But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many… For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. Rom 3:20; 5:15;10:10-12

Yet, though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own… 1 Cor 13: 2-5

An Anonymous Hermit (4^th cent.)

A hermit was asked, “How is that some struggle in their religious life, and yet do receive grace like our predecessors?” Because for them love was the rule, and each one drew his neighbor upward. Today, love has grown cold, and each one draws his neighbor downward, and so we do not deserve this grace.

The Epithegmata

COMMENT: Grace here is used in the classical sense and not in the reinterpreted post Augustinian sense. To our Lord, the apostles, and the early fathers, grace meant the actual presence of God by His energies and not merely a created gift bestowed upon man. Thus the hermit is saying, due to our lack of love we do not deserve to experience the presence of God.

 The Resurrection Hymn from the Octechos (8^th cent.)

Let us praise him who was willingly crucified in the flesh for our sake; who didst suffer, was buried, and who rose from the dead, saying, O Christ, confirm thy Church in sound doctrine and preserve our lives; for thou art good and the Lover of mankind.

 Fr. John Romanides (20^th cent.)

The justice of God as revealed in Christ does not operate according to objective rules of conduct, but rather according to the personal relationships of faith and love. "The law is not made for a just man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners..." Yet the law is not evil, but good and even spiritual. However, it is not enough. It is of a temporary and pedagogical nature, and in Christ must be fulfilled and surpassed by personalistic love, according to the image of God's love as revealed in Christ. Faith and love in Christ must be personal. For this reason, faith without love is empty. "Though I have all faith, that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing." Likewise, acts of faith bereft of love are of no avail. "Though I bestow all my goods and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." 

Scripture, Tradition, & Humility

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

2 Thes 2: 15

The Devil appeared to an angel disguised as an angel of light, and said to him, ‘I am the angel Gabriel, and I have been sent to you.”  But the monk said, “Are you sure you weren’t sent to someone else? I am not worthy to have an angel sent to me.” At those words the Devil vanished.

The Epithegmata

“The Holy things are for the Holy”

The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Quote:

Do not consider it sufficient for yourself to read the Gospel alone, without the reading of the Holy Fathers! This is a proud, dangerous thought. Better, let the Holy Fathers lead you to the Gospel, as their beloved child who has received his preparatory upbringing and education by means of their writings.

Many people, all who have senselessly and presumptuously rejected the Holy Fathers, who have come without any intermediary, with a blind audacity, with an impure mind and heart to the Gospel, have fallen into fatal delusion. The Gospel has rejected them; it grants access to itself only to the humble.

The reading of the Fathers' writings is the father and the king of all virtues. From the reading of the Fathers' writings we learn the true understanding of Holy Scripture, right faith, the way of life in accord with the Gospel's commandments, the deep esteem which one should have toward the Gospel commandments—to say it in a word, one learns salvation and Christian perfection.

The writings of the Holy Fathers are all composed by the inspiration or under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Wondrous is the agreement among them, wondrous is the anointing! One who is guided by them has without any doubt whatsoever the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

All the waters of the earth flow together into the ocean, and it may be that the ocean serves as the beginning of all the waters of the earth. The writings of the fathers are all united in the Gospel; they all incline towards teaching us the exact fulfillment of the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ; of all of them both the source and the end is the holy Gospel.

The Holy Fathers teach how to approach the Gospel, how to read it, how to understand it correctly, what helps and what hinders in comprehending it. And therefore in the beginning occupy yourself with the reading of the Fathers. When they have taught you how to read the Gospel, then read the Gospel primarily.

St Ignatius Brianchaninov

Source: http://www.archangelsbooks.com/articles/saints/ReadingFathers.asp

True Spiritual Guidance

The following letter was written by Hieromonk Seraphim in response to a question concerning spiritual guidance.

Dear brother in Christ:

Greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for your letter. I appreciate the seriousness of what you have written, and I will reply with the same seriousness.

I must tell you first of all that, to the best of our knowledge, there are no startsi today—that is, truly God-bearing elders (in the spirit of the Optina elders) who could guide you not by their own wisdom and understanding of the Holy Fathers, but by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. This kind of guidance is not given to our times—and frankly, we in our weakness and corruption and sins do not deserve it.

To our times is given a more humble kind of spiritual life, which Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov in his excellent book The Arena (do you have it?) calls life by counsel—that is, life according to the commandments of God as learned in the Holy Scriptures and Holy Fathers and helped by those who are elder and more experienced. A starets can give commands; but a counsellor gives advice, which you must test in experience.

We do not know of anyone in particular who would be especially able to counsel you in the English language. If this is really needful for you, God will send it to you in His time, according to your faith and need, and without your making too deliberate a search for it.

Since you have written me, I will venture to give you a word or two of general advice, based upon what you have said in your letters, as derived from the experience of our small monastic community and our reading of the Holy Fathers.

1) Learn first of all to be at peace with the spiritual situation which has been given you, and to make the most of it. If your situation is spiritually barren, do not let this discourage you, but work all the harder at what you yourself can do for your spiritual life. It is already something very important to have access to the Sacraments and regular church services. Beyond this you should have regular morning and evening prayers with your family, and spiritual reading—all according to your strength and the possibilities afforded by your circumstances.

2) Among spiritual writings you should read especially those addressed to people living in the world, or which give the ABCs of spiritual life—such as St. John of Kronstadts My Life in Christ, St. Nikodemos Unseen Warfare, the Lives of Saints in general, and Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninovs The Arena (this book, while addressed to novices, is suitable for laymen insofar as it gives in general the ABCs of spiritual life as applied to modern times).

3) To help your spiritual growth and remind you of spiritual truths, it would be good to keep a journal (the hardbound record books sold in stationery stores are good), which would include excerpts from the writings of spiritual books which you find especially valuable or applicable to you, and perhaps comments of your own inspired by reading and reflection, including brief comments on your own shortcomings which you need to correct. St. John of Kronstadt found this especially valuable, as can be seen in his My Life in Christ.

4) Dont criticize or judge other people—regard everyone else as an angel, justify their mistakes and weaknesses, and condemn only yourself as the worst sinner. This is step one in any kind of spiritual life.

I offer this for whatever help it may be to you. I would be glad to try to answer any specific questions you might have, especially on the teaching of the Holy Fathers, almost all of which we have access to in Russian-language editions.

Asking your prayers,

With love in Christ,

Seraphim, monk

The Salvation of The Soul

After a large number of people had gathered around our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord spoke these words: "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" In addition, He spoke these words: "What can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

This means that a man's soul has more value than the whole visible world. And if a man loses his soul, with what can he make payment, with what can he buy it back again? With nothing in the world. Not even if he gives the whole world can he buy his lost soul.

Blessed is he who knows this, and who guards his soul as his greatest treasure. Blessed is he who stands guard over his soul every day and does not permit his soul to suffer harm in any way. For he who saves his soul will save everything, and he who loses his soul will lose everything.

In a small town there once lived a very rich man. He lived in a small dilapidated house. He did not want to renovate his house, but saved and guarded his wealth.

Now this one night his house happened to catch fire and burn down. The man, however, jumped out of bed undressed, searched out his saved-up treasure, and leapt out of the house. His whole house was reduced to ashes, but he did not feel sorry about it at all. Rather, with his wealth he moved to a large city, and in this large city he built a beautiful palace, and there he continued to live cheerfully and free from worry.

What does this story symbolize? The small town represents this world, in which men live as guests for a short time. The small dilapidated house represents man's body, the home of man's spirit. The rich man represents a sensible Christian, who has heard, understood, and laid up in his heart the words of Christ: "What does it help a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"

The great wealth of the rich man represents the rich soul of a sensible Christian, who labored for a whole lifetime to live according to the law of Christ and amass into his soul all those good works which shine more brightly than gold or silver or precious gems. That spiritual gold and silver, that great spiritual treasure is: faith and hope in God, love for God, prayerfulness, mercy, goodness, peace, brotherly love, humility and purity.

What does the burning down of the house represent? It represents bodily death. The unexpected fire in the night represents unexpected bodily death, of which no mortal knows the day or the hour. The awakening of the rich man from sleep at the moment of the fire and the moving to the large city represent the freeing of the soul from the body at the hour of death and the moving to the other world.

The large city represents the eternal kingdom of Christ, in which only the angels and the righteous live. The beautiful palace in the large city represents the dwelling place of every righteous soul in that world, in the eternal and everlasting kingdom.

This story is clear and the moral is beautiful. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear. Let no one place his hope in this transitory life, which passes as quickly as a cloud driven by the wind from Perister to Oblakov. Let no one take pride in his body, for every human body is a dilapidated house, which death will soon reduce to ashes.


But let every Christian man and woman ceaselessly take thought for their souls, for that unique treasure, which can save them from death and destruction. Whoever takes thought for his soul, listens to Christ's words and carries out His holy commandments--the meek Christ helps such a man and helps him without ceasing. He watches over him as a mother over a child in a cradle. And He nourishes him and waters him day and night with His Holy Spirit. And He gives him a guardian angel to protect him in all the paths of life and to take away his soul at the hour of death and lead it into the Heavenly Kingdom.


To our God be glory and praise. Amen.


Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich

Ancestral Sin pt 1

ORIGINAL SIN ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL

(http://www.romanity.org)

 © John S. Romanides

[ This article originally appeared in the St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly, Vol. IV, Nos. 1 and 2, 1955-6. ]

I. Fallen Creation

 

St. Paul  strongly affirms  the belief that  all things created  by God are good.[1] Yet,  at the  same time,  he insists  on the  fact that not  only man,[2]  but also all of creation has fallen.[3]  Both man and creation are awaiting  the final redemption.[4]  Thus,  in spite  of the fact  that all things created  by God are good,  the devil has temporarily[5] become the "god of this age."[6]  A basic presupposition of St. Paul's thought is that althought the  world was created by God and as such  is good, yet now there rules  in  it the  power  of  Satan. The  devil,  however, is  by no  means absolute, since God has never abandoned His creation.[7]

 

Thus, according to St.  Paul, creation as it is is not what God intended it to be--"For the creature  was made subject to vanity...by reason of him who hath  subjected  the  same."[8]  Therefore,  evil  can  exist,  at  least temporarily, as a parasitic  element alongside and inside of that which God created originally  good. A  good example of  this is one who  would do the Good according  to the "inner man," but finds  it impossible because of the indwelling power  of sin in the flesh.[9]  Although created good and still maintained and  governed by God, creation as it is  is still far from being normal or  natural, if  by "normal" we  understand nature according  to the original and final destiny of creation. governing this age, in spite of the fact that God Himself is still sustaining creation and creating for Himself a remnant,[10] is the devil himself.[11]

To  try  to read  into  St.  Paul's thought  any  type of  philosophy of  a naturally  well balanced  universe with  inherent and  fixed moral  laws of reason, according to which men can live with peace of mind and be happy, is to do  violence to the apostle's faith. For St. Paul,  there is now no such thing as a natural world with an inherent system of moral laws, because all of creation  has been subjected to the vanity and  evil power of Satan, who is ruling  by the powers of  death and corruption.[12]  For this reason all men  have become  sinners.[13] There  is no  such thing  as a man  who is sinless simply because he is living according to the rules of reason or the Mosaic  law.[14]  The  possibility of  living according to  universal reason entails, also, the possibility of being without sin. But for Paul this is a myth, because  Satan is  no respecter of  reasonable rules of  good conduct[15] and has under  his influence all men born under the power of death and corruption.[16]

Whether  or not  belief  in the  present, real  and  active power  of Satan appeals to  the Biblical  theologian, he cannot ignore  the importance that St. Paul  attributes to the power  of the devil. To  do so is to completely misunderstand  the problem  of  original sin  and its  transmission  and so misinterpret the  mind of  the New Testament  writers and the  faith of the whole ancient Church. In regard to the power of Satan to introduce sin into the  life of every  man, St.  Augustine in combating  Pelagianism obviously misread St.  Paul. by relegating the power  of Satan, death, and corruption to the background and  pushing to the foreground of controversy the problem of  personal  guilt in  the  transmission  of original  sin, St.  Augustine introduced a  false moralistic  philosophical approach which  is foreign to the thinking  of St. Paul[17] and which was  not accepted by the patristic tradition of the East.[18]

For St.  Paul, Satan is not simply a negative power  in the universe. He is personal with will,[19] with thoughts,[20] and with methods of deception,[21] against whom Christians must wage and intense battle[22] because they can still  be tempted by him.[23] He is active in  a dynamic manner,[24] fighting for  the destruction of creation  and not simply waiting passively in a restricted corner  to accept those who happen to rationally decide not to follow  God and the moral laws inherent in  a natural universe. Satan is even capable of transforming himself into an angel of light[25]. He has at his disposal  miraculous powers  of perversion[26] and has  as co-workers whole armies of invisible powers.[27] He is the "god of this age,"[28] the one who deceived the  first woman.[29] It is he who led man[30] and all of creation into the path of death and corruption.[31]

The power of death  and corruption, according to Paul, is not negative, but on the contrary, positively  active. "The sting of death is sin,"[32] which in turn reigns in  death.[33] Not only man, but all creation has been yoked under its  tyrannizing power[34] and  is now awaiting redemption. Creation itself shall  also be delivered  from the slavery of  corruption.[35] Along with the  final destruction of all the enemies  of God, death--the last and probably  the greatest  enemy--will be  destroyed.[36]  Then death  will be swallowed  up in  victory.[37] For  St. Paul,  the destruction of  death is parallel to the destruction of the devil and his forces. Salvation from the one is salvation from the other.[38]

It  is  obvious from  St.  Paul's expressions  concerning fallen  creation, Satan, and  death, that  there is no room  in his thinking for  any type of metaphysical dualism, of departmentalization which would make of this world and intermediary  domain which for  man is merely a  stepping stone leading either into the presence of God or into the kingdom of Satan. The idea of a three  story universe,  whereby God  and His  company of saints  and angels occupy  the top floor,  the devil the  basement, and  man in the  flesh the middle,  has no  room in Pauline  theology. For  Paul, all three  orders of existence  interpenetrate. There  is  no such  thing as  a middle  world of neutrality where  man can live according to natural  law and then be judged for a life of  happiness in the presence of God or for a life of torment in the pits of outer  darkness. On the contrary, all of creation is the domain of God,  Who Himself cannot be  tainted with evil. But  in His domain there are other  wills which He has created, which  can choose either the kingdom of God or the kingdom of death and destruction.

In  spite of the  fact that creation  is of  God and essentially  good, the devil at the same  time has parasitically transformed this same creation of God into a temporary kingdom for himself.[39]  The devil, death, and sin are reigning in this world and not in another. Both the kingdom of darkness and kingdom  of light are  battling hand to  hand in  the same place.  For this reason, the  only true victory possible over  the devil is the resurrection of the  dead.[40]  There is no escape from  the battlefield. The only choice possible for every man  is either to fight the devil by actively sharing in the victory of Christ,  or to accept the deceptions of the devil by wanting to   believe  that   all   goes  well   and  everything   is   normal.[41]

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[1] I Tim. 4:4

[2] Rom. 5:12

[3] Rom. 8:20

[4] Rom. 8:21-23

[5] I Cor. 15:26

[6] II Cor. 4:3

[7] Rom. 1:20

[8] Rom. 8:20

[9] Rom. 7:15-25

[10] Rom 11:5

[11] II Cor. 4:3

[12] I Cor. 15:56

[13] Rom. 3:9-12; 5:19

[14] Rom. 5:13

[15] II Cor. 4:3; 11:14; Eph. 6:11-17; II Thes. 2:8

[16] Rom. 8:24

[17] Col. 2:8

[18] e.g., St. Cyrill of Alexandria, Migne, P.G.t. 74, c. 788-789

[19] II Tim. 2:26

[20] II Cor. 2:11

[21] I Tim. 2:14; 4:14; II Tim. 2:26; II Cor. 11:14; 4:3; 2:11; 11:3

[22] Eph. 6:11-17

[23] I Cor. 7:5; II Cor. 2:11; 11:3; Eph. 4:27; I Thes. 3:5; I Tim. 3:6; 3:7; 4:1; 5:14

[24] II Cor. 11:14; 4:3; Eph 2:2; 6:11-17; I Thes. 2:18; 3:5; II Thes. 2:9; I Tim. 2:14; 3:7; II Tim. 2:25-26

[25] II Cor. 11:15

[26] II Thes. 2:9

[27] Eph 6:12; Col. 2:15

[28] II Cor. 4:4

[29] II Cor. 11:3; I Tim. 2:14

[30] Ibid.

[31] Rom. 8:19-22

[32] I Cor. 15:56

[33] Rom. 5:21

[34] Rom. 8:20

[35] Rom. 8:21

[36] I Cor. 15:24-26

[37] I Cor. 15:54

[38] Col. 2:13-15; I Cor. 15:24-27; 15:54-57

[39] II Cor. 4:3; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 6:12

[40] I Cor. 15:1 ff.

[41] Rom. 12:2; I Cor. 2:12; 11:32; II Cor. 4:3; Col. 2:20; II Thes. 2:9; II Tim. 4:10; Col. 2:8; I Cor. 5:10