Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader PDF
Preview Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader
International Christian College 110 St lames Road Glasgow G4 0PS Eastern Orthodox Theology INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE 1 2 JUN 2000 | 13 MAR 2001 2 3 MAR 2001 Eastern Orthodox Theology A Contemporary Reader Edited by Daniel B. Clendenin Visiting Professor, Moscow State University D» BakerBooks A Division of Baker Book House Co Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516 © 1995 by Daniel B. Clendenin Published by Baker Books, a division of Baker Book House Company P.O. Box 6287 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516-6287 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tern, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, re- cording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eastern Orthodox Theology : a contemporary reader / edited by Daniel B. Clendenin p. cm. “Designed as a companion to ... Eastern Orthodox Christianity”— Introd. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8010-2589-3 1. Orthodox Eastern Church—Doctrines. 2. Theology, Doctri¬ nal—History—20th century—Sources. I. Clendenin, Daniel B. II. Clendenin, Daniel B. Eastern Orthodox Christianity. BX320.2.E28 1995 230'. 19—dc20 95-3044 CIP Contents Introduction 7 Part 1 Theology as Worship: Liturgy and Sacraments 1 The Earthly Heaven 11 Timothy (Kallistos) Ware 2 Concerning the Sacraments 21 John Karmiris 3 The Meaning and Content of the Icon 33 Leonid Ouspensky 4 The Virgin and the Saints in Orthodoxy 65 Sergius Bulgakov Part 2 Theology as Tradition: Councils and Fathers 5 Doing Theology in an Eastern Orthodox Perspective 79 John Meyendorff 6 The Function of Tradition in the Ancient Church 97 George Florovsky 7 The Authority of the Ancient Councils and the Tradition of the Fathers 115 George Florovsky 8 Tradition and Traditions 125 Vladimir Lossky 5 6 Eastern Orthodox Theology Part 3 Theology as Encounter: God, Christ, and Humanity 9 Apophasis and Trinitarian Theology 149 Vladimir Lossky 10 The Procession of the Holy Spirit in Orthodox Trinitarian Theology 163 Vladimir Lossky 11 Partakers of Divine Nature 183 Christoforos Stavropoulos Part 4 Theology as Mission: Orthodoxy and the West 12 The Missionary Imperative in the Orthodox Tradition 195 Alexander Schmemann 13 Moment of Truth for Orthodoxy 203 Alexander Schmemann Bibliography 211 Scripture Index 217 Subject Index 219 Introduction T he great Orthodox liturgical scholar Alexander Schmemann once observed that despite some interaction between Eastern Orthodox and Western Christians, the Orthodox heritage had never really been “integrated” into the consciousness of Westerners, many if not most of whom still view Orthodoxy as “marginal, exotic, [and] ori¬ ental.” Similarly, in the preface to his book Journeys to Orthodoxy, which is a series of autobiographical accounts by converts to Orthodoxy, Thomas Doulis notes that even today Orthodox Christianity remains “the great unknown among American religious denominations.” This collection of readings is intended to rectify, at least in some small way, this unfortunate state of affairs, and to introduce Western believers, both Catholic and Protestant, to the rich tradition of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Specifically, the readings have been selected to introduce some of the distinctive themes and most important modern theologians of Orthodoxy. This volume has been designed as a companion to my exposition of Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994). In that volume I offer an apologia for the study of Orthodoxy, present a brief history of Eastern Christianity, and then focus on four major theological themes—apophaticism, icons, Scripture and tradition, and theosis. A final chapter offers a Protestant evaluation of Orthodox theology. But can the Orthodox tradition be learned from a book? The story is told of a Protestant believer who asked an Orthodox priest to explain his theological beliefs. The priest responded that it would be better to ask “not what we believe, but how we worship.” Above all things Orthodoxy is a liturgical tradition which takes quite literally the maxim, usually attrib¬ uted to Pope Celestine I (422-32), “Lex orandi est lex credendi et agendi” (“the rule of prayer is the rule of belief and action”). While Westerners tend to learn their theology from books in the library, Orthodoxy special- 7 Eastern Orthodox Theology izes in learning theology from the liturgy and worship in the sanctuary. Of course, as the selections of this anthology show, Orthodoxy enjoys an extraordinarily rich intellectual legacy (just as Western Christians are not bereft of rich liturgies), one that extends as far back as the great champion of trinitarian orthodoxy, Athanasius, and continues unabated today. Still, readers of the following essays must not mistake scholarly analyses of Orthodoxy for the liturgical experience of worship that is so characteristic of its heritage. Numerous people offered their help and advice in the production of this volume. I would especially like to thank John Breck and Paul Meyendorff of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, James Stamoolis of Wheaton College, Bradley Nassif of the Society for the Study of Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism, librarian Keith Wells of Trinity Evangel¬ ical Divinity School, and editors Jim Weaver and Ray Wiersma of Baker Book House. Daniel B. Clendenin The International Institute for Christian Studies Mount Hermon, California
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