Letters to my Family 2

St. Seraphim’s Fellowship
P.O. Box 351656
Jacksonville, Fl. 32235-1656

Dear Inmate:

Letters to my Family II (Continued...)

Dear Parents:

I received your letter and think I understand the reason for your confusion and indecision. You said you agree with the first letter I wrote you, but still have unresolved questions about the validity of many of the things that we do and believe. I thought I would spend this letter answering those questions.

Salvation

Let me begin by dealing very briefly with some of the Protestant doctrines of salvation. According to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, gaining salvation through God’s grace is a process which is started at the time of ones entry into the Church and can be said to be completed only after death. The Church never has held the belief that someone can have a mystical experience that will thenceforth guarantee his entry into heaven. Jesus said; He that endures to the end shall be saved. (Matt, 24:13) This teaching about salvation was handed down from the Apostles. When a Christian seeks his salvation, he undertakes a process of reforming his life, motivated by his love for God. The bestowal of the Holy Spirit at Baptism and Chrismation is the beginning of his salvation, but the Christian must continue it or he is like the seed which, although planted by the hand of God and prospering for a time, is withered by the sun or chocked out by the weeds. (Luke 8:5-15)

Salvation is in no way a reward for a Christian’s mighty deeds of righteousness, for these are as filthy rags. (Is: 64:6), but rather the Christian seeks God and loves Him, and because of his love, he seeks to become like God. God, in His unfathomable love and mercy, sees the Christian’s willingness and gives him the strength to do His will; and then, despite his failures, God grants him salvation.

Neither am I predestinated (without choice) to heaven while others are predestined to hell. This is an ancient heresy, long since discarded by the Church, which was revived during the Protestant Reformation. The fact that God could see the end from the beginning does not negate our free will; it merely testifies that God is truly Omniscient, knowing in the past what we will decide in the future. An everyday example of this occurs when you know someone so well that you know what he will say or do in a particular instance. He has free choice, but you know him well enough to know which way he will freely choose to act. God, being All-Knowing, could foresee everything from the start. He chose to act as He did knowing what are free choices would be, and in this way “predestinated” us to live our lives as we do. But it is our free choice, not His decree or decision, that determines how we act. We are therefore without excuse for our wrong decisions.

God gives us the choice of how we live our lives. Our decision then reveals our rejection or acceptance of Him and His ways and His grace. Thus, salvation is something I decide with my entire life; it cannot be irrevocably gained during one moment of my life, neither is it something I can gain on the basis of one Sunday morning a week. Rather it is something I must strive for throughout my life. If I desire the Pearl of Great Price, I must sell all that I have (and my most precious and only real possession is my time) in order to buy it. Saint Paul describes what a life like this would be like in I Thess. 3:17, Pray without ceasing, rejoice evermore, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Thus the way I spend each moment of my life determines whether I am moving towards salvation or damnation; but the decision is not final until I stand before God in judgment. And even if I do spend all my time for salvation, repenting of my sins, trusting in God’s mercy, obeying God and loving Him, I nevertheless will gain it only by God’s mercy, for I cannot earn it; the price is too high, it must be given by God Who alone loves mankind.

Saints

Now I know that you honor and respect the President of the United States. If he walked into the room, you would stand in deference to him, and might even be tongued-tied to be so close to such an important person. Yet you question the honor we accord the saints. They have run a race much more difficult than an election race, and they have fought a much better and harder fight; for by God’s grace, they have triumphed over both themselves and Satan. Should we not honor them as much as, if not more then, a temporal ruler? We cheer Olympic victors and think much of their effort and skill. Is not a holy life infinitely more worthy of honor and respect?

But do not think that we forget God when we look at these men and women. They are lights to the world and to the Church, reflections of God Who is light. At times I have been greatly inspired to praise God because I caught a glimpse of God’s grace as it shown through the life of the Virgin Mother of God or some other saint, and I marveled at His mercies and aid to that person in his life, and was encouraged that He will do the same for me if I would only allow Him. No, the saints became what they are because of God’s mercies, so praise of them is praise of God, their Maker and Helper. Also, if these saints are part of the Body of Christ, should we not see more fully by looking at them, the Body as well as the Head of the Body which is Jesus Christ?

All Christians are saints, which is just a word meaning “holy one.” But by preceding their names with the title “saint,” the Church refers to those whose lives in earth were so exemplary and outstanding that she points to them as guides to follow on the Christian walk, just as St. Paul told Christians to follow his example. (I Cor. 4:16, 11:1). Also, the Church witnesses that those she refers to as “saints” are with God, the righteous praising Him in heaven. For the teaching of the Church has always been that the state of a person at death is normally not known, for only God who knows the hearts of man can judge righteously. But saints have been attested to be true sons of God by miracles occurring after their death at their graves, and by the fact that prayers addressed to them are answered. Thus, both the Church and creation bear witness that these are true sons of God, dwelling with Him in heaven.
Mary the Theotokos

The reasons we give so much honor to Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, are many. First she is a saint, and like the other saints she is worthy of honor, respect, and emulation. But she is a special saint, for all of the women in the world, God chose her to be Mother to His Son. We believe that God does not choose lightly, bestowing honor for little or no reason. If He chose Mary, then she must have been very unique and holy. This alone is sufficient reason to give special honor to her, for we have sure indication of God’s approval of her. But there are more reasons. She was the first to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God; she was the first “Christian.” She is symbolic of the whole Church, for as Christ dwelled within her, so Christ dwells within His Church. As Christ’s dwelling in her womb became obvious, so we are to grow so that the Christ within us becomes obvious to those in the world. As she answered the Archangel Gabriel, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me as thou hast said (Luke 1:38), so we are to answer and so are we to submit to God’s will in all obedience and humility. As she patiently endured ridicule, taunts, and abuse because of Christ; so are we to endure them. Her command to the servants at the wedding feast of Cana is her advice to all of us; Whatsoever He (Jesus) saith unto you, do it (Luke 2:5). Truly it has been said that those who look at the Virgin Mary see God instead, for she becomes virtually transparent, disclosing Him to all. Thus she is depicted in most of her icons gesturing towards Christ, making Him the focal point.

Mary also protects the dogma of the Incarnation; that God (not a human being who later became deified) came in the flesh (not just in the spirit) and was our Saviour. This is the reason for her title Theotokos, which means “Birthgiver of God.” She is for us the epitome of all the saints, of all that we are to be, the most beloved. But it is God we worship, not the Mother of His Son.

And why call her “Mother of God?” We call her this in order to be explicit that Jesus Whom she bore was and is God, not a mere man, and not the Messiah-who-later-became-infused-with-God. Repeatedly in the Church’s hymns it is clearly stated that Christ is pre-eternal, that is, that Mary is not the source of His Godhead, for He is before all eternity, before God’s creation of time. Christ is one of the Persons of the Trinity, taking on His humanity from Mary. By such statements as these, we are safeguarded from the heresy that Mary is the cause of any Person of the Trinity. But since she was Jesus’ mother, then by simple “algebraic substitution” she was God’s mother as well, that is, mother to the God-Man, Christ Jesus.
Intercession of the Saints

It has been the teaching of the Church from the earliest times that the saints in heaven pray for those on earth and that we can ask them for their prayers. When I was considering this doctrine before I became Orthodox, I realized that a false philosophy was influencing my faith. I had not dealt with the full implications of Christ’s Resurrection. Death where is thy sting? Grave where is thy victory? (I Cor. 15:5) No longer is death the defeat and barrier that it once was, for Christ now has the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1:18) Death cannot totally separate the Body of Christ, for then there would be two bodies, not just one. Instead, we have the help of the saints in their prayers for us. Consider that the Apocalypse (Revelation) shows the martyrs praying under the altar for the persecutions to end (Rev. 6:9-10). Also the earliest historical documents of the Church, such as the accounts of the martyrdoms of Sts. Polycarp and Ignatius, dating from approximately 108 and 110 AD, show Christians praying to the new martyrs and rejoicing that a new saint was in heaven to intercede for them.

You ask me how the saints can hear our prayers. Since the saints are part of the Body of Christ, and Christ is omnipresent, then by God’s grace anything said to them can reach them. If you look for more details than that, you will find yourself trying to apply rules of physics and geometry to the Omnipresent, Omnipotent Creator of all, and will find that rules which work for the finite things do not work for an infinite Being. That our prayers do reach the saints is all we really need to know.

What do we pray for? Understand that the word “pray” is only an old-fashioned word meaning “ask”. We ask the saints to intercede for us before God. We ask them to pray for us just as I might ask my neighbor to pray for me.

Why ask the saints to pray? St. James the Apostle wrote, The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much (Jas. 5:16), and we have the assurance of the Church that these have been accounted by God as righteous.

Also, we know that if we ask anything according to His will…we have what we ask of Him (I John 5:14-15) and those who live before the throne of God have sure access to the knowledge of His will. Thus, being free of sin and the cares of this life and knowing God’s will. They pray with great effect. Besides, much of the time there is no Christian nearby whose prayers I can ask; but the saints are always available. This by no means negates the responsibility of Christians who are yet in the world to pray for one another, for this we are obligated and privileged to do. Being able to pray to the saints in heaven merely ensures that someone whose prayers will be heard can pray at any time, for our need for God’s help is great.
Intercession for the Dead

Christians who have died have not necessarily attained instant perfection. Although those who are entitled “saints” have attained perfection, the Church believes that most continue to grow to the fullness of the stature of Christ. For if Christ learned obedience on the earth (Heb. 5:8), how much more do we need to learn, even though God may have granted us salvation? Therefore, we pray because the Body of Christ is one, and because no member of the Body should be deprived of the help of intercessory prayer. Thus we pray for the dead in Christ, joining our feeble love to God’s. Even our poor prayers may be of help to them, and we are obligated to pray for Christians everywhere.

Relics

The first account of a miracle done through the relics of a saint in II Kings 13:20-21, where a dead man who was laid on the bones of the Prophet Elisha is raised from the dead. We also have the account in Acts 5:15-16, and 19:11-12 of relics of St. Peter and St. Paul, i.e. St Peter’s shadow and pieces of St. Paul’s apron, affecting miracles by God’s grace. How can we deny that miracles take place through the relics of holy saints when we have examples in Scripture? Also, the earliest accounts of Christians show them reverencing the relics of the martyrs (e.g., the accounts of the martyrdoms of Sts. Polycarp and Ignatius). Do not be mistaken; it is God who grants the miracles, but He does it through the relics of the saints. If God so honors them, how can we deny them honor?

Part of the problem of accepting the validity of relics may be our being raised in a society which teaches that the body is a thing which one’s true self or soul inhabits; that it is the inner person which matters, the body being no more than a vehicle which will be discarded. But Scripture teaches that the body is as much a part of the whole person as the soul. Were this not the case, why would God promise to raise the bodies of the righteous dead? Why would He not simply make them new bodies from some other material, or dispense with bodies entirely in the resurrection? But since God has promised to raise the saint’s bodies from death and corruption, we must teach that there is a true identity between the body and the soul. Therefore, we honor the saints bodies, for they are a link to the saints in heaven, they have been honored by God in miracles and signs, and because we have been taught to do so from the beginning.

Icons

We venerate and honor Icons (as well as the Cross and the Gospel book), believing that the honor bestowed upon these symbols is transmitted to the reality, that is, the actual person depicted. We honor the reality via the icon. As St John of Damascus said, “Of old the incorporeal and invisible God was not depicted at all; but now, since God has appeared in the flesh and dwelt among men, I make an icon of God in so far as He has become visible. I do not venerate matter, but I venerate the Creator of matter, who for my sake has been pleased to dwell in matter and has through matter effected my salvation. I shall not cease to venerate matter, for it was through matter that my salvation came to pass.” And Leontius of Cyprus (7th Century) said; “So long as the two pieces of wood are joined together to form a cross, I venerate the emblem of the cross because of Christ who was crucified upon it; but if they are separated from one another, I throw them away and burn them”. We do not venerate the nature of the wood, but through wood we embrace and venerate Him who was crucified…”For we worship the Creator, not the created”. We use the created to honor the Creator. (There is some disagreement about which English words should be used to correctly distinguish between the limitless love and adoration due God and the lesser veneration of honor due icons as parts of the creation. The problem is that neither British nor American English seems to be sufficiently precise. Since most Americans exclusively associate the word “worship” with a deity, I have chosen to use the word venerate when referring to icons, saints, etc. I hope that the text makes clear what the English terminology may not.)

As testified by the Old Testament, idol worshipers believed their gods lived inside the idols or were the idols and that they therefore had power in and of themselves. Such is not our belief, for the paint and the wood and other material of an icon, cross or Gospel Book have no power in themselves; they are lifeless.

It is a common saying that Christians are to be Christ in the world. Orthodoxy teaches something like this when it says that each Christian is an icon, an image of God, presented to the world so that all might come to the knowledge of the truth. And just as icons of Christ are imperfect and incomplete representations, so are most Christians. Actually, when Christ came in the flesh He was the first icon of God, a flesh and blood, material portrayal of Who God is. So we consider the people of God to be icons as well and worthy of honor.

You say that you dislike the “peculiar style” of icons. They are painted in the way in an attempt to depict the nature of the person who has been transformed by grace. This is why they are somewhat stylized and formalized. The unimportant earthly details about cleft chins and moles have been left out. Instead, they strive to show forth God, inasmuch as He has become visible, or the heavenly powers and saints reflecting God. Through their symbolism, icons portray the new creation, the transfigured world. As St. Paul says; We shall be changed..(I Cor. 15:51-53).
Priests

You ask how we can call our priests “father” when Matthew 23:9-10 teaches. Call no man your father on the earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven. And call no man lord (or master in some translations) for you have one Lord, even Christ. The question is whether Christ meant this statement literally, i.e. never use this word “father” or “lord” except to refer to God, or whether He was trying to teach something else. The Apostle Paul did not understand the words of Our Lord the way you do, for he called slaves’ owners “masters” and “lords” in Ephesians 6:5, 9, and in Ephesians 6:2-4 he called the male parent “father.”

The Apostle John also addressed people as “father” in I John 2:13-14. But the clearest refutation of this interpretation is in I Corinthians 4:15 where St. Paul says; though you have ten thousand teachers, yet you have not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus have I begotten you.

If you insist on a literal interpretation of this verse in Matthew, you must call your earthly father by his given name; for if you call him dad, or papa, or any other synonym, you are just playing word games, and you are still conveying the thought of father even though you are using different sounds to convey that thought. Christ was not teaching us to disrespect our parents or change our language. He only meant that there is one true Father, one true Lord and that we should clearly recognize Him as being exceedingly more worthy of our obedience and love than our earthly fathers and rulers.

The ministry of the priesthood is not some strange thing. Priests administer the Sacraments, teach, discipline, exhort and encourage the people of God. In turn, each priest is under the authority of a bishop whom he must obey. Only the bishops and the priests can administer the Sacraments. This is what the Apostles taught and this is the tradition we keep. You can see the wisdom with which the Holy Spirit taught the apostles and bishops, since this arrangement binds the Body of Christ together. No Christian can go off entirely on his own and be saved, for he must come to the Body to partake of the Sacraments, and there he can be taught and encouraged and disciplined. Thus the interdependence of the Body’s members is protected.

Our priests are Shepherds of the flock who watch over our souls. They do not lord it over us. They are not some aristocracy, ruling over and superior to the average believer. Rather they are people God has chosen to burden with the responsibility for the souls of His people. This is an awesome responsibility and a heartbreaking task. If we show them honor, it is because we see their struggle and toil for us and are thankful for them and attempt to show them our appreciation. We are also to be submissive to them as St. Paul taught in Hebrews 13:17. They in turn obey their bishop and follow the holy traditions passed down to them.

Monks

Elisha spent three and a half years alone in the wilderness (I Kings 17:1-5) St Paul spent fourteen years alone in the desert learning from God (Gal. 1:16, 2:1).
These are Scriptural examples of monasticism. However, monasticism really blossomed forth in the fourth century, after Christianity was legalized by the emperor St. Constantine. Until then, people who became Christians had to count the cost, for it could cost then their lives. But after it was legalized, many worldly people sought to enter the Church when it became somewhat fashionable. This inundation of the world into the Church caused many Christians to flee into the desert to seek God away from the busy crowd. The tales that were told, particularly of St. Anthony the Great, one of the first desert fathers among many others, inspired many to try this life of prayer, chastity, and physical deprivation. This was the beginning of monasticism’s golden age.

Monks have two primary tasks; 1) To seek their own salvation (for if they are not on the correct path, they cannot help anyone else), and 2) To pray for the whole world. Thus, monks are the Church’s warriors of prayer. Their ministry to the Church is to pray for it and for the world. They support themselves with the labor of their hands, usually quiet tasks which allow them to pray while they work without distraction, and spend the rest of their time in Church services or private prayer or reading holy books in the quiet of their cells. They seek to pray at all times (1 Thess. 5:16-18), to acquire the virtues, and deny all the passions of the flesh. They keep stricter fasts than the Christians in the world usually do, and may deny themselves sleep or speech with men in order to focus their minds on God alone and worship Him. Their monastic garments are designed to keep them from being concerned about what they wear, for they always wear the same thing, a quiet sober or severe style of apparel. Monasteries and convents are also a great source of spiritually to the Church. Many Christians go to them for advice and many of our saints have come from them. Most of our bishops also come from monasteries, and often the monasteries have stirred the Church to repentance3 and to seek God. Actually, monks do basically what Christians in the world are supposed to do, except that monks have also vowed chastity and vowed to follow a monastic discipline in dress and fasting. Otherwise, we are to do what they do, i.e. pray without ceasing and seek God in Holiness, doing our best to avoid the world’s distractions.

The Eucharist

We do not “sacrifice the Son of God repeatedly” in the Eucharist, for each Liturgy is united in time with the Crucifixion and Resurrection. We partake of Him who was nailed on the Cross and rose again “and is perpetually slain, sanctifying communicants” (Canon of preparation for Holy Communion), not a recrucified God. (Rev. 13:8)

That of which we partake is truly and exactly and literally the most precious Body and Blood of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. You say you don’t understand how bread and wine can be changed into flesh and blood. I don’t understand either; but it is not necessary or even common to understand how created the world, nor do I understand the Trinity, but I believe in them. I don’t even understand electricity, but that does not stop me from turning on a lamp and enjoying the illumination it provides. It is enough for me that the same God who said; “Let there be light” also said; “this is my Body…this is my Blood (Matt. 26:26-28, Mark 14: 22-24, Luke 22: 19-20)

Historically, the most ancient teachings of the Church state that the Eucharist is truly Christ’s flesh and blood. In about 110 A.D., the bishop and martyr St. Ignatius, who was a disciple of the Apostle John, taught the Church, “if they (heretics) believe not in the blood of Christ (they) shall incur condemnation…they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ…” He also wrote, “I have no delight in corruptible food, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the Bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life which is the flesh of Jesus Christ.” He did not say it is a symbol of the flesh of Jesus Christ, but that it is His flesh. It is not corruptible food, as a mere symbol would be, but incorruptible; the flesh of the God-Man, Christ Jesus. The early Church always understood that the Blood of Christ which cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7) refers to the Eucharist, not to some mystically applied blood. It was understood that the cleansing of Christ’s Blood took place through partaking of that Blood in the Eucharist.

The Passover in the Old Testament is seen as a prefiguration of our salvation. After the Hebrews slaughtered the lamb, which is a figure of Christ (1 Cor. 5:7), they did not paint the lintels of their homes with wine or grape juice. They took the blood of the lamb and each applied it to the lintels of his house. In the same way, it is only by partaking of the true and actual Blood and Body of Christ that we can be made clean. This has always been the teaching of the Scriptures and the Apostles.

Baptism of Infants

The argument concerning the baptism of infants is one encountered only in comparatively modern times. Nor until the time of the Protestants (only some five hundred years ago) did the question arise. Now it might seem logical that since infants cannot think maturely or decide, and thus cannot have faith, they therefore should not be baptized. Where is the proof for this modern belief? It is neither a biblical nor a scientific one. Modern psychology recognizes the fact that children can learn in the womb and that they recognize their mother’s voice. The bible states, Yet though art He who did bring me forth from the womb; thou didst make me trust when upon my mother’s breast (Ps. 22:9), and For behold, when the sound of thy greeting reached my ears, said St. Elizabeth to the Theotokos, the babe leaped in my womb for joy(Luke 1:44). It would seem that both St. David the King and St. John the Baptist had relationships with God from the womb, so who can say that others cannot? Is not faith a relationship, rather than a belief in and adherence to a system of doctrines? Since infants can have a relationship, they must also be able to have faith, which is a relationship of trusting God. What we receive from God, we receive by grace, not through the exercise of our mental abilities.

Furthermore, infants were circumcised when they were eight days old according to the Old Testament ritual law. St. Paul teaches that this was a prefiguration of baptism (Col. 1: 11-12). Also, Moses’ leading of the Israelites through the Red Sea was a baptismal prefiguration according to (1 Cor. 10: 1-4. and there were infants among them, saved by the faith of their parents, although when they were older they would have to prove their faith in the wilderness.

In the New Testament, we read of whole households being baptized (Acts 16: 15, 16: 33, 1 Cor. 1: 16). In Greek, the word used for household means the entire family, from oldest adult to infant. That word can no more be used to denote only the adults of a family than our word “family” can denote only adults.

All of this would indicate that infants were baptized from the beginning. In support of this, we find no writings opposing infant baptism until the Protestant Reformation. The question seems never to have been considered previously. If it had been an addition, surely some heretic would have exploited it in the early history of the Church; but this never happened. It seems to have been the apostolic way fro the first, which is the teaching of the Church.

Simple reception of the Sacraments, however, does not guarantee salvation. Actually, infant baptism and chrismation is quite similar to the adoption of a child into an earthly family where the child comes into a relationship with his new family despite his age. Like the baptized child, the adopted child may later decide to reject his adopted family, but until then he is a part of that family. Christ said; “Let the little ones come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). How could we justify not baptizing our children, thus denying them the help of all the Sacraments and the Church in the early and most formative years?

Incense and Candles

Symbols were not discarded by Christ Who used the symbolism of the parable as one of His primary teaching methods, for symbols are an integral part of man and can be useful to him for salvation. Candles or oil lamps were used as a symbol of our prayers in Apocalypse 5: 8 and in Psalm 14:2, Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense. Thus as the Scriptures use symbols, so does the Church, attempting to remind us of God at all times and by all our senses. Thus the material, in the forms of candles and incense, touches our senses in the Church and reminds us of who we are, Who God is, and what we are to be doing, that is lights in the world and praying without ceasing. Here again, the Church uses the material God created to help us to turn our minds towards God.

Wine

Some Protestants have tried to interpret verses in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Ephesians (5:18) to mean that Christians should not drink alcoholic beverages, But these verses only state that we should not become drunk, for that is excess, and often leads to sin. Psalm 104: 15 states that God created wine to gladden man’s heart, and in Deuteronomy 14: 25-26 God instructs His people that if they are unable to take their tithes to the temple, Then shalt thou turn it (your tithe) into money and and bind up the money in thine hand and shalt go into a place which the Lord thy God shall choose and thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth, and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household.

If God prescribes such a festal banquet in lieu of paying tithe, then the other verses certainly cannot be interpreted as forbidding the use of alcohol. This is why the Orthodox Church does not forbid its members to drink alcohol.

I hope and pray that this letter has been helpful to you and that it has answered most of your questions. O plan to write another time about some of the doctrine of the Church and answer your questions about “other denominations”, but I think this letter is long enough already. I wish I could convey the depth and the richness of Orthodoxy better than I have been able to thus far, but I hope that God may minister to you despite my poverty of thought and expression. May He richly bless you in all things.

Your Loving Son,

Demetri

In Christ's Mercy,

Brother Seraphim