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WEB 4 - ARCHIVE
Commentary 25 - Page 1 |
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PHILOSOPHICALLY, WHAT IS ESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY? The church of the First Millennium was different in character from the churches of the Second Millennium, and it was the latter whose character determined the nature
of the churches we know today. The saints of the First Millennium sometimes acknowledged that they were also
philosophers, and their philosophy was understood as one of the cornerstones of their
sanctity. A Boston scholar wrote about it recently that:
"Greek Church writers appropriated the word 'philosophy,' already in the early centuries, for denoting Christianity. In order to clarify and justify this appropriation, they drew a distinction between two kinds of philosophy: 'External (exoterike, exothyraten) philosophy,' and 'internal (esoterike, eso) philosophy.' The latter they also called 'the true philosophy,'
'heavenly philosophy', 'spiritual philosophy', divine philosophy', 'philosophy according to Christ', 'sacred philosophy', 'philosophy from Above', and 'wisdom from Above'.
"The first kind of philosophy, external philosophy, comprises for them ancient Greek philosophy and the pagan philosophy of early Christian centuries. The second kind, 'internal philosophy', is identical with the Christian religion. This term is used to denote Orthodox Christian teaching in its totality; lived Christian teaching in general; some interior practice, particularly inner attention and inner stillness and the monastic
life." Who were these saints? The ones we read about when we read about the early church: Clement and Maximos, several Basils, and at least a trio of Gregorys. We can place them roughly in space and time. Firstly, they were widespread throughout the Greek oikumene, which was roughly defined by Greek colonies to the West, and by the wide circle of Alexander's conquests to the East. They were both urban and rural, both monks and clergy - often senior bishops - but these were not separate groups so much as separate phases in the lives of the same individuals. Scholars would become practising monks, then teaching bishops. Both monks and bishops became saints, in objective fact, as well as according to their immediate followers. Generally, they shaped the thinking and morality of their age, and as such even their failures were often significant. |
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