By Fr. Alexander Lebedeff
As usual,
I am expressing my own thoughts—not the position of my bishops or the Russian
Church Abroad.
Fr.
Marion Robinson is absolutely correct when he points out the selective use of
canons in jurisdictional polemics and states that "all Orthodox Canons are
not equally enforced and that indeed many are ignored."
This is
perfectly natural.
The
compendium of the Canons of the Church is an enormous document, containing a
vast amount of information and explanation. If one tries hard enough, one can
usually find some passage in a Canon or in the commentary on it to support
one's position. This is very similar to the method used by "Bible
thumpers" who selectively use passages of the Scripture to bolster their
arguments.
Obviously,
when one considers that the Canons were written over a period of almost ten
centuries, by different individuals in different time periods and locations,
one should understand that there will be many things in the Canons that are of
a very specific and local nature, meant to address a particular problem of that
place and age. One should not be surprised to even find contradictory
Canons—and they do exist.
So, how
must we, as Orthodox Christians, approach this book of Canons, which bishops,
priests, and laymen promise to uphold?
We must
approach it with reverence and spiritual understanding, discerning in it the
"Mind of the Church" as expressed over the past twenty centuries,
both during the time the Canons were compiled and the time of the commentaries
right up to our own day.
It is the
Western rationalistic mind that would look at the Canons as a purely legalistic
compendium of laws and regulations, applicable to all situations.
The
correct approach, in my opinion, is to study the Canons and try to understand
the "mindset" of the authors, and to try to apply that mindset to the
problems facing us today.
Many of
the Canons are obviously reflections of the realities of the times they were
written. Some just are unapplicable to today's realities and must be set aside
as purely part of the history of the Church. Others must be "updated"
to apply to today's circumstances. For example, the Canons forbidding clergy to
stay at "hotels" or "inns" reflected the dubious moral
reputation of those establishments at the time. Now, a clergyman can stay in a
hotel without his reputation being besmirched. In present times, the Canons
would probably have forbidden clergy to go to bars and nightclubs. In this
case, as in many others, it is not the specific language of the Canon that is
important, but the underlying concept—here, that a priest should not go to a
place of "ill repute"—a canonical rule that should be just as
applicable in our time as in any other.
Some
Canons were meant to establish general norms, but not absolute requirements.
For example, the Canons regarding the minimal age of candidates for ordination
(twenty-five for deacon, thirty for priest, thirty-five for bishop) were, as we
know from the lives of the saints, never strictly followed (wasn't St.
Athanasius twenty-seven when he became bishop of Alexandria?)
Other
Canons, such as the ones forbidding going to Jewish doctors, can be viewed as
being a reflection of the general attitude of the time, and are clearly not
followed in our age. We Jordanville graduates all remember the wonderful Jewish
doctor (Dr. Hirschfeld?) in Herkimer who treated all the seminarians for free
(actually with one condition—that we participate in the Herkimer blood drive
once a year—and we got a free meal for that, too).
The
Canons that express dogma are, of course, sacrosanct. Those that guide Church
administration (trial of priests and bishops, diocesan prerogatives, marriage
requirements for clergy, etc.) are still very much applicable in our time.
Those that guide the behavior of clergy and the faithful are also applicable,
with appropriate updating reflecting the realities of our time. Some are just
anachronisms or historical artifacts.
It is the
"Mind" of the Church as a whole that is important here.
Certainly,
there will be those who will scrutinize their copy of The Rudder until they
find some obscure citation they can use to bolster their argumentation. Let
them enjoy themselves. A "rigoristic" approach to the Canons is just
as foolish as a total dismissal of their relevance and applicability.
The
"Mind" of the Church will remain unchanged.
Only by
studying it, and bringing our own minds into concordance with it, will we be
fulfilling our responsibilities before the Church.
Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/canon_thoughts.aspx
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