Part 1
Restoring Human Nature
1) The Hindu Upanishads (sacred texts) teach that life is changeable by nature, transitory and ephemeral
a) Pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin
2) The Bhagavad Gita (Hindu sacred text) uses the war battlefield as an analogy for this life
3) 500 years before the advent of Jesus Christ, the Buddha was profoundly affected by observing sickness, old age, and death
4) The Buddha concluded that attachments to this life are what produces suffering, and the Buddha sought a way beyond the suffering of the implicit processes of human life
a) Four Noble Truths; Eightfold Noble Path
5) The 20th-century (post-modern) existential philosopher Martin Heidegger called human life a “being-toward-death”
6) Death, Heidegger wrote, is the primordial existential reality of humans who find themselves “thrown-into-the-world”
7) Christian revelation and Orthodox Holy Tradition (3):
a) There is suffering; but not caused by God, the Creator
b) Root cause: human disobedience by our ancestral parents, the consequences of which we live with (ancestral curse)
c) We are not randomly “thrown-into-the-world”
d) Physical or spiritual death (4) is not our true destiny
e) Awareness of death leads to the search for enduring life
f) There is purpose and a way to enduring life, true life
(3) Holy Tradition is the deposit of faith given by Jesus Christ to the Apostles and passed on in the Church from one
generation to the next without addition, alteration or subtraction. Vladimir Lossky has famously described the
Tradition as "the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church."
(4) Death is defined in Orthodox Christianity as the separation of the soul from the body, which happens because of
man’s corruptibility and mortality and is the fruit of the sin of the Forefathers (Adam and Eve) The soul however
continues to exist.; Life after Death; Met of Nafpaktos Hierotheos; Page 133
8) “Man and his destiny were in the Mind of the Triune God (i.e., Holy Trinity) ‘before the world began’ (2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2; cf. Rom. 8:29). At a particular moment which man’s limited powers cannot discern, the pre-eternal God decided to create man according to His image and likeness. He made him in a personal and direct way (out of non-being), and endowed him with an incredible mind and a wondrous heart that is capable of embracing not only the whole of creation, both ‘seen and unseen’, ‘visible and invisible’, as the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil says, but even the very eternity of God. Man is the true lord of the kingdom of the world, the crown of the whole creation.”(5)
(5) The Hidden Man Of The Heart; Archimandrite Zacaharius; page 18
9) The Sacred Scripture and the Holy Fathers of the Church teach that as a consequence of the fall of man (Gen. 3), humans have subsequently lived an essentially “inauthentic” human life that ends in physical death
a) Not truly human as designed for man by God, or as experienced in Paradise before the fall,
i) Cf. “In Buddhist cosmology, the phenomenal world continually repeats a four-stage cycle of formation, continuance, decline, and disintegration—cycles of change and rebirth through the four kalpas (æons or ages). A parallel to Christian cosmology is found here with this conception of a utopian past: ‘At the beginning of the kalpa, there were many beings. Each was garbed in the best of virtues. The light that shone from their bodies was so great that one did not need any more to depend upon the light of the sun and moon. [But] due to the power of the non-eternal, the light waned and the virtues lessened.’” (6)
(6) Marking Out Common Ground for Eastern Orthodoxy and Mahāyāna Buddhism: Correspondences in the Work of Gregory of Nyssa and the Mahāparinirvāna Sūtra; David K. Goodin, PhD Candidate and Faculty Lecturer, McGill University, Quebec, Canada
10)The goal of Orthodox Christianity is to restore man (woman) to “true humanness” and human “authenticity” from brokenness, disconnection from its Source, and as a result, to save us from spiritual death (and eventually restore us to eternal life, which includes a “new glorified body”)
a) We are thus freed from the fear of death (Heidegger calls it existential “Angst”)
b) “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself (Jesus Christ) likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:15)
11)The underlying premise of Orthodox Christianity (St Gregory Palamas) is that human life, creation, and even the bodiless forms of life [i.e., angels] are imbued with another dimension of reality: the interpenetrating reality of divine grace
12)This comes from the image of God which was fully realized, expressed and restored (“recapitulated”) in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.(7)
13)All of mankind – Christian or not – have this Image indwelling them, corrupted, obscured, defiled, or tarnished as it may be; aware or conscious of it or not a) “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”(8) b) “O Christ the true light, enlightening and sanctifying every man who comes into the world”(9) i) Note: Buddhists have a similar concept of the Buddha-nature (Buddha dhatu)
14)Orthodox Christianity, if undertaken seriously (not nominally), first awakens and then leads to the healing of the soul (often referred to as “the heart” (10), and is the process whereby the soul is re-united with its true [and only immortal and eternal] Source (the Divine Being)
a) From Whom is our only hope of “eternal life”
15)Orthodox Christianity as a spiritual path (11) (versus a doctrinal or theological system) is not merely a set of doctrines to be memorized or (even only believed), or ascetic practices to be followed by “experiences”; nor is it merely a life lived following the example of Jesus Christ
a) Rather, it is a life (ideally) of transfiguration – divinization; through a “union with Christ in His glorified human nature.” (12)
(7) 3-4 are direct quotes from Fr Daniel M. Rodich’s “Becoming Uncreated: The Journey To Human Authenticity”; p.25
(8) John: 1:4; all biblical quotations are from The Orthodox Study Bible
(9) A Manual of the Hours of The Orthodox Church; page 46
(10) The “heart” in patristic literature is understood as the spiritual center of man’s being. The heart is comprised of man’s feelings (affect); volition (will); and man’s mind (cognition) in one unbreakable unity. Although not the physical heart (the organ itself) it is thought to reside in the same physical location. The Heart; Archimandrite Spyridon Logothetis; Brotherhood of the Transfiguration; 2001; Page 17, 18
(11) I borrowed this from Metropolitan Jonah (OCA)
(12) Divine Energy; Jon E. Braun
16)Becoming a “Christian” in the context of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is not a (mere) acceptance by faith alone of a “spiritual legal transaction” in a law court between God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ [as some Western Christians traditions teach]
17)In Protestant Evangelical Christianity, initial “conversion” by faith and/or by baptism and “salvation”, are often understood as the same event (13)
a) Are you “saved”?
18)Not so in Orthodox Christianity; the process only begins at Baptism:
a) “Deification in the broad sense begins at baptism, and stretches out all along the whole of man’s spiritual ascent; here his powers are also active, that is, during the purification from the passions, the winning of the virtues, and illumination.”(14)
19)In Orthodox Christian terminology, salvation is understood as a process of transformation/illumination with three inter-related aspects in this life and the next (not linear, or compartmentalized into three distinct stages):
(13) The distinction between forensic justification and progressive sanctification emerged after Luther and is a
keynote of later Protestantism; Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences; Norman L. Geisler
and Ralph E. Mackenzie; Page98 (footnote)
(14) Fr. Dumitru Staniloae (Orthodox Spirituality) quoted in Orthodox Dogmatic Theology; M. Pomazansky; footnote; Page 221
a) Purification (Metanoia – Gr)
i) “In the first stage man lives and acts outside his heart and entertains proud thoughts and considers vain things. In fact, he is in a state of delusion. His heart is darkened and void of understanding.” (15)
ii) ‘Through suffering we are stopped short in our self worship and pursuit of earthly gratification. We find that our old distractions no longer work as they did before – they no longer stop the pain. Finally we are forced to face what we had been running away from all our lives: we are forced to face ourselves as we really are, and it is a gruesome sight. The ego cries out that, if we truly face our sickness, the end is at hand; and this is true, for it will mean the end of the ego’s tyranny. For our true selves, however, it marks the beginning of a new life.”(16)
b) Illumination (Theoria-Gr)
i) “In the second stage, man ‘comes to himself’, and he begins to have humble thoughts that attract grace and make his heart sensitive.”(17)
ii) “One day, as he stood and recited, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner’, uttering it with his mind rather than his mouth, suddenly a flood of divine radiance appeared from above and filled all the room…He was wholly in the presence of immaterial Light and seemed to himself to have turned into light.”
(15) The Hidden Man of the Heart; Archimandrite Zacharias; page 6
(16) Christ The Eternal Tao; Monk Damascene; Page 285
(17) IBID; page 6
(1) “This Light, says Fr. Sophrony, penetrates us with the power of God, and we become ‘without beginning’ – not through our origin but by the gift of Grace; life without beginning is communicated to us. And there is no limit to theoutpouring of the Father’s love: man becomes identical with God – the same by content, not by primordial being. God will eternally be GOD…” (18)
c) Theosis (Gr- cf. sanctification; God-likeness; communion with God)
i) “The heart experiences a surge of light-bearing life. The mind suddenly grasps hitherto concealed meanings. Contact with His creative energy recreates us. Cognition that comes that comes in this fashion is not the same as philosophical intellection: together with perception of realities of the spiritual plane man’s whole being takes on another form of life – similar perhaps to the first created. This existential knowledge of God dissolves into a current of prayerful love for Him.”(19)
(18) IBID; 395
(19) Quoting Elder Sophrony; IBID; 168
Post – Modern ‘Spirituality’
1) Various ways the word “spirituality” (20) is used and understood in our post-modern, pluralistic culture:
· Awareness of or connection with impersonal or transpersonal spiritual energies, forces or “cosmic consciousness”
· ‘Expanded consciousness’: of something greater than self and nature (natural realm)
· Unity with the divine, or Godhead (various understandings of what “God” means)
· Perfected spiritual awareness; often referred to as enlightenment or realization
· Mindfulness (Buddhist)
· Compassionate living; treating people, animals, earth with awareness and decency (21)
2) Occult is intrinsic in deity-oriented Eastern religions:
a) “Vedic faith…depended upon external rites, which were magical in effect and intended to control the universe…” (22)
i) Belief in depersonalized energies existing in the universe that can be harnessed through natural abilities or mechanical means (occult magic; Roerich; Blavatsky; etc.) (23)
(20) Fr Meletios Webber distinguishes “religion” from “spirituality” this way: “Religion is concerned with God’s
relationship with the universe; spirituality is focused on the way a person sees his own place in the universe.”
Steps of Transformation; Page 83
(21) Peter Occhiogrosso; Through The Labyrinth
(22) IBID; 17
b) “Who are these Vedic gods, known by such names as Prajapati, Indra, Varuna, Yama and Rudra? Generally speaking, gods occupy exalted positions from which they control the rain, sunshine, the wind, water, fire and death, and other natural phenomena.” (24)
i) Holy Scripture: ‘For all the gods of the nations are demons…” (Psalm 95 [96] LXX)
ii) “..all the power that is given to the practitioners of Eastern religions comes from the same phenomenon of medium-ism (I.E., channeling)” (25)
iii) “Many mediums claim that their powers are not at all supernatural, but come from a part of nature about which very little is known. To some extent this is doubtless true; but it’s also true that the realm from which these spirits come is the special realm of the fallen spirits, who do not hesitate to use the opportunity afforded by the people who enter this realm to draw them into their own nets, adding their own demonic powers and manifestations…”(26)
3) In the neo-pagan spiritual culture we live in today these external gods have (often) been supplanted by an elevated (and delusional) teaching of the Self as Divine Being
4) The “Self” or “Soul” becomes the god of the New Age
(23) Fr G. Aquaro; Occult Magic: A Brief Synopsis
(24) Hinduism; Nikhilananda; Page 23
(25) Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future; Fr Seraphim Rose; Page 61; 162
(26) IBID; 162
5) Important to understand the Orthodox understanding of the soul [differs from the New Age/Eastern]
6) The soul and body are created simultaneously by God (conception)
7) St Gregory of Nyssa defines the soul as an essence which is created; it is a living and noetic essence, which gives the power of life and the reception of the sense-impressions to the organic and sensory body while the body maintains its physical existence
8) The soul brings vital power into the bodily organism to activate the senses
9) The body moves by the power and energy of the soul (27)
10) Contrary to the understanding of the New Age and East, the interests of the soul are not always seeking the highest good
a) St Theophan says the soul is in constant motion
(27) Life After Life; Met. Hierotheos
11)The soul when in its lower expression is submerged in earthly concerns and the gratification of its temporal needs, which inclines it to sin
12)Seekers of these traditions can be deluded into believing their soul is already “perfect” and is the source of all that is good
a) “I had revered my soul as my personal God. Why would I need God, if my soul thinks it is perfect? The Freudian definition of the ego is flawed, I learned, for it bypasses the relationship of the soul to our ego; in truth, out soul is as much a part of our lower nature (unpurified – editor) as the ego…St.Theophan emphasized that there was a distinction between feeling good (a lower expression of the soul) and truly experiencing the Holy Spirit...Many New Age practices are …based on trusting your own feelings and intuitions, without regard for where the trust is being placed.” (28)
13)“Self-mastery”, “self-divinization” are the goals of New Age (and New Thought) teaching; self-empowerment; being one’s own god (divinization) as a birthright, through one’s spiritual efforts and discovery
a) Very directly connected with the spirit of “narcissism” that pervades modern Western culture
14)This is the primal temptation: enlightenment man’s way, becoming (thinking one is) a god [Satan tempts Eve]:
15)“For God knows in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” (29)
16)“He (man) wanted to become god, not by means of God’s love and in submission to the divine command, but by means of his own independence and rebelliousness. And at that moment, his dreadful fall took place, as the Scriptures relate, and this was a universal misfortune.” (30)
17)But what does being “enlightened” mean?
a) Is it the (heart) soul that is enlightened or expanded, or in actuality the ego?
(28)The Pearl of Great Price; Veronica Hughes; Page 149-150
(29) Genesis: 3:5
(30) The Hidden Man Of The Heart; Archimandrite Zacharias; page 19
i) In the end, the ego will die with the body; so if our work has only been in the temporal or psychological ego-realm, it is of no eternal avail and actually this work (ego work) is counter-productive to eternal work
b) Elder Sophrony: “In these circumstances…there is no salvation for man.” (31)
c) “The source of real deliverance lies in unquestionable, wholehearted acceptance of the Revelation, ‘I am that I am…Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.’ God is Personal Absolute, Trinity One and Indivisible. Our whole Christian life is based on this Revelation. This God called us from non-being into life…We are created in order to be communicants in the Divine Being of Him Who really is.”(32)
18)Metaphysics in eastern, new age and New Thought (33) spirituality are (generally) based on Pantheism:
a) The view that “God”, the universe, and nature are identical in essential nature; that creation is but an “emanation” of some unmanifested Absolute; and, that the socalled “soul of man” is in its true essence, this (very) unmanifested Absolute (34)
i) Common form of pantheism is Dualistic Pantheism; two major types of substance: [lower] physical and [higher] mental/spiritual. Dualistic pantheism may include beliefs in reincarnation, cosmic consciousness, and paranormal; itoften involves an asceticism where the material-physical is rejected as being unworthy of spiritual endeavor
(31) On Prayer; Archimandrite Sophrony; Page169
(32) IBID; Pages 169-170
(33) I.E. Christian Science; Religious Science; Science of Mind; Unity
(34) Paramahamsa Yogananda; The Second Coming of Christ; Vol. 1; page 310
19)Contrast with Orthodox Christian Theism:
a) The belief in one God as the creator, sustainer and ruler of the universe, who created everything else out of nothing (ex nihilo); not out of Divine substance or preexistent matter or substance
b) Orthodox Christian Theism holds that creation is distinct from God (whose nature is ultimately unknowable and unapproachable in essence); but (creation is) interpenetrated by God’s energies (energeia - Gr) by His grace (which can be experienced)
i) Orthodox view of the re: between the Creator and Creation: Immanence without pantheistic identification, transcendence without deistic isolation (35)
c) Christian belief in a personal, enduring “self” or “soul”, created by God
i) VS false self of Hinduism; No Self or “Emptiness” of all forms of Buddhism
d) Christianity: The soul is distinct by nature and essence from God; it (soul) is created; it exists by God’s grace
i) “The Nature of God and the nature of man are not identical; or, to speak more generally, the Nature of the Divine and the nature of the earthly are not identical.In the Divine Nature, both existence itself and everything in It which has existence are unchangeable and immortal; for, in that which is constant,
everything is constant. But what is true of our nature? It flows, is corrupted, and undergoes change after change.” (St Gregory The Theologian; Homily 19, “On Julian”) (36)
(35) Becoming Uncreated: The Journey To Human Authenticity; Daniel M. Rogich
Eastern Religion/ New Age Catechism Module Saint Barnabas Orthodox Church 2010 Page 21
(36) Orthodox Dogmatic Theology; Pomazansky; Page 127
ii) Cf Buddhist view of impermanence
20)When Our Lord says “The Kingdom of heaven is within”; or, “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” He does not mean that the human soul is God
21)The purified human heart is where we encounter God
Common Ground With Eastern Religions?
1) While each religious system and tradition offers a distinct diagnosis and cure, there are areas where there is common ground:
2) Orthodox Christianity shares an existential emphasis with eastern traditions (although based on very different theological/cosmological premises)
a) Eastern Orthodoxy – especially the hesychasm (contemplative) tradition – teaches that true “spiritual knowledge” presupposes a “purified” and “awakened” nous (Greek), which is the “Inner ‘I’” (so to speak) of the soul
b) For Eastern Orthodox the true theologian isn’t one who simply knows doctrine intellectually or academically; but one “who knows God, or the inner essences or principles of created things by means of direct apprehension or spiritual perception.(37)”
c) Most eastern spiritual seekers are not aware that the opportunity for profound spiritual illumination-transformation - which our tradition calls “theoria” - exists within a Christian context
(37)Makarian Homilies; Glossary of The Philokalia
3) These traditions (including Orthodox Christianity) share a similar (negative) diagnosis of humanity and human consciousness in the phenomenal world:
a) Suffering as an existential and intrinsic factor of life
b) Christianity teaches the fall of man (Gen. 3) moving towards death
c) Hinduism teaches Maya, or the ultimate unreality of conditioned existence
d) Buddhism teaches the phenomenal world as the milieu of the non-Self, as impermanent and non-eternal and attachment to it fosters suffering
e) While Christians share a similar negative diagnosis of the fallen human condition with Buddhists, Jains or Hindus, they do not share a common “cure”
i) Anecdotal: Buddhism (especially Theravada) in my opinion comes close to a correct analysis of human nature and of the need for an end to craving/desire as a cure to suffering (apatheia); however the fact is that the Buddha was 500 before the advent of God on the earth and so he could not bring an end to suffering and death. In fact, the Buddha died at 80 after eating bad pork, for which he suffered and then expired.
4) For Orthodox Christians, the “cure” is being transformed by the grace-energies of God, through Jesus Christ, which (paradoxically) begins when we see our spiritual poverty and desolation and need of saving (38)
(38) Hidden Man of the Heart; Zacharias; page 7
a) The “therapy” of the Orthodox Christian life, according to the Eastern Church Fathers, is to progress from the “sub-natural” or “fallen state”, in which we find ourselves subject to death; to the truly “natural” or “according to nature state”, after the Image (of God); and ultimately to the “supra-natural” or “beyond nature” state, after the Likeness (of God)
b) For Hindus the goal is to achieve an esoteric-type, self-realization through spiritual disciplines
c) For Buddhists the power of salvation is in the individual through correct knowledge and practice in the Noble Eightfold Path
5) Classic Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity are all [practically-speaking] exclusivist in their understanding of salvation (I.E., each tradition believes it is the one, true path)
a) Christianity tends to get a “bad rap” for being “exclusivist” in its understanding of salvation (soteriology)
b) A Hindu text (Rig Veda) makes reference to all paths leading to the same truth and therefore Hinduism is often touted as being ecumenical; however, in Advaita Vedanta for example, the Upanishads as interpreted by Shankara are seen as the only path to liberation; Buddhists teach that Buddhist dharma is the only real path to liberation (and Christians understand the work of Christ, through His atonement and resurrection as the only way to salvation)
6) Buddhist and Hindu dharma (practice) emphasize cessation of craving-desire (dispassion), which is necessary to quench the passions (39)
a) Holy Tradition teaches apatheia, or detachment as a means of combating the fallen passions
(39) Some of these comparative elements were suggested by John Simmons
7) Hindu and Buddhist meditation methods teach “stillness”
a) The word hesychia in Holy Tradition – the root of the word for hesychasm – means “stillness”
8) Buddhism, especially, teaches “mindfulness”
a) Holy Tradition teaches “watchfulness” (nepsis - Greek) so we do not fall into distorted thinking-living!
9) Hindus and Buddhists understand it is not wise to live for the present life, but to struggle for the future one
a) Orthodox agree
10)Westerners who become Buddhist or Hindu are often fervent spiritual seekers used to struggling with foreign languages and cultures (Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Japanese) and pushing themselves outside their “comfort zones”
a) Converts to the Eastern Orthodox Church can relate
11)Buddhist and Hindu sects have complex forms of “liturgy” including chant, prostration and veneration of icons
a) Obviously Orthodox Christianity does as well
12)All traditions have a robust monastic lineage
13)Tibetan Buddhism, especially, places high value on the lives of (their) ascetics, relics and “saints”
a) Cf Christian hagiography and relics
14)All traditions share a belief in angelic (positive) and demonic (negative) beings or entities. These traditions all believe there is an afterlife
a) They differ as to what this afterlife will be
Orthodox Spirituality
1) Contrasted with New Age/ Eastern ideas of “transcendence” and the essential divinity and immortality of the human soul, “spirituality” in the Orthodox Church is a restored life in communion with the spirit of the Holy Trinity(40) , mediated specifically by the Divine Person of Jesus Christ
i) “…Orthodox spirituality is the experience of life in Christ, the sphere of the new man, regenerated by the grace of God. It is not an abstract, emotional and psychological state of being. It is man’s union with God.” (41)
2) Strictly speaking, spirituality is only authentic when it is of the Holy Spirit of the living God
a) “The Holy Spirit partakes of the fullness of the divinity”(42)
3) “Our specifically Christian undertaking is decidedly not one of transcending. It is, rather, the intentional reinspiriting of the body and its lowly matter – as manifested in the incarnation of Christ.”(43)
4) Other “spiritualities” and major world religions may provide glimpses or glimmers of the Holy Spirit, but only glimpses
a) If the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not known, one cannot really know God
(40) We will get to the Holy Trinity later
(41) Met. Hierotheos Vlachos; Orthodox Spirituality
(42) St Basil; On The Holy Spirit; 46
(43) The End of suffering; Scott Cairns; Page28
5) Spirituality is not primarily about how one treats others, the earth, animals, meditation, altered states, etc.
a) although these are impacted by one’s conversion, and part of following God’s commandments
6) Goal of the Orthodox Christian life is to become by grace, what God is by nature
a) “…we are to become like God, as far as this is possible for human nature.” (44)
b) Distinguish this from Pantheism or self-divinization
c) Essence - energies distinction (St Gregory Palamas) (45)
i) Immanence without pantheistic identification, transcendence without deistic isolation
7) Only God is holy by nature, and according to the Scripture, it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies men (Romans 14)
a) “…fill me wholly with holiness, as Thou art holy by nature.” (46)
b) C.S. Lewis: we catch this holiness from God
8) According to St Basil, the gifts of the spirit cause “knowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, heavenly citizenship, endless joy in the presence of God, becoming like God…”
9) The relationship between God and humans is not impersonal, or trans-personal
a) “At the center of the universe is a relationship.”(47)
(44) (St Basil; On The Holy Spirit; paragraph 23
(45) St. Gregory Palamas taught that both God’s Essence and His Energies, being inseparable from each other, are
present everywhere in creation; Footnote; Orthodox Dogmatic Theology; Page 71
(46) From “Prayers Before Holy Communion”, St Basil the Great
(47) Experiencing The Trinity; Darrell W. Johnson; 37
i) It is personal, intimate; the most personal and intimate of all relationships
b) Personhood is key in Orthodox Christian human anthropology
i) We never lose our personhood (hypostasis) through communion with God (just as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not melded into an in differentiable Divinity)
ii) Other traditions (especially Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta Hinduism) do not have a true human anthropology, because the self (48) is ultimately absorbed into an Impersonal Absolute, a Buddha nature (Buddha dhatu), or is considered a “false” self (in an ultimate sense), of relative existence, or simply a “mode” of the divine (no real ontological existence)
10)(Contrarily) Christian Scripture tells us God knows us intimately; each hair of our head (49)
a) “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” (50)
b) “You took hold of me in my mother’s womb” (51)
c) We (as “persons”) are promised eternal life with God, knowing and known
11)Theosis – deification [What is it?]
(48) In forms of Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta, there is ultimately “no self” or enduring personal identity to be absorbed
(49) Luke 21:17-19
(50) Jeremiah 1:5
(51) Psalm 139 (140); 13
a) Participation in the uncreated grace or energies (energeia) of God, which we receive (by grace) from the Holy Spirit (Who is also God)
12)Our “deification” is only possible through our “communion” with the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ [important nuance of distinction]
a) Not based on our own innate divinity or inherent worth
b) The term “deification” does not mean that the one who is “deified” is placed on the path to personal God-Manhood (52)
c) Cf. The sword (Christ’s human nature) and the fire (His divine nature) analogy:
i) Christ’s human nature participates in the uncreated energies or qualities of the divine nature (in Himself); “I and My Father are one…” (John 10:30)
ii) People joined to Christ therefore have access to those energies because of and to the extent of their union with Him in His now glorified humanity
(52) Orthodox Dogmatic Theology
d) Our “union” with God, through Christ, is not a union with Christ’s divinity (which is unapproachable, being God); our union with God is made possible through our union (or potential union) with the divinized humanity of Christ, through His Body and Blood (the Eucharist)
i) Since the Lord Jesus Christ received flesh from the Ever-Virgin Mary, she is called the fount of our deification
e) Identified and connected with theoria (vision) of the uncreated Light
i) “Called theosis in grace because it is attained through the energy of divine grace.
It is a cooperation of God with man, since God is He Who operates and man is he who cooperates.” (53)
f) All effective praxis, all effective asceticism in the Church (self purification) aims at man’s theosis-divinization, his communion with God, the Holy Trinity
13)What is the purpose of self-denial and ascetic struggle?
a) Purification of the heart (often referred to as “nous”(54)), so we can experience God (The Kingdom of God within)
14)Principle means of inner purification and one we are commanded to by Jesus Christ: repentance
a) Change of attitude, thoughts, desires, decisions and change of faith and hope
b) Change of action and life
c) St Clement of Alexandria: “True repentance is capable of purifying man.”(55)
(53) IBID
(54) “Higher mind”; Christ The Eternal Tao; Page 277
(55) Above from The Heart; Archimandrite Spyridon Logothetis; Page 70
15)Another key Orthodox principle is the freedom of the human will, which although battered and tarnished (and tends to choose wrongly), is always free to choose good over evil; in fact we have the responsibility to choose good over evil and will be judged for our choices in this life
16)Cf. “Synergy” be: Divine grace and human will(56)
a) Divine grace prompts human response and action
i) Not Divine grace alone; not human works or efforts alone
b) “A house roof is held up by the foundations and the rest of the building, and the foundation and the rest of the building are laid to hold the roof – since both are necessary and useful – and neither is the roof built without the foundations and the rest of the house, nor can foundations and walls without roof make a building fit to
live in….So it is with the soul: the grace of the Holy Spirit is preserved by keeping the commandments, and the keeping of the commandments is the foundation laid for receiving the gifts of God’s grace….Neither does the grace of the Holy Spirit remain in us without our obeying the commandments, nor can obeying the commandments
be useful and salutary without Divine grace.”(57)
(56) Cf. Versus depravity of the will Augustine; Total depravity, John Calvin, etc.
(57) St. Simeon the New Theologian (Practical and Theological Precepts no. 95, Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart; Faber and Faber pg. 119)
17)Orthodoxy: a “material or incarnational theology”
i) Sacramental theology where matter participates in divinization(1) IE the Eucharist
ii) VS Gnosticism(s); an anti-material spirituality; we view matter as “real”; matter is intrinsically good and matter has been sanctified by Christ and will be – including humans – transformed
b) Gregory of Nyssa: phenomenal reality only exists because of God’s direct and continuing intervention.. ”the Divine Will became [the world of] nature…”
i) Contrast with eastern and Gnostic metaphysics where “created being” is eternal (because it is part and parcel of the Absolute; i.e., pantheism); it goes in and out of “cycles”
ii) Christian creation is linear
c) Although Eastern Orthodoxy has been called a “mystical” expression of Christianity, it is not a “mystical” theology if by “mystical” we mean something immaterial, or “somewhere else”, “transcendent”, opposed to /rejection of the material, etc. (58)
i) Our Lord tells us: The Kingdom of heaven is at hand (here and now, intersecting time and space)...it is we who do not have eyes to see it…not referring to the physical eyes, but the “I” (nous” behind the physical eyes)
18)Sensible reality is a different substance from God, but since all sensible reality is undergirded by the divine will and the principle of existence (i.e. the logoi), it is imbued with an intelligible reality reflecting the essence of God to varying degrees – the height of which is humanity’s Image of God (59)
19)Contrast with Hindu/Buddhist idea of Maya (illusion); or the relativist ‘reality’ of the created world
(59) Becoming Uncreated
20)Contrast with Hindu/Buddhist – Gnostic idea of the dualism/opposition of soul (good) and body (bad)
a) Cf. Soul imprisoned in body
The ‘New Age’ Christ
1) Important to distinguish Orthodox Christianity from New Age – Eastern religions, in their understanding of Christ
2) Hinduism sees Christ as one of many Divine Incarnations
a) “…the periodic recurrence of divine incarnations is part of God’s creative enterprise…” (60)
b) “God incarnates Himself to fulfill a cosmic need whenever such a need arises.” (61)
3) Buddhism does not acknowledge a Creator God, but does acknowledge “Vedic gods” who occupy spiritual realms
a) These gods however are lower than the state of Nirvana
4) However, a divine incarnation in the Hindu sense is not really human by nature (contrast with the natures of Christ)
i) “He is seen as though born, as though endowed with a body, and as though showing compassion for men; for He is in reality unborn, unchanging, the Lord of all created beings, and by nature eternal, pure, illumined, and free.”(62)
5) (Therefore) Christ is understood in New Age/Eastern as an all - spirit being (i.e., not human)
(60) Paramahamsa Yogananda; The Second Coming of Christ; Discourse One; page 4
(61) Hinduism; Swami Nikhilananda; Page 45
(62) IBID; paraphrasing Sankaracharya
a) Tendency in New Age / Eastern religion to “spiritualize” all references to Christ
i) “…Christ is from heaven; he is from above, he is the Son of God. This man of heaven has a heavenly body; his flesh and blood are not the same gross kind as those of ordinary humanity.” (63)
6) New Age/ Eastern view of Christ contradicts the biblical and Orthodox Christian view:
a) “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate and suffered (real blood, real suffering) and was buried…” (64)
i) If Christ was only Spirit, He could not redeem our humanity (except through some form of spiritual “magic” or “alchemy”; we (“self”) are spirit and flesh together); this He could only do by assuming our nature (while still being God!), purging it of death (and sin), and raising our nature with Himself
ii) We become “partakers of the divine nature” (65) through our participation with His glorified human nature
7) Christ is often depicted in New Age teachings as “self-realized” or “deified” soul (New Age)
a) A human who simply discovered Brahman (Trans-personal divinity) within himself
(63) Ravi Ravindra; The Gospel of John in light of Indian Mysticism
(64) Nicene Creed
(65) 2 Peter 1:4
b) “Jesus was a powerful guru who taught ‘inner alchemy’ through awakening the latent artist is us…Jesus is a great teacher of ‘ordinary magic’…”
i) Cf. Patristic writers also title Jesus a Supreme Mystic and Deified Saint (in His Glorified Humanity); however He is also known by the Patristic writers as Savior and Bodily Redeemer (66)
8) Or as a Yogi, an adept, who studied in India or Tibet
9) Messenger who restored lost knowledge to humanity (Gnostics)
10)Metaphysical traditions teach Christ is one of the ‘Ascended Masters’ - i.e. (Blavatsky; Alice Bailey)
a) Individuals who were formerly embodied on the Earth and learned the lessons of life during their incarnations. They gained mastery over the limitations of the matter planes, balanced at least 51% of negative karma, and fulfilled their Dharma (Divine Plan). An Ascended Master, in such an understanding, has become God-like and a source of unconditional "Divine Love" to all life, and through the Ascension has united with his or her own "God Self," the "I AM Presence."
11)New Thought (Christian Science; Religious Science; Unity) teaches Christ is a human individual who discovered the mental – spiritual laws (the world of conscious intelligence) of the universe (67)
(66) Becoming Uncreated: The Journey To Authenticity; Daniel M. Rogich; xvi
(67)The Science of Mind; Ernest Holmes; page 31
Christ in the Bible and Holy Tradition
1) Divinity is revealed in the Sacred Scriptures (Hebrew and New Testament) as the Holy Trinity
a) “The Three Hypostases (“Persons”) of the Holy Trinity [Father, Son, Holy Spirit] have one and the same Essence (nature); each of the Hypostases (“Persons”) has the fullness of Divinity…the Three Hypostases (“Persons”) are equal in honor and worship..” (68)
b) “Because God in His very Essence is wholly consciousness and thought and selfawareness, each of these three eternal manifestations of Himself by the one God has self-awareness, and therefore each one is a Person. And these Persons are not simply forms or isolated manifestations…
c) The union between the Father and Son is such a live concrete thing that this union is also a Person…What grows out of the joint life of the Father and Son is a real Person, is in fact the third of the three Persons who are God.” (69)
2) Orthodox Christian teaching is that Christ took up our human nature through His incarnation and joined our human nature in His divine nature (without confusing or comingling the two) in order to transform/ restore/ recapitulate our nature to its original condition (Archetype)
(68) M. Pomazansky; Orthodox Dogmatic Theology; 93
(69) C.S. Lewis, quoted in Understanding The Trinity; 50-51
i) St Gregory of Nazianzus (St Gregory The Theologian): “For that which He has not assumed (speaking of assuming human nature through His Incarnation), He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved.” (70) Jesus Christ: Humanity and Divinity in One “Person”
3) Called Man in The New Testament
a) Mark 15:39; John 19:5
4) The Son of Man
a) John 9: 35-37
5) Tempted (as a man)
a) Matthew 4:1
6) Possesses a body of flesh, bones and blood
a) Luke 24: 39
7) Died (as a man)
a) Romans 5:8
8) Called God in New Testament
a) Cf. Col 2:9; John 1:1-3; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 John 5:20; Rom. 9:5; John 20:28; Acts 20:28; Titus 2: 12-13
9) The “only-begotten”
a) Cf. John 1:14;18; John 3:16
(70) Epistle 51; 1st Epistle Against Apollinarius
10)Equal in honor to the Father
a) Cf. John 5:17; John 5:21; John 5:26; John 5:23
11)He is prayed to
a) Cf. Acts 7: 59
12)He is one in essence the Father
a) Cf. John 10:30; John 14:11; 10:38; John 17:10
13)He is worshipped as God
a) Cf. Matthew 2: 2,11; 14:33
14)He is sinless
a) I Peter 2: 22; Hebrews 4: 15
15)Knows all things
a) John 21: 17
16)He is eternal
a) Cf. Rev. 1:8; John 17:5
17)He is omnipresent
a) Cf. John 3:13; Matt. 18:20;
18)He is the Creator of the world
a) Cf. John1:3; Col. 1:16
19)Has all the fullness of deity
a) Cf. Col. 2:9
20)Gives eternal life
a) Cf. John 10: 28
Continued
