The mystery and the unity of the Church: Considerations from an Eastern Orthodox perspective

This article attempts an approach to discuss the mystery and the unity of the church and firstly, it underlined that the church cannot have a formal definition as the divine life extended from Christ’s resurrected body into those who believe and receive the Holy Mysteria. At the same time, the process of becoming part of the church is a mystical one. In order for life in Christ to be possible, Christ must be formed in the human being. Becoming a Christian is described in terms specific to the process of birth (cf. Gl 4:19), its end being the formation of Christ in us. Then, the theme of unity is dealt with from an Eastern Orthodox perspective, not in isolation, but in connection with the Roman Catholic, Protestant and ecumenical concerns for unity and collaboration amongst Christians. The cosmic unifying vocation of the church was accomplished because of the five syntheses realised by her Head, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Then there are references to the Theotokological aspect of the church, Holy Baptism as the bond of church unity; Holy Eucharist as the Mysterion of ecclesial unity, the ministry of the bishop for unity and the unity of Christians in the one Church.Contribution: The author, having experience in ecumenical dialogues as a former member of the Commmission on World Mission and Evangelism and, at present, of the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches, tried to offer a balanced perspective on the sensitive theme of the unity of the Christians in the one Church, referring to some of the main relevant sources, which facilitate dialogue, mutual knowledge and collaboration.

Penderitaan sebagai Jalan Mistik Menuju Kesatuan Hidup bersama Kristus: Belajar dari Perjalanan Paulus Ke Sorga (2 Korintus 12:1-10)

Suffering is the secret of human life. Generally, people view suffering as God's reaction to human sin. This view is corrected by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10, which emphasizes that suffering is not God's punishment but God's way of maintaining human humility in facing life. By using the rhetorical critique method, which is a method that explores understanding by creating a single literary genre from many inter-textualities, both in biblical texts and extra-biblical texts, this researcher finds a message that suffering is actually a 'mystical path’ to experience encounter and union with God. In union with God, humans realize that they are part of life as a whole, so they must share and care for each other based on the understanding that all human beings are part of Divine life. Thus 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10 affirms that suffering is not a negative thing and needs to be complained about, but must be grateful for the understanding that this is the ‘mystical path’ of humans towards the unity of life with Christ and fellow humans.

Karakteristik Pendidikan Agama Kristen daIam KeIuarga bagi Pembentukan Karakter Anak di Era Disrupsi 4.0

In the era of disruption, there have been many changes in various fields. The negative impact that occurs on children is the occurrence of a character crisis. The family as the smallest social system has a great influence on the formation of children's character. That is why PAK in the family is very necessary for character building so as to produce children with Christ's character. The purpose of this research is to describe the characteristics of PAK in the family for the formation of children's character in the era of disruption. This research uses a qualitative descriptive method and is a literature research. The result of this research is a description of the four characteristics of PAK in the family for the formation of children's character in the era of disruption, namely: Education that helps children to believe and accept the Lord Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, Education that instills in children's hearts to have a heart that fears God, Education that adheres to a holy standard of living and divine life values, and Education that helps children have a life perspective based on the Bible.AbstrakDi era disrupsi terjadi banyak perubahan daIam berbagai bidang. Dampak negatif yang terjadi pada anak adaIah terjadinya krisiskarakter. Keluarga sebagai sistem sosiaIterkeciImemiIiki pengaruh yang besar daIam pembentukan karakter anak.ItuIah sebabnya PAK daIam keIuarga sangat diperIukan bagi pembentukan karakter sehingga menghasiIkan anak-anak yang berkarakter Kristus. Tujuan dari peneIitian ini adaIah untuk mendeskripsikan karakterik PAK daIam keIuarga bagi pembentukan karakter anak di era disrupsi. PeneIitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kuaIitatif dan merupakan peneIi-tian kepustakaan. HasiI peneIitian ini adaIah deskripsi tentang empat karakteristik PAK daIam keIuarga bagi pembentukan karakter anak di era disrupsi, yaitu: Pendidikan yang menoIong anak untuk percaya dan menerima Tuhan Yesus sebagai Tuhan dan JuruseIamat pribadi, Pendidikan yang menanamkan daIam hati anak untuk memiIiki hati yang takut akan TUHAN, Pendidikan yang berpegang pada standar hidup kudus dan niIai hidup IIahi, dan Pendidikan yang menoIong anak memiIiki perspektif hidup berdasarkan AIkitab.

A FASCINATING SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE, THEOLOGY, AND SPIRITUALITY: ST. GREGORY PALAMAS

As a prominent Church father, mystical theologian and incisive polemicist, St. Gregory Palamas has realized a «Summa Theologica» of his epoch, but one that has surpassed not only the thinking of contemporaries, but remained, to this day, a synthesis of philosophical and theological knowledge, at least for the Eastern Christianity. He pointed out with clarity the independence of theology from philosophy or from any other field of research. One of the most important instruments with a view to knowing God is prayer and Palamas began to write under the pressure of defending the hesychastic method of prayer. He proves that true communion with God was possible through sanctification and that God's vision through prayer was a sign of this spiritual communion. In Palamas' very coherent theological thinking, Christology corresponds to his anthropology, and both to his mysticism. St. Gregory strongly depreciated the value of intellectual effort, maintaining the primacy of direct illumination over scientific reasoning. Thus, prayer and asceticism engender love, which leads to illumination by God and participation in the divine life. He tries to make sense of mystical experience in the scientific and philosophical language of his day. Paradoxically, almost every attempt arrives at establishing that the spiritual cannot be grasped by man's natural intellectual capacity, nor expressed in philosophical language. But the spiritual man can be the partaker of this experience through the experience of grace, as divine uncreated energy, the true "face" of God accessible to human contemplation. The Archbishop of Thessaloniki, who realized a synthesis of Science, Theology, and Spirituality outlines the relation between them as follows: Science explores the world and leads to technological inventions; Theology interprets reality within the Christian framework, evidencing the glory of God as reflected throughout his creation; and Spirituality is the privileged path toward personal transformation. The debate about Palamism is likely to continue for some time. His version of theosis (deification) was enshrined in Orthodox teaching as a result of his canonization, but among the intellectuals for whom it was intended it remained controversial, despite its grandeur.

Pneumatological Emphasis in the Doctrine of Grace

Luther’s Pneumatologically accentuated view of grace directs its criticism, first, at Nominalism with its teaching on the concept of free choice, and, second, at Scholasticism with its teaching on justification based on the idea of habitual grace in the human soul created by a process of cooperation between divine grace and its human receiver. Luther follows Augustine: Grace means participation in the personal reality of the Spirit of Jesus Christ and of his Father. The presence of Christ in the sinner—his personal righteousness, his divine life, and his gifts of salvation accomplished on his cross and in his resurrection—is the “alien justice” on the basis of which the sinner is imputed as righteous. The favor (forensic forgiveness) and the donum (the indwelling of the Spirit), the Christological and Pneumatological aspects of justification, are simultaneous and inseparable. For Luther, the Late Medieval teaching of grace, represented by Erasmus, is “cheap grace” contrasting salvation sola gratia. Permitting any human role in salvation promotes secret pride and leads to self-righteousness. In the beginning of creation, the Spirit was the provider of the union between the Creator and the human being. He/she was fully dependent on God’s Spirit, there was no freedom in relation the “things above him/herself.” Sin broke off the relationship, and the humans lost God’s Spirit; consequently, the “slavery of God” was replaced by the slavery of unfaith. The humans became mortal, flesh cannot exist eternally without God’s Spirit; the re-entrance of the Spirit changes the situation.