On Conservatives and Liberals
Chapter 29 from Patristic Theology
by Father John Romanides
In their mudslinging campaign, the opponents of the
hesychast revival have now called the supporters of this
tradition conservative. But what does the word conservative
mean in the West? In the West, a conservative is someone
who still identifies the Bible with Gods revelation to mankind
and the world, because in the old days Protestants and
Roman Catholics believed in the literal inspiration of Holy
Scripture. In other words, they believed that Christ dictated
the Bible word for word to the prophets and writers of the
gospels by means of the Holy Spirit, so that the writers of
the Bible were like scribes who wrote down whatever they
heard the Holy Spirit say.
But now Biblical criticism has come along and discredited
this line of thought, dividing those in the Protestant world
into conservative and liberal camps. For example, the
Lutherans are divided into conservative and liberal factions.
In America, there are separate Lutheran churches one
church for liberals, and the church of the Missouri Synod
for conservatives. One faction does not accept the Bible as
revelation on absolute terms, while the other faction does.
One can also observe the same phenomenon with the Baptists.
The liberal Baptists do not accept the Holy Scripture as
literally inspired revelation, while the others embrace it as
revelation that is inspired word for word. You can also find
the same division among the Methodists. In fact, this split
between liberals and conservatives over the issue of Holy
Scripture can be seen in all the Protestant denominations
in America.
Now, ask yourself whether this division can be applied
to Orthodox tradition. Are there conservative Fathers and
liberal Fathers with respect to the Bible? Is there a single
Church Father who teaches the literal inspiration of Holy
Scripture? Is there a single Church Father who identifies
the Holy Scripture with the experience of theosis itself? No,
there is not one, because Gods revelation to mankind is
the experience of theosis. In fact, since revelation is the
experience of theosis, an experience that transcends all
expressions and concepts, the identification of Holy Scripture
with revelation is, in terms of dogmatic theology, pure
heresy.
Can someone who accepts this Patristic teaching on theosis
be characterized as conservative, based on the split over
Scripture in the Protestant world? When liberal Protestants
hear about this Patristic principle, they say, Oh yes, thats
liberalism! while conservative Protestants say, No, its
heresy! In other words, when we follow the Fathers, we
Orthodox are heretics as far as conservative Protestants are
concerned.
You may well ask, who are the Orthodox liberals and
the Orthodox conservatives? They are those who do theology
in a way that corresponds to the theology of Protestant
liberals and conservatives. This is the reason why certain
theologians in Greece have been divided into liberal and
conservatives camps. The liberals follow liberal Protestants
on these subjects while the conservatives follow their
conservative counterparts.
But can we classify Patristic tradition using such
characterizations and buzzwords? Of course not. Nevertheless,
a hesychast theologian of the Eastern Church will be viewed
as a liberal in the West, because he refuses to identify the
written text of Holy Scripture, including its sayings and
concepts, with revelation.
Since revelation is the experience of theosis, it is beyond
comprehension, expression, and conceptualization. This
means that the labels conservative or liberal should not
be applied to those who adhere to Orthodox tradition.
Based on what is meant by revelation, the Fathers are neither
liberals nor conservatives. Simply put, there are Church
Fathers who are saints of the Church who have only reached
illumination and there are saints of the Church who have
also reached theosis and are more glorious than the former
class of saints.
This is the Patristic tradition either you attain to
illumination or you attain to theosis once you have already
passed through illumination. Orthodox tradition is nothing
other than this curative course of treatment through which
the nous is purified, illumined, and eventually glorified
together with the entire man, if God so wills. Therefore, is
there such a thing as an illumined liberal or an illumined
conservative in this context? Of course not. You are either
illumined or you are not. You have either reached theosis
or you have not. You have either undergone this treatment,
or you have not. Apart from these distinctions, there are
no others.
From Patristic Theology - The University Lectures of Father John Romanides (Thessaloniki, Greece: Uncut Mountain Press, 2008), pp. 108-111. This book is distributed in North America
by Uncut Mountain Supply. Posted April 29, 2008.
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