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The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church PDF Book THE MYSTICAL THEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN CHURCH PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Vladimir Lossky | 252 pages | 31 Aug 1991 | James Clarke & Co Ltd | 9780227679197 | English | Cambridge, United Kingdom The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church PDF Book This aspect of theological method, of course, derives extensively from St. One—that of cataphatic or positive theology—proceeds by affirmations; the other—apophatic or negative theology—by negations. The loss is all the more irreparable because his published works are so limited in number — one book, a few articles. Jun 14, Volkert rated it it was amazing Shelves: orthodox-christian , russian-authors. To attain to the contemplation of this primordial reality in all its fullness, it is necessary to reach the goal which it set before us, to attain to the state of deification; for, in the words of St. The ideas of individual things are contained within the higher and more general ideas, as are the species within a genus. Any deeper review would do it injustice. Palamas says, referring back to St. As far as spiritual faith, beyond rational religion, to me the Eastern Church is the most indepth-spiritually within the Christian communion. The forms are different: the faith is one. Another way to put this is to ask how does the spiritual tradition of Orthodoxy contribute to the kataphatic dogmatic tradition? What I was given back were the very things I had given up, now reconfigured and illumined by one thing's infinite connections to other things. We must accept facts as they are, and not seek to explain the difference between eastern and western spirituality on racial or cultural grounds when a greater issue, a dogmatic issue, is at stake. This had been sitting on my reading list for some time and comes recommended by Orthodox theologians up to the present day. Further see A Arjakovsky. Qty: Decrease Quantity: Increase Quantity:. The nature of God, as revealed in scripture and tradition, is expressed by the Church in the antinomy of the Holy Trinity: God is one in essence, and is also three hypostases who are distinct from one another but share the fullness of that essence. The unity of the Church expresses itself through the communion of the heads of local churches among themselves, by the agreement of all the churches in regard to a local council—which thus acquires a universal import; finally, in exceptional cases, it may manifest itself through a general council. It would have been inopportune to impose the distinction in the operations upon those who had difficulty in admitting even the distinction in the hypostases. For creatures, from the moment of their first condition, are separate from God; and their end and final fulfilment lies in union with Him or deification. The Trinity is, for the Orthodox Church, the unshakeable foundation of all religious thought, of all piety, of all spiritual life, of all experience. What I am reacting to is and there's a chance that my frustration is misguided is Fundamentalism and its daughter neo- Evangelicalism, or those forms of Christian religion that 1. That is why, despite all their philosophical learning and natural bent towards speculation, the Fathers of the eastern tradition in remaining faithful to the apophatic principle of theology, never allowed their thought to cross the threshold of the mystery, or to substitute idols of God for God Himself. Conditioned, as it may well have been, by various factors, this dogmatic choice was—for the one party as for the other—a spiritual commitment, a conscious taking of sides in a matter of faith. Does not Dionysius say time and time again that apophatic theology surpasses cataphatic? This was his precious legacy to modern Orthodoxy. The divine eternity alone is incommensurable: in relation both to time and to the aeon. SVS Press. Alas, I can't do justice to this beautiful book here, but would recommend it highly for any Christian seeking a broader and deeper understanding of the Triune God, in history and beyond space-time as we know it. You have me. In reality, since the cleavage between East and West only dates from the middle of the eleventh century, all that is prior to this date constitutes a common and indivisible treasure for both parts of a divided Christendom. They leave us in no doubt as to the reality of the union with God which is promised us, and set before us as our final end, the blessedness of the age to come. They were, needless to say, two of the most learnedly kataphatic men of their age. Through them is revealed the presence of Him who is above all thought, a presence which occupies the intelligible heights of His holy places. Apophaticism, as a religious attitude towards the incomprehensibility of God, does not belong exclusively to the Areopagitica , but is found in most of the Fathers. Two Aspects of the Church Chapter ten. It is because the realm of being, even at its highest levels, is necessary multiple: it has not the absolute simplicity of the One. Thus by a wise discretion the divine teachings have become clarified in due course of time, the divine wisdom making use for this purpose of the insensate attacks of heresy. Golden stuff. Trinitarian theology is thus a theology of union, a mystical theology which appeals to experience, and which presupposes a continuous and progressive series of changes in created nature, a more and more intimate communion of the human person with the Holy Trinity. This is the distinguishing note characteristic of His hypostasis—that He is made known after the Son and together with Him, and that He takes His subsistence from the Father. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church Writer SVS Press. This is the distinguishing note characteristic of His hypostasis—that He is made known after the Son and together with Him, and that He takes His subsistence from the Father. So far from signalling a direction for modern Orthodox thought they indicate rather the philosophical stable where post-war Russian philosopher-theologians were taking their syllogistic axioms from, in contradistinction to French existentialism. In the tradition of the Eastern Church there is no place for a theology, and even less for a mysticism, of the divine essence. The Orthodox Church would not be what it is if it had not had St. Gregory Nazianzen takes up the same images, especially that of Moses. Community Reviews. Ante Nicene Christian Library , vol. The theologian is not one who seeks to conceive of God in any purely cognitive fashion, but rather one who unifies himself, heart and soul, with that divine infinitude which is inscrutable beyond being. People are often better than their beliefs, and I know many perfectly amazing Evangelicals. John tells us this— all things were made by Him i, 3 —and we repeat it in the creed: by whom all things were made. February 5, Length: It will be for the reader to judge in what measure these theological aspects of Orthodox mysticism can be of use for the comprehension of a spirituality which is alien to western Christianity. This review should be seen in that light and in this respect is deeply personal. From this point of view God is, as it were, limited by His essence; that which is not essence does not belong to the divine being, is not God. As for the manifestation itself, it is eternal, for it is the glory of God. He synthesized Origen and Russian mystical writers such as Kireevsky, Khomyakov and the late works of Soloviev. Jun 10, David Withun rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , religion. God the Father is the Father of glory Eph. Lists with This Book. This was founded with the blessing of Patriarch Sergius of Russia, and offered its classes in French at a time when St. Such assertions, which are heard very frequently in the East as in the West, are the outcome of a purely secular mentality and of the widespread habit of treating Church history according to methods which exclude the religious nature of the Church. This contemplation of the hidden treasures of the divine Wisdom can be practised in varying degrees, with greater or lesser intensity: whether it be a lifting up of the spirit towards God and away from creatures, which allows His splendour to become visible; whether it be a meditation on the Holy Scriptures in which God hides Himself, as it were behind a screen, beneath the words which express the revelation so Gregory of Nyssa ; whether it be through the dogmas of the Church or through her liturgical life; whether, finally, it be through ecstasy that we penetrate to the divine mystery, this experience of God will always be the fruit of that apophatic attitude which Dionysius commends to us in his Mystical Theology. In the first case that of St. The Greek Fathers always maintained that the principle of unity in the Trinity is the person of the Father. I remember the moment when I finally "got" what EO is proclaiming. How did this happen? Review Subject Required. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church Reviews From this, too, comes the unconquerable energy which enables Orthodoxy to go through all trials, all cataclysms and upheavals, adapting itself continually to the new historical reality and showing itself stronger than outward circumstances. If the God of revelation is not the God of the philosophers, it is this recognition of His fundamental unknowability which marks the boundary between the two conceptions. Like the energies, the divine names are innumerable, so likewise the nature which they reveal remains nameless and unknowable—darkness hidden by the abundance of light.
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