CONCERNING THE HERETICAL DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT
                                           byArchbishop Lazar Puhalo

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While Anselm of Canterbury, basing himself on one of Augustine of Hippo’s heresies, developed the “atonement” doctrine of redemption, this idea is alien to Orthodoxy. The doctrine of Atonement suggests that Christ saved us from God. The doctrine teaches that the purpose of the incarnation (“Cur deus homo” – why God became man) is this: God is infinite, so sins against Him are infinite. All the suffering of all of humanity throughout the ages could not satisfy God so that He would be able to save us. God has established a just death penalty over all mankind, and man has also inherited a personal guilt for the sin of Adam. It was necessary for someone equal to God to suffer to that God would be able to forgive those who accept the sacrifice as a vicarial death to pay off our debts and atone for our sins. This heresy is based in the dialectic of the Roman law courts and the rationalism of Aristotle. More directly, regarding Anselm, it mirrors the medieval law of the duel.
St Gregory the Theologian, on the other hand, sums up the purpose of the Incarnation as God, by overcoming the tyrant, set us free and reconciled us with Himself through His Son. It is clear that the Father received the sacrifice of Christ, not because He Himself demanded or needed it, but on account of His divine Plan...that He Himself might deliver us from the devil and his power, and by the mediation of His Son bring us back to Himself (Oration 45).
Despite faulty translations, the word “atonement” is nowhere found in the Scriptures or the Fathers. At Romans 5:11, for example, we read: “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received reconciliation (kattalagyn).” In many translation this word (kattalagynJ) is erroneously translated as “atonement, “ and given a purely juridical connotation.
St Irenae says of this, “ Truly, He Who is the Almighty Word, and true man, in redeeming us reasonably by His Blood, gave Himself as a ransom for those who had been carried into captivity” (Against the Heresies , 5, 1, 1). He affirms the words of the Scripture, “The Son of man is come...to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45) (i.e., for all). Evangelist Mark is making a direct reference to the prophecy of Hosea 13:14, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.”1 St Basil the Great repeats this in his Great Eucharistic Prayer in the Divine Liturgy “He gave Himself a ransom to the grave.”. Hosea's prophecy sums up the Orthodox doctrine of the ransom quite well, though we add to it the revelation of “Theosis.”

MORAL EDUCATION IN THE POST-MORAL ERA

       EDUCATION OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE

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1 
ROLE AND CHARACTER MODELS
FOR OUR CHILDREN

     "By the time we are six, our future may already be set," reads the first line of a recent study carried ouit by McMaster University's Oxford Centre for Child Studies.
     This study is but one of many which have reached similar conclusions. Educators and psychologists were somewhat late in discovering what the Church had always known. It is in their earliest years that a persons basic character, core beliefs and dispositions are formed. This fact was emphasized recently by the completion of an intense study of early childhood development, followed through until the children in the study were in secondary school. This study ended with the United Way Charities of Canada creating a special programme to help with the development of children by age six. It is called the Success by Six programme. The conclusions of these and many other such studies reinforces the understanding that the first six years of a child's life are critical in the development of their character and personality, and that little will be changed in these areas after their sixth or seventh year.
     We cannot view the teaching of young children as only talking, telling stories or verbally conveying ideas. Teaching has another dimension which is less tangible. Character formation, which is also an aspect of teaching, depends as much on what we do as what we say.
     We know that the primary and most critical years of character formation are from birth to age six or seven. This is part of the premise upon which the Orthodox Church bases the baptism of infants. We do not want our children to pass through those most critical formational years without the grace given to them in holy baptism and the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Baptism and the frequent Communion of infants and children is only part of the picture, however. Infants and young children are learners by nature, and learning is easier and more rapid in this age range that at any other time. It is of the greatest importance, therefore, for us to focus on our position as role models for children. Children learn by observing, and they miss very little, even when the appear not to be paying attention.
    It is easy to repeat facts and information to students. But what they see in the person who is teaching them is often much more important than what that person is telling them. What children see in you, in your lifestyle and personality, will often determine whether they will accept what you are telling them. If you talk to them about Christian living, but they see you living or behaving in an un-Christian manner, why should they take you seriously? If you teach them of love, kindness, forgiveness, etc., and later they hear you gossiping, slandering or fighting with someone, they really have no reason to take you or what you are teaching them seriously.
    You, as their teacher, must also be their example — what psychologists call a "role model." We could also call this position a "character model." The terms "role model," or "character-model" are very meaningful, especially for parents, priests and church school teachers. You are not just setting an example for your children, you should also be one of the models from which they form their attitudes or on which they pattern their lives. Your children will end up imitating your religious attitudes and, more significantly, they will take what you teach them only as seriously as you do, and they will tend to apply what you teach them in the same way they see you apply it to your life.
    Using someone else as a model for our lives is not always a conscious process. It is more often subconscious and its mechanism is based on the way we feel in the presence of a person, what we sense as their attitude toward us, how we perceive the quality of their lives in relation to the content of their words. Ultimately, the model or example set by our lives has a greater effect in forming the lives of young people than what facts, ideas or concepts we teach them verbally in the form of lessons or instructions
    Whatever attitudes, concepts and ideals we either encourage or discourage in our children by word and example are going to be either reinforced or undermined by social and peer groups. The strength with which we implant and ingrain standards and moral ideals will greatly affect the power social groups have over this process. What we instill in them by the age of six (the year they begin to attend public school) can be a very powerful influence. The way children are treated in our churches also has a strong influence on them in either a positive or a negative way. If children learn from infancy that they have value in the church community, value in God's household, then this will reinforce the spiritual and moral concepts that they learn when we teach them about the faith. We do not often think about it, but the fact that infants and children receive Holy Communion by name, hearing their own name said as they are given Communion, helps to make them feel a part of the community, and feel that they have value in the community.
     Repeated professional experiments and studies have shown that behaviour can be altered or new forms of behaviour acquired by observing people whom one admires, loves, fears, dislikes or distrusts. Such behaviour pattern changes can be affirmative (by imitating the example) or rejective (by deciding not to imitate the example) or reactive (by forming behaviour patterns or traits in reaction to observed or experienced behaviour). Any of these character and personality moulding developments can be positive or negative. As a parent, priest or church school teacher you may smoke cigarettes in front of children and they may take that as an affirmation that it is all right and healthy to smoke. Others may see you and, having accepted that smoking is an unhealthy and bad habit, reject you as a life example. They may even reject what you are teaching them.
     The most positive influence that parents, teachers and priests can have on the lives of children, as life examples or character models, is to strive to live what they teach; make Christ the life example and role model for your own life. Teach with love, kindness, compassion and joy. Your failings and shortcomings will matter little to the children if they see these qualities. They will realize that you are doing your best to live your teachings.
    There are many scientific or technical terms for these causes and effects of life example and character models, but I am certain that you all understand what has been said without them.
    One of the most important things for anyone who is raising or teaching children is to realize that the strength of what you teach and how well it will penetrate your children will depend to a great deal on what kind of life example or character model you are to them. You should consciously work on this and try to develop and strengthen your "exampleship" or "role modelship". Remember that as a parent, teacher or priest, you are steward of the children's souls and your conscious development and improvement of your own spiritual life and your efforts to make yourself a better life example and role model, is part of that stewardship.


2
PARENTS, PRIESTS, TEACHERS AND PEERS

Children learn the basic functions of life, as well as speech and expression, primarily from parents. This process gives us a good example of what it means to be a "life example" or "role and character model". The vocabulary that small children develop directly reflects their environment and says a great deal about the parents, regular babysitters and others to whom the child is regularly exposed.
Some infants, as soon as they can walk and speak will kiss an ikon or cross or at least show recognition of them as soon as they see them. Others will have curses and swear words among their earliest vocabulary. The effects of life examples and character models are profound in such cases. It is easy to understand how deeply parents influence the character development of a child, and how certain behaviour patterns are picked up from regular visitors to the home, particularly those with whom a child feels comfortable. The degree to which a church school teacher can be a character model might not be so readily evident. To what degree can a church school teacher act as a counter-balance to undesirable peer pressure?
We know from numerous professional studies that young people are far more apt to succumb to "anti-social" peer pressures if they have a real or imagined reason to doubt the affection, wisdom, reasonableness or justice of parents and other adult character models. Very often young people become disillusioned because they tend to think of parents and sometimes church school teachers (less often secondary school teachers) as "completed packages", that is, they often see parents as living more perfect, more "in control" and more totally developed lives than they really are or could. As the child gets older, he or she begins to see weakness and flaws in the parent or respected church school teacher.
If these weaknesses and flaws are not balanced, the young person might loose faith in the adult character models, and seek the security of conforming to group peer pressures.
The problem here is often that the adults involved think of themselves as being more complete, more "put together" wise and "in control" than they really are. In fact, no truly wise adult thinks of himself or herself as being fully developed or complete. We must be constantly developing ourselves, growing spiritually, mentally and emotionally, we must be constantly learning, increasing, gaining new experience and greater understanding. Particularly as church school teachers, we must be learning even as we teach. We should be honest and open about this fact also.
A church school teacher can have a profound effect on young people. This effect can be positive if the teacher is loving, caring and open. It can be equally negative if the teacher is narrow, highly opinionated, grouchy and over zealous about discipline.
The most profound area in which a church school teacher has influence on the student is this: the student will tend to identify the Church, God and Orthodoxy with you — as well as with the priest. We cannot over emphasize the influence you, as a church school teacher can have in forming the values and character of your children — even the ones you may think you are missing.
You have either chosen or agreed to become a church school teacher, and therefore, have accepted a great responsibility before God, which you must be ever conscious of. You are helping to mould and shape young minds, emotions, hearts and souls and what you are and how you conduct your life is a very important part of that. You are a "life example" and a "character model" and as such, you will really have to give an account to God on judgment day. We read in the Holy Gospel, "The pupil is not above his teacher, but anyone who is perfectly instructed will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40).
The pupil will be like his teacher: that is you — your pupils are going to leave your class with something of you in their spiritual makeup and characters. That is both frightening and rewarding. Above all, it is a challenge to you to strive for constant self-improvement, character development and growth.
What guide do we have to help us become the kind of people we should be in order to help form the spiritual/moral lives of Orthodox Christian young people? The guidelines come from our "principle source", from the Holy Bible.
Apostle Paul was the father of many church congregations and, after Christ Himself, the first great church school teacher. He clearly understood the words of Christ, that "everyone who is perfectly instructed will be as his teacher", when he told the Corinthians, "Be imitators of me as I am of Christ (1Cor.11:1).
Did Paul consider himself to be perfect, so that his children should imitate him? Do we have to wait till we are perfect before we can teach and expect our children to imitate our life example? No, of course not, because Apostle Paul says of himself, "Not that I have already achieved all, or am perfect, but I follow diligently so that I may take hold of that for which Jesus Christ took hold of me. Brethren, I do not consider myself to have achieved it, but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching out for those things which are ahead, I press forward toward the goal, for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ...Brethren, be imitators of me, and take note of others who teach, so that you have us as an example (Phillipians 3:13-17).
We, imitating the Great Apostle, who was the best imitator of Christ, should bear in mind and always keep this before us: our church school children are going to be imitators of us, therefore who we imitate is of the greatest importance. None of us is so unwise as to consider ourselves perfect, so, like Saint Paul, we must be constantly striving to grow, develop and improve ourselves — right up to the last moment of our lives.
Apostle Paul does not ask us, his children, to learn only from what he said and wrote, but from how he lived his life, for he says, "Do those things which you have learned, received and heard, and seen in me..." (Phillipians 4:9).
And this he says to all of us who are teachers in the Church: "We have not behaved ourselves in an unseemly manner among you...but have made ourselves an example for you to follow" (2 Thessalonians 3:9).
When Saint Paul said that he was striving to attain the life Christ called him to, he tells us that he had not yet grown and acquired all the things he was teaching us about, but that even as he was teaching about them, he was struggling to grow and to develop into them. The same must apply to us. We must always be striving to grow into the things we are teaching our children — we are children even while we are teachers.
Actually the Holy Bible gives us a fairly complete definition of what we should be, what we should strive to become, as church school teachers and moulders of young people's characters and spirits. Let us take a brief survey of what Holy Scripture tells us we ought to work to become like.
When Apostle Paul said, "I have made myself an example for you to follow," he is telling us that being a worthy teacher and character model is not just a single act, but an ongoing process of steady personal development and growth in our life with Christ and His Holy Church.

1 Thessalonians 2:7,8:
"But we were gentle among you, like a nursemaid cherishes her children. We were so affectionate toward you that we were willing to impart not only the Gospel to you, but even our own souls".

2 Thessalonians 3:7:
"As for yourselves, understand how you should follow our example: for we have not behaved ourselves disorderly in your presence".
1 Timothy 1:5:
"The fulfilment of the commandments is love which comes from a pure heart, and a good conscience and unfeigned faith".

2 Timothy 2:15:
"Study in order to become approved unto God, a worker who does not have to be ashamed".

2 Timothy 2:16:
"Avoid profane and vain babblings: for they will grow into more ungodliness".

2 Timothy 2:22:
"Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with those who call on the Lord from pure hearts".

2 Timothy 2:23:
"Avoid foolish and ignorant conversations, knowing that they create strife".

2 Timothy 2:24, 25:
"A servant of the Lord must not be involved in strife; but be gentle to all people, willing to teach and; and patient, instructing with meekness...".

Titus 2:2:
"Be sober, serious minded, temperate, firm in faith, love and patience".

Titus 2:6-7:
"Prove yourself to be a model of good works, uncorrupted, serious and sincere in doctrines".

Titus 2:12-13:
"Renouncing worldly passions, we should live soberly, righteously and piously in this present world; looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ".
With faith, prayer, fasting, sincerity of heart and God's help, each of us can fulfil this and become, in the words of Apostle Paul, "Co-workers with God" in the process of salvation for ourselves and our children.
 

A GUIDE FOR
CHURCH SCHOOL TEACHERS
AT EACH LEVEL
by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

1
THE PRIMARY LEVEL

Educators and psychologists have begun to discover what the Church has known for centuries: it is in their early years that children learn the most. Basic personality traits and habits are set before they go to kindergarten. It is in the preschool years that the foundations are laid for much of a child's future life. One prominent authority on early childhood education has said that the most important teaching is done before a child reaches age three.
What is taught during these formative years is attitudes, both emotional and intellectual. How a child will react and learn in later years is determined in large measure by what he learns as a small child. Basic concepts like love, forgiveness, trust, security, honesty, are all rooted in the experiences and learning of early childhood.
No one is more important to children in these first years of life than their families. The family's attitudes and values will lay the foundations for the young child's future. As Orthodox Christians we have a unique set of values and attitudes to impart to our little ones. The most crucial and important of these is love. It is our responsibility to show that our love as parents is like the love of God. In the eyes of small children, parents are like God. They see their parents as the source of security and protection in a mysterious world. They learn that they have value when they are loved by their parents.
The first quality of our love as parents and families has to be consistency. It has to be dependable. Children need to be able to count on the approval and support of their families. Touching, hugging, constant reassurances — these are the simple little things that tell children that they are loved and secure. These are the parental gifts which far exceed material security in importance to a young child. Compliments, "good works" and physical expressions of love begin to teach a child how it is that God loves him. Parents must be dependable, just as God is.
Second, an Orthodox home needs to exhibit the presence of God. Having ikons, religious articles, books, crosses and saying family prayers at meals and bedtime are all reminders that God is part of our family life. Praying for each family member by name and saying the Church's own prayers of praise (such as the Lord's Prayer, the Trisagion prayers, etc) with our children is one of the best things we can do for them. Even very young children can memorize prayers and learn to make the sign of the cross. Church attendance is another vital sign of our commitment to Christ and His Orthodox Church: it tells the child what we think is really important.
Third, we need to show our little ones that God is a Father. There is no better way of doing this than to have the head of the house exercise his proper priestly authority in leading prayers and attending church with the family. As the one whom God has put in charge of our families, human fathers are living "stand-ins" for God Himself. It is an awesome responsibility to represent God in a child's life. Our parish priests know what this feels like: the fathers of our families need to learn how to fulfil this role, in cooperation with the mothers of our families.
What we are talking about here is good beginnings: "Train a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it," the Scripture tells us (Proverbs 22:6). Children who come from strong Orthodox families where they are loved and shown what God really is like, will bring something precious to the church-school and the parish. And what they bring will also be the foundation of tomorrow's church.

2
THE PRESCHOOL YEARS

Parents and teachers of children aged three to five have a unique opportunity. The learning capacity of these preschool age children is remarkable. With their young minds uncluttered by useless — or wrong — ideas, they offer an ideal opportunity to Orthodox Christian parents and teachers. It is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.
As any preschooler's parents already know, children of this age are inquisitive, always asking questions and wanting to know "Why?" As Orthodox Christians, we have a wealth of things to teach them. Since their way of seeing the world is very physical, we can teach them about the Church through the senses: sight, sound, touch and even taste. Our Orthodox Faith is rooted in a worship which appeals to the senses. Candles, incense, bells, vestments and a host of other things waiting to be seen, heard, touched: the taste of the Holy Communion, which is exactly what the Bible means when it says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8), and the taste of the antidoron is a favourite of most children. We actually have many things we can help our preschoolers experience and learn about.
The Montessori Method of teaching young children has a great deal to recommend it to Orthodox parents and teachers (and parents are teachers). Maria Montessori had discovered that young children love to find out about things by touching and handling them, by feeling their textures and shapes. A grain of incense, a piece of "holy bread" (antidoron), a part of the priest's vestments — all have a fascination for preschool children. To be sure, there are some things that only the clergy can touch, but they can show them to the children and miniatures can be made in classes or at home. What is on the Preparation Table (Proskomedia)? What is on the Holy Table? How exciting it is when children realize what these things are for, what they mean, and how they are used in the services. It helps them feel that it is their church.
We sometimes make the mistake of assuming that Orthodox services are intended only for adults. Actually, our services are perfect for children — if they have an idea of what is happening to them. They also need to participate in the services. Simple prayers, the Sign of the Cross, the right times to bow, the proper way to receive Holy Communion — all these have to be taught. Even the poorest church school can have crayons and paper. Copying pictures of the holy things, memorizing prayers, hymns and physical gestures of devotion, and learning their significance is crucial if our children are to learn to love the services of the Orthodox Church.
Children love to do projects in church school; to make things to take home or to display in the church hall or entrance. Pictures of the church building, the cross, the ikonostas, holy objects — all can be drawn and displayed. Prosphora replicas pressed from play-dough with a prosphora seal can be a whole lesson and a fine display. Cut-outs of the articles on the Holy Table can be coloured and pasted on construction paper as children learn about our Orthodox worship.
How wonderful it is when the church school teachers share their plans and projects with the children's parents! A monthly note sent home can build bridges of support, especially with parents of younger children. Suggestions of how parents can help, of activities that they can easily do at home, and just the courtesy of letting them know what is going on in church school, can build better attendance and learning.
We need to ask parents to contribute: time, interest, home activities or perhaps just bits and pieces of things that can be useful in class projects. Good preschool teachers are always looking for articles that they can use in craft projects in church school. Ask the parents to collect or save various items for you; it will get them involved in their children's religious education. Encourage parents to send treats for their child's church school class on her or his nameday. This not only involves the parents in the class, but also helps reinforce the importance of the nameday for the children (avoid birthdays, this detracts from the importance of the nameday or slava, which is the spiritual birthday).
These precious preschool years are too important to waste — and teachers working together with parents can make them count in their children's spiritual development.

3
THE EARLY SCHOOL YEARS

When our children first go to school, both their parents and the Orthodox Church face a serious challenge. Whatever their other failings, our public school systems have spent a great deal of time training teachers and developing curriculum. Compared to the many hours each week that our children spend in their public school classes, the Church has them for barely an hour a week. Our challenge is to teach in such a way that our children will realize that Orthodoxy is important.
In most places, Orthodox people have to face the fact that the public schools are not and cannot be "Christian." The kinds of moral and intellectual attitudes that our children are taught in their schools may be the very opposite of Orthodox values. At best, they will make our children question their parents and church school teachers about the church's teachings. The only way we can respond to this challenge is to see that our parents and teachers understand their Orthodox Faith. Adult classes in Scripture and Orthodox life, church school seminars, making available reading materials on Orthodoxy — these are ways to arm ourselves and help our children grow in their religious faith.
Our message is that the Orthodox Church has something precious to give to the Western world. Our Orthodoxy does not need to be a defensive faith. Instead, it is a glorious and holy gift. The world needs Orthodoxy in these days; the only way it will find it is by meeting devoted and informed Orthodox Christians. The world's need for Orthodoxy is our real challenge. Raising our children in the Orthodox Faith is the best way to respond to it.
In the early school years, our Orthodox Faith needs to be presented as a joyous faith. This includes our teaching about fasting. The holy scripture says, "Let the four fast periods of the year be joy and gladness and cheerful:therefore, love peace and truth" (Zach.8:19). Although it is absolutely necessary for our spiritual lives, fasting should not be presented solely as something we have to do, but as something we get to do. Church school and learning about the Church should be fun. We need to plan our lessons around creative activities that are entertaining and teach through games and happy events. We need to give recognition to our children for their willingness to learn and their accomplishments in the church school. We should celebrate being Orthodox Christians. How lucky we are! God has called us into this beautiful and rich faith so that He could give us His love in a special way. Our children can celebrate by learning our hymns, making art projects and craft items, having parties on feast days, and by being recognized in the parish as important people in the life of the Church. Without our children, the parish has no future. Our adult members should encourage our children — especially at the young and eager ages — and let them know that they are important.
Our Lord Jesus Christ promised that He would be with His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. We know from Church history that Jesus did not make this promise to any local congregation; too many have ceased to exist! Each adult Orthodox Christian needs to realize how important our parish children are to the continued existence and growth of what they have given so much to build. We need to see that our teachers and church schools have the books and other things they need to do their jobs. This is our responsibility to the future of Orthodoxy.
These first school years of our children give us the chance to make a positive impression on them. They see, hear and remember far more than we can imagine. By making the church school an important and recognized part of our parish life, we are saying to our children that they are important to the Church. And, we need to mean it. The church school has to be a primary activity of the parish or in time the parish will wither away and disappear. Jesus wants us all to come to Him as children in our faith, but one can safely say that He has a special place in His heart for the little ones.

4
THE YEARS OF RAPID GROWTH

The public school system is a formidable competitor for the Church. It offers a wide variety of activities, its teachers are trained and educated in their specialties, and children spend many hours in its programs. Indeed, teachers may see more of some children than their parents do! It is during these years of public education that our Orthodox children are secularized and drawn away from the Faith. Too many parents simply turn over all educational responsibility for their offspring to the schools and later are horrified at the result. In many parts of Canada there is a renewed controversy over sex education in the schools, generated by the AIDS epidemic crisis. What the controversy brings home to the Church is that the school has taken over even the most basic physical and moral education of our children. Neither parents nor the Church are doing their jobs as educators of our young. The schools are operating in a void of ignorance and misinformation caused by parental neglect. And when the schools teach sexuality and morality, Christianity can not be a consideration for them; they can give consideration only to broad concepts of public hygiene and epidemic control..
Church School efforts are often perceived by children as boring and amateurish. They sometimes think of the church school as something parents send children to because they don't want to take the responsibility of learning and teaching themselves. There is no better teacher than a parent. Parents are teachers whether they want to be or not: their children see their behaviour and values and imitate or reject them. Unless parents are part of the Church's teaching plan, the plan will fail. The Church and parents need to become allies to save their children. Church school planning needs to include parents and families in its activities. A Church community that supports its religious education of the young is one that will grow. If Church committees are looking for no-cost, little-effort ways to teach children, they will probably fail.
To rate our parish and its church school activities, we might ask ourselves some basic questions to see how serious we are about getting the job of teaching our children done effectively:

1. What does the parish spend on the education of its children?
2. What recognition are children given in church?
3. What does the parish know about its church school? Does it help with the church school? What do you know about your church school's program?
4. Does the parish have a playground? Playground equipment?
5. What does the church school do for fun? Does it take field trips or go camping? Are parents involved?
6. Does the church school keep the parents advised about what it is teaching? Are parents encouraged to talk with their children about their physical and spiritual development?
7. If you were a child, would you want to be in your parish church school?

We are not professional educators in most church schools, but we are Orthodox Christian believers who want to serve God through His children. What we lack, God can teach us. We live in an era when religious, Orthodox religious literature, is abundant (although some of it is highly questionable). Every month brings new books. Does your parish have a library for its members? Or does it have a small selection of books and literature for sale? It should.
In our competition for the hearts and minds of its school age children, the Church has some very real advantages, for all that we have said about its failures. As the Body of Christ, we can offer:

1. Participation in a spiritual world: children of primary school age are naturally drawn to that which is holy and mystical. This is the age to form the spiritual habits of frequent Confession and Holy Communion so that they become a part of their life.
2. Christian love and understanding: adults should avoid playing the part of judges with children. We can persuade by loving example and a forgiving spirit. Playing the role of policeman in our children's moral and spiritual development is not the way to help them understand that God loves them and so do we.
3. A sense of belonging: we need to impart the realization that we are all the Children of God. Some of us are just older and more experienced. In God's family, the Church, we are all learners and valuable members. We are always at home in our Father's house.

Above all else, the Church needs to impart to its children two vital pieces of knowledge:

1. That they are important, that God loves them and created them, and that they have real worth.
2. That nowhere are they so important or loved as in the Church. Our adult attitudes toward the Church and our love for the things of God can be communicated only if they are real. Our parish must be a loving, interactive community if it is to be successful with its children.
Children of primary school age have to be included in parish activities and their programs given time and financial support by the church community. What we do speaks much louder than what we say. No amount of talk will persuade the young that we care about them: they deal in the concrete and the tangible. Our rhetoric is judged by our actions.
Responsibility is also something our children need to learn in the home and the church school. And responsibility comes only when you are given something to be responsible for. Whatever duties or tasks we give children need to be important ones — for the whole Church or for themselves. Whether it be serving, singing, helping out with adult projects, learning the Faith, or practising the life of prayer, there should be emphasis on responsibility and accountability — to the Church, to ourselves, to our families, to God. The message given should be that we need their love and support just as they need ours. Only then will the children be able to glimpse the reality of their importance in the Church and before God.
The battle for the souls of children is fought before they go to the upper grades. If we lose them in the early years of primary school, there will be no use fighting to win them back in their teenage years. It is in these primary years that we must realize that mere "cultural Orthodoxy" is practically meaninless in our society; nor is "head knowledge" of the faith sufficient. We need at this time to begin to form in our children Orthodoxy of the heart. During these formative years we can build for children a special "homeland in the heart," so that if they drift away during their teenage years, they will be able to return to that "Orthodox homeland in the heart" when the need or desire calls them to it.

5
THE MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS:
A Time of Transition

As our children move from the primary to secondary school years, they pass through a crucial period variously called junior secondary or middle school years. Usually eleven to fourteen years old during this time of transition, the Church's children are most often lost at these ages. The devout and enthusiastic church school boys and girls of earlier years begin to lose interest and, perhaps just after this middle school period, drift or drop out of Church life. If there are church school classes for these ages, they usually shrink in attendance and mark the end of our formal catechetical effort for our children.
One of the reasons for this religious drop-out phenomena is the rapid increase in the competition for children's interest and time during this period of development. At school there are sports and extra-curricular activities: in the community there are many clubs and special interest groups seeking to recruit young members. Church life is eclipsed by a myriad of attractive opportunities to have new experiences and do new things.
Another reason for children being lost to the Church at this time of development is the rapid physical and mental changes that usually take place at the middle school years. Physical and emotional changes occur rapidly. Often the Church is seen by the youth of these beginning teenage years as unsympathetic and unresponsive to their needs. They either feel that the Church is for "little kids" or an adult order that they want to avoid. In either case, it is not for them.
At worst, the Church loses children almost entirely by the time they reach their secondary school years. At best, there is usually an estrangement of sorts that retards spiritual participation and growth during these middle school years. Youth attend services unwillingly or not at all. They may drift off, never to return, or come back during college years or young adulthood
This picture is not very comforting, but in order to respond to a problem one must first face it. We need to assess what we can do to keep our Orthodox Faith a living experience for children in this difficult time of transition from childhood to maturity. What can be built on? What is that special void that the Church can fill? How can we help families to remain one in their faith and Orthodox life?
The middle school years are a time for honesty and openness. Parents and clergy cannot hide from the physical changes and sexual development of the Church's children. If our children don't get answers to their questions in the Church, they will get them somewhere else. The Church needs to equip its parents — by reading materials, classes led by informed Orthodox medical and psychological resource people, and by communicating with its young people. We need to spend less time on rarefied ecclesiastical subjects and more on the real needs and questions of our developing young adolescents. We can draw on the successful efforts of some of the other educational institutions as we begin to move in this direction.
The Church needs to support the role of parents in the family. Parents are, and will always be, the best teachers of their own children, but they need the training and tools to do the job. The crisis of our adolescents in their Church life may be a sign pointing to a revival of catechises in our parishes. Not just children need Christian education: parents and other adults need it, too. The sad and abysmal ignorance of our adult Orthodox laypeople is already legend in many places. Perhaps we are coming to a time when each parish needs a catechist — a man or woman who gives full or part-time effort to the teaching and counselling of the whole Orthodox family — parents as well as children. The priest might be this person: he might also not be. The task needs the dedication of time and the gift of a special talent. New Orthodox communities should seriously consider the importance of teaching at a simpler and perhaps more immediately achievable level, the middle school years are often a time when youth need to be encouraged and made to feel they are making a worthwhile contribution. They should be given new responsibilities — in teaching younger children, in assisting in Services, in being a needed segment of parish life. Priests, parish councils, church school leaders — all need to focus on making opportunities for Church young people to begin to enter into "adult" tasks in our parish life. We need to share our whole range of Church life with our young people.
As we devise and delegate responsibilities to our young adolescents, we need to stress how they are examples and role models for the younger children — how they are looked up to and imitated by the little ones. In a very real sense, they do matter. How they act and how they lead can have a profound effect on their younger brothers and sisters — in the family and in the parish.
None of these things can happen overnight or in an instant, but they are priorities and directions we need to identify and pursue. If we don't, we will have to pay a fearful price — the loss of our children at a time when they need the love of Jesus Christ and His Church, to grow and develop into mature and healthy Orthodox Christians.

6
THE TEENAGE YEARS

This last period of youthful transition is perhaps the most critical, for it is at this age that our Church has been losing its children at a frightening rate. Peer pressures, the "foreignness" of many of our parishes, a lack of a sense of the importance of belonging — all have contributed to this exodus from the Orthodox Church. There are some common causes of all teenage disillusionment with religion. The pervasive Western secularism and materialism, rejection of the "adult" world and of customs, and an almost generic rebelliousness have all contributed to the secondary school and college age children' antipathy for their spiritual heritages.
It must be said that a great deal of the problem of the teenage years takes root in those earlier years of "boring religious education" and the neglect of parents in building useful, meaningful spiritual foundations. The lack of commitment in our parishes to teaching the faith (and paying the cost in time and money) has born bitter fruit. If our children see that they are not important in their parish life, they can hardly be expected to see why they should continue in the Church. A stubborn, often selfish, pre-occupation with foreigh liturgical languages is a flashing neon sign that says "The younger generation is not important to us." A great deal of the problems we have with our adolescent youngsters can be traced back to a lack of basic Orthodox education when they were young. The absence of family prayer, a lack of grounding in the teachings of the Church, and an attitude of "optionalism" toward the things of God are roots of the "youth problem." Families and parishes abandoned our youth long before the youth abandoned them.
Orthodox parents and educators might profit by looking at two crucial areas addressed by other successful programmes for teenagers:

1. Peer Relationships: Sometimes scorned as "too social", many religious bodies have found youth groups to be a useful vehicle for keeping young people identified with their religious heritage. Such groups are usually most successful when they have advisors who relate well to the adolescent age group and when the group is active in the church program. Often middle (junior secondary) school youth groups are even more successful, bridging the gap in public school and community activities for that age group. In any case, young people have found a church identity and fellowship through both junior and senior secondary school groups. There is no reason why such groups couldn't be spiritually active — in retreats, workshops, and discussion groups. Again, adult guidance and counselling is essential to the spiritual content of such groups.

2. Adult roles in the Church: Those parishes that have made a real effort to involve their young people in parish activities and responsible roles in parish life have experienced a new resurgence in teenage interest and participation. Certainly our Orthodox Church has a wealth of opportunities for its young people to serve the Church. Not just as altar servers, choir members, or helpers — but also as Council members, teachers, and youth leaders of the younger children in the parish. Recognizing that there are some limitations and the need for adult support and counsel, there are still many ways that Orthodox youth can enter into important service to the Church.
There is no point in dwelling on our failures: what we must do is take a new look at the activities and the leadership that young people can bring to our parishes. Their enthusiasm and attitudes can be a breath of fresh air in our church life. Orthodoxy is a living experience and Her people are in transition: our secondary school-age young people will be its leaders in the future. Less ethnic, more a part of their countries and communities, more open to change and progress, they must feel that they are a real part of the Church and its work. Instead of losing a generation, the Church might win one!
What the Church — and you and I — must do is begin to see our young people as a valuable resource and as the leaders of tomorrow. Just as all parents want their children to be better than they are, so Orthodox adults should see this as the calling of our young people. We need to share responsibilities and spiritual life with them and treat them as co-workers in the Church. If we do this sincerely, we will see a generation for the future, not another lost generation. It is too late for the old "adult superiority" games: it is time to share our burdens with our young people and work together with them for the future of the Orthodox Church. The best may be yet to come!

SPIRITUALITY: AN ERRONEOUS PERCEPTION 

(Igumen Petr Meshcherinov) 

In December, 1998, the Patriarch of Moscow and the Holy Synod accepted a very important resolution concerning spiritual relationships, errors existing in this sphere of church life, and the necessity of overcoming them. This resolution is important not only in and of itself, but also because it testifies that our church is a living organism and, as it always has throughout its history, reacts in a reasoned and sensible manner to each distortion in the life of the Church.

Six years have now gone by and it is time to assess whether positive changes have taken place [as a result of the resolution]. Regrettably, the answer is “no.” The Synodal resolution, despite the fact that it clearly expresses will of the Patriarch and the Hierarchy, has not been implemented.  It should have been widely published in every diocese and its contents explained to the faithful from every ambon. It should have been made known to every faithful Orthodox Christian. This has not happened. To the contrary, the grinding wheel of "pseudo mystical guruism" gathers ever more force. People are lured into thinking that only what is spoken by or done by “elders” is actually Orthodox. Thus the spiritual life is reduced to the searching for these "elders" and to giving attention only to that which proceeds from their mouths. Often, however, what comes from them has no relationship at all to Christianity.

What is the matter here? Why has the most sound and timely resolution of the church authority not been received and implemented? Why have so few shared the concern of the hierarchy? Let us investigate all this in the light of the aforementioned document.

What is the norm of pastorship in the Church? Let us turn to Holy Scripture. The Lord gave His Apostles and their successors, the bishops, the authority to build and preserve the Church. This authority is not secular, not implemented with compulsive power. It is a grace-filled gift of service, to celebrate the Holy Mysteries, to maintain the faith and to indicate the true path of piety. This grace-filled gift is preserved in the Church and is transmitted in the Mystery of the Consecration of Bishops. Salvation is impossible without the Church, consequently, as Saint Theophan the Recluse says, it is necessary to be in union with it, and this means that it is necessary to have communion with its ministers, bishos of the Church. 

“He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me” (Luke 10:16) says the Lord. “He who receives any one whom I send receives me” (John 13:20). “As Thou (the Father)  sent me into the world, so I have sent them (the Apostles) into the world” (John 17:18). “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who well have to give account. Let them do this joyfully, and not sadly, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Hebrews 13:17), the Apostle writes. And so, through obedience to the pastors, we are in communion with the God-established order of Church life. 

This does not in any way mean, however, that the Church is divided into supervisors and subordinates (in the worldly sense). Before God we are all equal and we differ only in the degree of Church ministry, as Saint Silouan of Athos says, “There is not a church divided into teachers and pupils,” that is, a caste of teachers and a mass of silent listeners. All of us are the one Body of Christ, each one of us has a place in the Church, and all of us are co-workers with each other, together helping one another. When we thus come to Christ, in Him we discover salvation and the Heavenly Kingdom. Well does Apostle Peter speak of this, “So I exhort the presbyters  among you, as a fellow presbyter and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed: Tend to the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock. And where the chief shepherd is manifested, you will obtain the unfading crown of glory. Likewise you that are younger be subject to those who are older.  Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble....Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God's varied degree grace....that in everything God may be glorified through Christ Jesus. To Him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 5:1-5; 4:8-11).

This is the norm for the relationship of pastors and flocks. Everything has been said. I consider that every father-confessor must copy out these words in large print and read them daily. There is yet another place in the New Testament that all should harken to: "But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted," says the Lord (Matthew 23:8-12). These words of the Lord in no way contradict the church pastorship established by Him, but rather indicate that spirit in which it must be realized. Here are its characteristic indications, as the Holy Scripture speaks about it:

(1). A pastor is not a supervisor to a person, not a ruler, but a servant.
(2). Relationships of the pastor and flock are built exclusively on the basis of love and mutual respect.

(3). Finally, and this is the main point, the pastor cannot manifest pastorship from himself.

It is not his, it is Christ's (in this, we find the meaning of the Saviour's words cited above). Consequently, the pastor is obliged – and here we find the virtue of the pastor revealed – to help every soul, to teach about Christ and His Church, to help a Christian to come to the full measure of growth in Christ. These necessary virtues or skills recognise  that individuals are different, and that the Lord opens a way for each soul. The relationship of man and God is a great mystery, and a pastor, with God's help, must fit a key to the heart of each person in order that he may minister precisely to the persons  concrete external and internal situation –  giving what the Lord Himself wishes to give to that soul. One must not attempt to place any person into a common mold, and thrust upon him what is, perhaps, theoretically good and correct, but in the given situation moment, not appropriate.

Such is the pastoral norm. The distortions of it are instantly visible in the light. Let us note the most characteristic of these distortions. On the part of the pastor, there can be two main distortions:

(1). Incomprehension, insensitivity, ignorance and the circumstance indicated above – the pastor is not someone who is self-sufficient and self-dependent. He is a servant of Christ, a flexible and tactful instrument to His grace. Consequently, he must only and solely guide people  to the teaching of Christ and the Church. Unfortunately, pastors frequently teach people not Christianity, but what they understand as Christianity, that is, they substitute the servant [themselves] in place of God and the Church.

(2). The second error is the notion that the grace of the priesthood acts automatically, merely on the strength of the ordination. Yesterday he was a plain person, but today after ordination, the attitude that everything coming from the lips of the newly-beginning pastor is from the Holy Spirit. This is a most widely spread delusion (and not simply a delusion, but a distorted  behaviour emanating from it).

We must elucidate this. In the Church there is nothing automatic. Any mystery surmises a co-working of God and man, and is manifested according to its moral strengths. The Mystery of the Priesthood is no exception. We had stated that the task of the pastor is to teach people the teachings of the Church, and never his own notions about it, and a bringing together of the people with Christ. This is possible only in one case, when the pastor compels himself to mastering the Church teaching, not only in knowledge, but also in life when he himself has an experienced notion of the spiritual, Christian, Church life. Then the grace of the priesthood is revealed in him and brings forth an abundant result. Without moral toil grace, by itself, will do nothing. It will not "automatically" make an ignoramus into a wise man, a vainglorious man into a humble one, one who is greedy into a generous man. Yes, the Mystery will happen according to the strength of the empowerment of the Church, but in order to morally lead people, one must work very hard on the moral organization of one's life, in order to teach the Church's teaching one must master it as is proper. Unfortunately, the objective conditions of our times were the reason for the ordination of many people not fully ready for this, perhaps, not mature enough to understand what the service is that has been entrusted to them, and what it demands of them.

On the part of the flock, the following are the errors:

(1). In response to the notion of an "automatically acting" grace of the priesthood, there is born the notion of an "automatic" and "blind" obedience. It is reasoned in this manner: it is of no importance that the priest says one thing but lives in another way. What is important is that my faith in the strength of the grace of the priest's priesthood ushers God's will to me. This is a widely spread ideology and it is entirely not of the Gospel. The Lord did not say -- if of the two blind men the second one believes that the first one is not blind, then the first one will fall into the pit but the second one, through his faith, will not fall. No, the Lord said that both will fall into the pit. This in no manner means that one must judge the priests or go into an examination of their lives, and one has only to soberly respond to life and to remember that there is nothing "blind" in the Church. In particular, obedience naturally is born from normal relationships between pastor and flock, when they -- the relationships of mutual love and respect, when the pastor does not teach about himself and his opinion about the Church, the spiritual life, etc, but strives to bring people to Christ. Then, obedience brings its grace-filled fruit, then it is natural, and there can be no other talk about it. When the relationship of the older and the younger in the Church is not of the Gospel, then obedience becomes an object of speculation, it loses its spiritual meaning, and instead of a means to salvation, it becomes a slavish submission which only drives a person from the Lord.

2). But what is most important is what begets the abnormalcy of spiritual relationships -- the fear of freedom and responsibility. Where there is the Lord's Spirit, there freedom is, says Apostle Paul. Christianity granted people a great gift -- freedom. But, since freedom is impossible without a personal responsibility for one's own life, then it becomes heavy for many people. It is easier to shed it from oneself so that someone else could decide about it, it is easier to hide behind traditions, corporatism, rules, plans, etc, than to responsibly and consciously build one's own Christian life. Thus all the life of the flock is foisted upon the confessors. People, in place of freedom, want to receive a "guarantee of salvation." But a refusal of freedom is a refusal of Christianity, since it can be accomplished only personally, "under one's own responsibility." The demand begets a notion -- and here the immediate confessors cease to be co-sojourners, co-workers, advisors of Christians, but become their undivided rulers. Thereby, spiritual relationships go beyond the borders of Church order. Being even important, but still a part of the spiritual side of life, they illegally spread entirely upon it. Then, not only the entire Christian order becomes skewed, but life in general. This can be observed, for example, in "Orthodox" families when, frequently enough, the husband does not become the head of his wife, but the confessor, or when, let us say, in order to fulfil service obligations, it is necessary "to receive the confessor's blessing." And now, the husband or the supervisor at work depend upon completely extraneous and outrageous factors, while being puzzled: what sort of "orthodoxy" is this? Conflicts arise on this soil and families even fall apart, and the spiritual relationships become manipulations.

How is one not to allow any of this? How are these relationships nevertheless to be normally built? What is the place of a confessor in a Christian's life?

      First of all, something general must be said. The task of a confessor is not to work a person over, not to make of him his own copy, a "clone," but with greater love and respect to the individuality to give Christ a place in his life so that a person, having defeated, by the Holy Spirit, the sin living in him, becomes himself, such as Christ wants to see him -- unique, free, responsible, conscientious, a developed individual. The confessor must teach him to discern where the grace of the Holy Spirit is, where the natural course of things is, where passion and sin are, so that all this might not become jumbled in a person's head, mangling his life. This is an entire educative process.

In particular, a confessor is needed most of all at the beginning when a person just enters the Church and perceives the rudiments of spiritual life. Here, the confessor is a thoughtful guardian and teacher. The aim of this teaching is singular, to give the beginning Christian the correct direction of growth so that he becomes precisely churchly, not deviating to "near" and "pseudo" church substitutions, not to false ascetic rigorism, not to relativism, etc. Then, after the beginning, the relationship changes somewhat: they become as if more "equal", not in the sense of familiarity or revocation of the priestly rank, but internally. The person will be mature, he will have more freedom, more trust, and less tutelage, a smaller quantity of rules, advice, exhortations, etc.

     Perhaps here is revealed our main trouble. I observe spiritual relationships of people in our Church and am amazed at how immature they are! No one wishes to mature. Neither the flock which seems to be satisfactorily "stuck" in Church infancy, looking at the world through the eyes of its confessor, at that time when the Lord wants us to become precisely ourselves, to grow in the measure of Christ. Neither the confessors for whom it is uncomfortable to see next to them people who have matured. They somehow do not know how to treat them. It seems that many pastors have to see their flock exclusively in the form of unreasonable children with whom one can speak "condescendingly," in a language of commands, admonitions, lectures. In all of this I see some sort of mutual disrespect and a forgetting of what is the main thing -- that the Church is not a kindergarten where there are authoritarian educators and deliberately foolish children, but is the Body of Christ, that is, the spiritual organic union in Christ of mature people who have come in their own measure, each one having his own church serving from God. It seems to me that it is indispensable to begin to realize this.

      Also, let us touch upon another question about "elders." Young eldership remains one of the most painful problems of today's Church life. There is an ideological basis for this. Many with full seriousness affirm that "Orthodox is true only because it has elders." To find an "elder" is the main "spiritual" task of many Orthodox. For them the opinion of the "elders" is the highest authority, much greater than the authority of Holy Scripture, not even speaking of "some sort of opinions" of the hierarchy. One might as well sound a serious alarm concerning this epidemic of "gerontology." What is the reason for this phenomenon? 

We saw that in the Church there is a God-established hierarchy, in whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is entrusted to illumine people with the Mysteries, to teach them the truths of the faith and morality. This teaching comes from the person and by the authorization of the Church; it does not bind or crush freedom, and is accomplished in a spirit of love. Pastorship is advice, example, a mutual movement of the elderly and the youth in the Church toward Christ. And, it would seem, that this is very much, but people find this little. Simply pastors of the Church and pastoral guidance is not enough for them. They want something greater and higher -- elders. Some Orthodox feel some sort of actual loss and incompleteness in their spiritual life without elders. Some strive to "verify" in the elder the advice of their confessor. All this is nourished by a sizeable number of corresponding "near Orthodox" literature.

Who are these elders in actual fact? An elder simply speaking is a person who has attained holiness and is worthy from God the gifts of discernment and perspicaciousness. There always were few real elders (and now, judging by everything, there are none), but many books about them have remained. In reading these books and seeing the salutariness and abundant results of eldership, people naturally strive to acquire something similar in their lives. Searchings begin, according to external signs: a large white beard, or an emphasized ascetic (seen by everyone) model of life, or a great crowd of women or apocalyptic predictions with a certain opposition to the Hierarchy, etc. A demand begets a notion and "elders" of such a type are found without difficulty.

      Why are they necessary? Firstly, as I have already said, to remove from oneself responsibility for oneself, to find an elder, to believe wholeheartedly in him and to think about or care about nothing. Entry into paradise is guaranteed. Secondly, simply put, to know the future. As a rule no one goes to an elder with the question of how to be saved, because this is completely clear in the Gospel, and any parish priest can in one way or another answer this question satisfactorily. An elder is not asked: to get married or to go to a monastery? To change one's living quarters or to sell them? To undergo an operation? To start a business or, to the contrary, to get rid of it quickly, etc, etc.? Of course they ask the elders if the end of the world is soon and what are the signs of antichrist. And here, by the way, there is a complete manifestation of the most real ecumenism. In other religions, for the deciding of these very questions, there exist gurus, sheikhs, shamans, lamas, tsadikim, druids, etc. An unbelieving person will go to a fortuneteller and telepathist. Of course, I am far from depriving these vital questions their significance, but when they appear as the main thing in life, then the Church becomes magic for people, and the vector of spiritual life is directed so that "at the expense of God" it would be good "here and now."

      Moreover it is necessary to note one essential difference of an elder from a simple priest of the Church. If the latter ideally does nothing other than only bringing the Church's teaching to a person in his concrete situation, the elder acts on the basis of some sort of personal charisma, and caution is necessary here. Saint Seraphim of Sarov said that when he spoke from himself and not from the Holy Spirit, there were errors. Saint Silouan of Athos, in citing this phrase of Saint Seraphim, wrote that the errors can be small, but there can also be large ones. Thus the Church commands, in general, to have great sobriety in any contact with something personal. But in our times there is no sobriety. As if that were not enough, there is completely evident a reverse process of mythologising everything that is connected with "elders." As an example, in the biography of one of them we read that he wallowed in vice, drank vodka, behaved like a hooligan, etc. Instead of explaining this as being the upbringing and, let us say, a "simpleton's" organization of this person, all those qualities "are elevated" and almost ascribed to the Holy Spirit.

It would seem as if -- let's think, there is nothing special. Such a "childlike" perception (but, I will note, in no way in a Gospel sense) of the spiritual life. But in Actual fact there are far more serious things behind this than simply childishness, immaturity. At the basis of "gerontophilia" lies an incorrect notion of God, of God's will and the relationship of man and God. I point this out to your attention because it is extremely important.

      Gerontophiles consider that God's will in relationship to the concrete person is, on the one hand, something predestined, earlier "programmed," and, on the other hand, something completely mysterious and that is necessary "to foresee." And so, in order to guess this "computerized" will, to get it right, an elder is needed, who is an elder precisely he possesses a certain secret knowledge of this most mysterious "will." We have guessed it and everything is going "swimmingly;" the children are not ill, and business is prospering. And if it has not been guessed, there everything is bad. And, worse still, to doubt the "mysterious knowledge" of the elder is total ruin. This is a completely non-Christian, magical, pagan attitude. It reduces our religion from the "good tidings" about God about the loving Father, about Christ the Saviour into "ill tidings", that Christianity is a minefield which cannot be crossed without a field engineer. The elder is the field engineer. The Orthodox Church does not teach this. God's will is not something programmed, automatic, what has to be "calculated." It is also not some kind of esoteric mystery. "I have spoken openly to the world...I have said nothing secretly" (John 18:20) said the Lord. On the contrary, God revealed to us His own will in Christ, in Holy Scripture, in the Church. The earthly life of a person is defined by a personal relationship of the heart, the soul toward God. God's will is recognized from the sum of the circumstances, from the commands of the conscience, from the disposition of the heart, from choices with sin. Undoubtedly, pastoral advice is appropriate here -- but advice precisely, in the spirit of the Gospel, the Church, but not at all some sort of false-mystical guru-like "guessing." If we do not take this into account, then our inner life ceases to be strictly spiritual, Christian but acquires a certain even occult colouration.

And so, let us sum it up. Spiritual relationships must be an expression of the following church principles: we are the Church, the Body of Christ; together we mature in God. The older in the Church help the younger both by the giving of God's grace, and the examples of life and lesson. But spiritual relationships, if they are correct, never hide the One for Whose sake they exist. Like everything in the Church, they are one of the means of Christian life, and they cannot substitute by themselves its aim which is Christ.

In conclusion, I return the reader's attention to the Synodal resolution about pastorship and confessorship with the wish that it be read and accepted in the way the Church wishes it.

How do the 10 Commandments help us in daily life

QUESTION: How do the Then Commandments help us to deal with life's unexpected encounters:

REPLY:

It is true that life is unpredictable, and that in the 21^st century, we are bound to encounter the unexpected more often than would be the case in earlier centuries. New knowledge, new ideas and new technologies are the order of the day. Nevertheless, a proper understanding of the Ten Commandments does help prepare us for all this, because its precepts are constant.

The first thing to remember is that love is greater than law. Apostle Paul reminds us that no one can become righteous by means of law but by the quality of our lives aided by God’s grace.

How then do we actually understand the Ten Commandments? We should see them as a law of love. One could fulfil most of the Commandments because of a fear of punishment, but that is really self-serving and self-centred. One could fulfil the Commandments as an obligation, and that is good for society, but has no real spiritual value, and does not actually prepare us for the unexpected.

Let us look at the most difficult of these Commandments, the one that is hardest to fulfil: the Tenth. This is the longest and most revealing of the Commandments. Do not covet (i.e., be jealous and envious of) anything that your neighbour has. This Commandment can only be truly fulfilled by those who follow Christ’s commandment, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” If we truly fulfilled this, instead of feeling envy, we would rejoice that our neighbour has these things. But then, we would not even think of stealing, committing murder, or any of those other things which would cause pain or suffering to anyone else. And if we were to fulfil the other part of Christ’s commandment to “Love the Lord our God with our whole being,” we also would not violate those commandments which tell us not to betray God. Then, the Ten Commandments would become a recipe for growing in love, compassion and care for not only our neighbours, but for the world which God has created and gifted to us. Taking care of the environment would then also be an act of love for neighbours and for God, and for future generations not yet born.

The main direction of the Ten Commandments is to guide us away from egoism, self-love and self-indulgence. It is to help us resist the counterfeits that Satan and the advertising industry try to offer us in place of an authentic life and the real gifts that God has given us. Among those gifts are our neighbours.

In every encounter we have, if we are guided by the Ten Commandments, we are called upon to resolve our reaction by the measure of the Ten Commandments. Will my reaction cause pain and suffering to others? Will my reaction in someway betray love for God? If my reaction will hurt others, then it IS a betrayal of God. What is true justice? It is certainly not expressed in “punishment.” It is expressed in accepting the reality that other people are different from us, but that they still deserve to be recognized as equal human beings who suffer the same as we and who rejoice the same as we. We can love our neighbour as ourselves only when we come fully to grips with the reality that what makes us hurt also makes them hurt, that what causes us suffering also causes them suffering, that what gives us peace and joy also gives them peace and joy; when we learn that our reaction to every new challenge of humanity carries with it consequences not only for us, but for others as well. We learn that violence breeds violence, that our greed and self-centred consuming may deprive future generations of the basic necessities of life, that everyone has a right to life, peace and the enjoyment of life, no matter that they are different from us and that we do not understand them. By this measure, we should assess all new technologies, and every unexpected event or thing that we encounter in life.

These measures drawn from the proper understanding of the Ten Commandments do give us a guide and preparation to encounter and face the unfamiliar, the unexpected and the inexplicable. As a rule of thumb, we can say that if our action is selfish and egoistic it is sin, but if it is unselfish and caring, it likely is not.

In Christ, Vladiko Lazar.

Archbishop Lazar Puhalo A WORD ABOUT SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATION

There is a certain moral content to beauty. We do not mean the kind of moralism which is purely religious. The appreciation of and love for beauty is a quality which enhances our humanity and softens our perspectives. Perhaps this is what Dostoevsky had in mind when he said that "beauty will save the world." When we speak about supplementary education we are generally referring to art, art appreciation, music, dance and culture. All of these things have to do with the true meaning of virtue. Virtue (arete in Greek) does not refer to an ascetic mode of life but rather to an aesthetic perspective on life. If a sculptor creates a beautiful sculpture in order to make money from it, then it is business. However, if he is seeking to use his skills to create a thing of beauty then it is virtue. Just as the sharpness of a knife is its virtue so the development and use of our natural gifts and abilities in a creative way is the true meaning of virtue. In all the forms of supplementary education which we mentioned above, the eyes, ears and mind are being trained to see what is not always obvious and to hear subtleties, and to allow them to enhance the mind. Education in these higher forms of culture has an impact on our entire lives, and also can impact on our relationships with other human beings. From a spiritual point of view, the asceticism (training) of the eye begins with the surface appearance of things but takes us deeper into their inner beauty and meaning. This can be seen in the appreciation of canonical iconography, for example, and understanding its deeper meaning and revelation as opposed to the westernized paintings that are often called icons. Training ourselves to see and hear beauty expands our lives and if it is approached properly can also help us to see the inner beauty in other human beings. This is, perhaps, one of the greatest deficits in modern societies. We become so utilitarian and so used to technology that the enrichment that comes from having a deep sense of the beautiful is often lost to us. When we cannot see the beauty in other human beings it becomes more difficult for us to have compassion. Utilitarian education does not always prepare us to grasp the greatness of the ecological catastrophe that is transforming our earth. I would like to submit that a major part of the problem is precisely that we have become utilitarian and technologically minded and we do not really comprehend the beauty in the very life support system that we call "our environment." It is largely through supplementary education that we gain a richer and deeper appreciation for the ecosystem that makes our lives possible. So long as the earth is seen primarily as a source of wealth, material possessions and resources to be exploited for our enjoyment, we cannot respond in a rational manner to its destruction. In addition to enhancing our culture and our humanity, supplementary education in those things which we refer to as the arts can also deepen our appreciation of other human beings and the rest of the creation with which we must share this earth. The person who has accomplished this may come to realise the oneness of mankind, and his unity with the rest of creation. When one has sincerely encountered the energy and the beauty that encompass us he may have an increased capacity to love both creation and mankind and, to minister to them in a compassionate love. He may be able to help heal the wounds of perception, the broken images of life which skew our regard for our world and for humanity itself. If supplementary education in the understanding and appreciation of the beauty of the higher forms is to have its most complete impact upon us, it should not neglect the perception of spiritual beauty. We are not speaking here only about religion, but the sharpening of our virtues and the enhancement of our capacity to love, to cherish, and to nourish the beauty of the created world and of mankind. When we learn through the study of art to see beauty beyond the surface, then we can perhaps also see beyond the surface of our human tragedies, of the reborn nihilism which spawns today’s terrorism and war. We must learn to see beyond these phenomena into the true beauty that lies at the heart of mankind. The capacity to do this is greatly enhanced by a supplementary education in the higher art forms. One is reminded of the words of Paul of Tarsus, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. " In the early 1960s, when I was a student at the University, we had much unrest amongst the students. Part of what concerned us was the direction of the education we were receiving. The teaching of Humanities had a low priority, and we were being taught what we described as a "materialist curriculum." It had occurred to us that the building of a culture and a solid society depended on more than professional training and equipping ourselves for higher income levels. When people speak about "a standard of living" far too often they are speaking about the kind of house and automobile one can afford to purchase. The concept of a "standard of living" is so often limited to the measure of material possessions and does not include the important matter of "the quality of life." The quality of life cannot be measured only in material possessions. It is true that when people do not have sufficient food, adequate shelter and clothing, this impacts on the quality of their lives. However, the quality of life is also dependent upon things that are more abstract. When we speak about supplementary education, we have in mind art, music, poetry, classical dance and other forms of culture which are classified as "the arts." All of these things add to the fullness and quality of life, enrich our culture and strengthen our society. There are other subjects which occupy supplementary education, however I suggest that there is a need for more education in the appreciation and understanding of those things which add a higher dimension to life and society. There can be little doubt that a nation is enriched by a sense of higher culture, but our personal lives, the quality of our interhuman relations and our regard for creation itself are expanded and elevated by our education in the beauty of all the arts, and also of the sciences all of which measure for growth and a maturity as sentient human beings gifted by our Creator with a capacity for the love of beauty and for compassion. Sincere compassion is surest mark of true humanity, and it arises in us especially when we have sharpened our spiritual vision sufficiently to see the beauty in every human person. Archbishop Lazar.

NOUS, Gnosis, Theoria and Theosis

Nous: The Concord of Gnosis,
Theoria and Theosis

The Western Understanding of Nous.

According to the 18th century German Philosopher, Emmanuel Kant, reality is divided between phenomena and noumena, that is, the realm of time, space and matter and its relation, if any, to the unknown realm of the spirit. All knowledge is rational, the result of the synthesis of a priori concepts of the reason (Erkenntnis) and “the manifold of sense perception” or “experience.” “In the order of time,” he declared, “we have no knowledge antecedent to experience, and with experience all our knowledge begins” (“De Zeit nach geht also keine Erkenntnis in uns vor der Erfahrung vorher, und mit dieser fangt alle”) (1).

For Kant, the apex of modern philosophy, the quest for “knowledge” is the quest for theoretical or rational certainty. Ironically, his enterprise was initiated by the very thing he undertook to analyze — reason (Vernunft). He commenced the examination of this “problem” without a “critique” of the principles of ratiocination inherited from the history of Western philosophy, and without resorting to the Biblical God, the Christ of Faith, and the wisdom of the Church fathers.

Nevertheless, Kant, as so many of his contemporaries, understood that the philosophical study of knowledge was insufficient to assure happiness and hope. He therefore posited God (the source and assurance of them), immortality of the soul (the reward for virtue), and free will (the ability to make decisions concerning the others). For Kant, the moral order depended on the existence of God, an idea which he may have learned from Voltaire’s proclamation, “If there is no God we will need to invent one.” His book, The Critique of Practical Reason, was a serious attempt to provide a moral law contingent upon subjective principles.

If nothing else, Kant led European intellectuals to the conclusion that if there was truth it was not to be found (if it was to be found at all) in phenomena, but in the self, that is, confidence in feeling and intuition. Beauty inspired the introspection that led to apprehension of truth — not only philosophy, but music, art and poetry. The Romantics had deceived themselves, thinking their subjectivism was the antidote to Kantian Idealism. The Romantics were as much the servants of logic as the rationalists they ostensibly despised.

Whatever label is applied to modern thinkers, it is certain that their mind-set prevented them from appreciating the fact that acquisition of truth depends on the nature and condition of man which, according to the Scriptures and Fathers is fallen; and that his recovery — including his “mind” (2) — is impossible without grace and faith. Human nature needs to be “reborn,” something modernity has never understood. Among some philosophers and psychologists, there was flirtation with the idea of “noetic knowledge,” but it came to nothing. They never understood it. Thus, in 1902, the American thinker, William James, sought to define it — as is the way of the post-patristic West. He clumsily described it as “states of insight into the depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. There are illuminations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain, and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority.” He could not help presenting Nous in familiar conventions of thought.

Kant and the Western theological and philosophical tradition were right about the noetic sphere, but not for the right reason. A false concept of God and crypto-Greek anthropology accounts for their ignorance. The Nous or intellectus are not anti-rational, but supra-rational, the highest faculty of the soul whose very purpose is to communicate with God and spiritual things. The Nous is not the function of the soul which formulates abstract concepts by which to reach a conclusion achieved by deductive thinking; rather Nous is able to comprehend spiritual or noetical realities on account of the soul’s reconstitution and its relationship to God in Christ (2).

Moreover, the “mind” has its own form of cognition — Gnosis, that is, the intuitive or immediate apprehension of things spiritual and divine. Gnoseology is not epistemology which is concerned with the nature and scope of human knowledge; nor with the metaphysics it presupposes. Gnosis is the “knowledge” of the “greater mysteries” of existence, divine and human. It is the action of the dispassionate Nous in the state of meditating on spiritual truths, especially God Himself (Theoria). It a practice resulting from prayer, fasting and worship, involving a culture of “watchfulness” (nepsis) or “guarding the mind” or “heart” against the malignancy of sensual images and illusions — always under the grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The contemplative achieves success only in a state of “quiet” (hesychia) whether within himself or the world around him. In this practice the mind also has the assistance of reason; it acts as the sentinel against the invading sensory and illusory images. The end of this spiritual process is complete transformation of human nature, that is, deification (theosis) or salvation.

The Scriptural Concept of Nous

Let us see what the Scriptures say about the Nous (mind) (3) — or what is the same thing — the pneuma (spirit) or kardia (heart) — sometimes rendered into English as “understanding.” They are synonyms. In Deuteronomy 6: 6, God commands the Israelites to keep what He has taught them “with all their kardia...”

Let us not forget Psalm 50:10, “Create a clean kardian within me, O God, and renew a right pneuma in my inward parts.” We recall, too, the allusion to the inner man mentioned in Mark 2:8, “And immediately when Jesus perceived in his pneuma that they reasoned within themselves. Why do you reason these things in your kardias? ” Luke tells us that Mary exclaimed, “my pneuma has rejoiced in God my Saviour (Lk.1:47). The Lord described the unbelievers or “fools” to be “slow of kardias” (Lk.24: 24); and others He was able to “opened their ton noun” (Lk.24:25).

Saint Paul warns the Romans that they will escape the world only by the renewing of their Nous (Rm.12:2). In 1Cor.1:10, he urged Christians “to be joined together in the same noi;” or, in the words of Saint Ignatios of Antioch, “an undivided Nous” (Epistle to the. Ephesians, 20). In that way, the Apostle observes, the believer’s Nous becomes “fruitful” (1Cor.14:14). God, he admonishes them, “shall judge the secrets of your kardias” (14:25). It shall be worse for him if he ignores his election in order to “walk in the vanity of the noos as the Gentiles do.” To the Philippians, the Apostle writes, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, shall keep your kardias and thoughts (noemata) through Christ Jesus” (Phl.4:7), etc.

Christians must always be aware that they are not ordinary men and women, but rather “commendations” to the world, an “epistle,” so to speak, not written with ink, but with the Holy Spirit who writes “on the fleshy tables of the kardia” (2Cor.3:3). Consequently, they have a Nous access to spiritual (noetical) realities not available to the “natural man” who cannot receive the things of the Spirit. As a member of the Church, the believer has the Spirit and therefore “the noun of Christ” (1Cor.2:16);

Patristic Understanding of Nous

Because all human beings have been created in the image of God, they likewise possess a soul with the faculties of Nous (heart, spirit), will, and reason. According to Pseudo-Makarios, “mind” or “heart” is “the eye of the soul” (Spiritual Homilies 6: 8). Also, “the heart governs and reigns over the whole bodily organism, and when grace possesses the ranges of the heart, it reigns over all its members and its thoughts. For there, in the heart, is the mind and all the faculties of the soul” (15:20). Elsewhere, he draws on a Platonic metaphor to identify “the mind as charioteer, harnessing the chariot of the soul as it holds the reigns of its thoughts” (40: 5).

In Paradise, the Nous of Adam was able to ascend to the Theoria of God by exercise of his pristine will, illumined by divine grace. We shall never know how close he might have come to the unapproachable God. Obedient first parents would have been deified and, if we may believe the 14th century Byzantine writer, Kallistos Angelikoudi, the range of the sinless soul would have been unlimited, infinite. Put another way, deification is the result of “illuminating energy” which is everlasting (4). Saint Gregory of Nyssa says that deification also involves endless learning. The greater the nearness of the soul (hence, the Nous) to God, the more profound and full is its knowledge (Gnosis).

It is this process of infinite growth to which the Christian seeks to revive. The major obstacle to salvation is the condition of the Nous. The “mind was at first pure and saw its Master, being in honour,” wrote Pseudo-Makarios, “but, now, because of its banishment (from Paradise), is clothed with shame, the eyes of the heart being blinded, that it may not behold the glory, which our father, Adam, beheld before his disobedience” (Spiritual Homilies, 45: 1). Then, Christ came and they, who follow Him, have cleansed their souls and body and received their sight (ib., 3). He is the “noetic Moses” who has delivered us, the new Israel, from “the bondage of darkness, for the Egyptian spirits” (ib., 47:7).

When the mind is completely freed from the passions, writes Saint Maximus the Confessor, “its journey is straight ahead to the contemplation of created things and from there to the knowledge of the Holy Trinity” (5). There can be no progress where the heart is impure, that is, dominated by the passions. The degree of advance depends on the extent to which the passions have retreated. Victory for the soul relies upon “guarding the mind” or “inner watchfulness” (nepsis), declares Saint Philotheos of Sinai in his Forty Texts of Watchfulness (6). This “noetic work is the true philosophy.” He cites Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart (kardian) with utmost diligence, for on this depends the outcome of life” (ib., 9). He urges the struggler (“initiated mind”) keep away from sensual pleasures and to acquire virtues (ib., 27) (7).

If the mind or heart is to be protected from or purged of the passions, watchfulness demands “purest prayer” and “tears” before it may receive “warmth of heart,” “illumination and the vision of heavenly things” (8). Saint Peter of Damascus adds that “the counsel of the holy fathers is that during prayer,” we must keep the mind free from all shapes or colours and concentrate on the words uttered.” Furthermore, part of the “noetic work” is hope in the Lord, a hope that separates from the love of material things. They bring evil and evil darkens the mind (9). He also reminds us that, along with watchfulness, the remembrance of death protects the mind against the influences of the devil.

Saint Peter advises that “every bodily activity — by which I mean fasting, vigils, psalmody, spiritual reading, stillness (hesychia) — is directed towards the purification of the mind (Nous).” But purification can never be achieved without “inward grief” (10). Within the struggle for purity of the mind comes the power of Gnosis, the knowledge about which the holy Fathers, Scriptures and Gospels speak. With Gnosis the mind outlaws forgetfulness and ignorance. This knowledge reminds it of the difference between the soul’s goal and diabolic pitfalls that await the unwatchful mind and its faculty of reason. Dispassion (by which the mind has emerged from the realm of matter and material things and the tranquil encounter of noetic realities), Gnosis brings to the mind purification of the mind, that is, contemplation (Theoria), the anticipation of union with God in the heavenly Kingdom.

Here is the true meaning of theology. It is not a science, the systematizing of religious ideas, a rational explication of revelation, but rather to make the mind divine — as far as that is possible — a transcendent state where God Himself might instruct it. In other words, contemplative, therefore, wholly “mystical” (11). The theologian must be pure of heart under which he receives the Gnosis by which he may contemplate the Divine. He is, according to Saint John Cassian, “a man seized with the urge to have knowledge of God and to be pure in mind devotes all his gathered energy to this one task. While they still live in the corruption of the flesh, they give themselves to that service in which they will persevere when that corruption has been laid aside. And already they come in sight of what the Lord and Saviour held out when He said, `Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God’." (12). Thus, theology is finally the work of the Nous, not reason.

ENDNOTES

1. Kritik der Reinen Vernunft. Leipzig, 1920, Einleitung, 35.

2.. What Saint Ilias the Presbyter calls the “initiated” (epoptes), Gnomic Anthology, 63 (Philokalia, vol. 3). As Saint Gregory the Theologians has it, “to philosophize about God” is not for all men, but only those “who have been previously examined, and are past masters of contemplation and who have been previously purified in soul and body, or, at the very least, are being purified…free from all external outward defilement…unconfused by vexatious or erring images…and who discerns the straight road to the Divine” (First Theological Oration. 3).

3. In Latin, intellectus (commonly, understanding) is the equivalent of Nous. So it is rendered in Philokalia (London, 1979- ), the G.E.H Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware translation. It is a dimension of the anima (soul) which is sometimes a synonym for heart (cor), spirit (spiritus), mind (mens). For example, custodiat corda vestra et intelligentsia vestras in Christo Iesu (Phil.4:7). Among the Greek Fathers, some prefer Nous, some kardia, others pneuma. Whichever their choice, the meaning is virtually the same: the action of inner man, the human spiritual centre, the force within the soul determines his understanding, man’s contact with noetic reality, and with grace (uncreated energy) of the Holy Spirit, the instrument of his ontological regeneration, body and soul. It is always supra-rational. The word “noetic” or “noetical” is the adjective of Nous.

4. On Union with God and the Life Theoria, 3 (www.greekorthodoxchurch.org).

5. The Four Hundred Chapters on Love I, 86 (in Saint Maximus the Confessor, Selected Writings. Trans. by G.C. Berthold. New York, 1985).

6. Philokalia (vol. 3). He cites Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart (kardian) with utmost diligence, for on this depends the outcome of life” (ib., 9).

7. In his Gnomic Anthology, Ilyas the Presbyter states that reason assists the mind in its combat with the passions; but if its warnings are ignored, reason becomes a “thorn in the flesh” (Philokalia, vol. 3), 50.

8. Theophanes the Monk, Ladder of Divine Graces, p. 67 (Philokalia [vol. 3]).

9. A Treasury of Divine Knowledge, pp. 88, 102 (Philokalia, vo.3).

10. Ib., p. 119.

11. The theologian is a mystes (initiated) who is alone worthy to contemplate God and spiritual things. Theology is mystikos.

12. Conference I, 10 (John Cassian: Conferences. Trans. by C. Luibhed. New York, 1985.

*It should be noted that St Makarios of Egypt did not write the Spiritual Homilies, and so far as we know, he never wrote anything. The "Saying of St. Makarios" were known not to be authentic.