WHAT IS THE CORE OF ORTHODOX TRADITION?

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

WHAT IS THE CORE OF ORTHODOX TRADITION
By Protopresbyter John S. Romanides of blessed
memory.

We happen to be entrusted with a treasure–THE THEOLOGY OF ORTHODOX TRADITION. Orthodox theology is the culmination of Orthodox Tradition. Orthodox theology is the culmination and product of centuries of experiences that have been repeated, renewed, and recorded by those who have experienced THEOSIS (Deification) at different times. We have the experience of the patriarchs and the prophets as well as the later experience of the Apostles. We call all of these experiences ‘GLORIFICATION.’ To say the prophet was glorified means that the prophet saw the glory of God. To say the Apostle was glorified means that the Apostle saw the glory of Christ. Seeing the glory of Christ, the Apostle ascertained by his own experience that the glory of Christ in the New Testament is the glory of God in the Old Testament. Hence, Christ is the Yahweh and the Elochim of the Old Testament.

Although it is not clear in the Old Testament Who the Holy Spirit is, the Apostles discovered Who He is by experience. Their experience repeats the experience of the prophets, but there is a difference because the Apostles were glorified after the Incarnation: Yahweh of the Old Testament now has the human nature of Christ. Although three of the Apostles were partially glorified during the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, ALL OF THE APOSTLES WERE FULLY GLORIFIED AT PENTECOST, DURING WHICH THEY REACHED THE HIGHEST STATE OF GLORIFICATION THAT ANY HUMAN BEING CAN EVER REACH IN THIS LIFE.

After the experiences of the Apostles come the experiences OF THE GLORIFIED WHO INCLUDE THE CHURCH FATHERS AND THOSE SAINTS WHO REACHED THEOSIS. And so the experience of THEOSIS continues to appear in each generation up to the present. This experience of THEOSIS is the core of the Orthodox Tradition, THE FOUNDATION OF THE LOCAL AND ECUMENICAL COUNCILS, and THE BASIS FOR THE CHURCH’S CANON LAW AND LITURGICAL LIFE TODAY.

If the contemporary Orthodox theologian is to acquire objectivity, he must rely on the experience of THEOSIS. In other words, we can positively state that a student of Patristic tradition has objectivity in the theological method only when he has personally undergone PURIFICATION and ILLUMINATION, and reached THEOSIS. Only in this way will the researcher not only understand the Patristic tradition, but also verify for himself the truth of this tradition through the Holy Spirit.

ON DIVINE INSPIRATION

Today Protestants and Roman Catholics are under the impression that God gave Holy Scripture to the Church. This idea has so greatly influenced modern Orthodox thought that the Orthodox een agree with Protestants and Roman Catholics on this point. Moreover, Orthodox and Roman Catholics agree that God also gave Sacred Tradition to the Church. With respect to Tradition, the Protestants are showing some signs that they are reconsidering their position.

But now the Orthodox Church has to face a certain paradox. When you read the Old Testament, the New Testament, and even writings from Tradition, you will run across opinions that science proved to be false at least 150 years ago, especially on account of the breakthrough in research made by the exact sciences. Naturally, this creates a serious problem for someone who does not fully grasp what the Fathers mean when they speak about Divine inspiration. This problem mainly applies to the study of the Bible.

In their tradition, the Franks followed Augustine in identifying revelation with the revelation by God of concepts to man. In fact, they identified revelation not only with concepts, but also with the expressions, that is, terms and words, that conveyed these concepts…When we say ‘DIVINE INSPIRATION’, the Bible, the Prophets, and the Apostles immediately come to mind. Now if you are also conservative, you will bring to mind some Ecumenical Councils outside of Holy Scripture, since a conservative Orthodox Christian believes that THE DECISIONS OF THE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS ARE ALSO DIVINELY INSPIRED. If you are even more conservative, YOU WILL BRING UP THE CHURCH FATHERS. If you are even more conservative still, YOU WILL POINT OUT CANON LAW, THE LITURGICAL LIFE, AND EVEN PRIESTLY ROBES AND HEAD COVERINGS.

"…But what is important in all of this is that most believers suppose that Divine inspiration extends over large segments and many facets of life in the Church, if not over THE ENTIRE LIFE IN THE CHURCH. Contemporary Orthodox theology is quite confused on this point. There is confusion as to what Divine inspiration is, what it means, and where it is found.

All Christians, Orthodox and heterodox alike, can agree that the Bible is Divinely inspired. Of course, we are not looking at any definitions for Divine inspiration or making any qualifications about which portions of the Bible are really Divinely inspired. For the time being, we simply assert that Holy Scripture is Divinely inspired…

"…What can we conclude from all of this? When the Fathers were in a state of ILLUMINATION or THEOSIS, were they or were they not Divinely inspired? Naturally, they were Divinely inspired. After all, what does Divine inspiration mean? IT MEANS THAT SOMEONE IS INSPIRED BY GOD IN CONTRAST TO BEING INSPIRED BY THE DEVIL OR DEMONS. In the latter cases, that person would be diabolically inspired or demonically inspired.

In terms of Divine inspiration, the HIGHEST FORM OF REVELATION and THE SUPREME ILLUSTRATION OF THEOSIS (DEIFICATION) WERE EXPERIENCED BY THE APOSTLES ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. Pentecost is the key to Orthodox Theology REGARDING DIVINE INSPIRATION. If you grasp the meaning of Pentecost in the Patristic tradition, at least you will know WHAT THEOLOGY IS AND WHAT A THEOLOGIAN IS, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A THEOLOGIAN. [Resources: Patristic Theology]

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George