St. Philaret On Tradition and Divine Attributes

The following questions are taken from the authorized English translation of the Catechism of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, 1821 to 1867, whose official title is A Full Catechism of the Orthodox Catholic Church of the East, examined and approved by the Most Holy Governing Synod, and published for the Use of Schools and of all Orthodox Christians, by order of His Imperial Majesty (1839). According to Schaff, the Catechism was unanimously approved by all the Eastern Patriarchs.

The following questions (17 & 18) give a good definition of what is meant by the word ‘Tradition’ with respect to its mode of transmission and content. Note my comments in brackets.

17. What is meant by the name holy tradition?

By the name holy tradition is meant the doctrine of the faith, the law of God, the sacraments, and the ritual as handed down by the true believers and worshipers of God [note that it does not say Bishops or Magisterium] by word and example from one to another, and from generation to generation.

18. Is there any sure repository of holy tradition?

All true believers united by the holy tradition of the faith [as defined above], collectively and successively, by the will of God, compose the Church; and she is the sure repository of holy tradition, or, as St. Paul expresses it, The Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

The following question (21) is a good synopsis of the need to recognize the historical primacy of Tradition.

21. Which is the more ancient, holy tradition or holy Scripture?

The most ancient and original instrument for spreading divine revelation is holy tradition. From Adam to Moses there were no sacred books. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself delivered his divine doctrine and ordinances to his Disciples by word and example, but not by writing. The same method was followed by the Apostles also at first, when they spread abroad the faith and established the Church of Christ. The necessity of tradition is further evident from this, that books can be available only to a small part of mankind, but tradition to all.

The following question (22) addresses the purpose of sacred Scripture in light of the comprehensive nature of Tradition. The answer given does not seem to reflect the per se sovereignty and solidity of Tradition sometimes insisted on by enthusiastic Orthodox. It also seems to imply a priority to Scripture in the determination of Apostolic teaching.

22. Why, then, was holy Scripture given?

To this end, that divine revelation might be preserved more exactly and unchangeably. In holy Scripture we read the words of the Prophets and Apostles precisely as if we were living with them and listening to them, although the latest of the sacred books were written a thousand and some hundred years before our time.

The following questions (84 & 86), taken from the First Part of the Catechism, on Faith, do not appear to reflect the Palamite distinction between essence and energies in so far as it speaks of the “essential attributes of God” and even lists among them some conspicuous examples of the former.

84. Can we know the very essence of God?

No. It is above all knowledge, not of men only, but of angels.

86. What idea of the essence and essential attributes of God may be derived from divine revelation?

That God is a Spirit, eternal, all-good, omniscient, all-just, almighty, omnipresent, unchangeable, all-sufficing to himself, all-blessed.

Writing My Own Catechism: On Faith

The following is an excerpt from “my” catechism on faith and its object. It is a mixture of thomisitic, reformed, and eastern orthodox elements. It is obviously a work in progress.

What is faith?

Faith is certain knowledge whereby I hold as true all that God has revealed in his Word, as found in Holy Scripture and the Tradition of the Church.*

What is the object of faith?

The object of faith is God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.**

What are the articles of faith?

The articles of faith are certain truths, first, concerning the origin of our God and Savior Jesus Christ in the eternal Father, his coming to earth, his life, death and resurrection; and, second, concerning the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Church, and the promise of eternal life.

From where do we learn the articles of faith?

The articles of the catholic-orthodox Faith are according to the creed of First Nicea and Second Constantinople. Like the words of Holy Scripture, some of these articles are clear in themselves while others contain certain mysteries, from which other things are known.***


* Heidelberg Catechism, answer to question 21, modified.
** Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 1, a. 1
*** Catechism of Peter Mohila, Metropolitan of Kiev, I, q. 5, modified;
Summa Theologiae I, q. 1, a. 10

Natural Aesthetics

My wife and I have begun to notice a pattern in our two-year-old son’s response to the sacred environment of the sanctuary in the few parishes where we attend Sunday services. When we go to the “traditional” looking church, with its cruciform stone buildings, iconographic Stations of the Cross, rich tapestried reridos, antique wooden crucifix, and golden tabernacle, he repeatedly asks us, “What’s that?”. But when we go to the “modern” looking church, with its circus-tent-like interior school-bricked structure, ambiguous center, Stations hidden on account of its semicircular shape, and complete absence of a reridos, he asks us nothing.

I think we can learn something from children in this situation. We are, as St. Thomas argued against many of his contemporaries, a single substantial form of both body and soul. We ‘are’ our bodies. We also use our bodies, as Aristotle taught, to know, not only the things outside of us, but our very selves. The senses are the doorways through which experience and knowledge passes. The liturgy and the sacred environment as a whole ought to meet us there. Because we are bodies by nature, we are inclined to believe what we experience as beautiful. Divine worship must take seriously the role of the body if it seeks to engage the whole person in a manner consistent with its nature.

My Own Catechism

I have been thinking for some time of writing a catechism for my children. I know there are many out there already and maybe it is unadvisable to transform my own personal views into family dogma, but I intend to try anyway. My interest in writing a catechism is inspired by a desire to synthesize the best of the historic catechisms of Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Not in order to produce cheap ecumenicity in my children, but rather to incorporate the richness of the traditions in a way that reflects my own experience. Of course, the Catechism of the Catholic Church will remain in my family the ‘official’ catechism.

For example, I really like the language of the Heidelberg Catechism question 21:

What is true faith?

Answer: True faith is not only a certain knowledge, whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in his word, but also an assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits.

Since faith is here confused, in part, with the virtue of hope, I would rewrite it in my catechism to say:

What is faith?

Answer: Faith is a certain knowledge whereby I hold as true all that God has revealed in his Word.

What is hope?

Answer: An assured confidence, which the Holy Ghost works by the gospel in my heart; that not only to others, but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation, are freely given by God’s grace for the sake of Christ's merits.

I especially like the language of the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

I have never heard a more succinct statement of the Thomistic notion of the extrinsic and intrinsic ends of human existence.