The Revealed Word According to the Orthodox Church

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.

The Revealed Word According to the Orthodox Church

It is of the utmost importance for the Orthodox Christian, who dedicates his/her life to Almighty God to be able to know God’s truths. The Holy Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, along with Sacred Apostolic Tradition are the Divine Sources in which Almighty God revealed His Will and which the Church accepted as being the only depository for these truths. The content of the Holy Scripture was written by chosen and inspired persons, Prophets and Disciples, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit IS THE SUPREME AUTHOR AND GUARDIAN UNDER WHOSE DIRECTION AND PROTECTION THE HOLY SCRIPTURE BECOME THE INSPIRED AND INFALLIBLE SOURCE OF FAITH AND SALVATION. The Holy Fathers of the Church expounded the content of the Holy Scripture in sermons and homilies in order to spread their meaning and blessings so that the members of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, would not be uninformed of the Good News for their spiritual welfare.

In the Orthodox Church, THE HARMONIOUS INTERPRETATION OF THE REVEALED WORD IS NECESSARY TO PRESENT THE FAITHFUL WITH A UNITED, SOUND CONVICTION. This does not mean that individuals, both clergy and laity, lack freedom to express their own spiritual insights, but THE VALIDITY OF THESE INSIGHTS DEPENDS UPON ACCEPTANCE BY OTHER HOLY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, WITHOUT WHICH IT IS WISEST TO KEEP SILENT AND AVOID BEING IN OPPOSITION. Thus, the theologian of the Orthodox Church has the freedom to present THE SAME TRUTHS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE IN A NEW EXPRESSION IN ORDER TO CONTEND WITH CONTEMPORARY IDEALS AND CHALLENGES OF SOCIETY. It is very important for the ChurchS TO PROVIDE SOUND INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIAN SOURCES, SO THAT THE TENDENCY OF HUMAN IMAGINATION TOWARD SUPERSTITIOUS CONCEPTS CAN BE CURBED.

The following are some Fundamental Teachings which are essential
to the Orthodox Chrisitan.

Belief in the True God

The Holy Scripture refers often to the nature and substance of God in which the Church should believe. It is characteristic that Saint John recorded, "THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE, THE ONLY TRUE GOD" (17:3). It is important that the Christian be led to believe in the "True God" as revealed in the Holy Scripture and in the Person and Teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Christian ascribes to the nature of True God all attributes of the finest experiences he/she has known, from the enlightenment of the Gospel. He/she should see God as Almighty, All-Loving, and All-Holy; as a Loving Father and Creator, as a Spirit beyond place, time, and variation. Almighty God also is defined by the Holy Fathers of the Church in terms that clarify what God is not.

God as Creator created the heavens and the earth, the whole universe. He created Angels as "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:7, 14).

Belief in the Holy Trinity

The Fundamental Truth of the Orthodox Church is the faith revealed in the True God: the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is in reality THE DECLARATION OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, formulated and pronounced by the Ecumenical Synods of the One Undivided Church. It is impossible for the finite mind to comprehend objectively the substance of the True God, true worship, and true norms of life. Human reasoning in regard to faith in the Holy Trinity is confined to formulating the truths which have already been revealed in the Holy Scripture and Sacred or Holy Tradition. These truths of the Holy Trinity were FORMULATED BY THE FIRST AND SECOND ECUMENICAL SYNODS IN THE NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED AND WERE BASED ON DIVINE SOURCES.

The Orthodox Church believes that God is one in substance and Triune in Three Persons or Hypostases. The Church pronounced in its lucid liturgical confession: "I CONFESS THE FATHER AND THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, TRINITY CONSUBSTANTIAL AND UNDIVIDED." In the Holy Scripture, there are passages recorded to strengthen this belief in the Holy Trinity in which the faith in God is revealed. The Holy Scripture proclaim "to us there is but one God, the Father" (1 Corinthians 8:6); "in him (the Son) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Collosians 2:9; cf. Matthew 26:63); and, and relating to the Holy Spirit, "thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God" (Acts 5:4). This fundamental belief in the Holy Trinity was the subject of all the Ecumenical Synods in which the unchangeable pronouncement on the Holy Trinity was affirmed. They proclaimed primarily that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Logos/Word, and the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, are of the same essence, Homoousios, of the Father. In the personal attributions of the Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father begot the Son and from the Father PROCEEDS THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, sends the Holy Spirit to guide His Church (cf. John 15:26). The nature and attributes of the Persons of the Holy Trinity are revealed through Jesus Christ. The truth can be reached only by faith, being above and beyond human comprehension.

The Second Person of the Holy Trinity

Another fundamental belief of the Orthodox Church is the faith in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, Who became "incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary and became man" (Nicene Creed) FOR OUR SALVATION. The Virgin Mary Theotokos gave birth to Jesus, Who is the Only-begotten Son of God. In the Orthodox Church, the Theotokos is highly honored, as expressed in praises recorded in the Holy Scripture with qualities mirrored in the Magnificat (cf. Luke 1:46 ff.) Despite the high honor and the highest admiration which the Orthodox Church bestows upon the Virgin Mary Theotokos, it does not teach either her immaculate conception or her bodily assumption into the heavens as the Roman Catholic theology teaches. The Church VENERATES the Theotokos as "holder of Him Who is illimitable…and infinite Creator."

God’s agape (love) caused Him to send His Son Jesus Christ TO SAVE MAN. For the Christian, the Incarnation of Christ is a mystery. Apostle Paul, the most keen interpreter of the life of Christ, in his epistle (letter) to the Colossians writes that it was "the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now made manifest to his saints" (Colossians 1:26; cf, Romans 16:25-26). Jesus Christ was sent for this Divine Mission "when the fullness of time was come" (Galatians 4:4), WHEN MAN WAS PREPARED TO ACCEPT HIM AS HIS SAVIOR. Christ was born WITH TWO PERFECT NATURES, THE DIVINE AND HUMAN, AS GOD-man. When a Christian refers to Christ in the Old and New Testaments, he should presuppose the fact of the TWO NATURES OF JESUS CHRIST WHICH ARE MADE MANIFEST IN HIS GOSPEL AND DEEDS.

Another essential in the life of Christ, which is indispensable for the Church faith, is the Crucifixion of Christ, which is considered THE END OF HIS HUMILIATION AND EMPTINESS ON EARTH. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ nails to the Cross THE SINS OF MANKIND. The Church considers this Divine Event the "sorrowful Pascha (Easter)," for it is linked with His Resurrection. ( Resources: Father George Mastrantonis).

(To be continued)

______________
"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