The Eastern Orthodox Tradition
While it may be easiest
for American Christians to look back at history and reflect with the assumption
in mind that events surrounding and following the Protestant Reformation were
the bulk of what was relevant between the 1500’s and modern times, it must be
remembered that the Church is much larger than many Western minds acknowledge.
In the East – particularly Russia – there were many exciting things happening.
Men like Alexis Khomyakov and St. Innocent of Alaska were leaving their mark on
how the Eastern Orthodox Church understood Christian worship and community. The
Church in the East was contributing to the larger Christian tradition which may
have greater implications in the next stage of Christian development here in
the 21st century.
Evolutions
in the Orthodox Tradition
The contributions and
figures from the Eastern Orthodox tradition which are examined here all come
after the fall of Constantinople and focus on Russian Orthodoxy as this was the
major source of Orthodox theology for most of the period leading up to
modernity. The first man of note is St. Innocent of Alaska (1797-1879) who was
commissioned by the Academy of Kazan to increase missionary presence there.[1]
Specifically, this married priest was sent to the Aleut people and was so
enthralled with their way of life that he strove to learn the language and
translate the Bible into Unagan which was the primary Aleutian dialect. In 1838
he lost his wife and after taking the vows of a monk was made Bishop of a
rather large area which included the Aleutian Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula
and more. Eventually he became the head of the Moscow Synod in 1868.[2]
The many achievements of St. Innocent, while impressive
in themselves, must be seen as part of a larger movement towards a simple and
grounded faith. This movement was largely catalyzed by the publication of a
book entitled Philokalia, translated
as “the love of beauty”. This text was essentially a compilation of Eastern
mystical texts that helped bring ascetic life back into vivacity in the Orthodox
tradition. In order to get a quick look at how this movement developed, one can
merely observe the growth from 452 functioning Orthodox monasteries in 1812 to
1045 monasteries in 1914.[3]
This movement was also heavily founded on the Hesychist tradition which, as
defended by St. Gregory Palamas in the 14th century, is founded on a
mystical notion of returning to oneself with the understanding that the Spirit of
God is indwelling in the person. This largely gave theological worth back to
the carnal parts of a human and made practical ministry vital to Christian
living and thus Orthodox Christianity.[4]
Along those same lines, Eastern Orthodox theology became
more clearly articulated in contrast to the rival Protestant and Catholic
explanations. The uniqueness of Orthodoxy is in the primary understanding that
ecclesial function should begin with the Eucharist – that is, worship – and the
ascetic tradition. The former of these two foundational points included
traditional liturgy and the latter contained the elevation of the
lay-theologian.[5]
Along with the lay-theologians who were responsible for many road-side chapels
which were constructed in this period, there was also an influx in ascetic
spiritual leaders known as Startsi which translates as “old man”. Rarely
receiving a formal education or ordination, these confessor-counselor-wise men
were theologically on par with Catholicism’s ordained theologians.[6]
These spiritual leaders in combination with the Hesychist influence and
missions work such as that accomplished by St. Innocent all gave Eastern
Orthodoxy a large measure of substantiality and longevity in practical
Christian living.
A
Balanced Theology
The second man to be mentioned is Alexis Khomyakov (1804-1860) who, as a Slavophile under Tsar Nicholas I strove
alongside his companion Ivan Kireyevsky to establish Eastern Orthodox as the
middle ground between Protestant and Roman Catholic extremes.[7]
Part of this effort was motivated by Nicholas’ views of Russian Orthodoxy as a
defense against “westernizing”. Khomyakov’s basic thesis, then, was that
Orthodoxy already held within its theology the freedom which many turned to
Protestantism for as well as the unity in the church which Roman Catholicism
was known for.[8]
This both/and position essentially set the stage for later developments in
ecumenical theology which was more than a cheap truce among traditions and more
than a mere defining of lines which are not to be crossed.[9]
Instead, the work of Khomyakov and company was to reread history in light of
the many different perspectives of Christianity and to try and renew Orthodoxy
as valuable to the rest of the Christian tradition.
Concluding
Thoughts
The Eastern Orthodox
tradition is often overlooked by westerners and, in light of all that has been
written here, it seems that this should not be so. The church today is in the
middle of evolving into whatever it will be next and as we progress in a world
that is incredibly secular, it may be advantageous to look to how the Russian
Orthodox tradition maintained its distinctness in the midst of a changing
world. With a commitment to traditional worship and personal piety, the
Orthodox Church has largely succeeded in being a good representation of
Christian community in the spiritual heritage of Christianity. The next
generation of leaders in the 21st century would do well to give this
tradition its well-deserved attention for the sake of the future Church.
References
Ferguson, Everett, John D. Woodbridge, and
Frank A. James. "The Russian Empire and the Russian Orthodox Church."
In Church History: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural,
Intellectual, and Political Context, 663-64.
González, Justo L. From the Protestant
Reformation to the Twentieth Century. Nashville: Abingdon Pr., 1987.
Hart, David Bentley. The Story of
Christianity: An Illustrated History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith.
London: Quercus, 2007.
Janz, Denis, Richard A. Horsley, Virginia
Burrus, Derek Krueger, Daniel Ethan Bornstein, Peter Matheson, Amanda Porterfield,
and Mary Farrell Bednarowski. "Orthodoxy Under Communism." In A
People's History of Christianity, 132-36.
Kärkkäinen,
Veli-Matti. One with God: Salvation as Deification and Justification.
Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004.
Meyendorff, John. St. Gregory Palamas
and Orthodox Spirituality. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press,
1974.
Zizioulas, Jean, and Douglas H. Knight. Lectures
in Christian Dogmatics. London: T & T Clark, 2008.
[1] Ferguson, Everett, John D. Woodbridge, and Frank A. James.
"The Russian Empire and the Russian Orthodox Church." In Church
History: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political
Context, 663-64.
[2] Hart, David Bentley. The Story of Christianity: An
Illustrated History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith. London: Quercus,
2007. 219-220.
[3] Ferguson, Everett, John D. Woodbridge, and Frank A. James.
"The Russian Empire and the Russian Orthodox Church." In Church
History: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and
Political Context, 663-64.
[4] Meyendorff, John. St. Gregory Palamas and Orthodox
Spirituality. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1974.106-108.
[5] Zizioulas, Jean, and Douglas H. Knight. Lectures in
Christian Dogmatics. London: T & T Clark, 2008. 120-126.
[6] Janz, Denis, Richard
A. Horsley, Virginia Burrus, Derek Krueger, Daniel Ethan Bornstein, Peter
Matheson, Amanda Porterfield, and Mary Farrell Bednarowski. "Orthodoxy
Under Communism." In A People's History of Christianity, 132-36.
[7] Ferguson, Everett, John D. Woodbridge, and Frank A. James.
"The Russian Empire and the Russian Orthodox Church." In Church
History: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and
Political Context, 663-64.
[8]
González, Justo L. From the Protestant Reformation to the
Twentieth Century. Nashville: Abingdon Pr., 1987. 424-425.
[9]
Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. One
with God: Salvation as Deification and Justification. Collegeville, MN:
Liturgical Press, 2004. 7-9.
