We inherit only the results of Adam’s sin, which is death
The fact that we Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of original sin as espoused in the West, does in no way suggest that we do not need to be born again (born anew). We believe, as did the Early Church Fathers, that we inherit only the results of Adams sin, not his guilt. This is known as ancestral sin because the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, resulted in our inheritance of death, sickness and an inclination toward evil. Christ’s death on the cross has its power, not in an atonement sacrifice, but in the conquering of the power of death. Death is trampled down by death. It is by Christ’s resurrection that a way was made for us to be transformed by contact with the Living God, thus becoming his children by adoption.
Although we do not refer to ourselves as “saved”, as do Evangelical Christians, we nevertheless believe that we are in need of salvation. (We believe salvation is a process.) Our understanding of sin in an ancestral way, which is distinct from the concept of original sin and the hereditary guilt that required, consequently, a substitutionary atonement-type of sacrifice, separates us doctrinally from Western Christianity.
Had there not been a fall, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Logos (Word) would still have incarnated into the flesh and taken on our nature. For it is by this condescension by our Creator God to take on the nature of that which He created that we are given the opportunity of being deified (Saint Paul said we shall become as gods).
Our journey into the heart culminates in theosis, whereby we are joined in everlasting communion with the very God Who created us. Saint Athanasius of Alexandria said, “The Son of God became man, that we might become god.” In II Peter 1:4, we read that we have become “…partakers of divine nature.” Saint Athanasius further says that theosis is “becoming by grace what God is by nature.”
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Friday January 30, 2015 / January 17, 2015
34th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Fast. Fish Allowed
Venerable Anthony the Great (356).
Venerable Anthony, abbot of Dymsk (Novgorod) (1224).
New Hieromartyr Victor priest (1931).
New Hieromartyr Paul priest (1938).
Venerable Anthony of Chernoezersk, monk (16th c.).
Emperor St. Theodosius the Great (395).
Venerable Anthony of Krasny Kholm, monk (1481).
Venerable Anthony the Roman, of Novgorod (1147).
St. Anthony the New, of Berrhia in Macedonia (11th c.) (Greek).
Venerable Achilles the Confessor, hermit of Egypt (5th c.).
New Martyr George of Ioannina (1838) (Greek).
St. Macarius Kalogeras, hierodeacon of Patmos (1737).
Scripture Readings for the Day:
Hebrews 13:17-21
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Prayer Requested
18 Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. 19 But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Benediction, Final Exhortation, Farewell
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luke 6:17-23
Jesus Heals a Great Multitude
17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes
20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
For yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
And perhaps later you could also talk about the disagreement with the Immaculate Conception?
I love this treatment regarding ancestral sin, it clears a lot of things up for me. But what about more immediate parentage? Although I am not my parents I find myself “cursed” by some of the things I picked up from them unconsciously and find myself looping to combat those things. I’ll probably talk about this more with my parish priest but any thoughts would be appreciated.