I have degrees in engineering and theology. If I have learned one thing, it is that neither my post-nominal titles nor the titles of others should afford us any gratuitous gravitas. Really, if my opinion leans on my acronyms more than on sound thinking, I haven't done enough to deserve to posit it. The Orthodox idea that something is not definitive until it has been successfully "received" has been an importance defense of the faith for centuries. At the same time the immediacy of electronic communications means silly ideas receive outsized approbation. The role of the synod in this new digital age should be a vocal counterbalance to ideas the seemingly spring from the head of Zeus. In America we need our bishops to be a bulwark between the flights of fancy of "theologians" and a laity that consumes more ideas online than in brown study thumbing through dusty books embossed in obscure titles. Ideas floated and broadcasted across the Internet without condemnation or cautionary warning are assumed to be correct or inoffensive theologoumena.
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One thing that happens is that, when some online blasphemy comes around yet again, our bishops (I'm speaking as an OCA parishioner) say "We addressed that already; see our statement of five years ago." I can sympathize: but short attention spans are another symptom of the internet age, so I think the same truths often need to be re-publicized regularly.
ReplyDeleteTo build upon your point, Bishops appear to be 'timid' (looking for the right word here) in the face of the *authority* of secularism and its institutions.
DeleteA few days ago I clicked on that link here at byztex to
Aristotle Papanikolaou's twitter site (I don't normally pay attention to the "micro blogs"). He is currently using his *authority* as a "scholar" (which is a kind of secular High Priesthood) to promote homosexualism and a fundamental anthropological reform of the normative (moral, anthropological, etc.) Christian Tradition.
Yet, his bishops and the laity are, at least on the surface and as a matter of praxis, completely sold on the idea of Aristotle's "academic freedom" and so called "scientific", scholarly, dispassionate and otherwise secular critique of Christianity.
Is timidity (which they argue is really Christian patience) in the face of secularism and it's authorities the way to be Orthodox in a secular society?
Okay, but for me I don't see what the problem is for us to clarify and continue re-clarifying whenever an issue put to us. Even when we refer to a previous address, not sure it is bad re-clarify in light of the current audience.
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