The Evangelical-Orthodox
Discussion Group, which works under the auspices of the Fellowship of St. Alban
and St. Sergius, Oxford, met on the 10th October in St. Gregory and
St. Macrina House (Oxford), which is the centre of the Fellowship. The day
conference analysed the theme of ‘Prayer’. The day consisted of two talks, the
first given by Dr Tim Grass, giving an Evangelical approach, and Fr. Stephen
Platt (Secretary of the Fellowship), examining the Orthodox view.
Dr Tim Grass began the day
analysing the Evangelical perspective of this theme. He explained that prayer
is merely the fact of talking with God, of communicating with God. He believes
that there should be a naturalness with prayer, expressing a personal
relationship with God. Evangelicals don’t follow set forms. Spontaneity equals
spirituality; it is preferable. However, this reality has altered lately;
therefore, Evangelicals use set forms. Nonetheless, the speaker explained that
there are not many Evangelical sources on prayers, because maybe they are not
taken that serious, on this theme. How does prayer work? How do we pray? What
happens with unanswered prayers? There is a certain hagiographic and pragmatic
approach by Evangelicals on prayer. The speaker then gave four hall marks in
regards to the Evangelical movement.
a.
Bible centred. Personal Bible reading is
important and central, that is why they know scripture well. However, this leads
to incomprehensibility, despite the fact that they can quote scripture very
well. (Despite this, it is apparent that
there is a decline of biblical literacy in modern Evangelicals).
b.
Cross centred. Soul meditation of Jesus Christ,
which is central to the prayer process. The only mediator is Jesus; that is why
they resist in invoking any prayer to the Saints.
c.
Personal
conversion to Jesus Christ. The moment they pray they become true Christians.
d.
Prayer and activism.
The speaker looked into a number
of Evangelical hymns, emphasising the importance prayer has for the Evangelical
Christian. Dr Tim spoke about the types of prayer which exist today:
a.
Personal Prayer (i.e. quiet time), where the
Evangelicals read the Bible and pray. This is practiced anywhere. It is best
observed in the morning. This coincides with the idea of Prayer Warriors, i.e.
those who pray for others. (Quiet time has, however, currently declined).
b.
Family Prayer. This consists of a Bible reading,
followed by a comment.
c.
Prayer Meeting. This is a distinctive
Evangelical gathering.
The speaker identified that
Evangelicalism is at a crisis point, in regards to prayer. Evangelicals seem to
be against any practice observed by the High Church, such as incense, despite
the fact that it is a practice found in the Bible.
It was interesting, at least for
the Orthodox listeners, that many Evangelicals do not say the Lord’s Prayer,
since it is a set prayer. However, this is an on-going dispute within
Evangelical circles, since the Lord’s Prayer is found in the New Testament,
established by Jesus Christ himself.
The second talk was given by Fr.
Stephen Platt. He began his talk by explaining personal details from his
upbringing. He gave the Orthodox approach to prayer, examining three areas:
-
What do Orthodox faithful think prayer is?
-
Why do we pray?
-
How do we pray?
There are various definitions of
prayer. For the Orthodox, talking with God is part of it. We work, we walk, and
we are with God. It’s not an intellectual practice. It has a therapeutic effect.
The fact that we are with God comprises part of the Theology of Incarnation.
Through this reality we are also incarnated. The understanding of the human
person relates to the understanding of prayer, where we have the praying of the
whole person.
Orthodox prayer is maximalist and
multisensory. They use the whole being towards Christ. We pray for our own
salvation. However, we are not saved
alone; we reach salvation as the Body of the Church. This consists of an antinomy.
We have the individual vs. cooperate prayer. Fr. Stephen explained that alones
is the definition of Hell; it is the opposite of the Trinity, of communion,
i.e. the nature of God, which is a relation, where they are mutually indwelling
in each other. We don’t pray alone because we are not saved alone. But even when we pray alone, we are never
alone, since we are part of the Church.
The Orthodox prayer has a
Liturgical nature. All Orthodox prayer is directly or indirectly Eucharistic,
which lies in the heart of Orthodox life, of Liturgical worship. The Eucharist
is the central defining moment as the identity of His Body. For the Orthodox,
all prayer is sacramental; as Schmemann claimed, ‘the world as Sacrament’.
Fr. Stephen continued by
explaining that we cannot limit God’s grace to 7 sacraments; it is not logical.
The Greeks use the word Mysterion, which has two meanings:
a.
Mystery
b.
Secret plan of Salvation, drawing humanity back
to Himself.
He later followed Dr Tim’s
analysis. Is the Orthodox prayer Bible centred? It ought to be. In formal
prayer scripture is central. The centrality of the Bible is evident in the
Church, where on the Alter Table (the Throne of God) we place the Gospel, which
symbolises Jesus Christ. Orthodox prayers a heavily based on Scripture, the
Psalms being the main ‘skeleton’ of Orthodox prayers.
Orthodox prayer as Cross Centred.
For the Orthodox it is a way God comes close to sinful humanity. It is seen and
understood as part of the Resurrection. The Cross and the Resurrection are
bound together. In Orthodox hymnology the Resurrection is never eclipsed by the
Cross; and the Cross is never alone, without the Resurrection.
Conversion. This takes place
during Baptism. Conversions is evident through conversion, i.e. repentance.
Activism. To be active does not mean that they are vocal. Actions speak louder
than words. The faithful do the sign of
the cross at certain occasions; at moments which speak to them. The words they
hear are taken into the logical understanding; doing the sign of the cross is
the outward expression of the esoteric understanding of prayer.
How do the practice prayer? For
the Orthodox the Church building is both Temple (Ναός) and Synagogue. Εκκλησία is really the
Synagogue. The Ναός is the House of God.
Orthodox people also practice prayer at home. It is evident that the
monastic movement has had a massive affect to Orthodox prayer. The personal
prayers are like condensed liturgical prayers. However, they do pray with their
own words. There is space for silence.
Fr. Stephen then analysed the
Jesus Prayer. This prayer is taken by 2 verses. The first is ‘Lord Jesus Christ
Son of God’, while the second part is taken by the Parable of the Tax Collector
and the Pharisee, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’ (Luke 18: 13).
The Church is a generator of
prayer. In theory we are activists, but in practice we are pacifist. Orthodox
people do not know their bible. The Orthodox don’t give the Bible verses when
talking. There are numerous examples of how Saints quoted the Bible without
having read it. This happens because they live the life of the Bible.
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