“For There Must Be
Heresies Among You”
(1 Cor. 11:19)
By the Blessed & Ever-Memorable
Archbishop Averky of Jordanville (+ 1976 A.D.)
HOW does one properly understand these words of the Holy Apostle Paul? Does he really approve of dissensions among Christians or recognize them as necessary or desirable? Is he making them the rule? If so, then how can this be compatible with the numerous places in his epistles where he so forcefully and persistently calls Christians to full agreement and unanimity?
“Be of the same mind one toward another” (Rom. 12:16), or “...fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of mind” (Phil. 2:2).
Furthermore, not only Apostle Paul, but also the other Apostles exhorted Christians to be of one mind. Thus, St Peter directly writes to the Christians in his first epistle, “Be ye all of one mind!” (1 Peter 3:8). Not only does St Paul call Christians to oneness of mind, he even warns them of such people who “...cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which they have learned” (Rom. 16:17), and urges them to avoid them, saying “...they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:18).
What kinds of “heresies” can there be among true Christians when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself prayed for them to God the Father in His high priestly prayer: “That they all may be one; as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). See what unity must exist among true Christians: unity according to the image of the oneness of Persons of the Most Holy Trinity!
Can you imagine that among the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity there would be dissension? This is why, before beginning the most important moment of the Divine Liturgy - the great Mystery of the Eucharist, followed by the partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ by the faithful - the priest exclaims: “Let us love one another that with one mind we may confess!” The choir then explains Whom we are confessing: “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity One in Essence and individed.”
Thus, oneness of mind is made the chief condition for the communion of Christians in the Mystery of the Eucharist. If there is no oneness of mind, what kind of communion can there be in this great Mystery, in which the believer is mysteriously united with Christ and becomes one with Him?
But why do we say before all else, “Let us love”? Because, of course, without true Christian love oneness of mind is impossible, and also because true Christian love entails oneness of mind among Christians. True Christian love is expressed above all by oneness of mind. Where there exists such love, there also exists oneness of mind, and where there is no oneness of mind, there consequently is no true Christian love, but only an appearance of it - only Pharisaism!
