The 25th Anniversary of my Ordination to the Priesthood

I hate to toot my own horn on this, but today, August 26, 2020 is the 25th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood.  It took place in Columbia, South Carolina, in the borrowed sanctuary of a Lutheran congregation (Lutheran congregations are often the best friends that Independent Sacramental Movement jurisdictions have.)  As we held the service, the remnants of a tropical storm made things interesting outside and because of that storm, few were in attendance.  However, my wife and two daughters were present, along with someone I'd gone to college with at the College of Charleston and a few others, including an Anglican priest and the then-pastor of the Lutheran congregation who hosted us and some of our employees who worked for the business that my wife and I were then running.

The altar of the Chapel of SS Felicity and Perpetua
in my home in Summerville SC.

The man who remains my primary bishop, Victor Mar Michael Herron, now head/or "Metran" of our jurisdiction, the Antiochian Catholic Church in America, ordained me to the priesthood as he had ordained me to the diaconate the previous September.  The Eucharist, or Qurbana, was the Liturgy of St. James, the ACCA's normal liturgy, and this particular Mass was celebrated in honor of St. Titus who, along with St. Timothy and others, was a bishop who came immediately after the Apostles.  His memorial day on the ACCA's calendar is August 25.  We also celebrated St. Moses the Ethiopian,  an enslaved thug who became a monk and then, a martyr.  We celebrate him on Aug 28.  My wife read the First Reading, which is from St. Paul's letter to Titus, Titus 1:1-9 (RSV):

"Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by command of God our Savior; To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and ordain presbyters in every town as I directed you, if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of being profligate or insubordinate.  For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it."

 I led the psalm and read the Gospel.  Mar Michael preached and said some nice things about me which was very gracious of him.  After the Creed, he called me to the altar where I knelt with head and hands on the altar, in the Byzantine manner, as I had done when I was ordained a deacon.  Mar Michael then ordained me to the priesthood, laying his hands on my head over his stole, which was draped over my head, and saying:

"The Divine Grace, which always heals that which is infirm, and completes that which is wanting, elevates through the laying on of hands the Deacon Gregory to be a priest.  Wherefore, let us pray for him that the grace of the all-holy Spirit may come upon him."

Mar Michael then offered the two prayers which follow in the Byzantine Rite for the ordination of a priest.  He then bade me rise and give the greeting of peace to the congregation present.  I did and all exchanged the peace with each other. 

Mar Michael then handed the liturgy off to me and I celebrated my first Eucharist, administering Holy Communion to my family and others who wished to receive.  At the end of the liturgy, Mar Michael led those present in "Many Years" and "Axios!"

So I have been an Orthodox-Catholic Christian priest now for 25 years, serving in a single micro-jurisdiction which believes, teaches, and practices the Apostolic Faith according to the non-chalcedonian Indo-West Syriac tradition.  Through a series of serendipitous events leading up to my affiliating with the ACCA and being ordained a deacon, I believe that the Lord led me to this particular jurisdiction and I intend to stay with it until the end of my life. 

What do we mean when we speak of this no-chalcedonian tradition?  Well, most importantly, I think, it has to do with how we understand the Incarnation, the Divine Essence, the Human Essence, and the interrelationship of these. There is much to meditate upon here, but the first thing is (and I do not intend to state that Chalcedonians cannot or do not believe any of this as well, although sadly, it is usually not packaged together like this in the West, and the Eastern Orthodox?  Well, at least one EO theologian, the late Fr. John Meyendorff, called the EO "crypto-monophysite"), the Divine Essence is inherently communal.  God the "Father" then, in one eternal (timeless) act, an action with no beginning and no ending, generates, "gives birth to," or "begets" the Eternal Son and Word and, simultaneously in that same act, breathes forth the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit, "proceeding from the Father," "rests upon the Son" as we see in the baptism of the Lord Jesus in the Jordan.   This has to do with what is called the "economic Trinity," the triune God as revealed in the Divine Acts of Creation, the Incarnation, and the rest, that which is called "salvation history".  Another image used is that the Son/Word and the Holy Spirit are "the two hands" of the Father in creation and the remaining events of God's actions to, finally, divinize the cosmos and to become "all-in-all" and "everything to everyone" within the cosmos.

However, "prior" (logically or structurally, not chronologically) to this act, the Word and Spirit are found in the "bosom" of the Father and this Divine Triad here have a relationship, communion of the greatest intimacy.  This is the "immanent Trinity," in which each Divine Person is constituted of the other two, in which there is no "inner" or "outer" but each is completely transparent to the other two.  This communion is pictured, in the economic Trinity, as a relationship called "Perichoresis," or "dancing around," which pictures the three in an eternal circle-dance.  But however difficult it may be to visualize, this circle is always open to the inclusion of humans in order to expand the Divine Community and so that we might become by grace and adoption what the Divine Persons are by nature.

But the possibility for this has to do with human essence as created by the Divine Persons in the first place.    Humanity, both as a species and as distinct persons, is created in the "Image and Likeness of God".  While it is distorted by the fall, the human essence remains inherently communal.  It is also "capable of God."  Thus, the Incarnation is possible and, through that, our own deification is possible and this restores our relationship with the Divine Persons, but also, with the rest of humanity in Christ, who is both God and human.

One specific thing here should be noted.  In all the Christological debates in the early centuries of the Church and even now to some extent, the discussions often make it seem that Christology is a zero-sum game.  What I mean by that is that it seems in many cases, when the humanity of Christ is emphasized, there seems to be a concurrent de-emphasis of Christ's deity.  The opposite is also often true.  But this, I think, is incorrect.  As I see it, emphasizing Christ's deity also elevates humanity (His and ours) because it demonstrates that humanity is capable of incarnating a Divine Person and, through that, becoming deified on a wider scale and, through the life, death, and resurrection of this one Divine-human Person, deifying the entire creation.

Thus, to sum it up, the bottom line for me is that "I have no problem with believing and seeing that Jesus Christ is truly human as I am, and I do not doubt that he is also Divine.  I am concerned, not that Jesus is human like me, but that I become human like Jesus."  And yes, that means partaking of the Divine Nature through him in that his humanity, and mine, is fully realized through his being, first, God, the Second Divine Person.  So I thank the Lord Jesus, today and every day, for joining Himself to the human race and, by sharing the fullness of the human experience even unto death and then, rising again to die no more, sharing His Divine Life with us in His Body, the Church, via the work of the Holy Spirit in eliciting faith and allowing us to participate in the sacraments, the holy mysteries.  I thank Him, today especially, for the gift of the priesthood and for having had the honor and privilege of exercising it for the past 25 years. 

To the Lord Jesus, Eternal Son and Word of God born of the Father before all ages +, to God the Unoriginate Father, and to God the All-Holy, Good, and Live-giving Spirit, proceeding from the Father and resting upon the Son, be all glory, honor, and worship, both now and ever, in both worlds and unto the Aeon of aeons.  Amen!

The Progressive Dynamic: Tradition Part II

I have written the following in response to the questions raised by John Roop's comment on a previous post, found here: In short, John asks: ""Where do you draw the boundaries of Orthodoxy?" and related to this, "So, you draw the boundaries of Orthodoxy with the ACCA inside; they draw the borders with the ACCA on the outside. Who is correct, and on what basis do we judge?"

John, I am pretty sure that others have wondered about these things as well, so I thank you for giving me the opportunity for further clarification and explanation as to our stance on these matters.

APOSTOLIC vs. ORTHODOX

To begin, and as background, let me draw a distinction between "Orthodox" and "Apostolic". In speaking of the four communions, I am speaking primarily of the quality of apostolicity, as manifested in the presence of the apostolic succession of their bishops which, in each of these communions, comes down directly from the Apostles. Further, in speaking of the very high level of consensus that exists between them (even higher when one takes Rome out of the discussion), I was not thereby defining the Tradition. I was countering the argument that there is no intrinsic organic continuity, especially in belief and practice, between the Church of the Apostles and any community which exists today and that whatever traditions any such communion may hold are not necessarily helpful in understanding the Scripture, especially the New Testament. I was also showing that these four communions pretty much always agree with each other over against Protestantism. Obviously, a large segment of Anglicanism could be included in this consensus, but the problem there is that Anglicanism is so heterogeneous. So, no, I do not think this gives us a useful definition of "tradition" in this context.

In any case, "Orthodoxy" would be a sub-category. It is characterized in relation to Roman Catholicism and/or the Church of the East by adherence to either three or seven "ecumenical" councils; by an insistence that the Filioque, if not heretical, distorts the doctrine of God and was, in any case, added to the Creed improperly, only by papal fiat; by an ecclesiology that is counciliar from top to bottom; by an existential, non-legalistic, therapeutic approach to salvation which focuses on restoring communion with God and the healing of human nature damaged by sin and death: this process of salvation, of restoration, healing, and re-entering communion with God is summed up by the word "theosis" and is made possible, in the first instance, by the Incarnation. If this list is not exhaustive, it covers the main points of difference, particularly between the two types of Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. So then, the question of the ordination of women aside, it should be clear that the ACCA is, indeed, "Orthodox." In what follows, I shall argue that far from compromising our Orthodoxy, the fact that we ordain women in fact enhances and confirms it.

TRADITION AND DEVELOPMENT

But back to the question of tradition: the word itself is defined as "that which is passed on, handed over". But, when we come to the central question of this discussion, the possibility of women being ordained and functioning as priests and bishops, one must address the question of what COULD have been passed down and why it was not. We therefore also have to address the matter of "development".

The Orthodox, especially among the Byzantines, are often quite allergic to that word, and understandably so, in that it is usually associated with changes in Roman Catholic dogma and practice, especially in terms of things that the Orthodox find inherently unacceptable, even heretical. These issues include the addition of the Filioque to the Creed; the growth of papal authority and power, culminating in the decrees of the First Vatican Council; and "ex cathedra" statements made by Popes, statements which, according to Vatican I, are in and of themselves "irreformable" and thus, infallible. The one which the Orthodox find most problematic is the statement which defines that Mary was conceived without original sin, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

However, as the late J. Pelikan points out, if one considers Church history, one must acknowledge the presence of development, but development of an organic sort. He compares the development of the Church to the development that occurs when an acorn becomes an oak. In contrast, I would speak of the development that has happened within the Roman Catholic Church, especially with regard to the Filioque and the Papal claims, as not being organic, but rather, as being "mutations" meaning that they at best distort that which has been handed down and, at worst, depart from it.

So then, if we admit the notion of development, we can look at the development that occurs in the early Church, say from the beginning to perhaps 200 CE. We will immediately notice much direct continuity: in comparing the New Testament with the writings of the early Fathers, we find nothing that is, in the final analysis, contradictory, either in terms of belief or in terms of behavior, either moral behavior or liturgical behavior. The question of Church order is more complex, but the bottom line is that the Bishops succeed the Apostles, first, while the Apostles remain on earth, as a college in each local Church, a presbyteral body under an Apostle and assisted by deacons; however, already in Acts, we find James the Brother of the Lord acting alone in overseeing the Church in Jerusalem, assisted by presbyters and then, served by deacons as well. As the Apostles depart this life, the model of "one bishop in one city" prevails, and we see that concept already firmly in place in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch. In a sense, this is not necessarily developmental, in that, along with the Apostles, Jesus had also appointed the Seventy to assist them.

But what of discontinuity? Well, it seems that the practice of communal living, found in Acts, was short-lived, perhaps never leaving Jerusalem. It is significant, I think, that in the Fourth Century, St. John Chrysostom deplored this fact, even maintaining that the Church of his time saw few signs and wonders precisely on this account. There is the also the matter of the status of Jews vs. Gentiles. In the earliest Church, Gentile male converts were first circumcised, converted to Judaism, before being baptized. However, according to Acts, this was changed at the "Council" of Jerusalem, as described in Acts 15, after Peter receives a vision from God telling him to preach to a group of Gentiles and, in the aftermath, he witnesses them receiving the Holy Spirit. Paul, also, is already routinely preaching to and baptizing Gentiles without requiring they be circumcised. While it occurs very early in the life of the Church, it nevertheless represents development, even as the Church's creation of the diaconate does, as recounted in Acts 6:1-6.

The Role of Women in the Earliest Churches

And the role of women? It is clear that women served the early Church in leadership roles, roles that would have included presiding at the Eucharist. There is Prisca, the "fellow-worker" of St. Paul, along with her husband, Aquila (interestingly, the Byzantine Church lists Aquila among "the Seventy" but not Prisca (diminutive: Priscilla). However, from the NT, it seems that she had the more prominent role in the Church. There is a growing body of literature dealing with this, but for now, I will mention only Ben Witherington's Women in the Earliest Churches which clearly demonstrates that women had leadership roles, and therefore sacerdotal functions, in the earliest Christian communities.

I don't think that Witherington deals with this example, but it is clear that there were female prophets in the earliest Churches. (See Acts 21:9) Indeed, according to the words of the Prophet Joel, which Peter quotes in his sermon at Pentecost, in the "last days," beginning at Pentecost, "God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18) The equality of women in ministry is a sign of the last days, both in general and in particular.

Now, we turn to the Didache, written before 100 CE. In it, we see Church order in transition. On the one hand, we note that the old ministries of Apostle (presumably in the broad sense) and Prophet are still around, and are still held superior to that of "bishops". However, all of these are Christian "High Priests" and all are, as one therefore might expect, authorized to preside at the Eucharist, the sacrifice mentioned in Malachi 1:11. But wait: we have just noted, have we not, that the early Church recognized the ministry of female "Prophets"!

This is but one indication of a relative equality in ministry in the earliest Christian Communities. Witherington discusses Prisca, and he notes that she is not the only woman that St. Paul refers to "fellow-worker," a term he uses for men like Timothy and Titus. Also, there is the matter of the unquestionably female Apostle Junia, and the fact that St. Paul, even while requiring that women have their heads covered in the Assembly, acknowledges that they "pray and prophesy" during worship, as he writes in I Corinthians 11:5.

So what has happened? Well, first, women continued to be called and ordained as Deacons until relatively late in the First Millennium, and the Greek and Coptic Churches have indeed revived that practice, although their ministry tends to be restricted. Also, in the First Millennium, there are sporadic denunciations of a bishop here, a bishop there, who is ordaining women as presbyters. What is noteworthy, however, is that it is not until the work of Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas, early in the Second Millennium of the Christian Era, that anyone suggests that it is impossible to ordain women; rather, the denunciations say that women SHOULD not be ordained. Aquinas, for his part, says that women cannot be ordained because they are "defective males"; they are not, in effect, fully human. Of course, aside from any other consideration, this position is easily refuted by the most cursory glance at the first chapters of Genesis, which clearly indicate that both male and female are created in the image and likeness of God and that both together as well as distinctly, are called "Adam," meaning "human" (Genesis 5:1-2) Therefore, even though Aquinas is clearly basing his argument on a false ontology, Rome has uncritically followed him in this at least insofar as the RCC maintains that it is impossible to validly ordain a woman, to confer upon her the sacrament of ordination. We also note that none of the other sacraments are gender specific with the exception of marriage, and marriage requires one member of each gender.

Therefore, the question is not, "Can women be ordained to the presbyterate or episcopate?" but "Should women be so ordained?" Perhaps, between c. 100 CE and c. 1940, the answer was always "no", and today, it may be the case that in one place, one situation, a female priest is needed, while in another, one is neither needed or desirable. Along with the Byzantine theological writer Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, I advocate pluralism in this matter even as, after the Council of Jerusalem, the Messianic Jews continued to live according to Torah while recognizing that the Gentiles who were converting to Christ were not so bound.

There is also one other alleged basis for denying ordination to women, the "argument from ikonography". This refers to the biblical image of Christ as the bridegroom of the Church, his bride. The argument states that since the priest is alter Christus, he is, in a sense, married to the Church he serves. However, using this image in this way ignores the contrasting image, also found in Scripture, which is that of the Church as the "Body of Christ" and therefore, "the extension of the Incarnation". Obviously, neither image can be taken to the extent of excluding the other. To do so would be akin to arguing that since the Church is the ikon of the Trinity, it must have Three and only Three members!

Then, there is a consideration that has yet to be mentioned, the role of the Theotokos, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Beginning with the Annunciation, she shares in all aspects of her Son's ministry. She is Prophet, she is Queen, and yes, she is Priest. Together with her Divine Son, she offers Him in sacrifice to the Father as she stands at the foot of the Cross. She receives her ordination to the priesthood at the Incarnation even as she shows herself to be prophet in her utterance of the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).

We have seen that the earliest Churches included women at all levels of ministry but that this did not become part of the Tradition, that which is passed on, except with regard to women deacons, or deaconesses, but that it could have. But why was it not passed on? And, since it did not, can we justify the practice today? I believe we can.

PROGRESSIVE ORTHODOXY

As noted above, there is indeed progress, development within the life of the Church. This begins with the decision of Acts 15 (or even, with the creation of the order of Deacons). With this decision, one matter of division and domination, that of "Jew and Greek" in the words of St. Paul, is overcome. Over the next centuries, the Church and Christendom progressively address the matter of "slave and free". Until it raises its ugly head again in the early modern period with the European enslavement of sub-Saharan Africans, slavery all but disappears from Christendom. However, of these three divisions within humanity, all the result of the fall, it is clear that "male and female" is most basic. Humanity is created male and female but is not created, in the first instance, "Jew and Greek" and certainly not "slave and free" However, as a result of the fall, according to Genesis 3, patriarchy becomes the normal relationship between men and women. But, according to St. Paul, these three basic fault lines of humanity, along which not only division, but also oppression and domination arise, are overcome in Christ. And, the result, in the end, is the perfect freedom and equality of the Kingdom of God "which is to come" wherein God will be "all-in-all" and "everything to everyone". Thus, following Bishop Zizioulas, the life of the Church is not only grounded in that which is instituted by Christ in the past, but is also constituted, being pulled into the future by the Holy Spirit.

Now, as it happens, the first purpose of the Church is the salvation, the making whole, of distinct human persons. However, in the process, the Church also cannot help but affect the culture, and its associated institutions, in which she finds herself in any given historical period. Thus, the question becomes, in effect, "How does this question, or that issue, affect the possibility of bringing human persons into communion with God?" St. Paul, for example, does not take on slavery directly, but his mission and ministry begins a process which subverts, and eventually virtually eliminates, slavery among Christians. It is this same impulse that empowers the Christian abolitionists of the early modern period even as they confront this evil more assertively. In the case of the question of Jews and Gentiles, God intervenes directly, demonstrating that Gentiles, too, were called to Christ and that apart from circumcision. In the case of women, both apply. At least in the West, it has become increasingly the case that more and more people are concerned with moving beyond patriarchy, and if the Church is to be engaged, it must address this question in one way or another. Also, Christian women increasingly testify to having a call to ordained ministry, including at least one RC Saint, Terese Martin, "the Little Flower". And, in those places where women are ordained to Christian ministry, including to the priesthood, as in Anglicanism and in certain of the Independent Orthodox/Catholic Churches, including the ACCA, the testimony of those receiving the ministry of these women is almost always positive. "By their fruits you shall know them." And, once again, we can place this in the context of the words of Joel, quoted by Peter at Pentecost: "In the last days, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

The late J. Pelikan has famously said that "tradition is the living faith of the dead while traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." Because the Church moves toward the kingdom, because salvation entails the healing of humanity, both in terms of individual persons and humanity as a whole, fidelity to the Tradition must be dynamic or it, in fact, ceases to be fidelity and becomes something else. Patriarchy, ethnic differentiation and conflict, and socioeconomic stratification and oppression are all results of the fall, but in Christ, they are conquered and will eventually be completely overcome. The Church is called to witness to this, not only verbally, but also in the way in which it lives its life.

Therefore, the ACCA claims to be Orthodox in terms of a dynamic adherence to the Tradition that, I think, will eventually be found as well in the mainstream jurisdictions of the two forms of Orthodoxy, in Roman Catholicism, and in the Assyrian Church of the East. Who judges? In the end, God. Until then, however, history will judge. "By their fruits you shall know them."

Tradition!

I have been participating in a conversation with a gentleman named Derek Oullette, found in the comments thread of this blog post. Derek's background is very similar to mine, and he still remains within the ambit of Arminian Evangelicalism. This particular conversation has ended, at least there, either because of the software involved or because Derek chose to cut off further comments. Well, having my own blog and, not being afraid to use it, I will continue the conversation here, and Derek, you are of course, most welcome to resume it here as well; other readers are also invited to join in if you would like.

Also, Derek, thank you for inspiring me to write another post here.

Derek, your last statement is to quote an aphorism often attributed, as you do, to Augustine of Hippo: "“In the essentials, unity. In the nonessentials, liberty. In all things, love”

Well, we of course agree on the priority of love. One should not call onself a Christian and disagree with that. After all, "GOD IS love." However, at the same time, we are called to "speak the truth in love."

Thus, I intend to continue to speak what I understand to be the truth, justifying my reasons for holding the positions that I do, "the hope that is within me," and yes, doing so in love. "The love of Christ constrains us" and "Woe is me if I do not preach the good news." But, beyond that, this aphorism really solves nothing. In the Preface to Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, "One of the things Christians are disagreed about is the importance of their disagreements. When two Christians of different denominations start arguing, it is usually not long before one asks whether such-and-such a point 'really matters' and the other replies: 'Matter? Why, it's absolutely essential."

So, yes: I hold that these questions are essential, and in this I am in agreement with the four communions of Churches which can trace their ancestry directly back to the Apostles and their missions. These are: the two forms of Orthodoxy, Byzantine and Non-Chalcedonian; the Roman Catholic Church; and the Assyrian Church of the East. (Each of these also has certain off-shoots, schisms which, unlike virtually all of Protestantism, has largely preserved the faith and practice of its parent. I am a priest in an off-shoot of the non-Chalcedonian Indian Orthodox Church.) A great portion of Anglicanism would agree as well.

Of course, this begs the question: Why? WHY are these matters essential? Short answer: because God is communitarian and humanity, created in the image and likeness of God, is called to be a full and authentic community as well. Now, being a community requires that its members be SOCIAL, integrally related one to another. Thus, becoming a Christian in the full and complete sense of that word requires that one be a member of a visible, historical, social community which is, in fact, the re-creation of humanity as spiritual kindred of the "Son of Adam" (the "last Adam") and the "Second Eve." Christianity is not a "me and Jesus", a "me and God alone" religion any more than humanity is merely a collection of separate individuals. St. Paul writes that Christians "are members one of another". This is so because, first, the Divine Persons are "members one of another" and therefore, all of humanity is created for this end as well.

Again, these questions are: that of the nature and status of the Church and the status of its leadership; that of whether or not one is regenerated by the waters of baptism; that of the status of the consecrated bread and wine of the Lord's Supper; and the question of what Jesus means in John 20:21-23. We can also include here the need for a full account of what is prescribed in James 5:14-15: who are the "presbyters" mentioned here? How are they chosen? What is the criteria? Who ordains them and how? How is it that forgiveness of sins is connected with a ritual given for physical healing? On what basis can all of these questions be answered? And so on.

The original references from the New Testament, each addressing one (or more) of these questions, are as follows: Matthew 10:40; Matthew 16:18-19; Matthew 18:18; Mathew 28:18-20; Luke 10:16; John 3:5; John 6:35-58; John 13:20; John 20:22-23; Acts 2:37-38; Romans 6:1-6; I Corinthians 10:1-22 (especially I Corinthians 10:16-21); I Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:26; I Timothy 3:15; Titus 3:5; I Peter 3:21.

I'm kind of working backward here in dealing with Derek's last comment, but I am going to skip over the matter of "haughtiness" for a moment and take up the question of the Creeds. Derek makes what is usually considered a self-evident statement, that the Creeds (or, more precisely, THE Creed, that of Nicea-Constantinople), "have been agreed upon by ALL CHRISTENDOM, not just one wing. Those Creeds reflect the core convictions of Christianity and for that reason I take it for granted that they are in union with the Scriptures."

Okay, however: there are those who profess faith in Christ but who do not accept the Creed: Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Oneness Pentecostals. We can say, as I would tend to do, that precisely because they reject the Creed, these groups are not fully and authentically Christian. I of course leave their judgment, both as to persons and communities, to Christ. However, there is an inevitable circularity there if we are going to deny that these folks are Christian. There are others who, while (usually) being at least tacitly Trinitarian, reject the notion of creeds altogether, their slogan often being, "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."

And, even, among all those who do accept the Creed, there are differences. The Filioque, for example, is perhaps the best known, largely dividing the Roman Catholic and Protestant West from the Orthodox and Assyrian East. However, when the two types of Orthodox, Roman Catholics, members of the Assyrian Church of the East, and many Anglicans profess a belief in "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" they all mean something quite different from what Lutherans, Calvinists, and other Protestants mean.

While there are some disagreements between the Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and the Assyrians these groups agree about the Church 95% over against the diverse opinions found within Protestantism (and the Orthodox and the Church of the East usually agree with each other over against Rome). Confession of faith in "one baptism for the remission of sins" always carries differences in meaning between those who accept the original doctrine of baptismal regeneration and those who do not.

So, it cannot really be said that all Christendom professes the Creed or that even, all who do mean exactly the same thing in doing so. And this, of course, is where the difficulties lie. You state, Derek, that the Church Fathers are of diverse opinions. I deny that the Fathers are of diverse opinions when it comes to the central questions I raise above.

That is, all of the Fathers hold that the Church is a visible historical, organization, continuous in time and space and that, however this is specified, she is infallible, meaning that if one lives within her and follows her path, one will surely be saved in all senses of that word. "Outside the Church there is no salvation." Further, the councils all presume this as well.

The same is true regarding all the other questions. On these matters, the Fathers all agree, as do the four communions mentioned above which trace their ancestry directly to the Apostles and their missionary efforts. And guess what? To a one extent or another, Protestantism, and especially, Evangelicalism, disagrees with the four iterations of the Apostolic Tradition on these matters.

Which brings us back to the beginning of Derek's last comment. I have proposed that the passages I have cited really require very little interpretation. However, I ask, if they do require interpretation, upon what basis are we to interpret them? I then suggest that authorial intent and historical context would be the proper way of understanding these passages as with any other work of literature, and this means, when dealing with the New Testament, that we have to interpret them according to the Tradition in that it is the Tradition which seals the canon of the Old Testament and which gives us both the New Testament documents and the New Testament canon itself.

Derek responds to this by, first, saying that he does not want to chuck his brain at the Church door, and with this I agree, although I would add the caveat that the first task of anyone following Christ is not primarily a task of the intellect, but of the heart and body. (See below.) He also writes, " I see Scripture (i.e. the divinely inspired Word of God or we could word it another way: The authority of God exercised through the Scriptures – which is all saying the same thing) as primary in that Tradition must always be weighted against it and if ever found wanting, must be open to correction."

Okay, but give me an example. Where do you find Tradition wanting vis-a-vis the Scriptures? I do not know of such a place. Quite the opposite. If you cannot give me an example of this being a problem, then the question is moot, is it not? Derek wants to follow the Berean method of Acts 17:11. But this must presume that Scripture speaks clearly (as evidently it does not do so completely here: what precisely are "these things" and how did the Bereans verify them from the Old Testament?); otherwise, we have two hermeneutic problems, not just one. However, if one uses the rest of the Tradition, including the Creed (the "rule", or "canon", "of faith"), the decisions of the Councils (especially Nicea, Constantinople, and Ephesus), the content of the historic liturgies (the "canon of prayer"), and the writings of the Fathers, to interpret the Bible, then one is going to be certain of giving the Bible its just due. The Bible is like the bricks of a building. The rest of the Tradition is the mortar. This addresses the need that we all have, as with the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8:26-40, that someone guide us as we read (vs. 30-31).

For Orthodox Christians, regardless of nationality or any other distinguishing feature, it is all about the Tradition. We define the Tradition as the voice of the Holy Spirit in the Church "leading it into all truth", and we indeed point, first, to the Bible (in its full canon, not the truncated Protestant canon) as the cornerstone and primary statement of this Tradition. However, we understand the rest of the Tradition, especially the Creed and the liturgies, to be as inspired of the Holy Spirit as the Bible itself. The fathers are secondary, yet indispensable witnesses, especially with regard to the application of the Tradition in the lives of Christians as they live it out within the Church.

So what is left to be thought about? Well, for example: "how shall we then live?" How is the good news in all its fullness to be presented in the here and now? How can the classical doctrines of the faith be restated so that their relevance is made clear to people who think in categories very different from those of the first five centuries, or even the first millenium of the Christian era? For Orthodox Christianity, doctrine is always practical. It is always related to salvation, to the communion of humans, of humanity, first, with the Triune God and then, between human persons. IOW, there is no need to reinvent the wheel of the Tradition, just as there is no need to re-write the Bible. What is necessary is putting that wheel to its highest and best use.

Then, of course, there is the question of sorting, as Vladyka Kallistos Ware puts it, "patristic wheat from patristic chaff". A closely related question has to do with distinguishing the Tradition from traditionS. The latter is complicated by the fact that traditionS, or customs, are what, in a sense, incarnate the Tradition. Thus, while one must distinguish, in theory, between the human and the Divine in Christ, one can quickly find that in so doing, the understanding of both essences is distorted.

So anyway, Derek, are you looking for some intellectual stimulation in the theological area? Got just the book for ya: It is called Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. (Unfortunately, it is apparently out of print; I found you the best price that I could.)

But beyond that, harking back to the question of what has priority, the intellect or the heart, while walking the Christian path, let me, expanding upon C. S. Lewis, offer the following suggestions to all, including both Derek and myself:

• Spend at least as much time praying as you do reading.
• Do not neglect fasting and alms-giving. They too are integral Christian disciplines.
• For every contemporary piece that you read, read two ancient pieces; this was Lewis' original recommendation upon which I am troping.
• For every secular piece that you read, read two by Christian authors.
• For every Protestant, Anglican, or Roman Catholic work that you read, read two Orthodox works.

This is applicable always, but deserves all the extra effort that one can give it during Lent.

Now, let me return to the question of "haughtiness". This is, I guess, in the eye of the beholder, and if you, Derek, feel that I am being haughty, I am sorry. That is certainly not my intention, and I do not feel that I have been writing out of such a spirit. (Albeit I have been a bit in your face if you identify yourself completely and personally with Evangelicalism. I am criticizing a theology, not any person, including you, Derek.) I have not said, nor have I thought or felt, as I myself have heard directed at me from other sources, at least in effect, "You ain't really Orthodox, so you ain't shit." Since Derek is presumably baptized and accepts the Creed, I consider him a brother in Christ. And Derek, because of this, we would indeed welcome you, invite you, URGE you even, to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament with us.

Further, I myself grew up in a spiritual millieu quite similar to his. I understand, I think, that Derek, having not yet experienced a conscious and felt need for the sacraments, has also not yet heard the call of the New Testament to live a sacramental life within a Christian community that, according to historical and Traditional standards, can call itself a ["local" or "particular"] "Church" in the full creedal and, dare I say, Biblical sense of that term.

Personally, I heard this call and experienced this need and desire at a very early age, but there were all kinds of roadblocks, existential, intellectual, and familial, which prevented me from really beginning that journey until age 19.

In any event, Derek, please know that this conversation is, for me, all about "speaking the truth in love", the truth as I have come to understand it, and as justified by, yes, the Tradition (and, in this case, that includes the experience of all who have walked this Orthodox and Catholic path before me).

I believe, I KNOW, that you, Derek, and your compatriots, are missing out on the authentic, experiential aspect of walking the Christian path in a community that is fully and authentically Church, that is called to be, and already is, an Ikon of the Most Blessed and All-Holy Trinity. If that is haughty, I am sorry. I did not create this situation. I am its beneficiary, but that through no goodness of my own. I am, with St. Paul, the "chief of sinners". "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner."

Nativity 2009 (Part 3)

First, a Christmas hymn in Syriac:

(P/T Priest Theodosius Walker)



Note that an English translation is given in the video.

Second, an annual Christmas post from Fr. Stephen, quoting St. Ephrem the Syrian and emphasizing the smallness and humility of God as manifested in the Christ child. Pope Benedict XVI spoke in similar terms last night during his homily at Midnight Mass.

"The Smallness of God"

And finally:

"Sharon's Christmas Prayer" by John Shea, apparently published originally by Argus Communications, back in 1977. Argus Communications also brought us a book called The Last Western by Thomas Klise. Hard to get these days, but well worth the effort.

(P/T Abu Daoud)

She was five,
sure of the facts,
and recited them
with slow solemnity
convinced every word
was revelation.
She said

they were so poor
they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to eat
and they went a long way from home
without getting lost. The lady rode
a donkey, the man walked, and the baby
was inside the lady.
They had to stay in a stable
with an ox and an ass (hee-hee)
but the Three Rich Men found them
because a star lited the roof
Shepherds came and you could
pet the sheep but not feed them.
Then the baby was borned.
And do you know who he was?

Her quarter eyes inflated
to silver dollars,
The baby was God.

And she jumped in the air
whirled round, dove into the sofa
and buried her head under the cushion
which is the only proper response
to the Good News of the Incarnation.


"The baby was God."

Nativity 2009 (Part 1)

H/T Frank Avila.



A Syriac Orthodox Christmas celebration in Aleppo, Syria.

My Exchange with Don Warrington

Don Warrington is a lay leader in the Church of God, a classical Pentecostal Holiness denomination. He was raised in the Episcopal Church and was, for a time, Roman Catholic. Thus, his journey is almost exactly the opposite of mine. In any event, a while ago he posted a piece called "Why I don't agree with the Concept of the Sacrifice of the Mass". I posted a comment in reply, found at the bottom of the post. Don then posted the following: "Priesthood, Analogical and Formal: A Reply to Fr. Greg on the Sacrifice of the Mass" and I again replied, by way of a comment to this post. Don then posted "More on the Eucharist, Churches, and Priests". Primarily for convenience sake, I had hoped to confine this discussion to Don's blog, but I am concerned that my latest reply is too long for the comments section. Thus, I am posting it here.

Don, what you have written concerning the end of sacrifice assumes that the foundational purpose of sacrifice is dealing with sin. This is not the case: sacrifice, being grounded in the Intra-Trinitarian Divine Life itself, in the kenotic relationships between the Divine Persons, and, by extension, in the relationship between humanity and God, as creature and creator, precedes the Fall and its primary purpose is communion between God and humanity. (See A. Schmemann, For the Life of the World.) The shedding of blood, the slaughter of biological creatures, only becomes part of sacrifice with the Fall: “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” This is true, in short, because sin kills. Further, not even all of the sacrifices in the Jewish system involved the shedding of blood. There were offerings of incense, grain, wine, and then, there was the “Bread of the Presence” all of which point to the Eucharist (Incense is a separate issue, but is closely associated with the celebration of the Eucharist.) So, the Eucharist is a real sacrifice, offered by real priests, not so much for the expiation of sin (In this context, baptism and the Mystery/Sacrament of Reconciliation are for the appropriation of that), but for the worship of, and communion with, the Divine Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Regarding Participation/Koinonia: That would work if this participation in the Divine Life were only individual, interior, and psychological. However, it is not. Human participation in the Divine Life is interpersonal and communal, both interior and exterior, and both psychological and sociological, just as is human life itself, created in the image and likeness of the Divine Trinitarian life. Again, one cannot be reconciled with God and at the same time be alienated from his kindred who are also “members of Christ” and are thus, “members one of another” as St. Paul writes.

You write: “In Roman Catholicism at least the idea is stronger than that: through the withholding of the sacraments (excommunication,) the church is capable of denying eternal life.”

Actually, the concept is the exactly the opposite. Church discipline is exercised in order to bring someone to repentance and thereby, to eternal life, never to deprive anyone of eternal life. Remember that if the Eucharist is received unworthily, such reception, far from bringing the receiver closer to God, does just the opposite, subjects the one who so receives to Divine Judgement, and endangers their participation in eternal life (I Cor. 11:27-32). Also, in all the Apostolic Churches, all Church discipline ends at the time of death; the person in question is released into the hands of the ultimate judge, Jesus Christ himself. As further evidence of this, all priests are duty bound, in the case of danger of death, to administer the last sacraments to anyone, regardless of standing with the Church, at the least sign of repentance (construed in the most general of terms): all disciplinary bets are off (or, if the person is unconscious, the priest is to presume repentance and so to administer anointing and absolution). Further, the question of infallibility doesn’t real enter into questions of discipline per se. Thus, your numbered points are at best a caricature.

With that in mind, let me address this question of discipline with regard to the issues you raise. I will return to the question of Church unity afterward. First, I am not defending Rome against the other Apostolic Churches. It has distortions which are unique to it, specifically with regard to the Filioque, Papal infallibility, and an ecclesiology which, in reality, denies the laity any role in the governance of the Church. The other Apostolic Churches, modeling their governance and the teaching role of the clergy on Acts 15, do not do this (at least not in theory, and when the bishops get out of line, this aspect of ecclesiology can always be invoked, as it often has been).

Now, having said that, and without in any way minimizing the pain inflicted on the victims, such as the martyred Archpriest, I have to ask: would you also abrogate or abolish the authority of parents over their children? Would you deny that such authority is of Divine origin? After all, many parents neglect or abuse their offspring and in so doing, inflict untold damage. (I myself am a victim of such parenting.) However, according to the Bible, both the authority of parents over their children and the authority of bishops in the Church is of Divine origin; and to abolish the latter because it has been abused would be highly analogous to abolishing parental authority: chaos results.

Just look at the world of Protestantism today: the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. At best, leaving aside such debacles as have occurred in many of the mainline Protestant groups and focussing only on Evangelicalism, the sacraments have become optional and often disparaged and Christians have lost touch with the great spiritual tradition of the Saints which is bound up with the 2,000 year history of the Apostolic Churches. They are “blown about by every wind of doctrine, being treated to “the prosperity gospel”, “the purpose driven life” and other such aberrations.

The great principle of the Reformation, “sola Scriptura” is contradicted, meaning that, in the name of sola Scriptura, much of the Bible is in fact ignored or explained away and the interpretation of the rest of is impoverished. Why? Because, “sola Scriptura” contradicts the Bible and thus, is self-contradictory: it is an oxymoron. The Bible points beyond itself, not only to Christ, but to the Church, and the Tradition of said Church is the only nexus in which the Bible itself can be fully and accurately understood. Further, while the Churches are always in need of practical reformation (not dogmatic reformation) to one extent or another, our primary task, as individual Christians, is not to reform the Churches, but to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of the Church, in the transformation of each of us as persons so that we conform to the image and likeness of Christ. The fundamental rule of thumb here is Matthew 23: “do what they say but not what they do.” The Christian path has long been laid down: it is simple, but no, it is not easy. So many would seek an easier softer way, and it is so much easier, and more gratifying to remove the speck from your eye than to remove the plank from my own. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony here.)

Now, regarding the Churches proper, those communities which, all else being equal, have maintained Apostolic Succession: actually, there are four communions which can trace their history directly back to the Apostles. These four are: the Roman Church, the Byzantine Orthodox Churches (Greeks, Russians, etc.), the Oriental Orthodox Churches (Coptic Church, Syriac Church, etc.), and the “Nestorian” Assyrian Church of the East, the East Syrian Church. (I have not included Anglicanism here because it is not clear to me that Anglicanism as a whole has in fact maintained valid Apostolic Succession. In any event, it is an off-shoot of Rome and would therefore be included in the next category.) Beyond these four, there are various off-shoots: for example, the Old Believers, the Old Calendarists, the RC Traditionalists, and the Old and Independent Catholics and the Independent Orthodox (not all of these successions stem from the aftermath of Vatican I), the latter having given rise, in one way or another, to virtually all of the Independent Churches of which you speak. (Many of these jurisdictions have fallen away into their own forms of craziness. Others have remained orthodox. In what follows, I am considering only the latter. While valid apostolic succession is necessary for a community to be fully a Church, it is not sufficient.) All of this, of course, begs the question of the “Oneness” of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

IMHO, the one Church is so divided, in the providence of God, for several reasons. The first is that when it comes to the really essential and basic questions, the “fundamentals,” these Churches speak with one voice (and yes, they all say that the Christian priesthood is real and that the Eucharist is a real sacrifice). Thus, even while separated and divided, they give a unanimous witness to the core content of the Apostolic Tradition. Second, it is MHO that these divisions came about to accommodate human weakness. This is especially manifest in contemporary America, where all of these major Churches are present and we have a full slate of Independents to boot. As a nation, we are a rebellious lot. Our country was forged in the fires of a revolution and reforged in the furnace of a civil war. We take no less kindly to overbearing ecclesiastical authority than we do to such political authority (although we are generally all too ready to tolerate overbearing, presumptuous, and arrogant leadership and authority figures in the business sector, but that is another story).

Can’t deal with Rome? You got the Byzantines (who are also divided, if not separated, in this country). Can’t deal with any of the big boys? You got the Independents. There is no need to tolerate a situation in which the sacraments are downplayed or dispensed with and the Faith is mutilated, abrogated, or both. There are options!

As you may be aware, I am a priest of one of these Independent Churches. While we are not overtly charismatic (being grounded in the Oriental Orthodox West Syriac Tradition), many of these Churches are, and I think that these lines of Apostolic Succession provide a viable alternative for the re-catholicization of Evangelical/Charismatic/Holiness congregations, even denominations, that have come to realize they have hit a dead end. Personally, given that I grew up in an eclectic Evangelical/Pentecostal/Holiness environment (Christian and Missionary Alliance, Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene), I would love to personally lead such a congregation (or denomination!) back to the fullness of the Faith once delivered; however, that opportunity has yet to come my way.

"Yes, but is it bread?"

A post by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod writer at Getreligion, discusses an article (with video) in the Boston Globe, featuring The Cavanagh Company, a Rhode Island-based firm that makes unleavened hosts for the Eucharist, as used in Latin Rite Roman Catholic Churches as well as Anglican and Lutheran congregations. Cavanagh, “the Microsoft of altar breads,” apparently has an 80% market share.

First, let me make clear that neither I nor the ACCA are inherently opposed to the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. We take the view that bread, any bread, whether leavened or unleavened, is valid matter for the central celebration of the Christian faith, while also noting that for our Armenian brethren, both Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic, unleavened bread is normally used to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Pluralism is proper here, at least between Rites, in that the use of leavened bread is rooted in one sort of symbolism, unleavened in another, and both are informed by the Gospel: Christ is free of “the leaven of the Pharisees” while at the same time, He is the new leaven which causes “the whole lump to rise”. I also have to say that I am impressed with the Cavanagh family’s development of technology which allows them to mass produce a product that is edible, reasonably bread-like, and largely crumb-free, which is always a concern with altar bread. It is not easy to make such unleavened bread. Believe me, I’ve tried, and the results have not been edible. Futher, unleavened bread is a great deal easier to work with once it is consecrated, especially when it comes to the reservation of the sacrament.

One bit of irony, however, has to do with the idea that Cavanagh communion bread is “untouched by human hands” prior to its being used to celebrate the Eucharist. Consider the prayer with which the bread is offered, in the contemporary Roman Rite, during the “Preparation of the Gifts”:

“Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer which earth has given and HUMAN HANDS HAVE MADE. It will become for us the bread of life.” (Emphasis added)

The bread and wine are means by which, in the Eucharist, we Christians offer ourselves, our world, and our work to God. This is why, in Eastern Christian circles, it is normal for the Eucharistic bread (leavened in most Eastern Christian traditions) to be made by a priest or by a member of the congregation. I myself make leavened eucharistic bread for use on special occasions. Further, there are still Western Rite convents and monasteries which make unleavened altar breads. For these monks and nuns, this work is both ministry and means of support, and it certainly involves "the work of human hands". Another institution which makes these breads is St. Michael's Bakery, in the Netherlands. Started as a school for the deaf in early 19th Century, it now provides occupational therapy to those in need. St. Michael's altar breads are available in the United States here (from a company which also sells Cavanagh breads).

Another bit of irony in this article has to do with the attitude apparently taken by members of the Cavanagh family to their product: “no reverence”. “Until it’s consecrated by the priest, it’s just bread,” they say. The problem here is that bread, any bread, is potentially the Body of Christ. Therefore, it, and by extension, all food, is to be treated with a certain amount of deference, especially bread which is being made specifically for the Eucharist. Contrast this attitude to that of a Russian immigrant women, once employed in a fine restaurant. She left this job shortly after starting because she was required to dispose of bread left uneaten by the patrons. “I have to throw away the Body of Christ!” All bread is potentially the Body of Christ, all wine His precious blood. This is directly related to the Christian giving of thanks, not just in the Eucharist, but before consuming any food or drink.

Paulos Mar Gregorios

Monday, November 24, was the 12th anniversary of the repose of Paulos Mar Gregorios, a metropolitan bishop of the Indian Orthodox Church and a world class scholar, ecumenist, and humanitarian. Fr. Theodosius has a tribute here as well as several posts relating to Mar Gregorios, including excerpts from his writings, here.

Syriac Orthodox Qurbana in English

What follows are two snippets from the Qurbana, the Mass or Divine Liturgy, in English, from a Syriac Orthodox mission in New York City. The first includes the Oriental Orthodox version of the Trisagion, near the beginning of the liturgy. The second begins with the Sursum Corda and ends shortly after the Words of Institution over the chalice. The anaphora is that of St. James. The priest apparently offers the post-sanctus portion of the anaphora during the chanting of the sanctus.

Christians in Iraq: the crisis continues

"Iraqi Bishop: Americans need to know there is a Christian presence in Iraq"

Yes, yes we do, and to be reminded again and again.

(HT: Fr. Theodosius and Vladyka Symeon)

First there was the "Onion Dome"...

Or maybe not, but I was aware of it first.

But now, I discover this (thanks, I guess, to Abu Daoud):

LarkNews.com: a good source for Christian news

which, as AD discovered, brought us this:

"Proverbs 31 husband' justifies beer habit"

"Well," thought I, "Wonder what the 'Onion Dome' is up to these days?" Whereupon I found this:

"New Catechumen Whips Lax Parish into Shape"

Which brings me to the point: you can tell a great deal about a tradition by knowing what its members argue over among themselves. Give me debates about rites, calendars, ikonography, liturgical language, and even Christology (within certain boundaries), over fights such as those occurring in the Anglican Communion these days. In the former, there are really no fundamental issues at stake.

Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!

To all of our brothers and sisters who have celebrated Pascha today, may the joy of the Risen Lord saturate your lives this day and always.

Agreed Statements on Christology: For Fr. Robert primarily

I am linking the following primarily for Fr. Robert, aka "Irish Anglican", a commenter on Fr. Stephen's blog.

Agreed Statements between Representatives of the Oriental Orthodox and Byzantine Orthodox Communions

Also:

Orthodox Unity