Being A Greek Orthodox

We, Greek Orthodox Christians, believe that the four Gospels of the New Testament are the eye-witnessed testimony of the words and acts of the Word of God, as recorded by His disciples and Apostles of His faith. The Acts of the Apostles bring further clarification on practical issues and questions brought forth by the early Christians.

New Testament was originally written in Hellenistic Koine, Greek language of the epoch, which was spoken around the Mediterranean and throughout the Ancient World by literate people. Somewhat like English is to the world today.

The God-inspired meanings the Apostles wanted to convey were transcribed as actual words and phrases of this particular language. Words have meanings -- specific, definite meanings, influenced by their etymology, by the syntax of the phrase, by the cultural context of a given place and time.

Image: Byzantine illumination depicting John dictating to his disciple, Prochorus (c. 1100).

The beginnings of Greek philosophy lay with the Milesian School of thought, which emerged in the 6th century BC in Miletus, on the Aegean coasts of Asia Minor. Its main representantives were Thales, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Anaximander and Anaximenes. The philosophers from Miletus detached themselves from the strictly theological explanations about the origin and nature of the world, reposing on Reason to account for the workings of the universe. They were the first to call attention to cosmic order and to the beauty of nature.


Parmenides of Elea, licenced by Wikimedia Commons.

In the early 5th century BC, Parmenides of Elea, Lower Italy, in his philosophical poem On Nature discusses the journey from night (error) to day (truth). In the second part of his work, called The Way of Truth, Parmenides discusses about the true nature of things and seeks the unity of the world in the essense of things, distinguishing between Truth, one and unchanged, and mere Belief, or "What Is" and "What Is Not." He is therefore considered the founder of the philosophical branch of Ontology. "On" in Greek is a Present Participle, meaning "What Is", and it will be later used extensively by the Christian creed.


Heraclitus, The Weeping Philosopher, painting by Johannes Moreelse.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Heraclitus (Herakleitos) of Ephesus (~ 535-475 BC), while born in a city not far from Miletus, developed his own original philosophy. His philosophical views reached us as fragments saved through the works of later philosophers and scholars. The allusions to Logos in Heraclitus fragments can be summarized as follows: Logos is omnipresent and eternal; it is the source of order in the universe; it is the source of human reason, still humans are unable to understand it in its entirety; it is universal; he who conceives the Logos finds himself in communion with enlighted humanity, but those who are ignorant of it find themselves living as in separate worlds. His thought was rendered in a somewhat oracular language, for which he was often called Heraclitus The Obscure.

In Stoicism, a school of thought initiated by the teachings of Zeno(n) in 4th century Athens, Logos, identified with God, is "the eternal reason, or intelligent designing fire, which structures matter in accordance with Its plan" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, on Stoicism). Furthermore, God is identified with 'pneuma', which is "the 'sustaining cause' of all existing bodies and guides the growth and development of animate bodies." One essential point of difference with later Eastern Orthodox creed is that they deem 'pneuma' (God) to be material.

To Stoics, philosophy is more than reasoning for its own sake; rather, it is a way of life. Happiness is achieved through living according to human nature. One of their fundamental inquiries deals with the issue of free will, holding man responsible for actions which are under his control, originated from his beliefs and desires.

God is One, but He is three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

These three persons are consubstantial (= of the same essence, one nature) and indivisible.

Each of them is God, but none of them equals the other two. In other words, the Son is God but He is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Father is God, but He is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is God, but He is not the Father, nor the Son.

All three Persons are united as God.

Mystery, huh?

St John of San Francisco, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, wrote on the subject:

"FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT
have One Nature, One Essence.
Thus the Three Persons are the Trinity, One in Essence.

"Men have also one nature. But whereas God is a Trinty One in Essence, in men there constantly occur divisions.
In Father, Son, and Holy Spirit there are One Thought, One Will, One Activity.
What the Father desires, that also the Son desires, and that the Holy Spirit desires. What the Son loves, that also the Father loves, and the Holy Spirit. What is pleasing to the Holy Spirit, is pleasing also to the Father and to the Son.
Their Activity is likewise one, everything is done jointly and harmoniously."

Read more Greek Orthodox teachings on the Most Holy Trinity.

And, remember, you don't need to understand everything in order to believe...

PDF handout: Prayer Card with the Sunday prayer and the Confession of Faith ( The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, 381) by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

We Greeks call it The Symbol of Faith, or simply Pistévo ("I believe").