What is Orthodoxy? (Part II)
By Rev. Dr. Theodore Pulcini
TO BE AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN…
Is to assume responsibility for the Christian Tradition…
The Orthodox Church is the Church of Tradition. Notice the capital “T”. This Tradition is absolutely not to be equated with the transient cultural and other merely human aspects of the Church. Tradition, in the Orthodox view, is not a specific thing or set of things. It is, rather a critical faculty, a discerning sense, which enables the Church to assimilate some things as consonant with genuine Christian experience and to reject other things as contrary to Christian authenticity. Tradition is simply the faculty present in the Church by virtue of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who gorges the “mind” of the Church. Tradition is the expression of this Spirit-formed “mind”.
Tradition has crystallized in a number of forms: in Scripture, of course, the primary deposit of Tradition; in patristic writings (the writings of the Church Fathers); in church art; in conciliar decrees; in liturgical texts; in the example provided by the saints…. All of these are testimony to the operation of the Spirit in the Church.
And this Tradition is not a relic, locked away be ecclesiastical authorities for safekeeping. It is a living, vital force accessible to each of us. In fact, every Orthodox Christian is responsible for discerning, preserving, enriching, and passing on this precious deposit of Tradition. How? Above all, by acquiring the Divine Person who forges and maintains it — namely the Holy Spirit. Thus theosis is crucial not only to the transformation of individuals and of the world, but for the health of the Church as well. In Orthodoxy, it is not an authoritative magisterium which safeguards the Faith; it is the faithful themselves! For the faithful to be able to assume this responsibility — and privilege — they must immerse themselves in the life of the Spirit through prayer, sacramental participation, and spiritual training.
Is to proclaim the Faith of the undivided Church…
Orthodoxy believes that it has maintained, without distorting addition or damaging detraction, the Faith of the Apostles, the Faith of the undivided Church. It rejoices in this Faith and feels the urge to proclaim it to all. Orthodoxy is not just for Greeks or Slavs or Arabs or Romanians. It is for all who would receive it as the most appropriate expression of the Christian experience. For this reason, the Orthodox Church is a missionary Church, and we Orthodox Christians are called to be missionaries. To be an Orthodox Christian is to respond to this challenge.
WHAT IS THE ORTHODOX CHURCH?
Orthodox Christians affirm that their Church is the living continuation of the Apostolic Church, founded by Christ himself; they believe that it has maintained, without distorting addition or damaging detraction, the ancient faith of the undivided Church. The Orthodox make these claims in all humility, readily admitting the shortcomings of their Christian witness. They have no intention of calling into question the sincerity and integrity of other Christians. But they do assert that “if a person carefully examines the history of Christianity, he or she will soon discover that the Orthodox Church alone is in complete sacramental, doctrinal, and canonical continuity with the ancient undivided Church as it authoritatively expressed itself in the great Ecumenical Councils.”
GREEK, RUSSIAN, OR WHAT?
You may have heard of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, and perhaps some other Orthodox Churches such as the Antiochian, the Serbian, the Romanian, etc. Are they different Churches? No, they are all Orthodox Churches. The national name associated represents the country where they are established, just as “Presbyterian, USA” identifies a Presbyterian Church in the United States, as opposed to its sister Churches in Scotland and England.
But then, why are all these Orthodox Churches in America? The answer is that whenever Greeks or Russians or Serbs or Romanians immigrated to America they brought their own Church with them, just as the Scots brought their Calvinist Presbyterian Church, the Germans their Calvinist Reformed Church, and the Dutch their Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church. The same thing happened with the Lutherans – until recently there were Lutheran Churches in America that thought of themselves (in addition to being American) as Swedish, Danish, or German. And, just as it took over a hundred years for most of the Lutherans to become one Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the process of uniting the Orthodox Churches in America is a slow process, but one that is gradually occurring.
The various Orthodox Churches are all sister Churches, all part of the One, Holy, Orthodox Catholic Church. Members of one are recognized as fellow Orthodox by the others, and welcome to receive the sacraments at the other Orthodox Churches and to become members of whatever Orthodox Church is convenient for them. Most Orthodox churches in America now have as members people of all ethnic backgrounds, including many converts, regardless of what “nationality” the parish has in its title.
The Reverend Theodore Pulcini is the pastor of St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Chambersburg, PA. He is also Assistant Professor of Religion at Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA. His teaching responsibilities focus on exploring the Biblical texts in their historical, social, and comparative contexts. He also specializes in Islam, early Christianity, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Research interests include relations between Islam and Christianity, both past and present.
~Taken from the website of St. Mary Orthodox Church, Cambridge, MA, http://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/orthodoxy_pulcini.
