Orthodox Church Quotes on Deification, Divorce, Eucharist

Orthodox Church Quotes on Deification, Diaconate, Divorce, Eucharist

by Matt Slick | Nov 23, 2013 | Orthodox Church, World Religions

Deification
1. Deification is union with God’s divine energy: “The idea of deification must always be understood in the light of the distinction between God’s essence and His energies. Union with God means union with the divine energies, not the divine essence.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 3613-3614). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 232)
2. Deification is union with God: “The true aim of the Christian life is Deification or union with Almighty God by acquiring the Holy Spirit. Our call in the Christian life is not just to be good but to be perfect, to be “Gods by grace.” We “are called to ascend the ladder to heaven.” As St., John Damascene writes, “Since the Creator bestowed on us His own image in His own spirit, and we did not keep them secure, He Himself took a share in our poor and weak nature so that He might cleanse us and make us incorruptible, and reinstate us as participants in His Divinity.” (Grube, Fr. George (2012-08-19). The Orthodox Church A to Z (Kindle Locations 5311-5314). Light and Life Publishing, http://www.light-n-life.com. Kindle Edition.)
3. A human becomes a created god: “Nor does the human person, when it ‘becomes god’, cease to be human: ‘We remain creatures while becoming god by grace, as Christ remained God when becoming man by the Incarnation.’ 2 The human being does not become God by nature but is merely a ‘created god’, a god by grace or by status . . . Deification is something that involves the body. Since the human person is a unity of body and soul, and since the Incarnate Christ has saved and redeemed the whole person, it follows that ‘our body is deified at the same time as our soul’.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 3622-3627). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 232)
4. Become a god by going to church, receiving sacraments, and praying, follow commandments: ” . . . there is nothing esoteric or extraordinary about the methods which we must follow in order to be deified. If someone asks ‘How can I become god?’ the answer is very simple: go to church, receive the sacraments regularly, pray to God ‘in spirit and in truth’, read the Gospels, follow the commandments. The last of these items – ‘follow the commandments’ – must never be forgotten. Orthodoxy.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 3679-3682). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 236)
Diaconate
1. Diaconate is a permanent office: “In the Orthodox Church the diaconate is in principle a permanent office, not just a stepping-stone on the way to the priesthood, and there are many Orthodox deacons who have no expectation of advancing to any higher rank.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 4540-4542). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 292)
Divorce
1. Divorce and remarriage are permitted: “The Orthodox Church permits divorce and remarriage, quoting as its authority the text of Matthew xix, 9, where Our Lord says: ‘If a man divorces his wife, for any cause other than unchastity, and marries another, he commits adultery.’” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 4586-4588). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 295)
Eucharist
1. The Eucharist is the true sacrifice itself: “The Eucharist is not a bare commemoration nor an imaginary representation of Christ’s sacrifice, but the true sacrifice itself; yet, on the other hand, it is not a new sacrifice, nor a repetition of the sacrifice on Calvary, since the Lamb was sacrificed ‘once only, for all time’.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 4459-4461). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 286)
2. The Eucharist is transformed into Christ’s body and blood: “The Orthodox Church believes the Eucharist to be a sacrifice; and here again the basic Orthodox teaching is set forth clearly in the text of the Liturgy itself. ‘Your own from Your own we offer You, in all and for all.’ (1) We offer Your own from Your own. At the Eucharist, the sacrifice offered is Christ Himself. Our offering of bread and wine is taken up into Christ’s self-offering, and so is transformed into His Body and Blood.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 4440-4443). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 285)
3. Propitiatory, offered for living and dead: “according to Orthodox theology, the Eucharist is a propitiatory sacrifice (in Greek, thysia hilastirios), offered on behalf of both the living and the dead.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 4451-4452). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 286)
4. Bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ: “As the words of the Epiclesis make abundantly plain, the Orthodox Church believes that after consecration the bread and wine become in very truth the Body and Blood of Christ: they are not mere symbols, but the reality.” (Ware, Timothy (1993-04-29). The Orthodox Church (Kindle Locations 4411-4412). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. p. 283)
5. Church can’t be true without Eucharist: Any group which does not have the Eucharist at the heart of its worship cannot properly call itself a Christian Church. As Felix, an early apologist of the Church, said quite clearly, “A Christian cannot exist without the Eucharist, neither can the Eucharist exist without Christians.” (Grube, Fr. George (2012-08-19). The Orthodox Church A to Z (Kindle Locations 3287-3289). Light and Life Publishing, http://www.light-n-life.com. Kindle Edition.)
6. The Eucharist is the same sacrifice of the Cross, made present: “The Holy Eucharist is the repetition of the Mystical Supper. It is also the self-same Sacrifice of the Cross, repeated sacramentally. This does not mean that is “done all over again” but rather, is “once again made actual and present” to those of us living today.” (Grube, Fr. George (2012-08-19). The Orthodox Church A to Z (Kindle Locations 3368-3370). Light and Life Publishing, http://www.light-n-life.com. Kindle Edition.)