The Virtue of Chastity

By Fr. Phillip Reese  - From the "The Voice of Orthodoxy"

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

The virtue of chastity, or sexual self control; the value of virginity and of waiting until marriage is virtually gone in our western world today. Christendom is teetering. To carry these values and beliefs into the reality of today’s world where the opposing message comes at us relentlessly through the various forms of media, academia, culture, politics, government, and even other churches, are like going against a great monster.

So many of our Orthodox young people have succumbed to it. Many minimize or cease their participation in Church life, some returning after marriage and the arrival of children, recognizing the Church’s teachings and influence as a positive aspect in their lives. Very many never return, their faith shipwrecked as they find little relevance for the Church in their lives molded by modern, secular thought. It is a big problem which faces not only our Orthodox Church, but churches all over America and the Western world. Children not only face it, but also adults.

The early Church began in the pagan Roman world filled with sexual license and ambiguity. The first Christians were firmly connected with their faith and with each other. They did not look to the pagan world and its institutions for support. They accepted the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and lived each day as the Church, concerned with the advancement of His Kingdom in this world. It was a minority faith that was peculiar and strange to the masses. The members faced opposition and bitter persecution from the beginning. The names and stories of so many the martyrs of that period are with us today. They are our heros and our heritage as a believing community. Their faith, along with with the ideals of chastity, sexual purity, the sanctity of marriage and self control have changed the world. It is that faith, the Orthodox Faith, that continues that heritage even today in the presence of the licentious and profligate monster (or idol!) which we all face and are challenged by.

As in the early Church, so today; being firmly connected to our faith in Jesus Christ and to each other is key. He and His Holy Church must be the center of our lives if we are to tame the influence of this monster our lives. It’s time to repent, to organize and to pray. Retreat is not an option.

May the Lord, in His mercy, bless you and inspire you! 

Veneration vs. Worship

In modern English, “worship” (like prayer) has mainly taken on the meaning of an act (invocation, prostration) offered exclusively to God. However, the original and official semantic range of this word used to be much wider, as was the case of the Greek word proskunh/w (proskuneo) which is normatively applied to God but also to human beings (Genesis 27:29; 1 Kings 1:16; Revelation 3:9).  The idea conveyed by proskuneo is that of “offering obeisance,” “making a physical demonstration of veneration and respect” or “prostrating oneself.” With this in mind, the New American Bible sometimes translates proskuneo as “to do homage,” including when applied to Jesus.  In contemporary Eastern Orthodox terminology, the equivalent of proskuneo is often “venerate.”    The Marriam-Webster dictionary offers the following definition for ‘worship:’

1 : to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power

2 : to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion... synonym see REVERE

As a result, some scholars have decided to translate proskuneo consistently as “worship,” but many others do not use “worship” in contexts where proskuneo is properly offered to a creature.  Indeed, there are instances when proskuneo is reserved for Go (Exodus 20:5 LXX, Acts 10:25, Rev. 22:9) and others when proskuneo can be properly offered to creatures as derivative icons of God (1 Chronicles 29:20 LXX, 1 Kings 2:13 LXX, Rev. 3:9). Hence, although ‘all honor, glory and worship are due to God,’ relative honor, glory and worship are due to parents, rulers, bishops, angels, saints, etc. 

In the development of the Eastern Orthodox dogmatic framework and at the time of the iconoclastic controversy, St. John of Damascus and the Seventh Ecumenical Council clarified the definition of proskuneo as “derivative or relative worship” or “veneration,” while acknowledging the fact that proskuneo can also mean “worship” in the highest sense. On this basis, the Council declared such acts of reverence to be proper if the intention is to ultimately honor the ‘the true God and Father’ by honoring his icons, primarily the Son who is the perfect icon, “True God of True God” and who shares the uncreated nature of the Father, but also created icons, such as rulers and saints. For clarity’s sake, the Council also declared that the highest form of worship would be associated with the unambiguous word latruo/latreia, a semantic clarification and adjustment comparable with the one that took place with the words episkopos and ousia/hypostasis.  Indeed, latreia is never used in the Scriptures in reference to anyone but God. 

The EOB Bible pg. 24-25