Welcome
I was once told that the Church is in the business of reclaiming fallen creation and redeeming it for the Kingdom of God. The Church blesses wood, paint, and art through the use of Holy Icons. We reclaim water, bread, and wine for the washing away of sins and the sanctification of our souls. The Church and our God-bearing Fathers have redeemed philosophic ideas and cultural particularities as they have seen fit--often redefining them as necessary. This is most notably seen through the development of Trinitarian thought that exploded during the 4th century where the Holy Fathers applied and redefined Platonic metaphysical concepts. This, however, must not be misconstrued as a borrowing from Plato or other Greek philosophers, nor should one accuse the Holy Fathers of syncretism—rather, it is a redemption of ideas. Renowned Orthodox Theologian Vladimir Lossky states concerning this issue, “It is not by accident that God placed the Fathers of the Church in a Greek setting; the demands for lucidity and profundity in gnosis have forced them to purify and to sanctify [i.e. redeem] the language of the philosophers and of the mystics, to give the Christian message...all its universal reach.”
[1]
This approach is rooted in the Holy Scriptures and Patristic tradition of St. Justin Martyr (2nd Century) who writes, “Whatever things were rightly said among all men are the property of us Christians. For next to God, we worship and love the Word who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God…[and] all the writers were able to see realities darkly through sowing of the implanted word that was in them.”
[2] Where truth is found it is the duty of the Church to redeem it for the glory of God’s Kingdom. Christ is truth and truth is a person; therefore, all truth no matter where it is found is Christ—the everlasting truth. This redemption of sowed truth found throughout the world has allowed the Church to continue this process as the Orthodox message was brought to new regions, peoples, and cultures.
Today, Orthodoxy is breaking new ground as it is becoming more and more popular in the West, but this is not without its own struggles. It seems that Orthodoxy (in my humble opinion) is in many ways failing to redeem and perfect the seeds of truth found in the West. I have experienced this personally through having received a Protestant education and then converting to the Orthodox Church. There is a profound phobia within American Orthodoxy that fears western influence. At times this stance gets very extreme leading to a denial of the redeeming tradition found within Her history and Holy Tradition. Jurisdictions, bishops, priests, etc. who engage in dialogue with the western traditions are called “ecumenists” or “modernists.” I have heard this said many times concerning my own jurisdiction (Antiochian) by other Orthodox Christians. Though these beloved Orthodox brothers and sisters mean well, I believe they are missing a vital point that is detrimental to the American mission field—truth is truth—and truth is Christ. That is the struggle I wish to address within this blog.
[1] Vladimir Lossky, Orthodox Theology: An Introduction (Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1978), 30-31.
[2] Second Apology, 13.
