Bible Study Notes: The Three Hierarchs

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Arianism, Baptism, Old Calendarists, Resurrection, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom, The Law

This coming Sunday is the Synaxis of the Three Hierarchs. Around the year AD 1100 there was a raging argument plaguing the Orthodox Church — who was the greatest, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian or St. John Chrysostom? This strife was so contentious that the three saints appeared to St. John Mauropous, Bishop of Euchita (celebrated on October 5) who was a great hymnographer. Explaining that the glory they have at the throne of God is equal, they asked him to compose a common service for them in order to end the disputes. We have celebrated this service on January 30 since.

Thus, while reading the Epistle (Hebrews 13:7-16) and the Gospel Reading (Mathew 5:14-19) we tried to place them in context of this feast as well as the events of the readings themselves and our own lives.

The verse we spent the most time on was Hebrews 13:9:

Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited their adherents.

We asked the question, “What are diverse and strange teachings?” To understand this, we need to look at verse 8:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.

In other words, the truth that was taught to the Apostles is the same that was passed down from generation to generation down to us. The means by which Christ saves us has not changed. The reality of Christ Incarnate — both God and man — the crucifixion, and the resurrection has not changed. So, what we know about God, Christ and how we are saved has not changed throughout the ages. We might have clarified these truths, depending upon the context that the Church found Herself, but these basic truths have not changed.

Diverse and strange teachings call into question either what we know about God (and therefore Christ) or about how we are saved:

• In St. Paul’s time, there were those who insisted that fasting laws and getting circumcised were necessary for salvation. This calls into question how we are saved. If fasting laws and circumcision are necessary, then Christ’s saving passion is somehow incomplete.
• In the time of the Three Hierarchs, there was a teacher named Arius who taught that there was a time when the Son was not. He called into question what we know about Christ, God and the Trinity. If there was a time when the Son was not, then He is part of creation and of a fundamentally different essence than God the Father. As such, uniting ourselves to Christ would do us little good, since we are already part of creation. Only in being of one essence with the Father does uniting ourselves to Christ save.
• In our own time, there is the phenomenon of the Old-Calendarists. When various Orthodox Churches (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria) started to switch to the revised Julian Calendar (which uses the Gregorian Calendar for fixed feasts) in 1924 (the last in 1963), there were those who refused to make the switch. These Old Calendarists broke communion with the Orthodox Church in order to form their own communion. In other words, they follow in the footsteps of the Judaizers of St. Paul’s time. They see the use of the Julian Calendar as necessary to salvation, calling into question the completeness of Christ’s passion.

The verse from the Gospel that we focused on was verse 18:

For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

The iota and the dot are the smallest of letters and strokes in the Greek alphabet. Thus, Christ is claiming that the law must be fulfilled completely. If we read some of the hymns from January 1 we see the Church declaring that Christ fulfills the Law:

The supremely good God was not ashamed to be circumcised in the flesh; but for our salvation He offered Himself as a type and example to all. For the Author of the Law fulfills the precepts of the Law and the things the prophets preached of Him — Stichera of Vespers for the Circumcision in the Flesh of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ

The Law reveals our sin, because fallen humanity is incapable of fulfilling the Law. Christ, being both God and man, is sinless. Therefore He is capable of perfectly fulfilling the Law — abolishing that which separates humanity from God. This He accomplishes for our sake. When we are baptized we are said to put on Christ (cf. Ga;. 3:27). Thus, the Law is fulfilled in us by Christ Himself. The Law is not the means of our salvation, Christ is.

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Bible Study Notes: Trinity

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Faith, Name of God, prayer, St. John Chrysostom, Trinity

During Bible Study this week, we spent a majority of our time on the Epistle Reading for Sunday (1 Timothy 1:15-17) Our discussion began with a recognition of verse 15 as the source for the communion prayer:

I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first.

It was also noted that verse 17 sounded familiar:

To the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory to the ages of ages. Amen.

Thus, we took a look at the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom to compare:

It is proper and right to sing to You, bless You, praise You, thank You and worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God ineffable, beyond comprehension, invisible, beyond understanding, existing forever and always the same; You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit.

Note that both use apophatic language (declaring what God is not, rather than what God is — because God cannot be contained by language). Also, note that though Chrysostom’s declaration is longer, it doesn’t change the basic truth of St. Paul’s words. Rather, Chrysostom clarifies — these attributes of the Father are also the attributes of the Son and the Holy Spirit because they are the only God.

Someone then asked the question of whether or not this understanding of God as Trinity could be seen in the OT. We discussed the opening lines of Genesis:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (1:1-3)

God the Father is present — He is the one who speaks. The Son is present because He is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is present because He is hovering over the face of the waters.

We also took a look at the burning bush when God revealed His name to Moses. Again, the Father is the one who speaks. The Son is present as the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the unconsuming fire. In addition, the name of God revealed to Moses can be seen in its Greek translation in the halo of Christ in most icons depicting our Lord, God and Saviour:

It was then noted that this understanding of Christ as God is present it the Gospel Reading (Luke 18:35-43). When the blind man at Jericho cries out “Son of David, have mercy on me!” he is acknowledging Christ as God. Not only is He calling Him by a proper title (the Son of David) but he is attributing Him with the power of God to have mercy. This faith is then put on display when, prompted by Christ, he asks for His sight.

Finally, it was noted how the blind man continued to cry out (even all the more) in the face of rebukes.We should all aspire to have such a faith.

Bible Study Notes: Repentance

Tags

Baptism, equality, repentance, Theophany

Still in the midst of celebrating Theophany, it was difficult to see this Sunday’s Epistle Reading (Colossians 3:4-11) and Gospel Reading (Luke 17:12-19) outside of this context. In fact, St. Paul seems to be specifically refer to Baptism in verses 9-10:

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

The old nature refers to the reality that each of us is born into the fallen world. When we are Baptized, we die to this old nature and put on Christ (cf. Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ”).

We couldn’t discuss this passage without making mention of one of my personal favorite verses in Scripture (Colossians 3:11):

Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

I find myself quoting this often in context of discussions about equality (there is no more radical a statement of equality that this). Upon reflection, we realized that our current ethnic mishmash here in the U.S. is probably closer to the audience St. Paul was writing to — the Roman Empire — than we may imagine.

In terms of understanding the phrase “Christ is all, in all” we need to remember that as beings made in the image and likeness of God, we have a trinitarian existence. In other words, just as God is one in essence in three persons, so, too, are we of one essence and in many persons. Thus, when Christ took on our humanity, He affected all of humanity through our nature —Christ is all. Since we are also made in the image and likeness, Christ is also in all.

Following the theme of remembering Theophany, we recalled Christ’s first words after His baptism (read last week on the Sunday after Theophany), “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). When Christ told the ten lepers to present themselves to the priest (indicating that they were cleansed — the priest would confirm this and their re-integration into society), only one presented himself to the true High Priest — Christ Himself. In doing so he turned around (the literal meaning of repentance) — he repented and oriented himself to God. Being a Samaritan, he indicates that this action is possible for everyone (Christ is all, and in all). This act of repentance (and our participation in salvation) is confirmed by Christ’s words, “your faith has made you well.”

Bible Study Notes: Mopping the Floor

Tags

Holy Spirit, Theophany, Worship

This coming Sunday is the Sunday After Theophany, so both the Epistle Reading (Ephesians 4:7-13) and the Gospel Reading (Matthew 4:12-17) speak to the feast. One of the primary concerns of our group was seeing how these two readings spoke about the guy who does the janitorial work at the church — especially in context of the gifts given to the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

To help answer this, we looked at the structure of how the Church deals with a major feast like Theophany. There is the Sunday before, where we are prepared for the feast (last week we were told by John that “I have baptized you in water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” — Mark 1:8). Then the feast (the event) occurs — we see the revelation of God as Trinity when Christ is baptized and the Holy Spirit descends upon His humanity. Then the Church takes a moment to reflect about our proper response to this event.

Both the Epistle and the Gospel speak to this response. St. Paul tells us that the gifts given by the Holy Spirit are specifically for

building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. — Ephesians 4:12-13

We build up that body and work towards that unity by following the first words Christ speaks in His ministry — after His baptism, He is taken into the desert by the Holy Spirit for 40 days and upon emerging He declares:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. — Matthew 4:17

Repent — change one’s mind, turn towards God. Note that the message hasn’t changed from what John was saying in the wilderness (Matthew 3:2), nor has it changed from what the Church is saying today. There is a dramatic change in circumstance, however.

When John preached it, Christ had not begun His ministry. When Christ preached it, He had not finished His work — He had not gone to the Cross nor had He risen from the dead. Now, when the Church preaches it, we have the Risen Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father in glory with our humanity. Note that this is the same pattern we see with the Sunday Before, the Feast and the Sunday After. We prepare, we behold, we accept (and therefore act).

This, then, answers the main concern about the guy who mops the floors. He was told about this thing called the Orthodox Church by someone — a friend, a family member or through some kind of media. He then went and saw an Orthodox Church service — He saw the Kingdom of Heaven intersecting with time. Seeing this, he was moved to act. He accepted the gift of the Kingdom by becoming an Orthodox Christian (through baptism or chrismation). Having accepted this gift, he now behaves in fundamentally different way — he willingly gives his time, treasure and talent to build up the body of the Church. In his particular case, it is in mopping the floor.

Bible Study Notes: All Who Have Loved His Appearing

Tags

Baptism, Cross, Holy Spirit, Isaiah, Resurrection, St. John the Baptist, Theophany

Again, this week was short and sweet given the time of year and the number of people traveling. For the first time in weeks, however, we did not spend the majority of our time on the Epistle (2 Tim 4:5-8).

We focused primarily on the verse “For I am already on the point of being sacrificed” (4:6). This was probably the last letter St. Paul wrote before his martyrdom. He was in prison and awaiting his death. Of interest is the word “sacrifice,” because in some translations in is rendered “poured out as a libation.” The sacrifice St. Paul is referring to is the drink sacrifice in the Temple where the priest would pour wine, water or oil over the burnt sacrifice at the end of the service in order to put out the fire. This Sunday is the Sunday before Theophany. It is thus a preparation for the Baptism of Christ and the revelation of God as Trinity. This image of St. Paul himself being poured out as a drink sacrifice brought us to mind of Baptism where we die to the world and are created anew in Christ.

The Gospel Reading is the first eight verses of Mark. We noted that the quote from Isaiah is not entirely from Isaiah: “A voice cries out from the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (40:3). The other half of the quote comes from Malachi, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way” (3:1).

Baptism was not a new practice in Judaism. It was used for purification purposes and even as a means for proselytes to enter Judaism. So, what John was doing out in the wilderness was not something strange and new; however, what he was saying was: “I have baptized you in water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The question was asked: When did Christ first baptize humanity in the Holy Spirit? He certainly sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He also breathed the Holy Spirit onto the Apostles (John 20:22). Was He not baptized in the Holy Spirit at Theophany? Were not we, whose humanity Christ took on to Himself, baptized in the Holy Spirit with Him? Did not God say He was well pleased by this reality (Matt. 3:17)? This reality was then made accessible to all of us through the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. Now we all may be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit Himself.

It was here that we found how these two readings spoke to each other. St. Paul writes:

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. — 2 Tim 4:8.

At the Theophany, God reveals Himself as Trinity and Christ as God and Man. Those who love this appearing — we who accept God as Trinity and Christ as perfect God and perfect man — have a crown of righteousness prepared for us by the Lord.