Eastern Christianity

[Apotheoun]

Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy are far closer together on theological and eccesiological issues than are the Oriental Orthodox and the Roman Church.

Below is a website that posts information on the Eastern Orthodox / Oriental Orthodox dialogue in connection with attempts to restore communion between those two families of Churches:

[url="http://www.orthodoxunity.org/"]Orthodox Unity[/url]

[Apotheoun]

The following essay was written by Coptic Oriental Orthodox Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta:



[size="3"][b]Partakers Of The Divine Nature[/b][/size]

[i]By His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy [/i]


1. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “I am the resurrection and the Life” (Jn 11:25). What do these divine words signify?

Eternal life is in Christ: salvation from the original sin, and the crucifixion of the old man are obtained in baptism; through which we unite together to Christ in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom 6:5).

The remission of actual sins is through the blood of Christ within the sacrament of baptism, and subsequently the sacraments of repentance and the Eucharist.

During the final confession of the Divine Liturgy the priest exhorts that the body and blood of our Lord: “Given for us for salvation, remission of sins, and eternal life to those who partakes of Him”.

Partaking of the body and blood of our Lord is the guarantee of eternal life. We prepare for it by repentance, confession -because the holies are for the holy- and holiness without which no one will see the Lord, as mentioned in the bible,.

In the Divine Liturgy we commemorate the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, His resurrection, and His ascension. We also commemorate His second coming from heaven dreadful and full of glory.

Partaking in the eternal life with God is a precious and great offer which our Lord Jesus Christ requested for His disciples before His crucifixion. He spoke to the Father saying, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (Jn 17:24).

Partaking with God in immortality and eternal life is a great gift which we obtain from Christ and through Christ, by the might of the blood of the life-giving cross, which transferred us from death to life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn 3: 16).

Our teacher Saint Peter the Apostle explained that partaking in the eternal life requires our flight from corruption that is in the world through lust, estimating the value of our precious salvation, and holding fast to the divine promises. He wrote, “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet 1: 1-4).

Our teacher Saint Peter the apostle means that the life of holiness is necessary in order to achieve the promised inheritance of the kingdom of God. This necessitates escaping from the corruption which is in the world through lust, leading a life of glory and spiritual virtues.

Saint Peter the Apostle himself emphasized this concept in his first epistle by saying, “Rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet 13-16).

2. Saint Basil the Great wrote: “We say that we know the greatness of God, His power, His wisdom, His goodness, His providence over us, and the justness of His judgment, but not His very essence… The energies are diversified, and the essence simple, but we say that we know our God from His energies, but do not undertake to approach near to His essence. His energies come down to us, but His essence remains beyond our reach… So knowledge of the divine essence involves perception of His incomprehensibility, and the object of our worship is not that of which we comprehend the essence, but of which we comprehend that the essence exists.” 1

In view of this explanation of Saint Basil the Great we can understand the teaching of Saint Peter in his second epistle when he mentioned the precious and great promises of God by which the believers can become ‘partakers of the divine nature’ θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως (2 Pet 1:4). Unfortunately, some people corrupt this verse by saying, “Partakers in the divine nature”… This is not what Saint Peter wrote! It is not possible by any means that any creature partakes in the nature, being, or essence of God. Whoever claims this is caught in a great theological error against the faith in God, and against the superiority of His essence and nature over all creation. This claim is also the type of pride that the devil previously fell into when he said, “I will be like the Most High” (Is 14:14). May the Lord keep us from such destructing pride.

By saying “partakers of the divine nature” Saint Peter simply means that we become partakers with God in His eternal life through partaking in His Holiness, paraphrasing the commandment “Be holy, for I am holy”. Even being partakers of the holiness of God is relative, and not absolute. Perfection of the creation is relative but perfection of God is absolute. Holiness of God is natural and not acquired but holiness of saints is acquired. Speaking of partaking in the divine life as the saint’s inheritance of eternal life Saint Peter the apostle said, “through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Pet 1:3-4).

We are partakers in the work with God as our teacher Saint Paul said of himself and Apollos, “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor 3:9). We partake of the spiritual life with God as mentioned in the apostolic blessing, “The communion, donation, and gift of the Holy Spirit be will you all.”

We are partakers of the divine nature in immortality, holiness, kingdom, eternal joy, and love of which our Lord Jesus Christ said in His commune with the Father, “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:26).

Our Lord Jesus Christ asks the Father that the love between Them can be in the disciples. He means here the type of love, not its amount. The Father is infinite and the Son is infinite, therefore the love between them is infinite. We are finite and limited: we obtain as much as we can from divine love. Thus, a communion of love is found between us and God, and we become partakers of the divine nature, but not partakers in the divine nature as some dare saying. May the Lord have mercy upon us, to feel our weaknesses and sins, so that we do not fall into pride.

Notes:

1. Saint Basil, [i]Letter to Amphilochius[/i] 1,2 - Holy Apostles Convent, Dormition Skete. [i]The Orthodox New Testament: vol.2 Acts, Epistles, and Revelation.[/i] Buena Vista, Colorado: 2nd Ed. 2000 p. 473.


Taken from Metropolitan Bishoy's webpage: [url="http://www.metroplit-bishoy.org/files/articles/partakers.doc"]Partakers Of The Divine Nature[/url]

Edited February 28, 2010 by Apotheoun

[Apotheoun]

[i]St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his homilies on the Beatitudes, made the same distinction as Metropolitan Bishoy in connection with the divine essence and God's holiness, goodness, etc., which are all energies around the divine essence. Here is what St. Gregory of Nyssa said:[/i]


[size="3"][b][i]The Divine Nature[/i], whatever It may be in Itself, [i]surpasses every mental concept[/i]. For It is [i]altogether inaccessible to reasoning and conjecture[/i], nor has there been found any human faculty capable of perceiving the incomprehensible; for we cannot devise a means of understanding inconceivable things.[/b] Therefore, the great Apostle calls His ways unsearchable, [b]meaning by this that the way that leads to knowledge of the Divine Essence is inaccessible to thought.[/b] That is to say, none of those who have passed through life before us has made known to the intelligence so much as a trace by which might be known what is above knowledge.

Since such is He whose nature is above every nature, the Invisible and Incomprehensible is seen and apprehended in another manner. Many are the modes of such perception. For it is possible to see Him who has made all things in wisdom by way of inference through the wisdom that appears in the universe. It is the same as with human works of art where, in a way, the mind can perceive the maker of the product that is before it, because he has left on his work the stamp of his art. In this, however, is seen not the nature of the artist, but only his artistic skill which he has left impressed on his handiwork. Thus also, when we look at the order of creation, [b]we form in our mind an image [i]not of the essence[/i], but of the wisdom of Him who has made all things wisely.[/b] And if we consider the cause of our life, that He came to create man not from necessity, but from the free decision of his goodness, we say that we have contemplated God by this way, that we have apprehended his goodness – so again, [b][i]not his essence[/i], but his goodness.[/b] It is the same with all other things that raised the mind to transcendent goodness, all these we can term apprehensions of God, since each one of these sublime meditations places God within our sight. For power, purity, constancy, freedom from contrariety – all these engrave on the soul the impress of the divine and transcendent mind. Hence it is clear through what has just been said that the Lord speaks the truth when he promises that God will be seen by those who have a pure heart; nor does Paul deceive when he asserts in his letters that no one has seen God, nor can he see him. [b]For he is invisible by nature, [i]but becomes visible in his energies[/i], for he may be contemplated in the things that are referred to him[/b] [literally: [i]around Him[/i]][b].[/b] [St. Gregory of Nyssa, [i]Sixth Sermon on the Beatitudes[/i]][/size]

Edited February 28, 2010 by Apotheoun

[mortify]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='28 February 2010 - 02:25 PM' timestamp='1267385132' post='2064347']
Because, according to the Eastern Fathers, to see or participate in the divine essence is to cross the diastemic gap between the uncreated and the created, which no created being can do (see St. Gregory of Nyssa's [i]Seventh Homily on Ecclesiastes[/i], sections j412-j415; see also Dr. Scot Douglas' book [u]Theology of the Gap[/u], which explains the reason for the Cappadocians use of the essence / energy distinction in order to refute Eunomian essentialism).[/quote]

No created being can do it, that is true, but God endows the Just in Heaven with the Light of Glory (Lumen Gloriae) which makes the Beatific Vision possible.

[quote][i]Several Fathers, who seemingly contradict this doctrine, in reality maintain it; they merely teach that the bodily eye cannot see God, or that the blessed do not fully comprehend God, or that the soul cannot see God with its natural powers in this life[/i][/quote]

[url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07170a.htm"][b]Catholic Encyclopedia: HEAVEN[/b][/url]

[quote]Both of those posters are Catholics, not Coptic Orthodox. None of my Oriental Orthodox friends, and I have several, accept the Latinized views of the Coptic Catholics.
[/quote]

You're assuming these Oriental Christians are holding on to a "Latinzed" view when infact they state the very opposite [url="http://forums.catholic.com/showpost.php?p=5662414&postcount=19"][b]Link to post[/b][/url]:

[quote][i]I admit that when I was not in communion with Rome, I had a polemic understanding of the Eastern teaching on Essence and Energy. [u]Having come into communion with Rome, I now view the Eastern teaching as a legitimate development that cannot be constructively maligned.[/u] In fact, before I was in communion with Rome, and even for a short while after I joined the Catholic communion, I could never bring myself to call Gregory Palamas "a Saint.." Now, after reading more of what he taught, I don't mind considering him a "Saint" and have even called him such in discussions with my EO and EC brethren.[/i][/quote]

Apparently [b]mardukm[/b] rejected the Palamite doctrine *before* returning to Catholicism. Ironically, it was becoming a Coptic Catholic that led him down the road of re evaluating Palamas' theology and saintliness! Hardly sounds like this person is a "Latinized" Oriental! He also makes the following comment:

[quote][i]The Essence/Energy distinction is part of the patrimony of the Oriental Churches, but as noted by my fellow Oriental, Michael Thoma, [u]it is not dogma[/u], so it is not on the forefront of an Oriental's spirituality or mental process. As stated earlier, from my experience, [u]the terms "sanctification" and "grace" are much more common parlance among Orientals than the terms "theosis" and "energy."[/u][/i][/quote]

I find these admissions interesting, and they make your friends appear to be under the sphere of a foriegn influence, the influence of "Palamized" doctrine.

[mortify]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='28 February 2010 - 02:55 PM' timestamp='1267386925' post='2064370']
The following essay was written by Coptic Oriental Orthodox Metropolitan Bishoy of Damietta:



[size="3"][b]Partakers Of The Divine Nature[/b][/size]

[i]By His Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy [/i]
[/quote]

I found the Bishop's definition of eternal life and partaking in God's nature very interesting:
[i][b]
"Eternal life is in Christ: salvation from the [u]original sin[/u], and the crucifixion of the old man are obtained in baptism; through which we unite together to Christ in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection"[/b][/i]

[i][b]We are partakers of the divine nature in immortality, holiness, kingdom, eternal joy, and love of which our Lord Jesus Christ said in His commune with the Father, “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:26).[/b][/i]

Both these definitions are solidly Biblical, show no conflict with Roman Catholic teaching, and lack Greek influence. Notice for example in the definition of "partakers of the divine nature" the Bishop does not even mention the term "energies" which is used in every Greek inspired commentary I have read on the verse.

[mortify]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='28 February 2010 - 03:08 PM' timestamp='1267387703' post='2064384']
[size="3"][b][i]The Divine Nature[/i], whatever It may be in Itself, [i]surpasses every mental concept[/i]. For It is [i]altogether inaccessible to reasoning and conjecture[/i], nor has there been found any human faculty capable of perceiving the incomprehensible; for we cannot devise a means of understanding inconceivable things.[/b] Therefore, the great Apostle calls His ways unsearchable, [b]meaning by this that the way that leads to knowledge of the Divine Essence is inaccessible to thought.[/b] That is to say, none of those who have passed through life before us has made known to the intelligence so much as a trace by which might be known what is above knowledge.[/quote]

There is no disagreement with what the Saintly Father has said.

We don't have the *natural* capacity to see the Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence remains incomprehensible even for the Just who see Him in Heaven.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='mortify' date='28 February 2010 - 02:08 PM' timestamp='1267391328' post='2064404']
I found the Bishop's definition of eternal life and partaking in God's nature very interesting:
[i][b]
"Eternal life is in Christ: salvation from the [u]original sin[/u], and the crucifixion of the old man are obtained in baptism; through which we unite together to Christ in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection"[/b][/i]

[i][b]We are partakers of the divine nature in immortality, holiness, kingdom, eternal joy, and love of which our Lord Jesus Christ said in His commune with the Father, “O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:26).[/b][/i]

Both these definitions are solidly Biblical, show no conflict with Roman Catholic teaching, and lack Greek influence. Notice for example in the definition of "partakers of the divine nature" the Bishop does not even mention the term "energies" which is used in every Greek inspired commentary I have read on the verse.
[/quote]
I agree, the bishop's position is biblical ([i]energeia[/i] is a term found in the New Testament) and patristic. Salvation does not involve participation in, or a vision of, the divine essence, but involves instead a participation in, and vision of, God's holiness, life, justice, immorality, etc. (i.e., His many [i]energeiai[/i]).

Edited February 28, 2010 by Apotheoun

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='mortify' date='28 February 2010 - 01:57 PM' timestamp='1267390655' post='2064399']
You're assuming these Oriental Christians are holding on to a "Latinzed" view when infact they state the very opposite
. . . [/quote]
I am not assuming anything about their position, they are Latinized, as my Oriental Orthodox friends have told me, and as Bishop Bishoy's essay shows in his quotation from St. Basil the Great.

[quote name='mortify' date='28 February 2010 - 01:57 PM' timestamp='1267390655' post='2064399']
Apparently [b]mardukm[/b] rejected the Palamite doctrine *before* returning to Catholicism. Ironically, it was becoming a Coptic Catholic that led him down the road of re evaluating Palamas' theology and saintliness! Hardly sounds like this person is a "Latinized" Oriental! He also makes the following comment . . .[/quote]
His reappraisal of Palamas, and the essence / energy distinction, a distinction which is taught by the Cappadocians, St. Athanasios, St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Maximos the Confessor, and St. John Damascene, to name just a few Eastern Fathers, proves my point that his present position is a form of Latinization, because it was one of many things that brought about his conversion to Coptic Catholicism. That said, none of my Oriental Orthodox friends have any problems with the essence / energy distinction.

[quote name='mortify' date='28 February 2010 - 01:57 PM' timestamp='1267390655' post='2064399']
I find these admissions interesting, and they make your friends appear to be under the sphere of a foriegn influence, the influence of "Palamized" doctrine.[/quote]
Actually, my Oriental Orthodox friends are under the influence of the Oriental Orthodox tradition, which flows out from St. Cyril of Alexandria and Severus of Antioch, while the Coptic Catholics that I know (a couple people on the internet) espouse a Latinized viewpoint that contradicts the Oriental Orthodox tradition overall.

Edited February 28, 2010 by Apotheoun

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='28 February 2010 - 06:20 PM' timestamp='1267399226' post='2064478']
I am not assuming anything about their position, they are Latinized, as my Oriental Orthodox friends have told me, and as Bishop Bishoy's essay shows in his quotation from St. Basil the Great.
[/quote]

Accepting all of the teachings of the holy Catholic Church does not make one Latinized.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='28 February 2010 - 04:21 PM' timestamp='1267399274' post='2064479']
Accepting all of the teachings of the holy Catholic Church does not make one Latinized.
[/quote]
Being Scholastic does not make one Catholic either, but accepting the teachings of the Eastern Fathers certainly does.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='mortify' date='28 February 2010 - 02:12 PM' timestamp='1267391578' post='2064407']
There is no disagreement with what the Saintly Father has said.

We don't have the *natural* capacity to see the Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence remains incomprehensible even for the Just who see Him in Heaven.
[/quote]
I am unable to assent to this viewpoint, because it is contrary to the teachings of St. Gregory of Nyssa (and the other two Cappadocian Fathers) and all the other Eastern Fathers, who hold that the divine essence is imparticipable, both in this life and in the eschaton (see St. Gregory of Nyssa's "Life of Moses," his treatise against Eunomios, and his homilies on the Beatitudes and Ecclesiastes).

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='28 February 2010 - 06:23 PM' timestamp='1267399429' post='2064484']
Being Scholastic does not make one Catholic either, but accepting the teachings of the Eastern Fathers certainly does.
[/quote]

I certainly agree that accepting the teachings of the Eastern Fathers makes one Catholic inasmuch as the Eastern Fathers believed in all the divinely revealed dogmas of the Church (such as Our Lady's immaculate Conception and her Assumption, as well as papal infallibility and primacy of jurisdiction).

Edited February 28, 2010 by Resurrexi

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='28 February 2010 - 04:27 PM' timestamp='1267399634' post='2064488']
I certainly inasmuch as the Eastern Fathers believed in all the divinely revealed dogmas of the Church, such as Our Lady's immaculate Conception and her Assumption, as well as papal infallibility and primacy of jurisdiction.
[/quote]
I accept all the teachings of the seven Ecumenical Councils and the Holy Fathers of the East, and am in complete agreement with the Melkite Catholic Patriarch and the Melkite Holy Synod in supporting the synodical profession of faith issued in 1996, which states the following:

[i][b](1) I believe everything which Eastern Orthodoxy teaches.

(2) I am in communion with the Bishop of Rome as the first among the bishops, according to the limits recognized by the Holy Fathers of the East during the first millennium, before the separation. [/b][/i]

Edited February 28, 2010 by Apotheoun

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='28 February 2010 - 06:31 PM' timestamp='1267399902' post='2064494']
I accept all the teachings of the seven Ecumenical Councils and the Holy Fathers of the East, and am in complete agreement with the Melkite Catholic Patriarch and the Melkite Holy Synod in supporting the synodical profession of faith issued in 1996, which states the following:

[i][b](1) I believe everything which Eastern Orthodoxy teaches.

(2) I am in communion with the Bishop of Rome as the first among the bishops, according to the limits recognized by the Holy Fathers of the East during the first millennium, before the separation. [/b][/i]
[/quote]

No bishop has any authority to issue teachings which are not in agreement with those of the Holy See.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='28 February 2010 - 04:34 PM' timestamp='1267400062' post='2064496']
No bishop has any authority to issue teachings which are not in agreement with those of the Holy See.
[/quote]
The Pope is free, if the profession of faith issued by the Melkite Holy Synod and Patriarch is contrary to "catholic" teaching, to break communion with the Melkite Catholic Church, but alas he has not done so.