Last night at St Peter’s, Debbie and I attended the last class in a series on the Eastern Orthodox perspective of salvation. Over the last six weeks, Fr Patrick has been answering three basic questions: 1) What is salvation?, 2) How are we saved?, and 3) Why are we saved? He concluded his series last night by examining the last question. I’m hoping to blog more about it in a future post, but let me give you a teaser — our participation in mission must flow from our salvation. In other words, we are being saved (i.e. transfigured by God’s energies into God’s likeness) in order to be co-laborers and co-creators with God. But again, that topic is for a future post.
Last night, Fr Patrick handed out an address delivered by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who was awarded the Oslo Sophie Prize in 2002. (A quick sidenote: Patriarch Bartholomew is the Patriarch of Constantinople, and is the “first among equals” in the Eastern Orthodox Communion.) In the address, Patriarch Bartholomew speaks to the global environmental issues with profound clarity, demonstrating that Eastern Orthodoxy provides both a proper theological framework and relevant experiential foundation to address the issues of our natural environment (and by extrapolation, other issues of reconciliation and justice within our world).
You can read Patriarch Bartholomew’s full address HERE.
Journeying Home 