Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Christian Nationalism after Christ - Abp Lazar Puhalo

I am offering an opinion that will be controversial but which I want to ask people to think about seriously before they respond. It is possible that the movement of Christian nationalism is led by people who no longer accept Christian apocalypticism and do not believe in the return of Jesus Christ but who wish to utilise these beliefs for both financial gain and political power.

Perhaps they have lost their faith altogether. In such cases, and one will find this in political Christianity, including the Evangelicalism within the Orthodox Church, a “Christianity” that has been repurposed as the basis for a political and social ideology. This is why the essence of Christ's teachings has essentially evaporated in these movements and are no longer the essential dynamic of them. The mantras and ritual expressions remain, but they are manifested as cognitive dissonance. This form of political Christianity is generally manipulated by charismatic leaders who show no real signs of the belief that they profess so violently and emotionally. As a political/social movement, this form of political Christianity is both financially profitable to the unscrupulous pastors, preachers and leaders who utilise it as a "religion business" and a gateway to political power and influence.

A genuine religion industry has developed, primarily but not only in the United States. The repurposing of the gospel for primarily political purposes, essentially the underpinning of a political ideology, has been quite successful in the United States, as has the industrialisation and corporatisation of Christianity. It is questionable whether the leaders of this political religion actually believe in Jesus Christ and his promises.

To be sure, they use the proper mantras and catchphrases, the appropriate ritual language, but there is nothing in their fear and hate sermons, which are simply propaganda speeches, to indicate that they adhere to the person and teachings of Jesus Christ. We find a few elements of this in the Orthodox Church. We will find that political religion eschews the elements of the Sermon on the Mount and in practice, generally oppose the teachings in the 25th chapter of Matthew's gospel. They are far more likely to be advocates of the worst elements and interpretations of Old Testament law, often even trying to justify slavery. Moreover, this brand of Christianity and Christian leader incessantly utilise conspiracy theories, most of which are ungrounded. When such baseless conspiracy fantasies they are presented by such leaders, they take on an aura of substance that they actually simply do not have. This political Christianity also utilizes a contrived "culture wars" much to its economic and the power base advantage.

While the above might be controversial, it most certainly bears more scrutiny and serious-minded contemplation and study. This fear and hate-based political religion does depend on enhancing the cognitive dissonance of its followers, and easily morphs into a dangerous political movement with clearly defined "target enemies." The excesses, the fear and the hate are also primary drivers in the deconstruction of Christianity, which is feeding the growth of atheism and agnosticism, particularly in the United States. Those who wish to follow Jesus Christ and His gospel are being steadily disenfranchised from this politicized Christianity that is dominating America and, to a lesser degree, other countries. Political Christianity ultimately pushes serious-minded and sincere people away from Christ as it undermines and discredits the Gospel itself.

The Trees of Paradise - Abp Lazar Puhalo

THE TREES OF PARADISE, a prologue for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

"Meaning" is so often the missing dimension in religious teaching and deliberations. When religious people debate about the creation narrative in Genesis, they leave a certain emptiness. In discussing the Covenant and the Old Testament in general, they so often lapse into moralism without meaning. Their discourses about the creation narrative are almost always concerned with arguing that the story is literally and scientifically accurate. Seldom, if ever, does one hear an exposition of meaning in such discussions. One does not expect to hear much about meaning from atheists who argue about it, but those who profess to be believers have a responsibility to offer it, and they hardly ever do. Nevertheless, this "meaning" speaks of an existential freedom and an existential responsibility on the part of each human person.

The story of the trees of Paradise presents us with a profound existential metaphor — or, if you prefer, a revelation. Let me present this mystery in the form of an excerpt from one of my own Paschal sermons:

"....I would like to call upon you to reflect on the trees of Paradise. By grace, God bestowed life upon mankind, but the life He gave to our ancestors was not the life of puppets or robots. He bestowed upon mankind an authentic life. Authenticity of life requires freedom. God created mankind from pure love, but love without freedom is mere fiction. Love entails trust and respect. This is the awesome mystery of God's love. The all-powerful author of the universe actually respects the freedom of His creatures. He asks in return for our love, our trust, and our respect.

"Just as there can be no love without freedom, there can be no freedom without choice. When God placed Adam and Eve in Paradise, He placed before them the image of two trees. The first tree is referred to as "the knowledge of good and evil," and the second as the "tree of life." The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was withheld from mankind until such time as God knew that Adam and Eve were mature enough to cope with such knowledge. Why was the tree visibly placed before them if they were not to partake of it? Our forebears had the free choice of choosing to respect and trust God, or to mistrust Him and partake of the tree.

"It is obvious that the Tree of Life was also intended for humanity in that this, too, would be given to them in the fullness of time.

The Trees of Paradise - Abp Lazar Puhalo

THE TREES OF PARADISE, a prologue for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

"Meaning" is so often the missing dimension in religious teaching and deliberations. When religious people debate about the creation narrative in Genesis, they leave a certain emptiness. In discussing the Covenant and the Old Testament in general, they so often lapse into moralism without meaning. Their discourses about the creation narrative are almost always concerned with arguing that the story is literally and scientifically accurate. Seldom, if ever, does one hear an exposition of meaning in such discussions. One does not expect to hear much about meaning from atheists who argue about it, but those who profess to be believers have a responsibility to offer it, and they hardly ever do. Nevertheless, this "meaning" speaks of an existential freedom and an existential responsibility on the part of each human person.

The story of the trees of Paradise presents us with a profound existential metaphor — or, if you prefer, a revelation. Let me present this mystery in the form of an excerpt from one of my own Paschal sermons:

"....I would like to call upon you to reflect on the trees of Paradise. By grace, God bestowed life upon mankind, but the life He gave to our ancestors was not the life of puppets or robots. He bestowed upon mankind an authentic life. Authenticity of life requires freedom. God created mankind from pure love, but love without freedom is mere fiction. Love entails trust and respect. This is the awesome mystery of God's love. The all-powerful author of the universe actually respects the freedom of His creatures. He asks in return for our love, our trust, and our respect.

"Just as there can be no love without freedom, there can be no freedom without choice. When God placed Adam and Eve in Paradise, He placed before them the image of two trees. The first tree is referred to as "the knowledge of good and evil," and the second as the "tree of life." The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was withheld from mankind until such time as God knew that Adam and Eve were mature enough to cope with such knowledge. Why was the tree visibly placed before them if they were not to partake of it? Our forebears had the free choice of choosing to respect and trust God, or to mistrust Him and partake of the tree.

"It is obvious that the Tree of Life was also intended for humanity in that this, too, would be given to them in the fullness of time.

Female Prophets: Types of the Fallen and Fruitful Church - Lazar Puhalo

The Twelve Great Feast Days:
A Verbal Iconography

When we enter an Orthodox Church, we do not encounter images of the 12 stations of the Cross but the icons of the 12 great feast days. This is because we understand that the entire life of Christ, from his incarnation to his resurrection and ascension, are intimately a part of our redemption and salvation. There is a concept that we consider heretical that understands our redemption and salvation as a juridical execution demanded by God.

However, our redemption and salvation are something completely different than this. The Incarnation of Christ is the beginning of our redemption since he took on fully and completely our human nature in order to redeem his human nature from its alienation from the Divine nature. In Himself, Christ, having the Divine Nature, took on our human nature and, in Himself, reunited the human and the divine, a unity symbolized by the “garden of Eden,” which was lost with the fall of mankind.

We had already discussed the icon as Scripture and demonstrated how to read the canonical icon in such a way that it gives us a deeper insight into the Scripture. There is another form of iconography, one that is presented to us by the Church. The events revealed in the 12 great feast days are a form of verbal iconography. The stories of the events presented in these feast days are really presented in an iconographic form, a verbal iconography. Examining the details of the stories presented in the 12 great feast days presents us with this verbal iconography that, like the visual icons, gives us a deeper insight into the mystery of redemption and salvation. The 12 great feasts also help us to maintain the understanding that it is the entire life of Christ and not simply an hour on the cross that is an integral part of the process of our redemption.

The Birth of the Virgin

The birth of the Virgin is really the beginning of the cycle of the 12 great feast days. There is an ancient symbol we use frequently in illustrations called the “Etimasia,” the “preparation of the throne.” The birth of the Theotokos is precisely the preparation of the throne for the incarnation of God. Christ, being divine by nature, took on our human nature literally. It was not a fiction, an image or likeness of our nature, but our complete human nature in all its fullness. He took on our flesh and blood, our human body, and not a mere likeness or image of our humanity.

This necessitated taking on our flesh and the natural way in the womb of a mother, whence we all receive our flesh and blood.

Female Prophets:
Images & Revelations of the Church

There is a further revelation in this. The Cappadocian fathers and the "Shepherd of Hermas” all understand the Old Testament female prophets as images and revelations about the Church. The Church came into existence with the creation of Eve and Adam and was symbolised as “the Garden of Eden.” With the story of the fall of Adam and Eve from Paradise, we understand that the Church fell into barrenness and fruitlessness. An alienation between the Divine and the human nature took place.

The Old Testament female prophets foretold the redemption of the Church and its renewal.
When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a holy nation, the fulfillment of this promise could only take place through his lawful wife, Sarah. In this, she became a prophetess and the mother of the holy nation. The promise could not be carried out through Hagar and her offspring but only through the lawful wife of Abraham, the prophetess Sarah, for, the promise was equally given to her.

Hannah

When the priests who served in the Tabernacle, the sons of the judge and prophet Eli, fell into corruption and debauchery, the elderly Hannah, an old and barren woman unable to bear a child, but by a miracle of God, gave birth to the prophet Samuel who would become the replacement for the corrupted and degenerate priests. Hannah was a prophetess who, like the others, revealed the barrenness of the fallen Church but, through her miraculous birth-giving, revealed the coming of the true high priest, Jesus Christ, who would perfect and fulfill the priesthood.

Anna 

Anna was the last of these great prophetesses who would be a type of the fallen Church. Barren, unable to produce the fruit of the womb, she would also be touched by a miracle of God. Being unable to produce a child was an especially heavy burden for Anna and her husband Joakim because they belonged to the priestly caste, so it was considered more shameful for them not to have a child.

As a barren old woman, Anna was also a type of the fallen Church. With her miraculous birth-giving, the revelation and prophecy suddenly pass from a barren old women to a young virgin – Mary, the mother of Christ.

Mary

As a fruitful, childbearing young woman, Mary is a type of the Church and, therefore also a holy prophetess. She is a type of the redeemed and restored Church of the living God. She is the one chosen out of all ages and generations to be the "mother of God" in the saving incarnation. It is from her that Christ will take on his flesh and blood and his human nature. She is the "throne prepared from all generations" for God the Word.

It is fitting in the ekonomia of God that humanity should fully participate in its own redemption, and Mary the Virgin becomes the forerunner of humanity’s participation in the redemption of humanity. Christ has presented to us, through his Church, which is called the "body of Christ," the redemption of humanity from its alienation from God.

We are not forced to accept this redemption, but we are called to enter into it freely. Mary exemplifies this when she freely chooses to be the obedient servant of God in the saving incarnation. She is the initial participation of humanity and the work of our salvation. All that follows in the life of Christ begins on this foundation, and every step in the life of Christ is the process of the working of our redemption and salvation.

The incarnation, the birth of Christ, is the foundation of our redemption. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ are central but not isolated. The incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Virgin is the manifestation of God's co-suffering love for mankind. This is why the feast day of the "Nativity of the Virgin Mary" is the beginning of the cycle of the 12 great feast days. She is the throne prepared in the will of God from the beginning of the ages for the saving Incarnation. We should celebrate the feast in this context.