The Beauty of the Orthodox Creed
Objective:
Developing the feeling of pride in our
Orthodox Creed and the spirit of enlightenment in understanding its depths
Memory Verse:
“If you can believe, all things are
possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).
References:
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“Theology,” Fr. Michael Mina
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“The Orthodox Law,” Deacon Girgis Samuel Azir
Lesson Notes
I. The Creed and the Spiritual Life
There is no separation between Theology
and testing, experimenting and investigation because knowing God cannot be
fulfilled through reason only. It cannot also be fulfilled through concepts,
images and academic definitions of the Creed. Conceptions often lead to pagan
ideas about God; these ideas are closer to paganism than to the true belief.
St.
Gregory Nazianus, in his comment on the Beatitudes, said, “The blessing does
not lie in knowing God, but the true blessing means that God is inside the
soul.” There is then a close relationship between what we believe in and the
way we live. The person who feels the holiness of the Virgin, the intercession
of the Saints or the effect of Baptism has a spiritual life experience which is
far better than the experience of others. And the person who believes in the
Oneness of Christ, the Monophysite Doctrine (i.e. Christ is One Nature of
Godhead and Manhood; His Divinity never departed from His Humanity; He’s One
with His Divinity without mingling or confusion), is deeply affected by this
doctrine in his spiritual life, approach and instructions.
II. Life inside the Church
“Spiritual Life” can be defined as life
directed to the Father, through the Son and the Holy Spirit. In other words, it
means that we should follow His example and live His life on earth.
Christ is present in the Gospel and in
history through Incarnation. He is also present now in the Church, in His glory
and the glory of His Good Father and the Holy Spirit.
We meet on Sundays for two reasons:
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Sunday is the day on which the world was
created. Hence, it stands for our new creation in Christ.
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It is the eighth day that escaped from
the borders of time and reached the borders of everlasting life. In the
Liturgy, we live as a new creation in a new heaven and a new earth. This
explains why we use white clothes, chant the hymn of the Trisagion and practice
the other delightful rites which take the believers to the kingdom of God
III. Features of the Orthodox
Spiritual Life
A. Emphasizing the Work of the Holy Trinity
The Orthodox Church emphasizes the work of
the Three Hypostases in every prayer or service. This is not the case in the
Western thought, which concentrates on the work of Christ. For example, when
the Orthodox priest grants the Apostolic Benediction, he says, “The love of God
the Father, and the Grace of the Only Begotten Son, and the Communion and the Gift
of the Holy Spirit be with you.” In the prayers of the Canonical Hours, we
raise prayers to the Heavenly Father, “We thank You O Father, the Father of Our
Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.” Another prayer is raised to the Son.
There is also a liturgy which is addressed
to the Father and another liturgy addressed to the Son; the Orthodox Church
believes that the Three Hypostases work in unity. Concerning the work of the
Hypostases for Virgin Mary, the Church says, “The Father chose you, the Son was
incarnate of you and the Holy Spirit overshadowed you.”
While Protestantism concentrates on Christ
only, especially on the human aspect of Christ and the aspect of salvation,
Orthodox teaching always addresses the Three Hypostases and concentrates on
their work in the heart.
B. Consecrating Materials
The Lord incarnated and became Man. Material,
in itself, is not evil or wicked. Christianity does not aim for the salvation
of the soul without the body (flesh).
In the resurrection, bodies will rise
again and all things will become new to man. That is why the Church believes
that consecration is fulfilled through the work of the Holy Spirit in material
things (water, oil and wine). The Church uses icons, candles, and incense as
well as bodily activities such as seeing, touching, smelling and movements.
This way both the soul and the body receive the blessings. They do not restrict
themselves to mental contemplation and despise the other components of the
human personality.
C. Grace and Will Never Contradict
Spiritual life in the Orthodox Creed is
the work of Grace, but this necessitates the presence of the will to receive
this Grace; without Grace, our struggle will be in vain; and without struggle, Grace
will never last and grow in the life of believers. If our way is to be
blameless, we must struggle.
Spiritual practice does not mean that I
can please God through my effort, but it means that I should prepare my life
for the Lord to dwell in; I should accept from the Church all means of Grace
which fill my life with joy.
D. The Life of Fellowship
Orthodox Spiritualism does not recognize
individual spiritualism. The moment a believer is born anew through baptism, he
is planted in the Church, and all Church sacraments and services aim at this
holy unity which unites the believer’s soul and body with the members of Christ
(the Church).
If we contemplate on the prayers of the
Holy Liturgy, this unity becomes obvious. The bishop or the priest cannot
perform the liturgy by himself, neither can the deacon. The people cannot
perform the liturgy if the bishop and the deacon are absent. All the members
must take part together in harmonious unity.
Orthodox Spiritualism also emphasizes the
unity between heaven and earth, those in heaven and those on earth, the
believers with God and the believer in the Church.
In both her private prayers and public
prayers, the Church recites the names of Saints and remembers angels and
archangels. In the Commemoration of the Saints, the struggling Church raises a
prayer for the triumphant Church: “Graciously, O Lord, be mindful of all the
Saints who have pleased You since the beginning.” So the partnership extends
between the members of the Body of Christ, whether these members are still
living or have departed, Saints or struggling.
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