The Bible
The written record of God's revelation is the Bible, which means
the book, or the books. The Bible is also called the Holy Scriptures.
Scripture as a word simply means writings.
The Bible was written
over thousands of years by many different people. It is divided
into two testaments or covenants. These
words signify agreements, pacts, or we might say, "deals." The
two basic covenants are the old and the new; each has its own
scriptures. As a book, the Bible contains many different kinds
of writings: law, prophecy, history, poetry, stories, aphorisms,
prayers, letters and symbolical visions.
The Old Testament
The Old Testament scripture begins with the five books of the
Law called the Pentateuch, which means the five books; also
called the Torah, which means the Law. Sometimes these books
are also called the Books of Moses since they are centered
on the exodus and the Mosaic laws.
In the Old Testament there are also books of the history of
Israel; books called the Wisdom books such as the Psalms, Proverbs,
and the Book of Job; and books of the prophecies which carry
the names of the Old Testament prophets. A prophet is one who
speaks the Word of God by direct divine inspiration. Only secondarily
does the word prophet mean one who foretells the future.
The Orthodox Church also numbers among the genuine books of
the Old Testament the so-called apocryphal books, meaning literally
the secret or hidden writings. Other Christians put these books
in a secondary place or reject completely their being of divine
inspiration.
The New Testament
The center of the New Testament part of the Bible is the four
gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who are called the
four evangelists, which means those who wrote the gospels.
Gospel in Greek is evangelion which, as we have seen, means
the "glad tidings" or the "good news."
In the New Testament scripture there is also the book of the
Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. There are fourteen
letters called the epistles (which simply means letters) of the
Apostle Paul, though perhaps some, such as the Letter to the
Hebrews, were not written directly by him. Three letters are
also ascribed to the Apostle John; two to the Apostle Peter;
and one each to the Apostles James and Jude. Finally there is
the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, which is
ascribed to St. John as well.
For the Orthodox, the Bible is the main written source of divine
doctrine since God Himself inspired its writing by His Holy Spirit
(see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20). This is the doctrine of the
inspiration of the Bible, namely that men inspired by God wrote
the words which are truly their own human words -- all words
are human! -- but which nevertheless may be called all together
the Word of God. Thus, the Bible is the Word of God in written
form because it contains not merely the thoughts and experiences
of men, but the very self-revelation of God.
The center of the Bible as the written Word of God in human
form is the person of the Living Word of God in human form, Jesus
Christ. All parts of the Bible are interpreted in the Orthodox
Church in the light of Christ since everything in the Bible leads
up to Christ and speaks about Him (Lk 24: 44). This fact is symbolized
in the Orthodox Church by the fact that only the book of the
four gospels is enthroned on the altars of our churches and not
the entire Bible. This is so because everything in the Bible
is fulfilled in Christ.
Tradition
The ongoing life of God's People is called Holy Tradition. The
Holy Tradition of the Old Testament is expressed in the Old
Testamental part of the Bible and in the ongoing life of the
People of Israel until the birth of Christ. This tradition
is fulfilled, completed and transcended in the time of the
Messiah and in the Christian Church.
The New Testamental or Christian Tradition is also called the
apostolic tradition and the tradition of the Church. The central
written part of this tradition is the New Testamental writings
in the Bible. The gospels and the other writings of the apostolic
church form the heart of the Christian tradition and are the
main written source and inspiration of all that developed in
later ages.
This Christian tradition
is given over from people to people, through space and time.
Tradition as a word means exactly this:
it is that which is "passed on" and "given over" from
one to another. Holy Tradition is, therefore, that which is passed
on and given over within the Church from the time of Christ's
apostles right down to the present day.
Although containing many written documents, Holy Tradition is
not at all limited to what is written; it is not merely a body
of literature. It is, on the contrary, the total life and experience
of the entire Church transferred from place to place and from
generation to generation. Tradition is the very life of the Church
itself as it is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Not everything in the Church belongs to its Holy Tradition for
not everything in the Church is done by the grace of the Holy
Spirit, and not everything in the Church pertains essentially
and necessarily to the Kingdom Of God. Some things in the Church
are just temporal and temporary things, merely human customs
and traditions of no eternal and everlasting value. Such things
in themselves are not sinful or wrong. On the contrary, they
may be very positive and very helpful to the life of the Church
as long as they are not taken to be what they are not. Thus,
it is very important in the Church to make the distinction between
traditions which are merely earthly and human and passing away
and the genuine Holy Tradition which pertains to the heavenly
and eternal Kingdom of God.
It is also important to recognize that there are also things
in the Church which not only do not belong to Holy Tradition,
but which are not even to be counted among its positive human
traditions. These things which are just sinful and wrong are
brought into the life of the Church from the evil world. The
Church in its human form, as an earthly institution, is not immune
to the sins of its unholy members. These deviations and errors
which creep into the life of the Church stand under the judgment
and condemnation of the authentic and genuine Holy Tradition
which comes from God.
Among the elements which make up the Holy Tradition of the Church,
the Bible holds the first place. Next comes the Church's liturgical
life and its prayer, then its dogmatic decisions and the acts
of its approved churchly councils, the writings of the church
fathers, the lives of the saints, the canon laws, and finally
the iconographic tradition together with the other inspired forms
of creative artistic _expression such as music and architecture.
All of the elements of Holy Tradition are organically linked
together in real life. None of them stands alone. None may be
separated or isolated from the other or from the wholeness of
the life of the Church. All come alive in the actual living of
the life of the Church in every age and generation, in every
time and place. As the Church continues to live by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Tradition of the Church will continue
to grow and develop. This process will go on until the establishment
of the Kingdom of God at the end of the ages.
Revelation
Every
morning at its Matins Service the Orthodox Church proclaims: "God
is the Lord and has revealed Himself unto us; blessed is He who
comes in the name of the Lord" (Ps 118:26-27). The first
foundation of Christian doctrine is found in this biblical line:
God has revealed Himself to us.
God has shown Himself to His creatures. He has not disclosed
His very innermost being, for this innermost essence of God cannot
be grasped by creatures. But God has truly shown what men can
see and understand of His divine nature and will.
The fullness and perfection
of God's self-revelation is found in His Son Jesus Christ,
the fulfillment of the gradual and partial
revelation of God in the Old Testament. Jesus is the one truly "blessed
... who comes in the name of the Lord."
The first title given to Jesus by the people is that of Rabbi,
which literally means teacher, in the English New Testament the
word Master also issued in relation to Jesus in the sense of
one who teaches, such as in schoolmaster or holder of a master's
degree. Jesus' followers are also called disciples, which literally
means students or pupils.
Jesus came to men first of all as the Teacher sent from God.
He teaches the will of God and makes God known to men. He reveals
fully--as fully as men can grasp--the mysteries of the Kingdom
of God.
The coming of Jesus
as teacher is one aspect of his being Christ the Messiah. The
word Christ in Greek is the word for the Hebrew
Messiah which means the Anointed of God. For when the messiah
would come, it was foretold, men would be "taught by God" (Is
54:13, Jn 6:45).
Jesus comes to men
as the divine teacher. He claimed on many occasions that his
words were those of God. He spoke as "one
having authority" not like the normal Jewish teachers (Mt
7:29). And he accused those who rejected his teachings as rejecting
God Himself.
He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent
me. And he who sees me sees Him who sent me. I have come as light
into the world ... for I have not spoken on my own authority;
the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what
to speak. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden
me. (Jn 12:44-50)
Jesus taught men not only by his words, but also by his actions;
and indeed by his very own person. He referred to himself as
the Truth (John 14:6) and as the Light (Jn 8:12). He showed himself
not merely to be speaking God's words, but to be himself the
Living Word of God in human flesh, the Logos who is eternal and
uncreated, but who has become man as Jesus of Nazareth in order
to make God known to the world.
In the beginning was the Word [Logos] and the Word was with
God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all
things were made through him, and without him was not any thing
made that was made.
In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light
shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the
world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him,
yet the world knew him not.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace
and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten
Son from the Father.
And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.
For the law came through Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son who is in the
bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
(See Jn 1:1-18. The Easter Liturgy Gospel Reading in the Orthodox
Church)
Jesus, the divine
Word of God in human flesh, comes to teach men by his presence,
his words and his deeds. His disciples are
sent into the world to proclaim Him and His Gospel, which means
literally the "glad tidings" or the "good news" of
the Kingdom of God. Those whom Jesus sends are called the apostles,
which means literally "those who are sent." The apostles
are directly inspired by God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth
(Jn 15:26), to "make disciples of all nations" teaching
them what Christ has commanded (Mt 28:19).
The early Church,
we are told, "devoted themselves to the
apostles' doctrine" (Acts 2:42). Doctrine as a word simply
means teaching or instruction. The apostles' doctrine is the
doctrine of Jesus and becomes the doctrine of the Christian Church.
It is received by the disciples of every age and generation as
the very doctrine of God. It is proclaimed everywhere and always
as the doctrine of eternal life through which all men and the
whole world are enlightened and saved.
At this point it must be mentioned that although God's self-revelation
in history through the chosen people of Israel--the revelation
which culminates in the coming of Christ the Messiah--is of primary
importance, it is also the doctrine of the Christian Church that
all genuine strivings of men after the truth are fulfilled in
Christ. Every genuine insight into the meaning of life finds
its perfection in the Christian Gospel. Thus, the holy fathers
of the Church taught that the yearnings of pagan religions and
the wisdom of many philosophers are also capable of serving to
prepare men for the doctrines of Jesus and are indeed valid and
genuine ways to the one Truth of God.
In this way Christians considered certain Greek philosophers
to have been enlightened by God to serve the cause of Truth and
to lead men to fullness of life in God since the Word and Wisdom
of God is revealed to all men and is found in all men who in
the purity of their minds and hearts have been inspired by the
Divine Light which enlightens every man who comes into this world.
This Divine Light is the word of God, Jesus of Nazareth in human
flesh, the perfection and fullness of God's self-revelation to
the world.
It cannot be overstressed that divine revelation in the Old
Testament, in the Church of the New Testament, in the lives of
the saints, in the wisdom of the fathers, in the beauty of creation
... and most fully and perfectly in Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, is the revelation of God Himself. God has spoken. God has
acted. God has manifested Himself and continues to manifest Himself
in the lives of His people.
If we want to hear God's voice and see God's actions of self-revelation
in the world, we must purify our minds and hearts from everything
that is wicked and false. We must strive to love the truth, to
love one another, and to love everything in God's good creation.
According to the Orthodox faith, purification from falsehood
and sin is the way to the knowledge of God. If we open ourselves
to divine grace and purify ourselves from all evils, then it
is certain that we will be able to interpret the scriptures properly
and come into living communion with the true and living God who
has revealed Himself and continues to reveal Himself to those
who love Him.
The Canons
There are canon laws of ecumenical councils, of provincial
and local councils, and of individual church fathers which
have
been received by the entire Orthodox Church as normative for
Christian doctrine and practice. As a word canon means literally
rule or norm or measure of judging. In this sense the canon
laws are not positive laws in the juridical sense and cannot
be easily identified with laws as understood and operative
in human jurisprudence.
The canons of the Church are distinguished first between those
of a dogmatic or doctrinal nature and those of a practical, ethical,
or structural character. They are then further distinguished
between those which may be changed and altered and those which
are unchangeable and may not be altered under any conditions.
The dogmatic canons are those council definitions which speak
about an article of the Christian faith; for example, the nature
and person of Jesus Christ. Although such canons may be explained
and developed in new and different words, particularly as the
Church Tradition grows and moves through time, their essential
meaning remains eternal and unchanging.
Some canons of a moral and ethical character also belong to
those which cannot be changed. These are the moral canons whose
meaning is absolute and eternal and whose violation can in no
way be justified. The canons which forbid the sale of Church
sacraments are of this kind.
There are, in addition, canons of a quite practical nature which
may be changed and which, in fact, have been changed in the course
of the life of the Church. There are also those which may be
changed but which remain in force since the Church has shown
the desire to retain them. An example of the former type is the
canon which requires the priests of the church to be ordained
to office only after reaching thirty years of age. It might be
said that although this type of canon remains normative and does
set a certain ideal which theoretically may still be of value,
the needs of the Church have led to its violation in actual life.
The canon which requires that the bishops of the Church be unmarried
is of the latter type.
It is not always clear which canons express essential marks
of Christian life and which do not. There are often periods of
controversy over certain canons as to their applicability in
given times and conditions. These factors, however, should not
lead the members of the Church to dismay or to the temptation
either to enforce all canons blindly with identical force and
value or to dismiss all the canons as meaningless and insignificant.
In the first place,
the canons are "of the Church" and
therefore cannot possibly be understood as "positive laws" in
a juridical sense; secondly, the canons are certainly not exhaustive,
and do not cover every possible aspect of Church faith and life;
thirdly, the canons were produced for the most part in response
to some particular dogmatic or moral question or deviation in
the Church life and so usually bear the marks of some particular
controversy in history which has conditioned not merely their
particular formulation, but indeed their very existence.
Taken by themselves,
the canon laws of the Church can be misleading and frustrating,
and therefore superficial people will say "either
enforce them all or discard them completely." But taken
as a whole within the wholeness of Orthodox life -- theological,
historical, canonical, and spiritual --- these canons do assume
their proper place and purpose and show themselves to be a rich
source for discovering the living Truth of God in the Church.
In viewing the canons of the Church, the key factors are Christian
knowledge and wisdom which are borne from technical study and
spiritual depth. There is no other "key" to their usage;
and any other way would be according to the Orthodox faith both
unorthodox and unchristian.
The Holy Fathers
There are in the Church a number of saints who were theologians
and spiritual teachers who defended and explained the doctrines
of the Christian Faith. These saints are called the holy fathers
of the Church and their teachings are called the patristic teachings
(patristic is from the Greek word for father).
Some of the holy fathers
are called apologists because they defended the Christian teachings
against those outside the Church
who ridiculed the faith. Their writings are called apologies
which means "answers" or "defenses."
Others of the holy
fathers defended the Christian faith against certain members
of the Church who deformed the truth and life
of Christianity by choosing certain parts of the Christian revelation
and doctrine while denying other aspects. Those who deformed
the Christian faith in this way and thereby destroyed the integrity
of the Christian Church are called the heretics, and their doctrines
are called heresies. By definition heresy means "choice," and
a heretic is one who chooses what he wants according to his own
ideas and opinions, selecting certain parts of the Christian
Tradition while rejecting others. By his actions, a heretic not
only destroys the fullness of the Christian truth but also divides
the life of the Church and causes division in the community.
Generally speaking, the Orthodox tradition regards the teachers
of heresies as not merely being mistaken or ignorant or misguided;
it accuses them of being actively aware of their actions and
therefore sinful. A person merely misguided or mistaken or teaching
what he believes to be the truth without being challenged or
opposed as to his possible errors is not considered to be a heretic
in the true sense of the word. Many of the saints and even the
holy fathers have elements in their teachings which Christians
of later times have considered as being false or inaccurate.
This, of course, does not make them heretics.
Not all of the holy
fathers were defenders against falsehood or heresy. Some of
them were simply the very positive teachers
of the Christian faith, developing and explaining its meaning
in a deeper and fuller way. Others were teachers of the spiritual
life, giving instruction to the faithful about the meaning and
method of communion with God through prayer and Christian living.
Those teachers who concentrated on the struggle of spiritual
life are called the ascetical fathers, asceticism being the exercise
and training of the "spiritual athletes"; and those
who concentrated on the way of spiritual communion with God are
called the mystical fathers, mysticism being defined as the genuine,
experiential union with the Divine.
All of the holy fathers, whether they are classified as theological,
pastoral, ascetical or mystical gave their teachings from the
sources of their own living Christian experience. They defended
and described and explained the theological doctrines and ways
of spiritual life from their own living knowledge of these realities.
They blended together the brilliance of the intellect with the
purity of the soul and the righteousness of life. This is what
makes them the holy fathers of the Church.
The writings of the Church Fathers are not infallible, and it
has even been said that in any given one of them some things
could be found which could be questioned in the light of the
fullness of the Tradition of the Church. Nevertheless, taken
as a whole, the writings of the Fathers which are built upon
the biblical and liturgical foundations of Christian faith and
life have great authority within the Orthodox Church and are
primary sources for the discovery of the Church's doctrine.
The writings of some of those fathers who have received the
universal approval and praise of the Church through the ages
are of particular importance, such as those of Ignatius of Antioch,
Irenaeus of Lyons, Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil the Great,
Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Cyril
of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Maximus the Confessor, John
of Damascus, Photius of Constantinople, and Gregory Palamas;
and those of the ascetical and spiritual fathers such as Anthony
of Egypt, Macarius of Egypt, John of the Ladder, Isaac of Syria,
Ephraim of Syria, Simeon the New Theologian, and others.
Sometimes it is difficult for us to read the writings of the
fathers of the Church since their problems were often complicated
and their manner of writing very different in style from our
own. Also most of the spiritual and ascetical writings are put
in the monastic setting and have to be transposed in order to
be understandable and usable to those of us who are not monks
or nuns. Nevertheless, it is important to read the writings of
the fathers directly. One should do so slowly, a little at a
time, with careful thought and consideration and without making
quick and capricious conclusions ... the same way that one would
read the Bible. Among the church fathers, Saint John Chrysostom's
writings are very clear and direct and can be read by many with
great profit if the proper care is given. Also the Philokalia
-- an anthology of spiritual writings -- exists in English, at
least in part, and with proper care, it can be helpful to a mature
Christian in search of deeper insights into the spiritual life.
The Saints
The
doctrine of the Church comes alive in the lives of the true
believers, the
saints. The saints are those who literally share
the holiness of God. "Be holy, for I your God am holy" (Lev
11:44; 1 Pet 1:16). The lives of the saints bear witness to the
authenticity and truth of the Christian gospel, the sure gift
of God's holiness to men.
In the Church there are different classifications of saints.
In addition to the holy fathers who are quite specifically glorified
for their teaching, there are a number of classifications of
the various types of holy people according to the particular
aspects of their holiness.
Thus, there are the
apostles who are sent to proclaim the Christian faith, the
evangelists who specifically announce and even write
down the gospels, the prophets who are directly inspired to speak
God's word to men. There are the confessors who suffer for the
faith and the martyrs who die for it. There are the so-called "holy
ones", the saints from among the monks and nuns; and the "righteous" those
from among the lay people.
In addition, the church
service books have a special title for saints from among the
ordained clergy and another special title
for the holy rulers and statesmen. Also there is the strange
classification of the fools for Christ's sake. These are they
who through their total disregard for the things that people
consider so necessary -- clothes, food, money, houses, security,
public reputation, etc. -- have been able to witness without
compromise to the Christian Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.
They take their name from the sentence Of the Apostle Paul: "We
are fools forChrist's sake" (1 Cor 4:10; 3:18).
There are volumes
on lives of the saints in the Orthodox tradition. They may
be used very fruitfully for the discovery of the meaning
of the Christian faith and life. In these "lives" the
Christian vision of God, man, and the world stands out very clearly.
Because these volumes were written down in times quite different
from our own, it is necessary to read them carefully to distinguish
the essential points from the artificial and sometimes even fanciful
embellishments which are often contained in them. In the Middle
Ages, for instance, it was customary to pattern the lives of
saints after literary works of previous times and even to dress
up the lives of the lesser known saints after the manner of earlier
saints of the same type. It also was the custom to add many elements,
particularly supernatural and miraculous events of the most extraordinary
sort, to confirm the true holiness of the saint, to gain strength
for his spiritual goodness and truth, and to foster imitation
of his virtues in the lives of the hearers and readers. In many
cases the miraculous is added to stress the ethical righteousness
and innocence of the saint in the face of his detractors.
Generally speaking, it does not take much effort to distinguish
the sound kernel of truth in the lives of the saints from the
additions made in the spirit of piety and enthusiasm of the later
periods; and the effort should be made to see the essential truth
which the lives contain. Also, the fact that elements of a miraculous
nature were added to the lives of saints during medieval times
for the purposes of edification, entertainment, and even amusement
should not lead to the conclusion that all things miraculous
in the lives of the saints are invented for literary or moralizing
purposes. Again, a careful reading of the lives of the saints
will almost always reveal what is authentic and true in the realm
of the miraculous. Also, the point has been rightly made that
men can learn almost as much about the real meaning of Christianity
from the legends of the saints produced within the tradition
of the Church as from the authentic lives themselves.
The
Liturgy
When the Church, which means literally the gathering or assembly
of people who are called together to perform a specific task,
assembles as God's People to worship, this gathering is called
the liturgy of the Church. As a word liturgy means the common
work or action of a particular group of people for the sake of
all. Thus the divine liturgy of the Christian Church means the
common work of God done by the people of God.
The liturgy of the Old Testament people was the official worship
in the temple of Jerusalem according to the Mosaic Law, as well
as the annual feasts and fasts and the private prayers and services
held by the Israelites at home or in the synagogues. Synagogues
by definition are houses of gathering; they are not temples since
according to the Law there was just the one temple in Jerusalem
where the priestly worship was conducted. In the synagogues the
Israelites gathered for prayer and scriptural study, preaching,
and contemplation of the Word of God.
In the New Testament
Church the liturgy is centered in the person of Christ and
is primarily a "christening" of the Old
Testament liturgical life. The Christian Church retains the liturgical
life of the Old Testament in a new and eternal perspective. Thus,
the prayers of the Old Testament, the scriptures and the psalms,
are read and sung in the light of Christ. The sacrifice of the
Body and Blood of Christ replaces the Old Testament sacrifices
in the temple. And the Lord's Day, Sunday, replaces the old Jewish
sabbath which is Saturday.
The Jewish feasts also take on new meaning in the Christian
Church with the central feast of Passover, for example, becoming
the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection; and the feast
of Pentecost becoming the celebration of the coming of the Holy
Spirit which fulfills the Old Testamental Law. The Christian
liturgical year is also patterned after the Old Testamental prototype.
From the basic foundation of the Old Testament liturgy the Church
developed its own sacramental life with baptism in the name of
the Holy Trinity, chrismation, holy communion, marriage, repentance,
healing and the Churchly ministry and priesthood taking on specifically
Christian forms and meaning. In addition, a great wealth of specifically
Christian prayers, hymns and blessings were developed, together
with specifically Christian feasts and celebrations in remembrance
of New Testamental events and saints.
The living experience
of the Christian sacramental and liturgical life is a primary
source of Christian doctrine. In the liturgy
of the Church, the Bible and the Holy Tradition come alive and
are given to the living experience of the Christian people. Thus,
through prayer and sacramental worship men are "taught by
God" as it was predicted for the messianic age (Jn 6:45).
In addition to the living experience of the liturgy, the texts
of the services and sacraments provide a written source of doctrine
in that they may be studied and contemplated by one who desires
an understanding of Christian teachings. According to the common
opinion of the Orthodox Church, the sacramental and liturgical
texts -- the hymns, blessings, prayers, symbols, and rituals
-- contain no formal errors or deformations of the Christian
faith and can be trusted absolutely to reveal the genuine doctrine
of the Orthodox Church. It may well be that some of the historical
information contained in church feasts is inaccurate or merely
symbolical, but there is no question in the Church that the doctrinal
and spiritual meaning of all of the feasts is genuine and authentic
and provides true experience and knowledge of God.
The Church Art
The Orthodox Church has a rich tradition of iconography as well
as other church arts: music, architecture, sculpture, needlework,
poetry, etc. This artistic tradition is based on the Orthodox
Christian doctrine of human creativity rooted in God's love for
man and the world in creation.
Because man is created in the image and likeness of God, and
because God so loved man and the world as to create, save and
glorify them by His own coming in Christ and the Holy Spirit,
the artistic expressions of man and the blessings and inspirations
of God merge into a holy artistic creativity which truly expresses
the deepest truths of the Christian vision of God, man, and nature.
The icon is Orthodoxy's highest artistic achievement. It is
a gospel proclamation, a doctrinal teaching and a spiritual inspiration
in colors and lines.
The traditional Orthodox
icon is not a holy picture. It is not a pictorial portrayal
of some Christian saint or event in a "photocopy" way.
It is, on the contrary, the _expression of the eternal and divine
reality, significance, and purpose of the given person or event
depicted. In the gracious freedom of the divine inspiration,
the icon depicts its subject as at the same time both human and
yet "full of God," earthly and yet heavenly, physical
and yet spiritual, "bearing the cross" and yet full
of grace, light, peace and joy.
In this way the icon
expresses a deeper "realism" than
that which would be shown in the simple reproduction of the physical
externals of the historic person or happening. Thus, in their
own unique way the various types of Orthodox icons, through their
form and style and manner of depiction as well as through their
actual contents and use in the Church, are an inexhaustible source
of revelation of the Orthodox doctrine and faith.
Musical _expression may be added to the icon as a source of
discovering the Orthodox Christian worldview. Here, however,
there is greater difficulty because of the loss in recent years
of the liturgical and spiritual meaning of music in the Church.
Just as the theological meaning of the traditional Orthodox icon
is being rediscovered, so is the traditional doctrinal significance
of Orthodox music. The process in the latter case, however, is
much slower, much more difficult, and much less evident to the
average person.
The traditional Orthodox
architecture also expresses the doctrine of the Church, particularly
in its emphasis on "God with
us" and the complete communion of men and the world with
God in Christ. The use of domed ceilings, the shape and layout
of the buildings, the placing of the icons, the use of vestments,
etc., all express the teachings of the Church. The traditional
Orthodox church architecture and art work are expressions of
the Orthodox Christian doctrines of creation, salvation and eternal
life.
It is a very important spiritual exercise for Christians to
study the holy icons and the hymns of the Church's liturgy. One
can learn much about God and His gracious actions among men by
a careful and prayerful contemplation of the artistic expressions
of Church doctrine and life.
