Category Archives: Church

John 15:25 – ‘The Spirit…who goes out from the Father’

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John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

A long doctrinal debate about the ‘procession of the Holy Spirit’ has centred on this expression.  The idea of the Holy .Spirit’s ‘procession’ from the Father was understood in ontological terms.  To the basic formula the Western church added the ‘filioque’ (‘and the Son’) clause, and this was a point of division between the Eastern and Western branches of the church. …

Mary in Orthodox teaching and piety

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While worship (latreia) belongs to God alone, Mary is reverenced and honoured as ‘the most exalted among God’s creatures’.

To give Mary her full title: ‘Our All-Holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorified Lady, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary.’

Theotokos (‘Mother of God’, ‘God-bearer’) was assigned to Mary by the Council of Ephesus in 431.  She is venerated because of her relation to Christ.  It is precisely on account of the Son that we honour the Mother. …

The Eucharist in Orthodox teaching

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The Orthodox doctrine of the Eucharist differs somewhat from the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Mass, and even more from the Protestant doctrine of the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist/Holy Communion.

The Orthodox Study Bible outlines three interpretations of Christ’s Eucharistic words as they have been understood by the church down the ages:

(a) ‘For the first thousand years of Christian history, when the Church was visibly one and undivided, the holy gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ were received as just that: His Body and Blood.…

Chrismation

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In the Eastern churches the sacrament of chrismation (Gr. chrismatis, ‘anointing’) is associated with that of baptism.  It involves anointing with oil by the bishop or priest.

Timothy Ware (The Orthodox Church) says that chrismation is equivalent to Confirmation in the Western churches.  Unlike Confirmation, however, it usually takes place immediately after Baptism:

The child, who has been incorporated into Christ at Baptism, now receives in Chrismation the gift of the Spirit, thereby becoming a laïkos (layperson), a full member of the people (laos) of God.

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Hebrews 13:10 – ‘We have an altar’

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Heb 13:10-11 We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat from.  For the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp.

The main contours of the author’s argument are clear enough: the readers are not to get ‘carried away’ by ‘strange teachings’, such as those involving ritual meals.  We are nourished spiritually by God’s grace, not by the foods we eat or abstain from. …

Liturgical worship in Eastern Orthodoxy

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Everyone agrees that the worship of God’s people in Old Testament times was liturgical in nature.

As the Orthodox Study Bible indicates:

‘Immediately after the giving of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1–17), instructions for building the altar were set forth (Ex 20:24–26). Then comes instruction concerning keeping the Sabbath (Ex 23:10–13), the annual feasts (Ex 23:14–19), and the various offerings and furnishings in the sanctuary (Ex 25:1–40). Following this, chapters 26—30 deal with such matters as the design of the tabernacle, the altar, and the outer court, the priests’ vestments and their consecration, and instructions for daily offerings.’

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Eastern Orthodoxy – an evangelical appraisal

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I found a thoughtful evangelical appraisal of Eastern Orthodoxy in a rather unexpected source: Answers in Genesis.  Abating Trent Hyatt’s advocacy of a more literal interpretation of the early chapters of Genesis than I can cope with, the discussion was, as far as I could tell, fair and courteous.

What follows is loosely based on that article.

1. Authority.  The Orthodox regard the Bible as the inspired Word of God.  Like the Roman Catholics, they recognise a more extensive canon compared with Protestants.…

Icons

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I want to try to understand something of the nature and significance of icons in Eastern Orthodoxy.

A. I begin this discussion with some key facts based on the relevant entry in the Dictionary of the Christian Church (F.L. Cross & E.A. Livingstone, eds. 3rd Edition, 1997)

  1. Icons are pictures, representing the Lord, the Virgin Mary, or another saint, which have been used and venerated in the Eastern Church since around the 5th century.
  2. They ‘venerated’ (not worshipped), with all the marks of such veneration common in the East – kisses, prostrations, incense, etc.
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Genesis 18 – Abraham’s three visitors

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Gen 18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Who were these ‘three men’?

Some writers, both ancient and modern, have seen the three persons of the Trinity here.…

Orthodoxy on the fall, depravity and free will

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The Orthodox view is expressed in this note in The Orthodox Study Bible:

‘Mankind’s strong propensity to commit sin reveals that in the Fall, the image of God in man (Gn 1:26, 27) is also fallen. However, the ancient Fathers emphasize that the divine image in man has not been totally corrupted or obliterated. Human nature remains inherently good after the Fall; mankind is not totally depraved. People are still capable of doing good, although bondage to death and the influences of the devil can dull their perception of what is good and lead them into all kinds of evil.’

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