God’s plan for the salvation and perfection of the world essentially encompasses the mission which the Orthodox Church has been carrying out from Pentecost until the Parousia, that is to say, that universal endeavour fundamentally linked to the Resurrection and drawing its strength from it, through which all people are to be recapitulated in Christ and share in the glory of God for ever. Since the Christian mission is founded on dogma, the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Mysteries, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has decided that the years 2007–2014 in the Romanian Patriarchate shall be dedicated to these, precisely so that, through everyone’s understanding, living out and taking responsibility for God’s work in the Church and the world, the Orthodox mission may be firmly established on the fertile ground opened up by the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
Grounded in the dogmas revealed by ‘He who does not allow Himself to remain unconfessed’, the mission of the Orthodox Church must take into account—and not ignore—the contemporary culture of human society in general and of Romanian society in particular, analysing the context in which it unfolds and aiming at the transfiguration of social and cultural realities, for ‘all cultures are concerned with humanity. And Christ is the answer, as both man and God and the universal fulfilment of humanity… The coming of the Son of God into the world, although realised within Jewish culture, is addressed to all cultures; it is transcultural. Christ is profoundly compatible with any culture that honestly seeks fundamental human values, for Christ is compatible with every person in history; He is the fulfilment of every human being’1”.
The context in which the Orthodox Church carries out its mission today in our country is that of a postmodern culture, characterised by religious and cultural pluralism, typical of a secularised and globalised society, with clear signs of a world focused on the immanent and plagued by relativism and consumerism, in which a process of the privatisation of faith tends to intensify as a result of a fierce individualism borrowed from the West. Dogmatic teachings, however, remain the pillars of the Church’s mission, which is why ‘Orthodoxy has never rejected any culture outright, nor does it reject today’s secularised and globalised culture, but analyses it and relates to it from the perspective of Revelation’2 On the basis of Revelation and by means of the principle of selection, Orthodoxy creatively utilises the positive aspects of contemporary culture, recognising the need of modern man for an intimate relationship with the Church’s vision of humanity and creation, for its mission has as its supreme model and, at the same time, its goal, the divine-human life of Christ the Saviour.
The Church carries out its missionary work in the world, grounded deeply in the very eternal communion of the Holy Trinity, in that the Father’s love flows towards the Son in the Holy Spirit and out into the entire cosmos. Thus, ‘mission is “participation” in the sending of the Son (John 20:21–23) and of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) into the world, Who reveal God’s life of communion in order to make us partakers of it. The sending of the Son and the Holy Spirit for the salvation and perfection of the whole world is perpetuated in the sending of the Apostles and the Apostolic Church’3 In order to show the world that the only true and eternal model of life is the life of communion of the Holy Trinity, the Church’s mission must proclaim the dogma and the intra-Trinitarian relationships as clearly as possible and with a precision that removes any confusion or distortion, which would have negative consequences in relations between people and within the Church. Thus, the relationships between the Persons of the Trinity are presented as follows: the Father is the one and unbegotten Principle, the source of divinity, Who begets the Son and proceeds the Holy Spirit; the Son is begotten solely from the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeds solely from the Father. ‘The importance of this dogma lies in the fact that everything in the world is organised and ordered according to the model of the supernatural Trinitarian communion, this model having been imprinted upon both the visible and invisible realms since creation’4
God organises everything – humanity and creation – according to His model, that is, the Trinitarian and communal model, which means that the Church’s mission is founded primarily on God’s love for creating a humanity with a shared nature, realised in multiple persons with whom He wishes to remain in eternal communion. The perichoretic structures within the Holy Trinity, which show that there is no subordination but rather equality amongst the divine Persons, reveal the reality that ‘each Person distinctly preserves their identity, being, at the same time, inseparable from the other divine Persons. Each Person lives for the others, and Their interpenetration or perichoresis is, in fact, a mutual containment and a mutual self-giving on Their part’5 This perichoretic unity calls for an intimate connection with the mystery of the human person through two fundamental aspects, namely: a) God is the fullness of life, love and communion, and calls man to this fullness through an infinite thirst inscribed within him and a desire to share in this fullness; b) the human person is created by the Holy Trinity; therefore, they are a loving and communal being who finds fulfilment only in a state of eternal communion with the divine Persons and with other human persons. Of course, ‘by communion we must understand, on the one hand, unity in diversity, and on the other, unity in love, which we find perfectly embodied in the perichoretic—essential—unity proper to the Persons of the Holy Trinity’6; as affirmed by our Saviour Jesus Christ in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, in that those who believe in Him must be one ‘as the Father and the Son are one’ (John 17:21).
By structuring the mission into three essential stages: the presentation of the teaching, catechesis – baptism – the defence of the faith and the growth of the community’s members in Christ, the Church has always shunned unrevealed dogmatic compromises that undermine people’s lives and salvation; it is precisely for this reason that it correctly presents the divine relationships ad intra, which are directly linked to the life of the Church. As an example of the commission to preach, the Saviour’s disciples received the express instruction to baptise in the name of the Holy Trinity, in whom the Father begets the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son, revealing the Son as the recipient of the Spirit. ‘If the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, we do not understand the meaning of spiritual fatherhood and spiritual sonship within the Church. But if the Spirit proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son, He confirms the Father’s fatherhood and the Son’s sonship, and for us who are baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, He introduces us into the relationship of love between the Father and the Son, through the grace we receive at Baptism’7
Thus, for the mission to be effective, the Church must vividly demonstrate the Trinitarian model present within her and explain the Mystery of the Trinity by making it present in today’s society, which is so eager for models of life. “If the life of society were inspired by this model of the Trinity in Unity and of Unity in the Trinity, it would in fact discover the balance of which it is so in need and which it seeks so frantically... The communion present in the Church is inspired by, or is based on, the Trinitarian communion; The Church must extend this into society through its mission, into a social communion which, however, neither remains autonomous in its manifestation nor is it to be confused with God, but becomes theonomous, with God at the centre of life’8 The implementation of the model of Trinitarian communion in Romanian society will undoubtedly lead to the overcoming of the two ideologies which the Romanian people have experienced and continue to experience – communism and individualism – which have nothing in common with Christianity. The collectivism promoted by communist ideology submerges the individual in the anonymous mass of nature, strips the individual of their dignity as a unique and irreplaceable human person, and reduces all people to the same level; whilst individualism separates people, shatters the unity of humanity and ‘elevates the individual above society by championing profit and self-love. Individualism has given rise to economic systems that attach greater importance to material values than to spiritual ones, placing profit and self-love above love for one’s neighbour’9
“If the life of society were inspired by this model of the Trinity in Unity and of Unity in the Trinity, it would in fact discover the balance of which it is so in need and which it seeks so frantically... The communion present in the Church is inspired by, or based on, the Trinitarian communion; the Church must extend it into society through its mission, into a social communion…”
We know of the Holy Trinity only through Christ’s preaching, which is internalised within us through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the source of the Church’s mission is the promise and command of the Risen Saviour, who says: ‘Just as the Father has sent me, so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit!’” (John 20:21–22). The consciousness of those who regard the Church’s mission as the primary purpose of their existence must be characterised by the harmonisation of their will with the will of God. If they carry out mission in the footsteps of Christ, they must always be prepared to accept God’s will, just as the Saviour says: ‘I do not seek My own will, but the will of My Father Who sent Me’ (John 5:30). In this way, Christ is revealed through them, by their own will, though the mission springs from the transformative power of His Resurrection in people. Before the Resurrection, Jesus Christ did not permit the disciples to go out into the world; rather, only the light that emanates from the event of the Lord’s Crucifixion and Resurrection can ensure the success of their preaching. ‘If anyone does not experience the Resurrection, they cannot take part in Christ’s sending them out into the world. If they experience the Resurrection, they cannot help but bear witness to the risen Lord, looking out towards the whole world’10). This is Christ’s desire: ‘Go into all the world’ (Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:9–20; Luke 24:40–53; John 20:19–31). And if we have the mind of Christ, Who has ‘all power in heaven and on earth’, this commandment must be proclaimed as the supreme duty of believers. ‘For if I preach the Gospel, I have no reason to boast, for I am under a compulsion to do so. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!’ (1 Corinthians 9:16).
The essential parameters of the witness to Christ in the world must today focus on affirming the centrality of His Person as the Creator Logos, Saviour of the world and of mankind, and Pantocrator. This aspect will be argued by highlighting the relationship between theology and oikonomia in the teaching on the divine Creator Logos, the Son of God Who possesses within Himself the power that the Father also possesses, being true God, distinct from the being of the world and not a creature, but transcendent to the world, yet Who, on the basis of the rationality He imprinted upon the world through the act of creation, becomes incarnate and ‘comes into His own’. In order to be the Saviour Logos, the Son makes the ‘leap’ from the transcendent to the immanent, and the world is able to receive Him, so that through the Incarnation the connection between creation and salvation is also highlighted, as an act of deification of all through Jesus Christ – the incarnate Logos, Who encompasses the world and humankind within Himself.
The crisis of modern man stems from a failure to understand the Person and work of the Saviour Jesus Christ, a spiritual and liturgical crisis accompanied by an identity crisis in a person not deeply rooted in ecclesial life. To emerge from this crisis, the mission of the Church of Christ at all times—and therefore in our own time as well—draws strength from its Founder through the reality that soteriological doctrine is ever-relevant, for the Risen Lord Christ is ever-present in His acts, ‘Through them, His Person ceaselessly manifests His supreme love, or reveals Himself as a spring of endless and inexhaustible love’11 Furthermore, salvation proves to be relevant above all through the eschatological dimension of the Christian faith, for ‘the events that have shaped it and which constitute both its object and its content: the life, death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the establishment of the Church – all these are seen and experienced not only as the end, but also as the fulfilment in history of the act of salvation, and as the inauguration and attainment of a new life, the meaning of which is the Kingdom of God, communion with Him’12”.
The missionary model for the ministers of the Church is the divine-human life of Christ the Saviour; this demonstrates, from a Christological perspective, the importance of the Chalcedonian dogma for contemporary Orthodox confession. In Christology, Orthodox theology begins at the level of the Person, from the living, experiential Person of the incarnate Son of God, existing in two natures, united in the single hypostasis of the Word in a manner that is ‘undivided, inseparable, unmixed and unchanged’; the adverbs introduced into the Chalcedonian formula are in reality ‘apophatic terms through which the Fathers seek to express the inexpressible’13 The dogma of hypostatic union and the enhypostasis added by Leontius of Byzantium have led to Orthodox Christology being termed an ‘asymmetrical Christology’, ‘to use the apt expression of Father Georges Florovsky – asymmetrical in the sense that Christ’s human nature did not materialise, or rather did not become personified, independently of the Logos, because in Christ there are not two subjects, since God did not assume a human being in Christ, but became man Himself’14 This means that in Jesus Christ there are two natures – divine and human – whole, complete, united in a single hypostasis, ‘forming from the two natures a single, common hypostasis; we say that the two natures are preserved even after their union in the single, composite hypostasis, that is, in the one Christ, and that both they and their natural attributes actually exist: united without being confused, distinct without being separated, and distinct in number’15
The particular importance of this dogma established at Chalcedon also lies in the soteriological implications it presents, namely: only through the hypostatic union can Christ save us by becoming our intimate Mediator and drawing as close to us as possible. It is only through this dogma that the connection between human nature and God is restored, in that ‘a man has come among men whose centre is no longer outside God, but within God, or God Himself… Since this hypostatic centre possesses a power of attraction towards the good by which it surpasses all purely human centres, it is, in a sense, the centre of humanity. A divine centre has been placed in the midst of humanity. Humanity has gained, within its ontological realm, a centre, and this centre is God the Word’16’. Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, through His union with humanity, has become the direct, ultimate and central hypostasis of the human nature; as such, the perfection and deification of man are realised only through Him and with His help. Whilst the Third Ecumenical Council combated Nestorianism and the Fourth Ecumenical Council combated Monophysitism, contemporary Orthodox theology defends the dogma of hypostatic union against the danger of secularisation, which exiles God to heaven whilst leaving humanity in the darkness of anthropocentrism. ‘In a certain sense, Nestorianism survives to this day through the rift it caused between the historical Jesus (as a man on earth) and the Christ of glory (Who is united with God only in heaven). Only to the extent that Christ remains true God and true man, in the unity of His Person, unmixed and unchanged, undivided and inseparable, can it be said that ‘God became man, so that man might become divine’17? Thus, only the salvation of humankind and the world in and through Jesus Christ can provide a solution to the meaninglessness of postmodernity.
… contemporary Orthodox theology defends the dogma of the hypostatic union against the danger of secularisation, which exiles God to heaven, leaving humanity in the darkness of anthropocentrism.
The missionary proclaims Christ, but ‘no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit’. That is why the Son sends the Holy Spirit into the world (John 14:16–17; 15:26; 16:13–15) to continue the work of salvation by establishing the Church at Pentecost, when ‘devout men from every nation under heaven’ were present (Acts 2:5). The event of Pentecost becomes the foundation of missionary strategy through the translation of Christian teaching into all languages, and a paradigm for the encounter between theology and culture, ‘that is, between participation in the reality that God reveals to people, and culture, seen as the way in which people’s mindsets are structured at a particular moment in history’18).
Before the Ascension, the Saviour speaks of ‘another Comforter’, namely the Spirit of Truth, who ‘will guide you into all truth’ (John 16:13), the Truth who is Christ. ‘The truth revealed through the grace of the Holy Spirit helps people to penetrate the divine mysteries, prevents them from falling into error, and shows them the way to salvation’19. The event of Pentecost highlights the work of the Holy Spirit in the sanctification of humankind, as the Spirit continues the work of Christ, which consists in the beginning of the sanctification of creation and of humankind. The principal acts in which the Holy Spirit is present in this transformation are faith and the grace of the Holy Mysteries, for through Pentecost ‘the relationship with Christ is realised through and in the Holy Spirit. The Ascension removes Christ’s historical visibility. But Pentecost restores to the world the internalised presence of Christ and now reveals Him not before, but within His disciples… The Spirit integrates us into the Body as co-heirs with Christ, makes us sons in the Son, and in the Son enables us to find the Father. The Spirit of adoption works the adoption that comes through grace’20”.
The Church calls the Spirit ‘Sanctifier and Life-giver’ and invokes Him in the process of salvation for every believer: ‘Come and dwell within us’. For this reason, Orthodoxy alone speaks continually of the work of the Holy Spirit, ‘Through whom Christ makes us children of God, with a resurrected, glorified body, together with all creation. For Orthodox Christians, it is not enough merely to be forgiven through Christ’s supererogatory merits or to be cleansed of sins only in the life to come through faith in the effect of His sacrifice; but their lives grow in holiness, and humanity’s growth in holiness, modelled on Christ, tends towards attaining a transfigured body like His own in the life to come, through the Spirit of Christ’21”.
Without the work of the Holy Spirit we would not have been able to see and feel within us the work of the Son, for the Spirit makes the Godhead transparent to creation. ‘The Holy Spirit is the medium through which Christ is seen. He can only be known through Christ, just as Christ is known through the mediation of the Paraclete’22. The fact that our experience affirms the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the world to make Christ known to us brings two great advantages to the Orthodox mission: a) it dispels and overcomes the phenomenon of secularisation, a cultural process that arose from a Christian ‘theology’ which confused God’s transcendence with His absence from creation, leading man to proclaim his autonomy from God; b) through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, in the world, there is a qualitative growth among the baptised, and the pastoral care of the clergy for their spiritual children—whom they must lead to ‘the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13).
In the divine economy we find three Sacraments that mark our existence and meaning: the Sacrament of Creation, the Sacrament of the Incarnation and the Sacrament of the Church, amongst which ‘the Church represents the third Mystery in which God—the Word—restores and elevates His union with the world to a higher level. The Church is the ultimate Mystery, for it is the form of God’s supreme unity with all creation’23). When defined as the work of Redemption, the Church must be seen as the communal extension of Christ Who, having accomplished the work of salvation by recapitulating us all within Himself, wishes us to gradually assimilate the state of His humanity after the Resurrection, transforming each of us into a member of His mystical Body and uniting us permanently with Him, the Head of the Church. You cannot partake of the fruits of Redemption from outside the Body, for only the Church – by its Christological nature – re-enacts the history of salvation. Thus, the Mystery of the Church is underpinned by the founding events through which Christ lays the foundation of the Church within His Body. The Incarnation and the hypostatic union for all eternity become the firstfruits of human nature and highlight the theandry of the Church, the encounter of the human with the divine in the one saving reality. Furthermore, the Church is marked by Christ’s sacrifice. ‘The Church stands upon crucified love’24; and in this state of sacrifice ‘Christ keeps His humanity fully open to the infinity of God, and if we too open ourselves to the horizons into which His humanity has been raised, He communicates to us as well the state of sacrifice within the Church and reconciles us with the Father’25.
The Orthodox Church is ‘apostolic’ because it has been ‘anointed’ by the Anointed One of the Lord to continue the salvation of the world. The Church is therefore missionary by its very nature. “A Church without a mission is a contradiction in terms… A static Church, lacking the vision and the work commensurate with the evangelisation of the world, could hardly be recognised as ‘the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church’, to which the Lord has entrusted the continuation of His work’26
Furthermore, the catholicity of the Orthodox Church constitutes a decisive factor in the globalised mindset of the contemporary world, a phenomenon characterised by a strictly horizontal dimension, with a purely economic content. The Orthodox mission is distinguished by its theology through the prism of the truth that ‘the Holy Spirit, as an expression of the universal, is not bestowed upon the nations from above, in a global sense, but through the nations, so as to affirm the specific identity of each, whilst also keeping them in communion with the whole. We are in favour of European integration, but within a globalising vision that takes into account the specific culture of each people’27’.
The outpourings of the Holy Spirit that develop the Church’s mission within the faithful are the Holy Sacraments. These were instituted by the Saviour and placed at our disposal so that, through our encounter with God and the quality of our Christian life, we may be ‘the salt of the earth’, with the awareness that, living in any society, ‘a little leaven leavens the whole lump’ (Luke 13:21). What makes an impression or causes scandal in a society characterised by relativism and indifference, or one that is drowning in passions and a disordered way of life, is precisely the experience of living in the midst of divine love, the paradigmatic spirituality of Christians and their witness through the holiness of life attained by the grace of the Holy Sacraments. In this regard, the Epistle to Diognetus records the distinction of Christians through their way of life. ‘Christians are no different from other people, neither in the land where they live, nor in their language, nor in their dress. They do not dwell in cities of their own, nor do they use a distinct language… but they lead a marvellous life, recognised by all as unprecedented. They are in the body, but do not live according to the body. They dwell on earth, but are citizens of heaven. To put it briefly, just as the soul is to the body, so are Christians to the world’28’. To have the greatest possible chance of success, the mission must begin from within the community through a profound commitment to ecclesial consciousness developed through the experience of the Holy Sacraments. “Orthodoxy bestows upon the believer, from the very beginning, the three Sacraments in which the initiation and essence of salvation are concentrated: Baptism, Chrismation, and the Eucharist—that is, rebirth, confirmation, and communion. Baptism cannot be separated from Chrismation, as is done in the West, because the new birth is a birth simultaneously of water and of the Spirit, and once the Chrismation has been received, the believer is sealed as a member of the Church of God, and thus a participant in the Eucharistic assembly, in the communal feeding on the Body of Christ”29. The Sacrament of Chrismation thus represents a stage in the believer’s union with Christ and their inner unification and, at the same time, a sacramental means of continually strengthening the unity of the Church30.
“Orthodoxy bestows upon the believer from the very beginning the three Sacraments in which the initiation and essence of salvation are concentrated: Baptism, Chrismation, the Eucharist—that is, rebirth, confirmation, communion.
Through the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, the perichoretic relationship between man and Christ—which began at Baptism—is deepened to the highest degree, for through this ‘Christ becomes more intimate to us than we are to ourselves’31. At the heart of the Church’s mission lies the Divine Liturgy, the place where we prepare for and deepen our communion with Christ, imbued with His love; and, renewed in this communion, we are sent forth ‘in peace’ to bring the world into the Church. It is only in the Liturgy that we bear witness that ‘we have seen the true light, we have found the true faith’, and so we can only carry out mission after we have experienced God in the most profound way in the Liturgy, which ‘constitutes the starting point and the destination of authentic Christian mission’32).
The Sacrament of Confession confirms that life in the Church is better than in an earthly paradise, for in it man can no longer lose communion with Christ for all eternity. The Sacrament of Holy Confession is regarded as a ‘restorative sacrament, for through it the Church works to restore communion with Christ, which has been broken by sin, and to reconcile to herself those who have committed sins after Baptism’33. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Orders aims to transform the person ordained to share in the unique and invisible Priesthood of Christ, for without the Spirit there can be no ecclesiastical hierarchy. Paul Evdokimov emphasises that ‘all the Sacraments, like ecclesial works, have their own epiclesis and are accomplished through the descent of the energies of the Holy Spirit. The epiclesis of the Sacrament of Marriage becomes the Pentecost of Marriage’34. ‘The reception of the divine energies descending upon the two spouses has the power to renew them spiritually and to strengthen the bond that unites them with Christ’35. The work of transformation wrought by the Holy Spirit is also evident in the Sacrament of Holy Unction, when His grace brings about ‘the transformation of all passion, of the defilement of body and soul, and of all wickedness’. The Sacrament of Holy Unction, alongside its similarity to the Sacrament of Confession in restoring communion with Christ broken by sin, highlights the love and care of Christians for every fellow human being, a good deed expressed here through prayer, ‘the initiative of many to rescue a member of the Church from the state of helplessness and suffering in which they find themselves’36.
The conclusion of the Symbol of Faith presents us with a final dogmatic requirement that reflects the Orthodox mission, namely the historical-eschatological vision of our existence. It is worth noting that, due to our secularised society, some Christians live under the pressure of history, rather than placing the whole world under eschatological pressure. On the one hand, consumer society confines people within the confines of experiencing an earthly paradise of transitory goods, only for the ecological problem to arise subsequently—not out of concern for God’s creation, but out of the selfish fear that human existence on earth is under threat. The ecological crisis and the consumerist mindset find their theological resolution in restoring man to his role as priest of God’s creation and in his realising his role as the sole bearer of responsibility for the fate of creation, in accordance with his freedom. The doxological attitude of those who participate in the Divine Liturgy extends to God’s creation through humanity’s relationship with it, in a personal—rather than merely individual—approach to creation. The ecological crisis stems solely from an inner anthropological crisis and cannot be resolved by superficial means, but only by transforming the way human beings live within creation. Only if it is addressed in close connection with the spiritual and moral crisis in which humankind is lost today can ecology be helped to yield the expected results.
The ecological crisis and the consumerist mindset find their theological solution in restoring humanity to its role as priest of God’s creation and in raising awareness of its role as the sole bearer of responsibility for the fate of creation, in accordance with its freedom.
On the other hand, the Church’s mission demonstrates its strength in the fact that we do not await the end of the world, as suggested by the apocalyptic visions of certain ‘charismatic’ societies and movements, but rather we await ‘the resurrection of the dead and eternal life’, that is, Jesus Christ – the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), whilst eschatological realities bestow upon us the transcendent and transfigured meaning of the world in Christ. In the Church we already experience the Kingdom, whilst awaiting ‘a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells’ (2 Peter 3:13).
God is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8), and the teaching about Him and His works—the dogma—is likewise immutable (Matthew 24:35). On the basis of these unchanging revealed truths, the Church’s mission begins, grows and develops, motivated by love for God and for people, by the fulfilment of the Saviour’s commandment, and by the inner necessity of the duty felt in the soul of the missionary who wishes to answer these questions: ‘But how are they to call on the name of the One in whom they have not yet believed? And how are they to believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?’ (Romans 10:14–15).
If the mission is founded on dogma, then we can be certain that it does not conform to the spirit of the age – the Church is in the world, but not of the world – the Church’s work is adapted to the times, but never altered. The truth of the dogmas ensures that the Church’s mission can never be confused with or associated with any societal ideology or the governing programme of any political party, because our mission is not activism.
The mission is carried out by God – the Holy Trinity within the Church – to make the entire cosmos the Church of Christ. This is served by people who work with God’s grace and help, bearing witness to the Holy Trinity, to salvation in Christ through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, so that we may attain life in abundance. Embracing ecclesial consciousness strengthens every missionary who knows that they are an envoy (apostle) with the certainty that God is with them and that other missionaries are preaching just as they do and with the same aim. Mission is carried out through the presentation of the dogmas; its effectiveness is closely linked to living out these dogmas, through which we participate concretely in the life of society, transforming our relationships with people.
- 1
Rev. Dr Răzvan Andrei Ionescu and Lecturer Dr Adrian Nicolae Lemeni, OrthodoxTheology and Science, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 2006, p. 120.
- 2
Rev. Prof. Acad. Dumitru Popescu, Christ. Church. Mission. – The Relevance of the Church’s Mission in the Contemporary World, published by the Archdiocese of the Lower Danube, Galați, 2011, p. 49.
- 3
Associate Professor Valer Bel, Ph.D., The Church’s Mission in the Contemporary World, vol. 2, published by Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 2002, p. 8.
- 4
Lecturer Dr Aurel Mihai, The Holy Trinity and the Cosmos, Basilica Publishers, Bucharest, 2015, p. 197.
- 5
† Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, The Science of Salvation – The Mystical and Missionary Vocation of Theology, Basilica, Bucharest, 2014, p. 24.
- 6
Rev. Prof. Dr Ștefan Buchiu, Incarnation and Unity, Libra, Bucharest, 1997, p. 41.
- 7
† Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, The Science of Salvation, p. 24.
- 8
Rev. Prof. Acad. Dumitru Popescu, Christ. Church. Mission., p. 57.
- 9
Rev. Prof. Acad. Dumitru Popescu, The Man Without Roots, Nemira, Bucharest, 2001, p. 83.
- 10
† Anastasie, Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania, A Mission in the Footsteps of Christ, Andreiana Publishers, Sibiu, 2013, pp. 36–37.
- 11
Rev. Prof. Dumitru Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. II, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 1997, p. 75.
- 12
Rev. Prof. Alexander Schmemann, Church, World, Mission, Reîntregirea Publishers, Alba Iulia, 2006, p. 107.
- 13
Hilarion Alfeyev, Le mystère de la foi, Editions du Cerf, Paris, 2001, p. 102.
- 14
Karl Christian Felmy, The Dogmatics of Ecclesial Experience, Deisis, Sibiu, 2008, p. 114.
- 15
St John of Damascus, Dogmatics, translated, annotated and with an introduction by Fr D. Fecioru, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 2001, p. 123.
- 16
Rev. Prof. D. Stăniloae, Jesus Christ or the Restoration of Man, Omniscop, 2nd edition, Craiova, 1993, pp. 117–118.
- 17
Rev. Prof. Dumitru Popescu, Jesus Christ Pantocrator, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 2005, note 35, p. 208.
- 18
Rev. Dr Răzvan Andrei Ionescu and Dr Adrian Nicolae Lemeni, OrthodoxTheology and Science, pp. 122–123.
- 19
Natalia Manoilescu-Dinu, The Holy Spirit in Orthodox Spirituality, Renașterea, Cluj-Napoca, 2005, p. 71.
- 20
Paul Evdokimov, The Presence of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Tradition, Anastasia Publishers, 1995, pp. 110–111.
- 21
Rev. Prof. D. Stăniloae, The Holy Trinity, or In the Beginning Was Love, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 2005, p. 83.
- 22
Natalia Manoilescu-Dinu, The Holy Spirit in Orthodox Spirituality, p. 51.
- 23
Rev. Prof. D. Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. II, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 1997, p. 13.
- 24
Rev. Prof. D. Stăniloae, A Brief Oral Dogmatics, Desis Publishers, Sibiu, 2007, p. 78.
- 25
Rev. Prof. D. Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. II, p. 88.
- 26
† Anastasie, Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania, Mission in the Footsteps of Christ, p. 81.
- 27
Rev. Prof. Dumitru Popescu, The Man Without Roots, Nemira, Bucharest, 2001, p. 86.
- 28
Epistle to Diognetus, I, 1, in The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers, PSB, no. 1, EIBMBOR, Bucharest, 1979, p. 337.
- 29
Rev. Prof. C. Galeriu, Sacrifice and Redemption, Harisma, 1991, p. 261.
- 30
Rev. Prof. Dr Ștefan Buchiu, Incarnation and Unity, p. 182.
- 31
Nicolae Cabasila, An Explanation of the Divine Liturgy and on Life in Christ, published by the Archdiocese of Bucharest, Bucharest, 1989, p. 181.
- 32
Associate Professor Dr Valer Bel, The Church’s Mission in the Contemporary World, vol. 2, p. 131.
- 33
Rev. Prof. Dr Ștefan Buchiu, Incarnation and Unity, p. 191.
- 34
Paul Evdokimov, The Presence of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Tradition, p. 118.
- 35
Natalia Manoilescu Dinu, The Holy Spirit in Orthodox Spirituality, p. 96.
- 36
Rev. Prof. D. Stăniloae, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. III, p. 207.