About this Site
As the Webmaster I would like to
make some remarks about the purpose and orientation
of this site. It is my opinion that the articles you will find on my site
are entirely faithful to Orthodox Tradition. It goes without saying, however, that I do
not presume to speak for the Orthodox Church. This is, in fact, the
role of the entire Body—"...because the protector of religion
is the very body of the Church, even the people themselves..."
(Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs, 1848).
I also remind my Orthodox brothers and sisters that it is a "fundamental
ecclesiological truth that all members of the Church, in a certain way,
constitute a continuous Synod of the People of God—since “‘Church’
is the name of an assembly or synod,” according to St. John Chrysostomos,
which “is the champion of the Faith,” guards "the Faith
which was once delivered," and has the right and the duty to judge
synodal decisions." Furthermore, we recall "the teaching of
St. Basil the Great, that 'the administration of the Churches is carried
on by those to whom the chief offices in them have been entrusted, but
their hands are strengthened by the laity.'" (Both citations are
from Orthodoxy and the Ecumenical Movement,
by Archimandrite Cyprian, p. 50). Therefore, if you are an Orthodox
Christian it is ultimately up to you to learn about your faith and discern
whether the articles posted on this site authentically reflect it. My
non-Orthodox visitors will just have to trust me (wink, wink), for now
at least.
Second, this leads me to say a few words to those of you who may be looking
at Orthodoxy from the outside. I especially mean those who are of a
non-Orthodox, or heterodox, Christian confession—i.e., Roman Catholic
or Protestant. It is important for you to realize that the bulk
of this site is geared for Orthodox Christians. Many of the issues addressed
herein will probably be of concern to members of the Orthodox Church
only—and this during a time of much internal controversy. As such,
some authors may use language about the heterodox that is admittedly
strong—speaking as they are mainly to fellow Orthodox—or that
may confuse those who are unfamiliar with Orthodoxy in general. Many
Orthodox terms will also be unfamiliar to you. As an example of what I
mean, you may not understand my motive for posting such a lengthy compilation
on the heresies of Western Christianity.
As I indicate in the introduction to this compilation, this was created
for Orthodox who are confused by statements emanating from some of our
own teachers who have become infected by ecumenism.
In teaching things that are flatly contradicted by the writings of the
Saints and historical evidence, they have introduced some confusion
and division into the Body of Christ. This compilation is decidedly
not an attempt to "bash the heterodox." Being a former
Protestant, I am certainly sympathetic to the needs of my non-Orthodox
inquirers. For this reason I have set up pages especially for Western
Christian Inquirers. However, at this time the page is admittedly
incomplete and will likely fail to answer all of your questions. I am
in the (slow) process of adding to it and hope that you will continue
to check back. Before spending some time at the Inquirers page, you
will probably want to read through the first seven or eight links on
the General Information page. I have
arranged these to provide a "building block" approach to Orthodoxy.
For more information on how the Orthodox view those Christians separated
from our Church, see my book The
Non-Orthodox: The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church.
Third, I have prayerfully endeavored to present a site that maintains a balance
between theory and practice, or mind and heart. However, I must point
out that the nature of the Internet as an information medium makes this
site—from the Orthodox perspective of "acquiring knowledge"—quite
limited. For true acquisition of knowledge is an experiential concept
involving the transformation of the whole man. This comes through
worship, prayer, and ascetic struggle—i.e., an active participation
in the Church's mysteriological life. As such, a site that provides
mere information could be misleading to one who is only superficially
familiar with Orthodoxy. You are advised to keep in mind that, as Bishop
Kallistos has often stated, "Orthodoxy is not a system of ideas,
but a way of life" (see the Orthopraxis
and Death &
the Future Life pages). When asked about recommended reading on
the Orthodox Faith, Bishop Kallistos says that people should focus on
the Lives of the Saints (see the Phronema page for some help with this)—though
this should not be taken too far as Fr.
George Florovsky points out. The Saints are the glory of the
Church and exemplify the fullness of Orthodoxy, something which is not
a "religion," but a therapeutic method—a way of cure—undertaken
within the Church and involving purification, illumination, and glorification
(theosis). Orthodoxy cannot be understood simply by reading
articles and books. Thus, I do not want you to make the mistake of thinking
that a person can comprehend Orthodox Christianity without experiencing
it, especially the richness of the Church's liturgical life. As
we like to say to someone who is interested in Orthodoxy: "Come
and see!"
Fourth, you
may wonder why I subtitle it, "An Internet Voice for Traditional
Orthodox Thought and Practice." This is because Orthodox Christians
should be against all forms of modernism and innovation, things that
unfortunately are rocking the Ark of Holy Orthodoxy in these latter
days. Note what these Saints have said about deviating from the path
of Orthodoxy:
St. John
of Damascus: "Let us be firm, my brothers,
on the rock of faith, in the tradition of the Church, and not remove
or change the boundaries established by our Holy Fathers. Let us close
the road to innovators and not permit them to demolish the structure
of the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of God. If we allow, however,
the introduction of any innovation, we unconsciously support the collapse
of the Church. No, my brothers, you who love Christ, no, you children
of the Church, you will never want to surround your Mother Church
with confusion." (Concerning Images III.41)
St. Photios the
Great: "In matters of the Faith even a small deviation is
a sin that leads to death" (Epistle II, "To Pope Nicholas
I"); and "for even a slight disregard for traditions is
wont to lead to complete contempt for dogma" (Epistle XIII, "Encyclical
to the Archiepiscopal Thrones of the East").
St. Augustine:
"Let there be no innovations, because innovations defile
antiquity. For the Bridegroom and His Bride, the Church, are without
blemish."
For an introduction
to what I mean read the small monograph entitled Orthodox
Tradition and Modernism, by Dr. Constantine Cavarnos.
Also read the following two classic articles by Archbishop Averky of
blessed memory: "Should the Church
Be In Step With the Times?" and "What is Orthodoxy?." The reasons for
my subtitle should be fairly clear after reading these, and other articles
on my site (especially those on the "Ecumenism
Awareness" page). It is unfortunate that there is much "false
Orthodoxy" (if one can use that phrase!) out there today. But the
Church has seen these times before. In Chapter XXX of his On the Holy Spirit,
St. Basil the Great describes the state of the Church during the Arian
Controversy. It, and his many Letters, are well worth reading, especially
if these troubling times start to adversely affect your faith in God
or in His Holy Church. As Vladimir Lossky points out in his classic
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern
Church:
The catholicity of the Church, far from being the privilege of any one see or
specific centre, is realized rather in the richness and multiplicity of the
local traditions which bear witness unanimously to a single Truth: to that which
is preserved always, everywhere and by all. Since the Church is catholic in all
her parts, each one of her members—not only the clergy but also each layman—is
called to confess and to defend the truth of tradition; opposing even the
bishops should they fall into heresy. A Christian who has received the gift of
the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of the Holy Chrism must have a full awareness
of his faith: he is always responsible for the Church. Hence the restless and
sometimes agitated character of the ecclesiastical life of Byzantium, of Russia
and of other countries in the Orthodox world. This, however, is the price paid
for a religious vitality, an intensity of spiritual life which penetrates the
whole mass of believers, united in the awareness that they form a single body
with the hierarchy of the Church.
In this vein,
it is also important to say a few words about some of the criticism
you will find on this site. Departures from true Orthodoxy, especially
when they touch on matters of a dogmatic nature, should not go unchallenged.
There are those who may be alarmed or confused by what is occasionally
posted to this site. In order to briefly address this, I reproduce here
an excerpt from the "Points of Correspondence" section of
The Shepherd, an outstanding Orthodox
publication from England. One of their readers asked, "Within Orthodoxy
an un-Christian attitude is shown towards other Orthodox by all the
differences and divisions... the Saviour intended one united Church
and Orthodox should be striving always and actively for that."
The editor's reply:
OF COURSE the Saviour intended,
indeed intends, for the Church to be united; and Orthodox should be
actively striving for that. But unity is something to be contested
for—it is because true unity is precious to us that divisions
occur. We are continually undergoing a test. We must continually contest
for the purity of the Faith, which is the ground of any true unity.
A minor deviation might occur—for the Orthodox this is dangerous.
A hairline crack might widen and become a chasm. So conscientious
Orthodox speak up. This can seem like bickering, but it is not essentially
so. It is an expression of our love of unity. Admittedly many times
we might be mistaken in our appraisal of the situation; many times
we might be right, but react wrongly, too precipitously; criticism
of wrong ideas might too easily spill over into criticism of the holders
of those ideas; this is a sensitive area, because the two are not
unrelated. I will give you a poor example. The leader of the American
Antiochian Archdiocese, who the "Pilgrimage to Orthodoxy"
people are going under, was pictured on the front of their official
diocesan magazine, The Word a few years back, at a fancy dress
party, dressed as a Cowboy and smoking his cigar. Now one can argue
that what he does is his own business; but it is also true that he
not only did this—and presumably allowed the picture to be used
as the cover of their magazine—because of something that he believes
about himself and his office. I do not think that you would see a
picture of Bishop Kallistos like that, our own Metropolitan Vitaly,
or Metropolitan Anthony Bloom! [I am told he publicly repented of
this indiscretion, but cannot verify this fact.—Webmaster].
So the line is not easy to draw, and oftentimes mistakes are made;
but the fact of the criticism is a sign of life within the Church.
The alternative would be to follow the line generally taken by the
Anglican Church until the recent "priestesses" issue, that
of holding to an external and administrative unity, but interiorally
being divided on almost every matter of faith. Such a system works
and did work for the Anglicans for about 400 years, because it is
essentially a worldly organisation; but it does not work within the
Orthodox context, because our only ground of unity is the Faith. One
last thought on this looks back into Church history, even to the Acts
of the Apostles. If you read this you would see that how the
Orthodox Church lives, with all its stresses and temptations, is how
the Church has always lived. It is only when organisational unity
in the shape of the Papacy or of an established national church in
the Anglican sense takes over, that a seeming peace can be achieved.
But it is not the peace of victory over enemies, which we shall only
experience fully as a community in the Age to come, but it is a peace
of carelessness or perhaps even of defeat. (Vol. XIV, No. 11 [August
1994], pp. 18-19. Minor editorial changes were made by the webmaster)
As Father Alexander Lebedeff points out in
his "A Conversation About Modernism"—an
excellent introduction to these issues—many of the things that
seem petty are actually quite significant. This is because Holy Tradition
is like a tapestry. If one begins to unravel the "little threads,"
eventually the whole thing will become undone. This concept impinges
upon Church unity, which is ultimately the result of fidelity to Holy
Tradition. Where this fidelity wanes, internal divisions arise. On this
all-important concept see the numerous articles on the "References and Terms" subpage of Ecumenism
Awareness, especially the one entitled "Orthodoxy
Unity Today" by Bishop Photii of Triaditza.
A final motivation for the creation and maintenance of this web site is the
hopeful awakening in Orthodox men and women of the desire to love the
truth and to pursue it at all costs. This is something greatly needed
in our times, as Fr. George Florovsky once wrote so passionately:
The late Metropolitan Eulogius
was discussing the recent religious revival among Russians, both at
home and in exile, during the early years of Russian emigration. The
fact was obvious: there was an awakening. The reasons were obvious,
also: the shock of tragic events, insecurity and uncertainty, suffering
and fear. But exactly what was it that attracted Russians to the Church?
The dogmas, the Orthodox doctrine? Yes, said the Metropolitan, so
it was in the past, and especially in Byzantium among the Greeks,
but not in Russia. There was a time when even lay people were deeply
interested in questions of faith. But Russians, the Metropolitan contended,
with the exception of the few educated theologians, have not yet reached
the point at which they would be concerned with the problems of abstract
theological thought, and in fact they are not interested in them at
all. It may be, the Metropolitan conceded, that the Church has failed
to develop an interest in theology among believers. But, in his opinion,
the true reason for this lack of interest among the Russians was that
they neither cherish, nor understand the theoretical aspect of the
realization or embodiment of the Church's ideals in the lives of men.
Above all, they cherish the ritual aspect of religion, the beauty
of services, ikons, melodies, and the like. The Metropolitan proceeded
to explain the emotional and educational value of the rites. He added,
however, that all this ritual may be little understood, and that people
do not really know what truth is witnessed or symbolized in the rites.
Yet, he contended, rites themselves are so touching and moving, exalting
and inspiring, regardless of their meaning....
It is really embarrassing that
there is so little concern for "dogmatic systems," as well
as for the Doctrine of the Church, in various circles and quarters
of the Orthodox society of our day, and that "devotion"
is so often forcefully divorced from "faith." There is too
much concern with "the vessels" and too little concern with
the Treasure, which alone makes the vessel precious. Symbols and rites
are vehicles of the truth, and if they fail to convey the truth, they
simply cease to function. Unfortunately, it is often suggested that
"interest in doctrines" is something rather archaic and
is a Greek attitude rather than a Russian one (again, not—but).
There is but one Orthodox Tradition of faith, and it transcends
all national barriers. The feast of Orthodoxy, which we still faithfully
celebrate on the first Sunday in Lent, is precisely a theological
feast. The Legacy of Fathers is the core of our Orthodox tradition,
and it is a theological legacy. The Doctrine of Fathers is the spring
of Orthodoxy in life. One is fully justified in contending that our
modern confusion in life comes directly from the contemporary neglect
of "sound teaching," from the lack of "sound learning"
in matters of faith. (see "A
Criticism of the Lack of Concern of Doctrine Among Russian Orthodox
Believers").
What he says concerning Russian Orthodox
could be widely applied. An indication of the great esteem that an Orthodox
Christian should hold the pursuit and love of truth is found in this
Life of St. Photios the Great, by the eminent Serbian scholar Saint
Justin (Popovich) of Chelije:
Our God-bearing
Fathers, who governed all things in the Church of God in a proper and
God-pleasing manner, have left to us as a sacred heritage the God-given
teaching, just as they themselves had received from the Holy Apostles,
that the confession and defense of the True Orthodox Faith is the greatest
of virtues. No other virtue, they tell us, is so great before God and
so profitable for the Church. For the Truth is God, and love and confession
of God's Truth—that is to say, the True Faith of the Church—frees,
enlightens and saves us men. This holy teaching is proclaimed especially
by those holy Fathers who spent their entire lives struggling to preserve
Christ's true and saving Faith, by which alone men are saved and enter
eternal life. This holy tradition of the Fathers, confirmed, as it is,
and testified to by their entire lives, offers the greatest lesson for
our own generation, a generation which, lacking zeal "for the love
of the Truth," has grown cold and hardened in its indifference
toward the correct Faith.
Among the ancient and great Fathers
of the Church, perhaps the greatest zealots for the correct Faith
and the Truth of God were SS. Athanasios the Great and Basil the Great.
Yet our holy and God-bearing Father Photios, the Confessor and defender
of the Orthodox Faith of Christ, is in no way inferior to them. Like
them, he labored in all the virtues that please God and bring deification.
But above all he strove for Divine Truth, the true dogma of the Orthodox
Faith bequeathed to the Church as a holy inheritance by the God-inspired
Apostles and Fathers. So it is that the holy Photios wrote in his
famous letter to Nicholas, the Pope of Rome: "Nothing is dearer
than the Truth." And in the same letter, he noted: "It is
truly necessary that we observe all things, but above all, that which
pertains to matters of the Faith, in which but a small deviation represents
a deadly sin." (On the Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit,
[Studion Publishers, Inc., 1983])
It is my sincere hope and prayer
that God will raise up Orthodox men and women who have a deep thirst
for the understanding and maintenance of the truth—a truth found
only in Holy Orthodoxy.
In short, this site attempts
both to share the Orthodox Faith with the non-Orthodox and to instruct
and edify those Orthodox who desire to live truly Orthodox
lives—i.e., "traditionalists," those who live in the
divine way that the Holy Fathers have handed down and not in a way that
attempts to "keep in step with the times." It is a site for
those who desire to be obedient to the Church, which is Christ Himself.
This is the path of Love. As written in the Epistle of St. John: "For
this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments..." (1 John
5:3; cf. St. John 14:21). In the context of the illicit reform of the
Church Calendar Hieromonk Cassian
wrote this words apropos of this theme:
Therefore, any Orthodox who thinks
that the Faith must be "corrected" proves that he does not
wish to obey his Holy Mother, the Orthodox Church, but rather that
he desires to "reform" Her; that is, he does not accept
Her as She is, protesting instead against Her essence. Such an individual
may be called a "reformer," a "Protestant," or
whatever, but he may not be properly called Orthodox. An Orthodox
is one who observes diligently and immutably the teachings of the
Holy Orthodox Church, which long ago sanctified the externals of our
Faith, releasing us from the need to "reinvent" these externals.
(A Scientific Examination of the Orthodox Church Calendar [Etna,
CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 1998], p. 38)
I hope this introduction has helped orient
you to the contents of this site. Your comments are welcome. May
God guide us all into the fullness of Truth—Christ Himself!
—Patrick Barnes, Webmaster
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