Authority

A friend of mine started a conversation with me about the differences in our faith. She is a life long member of the Church Of Christ. Here is my reply to her asking what I believe about church authority...I am sure the conversation will continue later:

First, let me tell you that Joe and I are inquirers in the Orthodox Church. We are inquiring because we believe, through personal study of the Church and the Bible, that the Orthodox faith is Christ’s Church. It is the New Testament Church, which Christ gave to the Apostles.
We look at what came first. The Bible was not first. Sounds funny? Let me explain why I stated it that way. The Church was the first thing God, by His authority in Christ’s Incarnation, life, and teachings, gave us. The Church is the pillar and ground of Truth. You can see how the Church was laid out in the Scriptures. Christ said He would build his Church. I must note here that the New Testament Church of Acts and the Epistles is practically identical to the Orthodox practices today.
The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, then written and canonized by men. Those men were Orthodox Christians. There were not denominations at that point in Church history; the Church was only the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Bible cannot be interpreted outside God’s Church. The Bible is a important aspect of Holy Tradition. We don’t believe in a separation between Holy Tradition and the Bible, since the Bible came to us as it is today through Holy Tradition. Scripture includes the Old Testament, which is not merely historical text. In second Timorthy 3:16, St. Paul states, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”. In his letter to St. Timothy, St. Paul is not referring to the New Testament. This should be obvious since books such as Acts and Revelation had not yet been written. The first complete listing of New Testament books as we have them today did not appear until over 300 years after the death and resurrection of Christ.
Let me hasten to say that the Bible is all God intends it to be. No problem with the Bible here. But church doesn’t mean “the Bible, God, and me”. As the Bible says, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17). The Bible is meant to be read and understood by the illumination of God's Holy Spirit within the life of the Church. From the earliest period of the Church, going right back to the Apostles themselves, the teachings within the Church on Scripture have not changed. The Church is the mystical "Body of Christ," the Head of which is Christ Himself (see Eph. 1:22-23 and Col. 1:18, 24) and its composition includes not only priests but all who truly believe in Christ, who have entered in a lawful way through Holy Baptism into the Church He founded, those living upon the earth and those who have died in the Faith.

Christ is all-powerful and has authority over all…but to clarify; I’ll say that authority within the church lies completely in Holy Tradition and Scripture. But, again, I believe that these things are not separate from the Body of Christ (the Church), and cannot be separated. They can’t exist separate from eachother.

I might not have been entirely clear, and if you want to know more, here is a link to an argument against sola scriptura. It better states what I am trying to say, and more. Even if you choose to ignore the emphasis on Orthodoxy as the true faith, you cannot ignore that the given history and reasons for understanding the authority of Scripture are significant and intriguing. Especially if Scripture is your foundation and only place to go for Church authority. Maybe you will find this helpful in understanding what I believe:

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/tca_solascriptura.aspx

Now the way authority works within the hierarchy of the Church, in the men that carry on her Traditions and preach the Word of the Lord, is for us laid out in the New Testament canons. There are to be bishops, priests, and deacons. Philippians 1:1-5 says “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:” 1st Timothy 3 speaks about the qualifications of overseers, again noting bishops and deacons as having authority.

A priest has authority over his flock…the priests and deacons have the job of giving spiritual guidance to the laity of the local parish. The priest is a loving guide and a righteous spiritual leader, as in Psalm 132:9 “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness….” They teach obedience to Christ, the Word, the Body. In Hebrews 5, “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was”. In Luke 17:14, Jesus himself shows that the Law of Moses still has a place. He commands the lepers to go themselves to the priests for cleansing. By this commandment, He kept the Law of Moses, and showed the people that spiritual authority was present in the priesthood. Christ also states a few verses later that “the kingdom of God is within you”. Acts and Hebrews are full of verses I could quote. Esp. Hebrews 8-9.

Christ is the New Covenant, yet He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Christ was/is/forever will be the sin offering God required in the Old Testament. He fulfilled our lives before God and gave us Himself as a Mediator and Advocate. He came as the New Covenant, addressing humanity’s sin by sacrifice as the High Priest of the temple had before offered blood sacrifice for just a few. The Bible says many times that a blood offering is required for redemption. Christ became that sacrifice, that required blood offering, that it need not be offered again, made only once to bear the sins of many. He gave a better sacrifice, one that wasn’t possible with the first tabernacle (being the tabernacle laid out under the Law).

Back to church hierarchy and authority. The bishop has spiritual authority over a diocese. The bishop’s primary authority is exercised in assuring that the priests and deacons within his diocese are preaching and teaching the Word, and correctly (as it has been done since ancient days) following the Holy Tradition and Canons of the Orthodox Church. The foundations of the Church were laid by Christ, and have been defended by many martyrs and saints so that they can be carried forth the same today.

From what I know, you are familiar with some hierarchy within the church, as you have elders and evangelists.

I was reading the Nativity story this morning, and two year old Elijah saw this icon beside the text. He asked who it was of, and so we went over it.

He was very worried about the little figure speaking to Joseph. "That is a bad guy." He also traced the figure of Mary, "That mommy is sad."

I showed him each character, and he came back the babe in the cave and asked, "Is that baby Gee-gus?" I had already explained to him it was.

I replied it is, that we are celebrating his birth, and that He came to be with us.

Elijah replied, matter of factly, "And to be with the cow and horsey."

Yep.

surety

"And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again; and again, as his custom was, he taught them." from the Gospel reading today.

Deep down, I ache for surety, for some ground of confidence. The one that is always living and breathing assurance, freely offered, is him that we call on as Emmanuel. O, come.

A friend of mine told me recently that she was (once again) astounded at the way God has revealed himself to us. I too cannot believe how anyone, upon hearing truth of the Incarnation, could not believe.

I don't know quite what other people think when they look up at an icon of the Pantocrator (which I recently looked up to find that it means "Almighty" or "All-powerful". In this understanding, Pantokrator is a compound word formed from the Greek words for "all" and the noun "strength") but I am humbled. How do you not acknowledge the awful state of your sinfulness; therefore at the same time the extent of the mercy of the Incarnation?

Zacharias

The picture above is of my eldest son, Zachary. He went hunting today with Dad on a friend's land. They shot a nine-point buck, and I am very impressed. It'll keep us in meat for a while!

Zach is a remarkable child. He's always been the quiet, shy type. His politeness and helpfulness cannot be praised enough. I love him dearly and wish I could adopt him. He's about to be gone over Christmas and I don't want him to go. You can't be around Zach and not love him and then miss him when he's not present. Everyone adores him. I pray I can be a better mom for him as each weeks passes, and when he has to deal with entering into adulthood I want to be there for him.

He was recounting his experience to me earlier, and I was watching him and seeing that sheepish grin, where he's proud of himself but unsure if that's the best thing to be thinking. He wants to do things right, and if he can't, it really irks him. He's a thinker. We're alike, in that...I was always quiet and observant as a kid, and didn't want to do anything unless I was successful at it.

Zachary's saint is, obviously, Holy Prophet Zacharias, father of John the Baptist. From wikipedia:

The Righteous Zachariah (or Zacharias), the father of the holy Prophet St John the Baptist is commemorated by the Church on September 5 along with his wife Elizabeth. He is also remembered, in the Greek tradition, on June 24 with the Nativity of St John the Baptist.
The holy Prophet Zachariah, a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, was the son of Barach, from the lineage of Aaron. St Zachariah was told by an angel that his elderly wife would bear him a son named John, but he doubted this prediction. For his weakness of faith, Zachariah become mute. When Elizabeth gave birth to a son, motivated of the Holy Spirit, she announced that his name was John. When Zachariah confirmed the name in writing, speech returned to him, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, he began to foretell about his son as the Forerunner of the Lord.
King Herod began to slaughter the children of Bethlehem after the Lord Jesus had been born. The king sent men to find and kill the son of Zachariah because he had heard all that had happened to Zachariah, and how John had been born. Elizabeth fled with John when she saw the soldiers. Herod was enraged that the child John had not been found and ordered Zachariah to be slain before the altar in temple.

Emotive

I do not have an affinity for the emotive things of the world. Probably, it's a failing of mine. Personally, I find emotional bursts to be, generally, a waste of time and effort. The one time I've cried wholeheartedly and with abandon in my life was when my first baby was born. That, however, wasn't just an emotional experience. It was a physical acknowledgement of a life- altering experience.



One place that I have never been able to see as a place for emotive reaction is in worship of God. I've felt awkward and displaced in many worship services. Seeking God has been a journey from denomination to denomination searching for Him. In that time I experienced many different styles of worship in many different kinds of churches. House church, Baptist, non-denominational, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, etc...they all had one thing in common in my observance: emotions were often more evident than a true worship of God. And God was too often the sweet Jesus who died for !you and me! and was there whenever and wherever YOU needed him. Feeling down? He's there for you, like an instant hot cereal to feed you and warm you when you're too lazy to go through the steps to boil the water, stir the oats, and fight to keep the heat low enough so it doesn't burn but still cooks...



I felt sure I believed in this Christ, and that I could know Him, but there was a separation between those things that I didn't understand and couldn't begin to assimilate.

I know now that one of the biggest problems confronting me was the separation of Christ, and the Church. After learning more about catholic faith, I understood this problematic divide to be a huge stumbling block. Overcoming it, and realizing that Christ IS the Church, and the Church is the Body of Christ has brought about a cataclysm in my faith.

Growing up, Jesus was presented to me as a situational ideal, which I saw used for personal comfort and gain only when all else was exhausted. The first place to turn in crisis was not to God. However, protective angels were nice, sweet baby Jesus was nice, the cross was sad but there were many sad things in humanity's past. God was not together with Christ, but instead some odd historical factor. I had no concept of the Holy Spirit at all.

The Orthodox church is, to me, swollen with stability and wisdom. There is an authority that realigns and defines within the Church, which has been as stable and wise for over 1500 years. Whatever inner uneasiness existed about the Christian life and what is it, what it means, what it will be, is dispelled through the liturgy. The Orthodox Church speaks through the Saints, Fathers, through the priesthood, through Christ's words and the Apostle's teachings...with surety and beauty that impresses and humbles.

I think I have found the true worship of the triune God, a worship from the heart. This is not worship driven by emotion, but instead something that overcomes emotion and trains it to be obedient and selfless.

When I heard said that Orthodoxy is the fullness of the faith, I was intrigued. Seeking her myself, I see the Church is full, a Body that is alive and speaks the Truth.