Orthodox Reflections

11:1 μιμηται μου γινεσθε καθως καγω χριστου

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

11:2 επαινω δε υμας αδελφοι οτι παντα μου μεμνησθε και καθως παρεδωκα υμιν τας παραδοσεις κατεχετε

I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

It is clear from scripture that Christ remains unchanged, and the Apostle Paul “praised” those Corinthians who maintained the “Traditions” that were “Handed down” to them…note that the same word Παραδοσις is used in two forms in the original Greek, but in English it is necessary to use the words “passed on” and “Traditions” respectively to provide the accurate meaning in the modern English language

So, when we speak about Orthodox Tradition, or Παραδοσις, it is not a matter to be taken lightly. We have to remain aligned with what was handed down to us, to the teachings that were handed down by Christ to the Apostles, and by the Apostles to their successors, so that we can also imitate the prior generations, those “imitators of the apostles who had in turn imitated Christ”. This means, we have to take care that we do not deviate in the slightest from Tradition

Despite several “modernist” opinions that we hear from time to time from people with a secular mindset about the Church having to “change with the times”, Hebrews 13:8 clearly tells us that this is not necessary, and in fact it is “the times that are enabling people to stray from Christ, like the Prodigal Son.”

Throughout World History societal and cultural values oscillate between Theoseveia – Reverence of God(Θεοσεβεια) and Theomachia – Battling God (Θεομαχια)…we have seen several low points (Θεομαχια) such as Noah’s Flood, Sodom & Gomorrah, the 3 youths in the furnace, the Prophet Elias vs. the priests of Baal, Herod’s edict to slaughter 20,000 infants, the era of Roman persecution of Christians….we have also seen historical high points (Θεοσεβεια) during some of Exodus, when St. Constantine respected and believed the sign of the Cross in the sky, and eventually ended persecution of the Church, when Justinian built St. Sophia, when the bishop of “Old Patra” blessed the faithful flock to begin the struggle for freedom from the Turks in 1821, etc….

There is no doubt that we have been in a “downward spiritual spiral” for several decades again…Academics can argue that that there is an identifiable INVERSE historical correlation between measurements of “societal standard of living” and “societal spirituality”… Folklore supports these concepts with sayings about “idle hands are the devil’s work” (alluding to a higher standard of living giving people more free time to “have fun”, sin, etc), or even a great saying from Greece: “The first generation builds it, the second generation enjoys it, and the third generation destroys it“…Certainly from a Historical angle, periods of persecution, suffering, lack of freedom have resulted in proven trends and examples of increased spirituality as well…

The Orthodox Church has lived through several of these historical societal cycles. In fact, only a few years prior to the fall of Constantinople, the monk Joseph Bryennios, one of St. Mark of Ephesus’ mentors gave “scathing” and caustic sermons in the Byzantine royal court about God abandoning the Empire because of the low spiritual state of Byzantine society in those days…Yet, throughout the Faith and Παραδοσις (paradosis) have not changed

So, if we know we are living in a time in history where “standard of living” and “secularism” are increasing while “spirituality” and Christian ideals are decreasing, why is this any different than the days of Joseph Bryennios? One of his famous quotes describing the spiritual “low point” of Byzantium was “[In this City]…the maidens have become more provocative than the prostitutes“…this is a quote from 15th century Byzantium…human nature doesn’t change…passions are constant. What varies is the societal open “level of tolerance” for violations of God’s Commandments throughout the ages…we are now in a clear historical cycle where the Prophet Isaiah’s warnings are not being heeded by a modern society that is “legalizing” what is spiritually illegal, and “criminalizing” Christian conscience and thought (Isaiah 5:20):

Ουαι εις εκεινους, οιτινες λεγουσι το κακον καλον και το καλον κακον οιτινες θετουσι το σκοτος δια φως και το φως δια σκοτος οιτινες θετουσι το πικρον δια γλυκυ και το γλυκυ δια πικρον.