Listen to this article All too often, the Eastern perspective on the Trinity is mistakenly overlooked by Western society in the study of Church History. There is no dogma of the relation of the Holy Spirit to the Son, and therefore particular opinions on this subject are not heresies but merely dogmatic hypotheses, which have been transformed into heresies by the schismatic spirit that has established itself in the Church and that eagerly exploits all sorts of liturgical and even cultural differences.[75]. By whom has God ever been found without Christ? St. John Damascene's treatment . The Secret Supper, the Washing of the Feet, the Tw Holy Eight Venerable Martyrs and Anchorites. After a prayer for himself and his hearers that they may die unto sin with Christ, resting as on that day in the stillness of the grave, he takes occasion from this very pause and intermission, as it were, in the work of Christ, to pass in review the whole system of God's dealings with man. The question about how a thought is acquired seems to be quite separate from whether something is thinkable, and can be reflected upon publicly, and can be shown. Eastern Orthodox theologians maintain that by the expression "from the Father alone",[43] and Photius' opposition to the Filioque, Photius was confirming what is Orthodox and consistent with church tradition. An irrationalist, Gregory? This is unfortunate, for men like Gregory of Nazianzus (329390 CE) and John of Damascus (676749 CE) offered insightful understandings in the first centuries of early Christianity regarding the theological understanding of the Trinitarian relationship in the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts. [50][citation needed]. I apologize for adding another question to an already back-pained one, but also: isnt finite creatures a tautology? [1] Orthodox scholars who share Lossky's view include Dumitru Stniloae, John Romanides and Michael Pomazansky. In, Allchin, Donald M. "Filioque clause: an Anglican approach". The Holy Eucharist is the oldest experience of Christian Worship as well as the most distinctive. Beginning at the very beginning, with the eternal existence of a Divine First Cause, God the Father, he passes on to speak of the eternal generation of the Son, and the procession of the Holy Ghost, and the relations between the persons of the Holy Trinity. That through the dogmatic Roman Catholic Filioque the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the Father and the Son and not a free and independent and equal to the Father, hypostasis that receives his uncreatedness from the origin of all things, the Father hypostasis. Countering the idea that the Spirit may proceed from the Son, John suggests that with its unique purpose and character, the Spirit "is one Spirit, going forth from the Father, not in the manner of Sonship but of procession" (Damascus, 11). Dr. John S. Knox has taught sociology, history, and religion for nearly two decades at Christian universities in the Pacific Northwest and the East Coast. It is impossible for this to be found in any created nature. And if they do not exist, then this must mean ultimately mean that the trinitarian unity is, as Twombly remarks, fundamentally unthinkable (p. 12). He also gives a pretty good explanation of the eastern view of the Filioque. The two are intricately connected and one is not possible without the other. The Romiosini of 1821 and the Great Powers (10 of 11). We care about our planet! Perhaps Brian Moore can be persuaded to join the conversation. In the hypostases of God as correctly expressed against the teachings considered outside the church. Nevertheless, the overall Eastern tradition, because it stresses the Scriptural and pre-Nicene teaching of the Monarchy of the Father, prefers St. Irenaeus' pyramid vision of the Word and Spirit as "the two hands of God". Is that possible? [25] Photius's position that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone has been described as a restatement of Theodoret's. The Creator is radically different from the world he has made from out of nothing. 50 Art. This paper initially was intended to be published in a collection of essays under a title "Maximus Confessor and the Neoplatonism" (still preparing by Victor Yudin, Leuven University). Theodoret is a saint in Eastern Orthodoxy, but he is called the excommunicated in Occidental Orthodoxy and the Roman Church. Second, one would have to investigate a kind of perichoresis of the transcendentals in human knowing. The translation of the passage he quotes in New Christian Year is that found in the Second and Revised Edition, 1920, Literally translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province of St. Thomass Summa Theologica Part III, Q. (p. 25). Almost exactly one hundred years later, the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553) declared anathema anyone who would defend the writings of Theodoret against Saint Cyril and his Twelve Anathemas,[29] the ninth of which Theodoret had attacked for what it said of the procession of the Holy Spirit. But if the Son is begotten and the Spirit proceed from the Son (as this, "However, the chief of the heretics who distorted the apostolic teaching concerning the Holy Spirit was", Lossky wrote: "If the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, as the hypostatic cause of the consubstantial hypostases, we find the 'simple Trinity,' where the monarchy of the Father conditions the personal diversity of the Three while at the same time expressing their essential unity. That interesting taker-up of the term, Charles Williams, included one quotation from St. Johns great work in his collection of daily readings, The New Christian Year, from III.27, in this translation: Although Christ died as man, and His holy soul was separated from His spotless body, nevertheless His Godhead remained unseparated from bothfrom the soul and from the body.. The idea of Photius having invented that the Father is sole source of cause of the Holy Trinity is to attribute to him something that predates Photius' existence i.e.Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and John of Damascus. "[9], In Eastern Orthodoxy, theology starts with the Father hypostasis, not the essence of God, since the Father is the God of the Old Testament. User's Guide to the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. St. John of Damascus, also called Saint John Damascene, Latin Johannes Damascenus, (born c. 675, Damascusdied December 4, 749, near Jerusalem; Eastern and Western feast day December 4), Eastern monk and theological doctor of the Greek and Latin churches whose treatises on the veneration of sacred images placed him in the forefront of the 8th-ce. Cite This Work So that the word "alone", which Photius nor the Orthodox suggest be added to the Creed, has been called a "gloss on the Creed", a clarification, an explanation or interpretation of its meaning. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil may have had its name, either because it was meant to test man's obedience, and would thus make his good or evil bias known; or because its fruit would impart to those who partook of it a knowledge of their own true nature. It is impossible to tell where one stops and the other begins, although some have differing opinions. p. 40). Damascene comes back more directly to his subject. [3] Many that were dead rose from their sepulchres, foreshadowing the resurrection of Him who was being put to death for us. If there are, indeed, truths beyond reason, then the real and the rational are no coeval, and denying this seems to me, at present, to be equivalent to nihilism, or at least to _lead_ to nihilism, which conclusion is arrested only by artificial means. Family background John was born in Damascus, in 675 or 676, to a prominent Damascene Christian Arab family. . Paradoxically, the Spirit is at one time distinguished from and yet unified with the other members of the Trinity. In, Saint John of Damascus: Writings ( The Fathers of the Church, Vol. Speaking theologically, it is given to us to avoid superstitious error, to be with God in the knowledge of the truth, to worship God alone, to enjoy the fullness of His knowledge. The authority of the Nicene Creed, and the Greek fathers, especially Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, and John of Damascus. Beginning with the question of the Psalmist, "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? The Holy Spirit's subsistence is peculiar and unique. If one posits a reality that is somehow beyond thought one is perhaps in danger of a form of voluntarism. In the Ecumenical and local synods, the Church proclaimed against the heresies various definitions of faith or dogmas. Gregory points out, "He is the Author of spiritual regeneration" (Nazianzus, Oration on Pentecost, 384). He states, "Just as we do not say that fire is of one essence and light of another, so we cannot say that the Father is of one essence and the Son of another but both are of one and the same essence" (Damascus, 9). Although each member may focus on different roles, they are still of the same essencemeaning that throughout all is the divine nature and a divine interconnection. Jesus may have been begotten, but the Spirit was not. Bureau Of The Census, The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit by St Photius pg 75-76 Publisher: Holy Cross Orthodox Press Language: English, Theodoret of Cyrus, On the Third Ecumenical Council, translated quote in, The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Boris Bobrinskoy sees the Filioque as having positive theological content. The Orthodox do not regard the teaching that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son as well as from the Father to be one which they can accept. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. It is surprising, however, how little that is authentic is known of his life. [4], Photius' position has been called a reaffirmation of Orthodox doctrine of the Monarchy of the Father. The question is does apophatic theology equate to a radical negating of what we can know about God to the point where one is left with an irrationalism? If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are transcendent and supernatural, then any symbols attached to them can only be a partial reflection of what they really are, and any definition is limited by human communication and reasoning. But after looking over what I wrote in this blog article, I think you may have misinterpreted Twombly. The theologian does not seek toexplain the divine mysterycertainly not in any way that would satisfy philosophers and mathematiciansbut simply to state it. St. John's understanding of the Blessed Trinity is in the twofold context of the mysterious nature of God and the limitations on human thinking or speaking of God. "So watching," he ends, "with our lamps brightly burning, we shall go forth in bright array to meet the vanquisher of death, the immortal Bridegroom; and we shall be welcomed in the bridechamber undefiled, and with face unveiled shall look upon the glory of the Lord, and luxuriate in His beauty; with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, honour, adoration, and majesty, now, henceforth, and for ever. Death, after baiting for man with the hope of his becoming as God, was himself caught by the bait of proffered flesh; and after tasting a sinless body, became sick, and vomited forth, poor wretch, all the food that he had in his inside" (c. This teaching is opposed to the monarchy of the Father and to the equality of the Spirit to the Father and the Son as a hypostasis or person distinct from both, as expressed by the original Creed. The present paper presents the Theological and Dogmatic definition of the Person of the God-man Jesus Christ, as it has been formulated by the Orthodox Church in the course of time. His work on "Holy Images" and three "Sermons on the Assumption" are translated by Mary H. Allies, in St. John Damascene, ut sup. Hence, one may speak of finite creatures, but finite creatures in their depths are participations in an infinite Logos. p. 160 Images are books for the illiterate and silent heralds of the honor of the saints, teaching those who see with a soundless voice and sanctifying the sight. Saint John of Damascus. John the theologian of the Trinity informs us at the beginning of his gospel that God is beyond human comprehension: "No one has seen God at any time" ( John 1 :18a). He authored 16 books to date and numerous scholarly articles on Sociology, History, and Religion. [p][citation needed] Saint Theophylact of Ohrid likewise held that the difference was linguistic in nature and not actually theological. Eastern Orthodox Christians . If so, I think we have a real debate on our hands. The Preeminent Spiritual Wisdom (St. Nikolai Velim An American Philosopher Finds Happiness on Mount A Elder Ephraim of Katounakia (Documentary), Saint Niphon, Bishop of Novgorod (+ 1156). It is impossible for this to be found in any created nature. John of Damascus also offers his take on this question of the Trinity. Who died and made you an Ecumenical Council? Concordia Theological Quarterly, January-April 1995, p. 32, and cf. And to just touch upon a few other things mentioned in this dialogue: I think its evident that Triune reality requires a revelation of Godself, but once that revelation is received, the light of grace then shows that creation was always a gift of Triune love. Not only does he ably present the teaching of St John Damascene, but he also provides a succinct introduction to the Eastern Christian construal of the Holy Trinity. "He who had fashioned man with divine hands, stretched out His undefiled hands all day long to a disobedient and gainsaying people, and commended His spirit into the hands of His Father. "Let us then, my brethren," he proceeds, "purify ourselves from every earthly imagination, and from all the disturbance and confusion of life, that we may receive with unclouded vision the radiant splendours of the divine word, and have our souls nourished with the spiritual bread which is angels' food; and passing within the veil may learn clearly the divine passion of the passionless, even the salvation of the world" (c. I agree. (Tertullian, A Treatise on the Soul). 3 Sed contra. Are you now suggesting that God is finite? [18][failed verification][19][failed verification][6][failed verification][20][failed verification] In fact, several statements by Cyril exist in which he fleetingly declares that the Holy Spirit issues from the Father and the Son (with similar statements that the Spirit issues from the Father through the Son)[21]:107 in an intra-Trinitarian relationship. [10] Jesus Christ is the Son (God Man) of the uncreated Father (God). Conferring upon them all his attributes, and powers, except his hypostatic property, i.e., that he is the Father, the unbegotten, the source, origin, and cause of divinity. Shop St. John of Damascus. The Trinity (Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century) (Works of Saint Augustine, 5) License. Needless to say this is different than the knowledge of God with which this discussion started, but its worth knowing how various our experiences of knowing are. A.D. 590-1073. Translation of the Honorable Zoni (Girdle) of the Holy New Martyr Demos the Fisherman as a Model for Synaxarion of the Holy Martyrs James the Presbyter Holy New Martyr Chrysanthos of Xenophontos (+ 1821). [14][15] Eastern Orthodox theologians have complained about this problem in the Roman Catholic dogmatic teaching of actus purus. AD 675749) is known as a the great compiler and summarizer of the orthodox faith and the last great Greek theologian. The Greeks affirm that the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son, the Latins that He proceeds from the Father and from the Son; but when applied to the relationship between Son and Spirit, these two prepositions 'through' and 'from' amount to the same thing.". The life of St. John Damascene (also known as Saint John of Damascus) began around 675 AD, already a generation after the area had been conquered by Muslim armies. Historically, adult converts into the Orthodox Church required a sponsor, someone that could vouch for the converts conversion into the Christian faith. [30] Cyril spoke of the matter of which Theodoret accused him as a misunderstanding. 1998. . Vladimir Lossky asserted that any notion of a double procession of the Holy Spirit from both the Father and the Son was incompatible with Orthodox theology. For now the robber was to enter paradise, and the Man who was lifted up as a malefactor, was to be believed on and worshipped by every creature" (c. I see the Church which God founded on the Apostles and Prophets, its corner-stone being Christ His Son, tossed on an angry sea, beaten by rushing . [citation needed] God has existences (hypostases) of being; this concept is translated as the word "person" in the West. Knox, J. S. (2016, July 27). Which would indeed be the heresy of Modalism (which states the essence of God and not the Father is the origin of, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Adding the adjective finite to creature is probably redundant. and sometimes it obfuscates. Perceiving the conundrum this creates, John of Damascus attempts to further expound upon the relationship of the Spirit and Son to the Father. Photios' position that, "the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone," intends not to deny the intimate relations between the generation of the Son and the procession of the Spirit. "For since through man came death, it was right also that through man should be given the resurrection from the dead. The Website of St. John of Damascus League of Chanters In this oration, he provides his exhaustive depiction and discussion of the ontology and functionality of the Spirit and asserts its equality within the Divine Family. "A Lutheran-Orthodox Common Statement on Faith in the Holy Trinity," paragraph 11. In their own literary works, both Gregory and John sought to answer questions concerning the equality of the members of the Divine Family, the distinguishing aspects of each person, the origins and procession of the Son and Holy Spirit, as well as the interaction and influence between them all. The Father is the eternal, infinite and uncreated reality, that the Christ and the Holy Spirit are also eternal, infinite and uncreated, in that their origin is not in the ousia of God, but that their origin is in the hypostasis of God called the Father. Saturday, April 27, 2019 The Homily on Holy Saturday by St. John of Damascus: A Summary By Joseph Hirst Lupton John of Damascus' sermon on Holy Saturday, or Easter Eve, is the longest of all, and is an important, though somewhat tedious one. This union of the divinity with the humanity in Christ is actually the basis of man's salvation realized objectively in Christ and actualized personally by all the Christians in the Church, by means of which evil and death are defeated by the resurrection leading to eternal life. , Saint John of Damascus: Writings ( the Fathers of the,. The Trinity of Christian Worship as well as the most distinctive connected and one is possible! Stops and the other begins, although some have differing opinions join the conversation a Treatise on the ). That could vouch for the converts conversion into the Christian faith registered trademark 675 or 676, a. Is peculiar and unique in human knowing Augustine, 5 ) License restatement of Theodoret.. Has made from out of nothing the dead since through man came death, it was right that..., January-April 1995, p. 32, and Religion sponsor, someone that could vouch for the 21st Century (. 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