Christian Mission

Week 6 – Hellenistic Mission – Radiating Eternal Truth

Session 2

The Hellenistic Mission Paradigm

Section 1

Introduction to Hellenistic Mission

Hellenistic?

▪ ‘Hellenistic’ means:

▪ Hellas is the original name for Greece, used as an archaic or poetic form in English, and to render the native Greek name Ἑλλάς (Hellás, Modern Greek Ellás).

Video of an Orthodox Service

▪ St. Katherine's Greek Orthodox Church of Redondo Beach, California celebrates Holy Pascha. The following footage is a 9 minute high-light reel of the service including a few interviews (from 2006)– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaI7PY2_2O8

– 9 minutes long

Basics

▪ Paradigm born in the Hellenistic Christianity of 2nd-4th centuries.– Continued in Middle East and Eastern Europe until the conversion of Russia.

– Dominant paradigm in the Orthodox tradition ever since.

– My visit to meet Pentecostal Christians in Orthodox Bulgaria.

▪ An approach “radically and creatively different from those which preceded and followed it.” P69 Spencer.

▪ Focus on the Liturgy (worship, Eucharist, presence of Church universal not just local – saints, Mother of God, Christ).

▪ Mission is understood as “the liturgy after the Liturgy.”

▪ Very influenced by John, rather than the synoptic gospellers

▪ “Mission was all about bringing people into the ordered liturgical community of the church where they could be schooled in the doctrine and truth of heaven and given the opportunity to ascend into divine truth.” Spencer p75

▪ “In the Orthodox perspective mission is thus centripetal rather than centrifugal, organic rather than organised. It ‘proclaims’ the gospel through doxology and liturgy. The witnessing community is the community in worship; in fact, the worshipping community is in and of itself an act of witness. People are not called simply to know Christ, to gather around him, or to submit to his will; ‘they are called to participate in his glory’.” p75

Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church 1963

Spencer’s main critique

▪ With regards to the idea of the inaugurated yet still awaited kingdom (Principle 3)

▪ Hellenistic mission points to “the presence of the Kingdom within the world, an eternal realm that anyone can access through divine knowledge. It does not see this realm as lying in the future and coming through change and struggle.”

▪ It entails an acceptance of the status quo and a loss of the transformatory dimension of Jesus mission on the structures of the world.

Differences between Greek and Hebrew worldview

1. Visual vs auditive– Greeks excelled at plastic arts, Semites averse

– Greek Logos = “knowledge through seeing”, whereas “faith comes from what is heard” – Romans 10:17

2. Different ideas about Knowledge (experienced vs conceptual)1. “It became more important to reflect on what God is in himself than to

consider the relationship in which people stand to God. Behind all of this lies the notion that the abstract idea is more real than the historical. Therefore, what pagans really needed was an adequate doctrine of God.” (NOT INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE)

Visual vs Auditory culture

▪ Iconography

▪ Icon is NOT an idol – to venerate an icon is not to worship it…– but some folk religion does move in this direction

▪ Idea that icons provide a window into the Real World of ideas, behind our own. Link to Platonic thought.

▪ Idea that they represent to us the true image of reality behind the fallen one we live in. – Luminosity – Eternal Truth Radiates into the World

▪ Often allegorical of deeper truths (theology) that scripture reveals to us

▪ Art reveals the real world of Christ just as scripture points to Christ.

Liberation Theology suggests instead that we can encounter Christ in the poor, rather than by being drawn by liturgy/worship into the presence of the heavenly realm

Section 2

A comparison of the Sermon on the Mount and the Nicene Creed

Hellenistic emphasis on cognition vsHebrew emphasis on experience

▪ Impact of philosophy on church shown by:

▪ “ever-growing tendency to define the faith and systematize doctrine.” P194

▪ God becomes identified with God of Greek metaphysics:– Supreme being, substance, principle, unmoved mover

▪ “Ontology (God’s being) became more important than history (God’s deeds).

▪ ‘Knowledge’ (gnosis or Sophia) became more important than ‘event.’

▪ “Salvation is to be found in knowledge” meant rational not experiential knowledge.

▪ Spirit became Spirit of “truth” or “wisdom”– Interest in Spirit’s original being not activity in history.

▪ God’s revelation not communication of God’s self-communication in events– But communication of the being of God (three hypostases in one person of

Christ who has two natures

▪ Church councils come up with final definitive statements of faith– Anathema’s excluded heretics

Handout Exercise

▪ Discuss the differences and similarities (if any), between the Sermon and the Creed.

– In light of the Sermon on the Mount, how would you modify the Creed?

– If the Creed was a contextual document designed to address key questions of that time and culture, what relevance do you think it has for mission today?

▪ Which is more important for mission to the group of people you have chosen to focus on…explaining who God is in himself or helping people consider the relationship in which they stand to God?

Conclusions (Bosch)

▪ Sermon is ethical with no metaphysical speculation

▪ Creed is metaphysical with no mention of ethical conduct

▪ Van der Alst: “The message became doctrine, the doctrine dogma, and this dogma was expounded in precepts which were expertly strung together.” p196 Bosch

Section 3

Did the Hellenistic Church syncretise with its culture?Gnosticism

Syncretism

▪ Syncretism is what happens when we over-(or under) contextualise.– An example is Prosperity gospel imported into Africa

▪ Meaning that we go too far with the indigenising principle and our gospel becomes neutered by the culture we are trying to reach.– It is possible to accuse any stream of theology of being sycretised to a greater or

lesser degree.

▪ One person’s syncretism is another’s good contextualisation.– It is often only in hindsight that we discover our mistakes in this area.

▪ Missional studies is currently mostly wrestling with the legacy of our syncretism with modern culture (Cartesian rationality)– But we still have serious issues with Gnosticism…a culture Christianity syncretised

with in the Hellenistic period, in some respects the opposite of Cartesian Rationality

Gnosticism

▪ Gnosis mean ‘knowledge’

▪ Gnosticism was a quasi-philosophy which despaired of human rationality1. Emphasised esoteric knowledge (like Masonry)

2. Irreversible foundational dualism between transcendent God and a demiurge that had created the world

3. World was a threat, a source of contagion

4. Gnosticism’s Christology is docetic: Christ was not a real human but simply appeared to be one (overly-high Christology)

5. Emphasis on multiplicities of dualisms, between physical and spiritual, temporal and eternal etc. etc.

Bosch on Hellenistic Christianity and Syncretism

▪ There was a greater emphasis in the Hellenistic Church on ‘gnosis’ or knowledge.– But on the whole Greek philosophical schools and the mainline church were anti-

gnostic

▪ Some of these elements penetrated the church so deeply that they are alive and well today!

▪ Church rejected this extreme Hellenised form of Christianity, just as it rejected extreme Semiticization

▪ Church didn’t grow fast because it had to devote time and energy to establishing its distinct identity in this majority culture. p200– Critical point for church planting today

▪ Has a trick been lost in African around health and wealth – quick growth but lack of theological challenge to these new influences?

Gnosticism is alive and well today – 8 Gnostic teachings you may have imbibed

▪ Gnostic Myth # 1: Christianity isn’t a Religion, it’s a Relationship.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 2: Salvation Means Going to Heaven When You Die.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 3: The Material World isn’t Important.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 4: Institutional Religion is Bad.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 5: It isn’t Going to Last Forever.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 6: Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this World.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 7: Knowledge saves.

▪ Gnostic Myth # 8: God Doesn’t Work Through Means.

This is on Moodle

Section 4

What we can learn from Orthodox Mission

What can we learn from Hellenistic Mission (Bosch)

▪ Caricature of Orthodox Mission in the West– Negative (colonial)

– Or inherently non-existent

– Bosch argues for a re-evaluation:

▪ “The Eastern Church’s contribution to an understanding of mission is indeed significant.” P206

How Protestants are challenged by Orthodox missiology

▪ Versus overly pragmatic structures– A call to Mystery (remember starting image of Calllistos Ware)

▪ Versus verbalist categories of mission– Art, image and sacrament are important

▪ Absence of missionary spirituality– Impoverishes protestants commendable efforts in area of social justice

1) To the Greeks we owe the intellectual discipline of theology

▪ Origen first systematician

▪ Positive side = concepts and tools to have an intellectually honest approach to faith

▪ Danger of rationalisation and intellectualisation

▪ Reasoned argument necessary to articulate Christianity in a pluralistic world.

▪ Can we overly emphasise experience, especially as charsmatics, over reason in our mission today?

2) Orthodox mission is thoroughly church centred

▪ Kingdom and Church synonymous, being in the church was the same as being in the Kingdom

▪ Ecclesial character of mission means that “the Church is the aim and fulfilment of the gospel rather than an instrument or means of mission.” – Mission is not a function of the church – this is rejected as instrumentalisation

– Mission is not the proclaiming of some ‘ethical truths and principles”

▪ Mission is “calling people to become members of the Christian Community in a visible concrete form.” – Church is the aim of mission not vice-versa

– It is “ecclesiology which determines missiology .” P207

– Connect this to David Fitch’s “crypto-catholic” pushback to Frost and Hirsch’s Christology, Missiology, Ecclesiology” paradigm.

▪ Consequences– No individuals or group of individuals, can embark on a missionary venture

without being sent by the church

– If the church ‘as such’ is mission, then mission refers to a collective task

– Outside the context of the church, evangelism remains a humanism or a temporary psychological enthusiasm

▪ Is there a danger that the missional movement today devalues the church too much? – David Fitch and Alan Hirsch have debated the interaction of Missiology and

Ecclesiology

3) Liturgy and Mission

▪ “Liturgy is the key to the Orthodox understanding of the church, and therefore the importance of liturgy for the Orthodox understanding of the church, and therefore the importance of liturgy for the Orthodox view on evangelism cannot be over-emphasised.” P207– No evangelism can take place without mention of the spiritual and sacramental

existence

▪ K Rose:– “As church of the Easter light and liturgy its sees its main task in Enlightening

the pagans who are to receive God’s light though the liturgy. The light of mercy that shines in the liturgy should act as centre of attraction to those who still live in the darkness of paganism.”

▪ Unity and Mission are one and the same…because mission is so inherently linked to the eucharist and the church

▪ How important is it to retain a robust liturgy as we do mission today?

4) Mission is founded on the love of God

▪ John 3:16 is at the heart of Orthodox Mission, emphasis on love of God and incarnation of Christ, not the implication of the cross emphasised by evangelicals.

▪ God’s love manifest in sending Christ in kenosis

▪ All missionaries should follow this model

▪ It is God’s love rather than his justice that is highlighted

▪ Is evangelicalism too cross focussed, charismaticism too resurrection focussed, and new missional thinkers too incarnationally (activist) focussed…what about the amazing mystery of contemplating the Logos incarnate?

5) Goal of mission is life

▪ Eastern Orthodoxy stamped more by John than Paul– Not primarily about dealing with sin but to give them life

– This is an essential contribution to mission from the Orthodox church:

▪ Idea of theosis – union with God (not deificiation)

▪ Not called simply to know Christ, gather round him, submit to his will

▪ But to participate in his glory, an intimacy of his presence

▪ Why do evangelicals get so hung up when people share John 10:10 as the basis of their evangelistic efforts?

6) Salvation not restricted to humans, it has a cosmic dimension

▪ Anastasios: “The cross sanctifies the universe”

▪ God has reconciled not only individuals but also the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19), even cosmic forces (Col 1:20)

▪ Creation is in process of becoming the ekklesia

▪ Recapitualtion of the universe is an eschatological reality

▪ This means there is already a messianic movement outside the church

▪ Does the Western church need to rediscover the cosmic dimension of the resurrection in a way that the Orthodox church has not ever lost?

7) Mission as involvement in society

▪ Orthodox church is seen as a conservative, contemplative society with regard to the civic life of the nation, particularly from the perspective of activist Western Christianity

▪ Misunderstanding

▪ There is a strong theme of engagement– But it revolves around the Liturgy, Eucharist and worship

– Reconnection to God results in movement to reconnection with return the world

– “Liturgy after the LITURGY”

– The second liturgy revolves around the transforming power of the Liturgy

▪ Should we be more comfortable that our worship is OF ITSELF a mode of proclamation in the public sphere?

Comparison of Hellenistic paradigm and primitive paradigm

1. Indigenisation 1. “The Christian tradition was reworked from the bottom up, and the end result was a way

of theologising that made sense to the Greek mind.” P211

2. Monastic movement another saving element

3. But supremely it was ordinary people that enabled it to survive and thrive

4. Intellectual discipline necessary vs syncretism and relativism.

5. Church as sign, symbol and sacrament helped lift people away from fatalism.

6. Eucharist place where believers strengthened and equipped for liturgy after the Liturgy.

7. Unity of church in mission a sign to a polytheistic world

8. Mission of God of love challenged apathetic Gods of the world

Problems with Hellenistic Mission

1. Over syncretisation with the state1. Religion is Messianic and emancipatory, not just mystical and stabilising

2. Emphasis on conservation and restoration, rather than embarking on an unknown journey

3. Orthodox churches tend to become ingrown, excessively nationalistic, little concern for the outsider

4. Platonic thought almost destroyed primitive eschatology1. Church became a place for other-worldly salvation

2. Faith in Christ’s already accomplished eternal reign took place of faith in Christ’s promises

3. Urgency wiped out by the idea of working through stages to perfection

Why I converted to Orthodoxy:The Calvin Forum Frank Schaeffer Interview

▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-CJhPlmznA

▪ Based on his book on Dancing Alone– 17.10 – 22.14 – Why did you convert?

– 22.13 – 28.45 – how do you see Protestants now

– 28.45 - 34.00 – what does it mean to discover a ‘fuller’ expression of what it means to be a Christian.

▪ Hamlet notes

▪ Experience of Pascha (from very first video)

A link to Celtic Monasticism

We will pick this up in two weeks time when we look at Medieval Mission