My beloved spiritual children in Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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THE NATURE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
God in His essence is incomprehensible, God dwells "in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see," instructs the holy Apostle Paul (1 Timothy 6:16).
In his Catechetical Lectures, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem instructs us: We explain not what God is, but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God, to confess our ignorance is the best knowledge" (Sixth Catechetical Lecture).
This is why there is no dogmatic value to be found in the various types of vast and all-encompassing conceptions and rational searchings on the subject of the inward life in God, and likewise in concepts fabricated by analogy with the life of the human soul. Concerning the "fellow-inquirers" of his time, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of Saint Basil the Great, writes: "Men, having left off "delighting themselves in the Lord" (Psalm 36:4) and rejoicing in the peace of the Church, undertake refined magnitudes, measuring the Son in comparison with the Father, and granting a measuring of the Father, Who will say to them, 'that which is not subject to number cannot be measured; what is invisible cannot be valued; that which is fleshless cannot be weighed; that which is infinite cannot be compared; that which is incomparable cannot be understood as greater or less, because we know something as "greater" by comparing it with other things, but with something which has no end, the idea of "greater" is unthinkable.' "Great is our Lord, and great is His strength, and of His understanding, there is no measure" (Psalm 146:5). What does this mean? Number what has been said, and you will understand the mystery."
The same hierarch (bishop) further writes: "If someone is making a journey in the middle of the day when the sun with its hot rays scorches the head and by its heat dries up everything liquid in the body, and under one's feet is the hard earth which is difficult for walking and waterless; and then such a man encounters a spring with splendid, transparent, pleasing and refreshing streams pouring out abundantly--will he sit down by the water and begin to reason about its nature, seeking out from whence it comes, how, from what, and all such things which idle speakers are wont to judge about, for example: is it a certain moisture which exists in the depths of the earth that comes to the surface under pressure and becomes water, or is it canals going through long desert places that discharge water as soon as they find an opening for themselves? Will, he not rather, saying farewell to all rational deliberations, bend down his head to the stream and press his lips to it, quench his thirst, refresh his tongue, satisfy his desire, and give thanks to the One Who gave this grace? Therefore, let you also imitate this thirsting one" (Saint Gregory of Nyssa, "Homily on His Ordination,").
Nevertheless, to a certain extent, we do have a knowledge of God, a knowledge of oneself, and the knowledge of all of God's creation in general. "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Romans 1:20), that is, what is invisible in Him, His eternal power and Godhead, is made visible from the creation of the world through observing the created things. Therefore, those men are without excuse who, having known God, did not glorify Him as God and did not give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning (Romans 1:21). "The world is the kingdom of the Divine thought" (Saint John of Kronstadt).
God has manifested Himself yet ore in supernatural revelation and through the Incarnation of the Son of God. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the father by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (St. John 1:18).
Thus did the Savior Himself teach concerning the knowledge of God. Having said, "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son," the Savior added, "and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (St. Matthew 11:27). And the Apostle John the Theologian writes in his epistle: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us light and understanding, that we may know the true God" (1 John 5:20).
Divine Revelation is given to us in the whole of Sacred Scripture and in Sacred Tradition, the preservation, instruction, and true interpretation of which are the duty and concern of the holy Church of Christ.
But even within the boundaries which are given us in the light of Divine Revelation, we must follow the guidance of those who have purified their minds by an elevated Christian life and made their minds capable of contemplating exalted truths, that is, we must follow the guidance of the Holy Fathers of the Church, and at the same time watch morally over ourselves. Of this Saint Gregory, the Theologian instructs us: "If you wish to be a theologian and worthy of the Divine, keep the laws; by means of the Divine laws go toward the high aim; for activity is the ascent to vision." That is, strive and attain moral perfection, for only this path will give the possibility of ascending to the heights from whence Divine Truths are contemplated. (Homily 20 of Saint Gregory the Theologian)
The Savior Himself has uttered: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (St. Matthew 5:8).
The powerlessness of our mind to comprehend God is expressed by the Church also in the Divine Services: "At a loss for words to express the meaning of Thine incomprehensible Thrice-radiant Godhead, we praise Thee, O Lord." That is, having no power to understand the mystical Names of Thy three-rayed Divinity, with our hearts we glorify Thee, O Lord. (From the Canon of the Sunday Midnight Office, Tone VII. Fourth Canticle). (Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"-- Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George