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Tinos, 20-23 September 2004 FINDINGS 1. Orthodox worship is man's movement towards discerning the true God, to be placed within His love, and to reciprocate by expressing his love in gratitude. Thus it is that worship together with faith and life, doctrine and ethos, form an indivisible body. Its purpose is to make us participators in the kingdom of God, which is realized in history and extends into eternity. Worship is understood collectively and ecclesiologically. Since it is not of an individual character but a common one, Divine Worship is carried out in the Christian temple. Within Divine worship Christ is manifest and the believer is glorified. 2. Many theological, cosmological and anthropological elements of ancient Greek philosophy are found, either positively or negatively, in Christianity. Christian doctrine however far exceeds ancient Greek thought in importance within the framework of God-man relations. If today we celebrate Paralympics and offer special care for the disabled, this is due to the raising of moral standards through the Gospel and the consequent abolition of the practice of putting sickly infants to death. Indeed, it is the Church that "graced the morals of men". 3. In the pre-Christian history of the Greek people there is a distinction between the academic philosophy of individual philosophers and the application of popular philosophy. This distinction is reflected in the Homeric hymns, with the epic and tragedy. Many distinguished thinkers on the one hand criticized the fabrications idolatry, while on the other, they prophetically expressed their quest for the one true God. In this manner, they themselves disdained idolatry. Poets of antiquity as genuine expressors of popular philosophy, rejected all forms of pagan idolatry. 4. The worship of the Law characteristic of the Jewish religion is diametrically opposed to the Worship "in spirit and in truth" (John.4, 23) preached by Christ. Christian worship should not be regarded as a developed form of Jewish worship, since the former used the latter as a springboard in order to make a great leap and acquire an ecumenical character. This worship "in spirit and in truth" is experienced through prayer. This is facilitated by the clarity of man's mental powers. 5. Between word and sacrament there exists a dialectical relationship. In the biblical understanding, the sacrament is the secret plan of God for the salvation of the whole world. This plan is realized by the Church, which according to biblical theology, is hence considered to be the sacrament par excellence. The ecclesiological dimension of the Christian mystery is in contrast with the sacramentalistic-magical characteristics of the Hellenistic mystery cults. Yet, in certain instances Christian worship can be threatened by the danger of formalistic-sacramentalistic worship. 6. The world-centered and naturalistic conception of idol worship is in contrast with the worship of the Church. Christian worship is based on the revelation of God in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Hence, there is no link between the worship of idols and the worship of our Church. It should also be noted that the liturgical symbolism of the Church's rites of worship is not a simple typology, but a depiction of the eschata, i.e. the Kingdom of God. 7. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is a continuation of our Lord's sacrifice on the Cross and possesses not a symbolic, but a real and realistic character. As a mysterious and sacramental repetition of the sacrifice upon the Cross it is called anamnesis or remembrance, in the sense of being a recapitulation of the entire Mystery of our salvation. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is therefore unique cannot by compared with the sacrifices of the pre-Christian era. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is bloodless, rational, spiritual and salutary, because it saves us from sin and makes us partakers of the death, the Resurrection and the glory of Christ. 8. TheMystery of Holy Baptism is not related to the mystery cults, but can only be understood in Old Testament and Jewish terms. In the Christian Church the baptism of water is differentiated from that of the Spirit and it is an act of initiation and atonement. The mystery cults used water purifications for a select few. In contrast, the Holy Sacrament of Baptism in Christian Church has not only an individual but also a universal character. 9. The therapeutic practice of the Church through the Sacrament of Holy Unction is diametrically distinguished from the therapeutic treatments offered in sanctuaries of Asclepius (Asklepieia). The therapeutic activity of the Church involves both soul and body, something completely missing in the treatments offered by Asclepius. Also, the person of Christ as a healer is differentiated from the mythical person of Asclepius, since Christ, though perfect God, became perfect man and took on flesh and suffered and was tempted, and can thus sympathize and co-suffer with the man, in contrast to Asclepius. Moreover, the Christian Church considers sickness not only a trial, but also a visitation of God, while in ancient Greece it was considered a curse. 10. The Christian Church through wise, sober and moderate actions succeeded, on the one hand, to reconcile two diametrically opposed calendars, namely the solar - Greco-Roman and the luna - Judaic, on the other hand to transform the calendar from a list of dates to a list of feasts. Thus the worldly time of the present life is transformed into a cause for celebration, namely into a journey from what we see to what we understand, i.e. from the visible to the spiritual, and becomes a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. 11. The religious Christian soul, took a sober stance vis-à-vis the pagan temples and statues, and in particular those historical elements that were related to the end of the ancient cult. Thus, utilizing the monuments of the ancient world, they transformed them into Christian churches. By this practice Christian worship became the bridge whereby the ancient world passed from paganism to the truth of Christianity. 12. The ancient Church came into conflict with the performances of mimes and dancers. In this reaction, however, there is no opposition to ancient Greek drama, which was considered to have educational and edificatory value. The Greek-speaking Fathers of the Church that contributed to the shaping of Christian worship, were familiar with the function of theaters, and so made use of the concepts of 'role' and 'stage' in their texts, although the term "drama" had acquired a new meaning, different from that of the classical meaning of theatrical work. It is emphasized that at the time Christianity appeared on the scene, the ancient Greek theatre was in decline. This is corroborated by the following testimonies: Philostratus writes: "the Athenians gathered at the theatre below the Acropolis offered human sacrifices, because prostitutes, adulterers, cutpursers, slavedealers and such bodies of men thought to take to themselves things and individuals by greatly bargaining with money, while the Athenians armed themselves and gave commands to combat them----- (Philostratus: Life of Appolonius of Tyana, D, 22). And Dion Chrysostomos argues: "...so that one of them was slain over a seat, upon which the iniating priest and the other priests had to sit... Nor did they praise or accept the learned person who spoke of this, but rather they made things difficult for him, so that he had to leave the city and dwell elsewhere in Greece". (Dion Chrysostomos: Homily 31, 347). 13. Having in mind Aristotle's well-known definition of tragedy, it was found that tragedy has an association with the texts of the Divine Liturgy of the Church. Ancient Greece thus provided the "type of format": the rich and appropritate attire of expression. Within the entire Liturgical event the Church inserted the life-giving Spirit. The Greek sages prepared mankind for the advent of the Light. "But now," in the words of St.Basil the Great, "that the Sun has appeared the lamps have been put out" (PG 32, 165D). Because of this, the ancient philosophers are depicted among the icons in the narthexes of the main Churches of the monasteries of Mount Athos. 14. Within the world history of mankind, few have reached such a high level of cultural creations as did the ancient Greeks. Even today their poetic works and religious music inspire, and are admired by the civilized peoples of the world. Jewish pre-Christian hymnography is part of the revealed Bible of Old Testament that leads mankind to the truth of the Messiah. Christian hymnography and music emerged as a synthesis, editing, recasting, transformation and transfiguration of the religious, poetic and musical wealth of the pre-Christian Hellenic-Jewish tradition. The poets and melodians of the Church, enlightened by divine Grace, utilized the cultural elements of pre-Christian world by creating the church and musical traditions hymnography and the other liturgical arts. 15. The attitude of the Orthodox Church towards folk customs focuses on three basic principles: a. Full respect and care for the preservation of traditions that are compatible with orthodox doctrine and liturgical ethos. b. Pastoral tolerance and utilization of customs that do not pose particular spiritual problems such as those referring to the love of nature, the protection of the environment and to wholesome recreation. c. The explicit condemnation and systematic pastoral efforts to eliminate those old and newer traditions that brought about the secularization of worship and cannot be harmonized with the spirit of Scripture and the sacred Canons. 16. In Church life the existence of the Church is not based upon the elimination of the other, but upon the manifestation of God's kingdom, upon the presence of saints and upon the course of the ecclesiastical body. The concept of human beauty is not one of rejection or correction. Rather, it is the theology of the fulfillment. Idolatry's concept of beauty is limited by death, which it cannot overcome. The Church, without denying aesthetics, transforms it by granting to it a philokalic dimension, which is none other than a reference to Christ Who "is fair in beauty above all men". 17. The heaping up of empty phrases as do the Gentiles and liturgical prayer are two entities that cannot be compared. They are fundamentally different in their content and in their format, as can be seen in the biblical tradition. Liturgical prayer has both an ecclesiological, Christological and Pneumatological character, as well as an eschatological orientation. 18. Christian theology, in dealing with the world, must be familiar with its demands, in order to carry on an on-going knowledgeable conversation with it. 19. In order to pastorally deal with today's neo-idolatry it is important to know the theological and other existential demands of ancient Greek thought that appear to elude today's idol-worshipers. The Theology of the Orthodox Church can respond to these demands with the rich Patristic tradition, not so much apologetically as by providing a positive understanding of the things of this world. PROPOSALS Having in mind the papers delivered, the ensuing discussing and the proposals made at the Symposium, we respectfully submit that the Church in its Pastoral strivings and liturgical formation should have as its goal the following: 1. The awareness that Christian worship has Revelation as its source while pagan rituals are no more than anthropocentric initiatives without prospects. The Church's worship is carried out "in spirit and truth" and is differentiated both from Jewish legalism, and idolatry. 2. The need to develop liturgical instruction and education for both clergy and laity; this will be achieved if the pastors understand the principles of the liturgical theology of the Church Fathers (study of pre-baptismal and post-baptismal catechisms). 3. The need to stress the deeper theological meaning of the offering of gifts (bread, wine, incense and other first-fruits) as a sign of thanksgiving and as an expression of reciprical gratitude to God. 4. The need to inform the Church's faithful that the rituals employed by pagans tocure the ill have no relationship whatsoever with the Sacred Mysteries of the Church, which are to be understood in accordance with the study and knowledge of the liturgical texts and through their orderly and solemn celebration. 5. The need, in cases of the pastoral combatting of contemporary idolatry, for the pastor to deal with the problem with discretion in order to avoid inadvertent publicity. 6. The recasting of the parish as a worshiping community is the most positive response to the phenomenon of neo-dolatry. 7. A responsible attitude of respect for material creation and the elements of worship (iconography, music, architecture, liturgical order, use of technology), so as to attain, in both "soul and body", a real relationship and communion with God and our fellow men. Moreover, a scientific and pastoral utilization of liturgical art is called for. 8. Caution is needed so that the pastor neither encourage various pagan folk customs, nor attempt to unearth pagan practices underlying various manifestations of popular tradition. 9. The need to utilize the wealth of the ecclesiastical religious calendar and to cultivate an Orthodox doctrinal consciousness in the faithful. We must not forget that most of those who now are in error, had once joined the Church through the Mystery of Holy Baptism. In such cases, pastors have a serious responsibility. 10. The need to make known on a broad scale that the pagan movements, with their various trends, are not the same as the ancient Greek religion, the revival of which they purport to seek. They selectively use polytheistic beliefs while silently passing over, omitting or rejecting monotheistic expressions of the most illustrious representatives of the ancient Hellenic intellectual world. |
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