ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN DOGMATIC THEOLOGY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord, God, and Savior JESUS CHRIST,

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!

ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN DOGMATIC
THEOLOGY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

The dogmatic labor of the Church has always been directed towards THE CONFIRMATION IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE FAITHFUL OF THE TRUTHS OF THE FAITH WHICH HAVE BEEN CONFESSED BY THE CHURCH FROM THE BEGINNING. This labor consists of indicating which way of thinking is the one that follows the Ecumnical Tradtion. The Church’s labor instructing in the faith has been, IN BATTLING AGAINST HERESIES:

a) TO FIND PRECISE FORM FOR THE EXPRESSION OF THE TRUTHS OF THE FAITH AS
HANDED DOWN FROM ANTIQUITY,

b) TO CONFIRM THE CORRECTNESS OF THE CHURCH’S TEACHING, FOUNDING IT ON
THE SACRED SCRIPTURE AND SACRED TRADITION WAS AND REMAINS THE STANDARD
OF THE FULLNESS AND WHOLENESS OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW.

The aim of dogmatic theology as a branch of learning is to set forth, with firm foundation and proof, the Orthodox Christian teaching which has been handed down. Certain complete works of dogmatic theology set forth the thinking of the Holy Fathers of the Church.

The course of dogmatic theology is divided into two basic parts" into the teaching (1) about God in Himself and (2) about God in His MANIFESTATION of Himself as Creator, Providence, Savior of the world, and Perfecter of the destiny of the world.

THE DOGMA OF FAITH

The first word of our Christian Symbol of Faith (the Creed) is "I BELIEVE." All of our Christian confession is based UPON FAITH. God is the first object of Christian BELIEF. Thus, our Christian acknowledgment of the existence of God is founded NOT upon rational grounds, NOT on proofs taken from reason or received form the experience of our outward senses, but UPON AN INWARD, HIGHER CONVICTION WHICH HAS A MORAL FOUNDATION.

In the Christian understanding, to believe in God SIGNIFIES NOT ONLY TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD with the mind, but also TO STRIVE TOWARDS HIM WITH THE HEART.

We BELIEVE that which is inaccessible to outward experience, to scientific investigation, to being received by our outward organs of sense. Christian faith is A MYSTICAL REVELATION IN THE HUMAN SOUL. It is broader, more powerful, closer to reality than thought. It is more complex than separate feelings. It contains within itself the feelings of LOVE, FEAR, VENERATION, REVERENCE, AND HUMILITY. (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)

THE ORTHODOX CONFESSION OF FAITH, THE SYMBOL OF FAITH OR CREED

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things
visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten,
begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten,
not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us
men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit
and the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, according to the
Scripture, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall
come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father; who with
the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission
of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Orthodox Christians recite the Creed or Symbol of faith in every Divine Liturgy. The Creed was written and finalized by the Church in 325 A.D.and 381 A.D. to defend and preserve the true faith from heresies that had erupted in Christendom regarding the nature of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.

The word CREED comes from the Latin credo which means "I believe." The Holy Orthodox Church refers to the Creed as THE SYMBOL OF FAITH, meaning that it literally brings together and expresses the confession of faith. The Nicene Creed, also known as the "Orthodox Creed", is the statement of faith for the Orthodox Church and is considered the definitive statement of Christian orthodoxy. The Creed was created at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325 A.D. to address the Arian controversy, which threatened the Church’s unity and the authentic faith. The Creed was expanded at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381 A.D. to include the Holy Spirit.

To be an Orthodox Christian is to affirm the Orthodox Christian faith–not merely in words, but in living the true faith in deed. By confessing the Creed together, Orthodox Chrsitians, reveal their common faith, a faith no matter how many centuries pass by the faith remains the same. Therefore, there is never any confusion of what we believe as Orthodox Christians. The Synods have forbidden for any one to either add or subtract anything from the Creed. The Creed reveals the dogmas of the Holy Orthodox Church that were formally drawn up by the Church as a whole. The TRUTH can never be changed but remains the same always.

DOGMATIC, LITURGICAL, GOVERNANCE, TRADITION DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN ORTHODOXY AND ROMAN CATHOLICISM

THE FILIOQUE (Latin: "and of the Son"), is an ADDITION TO THE NICENE CREED. This phrase (clause) changes the nature of the Holy Spirit’s
PROCESSION, stating that He PROCEEDS ETERNAL FROM THE FATHER AND THE SON, rather than from the Father only. Rome officially declared this false doctrine at the Second Council of Lyons.

The ancient Orthodox teaching of the personal attributes of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was DISTORTED in the Latin Church by the creation of a teaching of the procession, outside of time and from all eternity, of the Holy Spirit from the Father "and the Son”– the Filioque. It became established in the West as obligatory in the 9th century. The Latin dogma of the Filioque is a substantial and important DEVIATION from Orthodox truth. Apart from the dogmatic side, by introducing A NEW DOGMA the Roman Church violated the decree of the THIRD and subsequent Ecumenical Councils (4th centuries), which FORBADE THE INTRODUCTION OF ANY KIND OF CHANGE INTO THE NICAEAN SYMBOL OF FAITH. It also violates the perfect balance of Trinitarian theology.

PAPAL INFALLIBILITY teaches that the pope cannot err in questions of faith and morals when speaking EX CATHEDRA ("from the throne"; this does not make the pope sinless or perfect). This dogma DID NOT EXIST prior to the First Vatican Council (1870). Orthodox Hierarchs can be deposed, including Ecumenical Patriarchs on a number of occasions, without presupposing the collapse of the entire Christian Church.

ABSOLUTE DIVINE SIMPLICITY

Another difference between the Orthodox and Catholic understanding of God is ABSOLUTE DIVINE SIMPLICITY. Catholicism claims the ESSENCE OF GOD (who He is in Himself) is identical to the attributes of God (what is said about Him). Absolute Divine simplicity classifies God philosophically as a "substance," and it insists that God’s ONENESS is an undifferentiated singularity, with no facets, aspects, or distinctions. This makes the Roman Catholic version of God far less approachable or near to us, because He is only Himself. We cannot experience Him in any tangible, realistic way.

The Orthodox faith, on the other hand, teaches that God is both UNKNOWABLE ESSENCE AND KNOWABLE ENERGIES, following the teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas and the ancient Church Holy Fathers (i.e. Saint Basil the Great). We will never know Him in His essence, but we can know Him through His ENERGIES, most particularly Grace.
Ultimately, this Latin doctrine betrays Rome’s desire to define God’s nature rather than to simply experience God as He revealed Himself to us. We experience God concretely as Three Persons, not as a nature.

CREATED GRACE

Because of Catholicism’s doctrine of absolute divine simplicity, problems arise in the understanding of both the PRESENCE OF GOD in the believer and the effects that occur because of His presence. Unlike the Orthodox, WHO BELIEVE GRACE IS UNCREATED, Catholics believe grace is both uncreated AND CREATED. In Orthodox doctrine, Divine grace is UNCREATED and therefore represents God Himself — His energies. The believer is SANCTIFIED though SYNERGY WITH GOD AND His ENERGIES

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

The Immaculate Conception is a Catholic dogma that says the Theotokos was conceived WITHOUT THE STAIN OF ANCESTRAL ("ORIGINAL") sin (per St. Augustine). This, therefore, is what made it possible for her to assent to Christ’s Incarnation. While the Orthodox agree Mary’s womb was sanctified to prepare for Christ, we believe this took place at the Annunciation. In the eyes of the Orthodox, this dogma actually demeans the Theotokos. As Saint John Maximovitch wrote, "This teaching denies all her virtues. After all, if Mary, even in the womb of her mother, when she could not even desire anything good or evil, was preserved by God’s grace from every impurity, and then by that grace was preserved from sin even after her birth.

PURGATORY

Another difference between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches is about WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE. According to Catholicism, the "saved" go to PURGATORY when they depart this life. In the most basic terms, PURGATORY IS A PLACE OF TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT, which allows those who "die in God’s grace and friendship" to "achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." In other words, even after you are saved and God has forgiven your sins, after death you must still make SATISFACTION FOR THEM.

The Orthodox Church DOES NOT believe in purgatory. While we agree with the idea that we experience a "waiting time" between now and the Final Judgment, we object to the Catholic satisfaction model, which states that God REQUIRES PAYMENT EVEN AFTER HE FORGIVES OUR SINS. Within the Orthodox theological paradigm, there is either FORGIVENESS or PUNISHMENT, NOT BOTH.

PAPAL SUPREMACY is the teaching that the Pope of Rome HAS IMMEDIATE, SUPREME, UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION OVER EVERY CHRISTIAN. In effect, HE IS THE PHYSICAL HEAD OF THE CHURCH. No one, not even an Ecumenical Council, can supposedly overturn the ruling of a Pope. Rejection of this dogma endangers YOUR SALVATION. In other words, if you do not SUBMIT TO THE POPE, YOU WILL NOT BE SAVED (Pastor aeternus, Vatican I, 1870). The Orthodox certainly acknowledge that Peter occupied a special place among the Holy Apostles AS THE FIRST AMONG EQUALS. But WE DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY CLAIMS OF SUPREMACY, BECAUSE THESE CLAIMS HAVE NO BASIS IN HOLY SCRIPTURE OR IN THE WRITINGS OF THE HOLY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH OR HOLY TRADITION. Additionally, Holy Scripture NEVER REFERS TO PETER AS HEAD OF THE CHURCH IN ANY SENSE. RATHER, WE SEE THAT CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH (Ephesians 1:22; 5:33, Colossians 1:18). And thus has NO NEED for "A VICAR). (Source: Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Church, Beaver Falls,PA).

DEFINITION OF HERESY: Following one’s own choice or opinion instead of Divine Truth preserved by
the Church, SO AS TO CAUSE DIVISION AMONG CHRISTIANS. HERESY, is a system of thought
which contradicts TRUE DOCTRINE. IT IS FALSE TEACHING, WHICH ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS MUST
RESIST (Matthew 7:15; 2 Peter 2:1) [Orthodox Study Bible, p. 800)

(To be continued)

____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Glorious and Divine Resurrection,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George