Title: III. God, Humanity,
1III. God, Humanity,
- and the World
- in Orthodoxy
2III.A. Apophaticism
3III.A. Apophaticism
- Trinity!! Higher than any being, any divinity,
any goodness! - Guide of Christians in the wisdom of heaven!
- Lead us up beyond unknowing and light,
- up to the farthest, highest peak of mystic
scripture, - where the mysteries of Gods Word
- lie simple, absolute, and unchangeable
- in the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.
- Amid the deepest shadow
- they pour overwhelming light
- on what is most manifest.
- Amid the wholly unsensed and unseen
- they completely fill our sightless minds
- with treasures beyond all beauty.
4III.A. Apophaticism
- Some nasty isms
- Cataphaticism theology which proceeds by
affirmation - Mysticism rejection of a knowledge-based
approach to spirituality/theology - Apophaticism theology/spirituality which
proceeds by negation
5III.A. Apophaticism
- Biblical roots of apophaticism
- The darkness of Sinai (Ex. 1916-18)
- The darkness of the cloud over the tent of
meeting (Ex. 4034-38) - The blackness inside the Holy of Holies
6III.A. Apophaticism
- Schmemann on apophaticism (p. 32)
- God of scholars vs. living God
- Definitions vs. a sense of holiness
- God as other vs. God as the end of our hunger
- God as unknowable vs. God as the only one worth
knowing
7III.A. Apophaticism
- Does apophaticism imply agnosticism?
-
- Two key distinctions
- 1) Rational vs. personal knowledge
- 2) Essence vs. energies
8III.B. The Trinity
9III.B. The Trinity
- Two Major Mistakes to Avoid
- Sabellianism (a Western tendency) --
- One God (Son-Father)
- _______________________________________
- Father/Judge Son/Servant Spirit/Helper
- (OT period) (Christs life) (Church Age)
10III.B. The Trinity
- Two Major Mistakes to Avoid
- Subordinationism (an Eastern Tendency)
- God (Father)
- ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
- Son
- Holy Spirit
11III.B. The Trinity
- Two ways of looking at the Trinity
- West East
- Father Father
- (God)
- God
- Son Spirit Son Spirit
12III.B. The Trinity
- The filioque controversy
- The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Holy Spirit
proceeds from the Father. - The addition of the phrase and from the Son
(filioque) in Spain during the 6th century. - The acceptance of the altered version in the
West. - The rejection of the altered version in the East.
13III.B. The Trinity
- This is why the East has always opposed the
formula of filioque which seems to impair the
monarchy of the Father either one is forced to
destroy the unity by acknowledging two principles
of Godhead, or one must ground the unity
primarily on the common nature, which thus
overshadows the persons and transforms them into
relations within the unity of the essence. - -- Vladimir Lossky
14III.C. Creation,
15III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Two views of humanity at creation
- In fellowship with God
- With the capacity for fellowship and union with
God
16III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Image and likeness (Gen. 126-27)
- The image does not possess everything perfectly,
as we have seen, but has a propensity towards
perfection the defect is amended by the faculty
of likeness. In the likeness refers to the
tendency of the self-determining faculty to
acquire perfection by painfully struggling in an
endless course of progress. This means that man
is not something perfected, but something which
is formed with struggle. - -- Panagiotes Chrestou
17III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Humanitys vocation Theosis
- Literally deification (see Ps. 826, 2 Pet.
14) - Better transformation,
- transfiguration,
- union with God
18III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Theosis does not mean
- A denial of Gods transcendence
- That we become gods in essence
- That we possess God
- That we become equal with God in any way
19III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Biblical roots of theosis
- Gods revelation to Moses on Sinai (Ex. 3429-35)
- The transfiguration (Lk. 928-36)
- Pauls vision (2 Cor. 122-4)
20III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Three aspects of theosis
- Developing godly qualities (2 Pet. 15-9)
- Participation in Gods immortality (2 Tim. 110,
2 Pet. 14) - Communion with God (1 Jn. 48)
21III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- Theosis is cosmic, not individual
- By uniting these diverse elements within
himselfthus uniting the whole of creationand
simultaneously surrendering himself to God in a
complete abandonment of love, man would have
expressed the willful self-offering of the whole
of the creation unto the Creator. God, in his
turn, would have given himself unto man, and thus
effected the deification of the whole of his
creation in and through his last creature (man).
This is the potential, the divinely appointed
function that was given to man. - -- Hieromonk Auxentios
22III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- The Fall
- Not a drastic departure from a perfect state
- Rather, the turning aside from a pathway
23III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- For the Greek Fathers, the fall of manand for
that matter, sinis not to be understood as
bringing about something new, but as revealing
and actualizing the limitations and potential
dangers inherent in creaturehood, if creation is
left to itself. - -- John Zizioulas
24III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- The infinite distance between the created and
uncreated, the natural separation of man from God
which ought to have been overcome by deification,
became an impassable abyss for man after he had
willed himself into a new state, that of sin and
death. - -- Vladimir Lossky
25III.C. Creation, Vocation, Fall
- East West
- Creation Capacity for union State of fellowship
- Calling Journey to God Foster fellowship
- Fall Leaving a path, Drastic departure
- a journey from a state
- Salvation Elevation to union Restoration of
- fellowship
26Discussion
- Apophaticism revisited
- The Trinity
- Creation and fall
27Discussion
- Apophaticism Revisited
- 1) How much does our creaturely perspective
distort our understanding of God? - 2) Is there a danger in partial knowledge?
28Discussion
- The Trinity
- 1) Does the procession of the Holy Spirit really
matter? - 2) Where should one locate the unity of the
godhead? - 3) Does the West actually lose sight of the
personal character of God? - 4) Does the West minimize the paradox of Gods
identity and diversity?
29Discussion
- Creation and Fall
- 1) What do we make of the image/ likeness
distinction? - 2) Humanitys calling ascent or maintenance of
a relationship? - 3) The effects of the fall