Thursday's Theological Thoughts -- A Feast of Theology: The Transfiguration, the Heart of the Orthodox Faith

Source: uncutmountainsupply.com

On August 6 we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Leave-taking of the Feast is on August 13. A time to think deeply on this wonderful and unique event from Lord's earthly ministry.

This feast is thus embedded in the time of the Dormition Fast, but still retains all of its festal splendor. What a truly blessed Feast! 

The Transfiguration is particularly rich in essential theological themes that reveal the very heart of our Orthodox Christian Faith. These dogmatic/doctrinal themes are expressed poetically throughout the services - Vespers, Matins, Liturgy - of the Feast in an abundant variety of hymnographical forms. The troparion and kontakion of any given Feast offer a "summary" of the Feast's over-all meaning and place in God's oikonomia (divine dispensation):

Thou wast transfigured on the Mount, O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. LetThine everlasting light shine upon us sinners! Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to Thee! (Troparion)

On the mountain wast Thou transfigured, O Christ God, and Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could see it; so that when they would behold Thee crucified, they would understand that Thy suffering was voluntary, and would proclaim to the world that Thou art truly the Radiance of the Father! (Kontakion)

Over the years and through repeated use, many of the faithful know these hymns by heart. If we listen carefully, or even study it outside of the services, the hymnography reveals very profound truths in the realm of Christology (the Person of Christ, both God and man); anthropology (the human person created in the image and likeness of God); triadology (the dogma of the Trinity); and eschatology (the Kingdom of God coming in power at the end of time).

Christology

On Mt. Tabor, when transfigured before His disciples, our Lord reveals to His disciples - and to all of us - His divine nature "hidden" in humility beneath the human nature of His flesh:

Enlightening the disciples that were with Thee, O Christ our Benefactor, Thou hast shown them upon the holy mountain the hidden and blinding light of Thy nature and of Thy divine beauty beneath the flesh.

The nature that knows no change, being mingled with the mortal nature, shone forth ineffably, unveiling in some small measure to the apostles the light of the immaterial Godhead. (First Canon of Matins, Canticle Five)

As St. John of Damascus has written: 

"He was transfigured, then: not taking on what he was not, nor being changed to what he was not, but making what he was visible to his own disciples, opening their eyes and enabling them, who had been blind, to see. This is what the phrase means, "He was transfigured before their faces" (Matt 17:2); he remained exactly the same as he was, but appeared in a way beyond the way he had appeared before, and in that appearance seemed different to his disciples." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Anthropology

Christ is fully and truly human. He is without sin. Thus, He is the "perfect" human being, by revealing to us the glory of human nature when fully united to God - something that we lost in the Fall. To be filled with the glory of God in communion with God is the true destiny of human beings and thus the true revelation of our human nature. By assuming our human nature, Christ has restored that relationship:

For having gone up, O Christ, with Thy disciples into Mount Tabor, Thou wast transfigured, and hast made the nature that had grown dark in Adam to shine again as lightning, transforming it into the glory and splendor of Thine own divinity. (Aposticha, Great Vespers)

Thou hast put Adam on entire, O Christ, and changing the nature grown dark in past times, Thou hast filled it with glory and made it godlike by the alteration of Thy form. (First Canon of Matins, Canticle Three)

In the words of Archbishop Kallistos Ware: 

"In the light of Christ's face that was so strangely and so strikingly altered upon the mountaintop, in his garments that became dazzling white, all human faces have acquired a new brightness, all common things have been transformed. For those who believe in Christ's Transfiguration, no one is despicable, nothing is trivial or mean."

Triadology

The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity were revealed on Mount Tabor, as they were revealed in the Jordan at the time of the Lord's Baptism. On Tabor it is again the voice of the Father, and the Spirit now appears in the form of a luminous cloud. Every revelation and action of God's is trinitarian, for the Father, Son/Word and Holy Spirit act in perfect harmony revealing thus the unity of the one divine nature:

Today on Tabor in the manifestation of Thy Light, O Word, Thou unaltered Light from the Light of the unbegotten Father, we have seen the Father as Light and the Spirit as Light, guiding with light the whole creation. (Exapostilarion, Matins)

Again, in the words of St. John of Damascus: 

"For God is recognized as one, in three hypostases(Persons). There is one substance of Godhead: the Father who bears witness, and the Son to whom he witnesses, and the Spirit who overshadows him." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Eschatology

The Lord reveals by anticipation in His transfiguration on Mount Tabor, both his approaching Resurrection and the glorious appearance that we await at His Second Coming. He also reveals the transfiguration of our own lowly human nature in the Kingdom of God, where the righteous will shine like the stars of heaven. Thus, this is a Feast of Hope, as well as a Feast of Divine Beauty, as we anticipate His eternal and unfading presence and our transformation in Him, also eternal and unending:

Thou wast transfigured upon Mount Tabor, showing the exchange mortal men will make with Thy glory at Thy second and fearful coming, O Savior. (Sessional Hymn, Matins)

To show plainly how, at Thy mysterious second coming, Thou wilt appear as the Most High God standing in the midst of gods, on Mount Tabor Thou hast shone in fashion past words upon the apostles and upon Moses and Elijah. (Second Canon of Matins, Canticle Nine)

We bless fruit on this Feast because all of creation awaits transfiguration at the end of time. Even the garments of Christ were shining forth with a radiance brighter than the sun. The blessed fruit represents this awaited transfiguration when the creation will be freed from bondage. In earlier times, the grapes themselves would be used for the eucharistic offering of wine.

The importance of the Transfiguration is shown by the fact that it is recorded in three of the Gospels: MATT. 17:1-13; MK. 9:2-8; LK. 28-36. It is also clearly alluded to in II PET. 1:16-18.

To appeal one final time to St. John of Damascus:

"Let us observe these divine commandments with total concentration, so that we too may feast upon his divine beauty; and be filled with the taste of his sweetness: now, insofar as this is attainable for those weighed down by this earthly tent of the body; but in the next life more clearly and purely, when the 'just shall shine like the sun,' when they shall be released from the body's necessities, and shall be imperishable, like angels with the Lord, at the time of the great and radiant appearance of our Lord and God and Savior from heaven, Jesus Christ: with whom may glory be given to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen." (Oration on the Transfiguration)


Truly a feast of theology and beauty!

Thursday's Theological Thoughts

Source: oca.org

Recently, the Church commemorated the 30th anniversary (1996 - 2016) of the repose of Protopresbyter John Meyendorff, internationally acclaimed theologian and patriotic scholar. I had the great privilege of studying under - and worshiping with - Fr. John for three years at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (1978-1981). This short, but brilliant passage is a wonderful distillation of Fr. John's understanding of the role of  theology in the Church throughout the centuries and, of course, for today. 

_____

When Orthodoxy speaks of a “return to the sources,” it does not mean a return to the dead past, but only continuity and consistency with the apostolic faith. Consistency does not imply repetition, but living understanding—or gnosis—of the faith “once delivered to the saints,” which must be rediscovered, reformulated, and witnessed anew in the midst of historical change. Furthermore, the theology of the New Testament implies not only preservation of a faith revealed once for all, but it also affirms that human history has a meaning and a goal. Christians will be judged not only for their faithfulness to the past, but for the manner in which they have worked for and prepared “the last things” (ta eschata).

Jesus Christ is not only the alpha, but the omega (Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). His presence, through the Holy Spirit, in His Body, the Church, judges the past, the present, and the future, of the East and of the West.

–Fr. John Meyendorff, The Orthodox Church (SVS Press, 1981)

Living Tradition

 

Elder Ephraim of Vatopedi, speaking at St Tikhon Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2020.

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Last Sunday, in the homily which included some reflection on I Cor. 15:3: "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received ... "

I explained that the the terms "delivered" and "received" employed in this key passage by the Apostle Paul, are actually technical terms for the notion of Tradition, as a living body of faith that is "handed down" or "handed over" from one generation to the next. In the process, I shared a passage from a certain Elder Ephraim of  Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos. Here is that passage again:

"Tradition, the true Tradition, not a traditionalism attached to the formalities and the letter of the law, is always innovative ... Tradition is not simply acceptance of the past, nor its preservation in the present. Tradition is interwoven with the life, with the contemporary life of each historical time. Tradition is to receive and to transmit. What the apostle received from Christ himself - "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the word of life" (I Jn. 1:1), this they delivered to the faithful so that they too may have communion through them with the Triune God of love. In the life of reception and transmission there abides the life and the truth of Christ who is thus extended into the ages." (emphasis in the original)

 

Below, I have included some other deeply insightful descriptions of Tradition from two of the most prominent Orthodox theologians of the 20th c. - Fr. George Florovsky and John Meyendorff. These are wonderful texts that should be read carefully and thought over carefully - meditated upon. And yet, they must also be read as "warnings" to us, the generations now alive and responsible for the transmission of the Tradition which we are now immersed in and hopefully living by - the true Tradition that is based on the Incarnation, redemptive death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of man. The Holy Spirit is the "guarantee" (aravon) of this Tradition until the end of time. 

I would like to thank Presvytera Deborah for preparing these texts below.

 + + +

“Loyalty to tradition means not only concord with the past, but in a certain sense, freedom from the past, as some outward formal criterion. Tradition is not only a protective, conservative, principle; it is, primarily, the principle of growth and regeneration…Tradition is the constant abiding of the Spirit and not only the memory of words. Tradition is a charismatic, not a historical, principle.”

Georges Florovsky, “Sobornost: The Catholicity of the Church” [originally published in 1934], in Bible, Church, Tradition: An Eastern Orthodox View, Belmont, MA: Nordland, 1972 pg. 47.

+ + +

"No clear notion of the true meaning of Tradition can be reached without constantly keeping in mind the well-known condemnation of "human traditions" by the Lord Himself. The one Holy Tradition, which constitutes the self-identity of the Church throughout the ages and is the organic and visible expression of the life of the Spirit in the Church, is not to be confused with the inevitable, often creative and positive, sometimes sinful, and always relative accumulation of human traditions in the historical Church." 

Living Tradition, p. 21. John Meyendorff

+ + +

"The very reality of Tradition, a living and organic reality manifesting the presence of the Spirit in the Church and therefore also its unity, cannot be fully understood unless it is clearly distinguished from everything which creates a normal diversity inside the one Church. To disengage Holy Tradition from the human traditions which tend to monopolize it is in fact a necessary condition of its preservation, for once it becomes petrified into the forms of a particular culture, it not only excludes the others and betrays the catholicity of the Church, but it also identifies itself with passing and relative reality and is in danger of disappearing with it."

Living Tradition, 25-26; Ibid.

Fr. Thomas Hopko: 'Christ & His Church'

 

Christ & His Church

by Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko

A] Jesus Christ is the God-man, the “Second Person” of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God become fully human, “for us men, and for our salvation.” This is the essence of the Christian worldview, the essential truth to which all witness must be born and all service rendered. Christians know this and bear witness to it, to Christ as being “all in all,” because they experience Him in the Church – His living Body. They experience Him, here and now, in the life of his church, as He is in all the fullness of His divine humanity.

B] Christ is with us now: this is the Christian encounter and witness. God is with us in Him. Others may have seen and heard and touched Him as He was in the days of his flesh, but we know Him as He is now in the fullness of His glory. The days of His flesh show over and gone. We have no need to strive and revive, retrieve or relive them, certainly not by scholarly, psychological, or even by meditative means. Jesus Christ is no longer as He was in his days on earth - in the form of a slave. He is present now in and with His people, and with God, His Father, by the power of God, the Holy Spirit and "the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who feels all in all" (Eph. 1:23).

C] For this reason, Orthodox Christians have nothing to offer people and the world but Christ and His Church. It is our conviction that there is nothing else to be offered and nothing else that is necessary. Our witness to this conviction, to this end. In our time, however, there are specific human needs, and desires, which cry out for fulfillment, specific cries, which arise in the hearts of men which reach our ears, clamoring for concern and attention. If we say that Christ and His Church are the answer to these needs, we must be aware of what they are and be prepared to demonstrate how their ultimate satisfaction can be attained only by Christ and through His Church. We must be ready to make every effort to verify our claims by our actions, witnessing and serving with the love "not in words and speech, but indeed, and in truth." (1 John 3:18).

D] Jesus was not a relativist. Neither was He a sectarian. Whatever someone happens to believe about His person and nature, one should see that he was not a "peddler" of some religious doctrine or a "Crusader" for some religious sect. He was a man – the man Who was also the incarnation of the Son of God – Who witnessed to the unity of mankind in freedom, in Spirit and in truth. He spoke not about ethereal "spiritualities" or about the need for "religion," but about goodness, truth, virtue, light and life itself. He was not a "tyrant" of any sort. He exercised no power or force of any kind – political, social, economic, psychological, or religious. He wrote no books. He left no earthly monuments as a record to His many miracles and accomplishments. But He believed that people could know the truth and do good, and so be free. 

A Feast of Theology: The Transfiguration, the Heart of the Orthodox Faith

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

On August 6 we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The Leave-taking of the Feast is on August 13. A time to think deeply on this wonderful and unique event from Lord's earthly ministry.

This feast is thus embedded in the time of the Dormition Fast, but still retains all of its festal splendor. What a truly blessed Feast! 

The Transfiguration is particularly rich in essential theological themes that reveal the very heart of our Orthodox Christian Faith. These dogmatic/doctrinal themes are expressed poetically throughout the services - Vespers, Matins, Liturgy - of the Feast in an abundant variety of hymnographical forms. The troparion and kontakion of any given Feast offer a "summary" of the Feast's over-all meaning and place in God's oikonomia (divine dispensation):

Thou wast transfigured on the Mount, O Christ God, revealing Thy glory to Thy disciples as far as they could bear it. LetThine everlasting light shine upon us sinners! Through the prayers of the Theotokos, O Giver of Light, glory to Thee! (Troparion) 

On the mountain wast Thou transfigured, O Christ God, and Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could see it; so that when they would behold Thee crucified, they would understand that Thy suffering was voluntary, and would proclaim to the world that Thou art truly the Radiance of the Father! (Kontakion)

Over the years and through repeated use, many of the faithful know these hymns by heart. If we listen carefully, or even study it outside of the services, the hymnography reveals very profound truths in the realm of Christology (the Person of Christ, both God and man); anthropology (the human person created in the image and likeness of God); triadology (the dogma of the Trinity); and eschatology (the Kingdom of God coming in power at the end of time).

Christology

On Mt. Tabor, when transfigured before His disciples, our Lord reveals to His disciples - and to all of us - His divine nature "hidden" in humility beneath the human nature of His flesh:

Enlightening the disciples that were with Thee, O Christ our Benefactor, Thou hast shown them upon the holy mountain the hidden and blinding light of Thy nature and of Thy divine beauty beneath the flesh. 

The nature that knows no change, being mingled with the mortal nature, shone forth ineffably, unveiling in some small measure to the apostles the light of the immaterial Godhead. (First Canon of Matins, Canticle Five)

As St. John of Damascus has written: 

"He was transfigured, then: not taking on what he was not, nor being changed to what he was not, but making what he was visible to his own disciples, opening their eyes and enabling them, who had been blind, to see. This is what the phrase means, "He was transfigured before their faces" (Matt 17:2); he remained exactly the same as he was, but appeared in a way beyond the way he had appeared before, and in that appearance seemed different to his disciples." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Anthropology

Christ is fully and truly human. He is without sin. Thus, He is the "perfect" human being, by revealing to us the glory of human nature when fully united to God - something that we lost in the Fall. To be filled with the glory of God in communion with God is the true destiny of human beings and thus the true revelation of our human nature. By assuming our human nature, Christ has restored that relationship:

For having gone up, O Christ, with Thy disciples into Mount Tabor, Thou wast transfigured, and hast made the nature that had grown dark in Adam to shine again as lightning, transforming it into the glory and splendor of Thine own divinity. (Aposticha, Great Vespers) 

Thou hast put Adam on entire, O Christ, and changing the nature grown dark in past times, Thou hast filled it with glory and made it godlike by the alteration of Thy form. (First Canon of Matins, Canticle Three)

In the words of Archbishop Kallistos Ware:  

"In the light of Christ's face that was so strangely and so strikingly altered upon the mountaintop, in his garments that became dazzling white, all human faces have acquired a new brightness, all common things have been transformed. For those who believe in Christ's Transfiguration, no one is despicable, nothing is trivial or mean."

Triadology

The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity were revealed on Mount Tabor, as they were revealed in the Jordan at the time of the Lord's Baptism. On Tabor it is again the voice of the Father, and the Spirit now appears in the form of a luminous cloud. Every revelation and action of God's is trinitarian, for the Father, Son/Word and Holy Spirit act in perfect harmony revealing thus the unity of the one divine nature:

Today on Tabor in the manifestation of Thy Light, O Word, Thou unaltered Light from the Light of the unbegotten Father, we have seen the Father as Light and the Spirit as Light, guiding with light the whole creation. (Exapostilarion, Matins)

Again, in the words of St. John of Damascus: 

"For God is recognized as one, in three hypostases(Persons). There is one substance of Godhead: the Father who bears witness, and the Son to whom he witnesses, and the Spirit who overshadows him." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

Eschatology

The Lord reveals by anticipation in His transfiguration on Mount Tabor, both his approaching Resurrection and the glorious appearance that we await at His Second Coming. He also reveals the transfiguration of our own lowly human nature in the Kingdom of God, where the righteous will shine like the stars of heaven. Thus, this is a Feast of Hope, as well as a Feast of Divine Beauty, as we anticipate His eternal and unfading presence and our transformation in Him, also eternal and unending:

Thou wast transfigured upon Mount Tabor, showing the exchange mortal men will make with Thy glory at Thy second and fearful coming, O Savior. (Sessional Hymn, Matins) 

To show plainly how, at Thy mysterious second coming, Thou wilt appear as the Most High God standing in the midst of gods, on Mount Tabor Thou hast shone in fashion past words upon the apostles and upon Moses and Elijah. (Second Canon of Matins, Canticle Nine)

We bless fruit on this Feast because all of creation awaits transfiguration at the end of time. Even the garments of Christ were shining forth with a radiance brighter than the sun. The blessed fruit represents this awaited transfiguration when the creation will be freed from bondage. In earlier times, the grapes themselves would be used for the eucharistic offering of wine.

The importance of the Transfiguration is shown by the fact that it is recorded in three of the Gospels: MATT. 17:1-13; MK. 9:2-8; LK. 28-36. It is also clearly alluded to in II PET. 1:16-18.

To appeal one final time to St. John of Damascus:

"Let us observe these divine commandments with total concentration, so that we too may feast upon his divine beauty; and be filled with the taste of his sweetness: now, insofar as this is attainable for those weighed down by this earthly tent of the body; but in the next life more clearly and purely, when the 'just shall shine like the sun,' when they shall be released from the body's necessities, and shall be imperishable, like angels with the Lord, at the time of the great and radiant appearance of our Lord and God and Savior from heaven, Jesus Christ: with whom may glory be given to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and to the endless ages of ages. Amen." (Oration on the Transfiguration)

A Feast of Theology

 

From Legacy Icons

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

 

Come, O people,

let us worship the Godhead in three Persons:

the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit.

For the Father timelessly begot the Son, co-eternal and co-enthroned with Him;

and the Holy Spirit was in the Father and is glorified with the Son.

We worship one Power, one Essence, one Godhead,

and we say: “Holy God,

Who hast created all things through Thy Son

with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit;

Holy Mighty,

through Whom we know the Father;

and through Whom the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the world;

Holy Immortal,

Comforting Spirit, 

Who proceedest from the Father and restest in the Son.//

O Holy Trinity, glory to Thee!”

[Apostikha, Vespers of Pentecost]

____

In that vast, seemingly limitless body of Orthodox hymnography accumulated over the centuries, I cannot bring to mind a hymn that is as rich as this one is, theologically. 

 The task of the theologian - and a hymnographer is a theologian - is the search for words "adequate to God." And here is a hymn that actually approximates that lofty goal of expressing in words "adequate to God" a vision of the trinitarian splendor of the living God. And it is precisely in the form of a hymn that is sung or chanted that we are able to hear of that "strange doctrine" (an expression from a different hymn) of the Holy Trinity. "Strange" because the limits of logic are transcended in the revelation of God's trinitarian nature. It was St. Dionysius the Areopagite - author of The Mystical Theology - who claimed that true theology in actually to celebrate (literally, hymnein) God. Therefore, we are simultaneously praising and worshiping God as we sing or chant a hymn of a theological nature.

This means that true theology, as practiced at its best in the Church - as in the hymn above - is meant for everyone, not just "learned experts." As such it is not dry, boring or academic; but rather lively, joyful and even exciting. It stimulates the heart as well as the mind. Now, it was at the end of a long morning yesterday that we heard this hymn being sung. Following the Liturgy, we immediately served a shortened version of the Vespers of Pentecost with kneeling prayers. As our endurance was possibly being tested, the choir sang this marvelous hymn. If our capacity to concentrate was diminished at that point, here is an opportunity to absorb this hymn by carefully studying its marvelous insights into the three Persons of the Trinity and their inner-trinitarian relationships. 

Enjoy this "feast of theology!"

PASCHA - Day Thirty Eight — Understanding Death... and the Resurrection

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!

"Strictly speaking, a system of ethics which does not make death its central problem has no value and is lacking in depth and earnestness." (Nikolai Berdyaev) 

"Our one and only war ... is the sacred battle with the common enemy of all people, of all mankind - against death." (Archimandrite Sophrony)

Recently I met with some folks from Norwood - both Orthodox and non-Orthodox - for what we rather laconically called a "theological talk." The basis for our discussion was an article written by Fr. Alexander Schmemann, entitled "The Christian Concept of Death." The title may not capture the full weight of the essay, since it is a look at the Christian concept of death in the light of the Resurrection of Christ.

With such a powerful theme, enriched by Fr. Alexander's usual style that combines insightful penetration into the given theme, a captivating style of literary expression, and a series of challenging assertions that question our unexamined assumptions, our discussion proved to be an intense one that led us in many directions. All in all, a good way to spend an atypical Thursday evening. 

Obviously, the theme of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ digs deep into the very foundations of Christianity. Who does not know the powerful words of the Apostle Paul:  "If Christ is not risen, then your faith is in vain." It is the Resurrection that ultimately makes the Gospel "Good News" - in fact the "best news" conceivable and outside of which all "other news" sounds rather vague and lifeless!

It is this joyous Good News that imbues the entire life of the Church according to Fr. Schmemann:

The joy of early Christianity, which still lives in the Church, in her services, in her hymns and prayers, and especially in the incomparable feast of Pascha, does not separate the Resurrection of Christ from the "universal resurrection," which originates and begins in the Resurrection of Christ.

 

Yet, a good deal of the essay is taken up with something of a "lamentation" from Fr. Schmemann over the fact that many Christians are unaware of the ultimate consequences of the Resurrection of Christ, and that is the "universal resurrection" just mentioned above and which means the resurrection of the dead at the end of time with the "spiritual body" that the Apostle Paul speaks of in I COR. 15. Jesus, bodily risen from the dead, is called the "first fruits of those who have fallen asleep,"thus anticipating and pointing toward the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.

But is this, in fact, what Christians believe? Fr. Schmemann's trenchant criticism is expressed as follows:

The Resurrection of Christ comprises, I repeat, the very heart of the Christian faith and Christian Good News.

And yet, however strange it may sound, in the everyday life of Christianity and Christians in our time there is little room for this faith. It is as though obscured, and the contemporary Christian, without being cognizant of it, does not reject it, but somehow skirts about it, and does not live the faith as did the first Christians.

If he attends church, he of course hears in the Christian service the ever resounding joyous confirmations: "trampling down death by death," "death is swallowed up by victory," "life reigns," and "not one dead remains in the grave."

But ask him what he really thinks about death, and often (too often alas) you will hear some sort of rambling affirmation of the immortality of the soul and its life in some sort of world beyond the grave, a belief that existed even before Christianity. And that would be in the best of circumstances. In the worst, one would be met simply by perplexity and ignorance, "You know, I have never really thought about it."

 

Fr. Schmemann is not speaking of non-believers in the bodily Resurrection of Christ, but of an unfortunate transformation of Christian thought about death itself and the impact of that unfortunate transformation on the understanding of the body, or of the relationship between "body and soul." 

Basically, Christians have resorted to a kind of warmed-up Platonism that claims that there is a real and natural division between the soul and body, a division which renders the body almost meaningless, or as a prison that the soul needs to escape from. 

In opposition to this dualism, the Church's Symbol of Faith (the Nicene Creed) affirms our belief in "the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." 

This is far from merely claiming a vague belief in the "immortality of the soul." Again, this is a resort to pre-Christian modes of thought and this way of thinking is foreign to the Biblical revelation. 

Here is how Fr. Schmemann puts it:

Indeed, all non-Christian, all natural religions, all philosophies are in essence occupied with our "coming to terms" with death and attempt to demonstrate for us the source of immortal life, of the immortal soul in some sort of alien world beyond the grave. Plato, for example, and countless followers after him teach that death is a liberation from the body which the soul desires; and in this circumstance faith in the resurrection of the body not only becomes unnecessary, but also incomprehensible, even false and untrue.

 

Such a pre- or non-Christian way of thinking will make us blind to the Apostle Paul's affirmation that death is the "last enemy;" and that God desires the whole person - both body and soul - to be saved and transformed in the Kingdom of God. Such a belief even renders the Resurrection of Christ as a kind of superfluous miraculous event that does not really affect our destiny.

Orthodox Christian thinking at its purest resists and rejects this way of approaching death, but rather it drives home with a powerful realism the tragedy of human death.  

Again, in Fr. Schmemann's words:

Christianity proclaims, confirms and teaches, that this separation of the soul from the body, which we call death, is evil. It is not part of God's creation. It is that which entered the world, making it subject to itself, but opposed to God and violating His design, His desire for the world, for mankind and for life. It is that which Christ came to destroy.

Man, as created by God, is an animate body and an incarnate spirit, and for that reason any separation of them, and not only the final separation, in death, but even before death, any violation of that union is evil. It is a spiritual catastrophe. From this we receive our belief in the salvation of the world through the incarnate God, i.e. again, above all, our belief in His acceptance of flesh and body, not "body-like," but a body in the fullest sense of the word: a body that needs food, that tires and that suffers.

 

In a relatively short essay, Fr. Schmemann presents us with the distortions of Christian thinking on death which have twisted our whole conception of the meaning of the Gospel, and which, more specifically, undermine the great power contained within the Resurrection of Christ.

Yet, if Fr. Schmemann was anything, he was a life-affirming person and thinker who, in his expressive manner, always spoke and wrote of the "Good News" proclaimed throughout the New Testament and liturgical life of the Church. He thus pointed out defects that have entered our way of thinking so that we could recover the Gospel in all of its power:

He alone rose from the dead, but He has destroyed our death, destroying its dominion, its despair, its finality.

Christ does not promise us Nirvana or some sort of misty life beyond the grave, but the resurrection of life, a new heaven and a new earth, the joy of universal resurrection. Christ is risen, and life abides, life lives ...

That is the meaning; that is the unending joy of this truly central and fundamental confirmation of the Symbol of Faith: "And the third day, He rose again according to the Scriptures." 

According to the Scriptures, i.e. in accordance with that knowledge of life, with that design for the world and humanity, for the soul and body, for the spirit and matter, for life and death, which has been revealed to us in the holy Scriptures.

This is the entire faith, the entire love, and the entire hope of Christianity. And this is why the Apostle Paul says, "If Christ is not risen, then your faith is in vain.

 

As a kind of appendix affirmation to the above, I would like to include, and thus conclude, with a passage from one of the most prominent Orthodox theologians of the twentieth century, the Romanian-born Dumitru Staniloae. Attempting to capture the essence of the Orthodox Church's absorption of, and appreciation for, the gift of Christ's Resurrection, Fr. Staniloae chose the word "salvation" as the best to summarize the Church's interior knowledge of ultimate reality:

Salvation expresses the deepest, most comprehensive and many-sided meaning of the work which Jesus Christ accomplished. In this last dimension, that is to say, understood as the destruction of man's death in all of its forms and the assurance of full and eternal life, the word "salvation" produces in the Orthodox faithful a feeling of absolute gratitude towards Christ to whom they owe the deliverance of their existence and the prospect of eternal life and happiness.

For those who would like to read the entire essay from Fr. Alexander Schmemann, the link below is for your convenience:

http://oca.org/reflections/fr-alexander-schmemann/the-christian-concept-of-death

PASCHA - Day Twenty Seven — To Resurrect the Cosmos

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!  INDEED HE IS RISEN!

"The work of Christ therefore presents a physical, one must even say, biological reality. On the cross, death is swallowed up by life. In Christ, death enters into divinity and is destroyed there, for "it does not find a place." Thus, redemption signifies the struggle for life against death and the triumph of life. Christ's humanity constitutes the first-fruits of a new creation. Through it a life force is introduced into the cosmos to resurrect and transfigure it for the final destruction of death. Since the incarnation and resurrection, death is unnerved, is no longer absolute. Everything converges towards the complete restoration of all that is destroyed by death, towards the illumination of the entire cosmos by the glory of God become all in all things, without excluding from this plentitude the freedom of each person before the full awareness his wretchedness, which the light divine will communicate to him."

From Dogmatic Theology by Vladimir Lossky (+1958)

_____

Vladimir Lossky wrote what today is still considered the classic of Orthodox theological literature of the 20th c. And that book is The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. That book had an enormous influence on me when I first encountered it as a young man. I have subsequently read through it many times, together with his other books, as the one from which today's paschal meditation is taken. 

For all inquirers and catechumens, I continue to recommend reading The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church for all those who are ready to study a more challenging work. Not "easy" reading, but deeply inspiring and a "taste" of the richness of the Orthodox Christian Tradition. Lossky combines eloquence of expression and theological depth in his writing, and this has the result of a theological vision that is not only intellectually attractive, but which also speaks directly to the heart and soul, and which creates in us a thirst for the living God encountered in the Church. And that is one of the main goals of theology.

Contemporary Classics of Orthodox Literature

 

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,  

"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God ..."  - Heb. 13:7

 

 

Contemporary Classics of Orthodox Literature

 by Fr. Steven Kostoff

It is my observation that today many Orthodox Christians are reading a good deal of contemporary Orthodox literature - books on spirituality, liturgy, theology and history. These are books that are read immediately upon publication and which are very well promoted - if not well "marketed." A steady Orthodox reading discipline/program is essential in today's world perhaps more than ever. We are so ideologically bombarded from so many disparate quarters, that we need to remember who we are and what we believe! 

I am writing, though, with a particular concern in mind: Perhaps we are only - or mostly only - reading the most contemporary literature. Most of the Orthodox literature that I am now referring to can be accessed on Ancient Faith Radio. There is a circle of well-read authors there who are fairly prolific and have a wide Orthodox reading audience. I am not writing anything against those authors or their books.

However, because I am from an older generation, and have been an Orthodox priest for over forty years now, I want to make a heartfelt plea for the great writers who nurtured me, who nurtured an entire earlier generation or two, and who wrote the classics of twentieth century Orthodox literature. This is a great literature that placed Orthodoxy on the "map" both in America and in Europe and beyond - into Russia and other parts of the world. 

I strongly believe that we need to read these classics of the twentieth century, because these are the very books that served as the foundation for others to build on. These were books that allowed Orthodoxy to emerge from its sheltered ethnic communities; books which revived an abiding and lasting focus on the Fathers of the Church; books which completely restored the apostolic vision of the Liturgy and the Eucharist; and books that penetrated deeply into our genuine spiritual Tradition with the insights and practices that lead us to lives of holiness. 

I repeat: I am not claiming that our newer contemporary literature cannot do that, but our newer authors are standing on the shoulders of the "giants" who prepared the vision that may sustain them. For the sake of balance and wholeness, we must not neglect these classics. It would be a great loss if these books - and their authors - were more-or-less forgotten as the years pass. A further point is that the authors I am about to enumerate were steeped in a centuries-old Orthodox culture. They did not need to be overly defensive defensive, polemical or apologetic. 

This is not a "nostalgia fest" on my part. Of that, I can assure you. I think that as clergy and laity, we need a broad a range of theological grounding as much possible, and again, the classics go a long way in assuring that. (I of course, assume that everyone is reading the Scriptures and Fathers with regularity).

There were four great writers from the Orthodox Tradition that wrote brilliant and compelling books for many decades throughout the twentieth century. I read their works over and over - and over. They have had a lasting effect on me, and I like to think that in my own very modest way, I have applied their vision in my own pastoral ministry, from liturgy to theology. With the exception of Lossky, the other three - especially Frs. Schmemann and Meyendorff - were the key "architects" in establishing the Orthodox Church in America. I had the great privilege of actually knowing, studying under and worshiping with, Frs. Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff while a student at St. Vladimir's Seminary (1978-1981), as well as with Fr. Thomas Hopko. An unforgettable experience.

So, here are a few of the authors and books that I would like to highlight and bring to your attention:

+ George Florovsky (1893 - 1979)

His collected works have been published in 13 volumes, I believe, but I would single out:

Vol 1 - Bible, Church, Tradition - An Orthodox Perspective - A collection of essays that provide insight after insight into the meaning and relationship between Scripture and Tradition.

Vol. IV - Creation and Redemption - Another set of brilliant essays that incorporate the works of the Church Fathers in understanding the divine oikonomia from the Incarnation to the Resurrection.

There is a new volume of many never-before translated works, though it is quite expensive. Still, a worthwhile investment. Everything is simply brilliant that is contained in this volume, which also has a great Introduction:

The Patristic Witness of George Florovsky - The Essential Theological Writings 

+ Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958)

The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church - This book is the Orthodox classic of the twentieth century, written in 1945. It takes some real concentration, but endlessly fascinating and insightful.

The Image and Likeness of God - Essays that cover the whole range of theological, anthropological and Mariological themes.

Orthodox Dogmatics - A comprehensive study of dogmatic subjects by a brilliant theologian who leans heavily on the Church Fathers. 

 

+ Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983)

For the Life of the World - An absolute "must read" classic.

Great Lent - Considered the best single volume on the subject in the English language by Met. Kallistos Ware.

The Eucharist - Fr. Schmemann's final study of his life-long engagement with the meaning and practice of the Eucharist.

Church, World, Mission - A series of challenging essays about the Orthodox Church facing the challenges of the contemporary world. 

 

John Meyendorff (1926-1993)

Byzantine Theology - Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes - A "classic" study of the Byzantine roots of our theological Tradition.

The Byzantine Legacy of the Orthodox Church - A great collection of essays that distinguish between the relative and eternal components of the Byzantine legacy.

Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions - A more detailed look at Church History from the 5th - 8th c. A brilliant work of historical synthesis.

 

Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (1934-2022)  

We cannot fail to mention him! He comes from a background different than the "big four," but he was a decisive figure in bringing Orthodox literature to the non-Orthodox Christian world.

The Orthodox Church - Still the best one-volume introduction to the Orthodox Church.

The Orthodox Way - a great supplement to The Orthodox Church focusing on what we call Orthodox spirituality. A real favorite!

Sacraments of Healing -  Just published and a further supplement to the two other books by Met. Kallistos. To be read together in this year's upcoming Fall Adult Education Class.

The Inner Kingdom - A collection of endlessly fascinating essays by Met. Kallistos, covering his conversion to Orthodoxy to profound insights into the last judgement - and beyond.

 

Other contemporary authors that are excellent and who have been writing for some time now, are: John Behr (Becoming Human), Andrew Louth (Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology), Metropolitan Ilarion (The Orthodox Faith), Peter Bouteneff (How To Be a Sinner), Nona Verna Harrison (The Many-Splendored Image of God). Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (God and Man; Beginning to Pray);  Metropolitan John Zizioulas (Being and Communion), and, of course, Fr. Thomas Hopko (The Orthodox Faith in four volumes), are writers who have rather recently "fallen asleep in the Lord." 

I fully realize that I could be "preaching to the choir," and I apologize if it sounds as if I am implying that you have not read any/some/many of the books above. You may know this literature very well, indeed! And, I do not want to sound patronizing. But, I have been around and reading since the early 1970's(!), so I thought to share some of my own experience with Orthodox literature with those of you who have not been Orthodox for as long. Please accept my advice in that spirit. If anyone would like to pursue this further, a group of us could have a zoom session on this or a related theme.

In Christ,

Fr. Steven