To be streamed on June 20
In this very brief chapter, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev starts to summarize and connect the third millennium’s influences to the preceding chapters that occupied a long period of persecution and downtrodden experiences for Orthodox Christians during sweeping revolutionary changes in culture and religion in Russia. St. Silouan once replied to a western inquirer about the kinds of writings that are read in eastern monasteries in comparison to what is read by Christians in the west:
Our monks not only read these books but can also write new ones no worse than these, if they should be lost.
The main criticism toward eastern monasticism in the second millennium of Russian history focused on time and pragmatism. Secular authorities judged Russian monks to be a bunch of uneducated, scruffy, bearded men wasting their lives praying and standing in services, which kind of critique could eventually be extended to the faithful clergy and laity. Why could they not devote themselves to solving world poverty or establishing charity organizations? From a secular perspective alone, that appears to be true. There was, however, an unnoticed, golden link between writing quality theology and spiritual literature and the time spent in services and prayer and reading spiritual materials. The monastic practices, whether flourishing or persecuted, attracted God’s light and life to these places and people in Orthodoxy. Places like the Optina Monastery or the Holy Mountain of Athos, a simple Russian home or a small village parish, for example. Many Orthodox traditions returned such Znamenny chant, iconography and the study of patristic theology.
With religion in Russia having been opened up after the Synodal and Soviet era, questions about how to interact with the world and other faiths, and how to conduct church affairs starts to occupy more attention. Orthodox begin to meet and discuss questions about funding, educational centers, missionary activities, ecumenical movements are now addressed freely for the Orthodox Christians in Russia. Several important authors have taken part in promoting patristic theology and tradition in Orthodoxy during the third millennium: Bishop Kallistos Ware, Jean-Claude Larchet, Metropolitan John Zizioulas and Archpriest Dumitru Staniloe.
St Tikhon Orthodox Humanities University and St Vladimir’s Orthodoxy Seminary in New York became centers that have produced scholars in Russian Orthodoxy. Bishop Kallistos Ware – a westerner in origin himself from England – has written many well-known Orthodox books for English-speaking audiences. Jean-Claude Larchet, who is familiar to us by his other book titled The New Media Epidemic, also wrote about the eastern fathers of the church.
It can be difficult to describe Orthodoxy as a “living tradition” with so many dead Christians left throughout the ages. It seems to have become even a common saying among Orthodox. A parallel might be found when we compare an individual’s spiritual fall, death and rebirth to the experience of countries in history who go through a cycle of falling away, death, and rebirth. Life continues in Orthodoxy and in its mysteries, it is lived truly.