The Fundamentals of Orthodoxy: Topics 1 - 7

Topic 1. Christian faith is at the same time trust in God and faithfulness to God. If a person believes in God, then he trusts God and remains faithful to Him by fulfilling His commandments. It is precisely such faith that is saving. Hence also the designation of people in relation to the Church of God: the faithful and the fallen away.

Faith is not something vague; we must clearly know in Whom (to Whom) we believe, how to live by faith, and what the true fruits of faith are.

Topic 2. Can a person have faith before Baptism?

He must. The presence of Christian faith is one of the conditions for Baptism (Mark 16:16). Infants are baptized according to the faith of their parents and godparents.

Evidence that the faith of the one being baptized is Christian is his confession of the Creed.

Topic 3. True faith is not only a set of convictions, but also a set of actions generated by those convictions. True faith necessarily leads to a change of life. Our task is not merely to acknowledge that God exists, but to recognize His call, to enter into communion with Him, and to become like Him (to imitate Him).

If a person believes God, it means that he strives to fulfill His will—that is, to live in accordance with His commandments—and becomes a member of His Church. One is not born a Christian—one dies a Christian.

Topic 4. What is the Orthodox faith?

The Orthodox faith is a faith based on the authentic, uncorrupted teaching handed down through the Lord Jesus Christ, preserved and proclaimed by the Universal Orthodox Church, the only true and saving faith (John 3:18).

The word “Orthodox” comes from two Greek words: ὀρθός—standing upright, correct, straight—and δοκέω—I think, suppose, believe—and denotes correct teaching about God and “right glorification (praise) of God.”

Topic 5. Christianity is founded not on people’s philosophical reasoning (the creations), but on the revelation of the Creator.

By divine revelation, first of all, is meant God’s action by which He reveals to the world, to humanity, certain truths and certain demands of His holy will; and secondly, the truths themselves that are revealed by God.

Topic 6. By what is the truth of the Orthodox faith confirmed?

By the fact that it is based on truths revealed through supernatural Revelation.

By the truth of Sacred Scripture (the Bible is a constituent part of Sacred Tradition).

By the Tradition of the Church (it is precisely the Universal Orthodox Church that has its origin from the apostles, preserves the succession of the hierarchy from the apostles, and at the same time preserves the faith uncorrupted; Protestant churches are not of ancient origin, and Catholicism, although of ancient origin, did not preserve the faith in purity and therefore does not fit the definition of the one true Church as the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15)).

By the experience of Orthodox saints (who attained heights of holiness in accordance with what is taught in Orthodox doctrine).

Topic 7. What are dogmas?

Dogmas are divinely revealed doctrinal truths about God and His relationship to the world, preserved, proclaimed, and explained by the Church, and having binding force for all Christians. A brief summary of the principal dogmas—the Creed—consists of twelve statements.

Dogmas are called the boundaries of truth; they were formulated only in response to attempts to distort it.

How is it that Christianity, an exalted religion of love and freedom, has a dogmatized doctrine? It is simple. Take music: the more primitive the melody, the easier it is to convey. A popular tune can be remembered and sung by someone without an ear for music, but to perform a symphony without errors requires musical notation, the skill of the performer, and, ideally, a record of the composer’s intent. This is the analogy of dogmas in religion. Doctrine is closely connected with the practice of spiritual life; distortion of theory inevitably affects the practice of communion with God.

 

Do dogmas interfere with freedom?

 

• Non-religious people often understand dogmatism as a kind of blinders, bonds, chains that enslave the human mind. However, few of them can list the religious, spiritual axioms revealed to us by the Creator of the universe.

 

• The dogmas contain basic knowledge about God, the world He created, and man himself. This knowledge is true, since it was revealed to man by the True God.

 

• The dogmatic definitions adopted at the Ecumenical Councils did not create any new faith, but rather clothed the doctrinal truths originally preserved by the Church in clear formulations that protect it from distortion. The most important dogmas are contained in the Creed .

 

• “Dedogmatization” of Christianity, reducing Jesus Christ to only a teacher of kindness and morality, is tantamount to rejecting the true path of salvation, the path of life revealed through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth, and the life” ( John 14:6 ).

 

• Dogmas, serving as an objective basis for the teaching of Salvation, remind us of the meaning and purpose of following Christ’s commandments and serve as vital guidelines on the path to the Kingdom of Saints.

 

• When deviating from the dogmas of the Orthodox Church, any person, any community begins to interpret spiritual laws differently, loses clarity in recognizing true, genuine love and other Christian virtues.

 

 • It is a mistake to think that dogmas have no relation to our daily life: without them, morality and ethics will lose ground, just as legal laws lose their support if the constitution is violated. 

  

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.