| Theology and Mission Theology is evangelical. Unfortunately, the missionary responsibility of our Church continues to be undermined by ethnic chauvinism. Until it becomes clear to the Orthodox themselves that every local parish is, by definition, a missionary community and responsible for offering the Gospel to all people, theology will remain separated from life. Every parish must strive to be a center of spiritual and intellectual formation. Because theology seeks to proclaim the Gospel in time and space, it has by its very nature a missionary and evangelical quality. This means that Orthodox theology cannot be the possession of a particular people. It is universal in scope, offering the saving and transforming power of Christ’s gospel to all nations. Our history teaches us that as the Church sojourned in time and space, it used the culture of empires and nations to articulate a living theology. This is certainly the method employed by the Church Fathers. Knowing the language, art, philosophy, literature, science and politics of their time, they were able to convey the gospel to people of varying intellectual and social backgrounds. They were able to proclaim Christ who is the “same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8), using the cultural tools that were at their disposal. Today Orthodox schools of higher learning, especially our academies and seminaries, need to promote and develop the patristic method of using culture for the proclamation of the Gospel. Because they knew their culture well, the Fathers were able to interact with its prevailing ethos. They were able to draw the knowledge of their surroundings into a vibrant ascetical spirituality that enabled them to communicate the Gospel freely and openly. A theology separated from the culture is ultimately a theology separated from the people. To respond to the culture, especially the challenges posed by the rapid development of science and technology, theology is compelled to creatively interact with its environment so as not to fall into a cultural vacuum. The voice of the Gospel and, therefore, the voice of Orthodox theology will be heard only when the theologian truly knows his audience. |
| 2 Cor. 4:13/Psalm 116:10 – I believed and so I spoke (past tense). Hebrew – I believe, for I will speak (future tense). 2 Cor. 6:2/Isaiah 49:8 – I have “listened” to you. Hebrew – I have “answered” you. Gal. 3:10/Deut. 27:26 – cursed be every one who does not “abide” by all things. Hebrew – does not “confirm” the words. Gal. 3:13/Deut. 21:23 – cursed is everyone who hangs on a “tree.” Hebrew – a hanged man is accursed. The word “tree” does not follow. Gal. 4:27/Isaiah 54:1 – “rejoice” and “break forth and shout.” Hebrew – “sing” and “break forth into singing.” 2 Tim. 2:19/Num. 16:5 – The Lord “knows” those who are His. Hebrew – God will “show” who are His. Heb. 1:6/Deut. 32:43 – let all the angels of God worship Him. Hebrew – the Masoretic text omits this phrase from Deut. 32:43. Heb. 1:12/Psalm 102:25 – like a “mantle” … “roll them”… “will be changed.” Hebrew – “raiment”… “change”…”pass away.” Heb. 2:7/Psalm 8:5 – thou has made Him a little “lower than angels.” Hebrew – made Him but a little “lower than God.” Heb. 2:12/Psalm 22:22 – I will ” sing” thy praise. Hebrew – I will praise thee. The LXX and most NTs (but not the RSV) have “sing.” Heb. 2:13/Isaiah 8:17 – I will “put my trust in Him.” Hebrew – I will “look for Him.” Heb. 3:15/Psalm 95:8 – do not harden your hearts as “in the rebellion.” Hebrew – harden not your hearts “as at Meribah.” Heb. 3:15; 4:7/Psalm 95:7 – when you hear His voice do not harden not your hearts. Hebrew – oh that you would hear His voice! Heb. 8:9-10/Jer. 31:32-33 – (nothing about husband); laws into their mind. Hebrew – I was a husband; law in their inward parts. Heb. 9:28/Isaiah 10:22 – “to save those” who are eagerly awaiting for Him. Hebrew – a remnant of them “shall return.” Heb. 10:5/Psalm 40:6 – “but a body hast thou prepared for me.” Hebrew – “mine ears hast thou opened.” Heb. 10:38/Hab. 2:3-4 – if he shrinks (or draws) back, my soul shall have no pleasure. Hebrew – his soul is puffed up, not upright. Heb. 11:5/Gen. 5:24 – Enoch was not “found.” Hebrew – Enoch was “not.” |
| Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered, and being made perfect He became the source of salvation to all who obey Him (Heb 5.8–9). Disobedience to God and His Son Jesus Christ is the source of all sin. Refusal to submit to God in all things is the cause of all sorrow and death. Those who hear the Gospel and fail to enter into the eternal rest of God, do so only “because of disobedience” (Heb 5–6, cf. Deut 4.29–31 ). In the Orthodox spiritual tradition, obedience is a basic virtue: obedience to the Lord, to the Gospel, to the Church ( Mt 18.17 ), to the leaders of the Church (Heb 13.7), to one’s parents and elders, to “every ordinance of man” ( 1Pet 2.13 , Rom 13.1 ), “to one another out of reverence for Christ” ( Eph 6.21 ). There is no spiritual life without obedience, no freedom or liberation from sinful passions and lusts. To submit to God’s discipline in all of its human forms, is the only way to obtain “the glorious liberty of the children of God” ( Rom 8.21 ). God disciplines us as His children out of His great love for us. “He disciplines us for our good, that we might share His holiness” (cf. Heb 12.3–11). Our obedience to God’s commandments and discipline is the exclusive sign of our love for Him and His Son. He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.… If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come and make our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me ( Jn 14.21–24 ). Patience To be obedient in all things to God requires the virtue of patience. Saint Paul lists this virtue as one of the “fruits of the Spirit” ( Gal 5.22 ). Christ Himself in His humble obedience to God was exceedingly patient. To be patient literally means to suffer and endure. It means to wait on the Lord through all tribulations and trials with courage and hope. It means to put up with ones self and others, growing gradually in the grace of God through the daily effort to keep His commandments and to accomplish His will. Only those who are patient, according to Christ, bring forth fruit from the seeds of God’s Word that are sown in their hearts. |
| Death as the means of God’s retribution manifests itself through illnesses, pain, persecution, loneliness, need, fear and being forsaken by God, and threatens life both in case of individuals and of whole societies (compare Ps 6:5-9; Ps 21:12-22; Ps 29:2-4; Ps 37; 59:3-5; 78:1-5). The Prophets could daringly declare a whole city or a whole country to be cast down into dust, although at the time of the prophecy these places were flourishing and it appeared that nothing was threatening them. This kind of prophesy was uttered by Isaiah about Zion (Isa 1:21-23) and by the prophet Amos about the house of Israel (Am 5:1-2). 1.3. In the Old Testament death is linked with the underworld, or Sheol, which is located in the bowels of the earth and is the common grave for the whole of humanity. To descend into Sheol or to be buried meant becoming a victim of the mighty power of death. And although the idea of life after death was linked to Sheol, existence in this kingdom of shadows was hopeless, because death is the result of and the punishment for sin (Gen 2, 3; Wisdom 1:13-16; 2:22-24). However at the time of the Maccabees the attitude to death changes in connection with the struggle against foreign enslavement and, for the first time in the Old Testament, in the first book of Maccabees death is portrayed as heroic (1 Macc 13:25-30). From this time onward the idea of the anticipation of the resurrection of the dead gradually develops, an idea that had been expressed already in the book of the prophet Daniel (Dan 12, 13; compare 2 Macc 7, 9, 14). It is subsequently taken up in Jewish apocalyptic writings, in the writings of the wise men of Israel (Sir 15:6; Wisdom 2:23) and in the works of scribes close to the Pharisee faction (Acts 23:8). 2. Death in the New Testament 2.1. In the New Testament Man’s death is viewed through the prism of the death on the Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Immortality belongs only to God (1 Tim 6:16) and it is natural for people to be afraid of death (Matt 4:16; Heb 2:15). However, because God is the life-giving source of all life (Rom 4:17), death could have only appeared as the result of Man having abandoned God, which is what happened with Adam (Rom 5:15, 17-18; 1 Cor 15:22) and which is repeated in the life of every person (Rom 6:23; Heb 9:27). In this manner, death gains power over a person not only at the end of his earthly life, but reigns over him throughout his whole life. This is so-called carnal wisdom, moral or spiritual death (Rom 8:6; 1 John 3:14), because sin, which results in death and is its sting, exists in Man despite the law of God (Rom 7:9, 1 Cor 15:56; James 1:15). For this reason the Scriptures say that the Devil, from whom sin originates, was in possession of the dominion of death (Heb 2:14) and death itself is viewed as a demonic power (1 Cor 15:26-27; Rev 6:8; 20:13-14). |
| The Ascension. Giotto, c.1305, Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (Heb. 4:14). Let us follow along now mentally, brethren, with the sacred writers, depicting the path of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, in the glory of His Father. This path, ending with His Ascension to the Father (Jn. 20:17) and His receiving of the Heavenly glory which He had in His Divinity before the world was (Jn. 17:5), commenced with His sufferings. Ascending up far above all heavens, our Lord had to descend first into the lower parts of the earth (Eph. 4:9-10) to disappear into the bowels of the earth, into the depths of the abyss, and be cut off from the land of the living that, having made Himself an offering of propitiation (Is. 53:8-10) for the sins of man, He could present Himself as our High Priest, able to be touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Heb. 4:15). And we see how this bearer of man’s sin, forsaken among the dead and reduced into the dust of earth (Ps. 88:5, 21:15), is the Victor over hell and death , and binds the strong man, that is, the devil (Mt. 12:29). He Who cometh from Edom … glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength (Is. 63:1), and ascended on high , receives rather the spoils of human souls saved by Him (Ps. 68:18), as the King of glory, entering through the gates of Heaven itself, to appear there as the Forerunner and Intercessor for us (Ps. 23:7-10; Heb. 6:20, 12:23-24). If, brethren, such is the path of the Ascension of Christ Himself into His glory (Lk. 24:26)—that is, a path of suffering and death—then can our path be otherwise? If He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6), then how can we come to God the Father, if not by imitating our Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 13:15)? If our Lord Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of God, then set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth , for if we have died with Him, then, according to the apostle, our lives must now be hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:1-3). Let us mortify our earthly passions and thoughts (Col. 3:5) in order to have our citizenship in Heaven (Phil. 3:20), and with our purified minds to follow Christ, the Lord of our lives, Who has ascended into Heaven and is drawing us there where He is. Let us prepare our minds with contemplation and prayer for that spiritual joy with which the apostles were filled as they stood watching Christ as He ascended from Earth to Heaven, and afterwards returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Lk. 24:52; Acts 1:10-12). |
| Did not one God make her? d Both flesh and spirit are his. e And what does the one God f desire? Godly offspring. d 2.15 Or Has he not made one? e 2.15 Сп: Heb and a remnant of spirit was his f 2.15 Heb he He единый ли Бог сделал её? d И плоть, и дух – Его. e А чего желает Единый Бог f ? Богоугодного потомства. d 2.15 Или Не сделал ли он единым? е 2.15 Конъектура; в евр. тексте: и остаток духа был его f 2.15 Евр. текст: он Для основного текста, как мы видим, выбраны варианты 3, 4, 7, 13, 16. Почти ни в чем эта интерпретация не совпадает с нашей. В сносках даны варианты 1 и 5. Вот более свободный современный перевод NIV: Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. 2 .15 Or But the one who is our father did not do this, not as long as life remained in him. And what was he seeking? An offspring from God He сделал ли Господь их единым? Плотью и духом они – Его. И почему едины? Потому что Он искал богоугодного потомства. 2 .15 Или Но единственный, кто был нашим отцом, так не поступал, пока в нем оставалась жизнь. Чего же он искал? Потомства от Бога. Здесь в основном тексте избраны варианты 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 15. В сноске приводится перевод, основанный на совершенно других вереиях: 1, 4, 8, 12 и, как и в основной версии, 13 и 15. Наконец, один из самых свободных английских переводов, CEV: Didn " t God create you to become like one person with your wife? And why did he do this? It was so you would have children, and then lead them to become God " " s people. 2 .15 Didn‘t ... wifë One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Не сотворил ли Бог тебя так, чтобы ты стал одной личностью с твоей женой? И почему Он так сделал? Для того, чтобы у вас были дети, и чтобы привести их потом к тому, чтобы они стали Божьим народом. 2 .15 Не... с женой: Одно из возможных значений трудного др.-евр. текста. Примечание не дает никаких альтернативных версий, а решение для основного текста определяется вариантами 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 16. |
| 11 This way of seeing virtue as a life in accordance with nature, or with the logos, is typically Stoic, and Maximus’ language here has other Stoic echoes. 12 I.e., he led other human beings, viz. Sarah and the rest of his household, as he led himself, since they all possess the same human nature. 13 ‘Things that are after God’: after, that is, in the scale of being. It is a Neoplatonic use, which in Christian (Maximian) metaphysics has the radical meaning of ‘created beings’. 14 Cf. Luke 10:27 (not exact, the first part is much closer to Deut. 6:5 ). 15 Cf. John 14:6 . 16 Cf. John 10:9 , together with Heb. 9:11–12. 17 Cf. John 15:1 , together with Rom. 11:17 (though Maximus does not use the more appropriate language of grafting from Romans). 18 One of the ‘Chalcedonian’ adverbs. 19 1 John 4:8. 20 Cf Matt. 13:22 and parallels (parable of the Sower). Maximus may, however, have in mind (since he speaks of the thorns planted ‘from the beginning’) the immediately following parable of the Tares (Matt. 13:24–30), even though he speaks of thorns rather than tares. 21 Theosophia: a word first found in Porphyry (who quotes an earlier use), popular among the Neoplatonists, and also used by Denys the Areopagite (e.g., Mystical Theology I.1:997A). 22 The Septuagint reads ‘book’. 23 A cento from Jeremiah: Baruch 4:1–4, 3:14, Jer. 38 [Heb: 31]: 3–4, 6:16. 24 A cento composed of: Bar. 5:1–2 , spliced with Eph. 4:22 and Col. 3:10. DIFFICULTY 10 1 See chapter 5 of the Introduction. 2 Discussed above, chapter 4 of the Introduction. 3 See Jeauneau (1988), 10–11. 4 From St Gregory Nazianzen’s Sermon 21.2, in praise of St Athanasius (PG 35.1084C). 5 This introduces a borrowing from Nemesius, On human nature 12 (Morani 1987 , 68). 6 This again introduces a borrowing from Nemesius, On human nature 41 (Morani 1987 , 117). 7 On these three kinds of motion of the soul, cf. Denys the Areopagite, Divine Names IV.8–10 (704D-705C), who calls the three kinds of motion circular, in a straight line, and spiral. See Gersh (1978), 253, n. 229. |
| Although the Old Testament services were instituted according to the command of God Himself (Exodus 25:40), still they served only as “the example and shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5). They were done away with as “decayed and grown old” and near to “vanishing away” (Heb. 8:13) with the institution of the New Testament, which was sanctified by the holy Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Divine services of the New Testament consist not in constant sacrifices of calves and rams, but in the prayer of praise, thanksgiving, and petition, in the offering of the Bloodless Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ, and in the bestowing of grace in the Holy Mysteries. However, Christian prayer has also various outward actions. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself did not avoid the outward manifestations of prayer and sacrifice actions: He bowed the knee, fell on His face and prayed; He raised His hands and blessed; He breathed and said to His disciples: “Peace be to you;” He used outward actions when healing; He visited the Temple in Jerusalem and called it “the house of My Father:” “My house shall be called the house of prayer” (Matt. 21:13). The Apostle also did all these things. Spiritual worship must be accompanied by bodily worship, as a result of the close bond and mutual influence of soul and body. “What! Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” ( 1Cor. 6:19–20 ). A Christian is called to glorify God not only with his soul and in his body, but everything surrounding him also he must direct to the glorification of the Lord “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all for the glory of God” ( 1Cor. 10:31 ). One should sanctify by prayer not only oneself but also that which we make use of “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” ( 1Tim. 4:4–5 ). |
| 2.2. The New Testament shows that Christ, who did not have to die, because He was without sin, stepped into the sphere of death, humbled Himself, having been obedient even unto death, the death of the Cross (Phil 2:7; 1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 3:18) and died for us (1 Thess 5:10; compare with Mark 10:45; Rom 5:6; Heb 2:9). By His Resurrection He conquered the Devil and death and holds the keys of Hell and death (Heb 2, 14-15; Rev 1:17-18). Then Christ had destroyed the power of death over those that believed in Him, i.e. those who were baptised into Christ (Rom 6:3-4) and died with Him for the world and for sin (Rom 7:6; Gal 6:14; Col 2:20). A Christian goes through death in Christ and is separated not from God, but from the world and from sin. The world and sin die within him, because the life of Jesus is opened to those who believe (2 Cor 4:10; 5:1-15; Col 3:3). In other words Christ grants life or raises from the dead. Moreover, this does not happen in the Last Days, but in the same instant, immediately. Everyone who entrusts himself to Christ crosses over from death to life (John 5:24) and will never see death (John 8:51-52), although the whole world already exists in a state of death (Rev 3:2) and is moving towards a second death, to eternal separation from God (Rev 20:14). Christians remain mortal, they die in the physical sense, but they die in Christ (1 Thess 4:16) or fall asleep in Him (Acts 7:60; John 11:11-14; 1 Cor 7:39; 15:6, 18; 51; 1 Thess 4:13-15). Physical death is the last enemy destroyed by Christ (1 Cor 15:26), but He gave us this victory as a potential and death itself continues to afflict the bodily life of a particular individual (Rom 8:9-11). However, it has been deprived of its sting and it cannot separate a Christian from Christ; on the contrary, it brings him closer to Christ (Rom 8:38-39; 2 Cor 5:1-10; Phil 1:20-21). He, having risen from the dead, the firstborn of the dead, calls all the faithful to a new life, resurrecting and transfiguring their bodies, and then the spirit and body will exist in perfect harmony (compare with 1 Cor 15:20; Col 1:12). |
| 1392 Cf. Mt. 23: 8. 1393 Hebr. 5: 12; Col. 2: 8. 1394 Пс. 118: 125; 118: 66; 147: 9. 1395 Принятый перевод этого пассажа в Синодальном издании таков: «Не сделал он того никакому другому народу, и суда его они не знают». 1396 Sext. Emp., Pyrrh. Hyp. I, 12. 1397 Iob 11: 2. 1398 Barnaba, Ep. 6, 10. 1399 Clem. Rom., I ad Cor. 48, 5—6. 1400 Cf. Iudas 22—23. 1401 II Cor. 11: 14. 1402 Cf. Origen., in Exod. XI, 6: «Не следует только из-за имени автора сразу отвергать и учение». 1403 Cf. Mt. 13: 25. 1404 I Tim. 6: 16. 1405 e)pi mikto j (добавлен, при-мешан) в рукописи. Чтение e)pi kthto j, однако, было принято большинством издателей как менее двусмысленное. 1406 Cf. Gen. 15: 5; Philo, Quest. in Gen. III 3; Strom. V 8 sq. (где Климент повторяет эту мысль). 1407 Cf. Plato, Rep. VII 534 e. 1408 Cf. Heb. 1: 1. 1409 Pindar., fr. 205 Snell. 1410 Cf. Philo, Quaest. in Gen. I 91. См. т.ж.: Nicomachus, Introd. Arithm. II 9 ,3; Jamblichus, In Nicom. Arithm., P. 75, 11—15 Pistelli. 1411 Арифметическую последовательность составят числа 6 — 9 — 12, геометрическую 6 — 8 — 9 — 12, гармоническую 6 — 8 — 12. 1412 Aristoxenus, fr. 84 Wehrli. Согласно этому автору, было три музыкальных стиля: e)narmoniko n, dia tonon, xrwmatiko n. См.: Aristoxenus, Elementa rhythmica, ed. L. Pearson (Oxford, 1990). 1413 Terpander, fr.1 Bergk (Fr. 1 Diehl, Anth. Lyr. II 2). 1414 Пс. 21: 1; I Cor. 10: 26. 1415 Cf. Io. 1: 17; Sap. 9: 17—18. 1416 MS: suna logoi lo gou tou kuriakou. Исправление, предложенное O. Stahlin: ei)sin a) logoi ktl. 1417 Sophocles, fr. inc. 695. 1418 Cf. Eph. 2: 20. 1419 Выражение заимствовано из Plato, Theaet. 176 b: di kaioj kaiU o( sioj metaU fronh sewj. 1420 Ps 16: 3. 1421 Это и последующее утверждение ср.: Chrysippus, fr. mor. 110 Arnim. 1422 Выражение из платоновского Критона (Crito 48 b). 1423 Gen 18: 12 1424 I Reg. 1: 13. 1425 Cf. Mt. 7: 7. 1426 Mt. 5: 8; I Cor. 13: 12. 1427 Plato, Phaedr., 250 b. 1428 tetra gwnoj, cf. Plato, Protag. 339. «Квадратное» число, четверица, является символом совершенства и включает в себя всю совокупность десяти чисел: 1†2†3†410. |
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