The virtues of Virtue

The journey into Christlikeness is marked by Christ’s own Virtues. It is by these Virtues that the Christ becomes a Lamp unto the feet of the pilgrim and a Light for his Path (Ps 119:105). By these Virtues of Christ, one can not only see the need to change directions, Metanoia, or repent, but one can also see which direction to turn. Christ embodies and glorifies the very Nature of God Himself. The Christ fleshes out the blessedness of the Divine Virtues.

The Beatitudes can be translated as “supreme blessedness.” They have been long understood in Christianity as the highest ideal. Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 speaks of these Virtues and their inherent spiritual wealth. The Sermon, as well as the life of Christ, testify to the Virtues of the Deity, those that are shared and practised in the Community of the Godhead.

The Virtues are also known as the “fruits of the Spirit” in Orthodoxy. This is a reference to Galatians 5:22 which references love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. The Holy Spirit is also referred to as the “Spirit of Christ”. In this context it is the Spirit of Christ that is producing this “fruit” as He refers to Himself as the True Vine (John 15).

The blessedness of humility is spoken of at length in the patristic writings. Christ speaks of this virtue in Matthew 11. 29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The meekness blessed in the Sermon on the Mount is promised a spiritual inheritance.

The merciful person is given mercy by God. This also echoes Christ’s teaching on the terms for Divine pardon. One can find peace with God by forgiving others. The parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18) ends with the Master treating him with the same harshness. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” To receive its benefit, we must embrace and practice this Virtue.

Great desire for righteousness is itself a quality of righteousness. To seek it as sustenance is to desire it with great hunger. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Righteousness encompasses many virtues as Christ is likened to Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness, in Hebrews 7. Therefore, those who hunger for Christ (inclusive of His Virtues) will be filled with Christ.

Those who are pure in heart are blessed to look upon the holiness and purity of God. Because God is Holy, only those with a pure heart can look upon the beauty of God. Those who do not find holiness beautiful cannot see His Beauty. They do not find Him because they cannot see Him.

Temperance, or self-control, is needed to maintain a straight path towards the Virtues. Pursuing one’s “passions” will not often lead to the virtues until one’s desire is eclipsed by Christ’s Passion. This desire of Christ is none other than the Salvation and Redemption of humanity by means of His Spiritual Light, that is the revelation of the Fullness of God by means of the Incarnation.

The importance of Divine Love cannot be overstated. This overarching Virtue transcends human affection. It is not simply having affection for another’s personality, but desires to see another acquire all the virtues of Christ before they do. It is being dedicated to seeing another incarnate Divine Love, which is none other than the Person of Jesus Christ. This love is not self-seeking, and acquiring such a Love perseveres through death even at the hands of a tormentor.

The Virtues of Christ are far reaching and all-encompassing of the Divine Nature. The Christ is the full expression of the Essence of God the Father. By worshipping the Person of Jesus Christ in Spirit and Truth, one can be saved from the endless wandering of purely academic theology, entering into the very Divine Nature of Christ Himself. Because the Word became flesh (John 1), so can we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27) (Romans 13:14) and Partake of His Nature, the glory of God before the foundations of the earth.

 

Greek to me

An english translation of the bible is useful and necessary for many Christians to read the Scriptures in their own language. Despite its exhortation for Christian unity, this double-edged sword has caused the severing of Christian brotherhood over the meaning of the text. At the root of these factions is the argument over which translation is more true to the original. This doctrinal discord becomes an understandable problem in many churches, but not all. The Greek Church doesn’t debate which translation to use. The Greek Church simply reads the 1900-year-old text in its original language.

In the minds of many evangelicals, the scriptures are a paleontological artifact that must be decoded by a team of linguistic masterminds. The sense of connectedness to the events in the New Testament comes not from sharing a common Church history and language, but a connection to the historians and translators affiliated with their denomination. This proves accurate at times, but is always changing upon the “new discoveries” of the latest scholarship.

The meaning of the scriptures are not translated in the Greek-speaking east. They have not been removed from their context. The context is the spiritual transformation of mankind by means of the Holy Spirit and the person of Jesus Christ. This spiritual transformation is not subject to the latest discoveries published in “Biblical Archeology Today”. It has been happening consistently for 2000 years.

The purpose of the Scriptures is not to attain academic superiority, but to instill the Spirit of Christ into men. The Greek-speaking east has the advantage of understanding this spiritual truth without it being lost in translation. Historically, the academic tradition is not superior to the apostolic tradition when it comes to the spiritual development of mankind. The spiritual language that the Christ used transcended language of men. It transcended the mind and impregnated the heart.

Acceptable worship

A discussion surrounding worship can often miss the goal in popular Christian circles. Often music styles and Sunday activities cloud a central theme of Christ’s life of obedience. When our lives are focused on the accomplishments of Christ and the narrow path that He provided for mankind, we can see that His life of obedience is the only True Path to the Heart of God. In the patristic view, Christ presented to God an acceptable offering of worship. The Christ offered to God the justice, mercy, and humility that He required.

The old testament is full of passages that echo that of Micah 6:8. Loving mercy and doing justice is at the heart of Mosaic Law, although these laws cannot transform the inner man. They pointed to something much deeper, the Spirit in which these were given, those commandments disclosed by Christ to “love” God and neighbor. The type of worship that God was desiring was that of the heart, or as Christ put it “worship in Spirit and Truth”. In the Spirit of Christ we can enter into worship that God will accept, only by the co-suffering and sacrificial lifeblood of Christ.

We become unified with Christ as we partake of His Body and Blood during the Eucharist. This of course is a mystical Truth. Likewise, as we enter the waters of baptism we enter into His death, that is that crucifixion of the carnal man. We partake in Christ’s Humanity and Divinity in order to enter the Eternal Kingdom, the Great Wedding Banquet of the Lamb reserved for those who will come. Unfortunately, many who are invited decline the invitation to the Feast (Matthew 22). They have traded many things for the One Thing that is necessary. (Luke 10:42)

Becoming unified with Christ is the only way to offer acceptable worship. The Life of Christ provides the context for doing the will of God. Offering one’s well-meaning gifts may not suffice, but offering the gift that God desires is Eternal. God is not pleased with temporal offerings that time turns to ash. ”For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

Church militant, Christ triumphant

The geopolitical activities in the world concern many nations and often are tied to deep religious belief. Among Christians, a spectrum of convictions on international affairs exists, especially in regard to holy lands of antiquity. While the watchful mind is programmed to take heed to rockets and gunfire, this phenomenon draws the Christian’s concentration away from the inner battle. The Christian Church is more concerned with unconquered domains of the heart than it is with the physical boundary lines of nation states.

The inner life of spiritual watchfulness is easily distracted by the political agendas at work. External forces in the world pull on our sense of justice and cause us to be shaken from the spiritual center of our faith. It is this spiritual center that maintains our love for all mankind and guards us from any hatred against anyone. It is this spiritual Light that keeps fear and darkness from entering our souls.

The historic lands in the old testament have spiritual significance for the Christian when illumined by the life of Christ. The Samaritan woman at the well brought up the geopolitical agenda of the day while trying to divert attention away from her own inner turmoil. “The jews say the place we must worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:20). Christ gently entered the hidden places of her soul and illumined them as her Messiah. “I who speak to you – I am He”. As legend has it, this Saint when went on to become a great evangelist and martyr in the faith.

St. Photini, “enlightened one”, was the name given to her by the apostles. She moved to Carthage to proclaim the gospel of Christ and eventually, along with her children, faced the tyrannical Nero. When Nero demanded they worship His gods of violence and decadence, they resisted and in so doing conquered the power of his dark kingdom.

When we are enlightened by the Light of Christ, we understand His words when he says, “the kingdom of God is within you”. It is this spiritual kingdom that is not advanced by physical violence, but advances by the blood of the saints, those who have testified to the Eternal, the True, the Divine. Christians are called to be fully given to Christ, that Christ might live in them and so overcome the world.

Fully human, fully Divine

The Dual Nature of Christ is a great mystery of our historic faith. This doctrine has been safeguarded throughout the centuries by the Fathers of the Faith, who, by the Holy Spirit, embraced its philosophical and spiritual challenge. While many perceive the significance of Christ’s Divine Nature to their spiritual walk, fewer apply the significance of Christ’s humanity to the same. The journey into Christlikeness is a journey into the Divine. The journey into Christlikeness is a journey of becoming fully human.

From the perspective of the West, embracing both natures becomes a paradox too challenging. To trade the True Nature of Man for the Nature of the True Man is a paradigm that requires transcending the habit of super rationalism. Our union with Christ is to Partake of His Duality. It is not a duality of Doctrine. It is a duality of harmony with God.

The significance of Christ’s life provides a philosophical resolution, but not after a drawn out struggle of the intellect. The question of what it means to be human cannot be answered without the existence of the Christ. The philosophical questions posed in Genesis now find their rest upon the Second Adam, the Son of Man. As Christ was fully human, so we are called to become fully human. This requires a healing of our humanity.

The healing that Christ provided to humanity transcends the body. “Your sins are forgiven.” We have degraded our humanity, we have defiled the Icon of God. Christ’s work healed the image of God in us, but only those who look upon the Face of Christ. Looking to the face of another will never heal us completely. All have fallen short of this Glory. This illumination only flows from the Face of Righteousness.

The Christian is, yet becoming. The journey of the Christian is one of becoming fully Human, having their humanity restored by the Great Physician. This process involves embracing the
Dual Nature of Christ, finding Union with Him by the means of Divine Grace. Being born again requires death to the carnal man and a rebirth into the Spiritual Man. It is this transformation into Christlikeness that we incarnate His Divine Virtues: Loving mercy, doing justice, and embodying co-suffering love. It is then and only then, that we will become fully human.

Two paths, One Way

Among the popular doctrines of this age exists a form of human grace that does not lead to Union with Christ. This common grace is used to excuse personal responsibility, hindering spiritual transformation into Christlikeness. This slippery slope of heterodoxy obstructs the pilgrim on his journey, while the One True Church guides human transformation by means of Divine Grace. In the arena of human sexuality, two paths to Union with Christ exist. Both Holy Matrimony and celibacy are paths to holiness to the exclusion of all others.

Scripture provides some context for the sacramental life and the use of the body. 1 Cor. 19  “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” There is an eternal purpose to the use of our bodies, namely, the proclamation of the Great Wedding Banquet of the Lamb. The first path declares the anticipation of the event, and the second celebrates the mystical Union.

The parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25 illustrate the vigilance of the celibates. The “Church Militant” describes these watchmen and women who do not sleep, but remain on the front lines of prayer and service to Christ. As Christ puts it, “some have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom”. Paul advises that the single person can serve Christ “without hinderance”. Few are called to this path of sanctification. This Sacrament in the historic Church is called “Ordination” and “Orders”.

The second path is equal to the first in honour and holiness. Holy Matrimony declares to the Cosmos the love that Christ has for His Church, His Bride. For this reason, the Sacrament and Ordinance of God is to be honoured “ and the marriage bed kept pure”. In doing so, mankind remains in harmony with the Divine, and His Presence is glorified in the life of the Church.

Divine Grace is given by God to His Church that they may live holy lives and participate in the mystical Body of Christ. In the historic Church, two paths exist that Christ has graced with His Presence for the purpose of sanctification. Both celibacy and Holy Matrimony have eternal significance in the life of the Church and are fully embraced in Orthodoxy. While some may suggest other paths, they do not find precedent in scripture or the Historic Church. Therefore, the One True Church has no ability to alter this doctrine.

The purpose of Christianity

What is the purpose of Christianity? Is there an answer to so lofty a question?

Many Christian traditions have attempted to answer this philosophical and religious question with creeds and confessions. To respond to this question with practical clarity causes one to seek a definitive and far-reaching answer, far beyond theological systems and pat answers. Fortunately, the purpose of Christianity has not been hidden from the pilgrim. The Church Fathers of antiquity have clearly disclosed the nature of the question. The purpose of Christianity is none other than human transformation into Christlikeness.

The Westminster Catechism declares truthfully that man’s chief end is to “glorify God”. This answer, however, does not clarify if this process of glorifying God involves killing heretics or participating in a worship techno rave. How then is God glorified in a human life? The answer, according to the Desert Fathers of antiquity, can be simply witnessed in the Second Adam. The life of Jesus Christ reveals how a human life glorifies God. Christ was fully human, and this aspect of His dual nature is having a revelatory and transformational effect on humankind.

The purpose of Christ and His Divine activity, then, is to recreate a human life from the lifeless ground into a “living being”. This living being is to be made alive spiritually, where before he only had the semblance of life, now he is filled with the very Spirit or Breath of God. This life looks different from only resembling God, as now it is partaking in the very Nature of God, although not His Divine Essence. This regenerate life involves the cutting off of unfruitful branches, until the Life from the True Vine is able to reach through the branch and produce fruit in abundance. This “abundant life” has nothing to do with material prosperity or worldly success, but an overflow of empathy, compassion and co-suffering love for mankind. It is this spiritual development of human life that is the purpose of Christianity. To be transformed from egocentrism to Divine Love and a life of burdenless living.

The purpose of Christianity is related to the purpose of Christ, which is to emit Everlasting Life for all eternity. This Divine Life transforms human life from simply having spiritual potential, to become unified with God through Christ and participate in the very Nature of God, which is His Life and Light. The purpose of Christianity, then, is to be transformed into the likeness of Christ via union with Him. A true form of Christianity will support this union with the correct spirituality, culture and lifestyle to accomplish this Divine work.