OrthoAnalyika Show: 11 July 2010
Thoughts on Romans 15: 1-7: the responsibility of the strong
How should the Christian act? Certainly people who make such a grand claim about their identity should behave differently than mere mortals! After all, the name “Christian” is meant to signify more than just what a person does on Sunday morning – it describes the very indwelling of the all-powerful, all-knowing, pre-eternal God within the very heart of a person; transforming them through grace into that which God is by nature.
In Greek mythology, there were men who were born as the offspring between mortals and gods. Demigods like Perseus, Jason, Theseus, and Hercules were the heroes of Greek mythology. They lived lives that were quite different from the mundane humans that surrounded them. They were expected to do great things – this was both a sign and responsibility of their special dignity. In these legends, one could not simply claim to be a demigod – it proclaimed itself through heroic feats.
The claim of the Christian is more wondrous than that made by the heroes in Greek mythology, but we treat this claim as if it were as mundane as where we are from or what sports team we prefer. When we say we are Christians, what we should mean is that the living God dwells within us, deifying us, purging us of our sins and making us into wonder-working receptacles of His Divine Grace. When we say that we are Orthodox, we should mean that God works this perfection within us through the miracle of Repentance and the Mysterious reception of His Body and Blood; adding the modifier “Ukrainian” should designate that we are part of that Universal One-ness that was prophesied by the Apostle Andrew, made possible by the work of Sts. Methodius and Cyrril, brought about by the Equals to the Apostles, Ol’ha and Volodymyr, and brought to this country by the brave and dedicated founders of our communities.
But is this what we mean? Or do we just mean that we prefer the Byzantine Liturgy to Praise Worship or Mass, and that we like to call our dumplings “perehie” instead of “plemenie”, “ravioli”, or “dim sum”? And even if we started to take this claim seriously – if we opened our eyes to the transformative power of Ukrainian Orthodox Christianity… would people believe us when we claimed our true inheritance? Or would they be as incredulous as if a man with no heroic past and no special attributes walked down the streets of ancient Athens claiming to be descended from Zeus or Poseidon?
All this is to say that being a Christian means something – the Christian is called to a certain kind of life; a life of holiness and selfless sacrifice. These are the marks of the Christian. As Christ Himself says in His “New Commandment” – “it is by this that all men will know that we are Christians: if we love one another” [paraphrase of St. John 13: 34-35].
But what is this love? How is it done? Today St. Paul gives us a very practical exercise – and if we follow through on it, not only will all men know and believe that we are Christians, [much more importantly] the grace of Christ will move more strongly through us and our community. This exercise is founds at the very beginning of today’s Epistle, where St. Paul writes; “We then who are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.”
The strong bear the infirmities of the weak … this has so many applications in our daily life – the rich should use their wealth to cover the inability of the poor to do their “fair share”; those who have made themselves powerfully patient through asceticism and prayer are to gently accept the weak attempts at virtue of those who haven’t; those who have honed their God-given talents through long practice are to support and encourage those with less aptitude and less practice; in short, everything should be done in service to our neighbor so that she can find her place and so that we can all become perfect in unity.
This comes naturally to us in some situations. Teachers work to bring out the best in their students; masters allow their apprentices time at the anvil knowing that the time would be better spent with the hammer in his own hands; parents allow their children to drive despite knowing that the trip would be safer were they themselves behind the wheel.
But Christ is not simply telling the strong to defer to the people whom they choose to teach, or to people who have a similar background, or to members of their own families, or even to people that they like. Remember that when God tells us to love our neighbor… He is also telling us to love our enemy. So when He tells those of us who are strong to “bear with” and encourage the weak, He means the people we would already choose to support and those against whom we bear ill-will, and everyone in between.
Here in our diocese, we have a wonderful legacy. We are Ukrainian… Orthodox… Christians. We have had generations of beautiful music, grand architecture, humbling iconography, and participation in the life-giving and deifying Mysteries. As such, we are the strong, meant to bear with and encourage not just one another, but all those who have not had the benefit of these great blessings. Just as the rich give for the poor, sacrificing the purchase of things they would like to have for the edification of their neighbor, we must give and sacrifice our own preferences for the perfection of everyone who finds refuge within our open doors.
Sometimes this is painful – it certainly moves us out of our comfort zone – leading us to do things we would not otherwise choose to do. Like the parent allowing the daughter to drive, it may even look dangerous or inefficient. But make no doubt about it: the demand of love is clear – “The strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves”… and in a world that has been weakened by eons of sin, despite our obvious frailties, we here really are reckoned among the strong.
As a Christian, this is your calling. As a Christian, this is what sets you apart. As a Christian, this is what makes you – and us – like Christ.
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Question on what it means to be a “real” Ukrainian.
Mail on the best cross for Ukrainian Orthodox.
Did you hear about the secret code in Plato’s work?
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Interview: Subdeacon Nicholas talks about a paranormal experience.
Please share your paranormal experiences with me! I can keep it anonymous (or have you on the show – your pick!).
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The Theologies of Ghosts: Conclusion
Prologue: define the term: Ghost. For this, we will limit ourselves to the tangible presence of someone who has reposed.
Secular Explanations for Ghosts:
Skeptic Debunker: The phenomenon is a false positive. Data collection errors. Processing errors (seeing patterns). Complicated by fog and charlatans. Positives. Negatives.
Scientific Believer: The phenomenon is mis-specified. Multiverse. Quantum physics. The world is complex and we don’t have much of a clue about these things. Energy and information cannot be lost. Positives. Negatives.
Spiritual Explanations:
Fundamentalist: It is all demonic. Even the “false positives” (experiences that are just in our head) are the result of prelest (spiritual pride). There are plenty of Orthodox Christians who take this view. Positives. Negatives.
Traditional/Folk: Some of it is demonic, but some of it is exactly what people claim it to be: restless souls, helping souls, visiting souls. There are plenty of Orthodox Christians who take this view (sometimes mixing it with bits of the Fundamentalist view…). “T”radition and “t”radition merge. Positives. Negatives.
Gnostic: paranormal stuff happens all the time. You just need to attune yourself properly to experience it. With sanctification comes all kinds of powers and discernment. This one actually combines with the others, but believes in the whole range of phenomena. Practitioners ranging from mediums to gurus are examples. Positives. Negatives.
Orthodox Sceptic. Paranormal phenomenon is very rare. Can’t be ghosts because there is no “person” without the body. Regrets the way Tradition has been corrupted by gnostic and folk superstitions.
What do I think? I know that strange things happen. I do not believe that it is all demonic. But I also believe that ghosts are very rare. Why?
Factors against the existence ghosts.
The mind is flawed for this kind of thing and there really are forces trying to deceive us (for a variety of reasons).
There are potentially lots of things that behave like ghosts that aren’t. This includes imagination, prelest, mundane phenomena (e.g. e-m flux, imprints, multiverse), angels, demons, etc..
The soul does not wander after the death of the body – it awaits the Judgment and the Great Remaking. Moreover, Christ teaches (in his parable of Lazarus) that souls are not allowed to go back and teach the living. [more convincing]
Factors for the existence of ghosts.
Evidence from Scripture (Witch of Endor, appearance of Elijah and esp. Moses at the Transfiguration), and lots of anecdotal data. Plus the fact that some saints/fathers seem to have accepted the existence of ghosts [but I would remain agnostic if this were the only evidence – see quote from Archbishop Puhalo in “Out of Body Experiences: The Orthodox Christian Teaching”].
The many examples of saints appearing to people. Saints are not thought of as “ghosts”, but they fit the criteria we are using. How is it that incorporeal saints appear to people? The Orthodox teachings (i.e. Patristic commentaries) on the Transfiguration give a hint at this Mystery: e.g. these people exist “in Christ” and can appear to those who are also “in Christ”; God’s “plentitude” allows for anything; they could be post-Eschaton visitations. Throw in the theology of icons and communication w/ departed saints and you pretty much have a slam-dunk for the existence of this specific subset of “ghosts”. [very convincing]
So where does this leave me?
A balance of skepticism and humility, grounded on the reality of the Orthodox faith, mean that while we know the most important thing (and will grow in this knowledge as God perfects us), there are many things that simply are not addressed by this faith.
There is a lot about this world that we just do not understand. It’s best to place our faith firmly on those things we do know (and rightly believe) and use Christian virtues (to include “bearing the burdens of the weak” and a commitment to honest investigation) to guide our positions on the rest.
