490-502

Λύτρωσις και Μυστήριον της Εκκλησίας εξ επόψεως ορθοδόξου, Redemption and the Mystery of the Church from an orthodox view-point

• Παπουλίδης, Κωνσταντίνος Κ.

The author of this study, despite the difficulties which arise from the fact that the East has never dwelt upon the reasons for the economy of redemption but rather has emphasized and stressed the results of this economy, attempts to state the Orthodox view-point on this matter. Redemption begins through the victory over the power of the daemons. For the Orthodox, the Theo tokos does not possess the privileges granted to her by the Roman dogma of the Immaculate Conception. According to St. Maximus, the Confessor, the basic matter lies in the realization of the eternal plan of the love of the Creator, that is, the complete union of divinity and humanity, of the uncreated and the created. By His death upon the Cross, Christ ransomed us from our fallen state and restored in Himself the nature of our race which had been corrupted. He conquered Satan and set his kingdom-Hades and death-at naught. Thus Christ became the «second Adam», and stands at the head of restored humanity. Redemption in Christ extends to all of the human race. Orthodoxy understands the work of Christ as the triumph of life. Through this act of redemption wrought by Christ, divine life fills mankind and sets at naught everything contrary to it. Against Augustine's «non posse non peccare,» the Eastern Church emphasizes the complete freedom of the initial movement of the will, beyond all compulsion and causality. This ability of the will is not purely human but theandric. Grace does not abolish freedom. According to St. Maximus, the Confessor, «man has two wings with which to ascend tó heaven: freedom and grace.» Works are not simply deeds of ethical and moral value, but rather a theandric operation. The work of Christ is in every sense a true act of «re-creation.» The Eastern Church prays for all the dead. The Mystery of the Church is the Mystery of universal salvation (concerning which, see Eph. 3:10-11). The nature of the Church is that of a mystical community. The Holy Eucharist is the source as well as the realization of the other Mysteries. All the Church Services are a preparation for the wedding of the Lamb. Eastern Christians in their Trinitarian Theology begin with the three hypostases and from these arrive at the oneness and unity of the Godhead. Finally, the author speaks in brief about the theory of the pentarchy (the five patriarchates).

• Philosophy, Ethics and Religion

• Θεολογία