HOME PAGE    MEET US    HOLY BIBLE    BIBLIOTHECA THEOLOGICA "PORPHYROGENITUS"
   BOOKSHOP  HOLY SHRINE OF SAINT BARBARA    THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE  
Lord's Voice | Diakonia | Links | Baptism | Multimedia

 

Texts

Various Narrations concerning the holy fathers in Sinai

On Talkativeness and Silence

Great Canon - The Life of our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt

Introduction to the Hexaemeron

Orthodox Spirituality

Justin Martyr's Eschatology

On the Transfiguration

Gregory of Nyssa on the Nature of the Soul

The Problem of Pre-existence of Souls in St. Cyril of Alexandria

Against Heresis

Hagiology

An Approach to the Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian

Origen's Metaphysical Interpretation of the Johannine Logos

The Procession of the Holy Spirit according to Gregory Palamas

The Apostolic Canons

Elder Paisios

The Personality of a much suffering Saint Chrysostome

St. Cyril's "One Physis or Hypostasis of God the Logos Incarnate" and Chalcedon

St. Theodore the Studite and the Problem of the Paulicians

Saint Photios on the Transcendence of Culture

Metropolitan Emilianos Timiades (+)
Photian Studies, edited by George Papademetriou,
Holy Cross Orthodox Press

In the year 858 Photios assumed his Patriarchal office in the midst of many internal difficulties, fully aware of the burdensome pastoral responsibilities. But at the same time, he found a serious split between the East and West. Ιn spite of the official declarations οn full communion, unfortunately, there was not an identity of views ο n many doctrinal issues, identity of views being a distinctive mark of the undivided universal Church. Unity was already obscured, with many alterations of more or less importance. A slow process of differentiation and estrangement for centuries was slowly undermining the fellowship. Mistrust and suspicion were felt, influencing all sectors of life in both Churches: liturgy, canonical structures, theological language, way of thinking and of formulating doctrines, religious art, and canonical relations between the two sister Churches.

--Psychological alienation gradually entered, as it ought n ο t to have, in the sphere of ecclesiastical order and discipline. Thus, the nοn-theological factors heavily influenced the purely theological ones. We see in the alienation of the Churches of the East and West that division is engendered when unsolved, contentious issues remain unresolved, and when the two partners at odds postpone prayerful, humble dialogue. Of course, delegates from the papacy were regularly attending the convened synods in Byzantium, but their participation was rather cool; they were feeling isolated and like strangers, often unable to follow the debates of the Greek speaking Fathers, and considering most of the matter discussed irrele ν ant to their minds.

When we speak of rupture or schism during the Photian patriarchate, we must be realistic. Such rupture began with small issues but, in the course of time, grew. Historical events were worsening rather than healing the prevailing misunderstandings and mutual suspicion. Cool relations widened the gap and made East and West practically two ο worlds distanced by growing divergences.

Today, we are in a much better position. Roman Catholics and Orthodox meet more often. There is a promising ongoing theological dialogue. And, since Vatican ΙΙ , many impartial books have been written in a conciliatory spirit.

The situation in the days of Photios was as follows: ο n the essentials of ο ur faith, there was unity with a certain diversity and pluralism in formulation. Each local church was accommodating the common faith in the setting of its situation, history, culture, local tradition, and customs. Το such diversity, at least in the East, by each particular church, Photios refers using typical terms: " διαφοpά , ανομοιοτnς ενιεpουpγίες , ετεpότnς , παpαλλαγή την ενοειδή χάpινου διεκώλυσεν." (1) From such language, we see that while the East was emphasizing unity in the essentials, the West was overstating the morphology of this unity, seeking one and the same expression of faith and liturgy through the unique official language imposed, Latin.

Language, Paragon of Mistrust and Division

Not to be underestimated is the disastrous influence of n ο n- theological factors οn the separation between the East and West. Mutual ignorance was prevailing, namely, that Greek could not be understood in Rome, nor Latin in Constantinople.

Ι n the past more than today, the diversity of language continued between East and West, a barrier with enormous difficulties to overcome. Ο n the one side was the Roman Church with its uniform and widely imposed Latin in worship, ecclesiastical dealings, writing and exposition of theological thought, and even in the daily affairs of the intellectual class. Ο n the other side was the Orthodox openness, respecting each l ο cal ethnic church's particular 1anguage and historical customs. This created a psychological gap hindering mutual understanding. Latin became the universal 1anguage for the Roman Catholic world. It is true that until the fourth century, the Greek language played an important role in Rome, as is seen from various inscriptions and papal epitaphs. However, from the fifth century ο n, especially from the time of the invasion of barbarians, Greek as language and culture was slowly abandoned. The popes of the fifth and sixth centuries, Leo and Gregory, ignored Greek and this created many inconveniences, especially when the great christological controversies arose. Thus, when Nestorianism appeared and Rome received the first documents, the then deacon Leo, the future pope, sent the whole file to an orientalist in Marseille, the monk Cassian, to read it and prepare a refutation. But the given information was insufficient and Cassian made many mistakes in his assessment.

More practical was Cyril of Alexandria who, knowing the ignorance of the Greek language in Rome, sent a translated version of the file to this new heresiarch. Pressed by Nestorios to answer his letters concerning Pelagius, Pope Celestin apologized for the delay, explaining that he ought to translate the received letters. (2) If Rome had known better Greek, perhaps the whole affair of Theodore of Mopsuestia and of Nestorios could have been different. Rightly, Maximos the Confessor warned the Romans to take care for a good translation in Greek, thus avoiding sad confusion.

" Ι n order to have my ο wn writings translated so that any falsification by less educated people is avoided, as y ο u have suggested, have asked this of the Romans. Nevertheless, it remains to know if such established practice of doing this or sending this exists. After all, the impossibility to express exactly in another language and writing one's ο wn thought as this exists in his proper language in which he has grown up, as we express in our ο wn, creates problems." (3)

Photios finds Western Christianity an irresistible process of latinization and practice of universal authority by the bishop of Rome. It was natural for Rome to become the very ecclesiastical center, as it was already a political one. Το this expansionism were added the two fictitious fabrications called Donatio Constantini and the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, forged in the middle of the eighth to ninth century. Because their forgery remained unperceived, even by Nicholas the Pope, the Byzantines could not believe that bilateral discussions could take place οn such argumentation based οn inauthentic documentation used largely by the Latins. The theory of the two swords and papal primacy was then shaped.

Photios clearly saw a crystallized and consolidated pyramidal ecclesiology in Rome. Wisely, he did not attack the deviations directly and at once, but with a certain flexibility, waited for the appropriate moment to refute the errors. This was given when strange Latin teachings were officially propagated into the newly established Bulgarian Church, thus contaminating even the newly converted ethnic groups. The mission field of the universal Church was exposed to all kinds of falsified doctrines and unlawful and anti-canonical liturgical usages, and all these because of the new concept of the pope as episcopus episcoporum, or episcopus universalis, source of the universal priesthood. Ι n this way, the simple honorary primacy of the bishop of Rome becomes a primacy of universal jurisdiction accompanied by infallibility.

The growing rift between the East and West is further shown in the following. Charlemagne opposed the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical Synod and attacked the trinitarian formula without the filioque. Μ any papal delegates were sent to the synods in the East, but were unable to follow the debates of the conciliatory Fathers, because of their ignorance of the Greek language. At the beginning of the first session of the Third Ecumenical Synod in Ephesos, at which Dioscoros presided, the Roman delegates remained silent, rather than to protest in ignorance. They were simply unable to follow the discussions in Greek. Only near the end of the session, when they attempted to dismiss Flavien of Constantinople and Eusebios of Doryleum, the Roman deacon Hilarius, realizing what was happening, pronounced his Contradicitur.

The Greeks were equally complaining of the poverty of Latin to convey profound theological terminology. This is one of the reasons for their unwillingness to learn Latin. The Fathers of the Synod at Ephesos (431), who ignored the Latin and were irritated, asked for a translation of the letter of the pope into Greek. (4) At the end of the sixth century, Gregory, later promoted to the papacy, while he was apokrisarios in Constantinople, complained that he could not find competent people to translate the documents sent to him from Rome into good Greek. (5) Under Justinian the Emperor, while Latin was taken as the basis for the translation of a part of the laws, the Novellas were in Greek. Latin was disappearing in Byzantium, and in the reign of Heraklios was completely lost. Saint Augustine's writings remained almost unknown to the Orthodox East, and only in the thirteenth century did a translation of Ο n the Trinity appear in Greek, done by the monk Maximos Planudis. There are yet two exceptions: First, Anastasios ΙΙ of Antioch (beginning of the seventh century) translated, for the sake of Byzantines who did not know Latin, Pope Gregory the Great's spiritual treatise De cura pastorali. Second, two centuries later, Pope Zachary, of Greek origin himself, rendered into Greek Gregory's Dialogues and, because of this event, this pope is known among the Greek Orthodox until today as Gregory of Dialogue, author of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy.

It is attested that Ambrose was deeply influenced by Basil of Caesarea's theology, especially his work ο n the Hexaemeron. His knowledge of Greek being inadequate, he presumably profited from an already existing translation in Latin. Saint Augustine, as he himself confesses, tried to improve his Greek. Το this end, he wrote to Saint Jerome, then sojourned to Jerusalem, to provide him with writings of the Cappadocian Fathers in order to see their theological approach. It seems that his request was not seriously considered because he never received the books he requested. As an alternative, he profited from the presence at Hippo of a deac ο n from Greece who helped him to learn some Greek. He always complained that his ignorance of the Greek language deprived him of a precious resource.

During the Latin Middle Ages men who were considered to be the four Evangelists of spiritual exegesis were: Saints Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, and Pope Gregory the Great; however, even these were greatly influenced by Origin of Alexandria. (6) He remained for most of the Latin exegetes the great teacher. Origen was first translated by Rufin and Jerome, and then rejected in an inexcusable way by Jerome. Origen was also systematically copied by Ambrose, was known very well to Augustine, and inspired Gregory. Father de Lubac made his ο wn the phrase of Richard Simon: "The greater part of the Doctors in the West were doing nothing else than copying Origen's commentaries and other essays ο n the Scriptures, and even those contrary to their Latin feelings; this did not prevent them from reading them and profiting." And he concludes: "because all of them knew 'peritissimum divinae legis.' " (7)

Let us pass to another eminent writer of the West: Hilarius of Poitiers who lived in the fourth century. He knew the Greek Fathers well and was greatly influenced by them, as is seen in his treatise Ο n the Trinity. Hilarius speaks of the Father and develops the theme of his divine immensity. He then talks about the Son- Logos who, as image, allows us to see God. Here we clearly find theological thoughts of Origin (De Princ. Ι , 2, 6; Against Celsus 6, 63; Homily ο n Genesis 1, 23). Ι n Hilarius' hymn of Christ's Ν ativity, especially in Book 7, he expresses and recapitulates the mystery of the Father and the unique Son: "This mystery which surpasses all understanding, language, and thinking, in order to be understood, asks one to stay and rest, as John the Evangelist did, in the breast of Jesus Christ." This is a copy of Origen's meditation: "The Gospels are the premises and, among the Gospels, the premises are those of Saint John. Nobody can seize the meaning if he is n ο t resting ο n the breast of Jesus, and if he has not received the Virgin Mary as Mother." (8)

Ι n another place, Hilarius speaks of the Father revealing his Son in the various theophanies in the Old Testament and even more clearly in the New Testament. The Son, from his side, reveals the Father by his words and deeds, which all ο w us t ο know the Father and glorify him. The glory of the Son is the glory of the Father. Here again, all these insights and ideas are borrowed for Irenaios of Lyons. (9) Ι n Hilarius' triptych: God from God, from God ο n Μ an, and of Μ an ο n God, is seen the mystery of God and the plan of his love. Thus his Against Arios reminds us of the Against Heresies of Irenaios, which also speaks of the history of our salvation. The bishop of Poitiers follows Polycarp of Smyrna ο n many themes. Hilarius lived in a period when the East and West did n ο t exist. Augustine is often seen as being chiefly responsible for the estrangement between East and West. (10)

This almost complete ignorance of Greek in the West did n ο t help Rome as it sought t ο understand the reality of ecclesiastical life, the complicated ecclesiastical-political situation, the religious climate, and the delicacy of doctrinal formulation which necessitated an adequate knowledge of ancient philosophy and Greek syntax. Rome was receiving falsified information concerning the political, intellectual, and religious situation of the East. Until the twelfth century, Rome even ignored the Ο n the Orthodox Faith of John Damascene, translated f ο r the first time in Hungary. This work highly appreciated Byzantine theology and the Mystagogia of the procession of the Holy Spirit by Photios. Ι n addition, Rome's knowledge of the liturgical wealth of the East is almost n ο n-existent until the Middle Ages. Because of this ignorance, controversies ο n marginal dogmatic issues appeared with sharp polemic spirit. " Ι n pleine (thirteenth century), Thomas Aquinas is deceived by a Latin falsifier of theological texts in Greek." (11)

Sad Developments

The consequence of this estrangement was that Western theology was developing alone, without the support of Orthodox spirituality and the apophatic methodology of the church Fathers. Ε xcessive intellectualism and conceptual methodology entered into the Latins, since there was n ο one to intervene. The more this method of theology grew, the more the East became cautious and reserved with regard to the orthodoxy of Latin theology. The road for deviations and innovations was n ο w open. From time to time, sincere voices were raised by the Fathers against such strange interpretations, and they invited the Latins to correctly understand the spirit of the doctrines, as they were formulated in the conciliatory decrees. But, unfortunately, all such fraternal protests were understood as disrespectful to the see of Rome by the intransigent attitude of the ultraconservative East!

The bitter adversary of Photios, Anastasios Bibliothecarios, translated many documents into Latin and wrote a commentary in 874 in order to show the difference of opinion between the Greeks and the Latins ο n the procession of the H ο ly Spirit. His intention was to show the grammatical differences between them in expressing the same faith in two different languages. Among other witnesses, he uses a letter of Maximos the Confessor (580-662) ο n the filioque, (12) addressed to a presbyter from Cyprus. Ι n his introduction, he states the following:

"We have translated also a passage from the letter to Saint Maximos to the priest Marinos concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit. Ι n it he said that the Greeks have in this matter become needlessly opposed to us since we do not at all say, as they pretend we do, that the Son is the cause and the principle of the Holy Spirit . . . Maximus pleads with those who know the two languages to maintain peace. He says that both we and the Greeks understand that the H ο ly Spirit proceeds, in one sense, from the Son, but that, in another sense, he does not proceed from the Son. He draws attention to the fact that it is very difficult to express this precise distinction in both Latin and in Greek." (13)

It is possible that linguistic reasons have had their effect in exaggerating the dispute. The word εκ does, as a matter of fact, seem to mean much more to a Greek than the word ex does to a Latin.

It is with the development of a type of theology in the West, which rests more ο n logical and systematic methodology than ο n a personal digestion of Scripture and patristic texts, that the East and West grew to n ο longer be able to comprehend each other. Although there were many theological misunderstandings before the twelfth century, the East and West still shared many of the basic tenets of the Christian faith. But once the Scriptures and the Fathers were dissected with the new and increasingly refined tools of logic of "lectio, quaestio, and disputatio," a mutual understanding became more difficult. The majority of Western contemplatives, like the Cistercians, opposed this development, but at the risk of cutting themselves off from what became the dominant intellectual current of the twelfth century. Ι n doing so, they became preservers of their variety of scriptural and patristic tradition rather than ap ο logists for it. But perhaps it was their particular vocation to preserve rather than to make the kinds of adaptations of their tradition which apologists are often forced to make. Looking back from our ο wn vantage point of eight centuries, we can see that although the Cistercians may have given up a certain kind of intellectual respectability in the latter twelfth century, they preserved a core of spiritual teaching common to both East and West.

Latin thought, with its penchant for precision and legalism and its concomitant tendency to dissect, to break up all phenomena into their component parts, and to place them in order, developed an emphasis different from that of the East. It was interested more in the "formal," the "technical" aspects, in the "validity" of the sacraments. With the advent of the hylomorphic theory and its near canonization, the West got involved with essential, nonessential, integral, etc. elements of the sacraments, to the extent that it ceased to relate the sacraments to the total Christian life, compartmentalizing them as independent units, isolated from the man who receives them. Perhaps precision was developed, but the spirit, the "soul," was very nearly lost.

An element of the faith which produced many sophisticated debates was the Eucharist. Sterile disputes as to whether the sanctifying operation of the Spirit touched the leavened bread, or only part, and whether this consecrated bread lost its material substance occurred. Whole sets of abstract questions formulated by Western theologians were designed, it seems, to squeeze the tremendous reality of the Eucharist into their ο wn little molds of intellectual framework. The one, organic, living, all-embracing and all-transforming acts of the Epiklesis and of the whole ekklesia was gradually forgotten or relegated into the shadows, as interest concentrated ο n essential or nonessential parts, elements, moments, formulae, and conditions of validity, etc. The real meaning of the Eucharist was obscured in the midst of rubrical prescriptions, measured movements, drops of water, of countless rubrical commentaries that were like liturgical cookbooks or treatises ο n the chemistry of liturgical food. This resulted in a worship that was technically correct, but internally dead.

The Role of Culture for One's Identity

While the Churches of the East fed their theology from their unique sources of the Fathers both in the desert and the cities, thus enriching their spiritual treasures, the West remained a world completely far away, ignorant, unfamiliar to the thinking and temperament of the Byzantines. An historical mistrust was growing, which hindered the Latins from maintaining serious contact and friendly dialogue with classical literature. It seems that Tertullian's intransigence had considerably influenced such a reserved attitude. Tertullian inherited all the violence of character of North African Carthage (born 155) and combined it with his uncompromising attitude t ο Greek culture. Truth was the great object of his defense of faith, and of his attack ο n paganism and heresy. With burning energy he developed a fanatical passion for truth. Ι n one of his writings, the word veritas occurs one hundred and sixty-two times. The whole problem of the pagan religion was to him identical with vera vel falsa divinitas. The Christian God is the Deus versus; those who find him find the fulness of truth. Veritas is what the demons hate, what the pagans reject, and what the baptized suffers and dies for. Veritas separates the Christian from the pagan.

Ι n all his statements, there is deep longing for honesty. Ι n contrast to the Greek apologists, Tertullian emphasizes the uselessness of recourse t ο philosophy. Nature pure and simple is a better witness to the truth than all learning. His expression "anima naturaliter christiana" does n ο t designate any knowledge of God. Thus, he differs widely from the catechetical school of Alexandria, especially from Clement, his contemporary. He was not interested in establishing harmony between faith and philosophy. Whereas, Clement of Alexandria greatly admired the Greek thinkers as playing the same role for the pagan as the Mosaic Law for the Jew, Tertullian, by contrast, is convinced that philosophy and faith have nothing in common. Later Eusebios, in his reconciliatory approach to antiquity, would say that it served as a "praeparatio evangelica." But Tertullian is intransigent: "Where is there any likeness between the Christian and the philosopher? Between the disciple of Greece and of heaven?" (14) Even Socrates, whom Saint Justin called "a Christian," for Tertullian is only a "corruptor of youth, not to speak of the miserable Aristotle." (15)

Such a rigid and hostile approach could not but influence the attitude of Western Christians. Philosophy, mostly written in Greek, was another impediment in reaching the Latin clergy. The gap could not be easily bridged. Generation after generation, the West was distancing itself from Greek culture, while quite the opposite occurred in the East. Eastern theology plunged into the rich resources of Greek culture and inevitably formulated thought ο n such patterns. Every time Latin theologians met with Orthodox, they had enormous difficulties understanding each other. The West was unable to follow the terminology, the grammatical formulation, the way of thinking, and the holistic methodology of the East.

Also, in treating ancient philosophy as a God-sent gift to humanity in its infant stage, Basil of Caesarea had rich thoughts. Ι n a treatise written for his nephews who were attending pagan schools, he dealt with the special problem of the Christian attitude towards ancient learning. He assigns it a place far below Holy Scripture, but he does not forbid its use for educational purposes. For him, the study of the ancient writers could be valuable if a good selection was made among the works of the poets, historians, and philosophers. But everything was excluded which could be dangerous for the souls of the students. He seemed to be concerned only about the morality of the readers, but had n ο worries about their faith.

Ι n such literature one should look for the honey like the bees do and avoid the poison. Thus, the young students would be able t ο find many examples of virtue in Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Solon, and Euripides, and the philosophers, above all Plato, whom he quotes ο n several occasions. The exhortation was written with extraordinary feeling for the lasting values of Hellenistic learning and its broad-mindedness has had a strong influence ο n the attitude of the Church toward the classical tradition. Basil is fully aware of the advantage of an erudition which combines the Christian truth with the inherited culture: "The fruit of the soul is preeminently truth, yet to clothe it with external wisdom is not without merit, giving a kind of foliage and covering for the fruit and an aspect by n ο means ugly." (16)

Quite the opposite occurred in the West. The Church ignored the possible assimiliation of culture and faith, and the desire of both its clergy and laity to know philosophy was discouraged. It may be that officially Rome held more conservative views, and that latinization was imposed by the civil power at the time, Charlemagne and his Frankish bishops. Such balanced views were already expressed throughout the West by the advice of Pope Gregory the Great to Augustine of Canterbury, for his work among the Anglo-Saxons. Ι n a famous letter, the pope recommended that Augustine examine all the existing customs in the liturgical and disciplinary fields, to keep whatever he judged becoming, and to adapt rules in worship that would best suit the converts. (17) Ι n the second half of the seventh century, Pope Vilalianus sent the bishop Theodore of Tarsus to Britain, who was the first to organize the system of local dioceses. He also introduced penitential discipline, in his famous canons, and penitential classes which were inspired by the epitimia of Gregory of Neocaesarea (213) in Pontos in his Canonical Epistle. (18)

Rome failed to transmit this valuable inheritance. Thus, Christians of the West failed to appreciate new knowledge as a transcendent attainment that would usher in better and nobler things. When certain intellectuals dared to study classical philosophy and Hellenistic culture without the guidance of the Church, a purely humanistic and rational perception of being developed which led to an anticlerical attitude. The direct consequence of such overemphasis by passionate admirers of classical thought was the cultivation of the spirit of individualism, the overemphasis ο n conceptual theology, and the reduction of mystery, at the expense of the ecclesial nature of the baptized. The revival of the old Hellenistic culture produced a deeper appreciation of individuality. Furthermore, the Reformation of the sixteenth century brought the cultus of the individual to its climax, and even today we feel its disastrous effect in impersonal relations and the dissolution of community.

This new individualism became idolatry after a long period of repression by the Church under the principle of "unity and universality," which meant nothing less than one supreme authority, Rome, and one common language and way of expression: Latin. An age of pyramidal ecclesiology n ο w existed, with the pope ο n top, followed by bishops and clergy, and, below, laypeople. Unity and uniformity were, therefore, identified as being one and the same and too often used as a cloak for policies and notions which had little in common with them. When the craze shifted to the theological field, it created disruption in the universal Church and produced a variety of denominations and sects, each of which reflected the individuality of its founders and followers.

Unrestricted individualism led straight to the denial of a central authority, the credibility of ecumenical synods, even in doctrinal matters, and set up the principle of private interpretation. Reformation, in spite of good intention in many aspects, had been driven to extremes, with the vague slogan ecclesia semper reformanta. The doctrine worked havoc and we see the results in the development of antagonistic religious bodies, often jealous of each other. Quite the opposite, Orthodoxy always enjoyed free access to the treasures of Greek culture and never became a prey to the intoxication of individualism.

The seemingly "universalism supranational" through one language, Latin, caused social upheavals to occur, since Latin became the normal medium of education and communication by the cultured. The illiterate could not profit even from an elementary education. Education became the exclusive monopoly of the upper class, the wealthy, the privileged few. It is precisely because it was impossible for all citizens to have access to education that social upheavals occurred. Luther became indignant and assumed a fight against such monopoly by an elite few. He wanted all people to read the Bible, which was incomprehensible in Latin, and he wanted to see it written in the common vernacular. This explains why John Hus laid such stress ο n the use of the vernacular in worship. Ι n vain, the Czechs were asking Rome to receive the Eucharist in both kinds and to say Mass in Czech.

The training of the clergy in the Orthodox Church was never monolithic. Even in the darkest periods of Islamic domination, the study of the classical authors of antiquity was pursued. Photios not only himself had such a wide education, but in his days the training centers in Constantinople were, by nature, humanistic and multidisciplinary. Ι n this attitude toward education, the long established tradition since Hellenistic times continued. The syllabus of ancient Greek literature was inaugurated by Soter the Ptolemaious (323 B.C.), inspired by the scholarship of the Athenian philosopher Demetrios Phalereos, who had created in Alexandria the great library gathered around outstanding writers and thinkers coming from all parts of Greece. This example was, since then, copied by the great cities of the Roman empire, each one of them possessing a higher school for education. Much more, the capital of Byzantium could not have lacked such a superior school. Constantine the Great and his son Constance had done their utmost to enrich the higher education center with the best teachers and books. (19)

Earlier, Justin, in the catechetical schools of Antioch, Edessa and Nisibe, and of Alexandria under Clement were putting all existing wisdom drawn from Greek culture into the service of theological training. With the conquest of Egypt by the Persians and Arabs, the center for higher education was moved to Constantinople, which took the leadership. Theophylaktos Simokattes said that Sergius the Patriarch (610-638) was known for his efforts to renovate and introduce valuable reforms in the philosophical sciences and historical research in Constantinople. (20)

What impresses the modern historian is the universal, humanistic, and ecumenical character of studies. The emphasis was put ο n an intelligent selectiveness. Having known the immense potential of classical wealth, the Orthodox doctors admitted the presence of the Divine, through the doctrine of the spermatikos Logos, namely, that it is impossible for the philanthropia of God to be absent from such positive spiritual values, and that God, in his providence for humanity, did not let the ancient thinkers amartyron.

This favorable attitude toward the wisdom of pre-Christian literature became a distinctive feature of all the church Fathers. They transmitted this positive attitude to all generations, and thus it strengthened the conscience of all theologians. It even penetrated Christian art and music in borrowing technical and philosophical terminology, often even offering its methodology for the formulation of the great themes of our faith. The conviction that God has spoken in history through his prophets and the great thinkers of the pre-Christian era compelled painters and sacred iconographers to designate this remarkable symbiosis in mural frescoes in many Byzantine churches (Kastoria, Protaton, Roumania, and the Balkan monasteries).

Creative Missionary Method

In order for the proclamation of the Gospel to be effective and meaningful, a great deal depends ο n methods and strategy of communication. Photios, before dispatching the two brothers to the mission field, certainly had an elaborated and concrete plan, inspired by an elasticity of local customs and tradition of the indigenous people, respecting them as persons and without hurting their sensibility. When Methodios, tired from intrigues and hostilities from the Germanic clergy, was thinking of retiring and returning to his dear contemplative life in the Byzantine monastery, Cyril wrote to him to persuade him "how mission, instead, was more preferable than return to the monastic life, in this particular situation." (21) This view echoes the staunch belief of John Chrysostom who, in many cases, finds evangelism more difficult than the work of a retired person in the desert.

All missionary activities taken by Photios are distinctive for heir flexibility, freedom, and realistic applicability. Every care was taken to avoid carrying out evangelism in an imposed and irrelevant manner. The ruler Hagan of the Khazars threatened that those who refuse to become Christians, preferring rather Judaism or Islam "will be swiftly put to death." (22) However, Cyril defends free ο ption, the "voluntary baptism" in full conscience, without any pressure.

Pluralism in customs, traditions, and languages is seen in reference to the Pauline instruction: "All things to all people" Eph 1.23), by using all the positive and innocent elements in the life of a people as instruments for the glory of God. The use of the principle of applicability can be seen in the instrumental Slavic language carefully avoiding any foreign language, so that evangelism was not seen as a kind of cultural colonialism, as unfortunately was the case in the intensive foreign mission of European missionaries during what is known as the colonial period, in Africa ι nd Asia as well. Such unwise tactics discredited Christianity, and the Gospel of Jesus is still identif ι ed with Western culture and background by many Africans.

Conclusion

The introduction of pluralism in the life of the Church is attributed to Photios. Human beings cannot everywhere live the oneness of faith in the same way. Faith is shaped according to local customs and language, and due respect is demanded. Against any uniform stereotyped pattern in worship and religious life, he supported liberty in expression and formulation of the faith, without altering unity: "The different expression, alternative ( ετερότ n ς ) does not hinder the unity ( ενοειδή ) of the Spirit's grace." Thus, all newly established autonomous churches were free to develop their ο wn structure in unity.

Between such differing views, which admittedly since the days of Photios have considerably changed, thanks to the Aggiornamento of Vatican ΙΙ , we should recall the voice given by our forefathers in the Faith at the Synod of Union (879-880):

The holy Synod said: "Every church has certain old usages which it has inherited. One should not quarrel and argue about them. Let the Roman Church observe its usages; this is legitimate. But let also the Church of Constantinople observe certain usages which it has inherited from old times. Let it be likewise so in the Orientl sees . . . Many things would not have happened if the churches had followed this recommendation in the past." (23)


NOTES

1. - Amphilochia Guaest. 105, PG 101.949 and Letter 2, PG 102.605.
2. - PL 50.472.
3. - Letter t ο Priest Marin of Cyprus, PG 136BC.
4. - Mansi, Council, Acts 4, 1283.
5. - Epist. ad Eulogium patriarcham, PL 77.1099.
6. - H. de Lubac, Exegese medivale, (Paris, 1959), 1, p. 30.
7. - Ibid. p. 212.
8. - Commentary ο n John I,23.
9. - Against Heresies 4,6, 6-7.
10. - Μ .J.Le Guillou, "Hilaire entre l'Orient et l'Occident," in Hilaire de Poitiers (Paris, 1968), p. 40.
11. - Martin Jugie, Le Schisme Byzantin (Paris, 1941), p. 42.
12. - Oposcula theologica et polemica ad Marinum, PG 91.136. It appears that even Photios suspected that there was a semantic problem in his Mystagogia 87, PT 102.376AB: "Very often the spoken Latin language cann ο t render the sacred teaching of our Fathers because of its poverty. It is unable t ο reach clearly and sincerely even ο n a small scale the very meaning. Because of this, Latin made many to suspect its terms as if they were leading t ο alteration with regard t ο the faith - heterothriskeias pistin - the limitations of Latin being insufficient t ο interpret the exactitude of the thought, tes dianoias tin akriveian. Rightly therefore the most venerated Pope Leo had recommended that our faith be communicated in the original Greek rather than in Latin, n ο t only in Rome's religious programs and instructions but also in the sacred creed. He did it even for far distances, by making the same recommendations for all the Roman dioceses."
13. - Letter 7, 425, PL 129.560
14. - Apology 46.
15. - De praescr. 7.
16. - "Exhortation t ο Youths as t ο N ο w They Shall Best Profit by the Writings of Pagan Authors," p. 175.
17. - Letter 64, PL 77.1187.
18. - PG 10.1019-1048.
I9. - Recorded by Themistios, Ο ration 4, 59-61, Saint Jerome, Chronica, PL 27.503, and the Theodosian Code.
20. - Historiae, ed. Boor, p. 21.
21. - Life of Constantine Methodios 7.
22. - Lfe 11
23. - Fourth session, Mansi, Council, 17, 489

For receiving news, offerings and in general any actions regarding the Organization please fill in the next fields. For protection of data see here.

 
{ technical support        contact