The Lord of Glory does not need the WCC

Fr. John Romanides

1. Before and after His Incarnation the Lord of Glory cured His faithful by “purifying” and “illuminating” their hearts and “glorifying” them making them partakers in His uncreated “rule,” i.e. “vasileia.” ^{[ 4 ]} Those who reach “glorification” are the prophets of the Old and New Testaments and the Fathers of the Church. Those whose hearts are being “purified” are called “private individuals (idiotes) ^{[ 5 ]}” because they are being prepared to become members of the society of “illumined” and “glorified” who since Pentecost are becoming members of the Body of Christ. For this reason Pentecost is regarded as the Birthday of the Church as the Body of Christ. The CUV document quoted in the title above may be completed by being placed within such a context and thus liberated from the Franco-Latin quest for Augustinian happiness.

2. This biblical framework is based on the cure of the human personality by YAHWEH Himself both before and after His Incarnation. It is He Who guides His faithful by means of the “purification” and “illumination” of their hearts and finally to their ordination to prophethood by their “glorification.” Paul’s statement “when one is “glorified” the rest rejoice ^{[ 6 ]}” means that the man or woman in question has become a prophet. The difference between a “private person” and a member of the Body of Christ is that the latter has the gift of “unceasing” prayer in the heart, ^{[ 7 ]} called “illumination,” and prays at the same time with his brain. The “private person (idiotes)” has been praying only with his brain and his physical tongue and is being guided through the “purification” of the heart toward its “illumination” and full membership in the Body of Christ. When one arrives at “glorification” the state of childhood is abolished since one has become a “grownup (ANER),” a “prophet.” However, this is not a permanent state in this life since one goes back to “illumination” a grownup until one will again see “face to face” and “when I will be fully known, as I was fully known. ^{[ 8 ]} ” Those Protestants and Orthodox who are not interested in this struggle for the “purification” of the heart which leads to its “illumination” and “glorification,” are wasting their and our time and money leading us to the opposite of “illumination” and full membership in the Body of Christ.

3. One knows that one is becoming a member of the Body of Christ when one has unceasing prayer in the heart. In contrast to this reality this CUV document lacks a description of who are the members of the Body of Christ and how one becomes a member. Instead, the document assumes that the member churches of the WCC are already members of the Body of Christ and so they will “help each other in order that the Body of Christ may be built up and that the life of the churches may be renewed. (1.2)” Within proper context this could be true. Within the current context CUV seems to be telling us that sick people are healing each other without much help from the Real Doctor of our souls and bodies Who happens to be and has always been YAHWEH Himself both before and after His Incarnation and Pentecost working via his prophets. The prophets of both Testaments are the same except for the addition of the Incarnation and Pentecost.

4. As written, this document ignores the fact that Christ Himself rules His Own Body, the Church, and that it is He Himself Who adds new members to His own Body.The Lord of Glory does not need the WCC to help Him do His own work. He has been doing this before and after His incarnation by means of His Own prophets whom He chooses by His glorifying them. This He does when He “purifies” and “illumines” their hearts and “glorifies” them. It is these prophets, ordained by their “glorification” by the Lord of Glory Himself, who guide the faithful through these stages of cure which they pass on through the ages till now.

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NOTES:

^{[ 4 ]} Not “kingdom of God” which makes it created.

^{[5 ]} 1 Cor. 14:16,23; 2Cor. 11:6.

^{[ 6 ]} 1 Cor. 12,26

^{[7 ]} The Metropolitan of Corinth Panteleimon edited the Greek Patristic collection of this prayer in five volumes called PHILOKALIA, Athens 1957-1963. For a popular view of this tradition in English see “Way of a Pilgrim,” Light and Life Publishing Co. Minneapolis Minnesota. This edition contains a second part “and the Pilgrim Continues on his Way” which may be not from the same author. The Monastery of Koutloumousiou of Mount Athos published in Greek the first work which translated this prayer in the heart into a neurological context: “RELIGION IS A NEUROLOGICAL SICKNESS, WHEREAS ORTHODOXY IS ITS CURE,” by John S. Romanides, in its volume entitled ORTHODOXY AND HELLENISM ON THE ROAD TO THE THIRD MILLENIUM, � 1996, pp. 67-87.

^{[ 8 ]} 1 Cor. 13, 10-12.

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Seek Ye first …

“Seek ye first the Ruling Power [Uncreated "Rule/Reign ... vasileia] of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mt.6:33).

Everything necessary for our earthly existence will be added: food, drink, clothing. But not just added; there is one condition: “Seek ye first the Vasileia of God.”

What does “seek” mean? It means that the Lord requires from us actions, an effort of our will. Remember the Gospel readings for the last two weeks (‘The Week of All the Saints” and “The Week of All Saints Who Shone in Russia”) and also what was said in today’s Gospel. These are like steps by which all the saints ascended to the heavenly dwellings, and by which we too must all ascend. Indeed, there is no other way. The way to the Lord is the same for everyone. And it is this: Confess Christ before people, love Him more than everyone and everything else, and take up our cross and follow Him, in the same way the Apostles followed Him, leaving everything behind: their families, nets and boats. And not care about what we eat or drink or about what to wear, because our Heavenly Father knows that we need all these things. The Gospel gives us wonderful examples: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap … yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them…. And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Mt. 6:26, 28-29).

This is what it means to seek the Kingdom of God. But what is the center of such seeking? What is required of us for this? What is the beginning? Here it is: “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be clean (The Russian text reads “clean” or “pure,” instead of “single” or “sound,” which appear in the English versions), thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness” (Mt. 6:22-23).

Which eye is meant here? This eye is our conscience, and the body is our entire being. This means that if our conscience is clean, then our entire being will be full of light. But for our conscience to be clean, an effort on our part is needed. We must keep vigilant watch over our thoughts and every movement of our heart. It is for this purpose that we are given this inner eye.

May the Lord help us to strain all our forces to keep it clean. And then all the commandments of God will become joyous and possible for us, because we will befall of light.

“O Christ, the true Light, Who enlightens every man who comes into the world, may the light of Thy Countenance be signed upon us, and may we behold in it the unapproachable Light!” (Prayer after the First Hour, at the end of the evening vesper service).

- Archbishop Andrei of Spring Valley (Novo-Diveyevo)