Love and self-emptying as basic principles of the Orthodox ethos

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Orthodox ethos is the fruit of cooperation between human volition and God’s grace. It is the result of free personal choice, which has to do with acceptance of God’s efforts for the salvation of humankind. Acceptance of the path God shows us to come into possession of salvation in Christ.

In Holy Scripture, the mystery of piety is identified with the event of the incarnation of the Son and Word of God; with the union of God and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. ‘Piety’ has to do with the mystery of the love of the Triune God. He effects salvation through the incarnation of His Son. If the mystery of piety is the fact of the Theanthropicity of Christ, the adoption of piety on our part is the acceptance of this mystery, living faith.

The faithful acquire the Orthodox outlook when they rediscover the life which corresponds to their own nature, to the ‘image and likeness’ of the Triune God. This means that they have to abandon their autonomy and choose the communion of the love of God. The faithful must do this freely, because true love is inconceivable without freedom. It is always the fruit of our free, personal volition. True love for and communion with God is not concocted by a variety of techniques. It is not the result of automatic processes and contrivances. It always comes from our own volition and free submission to God.

The proper attitude to God, other people and creation, that is the Orthodox attitude, presupposes the abandonment of our autonomy, acceptance of our inadequacies and our inability to put into effect the meaning of our life. This means a new orientation on our part, a turn towards our Creator, a change of mind, repentance. The faithful are called to a lifelong spiritual struggle, in which they are never abandoned by God – unless they consider themselves competent and self-sufficient, for then they declare themselves independent and drive away God’s grace.