Κυριακή 24 Μαΐου 2015

The Unity of the Church

Joh 17:1-13

What the orthodox tradition understands under the term “Theology” is not a theoretical knowledge of God, but the capability to see the work of God in the History. During the whole period between Eastern and Pentecost, Orthodox Christians have the task to study the work of the Holy Spirit in the History. And because the unity of the Church is understood as the work of the Holy Spirit in the History, the last Sunday before Pentecost is dedicated to the memory of the 318 Fathers who participated in the first Ecumenical Synod in Nicea of Asia Minor at 325 aD.
Τhe unity of the Christianity can be achieved only through the way of love, that reaches the point of sacrificing everything Christians consider as precious, all their certainties, and through the emulation of Christ. This sacrifice doesn’t mean that Christians have to bring in question all the principals of their faith, but that they have to cultivate their spirituality in order to gain humiliation and, above all, discernment, which is, according to the orthodox ascetics, a gift of God and the supreme virtue. Through the discernment Christians of different traditions will be able to discern between the authentic expressions of our faith and the other ones that are implicit desires for dominance over the others.Joh 17:1-3