17a - The Ascetic Ideal & the NT (Part 2)

The Ascetic Ideal and the New Testament Reflections on the Critique
of the Theology of the Reformation

(Part 2)

Romans In his Epistle to the Romans St. Paul writes in the very introduction (Romans 1:4-5) that through Jesus Christ "we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name" - δι ου έλάβομεν χάριν και αποστολήν ύπακοήν πίστεως... υπέρ του ονόματος αυτόυ. The notion of "obedience of faith" has a meaning for St. Paul. It is much more than a simple acknowledgement or recognition of a faith placed within one by God. Rather, it is a richly spiritual notion, one that contains within it a full spirituality of activity on the part of man - not that the activity will win the grace of God but precisely that the spiritual activity is the response to the grace of God, performed with the grace of God, in order to be filled by the grace of God. And it will be an on-going spiritual "work," one which can never be slackened, and one totally foreign from the "works" of the Judaic law.

St. Paul writes (Romans 2:6) that God "will render to each according to his works" - ος αποδώσει έκάστω κατά τα έργα αυτού. If St. Paul was so concerned about the word "works," if he feared that the Christian readers of his letter might interpret "works" in some totally different way from what he intended, he certainly could have been more cautious. But St. Paul clearly distinguishes between the "works" of the Judaic law and the "works" of the Holy Spirit required of all Christians. Hence, it is difficult to confuse these two perspectives and it is significant that the early Church never confused them, for they understood what St. Paul wrote. If anything - despite the lucidity of St. Paul’s thought - there were tendencies at times to fall not into Luther’s one-sided interpretation but rather to fall somewhat spontaneously into an Eros-type of striving.

It is the "doers of the law" who will be justified" - οι ποιηται νόμου δικαιωθήσονται (Romans 2:13). The notion of "doers" implies action, activity. Elsewhere in the same epistle (Romans 5:2) St. Paul writes that through our Lord Jesus Christ "we have had access [by faith] into this grace in which we stand" - την προσαγωγήν έσχήκαμεν (τη πίστει) εις την χάριν ταύτην εν η έστήκαμεν. The very idea of "access into grace" - προσαγωγήν εις την χάριν - is dynamic and implies spiritual activity on the part of mankind.

After the lengthy proclamation of the grace of God, the impotence of the "works of the law" in comparison with the "works" of the new reality of the Spirit, St. Paul resorts to the traditional spiritual exhortation (Romans 6:12 f). "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body in order to obey its lusts. Nor yield your members to sin as weapons of unrighteousness" - μη ουν βασιλευέτω ή αμαρτία εν τω θνητω υμών σώματι εις το υπακούειν ταις επιθυμίας αυτού, μηδέ παριστάυετε τα μέλη υμών οπλα αδικίας τη αμαρτία. The exhortation presupposes that man has some type of spiritual activity and control over his inner existence. The very use of the word "weapon" invokes the idea of battle, of spiritual warfare, the very nature of the monastic "ordeal." In the same chapter (Romans 6:17) St. Paul writes: "But grace to God that you who were slaves of sin obeyed out of the heart a form of teaching which was delivered to you" - χαρις δε τω θεώ οτι ήτε δούλοι της αμαρτίας υπηκούσατε δε εκ καρδίας εις ον παρεδόθητε τύπον διδαχής. In the second chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 2:15) St. Paul writes about the universal aspect of the "law" that is "written in the hearts" of mankind, a thought with profound theological implications - οιτινες ενδείκνυνται το έργον του νόμου γραπτόν εν ταις καρδίαις αυτών. In using the image of the "heart," St. Paul is emphasizing the deepest aspect of the interior life of mankind, for such was the use of the image of the "heart" among Hebrews. When he writes that they obeyed "out of the heart," St. Paul is attributing some type of spiritual activity to the "obedience" which springs from the "heart." And to what have they become obedient? To a form or standard of teaching or doctrine delivered to them - this is precisely the apostolic deposit, the body of early Christian teaching to which they have responded and have become obedient. And in so doing, they have become "enslaved to righteousness," the righteousness of the new law, of the life of the Spirit - έλευθερωθέντες δε από της αμαρτίας έδουλωθητε τη δικαιοσύνη (Romans 6:18). And the "fruit" of becoming "enslaved to God" is precisely sanctification which leads to life eternal - δουλωθέντες δε τω θεώ, έχετε τον καρπόν υμών εις άγιασμόν, το δε τέλος ζωήν αίωνιον (Romans 6:22). Throughout is a process, throughout is a dynamic spiritual activity on the part of man. St. Paul becomes more explicit about the distinction between the old and the new law (Romans 7:6). "But now we are discharged from the law, having died in that which held us captive, so as to serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter" - νυνί δε κατηργήθημεν από του νόμου, άποθανόντες εν ω κατειχόμεθα, ώστε δουλεύειν εν καινότητι πνεύματος και ου παλαιότητι γράμματος.

St. Paul writes that we "are children of God, and if children, also heirs, heirs on the one hand of God, co-heirs on the other hand, of Christ" (Romans 8:17). But all this has a condition, has a proviso, for there is the all important "if indeed" - ειπερ. "If we co-suffer in order that we may be glorified" - έσμέν τέκνα θεού. ει δε τέκνα, και κληρονόμοι, κληρονόμοι μεν θεού, συγκληρονόμοι δε Χρίστου, ειπερ συμπάσχομεν ίνα και συνδοξασθώμεν. Our glorification, according to St. Paul, is contingent upon a mighty "if" and that "if" leads us to the spiritual reality, the spiritual reality of "co-suffering." The very use of the word "co-suffer" - συμπάσχομεν - presupposes the reality of the idea of "co-suffering" and both presuppose an active, dynamic spiritual action or activity on the part of the one who co-suffers, else there is no meaning to the "co." In the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 12:1) St. Paul uses language that would be meaningless if man were merely a passive object in the redemptive process, if justification by faith was an action that took place only on the Divine level. "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service" - παρακαλώ ουν υμάς, αδελφοί, δια των οίκτιρμών τον θεού, παραστήσαι τα σώματα υμών θυσίαν ζώσαν άγιαν ευαρεστον τω θεώ, την λογικήν λατρείαν υμών. St. Paul is asking the Christian to present, a reality which presupposes and requires human activity. But not only "to present" but "to present" the body as a living sacrifice, as holy, and as acceptable or well-pleasing to God. And this St. Paul considers our "reasonable service" or our "spiritual worship." The language and the idea speak for themselves. Using the imperative, St. Paul commands us: "Be not conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind in order to prove [that you may prove] what [is] that good and well-pleasing and perfect will of God" - και μη συσχηματίζεσθε τω αιώνι τούτω, άλλα μεταμορφουσθε τη ανακοινώσει του νοός, εις το δοκιμάζειν υμάς τι το θέλημα του θεού, το αγαθόν και εύάρεστον και τέλειον. Taken by itself and out of context this language could be misinterpreted as Pelagian, for here it is man who is transforming the mind, man who is commanded to activate the spiritual life. Such an interpretation is, of course, incorrect but it reveals what one can do to the totality of the theological thought of St. Paul if one does not understand the balance, if one does not understand that his view is profoundly synergistic. Synergism does not mean that two energies are equal. Rather it means that there are two wills - one, the will of God which precedes, accompanies, and completes all that is good, positive, spiritual and redemptive, one that has willed that man have a spiritual will, a spiritual participation in the redemptive process; the other is the will of man which must respond, cooperate, "co-suffer." In Romans 12:9 St. Paul exhorts us to "cleave to the good" - κολλώμενοι τω άγαθω - and in Romans 12:12 he exhorts us "to be steadfastly continuing in prayer - τη προσευχη προσκαρτερουντες. Such a position certainly does not exclude monastic and ascetical spirituality but rather presupposes it.

I and II Corinthians

Celibacy is a part of the monastic life and it too has its source in the teachings of the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 7:1-11 St. Paul encourages both marriage and celibacy - both are forms of Christian spirituality, and St. Paul has much to say about marriage in his other epistles. But his point is that celibacy is a form of spirituality for some, and it therefore cannot be excluded from the forms of spirituality within the Church. In 1 Corinthians 7:7 St. Paul writes that he would like all to be like him - θέλω δε πάντας ανθρώπους ειναι ώς και έμαντόν. But he realizes that each person has his own gift from God - αλλά έκαστος ίδιον έχει χάρισμα εκ θεου, ό μεν ουτως, ό δε όυτως. "I say therefore to the unmarried men and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain as I. But if they do not exercise self-control, let them marry" - λέγω δε τοις - άγαμοις και ταις χήραις, καλόν αυτοίς εάν μείνωσιν ώς κάγώ, ει δε ουκ έγκρατεύονται, γαμησάτωσαν. In 1 Corinthians 7:37-38 St. Paul summarizes: "the one who has decided in his own heart to keep himself virgin, he will do well. So, therefore, both the one marrying his betrothed [virgin], does well, and the one not marrying will do better" - και τούτο κέκρικεν εν τη ιδία καρδία, τηρειν την εαυτόν παρθένον, καλώς ποιήσει, ώστε και ό γαμίζων την εαυτόν παρθένον καλώς ποιεί, και ό μη γαμιζων κρεισσον ποιήσει. The monastic practice of celibacy is precisely not excluded by the New Testament. Rather, it is even encouraged both by our Lord and by St. Paul - and without jeopardy to the married state. The decision cannot be forced. Rather, it must come from the heart. And, indeed, it is not for everyone. The comparison of the spiritual life to that of running a race and to that of warfare is throughout the New Testament. Without diminishing his basis of theological vision - that it is God who initiates everything - St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 in a manner, which, if taken by itself, would indeed appear Pelagian, would indeed appear as though all the essence of salvation depends upon man. But in the total context of his theology there is no contradiction, for there are always two wills in the process of redemption - the Divine, which initiates; and the human, which responds and is, in the very response active in that grace which it has received. "Do you not know that the ones running in a race all run indeed. But one receives the prize? So run in order that you may obtain. And everyone struggling exercises self-control in all things. Indeed, those do so therefore in order that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. I, therefore, so run as not unclearly. Thus I box not as one beating the air. But I treat severely my body and lead it as a slave, lest having proclaimed to others, I myself may become disqualified." Ουκ οιδατε οτι οι εν σταδιω τρεχοντες παντες μεν τρεχουσιν εις δε λαμβανει το βραβειον ουτως τρεχετε ινα καταλαβητε. πας δε ο αγωνιζομενος παντα εγκρατευεται εκεινοι μεν ουν ινα φθαρτον στεφανον λαβωσιν ημεις δε αφθαρτον. εγω τοινυν ουτως τρεχω ως ουκ αδηλως ουτως πυκτευω ως ουκ αερα δερων: αλλα υπωπιαζω μου το σωμα και δουλαγωγω μη πως αλλοις κηρυξας αυτος αδοκιμος γενωμαι. In this text we encounter the race - the spiritual race - and the prize; we encounter the grammatical and the thought structure of "in order that you may obtain," a structure which implies contingency and not certainty. We encounter the race as a spiritual struggle in which "self-control in everything" must be exercised. And then St. Paul describes his own spiritual battle - he treats his body severely, leads it as though it were a slave, and to what end? So that he will not become disapproved. The entire passage is very monastic and ascetic in its content. Despite St. Paul’s certainty of the objective reality of redemption which has come through Christ as a Divine gift, he does not consider his own spiritual destiny to be included in that objective redemption which is now here unless he participates in it - and until the end of the race. In 1 Corinthians 10:12 he warns us: "Let the one who thinks he stands, let him look lest he falls" - ώστε ό δοκών έστάναι βλεπέτω μη πέση. In 1 Corinthians 11:28 he writes: "Let a man prove or examine himself..." - δοκιμαζέτω δε άνθρωπος έαντόν. In the latter context the "proving" or "examining" is in the most serious of contexts, for it is spoken in connection with the Holy Eucharist, which is spoken of so objectively that if one "eats this bread" or "drinks this cup" "of the Lord" "unworthily," that person "shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord" and shall "bring damnation to himself - for that reason, continues St. Paul, some are weak, sickly, and some have died. But our focus here is on self-examination, on those who think they stand. This again is an integral aspect of the monastic and ascetical life; that is, a constant examination of one’s spiritual life. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 St. Paul again stresses self-examination: "Examine yourselves, if you are in the faith. Prove yourselves" - εαυτούς πειράζετε ει έστέ εν τη πίστει, εαυτούς δοκιμάστε. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 St. Paul introduces a significant "if and "also." "I make known to you, brothers, the Gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, through which you also are saved, "you hold fast to that which I preached to you" - γνωρίζω δε ύμιν, αδελφοί, το εύαγγέλιον ο εύηγγελισάμην ύμιν, ο και παραλάβετε, εν ω και έστήκατε, δι ου και σώζεσθε, τίνι λόγω εύηγγελισάμην ύμιν ει κατέχετε. In 1 Corinthians 14:15 St. Paul speaks of praying with both spirit and mind, a thought that weaves its way through monastic and ascetical literature. The use of the mind in prayer finds its fullest expression in the controversial use of the "mind" in the thought of Evagrius Ponticus. The text, even within its general context in the chapter, is clear. "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the mind" - προσεύχομαι τω πνεύματι, προσεύχομαι δε και τω voι, ψάλω τω πνεύματι, ψάλω δε και τω voι.

St. Paul’s hymn to love, to Agape, fills the entirety of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Despite later interpretations of the use of the word "faith" in this chapter, specifically the interpretations that entered Christian thought with the Reformation, there was no misunderstanding of this "hymn to love" in the early Church - indeed, in the history of Christian thought until the Reformation it was understand quite directly. It is only through a convoluted exegetical method imposed by a specific - and new - theological understanding that this great "hymn to love" had to be understood by distinguishing different meanings attached to the word "faith." Though one speaks with the tongues of men and of angels, though one has the gift of prophecy, though one understands all mysteries, though one understands all knowledge, though one has all faith "to remove mountains," though one bestows all one’s goods to feed the poor, though one gives one’s body to be burned - though one has all this, but not love, one is "nothing," one "becomes as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal," one "profits" not at all - εαν ταις γλωσσαις των ανθρωπων λαλω και των αγγελων, αγαπην δε μη εχω, γεγονα χαλκος ηχων η κυμβαλον αλαλαζον. καν εχω προφητειαν και ειδω τα μυστηρια παντα και πασαν την γνωσιν, καν εχω πασαν την πιστιν ωστε ορη μεθιστανειν, αγαπην δε μη εχω ουθεν ειμι. καν ψωμισω παντα τα υπαρχοντα μου, καν παραδω το σωμα μου ινα καυχησωμαι, αγαπην δε μη εχω, ουδεν ωφελουμαι. St. Paul is quite explicit on what love is. "Love suffers long, love is kind, love is not jealous, does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, does not act unseemly, does not seek its own things, is not provoked, does not reckon evil, does not rejoice over wrong, but rejoices with the truth. Love covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never falls. But prophecies - they will be abolished; tongues - they will cease; knowledge - it will be abolished... And now remains faith, hope, love, these three. But the greatest of these is love." - η αγαπη μακροθυμει χρηστευεται η αγαπη ου ζηλοι η αγαπη ου περπερευεται ου φυσιουται. ουκ ασχημονει ου ζητει τα εαυτης ου παροξυνεται ου λογιζεται το κακον. ου χαιρει επι τη αδικια συγχαιρει δε τη αληθεια. παντα στεγει παντα πιστευει παντα ελπιζει παντα υπομενει. η αγαπη ουδεποτε εκπιπτει ειτε δε προφητειαι καταργηθησονται ειτε γλωσσαι παυσονται ειτε γνωσις καταργηθησεται. εκ μερους γαρ γινωσκομεν και εκ μερους προφητευομεν. οταν δε ελθη το τελειον τοτε το εκ μερους καταργηθησεται. οτε ημην νηπιος ως νηπιος ελαλουν ως νηπιος εφρονουν ως νηπιος ελογιζομην οτε δε γεγονα ανηρ κατηργηκα τα του νηπιου. βλεπομεν γαρ αρτι δι εσοπτρου εν αινιγματι τοτε δε προσωπον προς προσωπον αρτι γινωσκω εκ μερους τοτε δε επιγνωσομαι καθως και επεγνωσθην. νυνι δε μενει πιστις ελπις αγαπη τα τρια ταυτα μειζων δε τουτων η αγαπη. The goal of monastic and ascetical struggle, of the "ordeal," is love - to love God, to love mankind, to love all created things, to be penetrated by God’s love, to participate in love, which is God and flows from God, and to enter a union with God, with love. Often monastic literature will speak of "achieving" this love, as though it is the work of man. But that it not the total context of love in monastic literature, not even in those texts which appear as though everything were nothing but a striving on the part of man in the "ordeal." This language is spoken because it is spontaneous with spiritual nature. This language is spoken because it runs parallel with that assumed knowledge - that God is the source of everything. And yet St. Paul himself often uses language which could come directly from monastic statements. True, both would be taken out of their total context, but it is true that the two languages are spoken - the language referring to God as the source, as the initiator, to the grace of God, to the gift of all spirituality; and the language which concentrates on man’s activity, on man’s response to the love and redemptive work of God in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. When one line of thought is being used, it in no way denies the other line of thought. Rather, it is precisely the opposite, for monastic and ascetical literature can only speak about man’s activity if it is presupposed that God has accomplished the redemptive activity in and through our Lord, that God is working in man through the Holy Spirit. Else, all that is written is without meaning, temporarily and ultimately. St. Paul’s command in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to "pursue love and eagerly desire the spiritual things" is responded to directly by monastic and ascetical spirituality - διώκετε την άγάπην, ζηλουτε δε τα πνευματικά In 2 Corinthians 2:9 St. Paul writes in the very same spirit that an abbot might employ with his novices: "For to this end indeed I wrote - in order that I might know your proof, if you are obedient in all things" - εις τούτο γαρ και έγραφα, ίνα γνω την δοκιμήν υμών, ει εις πάντα υπήκοοι έστε. Obedience is an important theme and reality in the monastic and ascetic "ordeal" and that very theme of obedience is mentioned often throughout the New Testament.

Monastic and ascetical literature will often use the terms "fragrance" and "aroma" and again the source is the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 St. Paul writes: "manifesting through us the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those perishing, to the latter an aroma from death unto death, to the former an aroma from life unto life" - και την οσμην της γνωσεως αυτου φανερουντι δι ημων εν παντι τοπω οτι χριστου ευωδια εσμεν τω θεω εν τοις σωζομενοις και εν τοις απολλυμενοις οις μεν οσμη εκ θανατου εις θανατον, οις δε οσμη εκ ζωης εις ζωην. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 St. Paul uses an expression which is often found in ascetical literature - "from glory to glory." "But we all, with face having been unveiled, beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changed into the same icon from glory to glory, even as from the Spirit of the Lord" - ημεις δε παντες ανακεκαλυμμενω προσωπω την δοξαν κυριου κατοπτριζομενοι την αυτην εικονα μεταμορφουμεθα απο δοξης εις δοξαν, καθαπερ απο κυριου πνευματος. The Greek verbal structure throughout the New Testament cannot be stressed enough, for it conveys a dynamic activity that is seldom found in other languages and in translations. In this text the emphasis is on the process of "we are being changed." Elsewhere emphasis is often on "we are being saved" - rather than "we are changed" and "we are saved." When the objective nature of redemption is the focus, then the Greek verbal structure uses "we are saved." But mainly, when the process is the focus, the dynamism is expressed by the verbal structure of "we are being saved." In this text it is significant that the objective nature is expressed by "having been unveiled," while the on-going process of our participation in the spiritual process of salvation is expressed by "we are being changed." Here is expressed the dynamism of synergy. In 2 Corinthians 4:16 St. Paul again emphasizes the dynamism and process of the spiritual reality in man. "Our inner [life] is being renewed day by day" - ό έσω ημών άνακαινουται ήμερα και ήμερα. The monastic life attempts to respond to such a text by the daily regulation of prayer, meditation, self-examination, and worship - precisely to attempt to "renew" daily "our inner" spiritual life. In 2 Corinthians 10:15 the dynamic aspect of growth is stressed and precisely in reference to "faith" and "rule." "But having hope as your faith is growing to be magnified unto abundance among you according to our rule" - ελπίδα δε έχοντες αυξανομένης της πίστεως υμών εν ύμιν μεγαλυνθηναι κατά τον κανόνα ημών εις περισσείαν. In 2 Corinthians 4:12 St. Paul again places the inner depth of man’s spiritual life in the "heart," something which Eastern monasticism will develop even in its life of prayer - εν καρδία. The entire fifth chapter of IICorinthians is an exceptionally important text. Here, as elsewhere, St. Paul uses language which, when used by others, distresses sorely many scholars working from the Reformation perspective - he uses the notion of "pleasing God," something which some scholars find indicative of man’s solicitation to "win" God’s favor. But when St. Paul uses such language it passes in silence, it passes without objection - precisely because St. Paul has established his position that God is the source of everything. But monastic and ascetical literature also presuppose that God initiates and is the source of everything. But it is in the very nature of daily spiritual life in monasticism and in ascetical spirituality to focus on man’s activity. It is precisely focus, not a theological position. "We therefore are ambitious [to make it our goal], whether being at home or being away from home, to be well-pleasing to him. For it is necessary for all of us to be manifested before the tribunal of Christ in order that each one may receive something good or something worthless, according to what one has practiced through the body. Knowing, therefore, the fear of the Lord, we persuade men" - διο και φιλοτιμουμεθα, ειτε ενδημουντες ειτε εκδημουντες, ευαρεστοι αυτω ειναι. τους γαρ παντας ημας φανερωθηναι δει εμπροσθεν του βηματος του χριστου, ινα κομισηται εκαστος τα δια του σωματος προς α επραξεν ειτε αγαθον ειτε φαυλον. In 2 Corinthians 11:15 St. Paul writes that one’s "end will be according to [one’s] works" - ων το τέλος έσται κατά τα έργα αυτών. Also this is not the only time that the New Testament uses the word "practice," a word which becomes systematized in monasticism. After a profound exposition on the initiative of God in the redemptive work of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-20), in which St. Paul writes that "all things are of God, who, having reconciled us to himself through Christ" - τα δε πάντα εκ του θεον τον καταλλάξαντος ημάς έαυτω δια Χριστον, St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 : "Be reconciled to God" - καταλλάγητε τω θεώ. Moreover, he not only uses the imperative form but also precedes this with "we beg on behalf of Christ" - δεόμεθα υπέρ Χρίστου. His language here becomes meaningless unless there is spiritual activity on the part of man. And what is more, St. Paul uses a very interesting structure in relationship to the "righteousness of God," for he writes that the redemptive work of Christ was accomplished "in order that we might become the righteousness of God in him" - ίνα ημείς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεου εν αντω. Here the significance is on "we might become" rather than "we are" or "we have become." Implicit is a synergistic dynamism. This is further stressed in 2 Corinthians 6:1 :"And working together [with him] we entreat you not to receive the grace of God to no purpose" - συνεργονντες δε και παρακαλουμεν μη είς κενόν την χάριν του θεου δέξασθαι υμάς: And St. Paul then quotes from Isaiah 49:8 in which it is said that God "hears" and "helps" - έπήκουσά σου και... έβοήθησά σοι. In 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 St. Paul writes what could be a guide to monastic spiritual life. "In everything commending ourselves as ministers of God - in much endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in tumults, in labors, in vigils, in fasting, in purity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in a word of truth, in power of God - through the weapons of righteousness on the right and left hand, through glory and dishonor, through evil report and good report... as dying, and behold, we live... as being grieved but always rejoicing, as poor but enrichening many, as having nothing yet possessing all things" - εν αγνοτητι, εν γνωσει, εν μακροθυμια, εν χρηστοτητι, εν πνευματι αγιω, εν αγαπη ανυποκριτω, εν λογω αληθειας, εν δυναμει θεου: δια των οπλων της δικαιοσυνης των δεξιων και αριστερων, δια δοξης και ατιμιας, δια δυσφημιας και ευφημιας: ως πλανοι και αληθεις, ως αγνοουμενοι και επιγινωσκομενοι, ως αποθνησκοντες και ιδου ζωμεν, ως παιδευομενοι και μη θανατουμενοι, ως λυπουμενοι αει δε χαιροντες, ως πτωχοι πολλους δε πλουτιζοντες. The vigils, the fasting, the purity, the gnosis or knowledge - these are to be reflected in monastic and ascetical life. Moreover, St. Paul again uses the image of warfare and refers to the "weapons of righteousness." The language used by St. Paul in this passage can only have significance if man participates synergistically in the redemptive process. If the doctrine of "righteousness" in the thought of St. Paul has only a one-sided meaning - that is, the "righteousness of God," which is, of course, the source of all righteousness - then why the talk of "weapons of righteousness" placed in the very hands, both right and left, of man? If man is solely "reckoned righteous" by the "vicarious sacrifice" of our Lord Jesus Christ, why the need to speak of "weapons of righteousness," unless there is a second aspect of the redemptive process which ontologically includes man’s spiritual participation? In 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 St. Paul continues with the reference to "warfare" and again stresses "obedience." "For though walking in the flesh, we wage war not according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but [have] the power of God to overthrow strongholds, overthrowing reasoning and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God and taking captive every design unto the obedience of Christ" - εν σαρκι γαρ περιπατουντες ου κατα σαρκα στρατευομεθα τα γαρ οπλα της στρατειας ημων ου σαρκικα αλλα δυνατα τω θεω προς καθαιρεσιν οχυρωματων λογισμους καθαιρουντες και παν υψωμα επαιρομενον κατα της γνωσεως του θεου και αιχμαλωτιζοντες παν νοημα εις την υπακοην του χριστου. St. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7:1 about cleansing, about "perfecting holiness," and about the "fear of God." After referring to our having "these promises," he exhorts: "Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and of spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" - καθαρίσωμεν εαυτόυς από παντός μολυσμου σαρκός και πνεύματος, έπιτελουντες άγιωσύνην εν φόβω θεού. This exhortation is precisely what monastic and ascetical life attempts to implement. In 2 Corinthians 13:9 St. Paul writes: "We pray also for you restoration" - τούτο και εύχόμεθα, την υμών κατάρτισιν. In order for one to be "restored," one would have to have been at a certain level previously. The text bears witness to the dynamic nature of faith, of spiritual life in Christ, of the rising and falling away, and then the restoration. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 St. Paul speaks in terms quite similar to those found in monastic and ascetical literature, for he speaks of "grief which works "repentance" which leads to "salvation." "For grief, in accordance with God, works repentance unto unregrettable salvation" - ή γαρ κατά θεόν λύπη μετάνοιαν εις σωτηρίαν άμεταμέλητον εργάζεται. St. Paul contrasts this "Godly grief with the "grief of the world which works out death" - ή δε τον κόσμου λύπη θάνατον κατεργάζεται. The theme of "sorrow" and "grief over one’s sin - precisely "grief in accordance with God" or "Godly grief - is a constant in monastic spiritual life.

St. Paul ends the text proper of II Corinthians with a final exhortation. "Restore yourselves, admonish yourselves, think the same, become at peace, and the God of love and of peace will be with you" - καταρτιζεσθε, παρακαλείσθε, το αυτό φρονείτε, ειρηνεύετε, και ό θεός της αγάπης και ειρήνης έσται μεθ’ υμών. Here the emphasis is again on "restoration." St. Paul’s sequence of language - if taken by itself and out of context - could be easily misinterpreted as man causing God’s action, for he writes "become at peace and." It is precisely that "and" that introduces the activity of God. God "will be with you," if you achieve peace - this is how this text could well be interpreted if we did not possess the body of St. Paul’s works. What could have happened to the thought of St. Paul is what usually happens to the thought expressed in monastic and ascetical literature.

Galatians

Along with the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians is the other work from the corpus of St. Paul most often quoted by the theologians of the Lutheran and Calvinistic Reformation and those theologians who have followed in those theological traditions. They were also the two works most quoted by St. Augustine to support his doctrine of irresistible grace and predestination. But one encounters the same problem in Galatians - that is, that there is a second line of thought which, by itself, could be interpreted in a Pelagian sense. The point here is, of course, that both views are one-sided, that the thought of St. Paul is far richer than any one-sided interpretation allows for, far more realistic both with the glory of God and with the tragedy of man’s experience in evil, corruption, and death. But St. Paul not only extols the glory of God, the power and initiative of grace but also the joyfulness of an objective redemption in which each person must participate in order for the redemption of man to be completed. In the first chapter of Galatians St. Paul in Galatians 1:10 uses language which implies the seeking of favor with God. "For now do I persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men?" - αρτι γαρ ανθρώπους πείθω ή τον θεόν; ή ζητώ άνθρωποις άρέσκειν? At one point, in Galatians 4:9, St. Paul catches himself falling into the very understandable usage of human language: "But now knowing God, or rather, being known by God" - νυν δε γνόντες θεόν, μάλλον δε γνωσθεντες υπό θεού. Imprecision of language occurs even with St. Paul. The second chapter of Galatians provides an illumination of the central controversial issue in the theology of St. Paul. In context St. Paul is addressing the hypocrisy of St. Peter in Antioch, for St. Peter ate with the Gentiles until those from the "circumcision" party arrived from Jerusalem. At that time St. Peter withdrew from the Gentiles, "fearing those of the circumcision" - φοβούμενος τους έκπεριτομής. St. Paul challenges St. Peter face to face. Again the whole controversy is between the "works of the law" and the "works of the Spirit," between the laws of Judaism and the spiritual laws of Christ as a direct result of his Divine redemptive work. It is, therefore, in this context that St. Paul brings the doctrine of justification into discussion. In Galatians 2:16 St. Paul writes: "And knowing that a man is not justified out of works of the law but through faith of Christ Jesus, even we believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified out of faith of Christ and not out of the works of the law because out of works of the law all flesh will not be justified" - είδότες δε οτι ου δικαιούται άνθρωπος έξ έργων νόμου εάν μη δια πίστεως Χριστου Ιησού, και ημείς εις Χριστόν Ιήσουν έπιστεύσαμεν, ίνα δικαιωθωμεν εκ πίστεως Χρίστου και ουκ έξ έργων νόμου, οτι έξ εργων νόμου ου δικαιωθήσεται πάσα σάρξ. In the Greek construction used by St. Paul a dynamism still exists, for we believed "in order that we might be justified" and "out of faith." This latter expression contains breadth, expansion of spiritual life generating from faith. It is a rich expression and its fullness and dynamism must not be diminished by a reductionist interpretation. And the very use of "in order" has implications theologically, as does the construction "that we might be justified." St. Paul could very well have written that we have believed and are hence justified. But that is not what he has written. The objective reality of redemption, the objective reality of mankind being justified by Christ is one thing. The subjective reality of each person participating in this already accomplished redemptive work of justification, of being really "right" with God is another dimension, a dimension which requires and addresses the entire spiritual composition of man. In the very next text St. Paul writes "if seeking to be justified in Christ" - ει δε ζητουντες δικαιωθηναι εν Χριστώ. In Galatians 5:5 he can write "for we in the Spirit eagerly expect the hope of righteousness" - ημείς γαρ πνεύματι εκ πίστεως ελπίδα δικαιοσύνης άπεκδεχόμεθα. What is the ontological meaning of "the hope of righteousness" if "righteousness" is "imputed" to us as though a legal transaction, and if it is the "passive righteousness" of God which "justifies" us? No, St. Paul’s vision is far deeper. The "hope of righteousness" is precisely our hope to share in that objective "righteousness of God" which is now freely given by God in and through Christ. But we "hope" because there is "work" for us to do in order to take hold of and participate in that righteousness eternally. God creates in his freedom. God created man with this image of freedom. Christ accepts the Cross in freedom. Freedom is the foundation of creation and redemption. And man’s freedom, however weakened, can still be inspired by the free gift of Grace. And in this freedom man must, as St. Paul writes in his Epistle to thePhp 2:12, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" - μετά φόβου και τρόμου την εαυτών σωτηρίαν κατεργάζεσθε. It cannot be denied that monastic and ascetical spirituality took this seriously. In Galatians 5:1 St. Paul writes that "Christ freed us for freedom. Therefore stand firm" - τη ελευθερία ημάς Χριστός ήλευθέρωσεν. The total theological significance of all that took place in the coming of Christ, in the Incarnation of the God-Man, in his life, his teachings, his death, his resurrection, his establishment of the Church and the mystical sacramental life in the Church, his Ascension, his sending of the Holy Spirit, and his Second Coming and Judgment - all this has radically altered the old law of works, and the meaning was clear to the early Church. It is true that what St. Paul says about the "works of the law" can be applied to any form of Christianity that deviates from the precision of the balance, that deviates from the authentic "works of the Spirit," replacing them by a mechanical and mechanistic attitude. And in Galatians 3:27 St. Paul immediately connects "justification by faith" with the mystical sacrament of baptism. "For you are all sons of God through the faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ" - παντες γαρ υιοί θεού έστε δια της πίστεως εν Χριστώ Ιησού - όσοι γαρ εις Χριστόν έβαπτίσθητε, Χριστόν ένεδυσασθε. Within this context what is the distinction between the "justification by faith" and "by faith" being "baptized into Christ," and, hence, having "put on Christ"?

St. Paul is addressing Christians, those who have been baptized, those who have accepted the faith. Despite all his language about "justification by faith," about "putting on Christ" through baptism, about the objective aspect of redemption having been accomplished, St. Paul still can write in Galatians 4:19 that he "travails in birth until Christ is formed" in them - ώδίνω μέχρις oυ μορφωθη Χριστός εν υμιν. What can this mean except that the redemptive process for man is one of struggle, one of rising and falling, one of continual spiritual dynamism? In 5:7 he writes that they "were running well" and asks "who hindered you?" - έτρεχετε καλώς, τις υμάς ένέκοψεν, invoking again the image of a race. In Galatians 5:14 St. Paul repeats Christ’s commandment of love, a thought not foreign to St. Paul, especially when one considers his "Hymn to Love [Agape] in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. "For the whole law has been summed up in one expression: you shall love your neighbor as yourself - ό γαρ πας νόμος εν ένί λόγω πεπλήρωται, εν τω αγαπήσεις τον πλησίον σον ώς σεαντόν. He then distinguishes the "works of the Spirit" from the "works of the flesh," explicitly linking the latter with the old law. And then he again exhorts and commands from the realism of spiritual life (Galatians 5:25). "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" - ει ζώμεν πνεύματι, πνεύματη και στοιχώμεν. What is the meaning of such an exhortation? It has a meaning based on realism only if the "living in the Spirit" refers to the entirety of the objective work of the redemptive work of Christ now accomplished and available to mankind, a redemption which surrounds them by the life of the Church in which they live but a redemption in which they must actively participate, in which they must "walk" if they are to obtain and receive the final work of redemption, the union of man and God in love, in goodness, in truth. The "walk" is an obvious expression of activity, of movement toward a goal. In Galatians 6:2 St. Paul links the commandment of love and the "walking " in the Spirit with "the law of Christ." "And thus you will fulfill the law of Christ" - real ούτως αναπληρώσετε τον νόμον του Χριστου. The very language of "the law of Christ" and the "fulfilling" of that law" is theologically significant, for "the law of Christ" refers to everything communicated to the Church through Christ. The monastic and ascetical life is precisely such an attempt to fulfill this "law of Christ." His concluding thought in Galatians is: "Peace and mercy upon those many who will walk by this rule" - και οσοι τω κανόνι τούτω στοιχήσουσιν, ειρήνη έπ’ αυτούς και έλεος. The "new creation" about which St. Paul speaks is both an already accomplished redemptive reality and, for us as individuals with spiritual freedom, the "new creation" - καινή κτίσις - is a reality which must be "formed," a reality which can come about only through process, when the subjective reality of each person is "formed" into the objective reality of the "new creation" wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians In Ephesians 1:14 St. Paul uses extremely interesting language in relationship to our "salvation" in Christ "in whom we believed and thereafter were sealed with the Holy Spirit "who is an earnest of our inheritance unto redemption of the possession" - ός εστίν άρραβών της κληρονομιάς ημών, εις άπολυτρωσιν της περιποιήσεως. The meaning here is clear: the seal of the Holy Spirit is the "deposit" toward an inheritance of which we take possession when we acquire it. It is a dynamic text. That possession of such an inheritance requires that we walk in "good works" in clear in Ephesians 2:10 :"For we are a product of him, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God previously prepared in order that we might walk in them" - αυτόυ γαρ έσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες εν Χριστώ Ιησου έπη έργοις αγαθοίς, οις προητοίμασεν ό Θεος ίνα εν αυτοίς περιπατήσωμεν. In Ephesians 6:11 St. Paul again uses the image of warfare and of putting on the "whole armor of God" - ένδύσασθε την πανοπλίαν του θεου. The "walk" is evoked again in Ephesians 5:8 and Ephesians 5:15. "Walk as children of the light" - ως τέκνα φωτός περιπατείτε. "See, therefore, that you walk carefully" - βλέπετε oυν ακριβώς πώς περιπατείτε. In Ephesians 5:9 he writes that "the fruit of the light [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth" - ό γαρ καρπός του φωτός εν πάση αγαθωσυνη και δικαιοσύνη και άληθεία. It is the "walking in the light" that produces "the fruit" which is all goodness, righteousness and truth" and this is described as "proving what is well-pleasing to the Lord" - δοκιμάζοντες τι έστιν ευάρεστον. In Ephesians 5:14 St. Paul quotes from what was probably a hymn of the early Church, a text which has the ring of a monastic motif to it. "Rise, sleeping one" - έγειρε, ό καθεύδων. And to what purpose ought one to rise? In Ephesians 5:1 he commands us to "be therefore imitators of God" - γίνεσθε oυv μιμητοί τον θεον. In Ephesians 4:23 St. Paul writes that we are "to be renewed in the spirit of your mind" - άνανεουσθαι δε τω πνεύματι τον νοός - and "to put on the new man" - και έδύσασθαι τον καινόν άνθρωπον. He begs us in Ephesians 4:1 "to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called" - άξίως περί πzατησαι της κλησεως ης έκλήθητε. In Ephesians 4:15 he exhorts that "we may grow into him [Christ] in all respects" - αύξήσωμεν εις αυτόν τα πάντα. In Ephesians 6:18 St. Paul stresses the importance of prayer. "By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time" - δια πάσης προσευχής και δεησεως, προσευχόμενοι εν παντί καιρώ. All these are aspects of the monastic and ascetical life.

Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians contains many expressions that directly relate to an active spiritual life. In Php 1:25 he speaks of "advance and joy of the faith" - προκοπήν και χαράν της πίστεως. In Php 1:27 he speaks of "conducting" oneself "worthily of the Gospel" - μόνον άξέως του ευαγγελίου του Χρίστου πολιτεύεσθε. "Stand in one spirit, with one soul striving together in the faith of the Gospel" - στήκετε εν ένι πνεύματι, μια ψυχή συναθλουντες τη πίστει του ευαγγελίου. Here is the "striving" so disliked by Nygren. For St. Paul we are required not only to believe but also to suffer. In Php 1:29 he writes: "ου μόνον το εις αυτόν πιστεύειν, άλλα και το υπέρ αυτού πάσχειν." And he refers to this as a "struggle," an "ordeal" - αγώνα. In Php 2:16 he speaks of the possibility of "running and laboring in vain" - ότι ουκ εις κενόν έδραμον ουδέ εις κενόν έκοπίασα. In Php 3:8 St. Paul speaks of "gaining Christ" - ίνα Χριστόν κερδήσω - and this within the context of the "righteousness of the law" as opposed to the "righteousness based on faith" - δικαιοσύνην έπι τη πίστει.Php 3:11-16 is one of the more interesting texts. "If somehow I may attain to the resurrection out of the dead. Not that I received already or already have been perfected, but I follow if indeed I may lay hold, in as much as I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, not yet do I reckon myself to have laid hold. But one thing [I do], forgetting on one hand the things behind, and stretching forward on the other hand to the things which are ahead, I follow the mark for the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, as many as [are] perfect, let us think this... Nevertheless, to what we arrived, let us walk by the same" - ει πως καταντησω εις την εξαναστασιν των νεκρων. ουχ οτι ηδη ελαβον η ηδη τετελειωμαι διωκω δε ει και καταλαβω εφ ω και κατεληφθην υπο του χριστου ιησου. αδελφοι εγω εμαυτον ου λογιζομαι κατειληφεναι εν δε τα μεν οπισω επιλανθανομενος τοις δε εμπροσθεν επεκτεινομενος. κατα σκοπον διωκω επι το βραβειον της ανω κλησεως του θεου εν χριστω ιησου. οσοι ουν τελειοι τουτο φρονωμεν και ει τι ετερως φρονειτε και τουτο ο θεος υμιν αποκαλυψει. πλην εις ο εφθασαμεν τω αυτω στοιχειν κανονι το αυτο φρονειν. Here St. Paul speaks both of laying hold of Christ and being "laid hold of by Christ." The synergistic activity is obvious and realistic. All the language in the passage indicates and underscores the activity of God and the activity of man, of the objective reality of an achieved redemption and man’s process of "laying hold," of "stretching forward" to the ultimate goal, a goal unachievable if man does not become spiritually active. The Greek verbal structures of "I may attain" and "I may lay hold of are not without meaning. In Php 4:8-9 St. Paul speaks universally as he does in Romans 1:1-32. "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovable, whatsoever things are well-spoken of, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, consider these things" - όσα εστίν αληθή, οσα σεμνά, όσα δίκαια, όσα αγνά, όσα προσφιλή, οσα εύφημα, ει τις αρετή και ει τις έπαινος, ταύτα λογίζεσθε. These qualities - the true, the just, the pure, the lovable - are not qualities which have been revolutionized by the new creation wrought by the Incarnation of the God-Man, they have not come into existence nor been revolutionized by Christian thought. Rather, they are within the very texture of human nature and existence, things that every conscience knows spontaneously. What Christianity has done, however, is to break forth a new path for mankind to participate in the true, the just, the pure in a new way and with a new power through Christ. They now no longer exist as ideals, as the absolute, but are existentially and ontologically accessible to human nature through redemption. St. Paul speaks almost a Platonic language here, and yet it is thoroughly Christian.

Colossians In St. Paul’s Epistle to theColossians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:29 the realism of synergy is depicted. "But now he reconciled in the body of his flesh through his death to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, if indeed you continue in the faith having been founded and steadfast and not being moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard" - νυνι δε αποκατηλλαξεν εν τω σωματι της σαρκος αυτου δια του θανατου, παραστησαι υμας αγιους και αμωμους και ανεγκλητους κατενωπιον αυτου, ει γε επιμενετε τη πιστει τεθεμελιωμενοι και εδραιοι και μη μετακινουμενοι απο της ελπιδος του ευαγγελιου ου ηκουσατε. The objective reconciliation now exists but in order to participate in it one must be found holy, blameless, and irreproachable, and this is all contingent upon the significant "if - "if indeed you continue in the faith." In Colossians 1:29 we encounter the ideas of "maturity," "labor," and "struggle" or "ordeal." "In order that we may present every man mature in Christ, for which also I labor struggling according to his energy energizing in me in power" - ιναπαραστήσωμεν πάντα άνθρωπον τέλειον εν Χριστφ, εις ο και κοπιω αγωνιζόμενος κατά την ένέργειαν αυτόυ την ένεργονμένην εν έμοι εν δυνάμει.Colossians 1:10 expresses the same idea of "worth," of "pleasing" God, of "bearing fruit in every good work," and of "increasing in the knowledge of God" - περιπατησαι άξίως του κυρίου εις πάσαν άρεσκέίαν, εν παντί έργω άγαθω καρποφορουντες και αυξανόμενοι τη έπιγνωσει του θεου. But the very power comes from the might of the glory of God. "With all power dynamized according to the might of his glory" - εν πάση δυνάμει δυναμούμενοι κατά το κράτος της δόξης αυτόυ.Colossians 2:6-7 expresses also the two spiritual wills and activities in the process of redemption. "As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, and being confirmed in the faith as you were taught" - ως ουν παρελάβετε τον Χριστόν Ιησουν τον κύριον, εν αύτω περιπατείτε, έρριζωμένοι και έποικοδομούμενοι εν αύτω και βεβαιούμενοι τη πίστει καθώς έδιδάχθητε. The depth of the idea of synergy is found not only in co-dying and co-suffering with Christ but also in co-resurrection with him. In Colossians 3:1 St. Paul writes: "If therefore you were co-raised with Christ, seek the things above" - ει ουν συνηγέρθητε τω Χριστώ, τα άνω ζητείτε. St. Paul continues the use of many imperative exhortations in chapter 3. "Put to death therefore your members on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry" (5). "Put away now all things..." - νυνι δε άπόθεσθε και νμεις τα πάντα (8). And then the command (Colossians 4:2) to continue in prayer and vigil - τη προσευχη προσκαρτερείτε, γρηγορονντες.

I and II Thessalonians In I Thessalonians St. Paul continues this second aspect of the redemptive process by referring to the "work of faith" (1 Thessalonians 1:3), by expressing concern that "labor may be in vain" (1 Thessalonians 3:5), by exhortating "if you stand in the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 3:8), by exhortating that the "breastplate of faith and love" be put on (1 Thessalonians 5:8), and by commanding to test everything, to hold fast to what is good, to abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). In 1 Thessalonians 3:10 St. Paul writes: "Praying exceedingly night and day... to adjust the shortcomings of your faith" - νυκτος και ήμερας υπερεκπερισσου δεόμενοι... και καταρτίσαι τα υστερήματα της πίστεως υμών. Why the need to adjust the shortcomings of faith, if faith "alone" is the sole criterion of salvation, as is held by certain schools of theology rooted in the tradition of the Reformation? In 1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 St. Paul writes interestingly. "For this is the will of God: your sanctification... that each one of you know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor" - τουτο γαρ εστίν θέλημα του θεού, ό αγιασμός υμών... ειδέναι έκαστον υμών το εαυτού σκευος κτάσθαι εν άγιασμώ και τιμή. The goal here of the spiritual life in Christ is sanctification and the significant text is to "know how to possess" this "vessel." Such language expresses the dynamism of a synergistic process of redemption. In 1 Thessalonians 5:9 St. Paul uses the expression "unto the obtaining of salvation" - εις περιποίησιν σωτηρίας. In 2 Thessalonians 2:14 St. Paul uses the expression "unto obtaining of the glory of our Lord" - εις περιποίησιν δόξης του κυρίιου ημών. In 2 Thessalonians 1:11 St. Paul prays that they may be deemed worthy of the calling and that they may fulfill every "good pleasure of goodness and work of faith in power" - ινα υμας αξιωση της κλησεως ο θεος ημων και πληρωση πασαν ευδοκιαν αγαθωσυνης και εργον πιστεως εν δυναμει.

I and II Timothy In 1 Timothy 1:5-6 we read: "Now the end of the charge is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unpretended faith, from which things some, missing aim, turned aside" - το δε τέλος της παραγγελίας εστίν αγάπη εκ καθαράς καρδίας και συνειδήσεως αγαθής και νίστεως ανυπόκριτου, ων τινες άστοχήσαντες έξετράπησαν. In 1 Timothy 1:18-19 the image of warfare is again used. "This charge I commit to you, child Timothy... in order that you might war by them the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some, thrusting away, have made shipwreck concerning the faith" - ταυτην την παραγγελιαν παρατιθεμαι σοι, τεκνον τιμοθεε, κατα τας προαγουσας επι σε προφητειας, ινα στρατευη εν αυταις την καλην στρατειαν, εχων πιστιν και αγαθην συνειδησιν, ην τινες απωσαμενοι περι την πιστιν εναυαγησαν.1 Timothy 2:1-4 has the same intensity of spiritual activity found in monastic and ascetical literature: "I exhort, therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and Eucharist’s be made on behalf of all men, on behalf of kings and all those in high positions, in order that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all piety and seriousness. This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who wishes all men to be saved and to come to a full knowledge of truth" - παρακαλω ουν πρωτον παντων ποιεισθαι δεησεις, προσευχας, εντευξεις, ευχαριστιας, υπερ παντων ανθρωπω,ν υπερ βασιλεων και παντων των εν υπεροχη οντων, ινα ηρεμον και ησυχιον βιον διαγωμεν εν παση ευσεβεια και σεμνοτητι. τουτο καλον και αποδεκτον ενωπιον του σωτηρος ημων θεου ος παντας ανθρωπους θελει σωθηναι και εις επιγνωσιν αληθειας ελθειν. The same emphasis continues in 1 Timothy 4:7-10, especially the expressions "exercise yourself - γύμναζε δε σεαυτόν, and "for unto this we labor and struggle" - εις τούτο γαρ κοπιώμεν και άγωνιζόμεθα.1 Timothy 6:11-12 again stresses the "struggle," that "laying hold" of that which has been objectively accomplished in redemption. "Struggle the good struggle of the faith, lay hold on eternal life" - αγωνίσου τον καλόν αγώνα της πίστεως, έπιλαβου της αιωνίου ζωής. And in the verse preceding this one is commanded "to pursue righteousness, piety, faith, love, endurance, meekness" - δίωκε δέ δικαιοσύνην, εύσέβειαν, πίστιν, άγάπην, ύπομονήν, πραυπαθίαιν. What spiritual meaning can the "pursuit of righteousness" have unless it in fact indicates that, although the "righteousness of God" is established in Christ Jesus, we still must actively struggle in spiritual warfare in order to "lay hold on" this "righteousness"? Already in 1 Timothy 5:9 it is clear that "widows" of a certain age had a special place within the spiritual life of the Church. "Let a widow be enrolled" - χήρακαταλεγέσυω. Enrolled into what? It is obviously a special activity within the spiritual life of the Church to which widows were enrolled, already a special form of spiritual activity in the earliest life of the Church. In 2 Timothy 1:6 both the objective reality of the gift of redemption and the subjective, individual work necessary to "lay hold on" this redemptive work are clearly apparent. "I remind you to fan the flame of the gift of God, which is in you" - άναμιμνήσκω σε άναζωπυρείν το χάρισμα του θεού, ο εστίν εν σοι. The synergy of redemption is spoken of in 2 Timothy 2:11-12 with the all-significant "if." "For if we co-died with him, we shall also co-live with him; if we endure, we shall also co-reign with him" - ει γαρ συναπεθάνομεν, και συζήσομεν,ει υπομένομεν, και συμβασιλεύσομεν. In 2 Timothy 2:21 sanctification is contingent upon self-purification. "If, therefore, anyone purifies himself... he will be a vessel unto honor, having been sanctified" - εάν ουν τις έκκαθάρη εαυτόν... έσται σκεύος εις τιμήν, ήγιασμένον. In 2 Timothy 2:22 again we are exhorted to "flee youthful lusts" and "to pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace" and the "calling on the Lord" must be done "out of a pure heart" - τάς δε νεωτερικάς επιθυμίας φεύγε, δίωκε δε δικαιοσύνης πίστιν, αγάπην, είρήνην μετά των επικαλουμένων τον κύριον εκ καθαρας καρδίας. In 2 Timothy 4:7 the path of salvation is presented again as a struggle. "I have struggled the good struggle, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" - τον καλόν αγώνα ήγώνισμαι, τον δρόμον τετέλεκα, την πίστιν τετήρηκα.

Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews is rich in its thought on both aspects of redemption - on the work of God, and on the spiritual struggle on the part of man. In Hebrews 3:14 the language is striking. "For we have become sharers of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of the foundation until the end" - μέτοχοι γαρ του Χρίστου γεγόναμεν, έάνπερ την αρχήν της υποστάσεως μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν κατάσχωμεν. In Hebrews 4:1 the idea is similar. "Let us fear, therefore, lest a promise being left to enter into his rest, any of you seems to have come short" - φοβηθώμεν ουν μήποτε καταλειπομένης επαγγελίας είσελθειν εις την κατάπαυσιν αυτού δοκη τις έξ υμών υστερηκέναι. The idea of "entering this rest" is continued in Hebrews 4:11. "Let us be eager, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest anyone falls in the same example of disobedience" - σπουδάσωμεν ουν είσελθειν εις-έκείνην την κατάπαυσιν, ίνα μη εν τω αύτω τις υποδείγματι πέση της απείθειας. In Hebrews 6:1 "the beginning" of the process is spoken of, accompanied by the exhortation: "let us be borne on to maturity" - επί την τελειότητα φερώμεθα. In Hebrews 6:11 one must show eagerness to the "full assurance of the hope unto the end" - ένδείκνυσθαι σπουδήν προς την πληροφορίαν τής ελπίδος άχρι τέλους. The same exhortations of "let us" are found throughout Hebrews. In Hebrews 10:22-23 it is: "Let us approach with a true heart" and "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope unyieldingly" - προσερχώμεθα μετά αληθινής καρδίας... κατέχωμεν την όμολογίαν της έλπίδος άκλινη. In Hebrews 11:1 a definition of faith is preferred. "Now faith is the foundation of things being hoped, the proof of things not being seen" - εστίν δε πίστις έλπιζομένων υπόστασις, πραγμάτων έλεγχος ου βλεπομένων. This definition of faith is often dismissed too readily. It is, a deep idea, especially when considered in its original Greek structure. Faith is the "foundation," the "reality" upon which the "hope" of the Christian faith is built. And in its reality it contains the very proof, the evidence of the heavenly kingdom. The entire eleventh chapter reveals that "faith" was active under the "old law," although the faith of and in Christ is Of deeper ontological significance precisely because it is the foundation into a new reality not available under the "old law." After a lengthy exposition of examples of "faith" under the "old law," the Epistle to the Hebrews in Hebrews 12:1 engages in an exhortation that concerns the very spiritual activity of the new faith. "Putting away every hindrance and the most besetting sin, let us run through endurance the struggle set before us" - ογκον αποθεμένοι πάντα και την εύπερίστατον όμαρτίαν, δι υπομονής τρέχωμεν τον προκείμενον ήμιν αγώνα. The reality of "discipline" is stressed in Hebrews, especially in Hebrews 12:7 : "Endure unto disciple" - εις παιδείαν υπομένετε. And that one can "fail from the grace of God" is clear from Hebrews 12:15 - υστερών από της χάριτος του θεού.

Continued in Part 3