loving, open, generous, forgiving; vs. hardness

[liefern]

In chapter 99 of Fr. Seraphim Rose Life & Works, there are some quotes which in themselves, and in the way presented, suggest a criticism of a so-called "zealot movement", by which I think we are meant to understand 'groups trying to do things correctly without being in full communion or at least while voicing heavy criticism'. I will quote and comment:

"The sanctity of the Church is not darkened by the intrusion of the world into the Church, or by the sinfulness of men. Everything sinful and worldly which intrudes into the Church's sphere remains foreign to it and is destined to be sifted out and destroyed...." (Fr. Michael Pomazansky, in Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)

I believe that Catholics will say the same. When one looks askance at the shenanigans of the Novus Ordo, one hears, "Oh don't worry the Church is still the Church." Sure, except that it is painful to attend! But, I hasten to observe, that the Orthodox Church is comprised of a much larger percentage of the original bishops. The Romans have been drifting alone for a very long time, and indeed Vatican II seems consistent with that sifting out.

In Russia's Catacomb Saints, Fr. Seraphim predicted that when the godless regime in Russia falls, "The Sergianist church organization and its whole philosophy of being will crumble to dust." This is indeed happening at the present time in Russian history. For those who view the Church as an invincible theandric [i.e. Divine-human] organism as did Bishop Damascene and Fr. Seraphim, it is clear that Sergianism as an organizational model and a "whole philosophy of being" is indeed being replaced by something else, as the Church organism is healed and corrected by Christ with the cooperation of its members.

This spares us the need to endlessly argue about whether the poor Orthodox suffering under Bolshevism are traitors for not being martyrs in the sense of being killed, and whether the Church there and then enjoyed sacramental grace. But this debate did rage for quite a time, and one can find vestiges of it today. For example it crops up in the assertion that we have today a kind of expanded and ongoing Sergianism.

We have spoken earlier of how Fr. Seraphim never altered his basic stance against ecumenism and reform in the Church. In his later years, however, when he saw people calling those of other jurisdictions "heretics" because they went to ecumenical gatherings, he took pains to define this stance more clearly. In his "Defense of Fr. Dimitry Dudko," he wrote: "Some would-be zealots of Orthodoxy use the term [ecumenism] in entirely too imprecise a fashion, as though the very use of the term or contact with an 'ecumenical' organization is itself a 'heresy'. Such views are clearly exaggerations. 'Ecumenism' is a heresy only if it actually involves the denial that Orthodoxy is the true Church of Christ. A few of the Orthodox leaders of the ecumenical movement have gone this far, but most Orthodox participants in the ecumenical movement have not said this much...." ... In another place ["Orthodox Christians Facing the 1980s" (here?)] Fr. Seraphim said: "The excessive reaction against the ecumenical movement has the same worldly spirit that is present in the ecumenical movement itself."

This passage clearly requires an answer from those who talk of ecumenism and heresy. Maybe things are worse and clearer now than they were in 1979 or 1982.

Likewise, while not altering his position on the Church Calendar question, Fr. Seraphim warned against exaggerating the importance of the issue and thereby causing needless fighting and division. ... "Those who introduced the New Calendar into the Orthodox Church in the 1920s and later, and who thereby brought division and modernism into the Church, will have much to answer for. But the simple people of Africa understand nothing of all this, and to preach the correct Old Calendar to them could produce nothing more than a squabble over theoretical points that would only interfere with their simple reception of the Orthodox Faith. Western converts are often skilled in debating such theoretical points, even to the extent of writing whole tomes and treatises on the canons and their interpretation. But this is an Orthodoxy of the head, full of the spirit of calculation and self-justification."

I have seen the expression "new-Platina", by which it is implied that the monastery now there is not to be trusted with Fr. Seraphim's work. However, the passage above does seem to argue against making an issue of the Calendar (and he was aware of its associations with modernism) as well as offering a characterization of Western converts of being too much in the head and, therefore, not having sufficient pain of heart.

Comments?

[Maria]

This passage clearly requires an answer from those who talk of ecumenism and heresy. Maybe things are worse and clearer now than they were in 1979 or 1982.

Likewise, while not altering his position on the Church Calendar question, Fr. Seraphim warned against exaggerating the importance of the issue and thereby causing needless fighting and division. ... "Those who introduced the New Calendar into the Orthodox Church in the 1920s and later, and who thereby brought division and modernism into the Church, will have much to answer for. But the simple people of Africa understand nothing of all this, and to preach the correct Old Calendar to them could produce nothing more than a squabble over theoretical points that would only interfere with their simple reception of the Orthodox Faith. Western converts are often skilled in debating such theoretical points, even to the extent of writing whole tomes and treatises on the canons and their interpretation. But this is an Orthodoxy of the head, full of the spirit of calculation and self-justification."

I have seen the expression "new-Platina", by which it is implied that the monastery now there is not to be trusted with Fr. Seraphim's work. However, the passage above does seem to argue against making an issue of the Calendar (and he was aware of its associations with modernism) as well as offering a characterization of Western converts of being too much in the head and, therefore, not having sufficient pain of heart.

Comments?

When was the above passage written or edited?

It sounds like a New Calendarist position.

[Barbara]

It DOES sound heavily edited ! I haven't heard that expression "New-Platina" but it does seem to fit.
Quite a sea change between then and - when ? - the going under the Serbian Patriarchate. Or before, maybe ?

[searn77]

Regarding your second quote, if you're interpreting it to mean that the Moscow Patriarchate is abandoning Sergianism, I have read evidence to the contrary. But I do not think that is the interpretation that Fr Seraphim meant to give. Just within this decade, there have been abandoned churches that the government says it will allow to be occupied by a True Orthodox synod, and after the True Orthodox fixed the church up and brought icons to it, the government took the church and gave it to the MP. Also, the Russian government has done a lot of church building in Russia and people are saying that there's a sort of "Orthodox revival" happening in the MP. But what's really going on is that the MP churches receive tax cuts in Russia, and the churches rent out parts of their church to the government and small businesses to use, and therefore these government offices and small businesses also receive the tax cuts. I think it may have been a short Vice documentary on Youtube that discussed this. One church in the documentary had lawyer offices in the church as well as a car wash service underneath the church. I pray that the MP repents of Sergianism, but as of now, that has yet to happen.

In the third quote regarding Fr Seraphim's defense of Fr Dimitry Dudko, I agree with what he's saying. Ecumenical dialogue is not heresy in-and-of itself, even if a person views the ecumenical dialogue to be unenlightening. He says that it's only heresy if it involves the denial that Orthodoxy is the true Church of Christ. If you read up on what some of these ecumenical organizations officially believe, you would see that an Orthodox Christian's participation in the organization does involve the denial that Orthodoxy is the true Church of Christ, such as how the World Council of Churches views the Church as being divided. Also, common liturgical prayer with Orthodox clergy and non-Orthodox clergy involves a denial that Orthodoxy is the true Church of Christ.

Regarding the last quote about Fr Seraphim's view on the Church calendar, again, I agree with what he's saying. I'd recommend reading this article about economia in the Church: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzJKrDV ... RzWnc/edit
The Church has done things that goes against the "strictness" of the law in order to bring people into the Church. If you read the end of page 2 and most of page 3, you can see my basis for the example that I'm about to type in the next paragraph.

Let's take the example that Fr Seraphim used about the African Orthodox who belong to a New Calendarist jurisdiction and are completely unaware of the heresy of Ecumenism and the relation that Ecumenism has with the New Calendar. If I went over to Africa and started calling them heretics and their Church a parasynagogue, and basically began telling them every reason why their New Calendarist Jurisdiction was wrong and my Old Calendarist jurisdiction was right, not only would I be guilty of what Fr Seraphim calls an "Orthodoxy of the head," but they would most likely associate my fanaticism with the TOC and therefore never join the TOC. But if I allowed them to grow in their Orthodox faith, and grew a correspondence with them out of a love for God and a love for them, eventually when they would be capable of understanding the dangers of Ecumenism, I could gently bring up the topic. Then eventually I could tell them about the dangers of being in communion with Ecumenism. And hypothetically, lets say some African Orthodox New Calendarist bishops, after realizing the danger of being in communion with Ecumenism, asked to be received into the True Orthodox Church with their church communities. But they said something like, "Could you please allow us to continue using the new calendar for a little while? The older generation has been using this calendar their whole lives, and we're afraid that if we abruptly switch to the Julian calendar as well as switch synods, we will lose some of the faithful to the Ecumenists." If the True Orthodox synod said "No! You must begin using the Julian calendar immediately!", not only is there the chance that the older generation won't be willing to join the TOC, but the African bishops may say "These Old Calendarists are too fanatic! Maybe we should stick with the New Calendarist Church and hope for the best." But if the True Orthodox synod applied economia and thought to themselves "Let's allow them to use the new calendar for the time being. Eventually when the older generation has died, we can switch to the Julian calendar. This shouldn't cause that much of a problem with the younger generation because we'll still be the same TOC synod that we've always been," then there's a strong chance that this appliance of economia will bring many people into the True Orthodox Church.

[searn77]

By the way, I just read the whole article that Fr Seraphim wrote in Defense of Fr Dimitry Dudko and would HIGHLY recommend it for all True Orthodox Christians to read!!! Fr Seraphim knows Orthodoxy in his heart, and every time I read his writings, I recognize just how much he understood it all.

[StephenS]

By the way, I just read the whole article that Fr Seraphim wrote in Defense of Fr Dimitry Dudko and would HIGHLY recommend it for all True Orthodox Christians to read!!! Fr Seraphim knows Orthodoxy in his heart, and every time I read his writings, I recognize just how much he understood it all.

Fr Seraphim had and has critics both among World Orthodoxy and True Orthodoxy. Any examination I've been able to make of his writings, with perhaps the exception of the sad Toll Houses episode, leave me feeling his grasp of Orthodoxy was sound and illuminating.