Glory to God
What do we mean by the infusion of Roman legalism into Christianity? In the Eastern Christian Church, there is no papacy or head of the church. Because the Holy Spirit is its head and the life of the church. The head Bishop in the Eastern Orthodox Church is first among equals and has one vote like the rest; however, he does have power of veto. But he does not hold any special privileges that can depose other bishops or make a novel ruling just on his own. It has to be agreed upon through the life of the Church with scripture, saints and Church Fathers of the past as guides. These guides or sign-posts are worldly structures. They are not necessarily holy or an end in themselves. The Eastern Orthodox Church doe not hold any one person, Saint, Church Father or all of them together as infallible in themselves. But only as breathed forth from the Holy Spirit and taken into the life of the Church. The Holy Spirit blows where He wills and can not be monopolized by anything earthly.
The structures and ways of the Church are to lead us to God and serve no other purpose in themselves. We do not worship saints or believe everything that was said by them is infallible because they were men. However, what does distinguish the Saints from others throughout history? I challenge everyone who reads this to study the Saints and the Church fathers for themselves. And I encourage a priest or Spiritual elder to help guide a person in these readings. Why were these writings so influential to the Church Life and to the heresies of the day? Because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit at exactly the time they were needed to speak for the Church of Christ. To distinguish Her from the chaos of the world, corruption, the demons and the devil.
The Church is not just any institution. It rises above this category. It has earthly institutional properties, yes. but it is not an institution for that is again a worldly concept and The Church of Christ transcends this, flies above it. The Church is not a governing authority that only tries to make people moral or "good people." Since anyone can be a morally good person regardless of belief in God. It is not ruled by a Pope or an Arch-bishop. It is not ruled by its bishops, priests, deacons and laity. It's authority is God alone through Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is a large mystery and serves as the hospital to our souls and bodies for life eternal. We take our Eucharistic medicine, the mysteries (Mysterion), and the confessional serves as a surgical procedure to draw out the corruptive tumors that we live with. But again, it is not an institutional idea, but a Heavenly one.
As the Church is not an institution it cannot be governed the way the Roman Empire was or have any juridical idea infused into it's Mysteries. If it has creeds and structure or guidelines or leaders it is for exactly the purpose of salvation. It is not necessarily the goal of people to be a "morally good" person but to become a NEW person in Christ. Salvation is not an exterior thing where I follow a bunch of moral rules as an end in itself. This idea is Old Testament. The New Testament looks to bring us into a relationship with a Person. And this Person is Christ Eternal. Christ doesn't cancel our debt on the outside. He restores our human nature, which no one could do for humanity. He restores the human nature we all share before God. He restores us from the inside. Then He invites us to follow The Way, the Truth and the Life for ourselves.
To cancel a debt is to remove the debt on the exterior. But how does that change a person on the inside where his heart dwells? Cancelling people's debts does not necessarily change them. An act of mercy will not always change your heart. I can pardon a murderer but it does not necessarily pardon him internally or change him at all. Something bigger has to take place within the person's heart and soul and this is a life process.
Can we satisfy God by just following rules or is there something deeper needed inside? The rules are a start, or following rules is a start. It is an exterior act aimed at an interior reality. But it is the interior reality of the heart that makes the rules go away. He who has a full relationship with Christ has little concern for rules; he is complete and in need of nothing, at peace, in love and at rest. He is afraid of nothing and wants nothing. This is where love casts away fear, perfect love. There is the first act of doing what is right so you do not get punished. There is the second act of doing what is right for a reward and then there is the highest life of the Spirit, being in Love that casts away all fear. This foremost spiritual reality is Christ; it is the Communion Eternal that is within the Godhead and always has been. It is this communion that we lack in the world of contraries, chaos and fear.
Did God need some juridical act that laid all the sin onto Christ that man has done and will do to cancel a debt. It does not appear so. The life, death and resurrection of Christ was to restore human nature common to all men, to defeat death, to defeat the devil and corruption, and to offer this Life to man. Was God under some legal ruling that He had to satisfy. Did He need to see Jesus before all the faces of men so he would not remain angry anymore? Did He need to unleash His wrath on someone to satisfy Himself? Did all the sin of the World make God so angry that he needed His Son to punish in our place? I don't think so. This is just bad theology. And just makes God seem like man and man's idea of passion mixed with man's justice. These just personify our insecurities and errors onto God. They are more the mythological gods of Rome, India, and Greece. These sound like gods made in man's image. God is not under any law or juridical system that he has to follow. God is above all our ideas of justice, laws or government. He is under no obligation and no system or thing is above Him. God has always looked upon man with compassion and Love, hence taking on Humanity and restoring it through the Logos, The Word of God, Jesus. Did He once see man in anger and now sees His Son instead? God has always seen man with love and compassion. God never changes. It is man who changes, his ideas change, his views change. God is the same today and throughout the ages of ages. The Eastern Orthodox Church would not see God in this way as needing to satisfy some debt with Himself and man because He has never looked at man in any other way than love. He did not once see Adam with love and then when Adam sinned became angry with him... and then when the Son died for Adam and all men... God is inn love with man again. This to the Eastern mindset is a God that changes. And God does not change.
This Roman legalistic act of cancellation of debt changes salvation to be something exterior. Salvation is something interior, and not an outside cancellation. it is the nous or the heart that needs to change, transform into the Life of Christ. When we bring man-made philosophies into the Church, we begin to change it and then it unfortunately becomes just any earthly institution and denominational or a fragment. We must remember that the Church cannot be a fragment as there is no such thing. The Church is complete, undivided, not confused and is all visible, indivisible, and invisible.
I would like to thank:
Christ God eternal
Fr. Photios
Fr. Dean
Brother Lawrence Janic
Clark Carlton
Jordan Bajis
The Church Fathers and all the Saints
and the Eastern Orthodox Church of which I am a small part
May God richly bless everyone to life Eternal and a good account before the awesome judgment seat of Christ. With the intercession prayers of the Theotokos, St Eugenia, St Athena, and all the saints. Amen
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