01.26.10
On the Teaching of The Church
In a comment1 over on his blog, Fr Stephen made this statement:
We should all be careful not to be in too much of a hurry about theological things. The point, always, is to truly know God. We should not hold doctrine as an opinion – a thing to be proved or argued. We should work and pray towards perceiving doctrine as a “verbal icon of Christ” (to use G. Florovsky’s phrase). In approach a dogma of the Church we should move with fear and trembling, and beg to know the mystery which has been given to us. Such knowledge changes us, works salvation within us (to some degree as we pray and fast, etc.).
The longer I am Orthodox, the less likekly I am to engage in apologetics with non-Orthodox folks, much less to debate theology. I am happy (when asked) to answer any questions I can, and direct those I can’t answer to a source for an answer. But even for the questions I can’t answer, I don’t fret or worry that I can’t answer them, especially questions about why we believe something. There is no “why”–save that it is the teaching of the church. For me this is enough.
Frankly, I have to struggle hard just to do the simple things: “Remember God. Say your prayers. Go to Church.”2
1-The post itself is worth a read and has little to do specifically with the comment I’m quoting.
2- This is the advice Fr Tom Hopko’s mother reportedly said to him when he left for seminary.
