GREEK ORTHODOX: TRADITION AND LITURGY

Since there is no Orthodox Church in Denton, I drove into Dallas to visit the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, which happens to be across the street from Dallas Theological Seminary. There is of course no relationship between the two, and in terms of history, tradition, and theology they are worlds apart. The seminary is independent Protestant and interdenominational, and of recent origin, being the leading seminary of the Scofield/Bible Church movement. It thus lacks the historical roots, rich tradition, and catholicity that is evident across the street. The Greek Orthodox is a part of the great Orthodox tradition that traces its history all the way back to the New Testament churches themselves. While the Russian Orthodox Church recently celebrated its first 1,000 years, the Greek church goes back much farther, tracing its origins in the Greek-speaking churches of what was once Asia Minor, churches planted by Paul himself.

Orthodox churches are rich in symbolism, which begins with the architecture of their buildings, which are usually modest in size, plainly adorned on the outside, and elegantly appointed on the inside with colorful icons and elaborate stained-glass windows. This symbolizes what God desires for his people, who may be simple and unadorned in outward appearance but who are to be elegantly beautiful and imposing on the inside. This is one distinction between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, who richly adorn their edifices, within and without, with images of the saints. You will never find an image (round, body-like figures) in an Orthodox Church. Icons but not images. Icons are paintings usually found on walls and stained-glass windows.

Orthodoxy has always rejected images, such as those of Christ and the Virgin Mary, as idolatry, and even icons have been a point of controversy through the centuries. But the concept of icons being "opened books to remind one of God" prevailed, and so the seventh Ecumenical Council decreed them as worthy of veneration and reverence but not to be worshipped. While they bow before them and kiss them, it is not the icon that is worshipped but what they represent. Orthodox also venerate portions of Holy Scripture that are always on the altar during the liturgy, bowing before them and kissing them, but again it is God that is worshipped, they insist, and not the Bible as such.

After attending an early service at a Church of Christ, I arrived at the Dallas church at 10 a.m., in time for the weekly liturgy ,a service that lasted well over two hours and included Holy Communion. Every Orthodox church in the world celebrates the Lord's Supper every Sunday, as has been the tradition all these centuries. But it is served only to the Orthodox. The priest stood at the altar and, using a small spoon, placed a few drops of wine on the tongue of each communicant without touching the mouth, while the communicant helped himself to a portion of eucharistic bread (leavened). If you are not of the Orthodox faith the priest will not serve you. That the bread is leavened is reflective of another theological dispute with Rome, which uses unleavened bread. But the major dispute with Rome, which was the main issue in the Great Schism that separated the eastern (Constantinople) and western (Rome) churches, in 1054 A.D., was the claim of papal authority. Orthodoxy has always repudiated the papacy and viewed the doctrine of the infallibility of the pope as blasphemous and heretical. While they believe authority resides in the church, as does Rome, it is in the whole church and is rooted in Scripture and Tradition, not in a single bishop or pope.

The Orthodox Church is thus known as the church of the Seven Ecumenical Councils that have been called through the centuries, which have determined true doctrine, especially about the nature of Christ. The whole church is represented by the scores or hundreds of bishops that gather in holy consultation. If you have trouble seeing this as authoritative, they would point you to the ecumenical conference in Acts 15, wherein the whole church through its leaders determined true doctrine. Orthodoxy has continued these, and to them it is the authority of Tradition (with a capital T), along with Scripture. As in the case of Acts 15, it is the Holy Spirit that leads in the conclusions that are reached. Arianism, a doctrine that denied the preexistence of Christ, was thus declared a heresy at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.

The extended liturgy, to which the communicants slowly gather (At 10 a.m. I was virtually alone; an hour later the sanctuary was filled), is sung and chanted in Greek, much of the antiphons (response of the people) coming from the choir in the balcony. It goes on and on, culminating in the elevation of the chalice when its contents become the body and blood of Christ. They reject the notion that the wine and bread merely symbolize the body and blood of our Lord. Jesus said at the first liturgy, "This is my body" and "This is my blood." They take it for what it says, but they make no effort to explain how. It is a mystery that only God knows.

In most all Orthodox churches the worshipers stand throughout the long liturgy, which makes for closer fellowship, they claim, since the people can be close to each other and move among each other, which is encouraged. There are usually no pews, but in the Dallas church as in all American Orthodoxy there is seating—an innovation from long standing tradition. Most singing is by a choir, but there is sometimes congregational singing—and without instruments of music! There is no organ or piano in an Orthodox church, except again in some American churches. They explain why: "In the Orthodox Church today, as in the early Church, singing is unaccompanied and instrumental music is not found, except among certain Orthodox in America." You didn't miss those words, as in the early Church, did you?

The Dallas church did have an organ in the balcony with the choir, but it was so subdued as to be barely distinguishable. The choir's part of the liturgy, all sung in Greek (New Testament Greek, not modern) was breathtakingly beautiful. The organ never played except as background assistance to the choir. Their worship is designed to create fellowship between the church in heaven and the church on earth, "the walls of the church open out upon eternity," as they put it. If you could hear their singing you would suppose that angels could not be far away.

They baptize by immersion unto the remission of sins, trine immersion, into the name of the Father (one dip), of the Son (second dip), and of the Holy Spirit (third dip). This is what they see in Mt. 28:19. This includes infants, but only children of the household of faith. Infants are immersed three times, after which they are given Communion, which they continue to take all their lives. The Orthodox Church is distressed that most western churches "baptize" by sprinkling a little water on the head. They say that this destroys the correspondence between the outward form and the inward meaning, and it "abandons the primitive practice of baptism by immersion." They state outright that immersion is essential, except in emergencies. They usually wear a cross around their necks, reminding them that they have been baptized and are to behave accordingly.

While Communion is served every Sunday, only a small number partakes at any one time. This is because they are to prepare for such a sacred experience by fasting and prayer. The average Orthodox may actually partake of the Supper no more than five or six times a year, though some partake weekly. But they do an unusual thing at the end of the service. Those in attendance file toward the front to greet the priest as they leave the sanctuary, at which time they pick up a small cube of blessed bread (leavened and toast-like). As I filed by I quietly avoided the priest and the bread, supposing it was not for a non-Orthodox soul like me. But the priest, whom I had met on a previous visit, reached for me, took my hand, and invited me to take a piece of the bread. As I walked out nibbling on it I tried to discipline my mind as in Communion, only to discover later that it was no part of Holy Communion at all! The priest would not have served me "Holy Communion."

It was not clear to me what the bread was for or what it meant, but I was told in no uncertain terms, when I suggested otherwise, that it was not Communion. "So that each one can take something with him from the church and not feel left out, we give the bread," I was told. But still it was eucharistic bread, blessed by the priest, and yet not part of the liturgy.

There are three major "Holy Orders"-bishop, priest, deacons- filled by men only. Unlike the Roman Church, the clergy may marry, but they must do so before they take orders. If a priest's wife dies he cannot remarry. Divorce is unthinkable. Some priests choose celibacy, but such ones usually become monks. The church is episcopal, ruled by bishops. The head of an autocephalus church, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, etc., etc. is called a Patriarch. The Patriarch of Constantinople (Greek Orthodox) would be equivalent to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England, for neither man has any more authority over the church at large than any other bishop, even if he is more prominent. The bishop that rules over a diocese or province is called a Metropolitan or Archbishop. The clergy wear richly ornamented clerical garbs and are nearly always, if not always, bearded, imposing figures indeed. All bishops, as representatives of the whole church, have equal authority in running the church and in preserving Tradition. No popes are cardinals allowed!

My visit was delightful as well as informative. I had lots of fun in a social in the fellowship hall after the long service. The folk sat around tables talking to each other in Greek! Even the kids were calling to each other in Greek. It is of course a Greek community, part of some two million Greeks in this country, the most famous of which is of course Michael Dukakis, who would have fitted perfectly in this Dallas church. They are white, affluent, educated, and bilingual—except for one old Greek who was unable to respond to me in English. While the church is in inner-city Dallas, they drive in from the suburbs. They are a family church, with lots going on, including a substantial Sunday School program. Their children are an important part of the community of faith. They take the baptism of a child with great seriousness, with lots of support and elaborate Tradition—and lots of time! Were they to witness a baptismal service at a Church of Christ or witness the way we serve the Lord's Supper (and the way we chatter in our pews up to the time someone gets up and says "Good morning"!) they would be puzzled. Our people often serve Communion without even pronouncing the Words of Institution, as Jesus did and as the Orthodox do. "This is worship?," I can hear them asking if present at one of our services.

When I describe the Dallas church as typically American upper class, this is not the case with the Orthodox Church worldwide, which is made up of not only many of the poorest and most deprived people of the world but the most oppressed and persecuted. In Russia since the 1917 Communist takeover the church has been reduced from 100 million to less than half that. The Armenian church was virtually obliterated when the Turks committed genocide against those noble people. The church has been oppressed in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Poland, Czechoslovakia. Since most of the Orthodox are in countries behind the Iron Curtain, most of them have lost their freedom and have been terribly oppressed. When they are free to worship, as in Russia more recently, they flock to their churches. The great Greek Church has enjoyed more freedom, being part of the free world.

During a Sunday service back in 1054 A.D. at the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), a cardinal and two legates from the pope marched down the aisle of the sanctuary, not to worship, but to place a Bull of Excommunication upon the altar. In defiance they turned on their heels and marched out, shaking the dust from their feet in the doorway and crying out "Let God look and judge!", all because the Orthodox would not accept the pope of Rome as head of the universal church. A deacon ran after them, insisting that they take the Bull back. It fell on the street unclaimed. Such was the beginning of the Great Schism that separated the church into East and West, Orthodox and Roman Catholic. It is the severest of all the divisions of Christendom. While some believe that a union of the two would do wonders in uniting the church everywhere, it cannot be so long as the pope claims universal authority over Christendom. In all these 900 years there has been little contact between Rome and Constantinople.

The Orthodox are of a different tradition and a different culture, separated by political and economic forces as well as religious. The so-called Dark Ages mean nothing to them, nor does Luther and the Protestant Reformation or the Counter Reformation. To the Orthodox the Roman Church was already apostate, long before any Reformation, which made no real difference, for now there is not only Rome but her children as well.

The Orthodox can help us see what our own pioneers were saying when they insisted "We are Catholics." They show us also the place of Tradition, and force us to admit that we are all influenced by Tradition. With none of us is it "the Bible and the Bible alone," for we are all dependent upon the church's long struggle to interpret the Bible and determine its meaning in a changing world. None of us is willing to send the Bible out as the only missionary. We send our own people along to make sure they understand it the way we do!

The Orthodox will also help us to see the deeper dimensions of the Body of Christ in corporate worship. Being with them more we might question our preacher-centered, sermon-oriented services and give more thought to prayer, meditation, fasting, commitment, serious Bible reading, and the Table of the Lord. At the Dallas church there were two hours of liturgical worship, all centered on Holy Communion, with lots of audience participation, and finally an eight minute sermon.

We can learn from others, especially from the ancient churches, by being with them more and by being willing to indulge in some self-examination. — the Editor