An Outline of Orthodox Patristic Dogmatics
The Real Holy Grail: An Orthodox Response to Dan Brown's Deceptions in Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code
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In
speaking about "the dialectic of the divine economy", we mean
the "logic" which characterises and mystically directs the visible
and invisible elements in the entire plan of the structure and operation
of the world.
In this "plan" of God for the world, therefore, which
involves not only the maintenance and governance of the world,
but also its ultimate transfiguration, we are called to see what
relationship the "partial" or "fractional" has with
the "whole", which is the "fullness".
The partial and the whole may be a physical or
temporal dimension. In other words, they may be one part of the material
creation (from land, air or water) within the whole of creation, or a
portion of time (year, month, week, hour or second) in contrast to the
notion of time in general.
Created things are not all shown forth in the course of time (which
creates "milestones" as units of time) together, nor do we apprehend
them all simultaneously. We imagine them of course as an intelligible
sum of visible and invisible entities, but in practice our senses comprehend
one after the other, and never all together. In addition, even when we
observe the one, we do so from a different viewpoint each time, a different
position and angle.
Yet, this temporal and corporal fragmentation of God's creation
is only valid for the human person, being only one part of the whole creation,
although he recapitulates it. For God, who is the Creator beyond time
and space, everything is constantly before His ever-vigilant glance, "exposed"
in a permanently undivided present. This is why the Church teaches that
God is "everywhere present and fills all things", and that He
"is the same yesterday and today and unto all ages" (Heb 13:8).
Thus, we can see that God is never "absent", nor would
it be possible for Him to be absent from the world, which He created.
How could He be absent from a world which He did not create by chance
or force, but rather according to His will and decision, precisely
as He wanted it?
For this reason, we say that the world is evolving according to
a "plan" of the providence of God.
However, given that God has pre-eternally "laid out"
such an important plan for all His creation, all that are visible and
invisible in God's world are interconnected and therefore in mutual
solidarity: from the greatest composition in the heavenly galaxies,
to the last particle of the earth's dust. This immense "brotherliness"
and silent "relatedness" of all created things, which came through
the same beneficial will from the same fatherly hand, was
experienced and chanted in all tones of word or silence by mystics
throughout centuries, no matter where they lived. This explains why they
did not see enmity anywhere, or division anywhere, or absence
or orphanhood anywhere.
It was precisely this great "optimism" in accordance
with God, and in God, which St Paul sought to inspire in us when he wrote:
"rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks"
(1 Thess. 5:16-18). It is also very characteristic that St Paul cannot
tolerate seeing these three spiritual "conditions" (joy, prayer,
thanksgiving) reduced or reliant upon any conventions of
this world. For the genuinely faithful person, joy cannot exist under
conditions. Nor can prayer occur with intervals, according to the feeling
of a particular moment. Nor can thanksgiving be confined only to
that which gives us pleasure. The designations "always", "without
ceasing" and "in everything" are the expected and appropriate
human response to the presence of God everywhere. Moreover, to His infinite
mercy; and to His grace which cannot be repaid.
Therefore, it is in the fullness of the gifts of divine providence,
even within the fractionalised reality of material space and time,
that there is a correlation of the fullness of an unreserved
faith, which is expressed in the similarly fractionalised reality and
perishable conditions of this world. In this way, the "partial"
is balanced with the "whole" in the overall plan of the
divine economy.
All of the above become even clearer and more easily understood
when we examine a specific example. Let us look at the feast of Theophany,
which we celebrated recently. The descent of the Holy Spirit during the
Baptism of Christ, and the attestation of the Father from above concerning
His only-begotten Son, were correctly considered to be the triumphant
revelation of the Trinitarian God. This is why the Theophany is also called
Epiphany, for we chant "You were revealed today to the universe,
and Your Light, Lord, shone upon us...".
In a specific place, then, (the Jordan River) and in a specific
time (today), a certain act refers to the entire creation, since it is
precisely this which is "renewed". The specific place
and time is the "part", i.e. the "fraction". The renewal
which relates to the entire creation is "the whole", i.e. the
"fullness".
Further, in analysing the language, which we use to describe Theophany
or Epiphany, we encounter the same bipolarity between the "part"
and the "whole".
Firstly, the verb "to make to appear" (epiphainomai)
suggests something momentary: something which a short while ago could
not be seen suddenly changes from being "concealed" to "revealed".
The impression is thereby given that there is a contrast between that
which is "inside" and that which is "on the surface"
(lit. epiphania). A second contrast is implied by the temporal
designation "today", since it is silently contrasted with "yesterday",
"tomorrow" and "always".
This inner interlacing and continuation between the part
and the whole expresses the mystical and continually active law or
rule with which God quietly accomplishes the transfiguration of the
world.
According to this rule, a priority not only of time but
also of value is given to the part; the person comes before the
people, which is the whole. The "particular" is that
part or person who is sanctified as a "chosen vessel"' (Isaiah
6: 5-7), and whose expenditure of effort makes them the whole. The very
word "particular" (i.e. concrete) suggests that the part, which
is directly before me, has already been evaluated in relation to other
parts which are not "given". In other words it has been compared
and combined with them, which is why we can say that the latter determine
the value of the former. In this way, the Prophets, Judges and Apostles
felt that they were "instruments" or "chosen vessels".
The entire "people of Israel were the collective instrument of divine
providence in preparation for the evangelisation of the world. This instrument
was always expressed with eschatological power through the number 12,
which signifies the full measure. There were twelve tribes of Israel,
twelve Patriarchs, and twelve Apostles. And despite the collective nature
of the instrument, they were only the "part", the "small
flock" (c.f. Luke 12:32), the little leaven" which "leavens
the whole lump" (c.f. 1 Cor 5:6).
Within such a spiritual "campaign" which God proclaims
for the salvation of the world, "joining together" the particular
with the general plan, those who have eyes to see and ears to hear
will not remain untouched. On the contrary, they will recognise with both
gratitude and compunction the "entire programme" in its entire
development, already given by the genetic code of DNA, about which modern
science speaks. Then there will be no room for "heresy" which
is literally a fraction, schism and division. The only language that will
have remained "sufficient" and reliable, in terms of expressing
the transfigured creation, will have nothing to do with "words"
and "thoughts". For that would involve "measuring".
And miracles exist by definition beyond all measure, in the praise and
doxology of the measureless mercy of God by all created beings, just as
the "three youths in the furnace" had sung (c.f. the Service
of Holy Saturday).
from
Voice of Orthodoxy, vol 20/1-2, January-February 1999
the official publication of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
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