The Reformed Ninja

Many in the Eastern Orthodox Church will make the claim that the hyperbolic ascriptions given to Mary are simply metaphors. As such, when Mary is called in the Akathist Hymn dedicated to her a “propitiation for the whole world,” it is explained away as meaning something other than what it is saying . The problem with this is typically defined by the Orthodox as being that Protestants simply do not understand how metaphor works. In short, Protestants are too obtuse. There is, however, another possibility, and that is that Eastern Orthodox Christianity teaches falsely about Mary, and explains away their obvious errors by calling them “metaphors” in order to avoid the painful reality that they have departed from the truth as given in the clear witness of holy Scripture. In order to get a better picture of the situation, it could be helpful to look at the manner in which Scripture uses metaphor. One famous example given in the Bible is that of Jesus being a ransom . This metaphor is based...

When Romans Catholics and Eastern Orthodox say, "We are not worshiping Mary," and "We are not worshiping icons," the tragic reality is that too many will do X but call it Y. It is like watching them pour water into a cup while they insist on saying, "No, you are misled, I am just pouring water into the space above the cup, and it is only an accidental property of my pouring that it goes into the cup, and really the metaphysical substance of the cup is the matter itself, not the space qua space of the cup, and I am not pouring the water into the substance of the cup. You have been deceived into thinking I am pouring water into the cup."  All one can say to this is, “Thy cup runneth over.” They retort, “Sir, you must be one of those deceived Protestants. In truth, I am not ‘pouring’ the water. We reserve a distinction that pouring is only true pouring when the pouring device has either a lip on the side or a spout. Clearly neither of those conditions are be...

Having dealt elsewhere with the innovative nature of icon veneration as a historical phenomenon in the Medieval Eastern Church, it is also important to ask: What is John of Damascus’ fundamental argument in support of the veneration of icons? Looking especially at the first of his three treatises in defense of icons, focusing on paragraphs four through eight where he provides the foundation of his argument, and beginning with the Old Testament dispensation (i.e. prior to the Incarnation), his first syllogism is basically this: 1) In regards to God, one is not allowed to depict what is invisible. 2) God was invisible in the Old Testament dispensation. 3) Therefore, one could not depict God in the Old Testament dispensation. He argues that “it is impossible to depict God who is incommensurable and uncircumscribable and invisible” (1.7). For since God had not yet become Incarnate, it was implicitly impossible to depict His Person, for none of the means by which He had revealed Himself pr...

What is the significance of, and upon what ground does Gregory Palamas establish, both his soteriology and his ascetical theology of hesychasm? The answer may come as a surprise. Gregory Palamas teaches of the blessed virgin Mary: “She alone forms the boundary between created and uncreated nature, and no one can come to God except through her and the mediator born of her, and none of God’s gifts can be bestowed on angels or men except through her. As in the case with lamps on earth constructed of glass or some other transparent material, it is impossible to look at the light or enjoy its rays except through the lamp, so it is beyond the reach of all to look upwards to God or be helped by Him to make progress in any direction, except through the Ever-Virgin, this God-bearing lamp who is truly radiant with divine brightness.” (The Homilies, "On the Entrance into the Temple," 53.37, pg 431; cf. Homily 37.15, 17, 18, pgs 296-297) The relevant portion of Homily 37, "On the D...