Changes

While the western approach to theology seems to help our western minds, so used to a scientific model of reasoning, “understand God,” the Eastern approach seems to, in my opinion, organically synthesize the multi-faceted nature of theological truth. Eastern Theology is far from systematic, but it takes into account and embraces all that has been handed down to us from Christ, to his apostles through the Church via the Holy Spirit.

It would serve the western Christian well to bear in mind that the juridical concepts of salvation, substitutionary atonement, et. al. were foreign to not only the eastern Church but also the western Church (Catholic and Protestant) until the time of Augustine. Even then these concepts were vague and undefined; they were not universal doctrines in the Church anywhere! . Anselm further developed these ideas some 600 years later, and Luther built on the work of Anselm about 500 years after that. Is it any wonder that these concepts which seem to the Protestant an integral part of historical Christian theology (which are, in actuality, rather new) baffle the eastern Christian mind? These categories and concepts are somewhat unique and have existed in their present form for a relatively short period of time. To the eastern Christian, Theology is not something that improves with age – it is something to be internalized, and it can best be understood by journeying as close to the roots of our faith as possible. Reason and logic [read: the enlightenment] cannot guarantee a better understanding of God, his Son or our faith.