Part II of the Western Series: True Love Makes Truly Human

How Western Beliefs Changed the Original Gospel Message

… True Love Makes Truly Human …

with the blessing of her spiritual father

Whenever our parish priest addresses the Sunday School, he reviews the writing on the scroll held by St. Paisios in his icon. Fully in line with the early Church Fathers, 20^th century St. Paisios the Athonite, taught that love and humility is the frequency in which God works (Greek: «Αγάπη και ταπείνωση· σ’ αυτή την συχνότητα εργάζεται ο Θεός»). In other words, the three ‘Persons’ of the Holy Trinity relate to one another in perfect love and humility. God also relates to Mankind* with perfect love and humility. This is also what is required of Man* when he relates to God and his fellow men. It is no accident that “The first of all the commandments is … you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…’ And the second, like it, is … ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31). Because of His profound Humility and abundant Love for us, God gave Man of His own divine attributes when He formed him, so that Mankind could share in God’s own divinity.

St. Paisios, the Athonite
“Love and Humility; this is the frequency in which God works.”

In God’s Image as Self-Determination (Absolute Freedom or Free Will)

God is completely free in His actions, and He gave to Man free will and the ability to act freely.¹ Some may argue that no one is completely free, for all are limited by at least some circumstances over which they have no control, such as their race, their innate physical limitations or their intellectual capacity; but freedom from things like slavery, poverty, or physical and cognitive challenges, were not relevant in the Garden of Eden; nor will they be relevant in the afterlife, for such restrictions will not follow us into eternity. Even in the here and now regardless of our personal circumstances, there is one absolute freedom that we all share in equal abundance: how we choose to respond to God.

According to St. Maximus the Confessor, “in His love, God does not wish to force anyone, neither into good nor evil. In return, He does not expect from us blind obedience, but love. Since God is Love, it is only in our freedom that we can be assimilated to God through our Love for Him.” This means that God does not want our mindless (blind) or forced obedience, which is slavery. God wants to share His divinity with us through our free obedience to Him. Free obedience is the fruit of love and humility. We do not obey because we must, but because love motivates us and humility enables us. This type of obedience is like that of the eager pupil for her kind and gentle teacher, or the trusting child for his loving father. Such obedience is not driven by necessity or fear, but by love. By freely obeying their beloved role models, the pupil eventually becomes a superb teacher, the child eventually becomes a wonderful parent, and we, by freely obeying God through reciprocated love and humility, are eventually assimilated to Him, and become Godlike.

Anyone who has fallen in love knows how wonderful it feels to love and to be loved. Finding the ‘right’ life partner is something almost everyone wants, believing that if they succeed in this, they will be happy for the rest of their lives. But once this partner is found, one must exert effort with commitment to make the relationship work and grow. This means that love is much more than a mere sentiment; it is also committed activity that requires a measure of humility. It is no different with God, the only exception being that He already knows us through and through; He already divinely, radically and unconditionally loves us regardless of our shortcomings; and He continuously does everything He can (without forcing us) to get our attention. If we in turn wish to get to know the “lover of mankind,” the rest is up to us. As Jesus promised, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you [emphasis mine]” (Mathew 7:7). This is a promise. If we seek Him, we will find Him; and if we hold on to Him, He will transform us into the heroes and heroines of the “greatest love story ever told.” It all boils down to our will, which too, is a gift from Him.

In God’s Image as the Biblical Greek nous

God is Most Wise, and He gave man a reason or nous (Greek: νους), which is not limited to earthly, bodily things, but is capable of penetrating down to their depths, and of rising to the level of invisible things, striving in thought towards the very Source of all that exists – God.¹

Often translated as reason, the mind or the intellect, the nous has also been described as the “eye of the heart or soul” or the “mind of the heart.” There is something intuitive about the nous. The nous is not in the brain, but in the soul. Man’s soul, created in God’s image, is intelligent and noetic even without the brain. Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the [spiritual] eye [mind or nous]. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23). Keeping the spiritual eye (mind or nous) wholesome (healthy) and pure (of evil thoughts or desires) illuminates the inner Man, his soul, and governs his will in accordance with God’s will. This is fundamental to the Christian life.²

The Biblical nous or “mind” and the spiritual “eye” as the “lamp” of the body have nothing to do with how smart we are or how well we can physically see. These are genetically pre-determined bodily functions that can be influenced by epigenetics. The “nous” and the spiritual “eye” have to do with one’s approach to life, outlook and mindset. It is how we “look” at something. People freely choose whether to fill their mind and heart with good or evil thoughts and desires, either through a good or evil spiritual eye. For instance, one “good” and one “evil” minded person may be simultaneously watching the same children in the same playground but with opposite desires and motives for doing good or evil to those children; or they may be thinking about the same event but from different angles. The choices reflect the mindset, which determines how we govern our will. This ultimately determines, not just who we become (plumber, lawyer), but more importantly whose we become (God’s or Satan’s). The latter has the more profound effect on our relationship with God, with others, and with ourselves, determining our earthly temporal, and more importantly, our eternal outcome.

Surprisingly, AI does a good job at distinguishing between reasoning and rationalizing. It states that reasoning uses evidence and logic to arrive at a conclusion, while rationalizing works backwards. It starts with a pre-existing or desired outcome and then uses fabricated or selective logic to justify it. Reasoning is about reaching truth, whereas rationalizing is about making something seem right, often to protect one’s ego, avoid guilt, or achieve a predetermined goal. While both use logic, the nuance is that reasoning uses logic honestly, whereas rationalizing does not. This is another way of explaining the difference between the good eye and the bad eye. How do we know if we are reasoning or rationalizing? Our conscience tells us:

In God’s Image as the Conscience – a Universal Natural Law

By its nature, the conscience, also called the “heart,” is a spiritual instinct, which more quickly and clearly distinguishes between good and evil than the mind. This is the universal inner compass that is the same in everyone, the guiding voice of God Himself, that “gut feeling” if you will, that speaks to our soul. The conscience is a divine gift that helps us avoid spiritual and sometimes physical danger. This inner voice is not under our control and will express itself spontaneously despite our will. In the conscience or the heart is where one immediately knows if something is right or wrong, good or bad.³

If we have strayed away from God, the conscience is where God knocks on the door of our heart and waits for us to open. He waits outside patiently. He does not break down the door and burst in whether we like it or not. When He died on the Cross and descended to the lowest depths of human existence, He broke into Hades to rescue us from the devil and death; but in the conscience, He knocks softly, allowing us to choose whether we want to accept His rescue from sin. Jesus never gives up “knocking.” His, is a continuous, life-long invitation, which affords us many opportunities to open the door.

In the Prayer of the Anaphora, because of His great love, “[God leaves] nothing undone until [He brings] us to heaven and [gives] us [His] kingdom to come.” Still, God profoundly respects our freedom. We have the freedom to listen to the voice of our conscience, or to ignore and suppress it, turning our will against God’s will. It is there to help us and guide us to God’s Kingdom, if we choose to heed it. The person who heeds his conscience will never regret or be ashamed of doing so. On the other hand, the eternal guilty conscience that will punish sinners in the future life, is, in the words of Christ, the “worm that does not die” (Mark 9:48) according to the Fathers of the Church.³

Τhe Human Soul

When describing how Man is made in God’s image, the scriptures are speaking specifically of the soul and its three aspects – the will, the nous and the conscience. The Church Fathers make an astounding correlation between these three aspects of the human soul and the three aspects of God as a Trinity. This reveals God as triune and human life as triune, which points towards the intended harmony between God and man.

The soul has three powers: the intelligence (mind or nous), the incensive power (heart or conscience) and appetitive (will or freedom). With our intelligence (nous) we direct our search; with our desire (will) we long for that supernal goodness which is the object of our search; and with our incensive power (heart) we fight to attain our object. With these powers those who love God cleave to the divine principle of virtue and spiritual knowledge.

(St. Maximus the Confessor (6^th-7^th century)

According to Saint John Chrysostom (†407) the breath of God is the energy of the Holy Spirit, and this energy of God is that which creates the soul. This connection with God’s energy makes the human soul inseparable from God. Having received his soul from the “breath” of God, Man’s natural inclination is to strive towards God, as towards something akin to himself, seeking and thirsting for union with Him. This is also shown in the straight and upright posture of his body, and his gaze, which turns up towards heaven. This striving towards God and love for God expresses the image of God in man.⁴

The soul is a living essence, simple, incorporeal, invisible … it is immortal … something logical and intellectual … without form. While it makes use of an organized body, it [the soul] is the source of its powers and life.

(St. John of Damascus, 7^th– 8^th century)

Surprisingly, the Orthodox understanding of the human soul existed in Greek philosophy and was aptly described by Aristotle and Plato. According to them, a human being has both body and soul. According to Aristotle, the soul (psyche, Greek: ψυχή) is the essence or definition of living, while Plato said that living is the function of the soul. Just as the body is the material aspect of human life, the soul is the immaterial or incorporeal aspect. The soul is an independent substance distinct from the body, but which animates the body.⁴

Unlike the incorporeal (immaterial or bodiless) angelic beings, and unlike all of material creation, Man was made both corporeal (physical) and incorporeal (spiritual) because God “formed Man [Adam, and from Adam Eve] out of the dust from the [physical] ground and breathed in his face the breath of life; and [physical] Man [Adam and Eve] became a living [spiritual] soul” (Genesis 2:7).

This unique method of creating Man also demonstrates God’s divine foreknowledge of our Fall. He created Humanity* in preparation for the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the incorporeal (bodiless) Word, to execute His salvific role by entering human history as the Incarnated (corporeal) God, Jesus Christ, who took on human flesh. Jesus, the perfect Godman, became one of us to suffer in the flesh, die, resurrect and ascend to the Father, forever to remain as one of us with body and soul. In this manner, He heals and transforms every aspect of Humanity and brings us back to Himself.

For that which He has not assumed [taken on as His own attribute] He has not healed [He assumed our physical nature to heal it]; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half [of] Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his [Adam’s] nature fell [which it did], it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten [Jesus] and so be saved as a whole [fully].

(St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ Epistle 101 to Cledonius the Priest Against Apollinarius)

In other words, to save all aspects of Adam and all aspects of Humanity as a whole (birth, death and everything in between), the Word became fully Human in the Godman, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully human. This shows that God created man in His Goodness. Even when Man leaves God, God never leaves Man without His love.^4.Saint Athanasius puts it most succinctly:

“God became man so that man might become [as] God.”

(St. Athanasius)

The Church Fathers understood ‘image’ as the rational and spiritual nature of the human person. Our ‘image’ of God includes, but is not limited to, our immortal soul, our nous (intellect, which includes our reason), our faculty of speech, our free will (self-determination), our dominant position in the world, our striving towards good, our conscience, and our creative ability, which is our work.

Christ said, “My Father is working still, and I am working” (John 5:17). We should not forget that Primordial (Pre-fallen) Man was also given the work of “tilling” the Garden of Eden. This is not because the world has any need to be improved by people; rather, people in the world need to somehow express their ‘image’ of God (their God-given creative abilities) to be assimilated to God by achieving His likeness…⁵This means that the type of work we choose (do we help or exploit others), and how we do it (lovingly or begrudgingly) in our day-to-day living, also helps us in our union with God.

From all this, one can understand how Christian anthropology, and even ancient Greek Philosophy, do a much better job than the Theory of Evolution, at explaining how we came to exist and why we differ so much from the rest of Creation, including the apes. However, there is one more piece that Evolution cannot address, which the Bible explains in its original salvific Gospel Message, and that is the purpose of Human Life…the why of our existence. Why did God make us in his image? As we already indicated but shall attempt to explain more fully, we were made in His “image” to freely progress ourselves in virtue towards His “likeness.”

After God’s Likeness

All of us who are human beings are in the image of God. But to be in his likeness belongs only to those who by great love have attached their freedom to God.

(Diadochos of Photiki)

The dignity of each person is found in their image and likeness of God.² Man is not one in nature with the Holy Trinity but was made in the image, according to the likeness of the Holy Trinity. The three ‘Persons’ of the Holy Trinity inter-commune with one another in perfect Love and Humility. Because a single unit is egocentric and incapable of love, God created Man – the human being – as two persons (a male plus a female) with the intention that love should reign among people. And because the love in a dyad is not yet the perfection of love, for the one may dominate the other, God commands, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’’(Gen.1:28). From two human beings the third, their child, a triad is formed. This triad is the minimum number needed for the virtuous perfection of a community, which is intended to operate and cooperate like the three ‘Persons’ of the Holy Trinity, in perfect Love and Humility.⁵

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is also reflected in the conciliar or synodical governance of the Orthodox Church which began with the Apostolic Synod in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-21). As the Apostles had first done, when all Orthodox Bishops (and clergy) prayerfully govern together in godly humility and love, relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit with obedience to Christ, the whole Church stays on course, aligning herself “as one mouth and one voice” to proclaim the “unity of the faith.” This does not mean submitting to a single pope or heretical bishop, but to the will of God. Throughout history, the Orthodox Church has navigated through many storms, dogmatically staying on course, because of her adherence to the synodical system, which is part of Holy Tradition. If the Church is the Body of Christ with Christ as the Head (this is the Orthodox definition of Church), then there must be a decentralization of power within the Body, or the Church on earth. This contrasts with the Western Papal System which broke with Holy Tradition, giving all authority and supremacy to one man, the Pope.

In the Orthodox Church, our intended relationship to God and to one another is like the one that exists between the three ‘Persons’ of the Holy Trinity. As this perfect relationship unites the Trinity in one Godhead, it also unites the faithful in one Body or Church. Had Pre-Fallen Mankind used their free will to reciprocate God’s Love and Humility with their free obedience (the fruit of their own love and humility), they would have embarked on the path of perfecting themselves in virtue to the point of achieving God’s likeness and ultimately, union with God. “Likeness” to God leads to union with God. This was, and still is, as we shall see going forward, God’s divine plan for us. Union with God is called Theosis, or Deification.⁶In other words, Mankind’s destiny is to become as much like God as possible, while retaining our individuality or personhood, and without becoming actual gods.⁷ This is what is meant by being truly Human in the Orthodox Church. This is also the reason why God gifted Man by making him in His “image,” so that Man could use these gifts to freely progress himself in virtue, “according to His likeness” (Genesis 1:26).

If God is love and humility, we cannot unite with God if we make no attempt to imitate Him in these virtues. As a reminder of this, Orthodox people all over the world, regardless of race, language or culture, universally cross themselves with their right hand, by bringing together their thumb and first two fingers in a triad and tucking in the last 2 digits in a dyad.

The triad of digits symbolizes the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The dyad symbolizes Jesus Christ as perfect God and perfect man, whose human and divine natures coexist together without separation or confusion. This dyad also symbolizes Christ’s perfect Love and perfect Humility, the “likeness” of which Man needs to strive towards in order to reach Theosis or Deification, which is union with God, the Holy Trinity.

Our destiny – our Theosis or Deification – is our true purpose, the “why” of our creation and our existence. Because we fell, our Theosis (God’s original plan in the Garden) has become our Restoration, and far exceeds a mere ‘Salvation,’ which many people, especially in the West, envision solely as the avoidance of hell. In Orthodoxy, Salvation is not an end, but the means to a greater end – our Deification (Theosis) or union with God. We are saved from something (sin, death and the devil) for something far greater – union with God and Deification.

According to the Eastern Orthodox view, when Man was created, he was made perfect in the potential, not the absolute (Western) sense. In the East, “image” means being gifted in knowledge, grace, strength and free will; and “Likeness” means freely using one’s image of God to progress in virtue towards perfection, which is Deification. God’s intention was for Man to move from “image” to “likeness” by freely advancing himself in virtue with God’s grace, using his freedom to reciprocate God’s love and humility, which he is invited to willingly express to God in the form of obedience. This type of obedience is not forced but freely given through humility, because of our love. Our loving God does not want our slavery, but our love. When we freely obey God, our humility in doing so allows us to cultivate and express our love for Him. When Mankind disobeyed God in the Garden, he fell into sin because he lost his humility by rejecting the love he had for God. His soul became darkened but still remained immortal because to God’s loving and sustaining grace. “Likeness” as Deification, however, was no longer possible, until Christ entered Human history and restored that potential for us. How He did this will be discussed in Part X.

Western Departure

In the West, we find different definitions of “image” and “likeness.” The Roman Catholic church defines “image” according to one man, St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), a 4^th-5^th century Father of the Orthodox Church in Western Europe. Augustine was always considered a saint in the West but initially, he was a controversial figure in the East. Following his death, some of his earlier teachings were highly criticized and branded as heretical by several Orthodox Saints and Theologians. Others in the East, however, were very impressed with his deep faith, his personal holiness, his fiery rhetoric, and many of his deeply edifying and prolific writings. As a result, they were willing to overlook his earlier heretical ideas as human error. Hence, some in the Eastern Church referred to him as Saint Augustine, while others as blessed Augustine. By the end of his life, Augustine had repented of his controversial theological speculations and had reached Patristic consensus. Beginning with St. Photios (9^th century), the Greek Orthodox Church came to revere Augustine as a saint who initially erred but later repented, as many other saints have done. Unfortunately, some of his earlier theological positions, which he later retracted, were adopted by the West and interpreted in ways not accepted by Orthodoxy.

Although the Orthodox Church has formally accepted Augustine as a saint, She has always rejected his earlier views on the filioque, original sin, his doctrine of grace, and predestination. On “image” and “likeness,” Augustine taught that the “image” of God in humans is memory, will and understanding; and “likeness” is Man’s immortal soul, whereas the Fathers of the East distinguish “likeness” from the human soul.

By re-interpreting Augustine’s earlier ideas,16^th century Western Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, took “image” and “likeness” to mean the same thing and that Adam and Eve were created perfect, not in the potential (Eastern Orthodox) sense, but in the absolute sense. To Calvin, they were created absolutely perfect in every aspect of “image” and “likeness” – strength, grace, knowledge and the free will to obey God; but when they fell into sin, they lost everything, including their free will. Because they lost everything through sin, Humanity fell from the peak of perfection to total depravity, and no capability of any good desires. According to the total depravity theory, God’s “image” and “likeness” in Man were not just marred, but completely destroyed, and Man retained no ability within himself to return to God, as his freedom to choose good over evil was also destroyed.As we shall see in Parts V and VI, the Western definitions of “image” and “likeness” led to the development of Calvin’s Predestination theory, which claimed that Man became so depraved, he could play no role in his salvation. Therefore, so that not everyone would be condemned, God had to intervene by predetermining who would be saved and who would be damned.⁹

The Orthodox Church entirely rejects these Western theories. Orthodoxy believes that God’s love is unconditional, and He wants to save everyone. Those who want to be saved, retain the ability to work out their salvation together with God’s grace.⁹ According to the Orthodox mindset, if Man was created perfect in the absolute sense, his perfect “likeness” would mean that Adam had already reached Theosis or Deification with God in the Garden. If this was the case, Adam could not have sinned, and yet he did. Sin was only possible for Adam because he had not yet been perfected in God’s “likeness.” The Orthodox Church also rejects that Man retains no free will and therefore no ability within himself to return to God. The New Testament abounds with examples of repentance and returning to God, the best of which is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Additionally, in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Christ leaves the 99 sheep to look for the one that was lost and to bring it back to the fold. This parable clearly communicates that Christ, the Good Shepherd, wants to save all his sheep, and not just some of them. Although he claimed to rely solely on ‘sola scriptura’ (scripture alone), Calvin overlooked those scriptural teachings on repentance, salvation and our willing return to the Father.

Prior to the Protestant Reformation, rather than aligning themselves with the Patristic teachings of the whole Church, Roman Catholicism began to depart from the Synodical or Conciliar System of the East and the New Testament Canon. As a result, they adopted and modified several of Augustine’s earlier teachings that the Church had condemned. Despite later breaking away from Rome, the Protestant Reformers also retained the earlier views of St. Augustine. The Orthodox Church believes that it is utterly impossible for the Holy Spirit of Truth to reveal conflicting “truths” at different times and to different people, for there can be only one absolute Truth. Thus, Orthodox dogma never relies on the teachings of one person alone, but on the collective teachings of holy men and women of faith, which reflect the same Truths through all time and are consistent with all the teachings of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. In other words, Orthodox dogma must fulfill all the requirements of the New Testament Canon:

The New Testament Canon

During the first centuries after Christ, the Church realized that she needed a method by which she could clearly distinguish between those teachings and doctrines, both oral and written, that were true and possessed Apostolic authority, and those that were false and did not possess it. What developed from the Church’s Synodical system came to be known as the New Testament Canon (see footnote on the Holy Rudder).** The New Testament Canon was finalized near the end of the fourth century at the third Council of Carthage in 397 A.D., where St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, played a key role.⁸ St. Augustine of Hippo was also present at this synod and was one of the forty-four bishops who signed the proceedings. The New Testament Canon uses three criteria that can be applied to all areas of Holy Tradition:

Apostolicity – It must have been taught by the Apostles who received it from Christ.
Catholicity (or Universality) – It must have been jointly taught by all the Apostles, accepted and lived throughout the entire
Conformity – It must not conflict with or contradict any other Old or New Testament scripture or teachings of the Church.⁹

By the end of the fourth century, Apostolicity, Catholicity and Conformity became the fundamental basis and foundation for Church authority in both Eastern and Western Europe. Using these criteria, the New Testament was compiled as we know it today. Those writings that did not fulfil all three criteria of the New Testament Canon are known as Apocrypha, and were not included in the New Testament.⁹ For early Christians, the Bible was most naturally understood in the context of the Church, that community of faithful who believed, taught and worshiped in accordance with what the Apostles had received from the Lord Himself.¹⁰

Because of internal conflicts (or heresies) that continuously arose, the Church held more Synods and became more careful in her administration and function. Only authorized and qualified men and women were allowed to do missionary work, to preach and to serve. Christian worship slowly became more formalized, and the Church returned to a more normal function, thanks to devout and saintly men and women who faithfully kept the teachings of Christ’s Gospel message.⁹

All the Church’s history, biographies of the saints, oral teachings, worship, hymnography, art, the Sacraments, the Divine Liturgy¹¹ and the New Testament are part of Holy Tradition. All have their basis in Apostolicity, Catholicity and Conformity. The New Testament teachings were initially lived and taught orally by Christ and later written down by the men He ordained as His Apostles, after they received the Holy Spirit. As Christ had promised, the grace of the Holy Spirit enlightened and empowered these men and their successors to carry out His mission by correctly interpreting, defending and spreading His message of salvation. Hence, Holy Tradition is the continuity of the dynamic life and presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The faithful do not simply observe Tradition, they enter into it and live it.¹⁰ Since the Bible or New Testament is the product of divinely inspired Holy Tradition, there can be no such thing as the Western Protestant notion of ‘sola scriptura.’

To be continued with Part III – Falling for the Fruit of Spiritual Adultery…

Part I – Approach to Wisdom is available here.

Footnotes

*The terms Man, Humanity, Mankind are used interchangeably and in the plural sense to mean both the masculine and the feminine together. The terms he, him, his also denote the singular feminine unless otherwise stated in the text. These terms will be used in this manner throughout all Parts of this Series.

**There are three basic levels of authority in Orthodox Canon Law.

The highest level of authority includes the canons of Ecumenical Councils or Synods, which were written as universal Church guidelines. These canons have to do with the unalterable Truths or Dogmas of the Orthodox Church, such as the Creed of Faith, the Holy Trinity and the Divinity of Christ.
The second level includes canons of regional (local) synods. These were written as regional guidelines and may differ from the regional canons of other jurisdictions. However, they must not conflict with or change any of the canons of the Ecumenical Synods.
The third level of canons includes the teachings or opinions of individuals. One example is the more recent 18^th century compilation of the Greek Orthodox Rudder (Pedalion, Greek: Πηδάλιον). A “rudder” or “pilot” is the steering mechanism of a ship. Although The Rudder can be a useful guide, it is controversial and not universally received in the Orthodox Church; nor is it an authoritative source for canon law. It is a compilation and commentary on most canons, including selections of the Apostolic Canons, the canons of the Ecumenical Councils, the canons of Regional Synods, and the canons of Holy Fathers.

The Greek Orthodox Rudder was compiled by Hieromonk Agapios and St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite but also includes the writings of other monastics, including those who edited the work of St. Nicodemus with their differing views, such as Hieromonk Dorotheos Voulismas, on the method of receiving the heterodox into Orthodoxy. Another area of controversy lies in the Rudder’s support of ritual impurity. While it includes some Apostolic Constitutions, it omits those wherein the Apostles rejected Jewish and pagan ritual impurity laws (Apostolic Constitutions, Book VI, Canons XXVII, XXX). We must also keep in mind that other jurisdictions have other Rudders. The Russians, for example, have a different Rudder than the Greeks, which contain the results of Regional Synods in Russia that the Greeks do not consider. Canon Law is a very complex subject.

One should keep in mind that only God is infallible, which means that the teachings and opinions of individuals, even saints, should not be accepted as canonical (vis-à-vis the writings of early St. Augustine) if they do not align with the New Testament Canon of Apostolicity, Catholicity (Universality) and Conformity. In the Rudder, St. Nicodemus correctly writes, “it does not matter to us what some Fathers said or believed, but what Scripture and the Ecumenical Synods and the common opinion of the Fathers say. For the opinion of some men in the Church does not constitute a dogma [emphasis mine].” This means that proper discernment is of the utmost importance, which can only be achieved through the virtue of humility.

References

The Image of God in Man, St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church, South Bend, Indiana, Marc 21, 2016, https://saintandrewgoc.org/blog/2016/3/21/the-image-of-god-in-ma
The Orthodox Study Bible, Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today’s World, Old & New Testaments, texts & exegesis pg. 1279, 5
CONSCIENCE God’s Voice in Mankind, Orthodox Christianity, Bishop Alexander (Mileant),

https://orthochristian.com/134304.html#:~:text=As%20narrated%20in%20the%20Bible,voice%20of%20God%20in%20man

Anatomy of the Soul, Unseen Warfare

https://www.unseenwarfare.net/anatomy-of-the-soul

Image and Likeness, Diocese of Sourozh, Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Moscow, Patriarchate of Moscow, http://www.sourozh.org/orthodox-faith-texts/image-and-likeness.html
The Deification as the Purpose of Man’s Life, 11–14.
(13) Andrew Stephen Damick, That Man Might Become God. Ancient Faith Ministries

https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/asd/2015/01/22/man-might-become-god/

R. Evans, ed., The First Christian Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Church (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2004), 15–16.
Nicozisin, The Orthodox Church: A Well-Kept Secret, A Journey through Church History, Pg., 102-103, 23
Scripture and Tradition | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, 20, 24, accessed August 10, 2018, http://ww1.antiochian.org/content/scripture-and-tradition.
The Liturgy – Holy Tradition, accessed July 28, 2018, https://churchmotherofgod.org/articleschurch/about-services-and-prayers/3144-the-liturgy-holy-tradition.html.