From: Subject: The difference between Orthodox spirituality and other traditions Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:08:08 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_006C_01C6F301.E4F07AC0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2962 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_006C_01C6F301.E4F07AC0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.geocities.com/trvalentine/orthodox/vlachos_difference.html =EF=BB=BF The difference between Orthodox = spirituality and other traditions var PUpage=3D"76001081"; var PUprop=3D"geocities"; =

Formatting notes: This is the format for = quotations. =E2=80=94=20 Endnotes appear in this format. =E2=80=94 M= ore=20 information.

Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos)

The Difference between
Orthodox Spirituality
and Other = Traditions

from Chapter 2, Orthodox Spirituality: A brief=20 introduction

Orthodox spirituality differs distinctly from any other=20 spirituality of an eastern or western type. There can be no = confusion=20 among the various spiritualities, because Orthodox spirituality is = God-centred,=20 whereas all others are man-centred.

The difference appears primarily in the doctrinal = teaching. For=20 this reason we put Orthodox before the word Church so as = to=20 distinguish it from any other religion. Certainly Orthodox must = be linked=20 with the term Ecclesiastic, since Orthodoxy cannot exist outside = of the=20 Church; neither, of course, can the Church exist outside Orthodoxy.

The dogmas are the results of decisions made at the = Ecumenical=20 Councils on various matters of faith. Dogmas are referred to as such, = because=20 they draw the boundaries between truth and error, between sickness and = health.=20 Dogmas express the revealed truth. They formulate the life of the = Church. Thus=20 they are, on the one hand, the expression of Revelation and on the other = act as=20 remedies in order to lead us to communion with God; to our reason = for=20 being.

Dogmatic differences reflect corresponding differences = in therapy.=20 If a person does not follow the right way he cannot ever reach = his=20 destination. If he does not take the proper remedies he cannot = ever=20 acquire health; in other words, he will experience no therapeutic = benefits.=20 Again, if we compare Orthodox spirituality with other Christian = traditions, the=20 difference in approach and method of therapy is more evident.

A fundamental teaching of the Holy Fathers is that the = Church is a=20 Hospital which cures the wounded man. In many passages of Holy = Scripture=20 such language is used. One such passage is that of the parable of the = Good=20 Samaritan: But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he = was. And=20 when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his = wounds,=20 pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal, and brought = him to an=20 inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took = out two=20 denarii, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care = of him=20 and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you = (Luke=20 10:33-35).

In this parable, the Samaritan represents Christ who = cured the=20 wounded man and led him to the Inn, that is to the Hospital which = is the=20 Church. It is evident here that Christ is presented as the Healer, the = physician=20 who cures man's maladies; and the Church as the true Hospital. It is = very=20 characteristic that Saint John Chrysostom, analysing this parable, = presents=20 these truths emphasised above.

Man's life in Paradise was reduced to a life = governed by=20 the devil and his wiles. And fell among thieves, that is in the = hands of=20 the devil and of all the hostile powers. The wounds man suffered are the = various=20 sins, as the prophet David says: my wounds grow foul and fester = because of my=20 foolishness (Psalm 37). For every sin causes a bruise and a = wound.=20 The Samaritan is Christ Himself who descended to earth from Heaven in = order to=20 cure the wounded man. He used oil and wine to treat the wounds; = in other=20 words, by mingling His blood with the Holy Spirit, he brought man to=20 life. According to another interpretation, oil corresponds to the = comforting=20 word and wine to the harsh word. Mingled together they have the power to = unify=20 the scattered mind. He set him in His own beast, that is He = assumed human=20 flesh on the shoulders of His divinity and ascended incarnate to = His=20 Father in Heaven.

Then the Good Samaritan, i.e. Christ, took man to the = grand,=20 wondrous and spacious inn =E2=80=94 to the Church. And He handed man = over to the=20 innkeeper, who is the Apostle Paul, and through the Apostle Paul to all = bishops=20 and priests, saying: Take care of the Gentile people, whom I have = handed over=20 to you in the Church. They suffer illness wounded by sin, so cure them, = using as=20 remedies the words of the Prophets and the teaching of the Gospel; make = them=20 healthy through the admonitions and comforting word of the Old and New=20 Testaments. Thus, according to Saint Chrysostom, Paul is he who = maintains=20 the Churches of God, curing all people by his spiritual admonitions = and=20 offering to each one of them what they really need.

In the interpretation of this parable by Saint John = Chrysostom, it=20 is clearly shown that the Church is a Hospital which cures people = wounded by=20 sin; and the bishops and priests are the therapists of the people of = God.

And this precisely is the work of Orthodox theology. = When=20 referring to Orthodox theology, we do not simply mean a history of = theology. The=20 latter is, of course, a part of this but not absolutely or exclusively. = In=20 Patristic tradition, theologians are the God-seers. = Saint=20 Gregory Palamas calls Barlaam (who attempted to bring Western scholastic = theology into the Orthodox Church) a theologian, but he clearly=20 emphasises that intellectual theology differs greatly from the = experience of the=20 vision of God. According to Saint Gregory Palamas theologians are the = God-seers;=20 those who have followed the method of the Church and have = attained to=20 perfect faith, to the illumination of the nous and to = divinisation=20 (theosis). Theology is the fruit of man's cure and the path = which leads=20 to cure and the acquisition of the knowledge of God.

Western theology, however, has differentiated itself = from Eastern=20 Orthodox theology. Instead of being therapeutic, it is more intellectual = and=20 emotional in character. In the West (after the Carolingian = Renaissance)=20 scholastic theology evolved, which is antithetical to the Orthodox = Tradition.=20 Western theology is based on rational thought whereas Orthodoxy is = hesychastic.=20 Scholastic theology tried to understand logically the Revelation of God = and=20 conform to philosophical methodology. Characteristic of such an approach = is the=20 saying of Anselm (Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093-1109), one of the = first=20 after the Norman Conquest and destruction of the Old English Orthodox = Church):=20 I believe so as to understand. The Scholastics acknowledged God = at the=20 outset and then endeavoured to prove His existence by logical arguments = and=20 rational categories. In the Orthodox Church, as expressed by the Holy = Fathers,=20 faith is God revealing Himself to man. We accept faith by hearing it not = so that=20 we can understand it rationally, but so that we can cleanse our hearts, = attain=20 to faith by theoria Theoria is the vision = of the=20 glory of God. Theoria is identified with the vision of the uncreated = Light, the=20 uncreated energy of God, with the union of man with God, with man's=20 theosis. Thus, theoria, vision and theosis are closely = connected.=20 Theoria has various degrees. There is illumination, vision of God, and = constant=20 vision (for hours, days, weeks, even months). Noetic prayer is the first = stage=20 of theoria. Theoretical man is one who is at this stage. In Patristic = theology,=20 the theoretical man is characterised as the shepherd of the = sheep. and=20 experience the Revelation of God.

Scholastic theology reached its culminating point in the = person of=20 Thomas Aquinas, a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He claimed that = Christian=20 truths are divided into natural and supernatural. Natural truths can be = proven=20 philosophically, like the truth of the Existence of God. Supernatural = truths =E2=80=94=20 such as the Triune God, the incarnation of the Logos, the resurrection = of the=20 bodies =E2=80=94 cannot be proven philosophically, yet they cannot be = disproven.=20 Scholasticism linked theology very closely with philosophy, even more so = with=20 metaphysics. As a result, faith was altered and scholastic theology = itself fell=20 into complete disrepute when the idol of the West =E2=80=94 = metaphysics =E2=80=94=20 collapsed. Scholasticism is held accountable for much of the tragic = situation=20 created in the West with respect to faith and faith issues.

The Holy Fathers teach that natural and metaphysical = categories do=20 not exist but speak rather of the created and uncreated. Never did the = Holy=20 Fathers accept Aristotle's metaphysics. However, it is not my intent to = expound=20 further on this. Theologians of the West during the Middle Ages = considered=20 scholastic theology to be a further development of the teaching of the = Holy=20 Fathers, and from this point on, there begins the teaching of the Franks = that=20 scholastic theology is superior to that of the Holy Fathers. = Consequently,=20 Scholastics, who are occupied with reason, consider themselves superior = to the=20 Holy Fathers of the Church. They also believe that human knowledge, an = offspring=20 of reason, is loftier than Revelation and experience.

It is within this context that the conflict between = Saint Gregory=20 Palamas and Barlaam should be viewed. Barlaam was essentially a = scholastic=20 theologian who attempted to pass on scholastic theology to the Orthodox=20 East.

Barlaam's views =E2=80=94 that we cannot really know Who = the Holy Spirit=20 is exactly (an outgrowth of which is agnosticism), that the ancient = Greek=20 philosophers are superior to the Prophets and the Apostles (since reason = is=20 above the vision of the Apostles), that the light of the Transfiguration = is=20 something which is created and can be undone, that the hesychastic way = of life=20 (i.e. the purification of the heart and the unceasing noetic = prayer) is=20 not essential =E2=80=94 are views which express a scholastic and, = subsequently, a=20 secularised point of view of theology. Saint Gregory Palamas foresaw the = danger=20 that these views held for Orthodoxy and through the power and energy of = the Most=20 Holy Spirit and the experience which he himself had acquired as a = successor to=20 the Holy Fathers, he confronted this great danger and preserved = unadulterated=20 the Orthodox Faith and Tradition.

Having given a framework to the topic at hand, if = Orthodox=20 spirituality is examined in relationship to Roman Catholicism and = Protestantism,=20 the differences are immediately discovered.

Protestants do not have a therapeutic treatment = tradition.=20 They suppose that believing in God, intellectually, constitutes = salvation. Yet=20 salvation is not a matter of intellectual acceptance of truth; rather it = is a=20 person's transformation and divinisation by grace. This transformation = is=20 effected by the analogous treatment of one's personality, as = shall be=20 seen in the following chapters. In the Holy Scripture it appears that = faith=20 comes by hearing the Word and by experiencing theoria (the vision = of=20 God). We accept faith at first by hearing in order to be healed, and = then we=20 attain to faith by theoria, which saves man. Protestants, because they = believe=20 that the acceptance of the truths of faith, the theoretical acceptance = of God's=20 Revelation, i.e. faith by hearing saves man, do not have a=20 therapeutic tradition. It could be said that such a conception of = salvation is very naive.

The Roman Catholics as well do not have the perfection = of the=20 therapeutic tradition which the Orthodox Church has. Their doctrine of = the=20 Filioque is a manifestation of the weakness in their theology = to grasp=20 the relationship existing between the person and society. They confuse = the=20 personal properties: the unbegotten of the Father, the = begotten of=20 the Son, and the procession of the Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause = of the=20 generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit.

The Latins' weakness to comprehend and failure to = express the=20 dogma of the Trinity shows the non-existence of empirical theology. The = three=20 disciples of Christ (Peter, James and John) beheld the glory of Christ = on Mount=20 Tabor; they heard at once the voice of the Father, This is My beloved = Son=20 and saw the coming of the Holy Spirit in a cloud, for, the cloud is the = presence=20 of the Holy Spirit, as Saint Gregory Palamas says. Thus the disciples of = Christ=20 acquired the knowledge of the Triune God in theoria (vision of God) and = by=20 revelation. It was revealed to them that God is one essence in three=20 hypostases.

This is what Saint Symeon the New Theologian teaches. In = his poems=20 he proclaims over and over that, while beholding the uncreated Light, = the=20 deified man acquires the Revelation of God the Trinity. Being in = theoria=20 (vision of God), the saints do not confuse the hypostatic attributes. = The fact=20 that the Latin tradition came to the point of confusing these hypostatic = attributes and teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son also, = shows=20 the non-existence of empirical theology for them. Latin tradition speaks = also of=20 created grace, a fact which suggests that there is no experience of the = grace of=20 God. For, when man obtains the experience of God, then he comes to = understand=20 well that this grace is uncreated. Without this experience there can be = no=20 genuine therapeutic tradition.

And indeed we cannot find in all of Latin tradition, the = equivalent to Orthodoxy's therapeutic method. The nous is not = spoken=20 of; neither is it distinguished from reason. The darkened nous is not = treated as=20 a malady, nor the illumination of the nous as therapy. Many greatly = publicised=20 Latin texts are sentimental and exhaust themselves in a barren = ethicology. In=20 the Orthodox Church, on the contrary, there is a great tradition = concerning=20 these issues, which shows that within it there exists the true = therapeutic=20 method.

A faith is a true faith inasmuch as it has therapeutic = benefits.=20 If it is able to cure, then it is a true faith. If it does not cure, it = is not a=20 true faith. The same thing can be said about medicine: a true scientist = is the=20 doctor who knows how to cure and his method has therapeutic benefits, = whereas a=20 charlatan is unable to cure. The same holds true where matters of the = soul are=20 concerned. The difference between Orthodoxy and the Latin tradition, as = well as=20 the Protestant confessions, is apparent primarily in the method of = therapy. This=20 difference is made manifest in the doctrines of each denomination. = Dogmas are=20 not philosophy, neither is theology the same as philoosphy.

Since Orthodox spirituality differs distinctly from the=20 spiritualities of other confessions, so much the more does it = differ from=20 the spirituality of eastern religions, which do not believe in = the=20 Theanthropic nature of Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are influenced = by the=20 philosophical dialectic, which has been surpassed by the Revelation of = God.=20 These traditions are unaware of the notion of personhood and thus the = hypostatic=20 principle. And love, as a fundamental teaching, is totally absent. One = may find,=20 of course, in these eastern religions an effort on the part of their = followers=20 to divest themselves of images and rational thoughts, but this is in = fact a=20 movement towards nothingness, to non-existence. There is no path leading = their=20 disciples to theosis-divinisation Theosis-Divinisation is the participation in the Uncreated = grace of=20 God. Theosis is identified and connected with the theoria (vision) of = the=20 Uncreated Light (see note above). It is called theosis in grace because = it is=20 attained through the energy, of the divine grace. It is a co-operation = of God=20 with man, since God is He Who operates and man is he who = co-operates. of=20 the whole man.

This is why a vast and chaotic gap exists between = Orthodox=20 spirituality and the eastern religions, in spite of certain external=20 similarities in terminology. For example, eastern religions may employ = terms=20 like ecstasy, dispassion, illumination, noetic energy, etc. but they are = impregnated with a content different from corresponding terms in = Orthodox=20 spirituality.

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The Difference betweenOrthodox Spiritualityand Other = Traditions

The Difference between
Orthodox Spirituality
and Other = Traditions