Stump the Priest: Two Question on the Origins of Evil

First Question: "This concerns the origin of sin and evil. Since, as we believe, God created everything good, meaning everything created was created in the ontological state of goodness or righteousness, how did Lucifer become evil? Where did the original spark of transgression or rebellion come from? If (as I would answer it myself) it came from Lucifer's free will nature, how is it not also the case that God might also choose against His own nature? This seems to me to be a necessary question arising from our free will doctrine."

Second Question: "Did Adam and Eve know what evil was before they partook of the tree of life?  If they were innocent and didn't know anything of evil, how could they stay away from it or make an informed decision to stay away from it?"

To answer these questions we should first consider what is evil? Evil is not a substance. The Fathers tell us that evil does not "exist", per se... which is not to say that evil does not occur, but rather that evil is a choice. It is not something that God created, it is the choice of a will that is in rebellion against God.

St. Basil the Great tell us:

"Again, it is impious to say that evil has its origin from God, because naught [i.e. nothing] contrary is produced by the contrary. Life does not generate death, nor is darkness the beginning of light, nor is disease the maker of heath, but in the changes of conditions there are transitions from one condition to the contrary. In Genesis, however, each being comes forth not from its contrary, but from those of the same type. Accordingly, they say, if it is not uncreated nor created by God, whence does it have its nature? No one who is in this world will deny that evils exist. What, then, do we say? That evil is not a living and animated substance, but a condition of the soul which is opposed to virtue and which springs up in the slothful because of their falling away from good. Do not, therefore, contemplate evil from without; and do not imagine some original nature of wickedness, but let each one recognize himself as the first author of the vice that is in him" (Hexaemeron, Homily 2:4-5, The Fathers of the Church: Saint Basil: Exegetic Homilies, trans. Sister Agnes Clare Way, C.D.P. (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1963), p 28).

St. Diadochus of Photiki says:

"Evil does not exist by nature, nor is any man naturally evil, for God made nothing that was not good. When in the desire of his heart someone conceives and gives form to what in reality has no existence, then what he desires begins to exist. We should therefore turn our attention away from the inclination to evil and concentrate it on the remembrance of God; for good, which exists by nature, is more powerful than our inclination to evil. The one has existence while the other does not, except when we give it existence through our actions" (The Philokalia: The Complete Text, compiled by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, Vol. 1, trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (London: Faber and Faber, 1979), p. 253).

But someone might object, doesn't Scripture tell us that God creates evil? And then they usually will cite Isaiah 45:7, which says in the King James Version: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." What could be more clear than that?

The problem is that we are talking about a translation, and so we need to consider the original word that is translated as "evil" here, (רעה / רע ra‛ / râ‛âh). According to Brown, Drivers, and Briggs, the word can mean:

1) bad, evil (adjective)
1a) bad, disagreeable, malignant
1b) bad, unpleasant, evil (giving pain, unhappiness, misery)
1c) evil, displeasing
1d) bad (of its kind - land, water, etc)
1e) bad (of value)
1f) worse than, worst (comparison)
1g) sad, unhappy
1h) evil (hurtful)
1i) bad, unkind (vicious in disposition)
1j) bad, evil, wicked (ethically)
1j1) in general, of persons, of thoughts
1j2) deeds, actions
2) evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity (noun masculine)
2a) evil, distress, adversity
2b) evil, injury, wrong
2c) evil (ethical)
3) evil, misery, distress, injury (noun feminine)
3a) evil, misery, distress
3b) evil, injury, wrong
3c) evil (ethical)

So how do we know what sense this word has in this particular passage?

Hebrew poetry is not based on rhymes, but rather on parallelism. There are different kinds of parallelisms, but this is a classic example of antithetical parallelism. The way antithetical parallelism works is that the first line is followed by a statement that makes an opposing point -- which is not to suggest that the first line contradicts the first, but that it makes a counter point. For example, Psalm 36[37]:9 says:

For evil-doers shall utterly perish, /
but they that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. 

The first line, which states what the fate of evil-doers will be is contrasted by the second line, which states what the fate of those who wait on the Lord -- and those fates are the opposite of one another.

In the case of Isaiah 45:7, you have two examples of antithetical parallelism:

I form the light, / and create darkness:
I make peace, / and create evil

So just as darkness is the opposite of light, the "evil" that God creates is the opposite of peace. Given that, the obvious meaning of that word in this context is something like "calamity"... clearly not moral evil. And if you look at more modern translations, you will find that this is how they usually translate it. Furthermore, if you look at what the Fathers say about this passage, they also understand it in this sense.

So to answer the first question, Satan was not created evil. He was created good, but made the choice to rebel against God, and to do evil.

And while created beings can rebel against God, God cannot rebel against Himself. God is infinite and perfect. Scripture tells us that He is Love, Truth, Light, Good, and that it is impossible for him to lie or to sin, and so it is not possible that He could choose evil.

To answer the second question, Adam and Eve had not known evil, but they did have the power of choice, they knew what God required of them, and they knew the consequences that would follow if they did not obey God. Their knowledge was limited, but the expectations that God placed on them were also very limited, and so they had the power to choose, and it was just for God to hold them accountable for that choice.

For more information:

The God who is Silent about Evil, by Fr. Georges Massouh

The Nature and Origin of Evil According to Eastern Christian Church, by Marina Luptakova

Does God create evil? (Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry)

Stump the Priest: Liturgical "Fossils"

Question: "What are we to make of parts of the Liturgy that seem to be relics from a time when the Liturgy was closed to the general public? For example: the dismissal of the catechumens: "Catechumens, depart!" "The doors! The doors!" (usually interpreted as 'close and guard the doors'). In the prayers for Communion, "I will not speak of thy Mystery to Thine enemies." I don't like the idea that these phrases are just fossils. How do we understand them today?"

Some History

The practice of dismissing the catechumens generally came to an end in the general life of the Church because most countries in which Christianity existed were almost entirely Christian, and adult converts became a rarity.

There was also a closely related penitential system, that consisted of four groups of people who were guilty of serious sins, and who had been placed under a penance for some period of time: (1) the weepers, who remained outside the church doors and asked prayers of the faithful as these passed into the church; (2) the hearers, who stood in the Narthex of the church behind the catechumens, and were dismissed with the catechumens; (3) the kneelers were allowed into the back of the Nave, but who also were also dismissed with the catechumens; and (4) the co-standers, who were allowed to stand with the faithful in the Nave and attend the entire liturgy, but not receive communion, until they were finally readmitted into communion.

The penitential system eventually came to an end as well. In the early Church, to even join the Church was an act of courage, and thus the level of commitment among the average Christian was very high, and so you could impose strict penitential discipline that might extend for decades, without it being a cause for final despair and apostasy. As time went on, such strict discipline was stronger medicine than later generations of Christians were able to benefit from.

As a result of both of these developments, instead of non-Christians being completely prevented from entering the Church, and catechumens and certain penitents being prevented from entering beyond the Narthex, the Altar area (the area behind the Iconostasis) became the one area that such people were not permitted to enter. This is true at least in general parish practice; however, in some monasteries catechumens and the heterodox are still not allowed into the Nave, and are still dismissed at the time of the dismissal of the catechumens... and so this practice, while no longer common, is actually not entirely a thing of the past.

What does the Dismissal of the Catechumens Mean for the Faithful

The dismissal of the catechumens happens after the Gospel reading, and according to the ancient practice, also after the sermon.

St. Symeon of Thessalonica says that the dismissal of the catechumens represents "the separation of the sinners from the just after the preaching of the Gospel at the end of the ages. For after the Gospel has been preached in all the world as a witness to all peoples, scripture says, "Then the end will come" (St. Symeon of Thessalonika: The Liturgical Commentaries, trans. Steven Hawkes-Teeples, (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2011), p 249).

So the point being that this dismissal should be a warning to us that the time we have to obey the Gospel message is limited, and that the day will come when we will have to give an account, and will either be taken away with the sinners, or receive the reward of the righteous.

Fr. Seraphim Slobodskoy similarly says that the dismissal of the catechumens "should also be a warning to us... We, the baptized, sin frequently and often without repentance are present in the church, lacking the requisite preparation and having in our hearts hostility and envy against our fellow men. Therefore, with the solemn and threatening words, "catechumens depart," we as unworthy ones should examine ourselves closely and ponder our unworthiness, asking forgiveness from our personal enemies, often imagined, and ask the Lord God for the forgiveness of our sins with the firm resolve to do better" (The Law of God: For Study at Home and School (Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Monastery, 1994), p. 566).

"For I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies..."

In the early Church, there was a high degree of secrecy. This was not at like the Gnostics, who had secrets that were kept even from their own members, and retained by only a select group. Christians did, however, keep many things secret from those outside of the Church. In St. Cyril of Jerusalem's catechetical lectures, he admonished his hearers to not write down what he taught them. As we have already noted, even catechumens were not allowed to remain in the Church during the Eucharistic portion of the liturgy.  But what does this prayer mean to us today, when non-Christians can attend a liturgy in its entirety, and when books about the mysteries can be read by anyone who is interested that describe the sacraments in great detail? Fr, Michael Pomazansky addresses this question in his "Orthodox Dogmatic Theology":

"This strictness with regard to the revelation of the Christian Mysteries (Sacraments) to outsiders is no longer preserved to such a degree in the Orthodox Church. The exclamation, "Catechumens depart!" before the Liturgy of the Faithful is still proclaimed, it is true, but hardly anywhere in the Orthodox world are catechumens or the non-Orthodox actually told to leave the church at this time. (In some churches they are only asked to stand in the back part of the church, in the narthex, but can still observe the service). The full point of such an action is lost in our times, when all the "secrets" of the Christian Mysteries are readily available to anyone who can read, and the text of St. Cyril's Catechetical Lectures has been published in many languages and editions. However, the great reverence which the ancient Church showed for the Christian Mysteries, carefully preserving them from the gaze of those who were merely curious, or those who, being outside the Church and uncommitted to Christianity, might easily misunderstand or mistrust them — is still kept by Orthodox Christians today who are serious about their faith. Even today we are not to "cast our pearls before swine" — to speak much of the Mysteries of the Orthodox Faith to those who are merely curious about them but do not to seek to join themselves to the Church." (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, trans. Fr. Serpahim (Rose), (Platina, CA: St. Herman Press, 1984, p. 31, footnote 12, emphasis added).

Exactly where the line should be drawn, and when exactly we are in danger of casting the pearls of our Faith before swine (Matthew 7:6) is not something for which one can lay out simply rules, but this is something that we should pray that God will give us wisdom to discern when dealing with those who are not Orthodox.

A Sung Response to those hoping for an "Orthodox Vatican II"

Archdeacon John Chryssavgis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is reported to have said that he hopes the council in Crete may have an impact on Orthodoxy similar to that of Vatican II on Catholicism. Here is a sung response from Bishop Bullwinkle:


And then there's this:

Stump the Priest: The Lord's Day

Question: "Which is the Lord’s Day, Saturday or Sunday?"

For Orthodox Christians, the Sabbath remains Saturday, but the Lord's Day is Sunday, and this is abundantly clear from both Scripture and Tradition.

In the book of Acts, we are told that it was "upon the first day of the week [Sunday], when the disciples came together to break bread" (Acts 20:7). Perhaps you might dismiss this as just a random occurrence, except that St. Paul speaks of "the first day of the week" as the day that the Church would come together (1 Corinthians 16:2).

In the book of Revelation, we find the first reference to "The Lord's day" (Revelation 1:10), which undoubtedly is not the Sabbath, because if the Sabbath was intended, it would have been most natural to have referred to it as such. Furthermore, the early Christian understanding the Sabbath, and the Lord's day is still reflected in the Greek names for the days of the week:

Sunday: Κυριακή (Lord's day)
Monday: Δευτέρα (Second day)
Tuesday: Τρίτη (Third day)
Wednesday: Τετάρτη (Fourth day)
Thursday: Πέμπτη (Fifth day)
Friday: Παρασκευή (Preparation day, c.f. Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14)
Saturday: Σάββατο (Sabbath)

The use of the phrase "the Lord's day" in reference to Sunday, as well as references to the fact that this was the primary day of Christian worship are well attested in the earliest writings of the Church. For example:

"And on the Lord's own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. And let no man, having his dispute with his fellow, join your assembly until they have been reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be defiled; for this sacrifice it is that was spoken of by the Lord; (In every place and at every time offer Me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great king, saith the Lord and My name is wonderful among the nations.)" (Didache 14:1-5, this come from a first century text that is generally considered the oldest Christian document outside of the New Testament itself).

"Moreover concerning the Sabbath likewise it is written in the Ten Commandments, in which He spake to Moses face to face on Mount Sinai; And ye shall hallow the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and with a pure heart. And in another place He saith; If my sons observe the Sabbath then I will bestow My mercy upon them. Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; And God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.... Finally He saith to them; Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot away with. Ye see what is His meaning; it is not your present Sabbaths that are acceptable [unto Me], but the Sabbath which I have made, in the which, when I have set all things at rest, I will make the beginning of the eighth day which is the beginning of another world. Wherefore also we keep the eighth day for rejoicing, in the which also Jesus rose from the dead, and having been manifested ascended into the heavens" (Epistle of Barnabas 15:1-3, 5-9, 1st Century).

"If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny -- a mystery whereby we attained unto belief, and for this cause we endure patiently, that we may be found disciples of Jesus Christ our only teacher -- if this be so, how shall we be able to live apart from Him? seeing that even the prophets, being His disciples, were expecting Him as their teacher through the Spirit. And for this cause He whom they rightly awaited, when He came, raised them from the dead" (St Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Magnesians, 9:1-2, 110 A.D.

For more citations from the early Church Fathers, see: Sunday or Saturday, from Catholic Answers.

Saturday retains its significance as the day of creation, and so liturgically we never fast strictly on Saturdays (except for Holy Saturday, and even then, a complete fast is not called for), and even during Great Lent, when we do not serve full liturgies on most days of the week, a liturgy is always appointed for Saturday and Sunday. However, for Christians, Sunday, the Lord's day, is the day of the New Creation, the day of the Resurrection, and so it supersedes Saturday as the primary day of Christian worship.,

See also: 

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, by Fr. Victor Potapov

Sermon Audio: Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy, by Fr. John Whiteford

Lecture: Singing in Scripture

The Levite Temple Singers, leading the army of Judah

2 Chronicles 20

This past weekend I was invited to speak at a music conference hosted by the Patriarch Tikhon Russian American Music Institute (PaTRAM) at St. Tikhon’s Monastery, South Canaan, PA.

You can listen to the lecture by clicking here;

http://www.saintjonah.org/podcasts/lectures/patram_singinginscripture.mp3

or

http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/amvon/singing_in_scripture

Unfortunately, the audio does not include the question and answers that followed, because the questions could not be heard at all on the recording.