I write this as an Orthodox Christian and I believe that Orthodoxy with the mysticism that it has preserved is the answer for growth in holiness, in union with God, in theosis. But the pursuit of Theosis, if you will, the practice of the mysticism is all involved in the sacramental life, the cycles of prayer of the Church, the practice of confession, and obedience, so that for one to plumb the depths of the mystical Tradition of the Church, which is preserved in the Orthodox Church, one must necessarily unite oneself to the Church whose rhythms of spirituality foster the mysticism.
A small example- the romanticized praise music so common these days actually draws the spirit of man away from the depths of Stillness that the Spirit of God calls us to when He calls us to 'be still and know that I am God.' On the other hand the gentle chanting of the psalms in worship is conducive to the spirit entering into the Stillness.
Endless controversy will be provoked by the attempt as is seen. The mystical practice of the Church is not contradicted in Scripture but neither is it spelled out, and the theology behind it has been preserved in the Tradition of the Church and not in Scripture. One needs a Church that recognizes that the Church is the ground and pillar of the Truth in order to have enough peace to pursue the mystical life that leads to Theosis.
I have found Richard Foster's early books, "A Celebration of Discipline" and "Prayer" to be deeply moving works. He does seem to be an evangelical mystic. I am wondering if it is wise to suggest that the evangelical "church" really isn't the true church. Would God withhold his graces from a sincere seeker because he was not Orthodox?
ReplyDeleteThanks, weekend monk. That is a very good question, and requires much wisdom and thought to answer. I believe the Apostle Paul when he says that the Body of Christ is not divided, and I believe that the Church is Visible, a necessary aspect of its being fully human, in this world. So, I believe that the fullness of grace is within the Orthodox Church.
ReplyDeleteThose outside Orthodoxy, I believe, if they are converted to Christ, are grafted into the Church in an irregular manner, described in Ezekiel 34, and graces flow to them. But the spiritual cultures that people outside of Orthodoxy find themselves in and the heterodox theologies are stumblingblocks to finding the fullness of grace.
On the other hand, failures of Orthopraxy on the part of the Orthodox, can be an impediment to grace within the Church; that is to say, if people are getting drunk at Church feasts, or all the children are watching MTV 24 hours a day, and people are not being called to personal conversion.
The Evangelicals, at least the hard core, have a better Orthopraxy of Scripture usage, than many Orthodox- more in line with the Orthopraxy of the Desert Fathers, and so in that sense, may have more grace in some ways because of Orthopraxy. On the other hand their doctrinal formulations shape their minds in a way that militates against them experiencing the Trinity in prayer, in favor of a Jesus only experience i prayer, and their formulations of the Church and sacraments militate against finding grace that is Incarnated in Church and Sacrament.
I am glad for some things of Orthopraxy I learned with the evangelicals before I ever came to be Orthodox.