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The Orthodox Pages
APPENDIX |
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PARABLE A parable is a story told in a familiar and simple way as a means of teaching, and is used as an analogy [comparison] so that one can understand a deeper meaning having a religious significance. Jesus often used parables to explain His teachings, e.g. the parable of the prodigal son; the parable of the sower, etc.
HOLY GOSPELS: CANONICAL
There are four Holy Gospels: they are the Gospels of Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These books tell us of Christ’s life and teaching while He was in the world and it is only these four that the Church accepts as completely authoritative and sacred.
APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS
Apocrypha literally means them that are kept hidden. Apart from the canonical Gospels mentioned above, there are other gospels, which are hidden or kept apart from other Holy Scripture. This is because they contain stories that are not considered as authentic. It is believed that parts of these gospels were adulterated in places as a way of discrimination against the new Christian religion that was rapidly growing and taking over the Jewish faith. Some are said to have been completely written by over-zealous Jews, opposed to the Christian faith, to discredit and give it a false image. The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has accepted parts of these writings as being authentic and which agree with the stories handed down by an oral tradition, from one generation to the next. These teachings are often found in the liturgical hymns and Icons, but are never read out in the services from the actual writings.
SEPTUAGINT
In the west., a few of the Old Testament books are called apocryphal and are held apart from the rest of the Old Testament because they are not found in the Hebrew version. The Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint version of the Old Testament which contains books not found in the Hebrew version, and which can vary in certain passages from the books they both share. The books not found in the Hebrew are:
1 ESDRAS, TOBIT, JUDITH, WISDOM OF SOLOMON, WISDOM OF THE SON OF SIRACH [Ecclesiasticus], BARUCH, EPISTLE OF JEREMIAH, SONG OF THE THREE CHILDREN, SUSANNA, BEL AND THE DRAGON, MACCABEES 1, 2, 3, 4, THE PRAYER OF MANASSEH.
The Septuagint version is a translation made from the Hebrew into Greek and was translated by 70 Jews in Alexandria, Egypt, around 285 B.C. It became the most common used translation amongst the Jews outside of Palestine and the references to the Old Testament prophecies found in the New Testament are quoted from the Septuagint version, showing that Christ and the Apostles considered it as the most authoritative and authentic. Apart from the books of the Septuagint, many other Old and New Testament writings are considered spurious and doubtful in origin by both the Eastern and Western Churches and are called apocryphal by both.
HOLY SCRIPTURE
Holy Scripture other than the Gospels, refers to the Acts of the Apostles, the fourteen Epistles (letters) by St. Paul, the seven Epistles by other Apostles, known as the Epistles General, the Book of Revelations [Apocalypses], all the Old Testament and other writings the Church accepts as sacred and authoritative.
CHURCH FATHERS
The Church Fathers are those who clarified and upheld the teachings of the Church, or who were of great influence in guiding the faithful in the spiritual life. Many left us writings, which contain their teachings and conclusive arguments used to overcome the many heretics who opposed the beliefs of the Church. Their theological formulae were used in the General Councils to form the Creed [statement of faith] and the Church dogmas. Others gave us books on ascetic and spiritual guidance in fighting the warfare against the devil and our passions. The most well known among the Fathers are: Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian [of Nazianzus], John Chrysostom, Maximus, John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite, Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas, Mark of Ephesus, Athanasius the Great, Cyril of Alexandria, Macarius of Egypt and Isaac the Syrian. These are just a few of the many fathers who left an influential mark in the Orthodox Church.
PATRIARCHATE
A Patriarchate is a church that occupies a special position in the Orthodox Church. The heads of these churches are called by the title Patriarch. There are four ancient Patriarchates: the Churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Before the Great Schism in 1054 [the breaking away of the Church in the west from the Church in the east due to dogmatic differences], Rome was also one of the ancient Patriarchates and had the special honour of primacy [ranked as first] among the ancient Sees. This primacy has now passed on to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The heads of the Russian, Serbian, Romanian and Bulgarian Churches are also called Patriarchs.
CONSTANTINOPLE
Constantinople is the ancient city of Byzantium and is named after St. Constantine the Great. He built the city on the ancient site of Byzantium as a move to bring the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome in the west, to the east. This move was for religious as well as economical and political reasons. It. is often called the New Rome and the inhabitants saw the new capital as the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In the fifteenth century it fell under Turkish rule and was renamed Istanbul.
DOGMA/DOCTRINE
A dogma is a belief in something proclaimed by the Church as true, e. g. the dogma of the Incarnation confirms that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ and had two natures and two wills - the divine and human. Any deviation from the Church dogmas, whereby someone makes an opinion contrary to the beliefs of his church is called a heresy, and the person making the opinion is called a heretic who is formally excommunicated [banished] from the church by the term ‘anathema’.
ANATHEMA
Anathema is a formal ecclesiastical excommunication or curse. See heading Dogma/Doctrine.
THEOLOGY
Theology is the study of God and how He relates to human beings and other creatures. In the Orthodox Church, theology is not only the study of theology where a person applies himself to the reading of books, but also the knowledge and understanding a person receives by being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. This form of theology it called mystical and cannot be learned by the reading of books. To understand mystical theology one must live it, in other words, it is necessary to live a life in God, through prayer and ascetic struggles, whereby God reveals Himself within the person on a personal level.
Orthodox Theology is often termed ‘apophatic’, this means that the more we learn about God, the more we realize His inaccessibility. This negative approach leads us to a more perfect understanding that God in His nature is unknowable, and that what we already know of Him, is not God Himself, but how He has revealed Himself to us.
GENERAL OR ECUMENICAL COUNCILS
The Orthodox Church is often referred to as the Church of the Seven Councils. These councils [synods] were attended by bishops, priests and other representatives from the five ancient Patriarchates. It was the work of these councils to define the doctrines of the Christian faith, the Creed [a statement of faith], the canons [rules] for Christian guidance and to prevent men from falling into error and heresy, and other important issues in the Life of the Church. It is believed by the Church that all the issues raised at these councils were defined and clarified through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The Seven Ecumenical [universal] Councils are: 1) held at Nicaea in 325, 2) held at Constantinople in 381, 3) held at Ephesus in 431, 4) held at Chalcedon in 451, 5) held at Constantinople in 553, 6) held again at Constantinople in 681 and 691. This Council is often called the Quinisext or Trullo Council, 7) held again at. Nicaea in 787.
DEIFICATION / DEIFIED
To be deified by the grace of God means to be exalted and made as a God. The Holy Trinity is God by nature; when a man is deified, he receives deification as a gift from God. It is not something that belongs to him by nature, because by nature he is a human being. God bestows upon man the greatest gift of His love and raises him to Himself by making him a God by grace. It is the final end for which man was created: to be united in oneness with God. This does not mean man becomes an additional hypostasis [person] to the Three Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity. The Divine nature is always inaccessible to all creatures that have their nature in something else. Man partakes not in the nature of God, but in the divine energies that proceed from the divine nature.
CONSUBSTANTIAL
Consubstantial is a word used to define the identical nature of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Literally, it means to be of one substance [essence, nature].
DIVINE LITURGY
In the western churches, liturgy can refer to any church service, but in the Orthodox Church, it is reserved for the service where the bread and the wine are consecrated and transmade into the Body and Blood of Christ, known in the west as Mass.
CHERUBIC HYMN
This hymn is sung in the Divine Liturgy before and after the procession with the bread and wine around the church for the Great Entrance into the Holy Sanctuary [Holy Altar].
ANNUNCIATION
This is the event when the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she had been elected to be the Mother of God and where she gave her obedient and humble consent.
PROPHECY
A prophecy is a message from God usually spoken through a man called a prophet. The prophet speaks the message, but the words have been put into his mouth by God. He becomes the voluntary instrument through which God speaks to the world.
INCARNATION
To he incarnate means to become flesh. God was spirit, but willed to become flesh to save mankind. God incarnate or God in the flesh is the person Jesus Christ.
SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is the act by which something is made holy through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Material objects blessed by a priest are sanctified, e.g. bread, wine, oil, water, incense, etc.
VENERATION
To venerate means to hold a person in deep respect in recognition of his holiness. The greatest form of veneration is called worship and is given only to God. The honour given to the saints is called honorific veneration.
SWADDLING CLOTHES
Swaddling clothes or bands are long strips of linen or other cloth that were used to wrap round a newborn baby.
MANDORLA
A mandorla is a symbol used in Iconography to represent the divine glory. We have already seen its use in the Icon ‘Virgin of the Sign’ [plate 5]. It is usually made of three concentric circles of graded blue.
SIN
Sin is the act of breaking away from God. It is commonly thought of as murder, lying, idolatry, adultery, theft, etc… but all these actions first begin with the thought in the person’s mind. Someone does not steal unless he first has the thought of stealing. Therefore, sin is not only the actual crime, which is the end result, but also the thought, which is the root, or the acceptance of a temptation planted in the mind by the devil. All sin makes a barrier that separates us from God. We are not forced into sin, but willingly accept it; it has the tendency to be habit forming so very often we are not aware that we have sinned. Therefore, it is not God who breaks away from man, but man who breaks away from God.
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