Page 97 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1398 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

(Assumption) of the Theotokos (15 August).The Twelve without theology is mere subjectivity. It is noteworthy
Great Feasts of the Church are the Nativity of the that the East has given only three of its saints the title of
Theotokos (8 September); the Exaltation of the Cross “theologian”—St. John the Evangelist in the first century,
(14 September); the Nativity of Christ (25 December); St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389 CE), and St. Symeon
Theophany (6 January); the Meeting of Our Lord (2 Feb- the New Theologian (c. 949–1022 CE).
ruary); the Annunciation (25 March); the Entry of Our
Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday); the Ascension; the Apophatic Theology
Day of Pentecost; the Transfiguration (6 August); and the The Orthodox tradition distinguishes between apophatic
Dormition (Assumption) of the Theotokos (15 August). or negative theology, and kataphatic or positive theology.
Most Orthodox churches reckon these dates according to While each has a role within the Orthodox theological
the Julian calendar, although since the beginning of the tradition, the apophatic is clearly preeminent. Following
early twentieth century, a number have adopted the sec- the lead of (Pseudo) Denys the Areopagite (fifth or sixth
ular Gregorian calendar for fixed dates. The Paschal century CE), the East emphasizes the radical inability of
cycle of movable feasts is still reckoned according to the human thought and language to describe God and
Julian calendar. “utterly excludes all abstract and purely intellectual the-
In addition to the mysteries, the Church observes the ology which would adapt the mysteries of the wisdom of
canonical hours of prayer: vespers, compline, the mid- God to human ways of thought” (Vladimir Lossky,
night office, matins, the third hour, the sixth hour, and 1923–1958). The theological ascent to God must be
the ninth hour.As in the West, these are rarely celebrated apophatic. Kataphatic theology, on the other hand, is a
fully outside of monasteries. However, most parishes cel- kind of descent in which God manifests himself within
ebrate Saturday night vespers and/or Sunday morning the created order.
matins.
The Trinity
Theological Positions At the heart of all Orthodox worship, theology, spiritu-
In addition to differences from Western Christianity as to ality, and life is the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son,
the sources of theological authority, the theology of the and the Holy Spirit. It is commonplace to say that East-
Orthodox East is characterized by numerous theological ern theology begins with the three Persons and goes on
positions, also known as theological distinctives, that to affirm the one Being, while Western theology generally
greatly affect its understanding of God, humankind, and begins with the one Being and then proceeds to a con-
the economy of salvation. Because Orthodoxy did not sideration of the three Persons. The value of this gener-
undergo Roman Catholic scholasticism or the Protestant alization is limited, but it is accurate to say that the East
Reformation that resulted, the East has avoided many of has emphasized the three Persons of the Trinity more rad-
the theological polarities associated with the internecine ically than the West. Perhaps the most famous Orthodox
struggles of the West. icon of all is the Old Testament Trinity painted by the
Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev, c. 1410. It is a
Mystical Theology depiction of the three angels who appeared to Abraham
For the Christian East, theology—dogmatic, moral, or in Genesis 18, an appearance understood by the East to
otherwise—must be lived. “Mystical theology” is the be a Theophany (“manifestation”) of the Trinity.
term that identifies the inextricable relationship between
dogma and life, between the teaching of the Church and Original Sin
one’s personal experience. In the Orthodox view, theol- Western Christianity’s understanding of many subjects,
ogy that is not experienced is useless, and mysticism not least of them the question of Adam’s sin in the Gar-