Orthodoxy:
The Answer to a Suffering Heart, 2

Animist religions believe that God is present in all of us, including trees, cats, tables, bricks etc. and that it should all be worshipped.  There is no essential distinctness between God and the created order, and it all descends into a sort of mess.  Also, how could we desire through suffering something that we are already part of?  Some of the native American and Inuit Eskimo beliefs are of this character, as are many of the indigenous Australian (Aborigine) and African tribes’ beliefs.  Many spiritualist churches, mediums etc., also fall into this category to some extent.

Pantheist religions believe not in the one True God, but in many little gods that often argue with each other.  Of such is Hinduism (which had 300 million ‘gods’ at last count), ancient Greek, Norse and Roman mythology.  There are many more examples.  The modern fallacy of life from outer space and UFOs, little green men, and all the hype that surrounds these things fall into this category.

Panentheism is more subtle - it is the belief that we are participating in God now, and that He is part of the created order, although not in the same way as animism, and again He loses His distinctness as a person and as Someone we can desire.  Evolutionism as a religious point of view falls into the animist/pantheism/panentheism point of view. (Pantheism comes from Greek “pan-” meaning all and “Theos” God. Panentheism is the same but with “-en-” as about, so “all about (or around) God.”).

In summary then, deist and atheist religions have God disappearing behind the created order (and atheism has to be considered as a religious view in this context) to an unreachable extent, such that He disappears like the fading smile of the Cheshire cat.  On the other hand, religions which identify God with groves of trees, objects etc. are animist / pantheist / panentheist religions where God disappears “into” the created order, so much so that you might end up worshipping your toilet seat because it “might contain” God.

The only tradition that clearly describes a whole person who is not finite is the Christian tradition of God.  No other religious tradition offers the same type of person as the centre of their beliefs.  A brief consideration of the other major categories of religious tradition should have made the basis of this statement obvious.  To the Christian, it is unthinkable that any other sort of spiritual tradition could offer hope in the midst of suffering.  The Christian God is the one true God and this is clearly borne out in any intellectually honest debate.  All honest intellectual debate leads to the Christian God - there is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord; nor are there any works like unto Thy works (Ps 85:9).  He is clearly described in the Bible as personal and infinite, not finite.  The Bible also clearly defines the significance of this suffering in the light of Christian truth, for the heart is where God dwells - blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matt 5:8).

We must purify ourselves though for this vision to be open to us.  St. Procopius, the fool-for-Christ of Ustiug, would spend long nights in vigil and prayer on a dung heap outside his city.  On returning in the morning, if he had succeeded in purifying his heart a little more, he would cry out “Victory for the kingdom and for the city!”  The Psalms identify Jerusalem as the heart, for it is the “city” where God dwells in us.  Let the walls of Jerusalem be builded (Ps 50:18 ), let our hearts be purified and protected, for then shalt Thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, with oblations and whole burnt offerings (Ps 50:19); that is, when our heart is purified, then will God be pleased with our works and our sacrifices and sufferings - the whole burnt offerings.

That would be enough if it weren’t for the sticking point about how we attain the object of our desire.  Clearly with physical and intellectual pursuits, the answer is obvious.  But if our heart is seeking a Person Who is not finite, what do we do then?  Since we have identified the Christian God as the only One Who is personal and not finite, we are left with a dilemma. How do we attain union with the Christian God if it is truly Him Whom our heart desires?

The need for union is met by the Incarnation - God becoming man in Jesus Christ. St. Athanasius the Great said in his treatise “On the Incarnation” that “God became man, that man might become God.”  The Incarnation makes union with God possible.  Indeed, this identifies Christianity as the only religion that can offer this. 

There is one further corollary to this: the only Christianity in which true union with the personal God Who is not finite is possible is the Orthodox one.  This is because all other denominations have fallen away from the Orthodox understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and of how we truly receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Mysteries.  It is true that the Roman Catholics also believe that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, but believing this in itself does not substitute for severe deficiencies and doctrinal confusion in the understanding of the Holy Trinity as three Persons.  Such doctrinal confusion makes true union impossible.  In all other churches, the Eucharist is regarded at best nowadays as merely symbolic, not the actual reception of Christ Himself.  Since this union is only possible through Orthodox Christianity, it follows that Orthodox Christianity is the only approach that gives meaning to true suffering of the heart - remembrance of God is pain of heart endured in the spirit of devotion (St. Mark the Ascetic).

To sum up then, the suffering we experience is not a physical pain, and will not therefore be satisfied by physical means. It is not in our mind, because our mind is concerned with objective reality, not the reality of other persons.  The only thing that satisfies our heart is personal relationships, but if this were the whole truth, other human beings would be enough.  Clearly, they are not, as our history of infidelity etc. shows.  We must then admit the fact that this love for another person is not finite.  The only answer for finding a person who is not finite is in the spiritual sphere.  The only religion which offers this is Orthodox Christianity, with Jesus Christ Who became man for us.  This is then the only means of alleviating our suffering - the union with God through Jesus Christ.

Contributed by Martin Smith
Saint Boniface Mission, Ryde