Paradox and contradiction, hiddenness and mystery are all inherent means of saving knowledge. However, the New Testament (and the fullness of the Church) have the mystery within them, but must first be encountered as mystery before they can be encountered as knowledge. We historicize Christ’s work as a set of teachings, an assemblage of theological information that we may now discuss, dissect and comprehend, rendering into nothing more than religion. It is a common mistake to treat the New Testament itself as the revelation of God, or the collection of the information newly revealed through Christ. Only that which is hidden can be revealed. And strangely, the mystery is as essential as the knowing. It is, properly, a revealed faith, and cannot be had in any other manner. The Orthodox faith is not static content, but the dynamic reality of the living Christ. The Orthodox faith is a making-known-of-the-mystery. But this in no way actually constitutes true knowledge of Orthodoxy, much less Orthodoxy as saving knowledge. One could know a set of doctrines and teachings, and even be able to enter into discussion and argument. It would be possible to “master” Orthodoxy as a system of thought. Christ Himself is the revealer, the revealing and what is revealed. What dwells in us as “knowledge,” is, in fact, Christ Himself as knowledge. And this is key within the life of Orthodoxy. At its very heart, this is the nature of revelation. ![]() But it is another thing to say that the experience itself now dwells in you and communicates a new life to you. It is possible to say that we are changed by experience. It is experiential, on the one hand, but in a manner that is itself transformative. Such knowledge cannot be gained by the simple sharing of information nor by the acquisition of a system of ideas. Instead, it is knowledge that “dwells” in them. (Joh 17:25-26)Ĭhrist is by no means speaking of knowledge as information. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You and these have known that You sent Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” (Joh 8:19) Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. But what kind of knowing is itself salvific? In the simplest terms, it is knowledge as participation. Knowledge, in the New Testament, is equated with salvation itself (Jn. To know is not the equivalent of mastering facts. ![]() For though mystery, paradox and contradiction frame something as “unknowable,” they do so for the purpose of knowing. But this “unknowableness” is actually a misuse of mystery and its place in the Church’s life. Inevitably, someone will remind us that some things are simply a “mystery,” etc. An Orthodox discussion takes place and reaches an impasse. This is easily misunderstood in common conversation. Most of these things are associated with what is called “apophatic” theology, or a theology that is “unspeakable.” This same theological approach is sometimes called the Via Negativa. Orthodox Christianity is deeply associated with the word “mystery.” Its theological hymns are replete with paradox, repeatedly affirming two things to be true that are seemingly contradictory.
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