Reflections on Light from the Christian East: Part 3

Here is the third of my reflections on Light from the Christian East by Payton...

10/8/08
Eastern Orthodox theology is boggling my mind.

I am struggling with their idea of God’s utter separateness from his creation. It confuses me in light of theologies on the divine image. I wonder though if they just hold the paradox of essence versus nature in equal tension rather than defaulting to the easier way: relying more on one side or the other. Truly ascribing to opposite truths at the same time is always the most difficult way.

I also struggle with their idea of the dynamism of creation. If creation was destined from the beginning to become more and more like God, doesn’t that imply it was not like God in some way? Would this not imply some initial brokenness?

Despite my questions, Eastern Orthodox theology also continues to draw me in—this time through their emphasis on the imminence of God with his creation and their views of the nature of humanity. First, their emphasis on the imminence of God with his creation reminds me of the intimacy we were designed for. It reminds me that, although God is utterly other, he is also intimately involved in our lives. It reminds me that I am sustained and transformed through this presence in my life. The second idea I find interesting is that our actual nature is not depraved, but rather that our gnomic, personal will (Payton, 114) tends to lead us to death because of the great tradition of sin passed down through the ages and cultures. This makes so much sense in light of the struggles I have had over the doctrine of “total depravity” from my tradition. This didn’t make sense to me that there was nothing good at all in us, especially in light of non-religious people who seem to do some very Godly things. The Eastern Orthodox view on this matter would allow for this because it allows for people to sometimes make right choices from our incorruptible Imago Dei (although we always end up also making choices that lead to death as well).

I wonder if perhaps our Western views and the Eastern views on human nature are really so different after all. As Payton mentioned in the conclusion, Western views also account for this ability for ungodly people to do godly things through their view of the enablement of common grace (118). But is this really so different from the Eastern view that we are able to do good out of our human nature, which is in itself an extension of God’s divine energy? What really is the difference between divine energy and divine grace? Both result in good in our world and in the restoration of humanity to our original design.