Friday, May 30, 2014

Fr. John Romanides on the Creation of the World and Man (3 of 6)



The Creation of Man

"Now it was necessary that man should in the first instance be created; and having been created, should grow; and having grown, should reach maturity; and having reached maturity, should multiply; and having multiplied, should be strengthened; and having been strengthened, should be glorified; and being glorified, should see his Lord. For it is God Who is going to be seen, and the vision of God procures immortality." (St. Irenaeus of Lyons)

"By this arrangement, therefore, and this rhythm, and this course, man, a created and formed being, comes to be in the image and likeness of the uncreated God: the Father being well-pleased and giving His command; the Son carrying it out and creating; and the Spirit nourishing and increasing; and man gradually making progress, and ascending towards perfection. that is, drawing near to the uncreated One. For He Who is uncreated is perfect, Who is God." (St. Irenaeus of Lyons)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Fr. John Romanides on the Creation of the World and Man (2 of 6)


...continued from part one.

E) Recording the Experience of Revelation

- "Revelational experience is formulated in created words and concepts. The God-seeing Prophets, Apostles and Fathers use the perceptions of the people of their era in order to put their experience into words. Their basic teaching is that God created the world and He directs it, but the formulation of the experience in words comes from the knowledge of the period. The teaching is a matter of theology, the wording is a matter of communication. The cosmology of the Old Testament, as regards expression and formulation, is influenced by the Babylonian cosmology of that age. We stress this to avoid any confusion between the theology of the God-seeing saints and the scientific language of each era." (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Fr. John Romanides on the Creation of the World and Man (1 of 6)


I want to begin by presenting the basic position of the Orthodox Church on the Creation of the World and Man, as formulated by the preeminent theologian of our time Fr. John Romanides, whose positions are closest to mine. Below are excerpts from his classroom lectures compiled in the much more detailed book by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos titled Empirical Dogmatics of the Orthodox Catholic Church According to the Spoken Teaching of Father John Romanides, which I highly recommend. The excerpts below are from volume two and are actual words of Fr. John Romanides unless otherwise indicated. This will be a six part series that will conclude with my comments. Included will be never before translated material from audio lectures I have on this subject. The next post will be about the Cosmology of the Old Testament.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

About Bio-Orthodoxy


Welcome to Bio-Orthodoxy!

Bio-Orthodoxy is a website with a positive view of both Theology and Science. It was created to clear up the confusion on the relationship of Science with Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy has always had a very positive view of Science, but when there is an attempt to interact the two, boundaries are often over-stepped and confusion ensues. This is an attempt to help remedy the situation.

Bio-Orthodoxy does not seek to instill one view or theory as far as Origin Science is concerned, but it does seek to view all things from an Orthodox Christian perspective. There are both positives and negatives to all current theories, such as Theistic Evolution, Intelligent Design and the various forms of Creationism, as well as evidence pro and con, and it is not the aim of this website to propagate only one theory, but to seek the truth in all things and "examine everything carefully" in order to "hold fast to that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:21). 

Bio-Orthodoxy is very much opposed to a naturalist and materialist worldview, but it will respectfully dialogue with such views to filter out the truth when it is offered. Orthodoxy believes that Christ is the Truth, and everything that is true and good in the world is of Christ and belongs to the Church. Truth and goodness can often be found in the most unpredictable places.

Bio-Orthodoxy believes that Genesis, and generally all of Holy Scripture, is a book of Theology, and not Science or History. Theologically, it is infallible. Scientifically and Historically, it is limited in its view by the authors, but still valuable, since its contents and the way it presents things serve a higher purpose than mere human epistemology.

Bio-Orthodoxy will primarily focus on the relationship of Theology and Science, and clarify issues in the Book of Genesis and examine issues that have to do with Archology, Anthropogony and Cosmogony. The primary purpose is to help people discover their true purpose in life and make clear the boundaries between the created and the Uncreated, creation and the Creator.

John Sanidopoulos