Fr. Georges Massouh on Diversity of Opinions in the Church

The Arabic original can be found in the here.


Market Policemen

We Orthodox are in great need of a distinction in our religious discourse between what is essential and what is accidental. For some of us, confusing these two things leads to confusion and to value judgments that take others out of the range of sound teaching, sometimes to the point of accusing them of heresy or of undesirable innovation. Within churchly circles, this confusion has reached a point that raises anxiety and alarm since it has ballooned and occupied areas that had remained remote from it until today.

Our Orthodox theology is based on a respect for diversity in non-dogmatic matters. The source of this is faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in three hypostases. The theological belief affirming that faith in the Most Holy Trinity is faith in unity in diversity and diversity in unity remains in our hearts and minds. The gifts of the faithful must be according to the image of the Most Holy Trinity: one of them does not cancel out the special characteristic of another or its individuality. Love and its pinnacle, the life-giving Cross, remains the bond that ties us together for the sake of building up the group and its salvation.

On the basis of this theological principle, the Church has known the distinction between set dogmas, apart from which one exits the Church, and theological opinions, which if the faithful differ about them no one can judge those who disagree about such an opinion as having left the Church. This is because theology is concerned with upright belief and faith, which is established in the dogmatic teachings that the Church agreed upon in the ecumenical councils. As for what the Church has not dogmatically determined, there is no problem with a multiplicity of opinion about such matters. In this diversity lies the power of the Church and the freedom that was granted to her by Christ, her Lord and Redeemer. In this diversity also lies a distinguishing characteristic of Christianity compared to other religions.

If, for example, we take the question of universal salvation, we find a diversity of opinions among the fathers both ancient and modern. All agree that the essential matter in this question is that Christ alone is the savior and no one else and that salvation can only be achieved through Him exclusively. As for how salvation is achieved through Him and which people receive it, one cannot determine this with certainty. This matter is for Him alone and it is not for us to have anything to do with it except to hope. Those who argue for universal salvation have their sound biblical and theological proofs and those who claim that salvation is only for those who deserve it also have their own proofs that are no less sound. On this matter we could cite a number of fathers in favor of both sides.

In our present time, there are many matters that are less important than the question of salvation, but despite this we see an intensification of discussion about them. If we take as another example the “outpouring of light” at the Holy Sepulture on Holy Saturday, its importance varies among both the faithful and theologians. Some of them consider it to be proof of the true faith and find fault with those who do not believe in it and some pay no attention whatsoever to the phenomenon, considering it to be a popular belief with no connection to the teachings of the Orthodox Church.

Distinguishing between what is essential and what is accidental is necessary for the preservation of the unity of the visible Church and in order to prevent chaos that would shake the faith of the simple, who naturally are not stupid. What is essential is that Christ rose from the dead and granted life to those in the tombs. As for the question of the “outpouring of light”, it should not exceed the bounds of something that is accidental and incidental. If it did not occur, it would not add or take away a mustard seed’s weight of faith in the Resurrection. There is an anxiety that results here from giving the accidental priority over the essential, relegating the essential to the level of something secondary or marginal.

A lack of distinguishing between what is essential and what is accidental has led to the appearance of a class of “market policemen” who pursue those who hold differing opinions in order to judge them according to how they interpret to be correct with them and incorrect with others. “Market policing” or “compliance” as it is called in some Islamic countries, is not a behavior that our Church has known in the past but rather something new that is making inroads today. There are those who judge people for opinions that they have written or spoken or for their doing away with certain phenomena that have no connection to Orthodox tradition, such as in questions of dress and beards, or in the question of menstruating women participating in the sacraments or their placing a scarf over their head when they receive communion…

Respect for diversity is what makes the Orthodox Church unique. All individualism or unilateralism in teaching goes against the essence of this Church. Diversity begins with the absolute distinction between what is essential and what is accidental. “Market policing” is a new and alien innovation for our Orthodox tradition and it contradicts the basic Orthodox dogma, the dogma of the Most Holy Trinity. It is an innovation that contradicts the words of the divine Apostle, “You know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” In closing, we believe that the appearance of this class of “policemen” is an expression of a profound crisis that takes them captive and puts them in a state of constant fear of the world that Christ called us to face without fear, even if it persecutes and oppresses us.

Met. Georges Khodr on the Dormition

The Arabic original can be found here.




The Feast of the Dormition


In Christian terminology, it is the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and "dormition" is the eastern term for death. In the language of worship, the dead are called those asleep, in order to indicate Christ's victory over death. Their death is because they are embraced by God before the Resurrection on the last day. The origins of the feast are eastern. It was established in the sixth century in Jerusalem where her church stood in Gethsemane. The Emperor Maurice made the feast general throughout the empire. Pope Sergius I, who died at the beginning of the seventh century adopted the feast, and Pope Pius XII announced that the transport of the Virgin to heaven in body and soul is a dogma.

The Orthodox Church has not defined the transport of Mary into heaven as a dogma. Orthodox theologians are divided between those who believe in the assumption of her body and those who do not, since where there is not a synodally-defined dogma, the matter is left to freedom of interpretation. However, the services for the feast are clear in stating that she was transported ("You were transported to life, being the Mother of Life", that is of Christ). Also in the prayer for the feast we say "You arose after your death to be with your Son eternally" and even more clearly "God... preserved your body in the tomb and your glory is with Him in your divine transport."

The question that poses itself to eastern Christians is 'are the texts of the feast binding as dogma?' The general, basic answer is that worship services reveal a dogmatic position in general, but this does not mean that we are able to extrapolate a binding dogmatic position from the worship services, and so we remain with critical freedom as long as a clear definition is not issued at an ecumenical council made up of all the Orthodox churches.

Taking stock of both the Orthodox and the Catholic positions, we can say that Mary anticipated the Resurrection, that she will not be subject to trial or judgment, and that she abides in glory, that is the state in which we will be after the final resurrection. This is what Saint John of Damascus realized in the eighth century when he addressed her in one of the two sermons he wrote about the Dormition. He said, "I will not call your holy departure death, but rather a dormition or a journey but the best way to call it is an abiding. In leaving the realm of the body, you entered a more excellent realm."

I said that she abides in the divine glory and that she is not like us, subject to divine judgment on the last day. This is why we greatly magnify her. She is our ambassador to heaven.

She is full of grace, as the angel Gabriel told her at the moment of the Annunciation. That is, that she was free from all sin, submitting to God alone and prepared to accept every word from Him. This is what the angel meant when he said, "The Lord is with you, blessed among women." These words were the beginning of her path to glory. The beginning of the path is that from her and from the Holy Spirit the Word of God, who existed in the beginning, became incarnate. The angel's greeting makes it clear to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will rest upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." There is no doubt that the angel Gabriel's use of the word "overshadow" points to the cloud that accompanied the People of God of old and which later became the temple in Jerusalem. The idea, then, is that Mary is the new temple of God or the first church for Christ and there is no church unless she dwells within it. In the first church, which gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem, where the disciples gathered "continuing with one accord in prayers and Mary the mother of Jesus was with them" (Acts 1:14). So when the Holy Spirit rested upon them, it also rested upon Mary, just as it had rested upon her at the Annunciation in order for the Word to be made flesh. This Spirit accompanied her until the end of her life on earth. This is the life in glory before her being transported to the heavenly abodes.

There is no further talk about Mary after this in the Gospel, since it goes on to talk about the Holy Spirit's formation of the Church. The Virgin is an inherent part of the Church since she said, "From this moment all generations shall call me blessed" (Luke 1:48). Thus the words of the Gospel show that the humanity that relies on the Gospel as its scripture turns to the Virgin, through whom the Mighty One worked wonders (Luke 1:49). Those who know of the place of Mary in glory address her, seeking her intercession.

The author of the Book of Revelation looked at her as an image of the Church. He said, "There appeared a great sign in heaven: a woman robed in the sun and the moon is under her feet and upon her head is a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation 1:12). Byzantine art has a pattern by which she is drawn with the Child. She relies on Him for all her splendor. She has no power on her own. She is given what we receive from the Lord. If you love the Lord and go for all His splendors, then He is great in His saints and among them she is the first. Knowledge of Mary is a part of knowledge of Christ.

Perhaps this feast is an occasion for me to say that what is called the intercession or the entreaties or the meditations of the saints are words that do not cancel the single mediation of Christ. Salvation was achieved a single time in the person of the Savior. No one can add anything to that, since there is no power outside this salvation.

We Orthodox do not accept the view of Mary as a partner is salvation. No human can save humans. However, we believe that those in heaven pray, just like the people on earth, because Christ's Resurrection is active from this moment and by it Christ has trampled down the death of those who have tasted it. Those who have been transported to glory stand in prayer and are not mere bones and ashes. They are alive with their Lord, that is they speak to Him and we speak to them. We accompany them and they accompany us in the vale of tears in which we live. The Church in heaven and the Church on earth is one. Heaven is chanting after divine kindness in the saints. Is it right for you to say that those in heaven are silent and that Mary is absent from the glory of her Son and of her brothers and sisters in righteousness?! She is a word, after the Word dwelt within her and after He gave those invited to the wedding at Cana wine to enjoy.

What does it mean when some say "Can God not respond to us directly?" If you entrust grace with Mary, supplicate her, and receive an outpouring from her, is the Savior not working within you directly? In the Kingdom of Love above, what is direct and what is indirect? Are we not, with those great ones who preceded us in arriving at God's mercy, the single body of Christ, living together in the Holy Spirit?

Met. Ephrem's Sermon for August 8, 2011

This sermon was given in Dedeh, Koura, on the First Sunday after Transfiguration, August 8, 2011. The Arabic original can be read here.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Beloved, today you heard the Gospel talk about the multiplication of loaves and fishes! Jesus worked this miraculous event while the crowd was gathered around him. The miracle occurred in the desert in order to remind us of how God in the past, in the Old Testament, fed the crowds in the desert.

The Gospel says that He had mercy on the people because they were hungry and said to His disciples, “Feed them.” And they said, “We only have five loaves and two fishes.” So the Lord Jesus went and blessed the bread and the fish and fed five thousand people! What does this miracle, which is in all the gospels, mean for us? You remember that during feasts that we come and bless five loaves and you know that when people wants to commemorate their living and dead they bring five loaves to the altar for the priest to bless during the Divine Liturgy. Today we are gathered in the church to partake of the body and blood of the Lord. The believers gather together in the church in order for the Lord Jesus to bless them and also so that they can pray together for the living and the dead. Today, for example, we make a commemoration for the repose of the soul of a woman and the parish gathers in order to pray together. There is nothing better than for a parish to gather together and there is nothing better than prayer for our loved ones and our departed so that our hearts may be comforted. Our Lord alone comforts the heart. For this reason, it is amazing that there are Christians who do not go to church on Sunday in order to take part with their brothers because all of us are one and the Lord Jesus is the one who brings us together.

The miracle of the five loaves occurred because all the people were gathered around the Lord Jesus and the Lord not only satisfied them materially but also gave them heavenly bread. For this reason, the Gospel says, “He blessed it and broke it and gave it to the crowds.” This same thing occurs in the Divine Liturgy when we go forward to partake in the hope that we will remain gathered in the church so that our Lord will bless us and when we pray in the church, as we are today, for the repose of the soul of this virtuous woman who left a good memory in her family and we ask the Lord to give her rest and to strengthen our hearts, amen.

Met. Georges Khodr on Ramadan

The Arabic original can be found here.


Ramadan Has Arrived

Ramadan is a month for all of us, whether we refrain from food or refrain from sin. It is not right for a Muslim to be practicing his asceticism and for us to not support him with prayer. He believes that his fast was decreed for him. You should ask blessings, health, and purity for him so that he can reach the highest point of his struggle and benefit all people through his nighttime prayer.

It saddens me that some of us welcome the iftars to which our friends invite us without our hearts going to the fast itself, that is to turning away from this world and its pleasures insofar as we are happy for Muslims to draw near to God and His generosity.

We accept Muslims because God accepts them in the purity of their worship.

The month of faith and preservation / There is triumph in it for those who wish to accept

These are the qualities that a profound believer seeks and they transcend the outward price, which is restraint from what is ugly and at that point only God remains. You become like Mary, who said “I have vowed a fast unto the Merciful One, and may not speak this day to any mortal” (Surat Maryam 26). If you have achieved purification, you have achieved your ascent to God who gives you what to say to people or who gives you silence to save you from your emptiness.

For those especially dedicated to worship, Ramadan becomes withholding the senses from sins and a fast of the heart from everything but God. As for the purely outward image of fasting, it is nothing and serves no purpose. The special characteristic of spiritual sacrifice in this struggle is described by one who said, pleadingly, “My God, the beggars have stopped at your door and the poor have fled to your refuge. The ship of the wretched has stopped at the shore of your generosity, receiving passage to the field of your mercy and grace. My God, if in this noble month you only are generous to those who are sincere with you in their fasting, then who is there for the dedicated sinner who drowns in the sea his sins and transgressions?” “My God, if you only accept the diligent, who is there for the negligent? My God, those who fast have profited, and as for us your sinful servants, have mercy on us and bestow your grace upon us. Forgive us all, by your mercy, most merciful one.” This is the Muslim’s window on all-encompassing love.

What is the purpose of the fast? Asceticism, abstinence, and austerity are exercises by which God makes possible for man what the Christians call grace, which is the divine power in the human heart or, as al-Ghazali says, what God causes to leap up within one’s breast. Secondly, the fast is a focus on the Lord himself and thus internal conditions make Ramadan a gateway to heaven. This means that its true purpose is for the one fasting to take on one of God’s attributes, which is steadfastness insofar as the divine steadfastness is reflected in a human being.

The Imam Ghazali said, “Fasting has three levels: the fasting of ordinary people, the fasting of the select, and the fasting of the select of the select.” Ordinary people’s fasting is following known obligations and it is summarized by refraining from desire for food and sexual restraint. The fasting of the select is refraining from all sins such as averting one’s gaze from what is blameworthy, controlling the tongue, refraining from listening to unpraiseworthy things “because that which it is forbidden to say is also forbidden to listen to.” A beautiful saying of al-Ghazali’s is “one should not eat permissible food in excess, to the point of filling one’s belly, when breaking the fast because there is no vessel more detestable to God than a belly full of permissible food.” His advice is that one fasting should eat what he would eat every night if he were not fasting.

As for the select of the select, their fast is “the heart’s fasting from cares… and worldly thoughts and abstaining from everything other than God.”

If Muslims were to write new Ramadan literature, they would have to think in this Middle East that the Christians who love them, even if they do not fast with them bodily they are still close to them, since if each group of us is elevated spiritually, the other is elevated together with them, or at least this is what one imagines. At the deepest level, one does not look at dogma, but rather at human beings. The goal is human beings coming together to the point of love and not just the rapprochement of two sets of dogmas. What was called Muslim-Christian dialogue targeted dogmas. For that reason, it had little success and some scholars rejected it because of the difficulty of undertaking it and began to talk about the ethical aspect in dialogue. The truth is that there is another aspect, which is the coming together of people who seek God in love and who want the other to be elevated along with them. In their intense focus on God during the fast, is there anything to prevent Muslims from carrying Christians along with them and not becoming prisoners of politics?

Political communication may be extremely difficult because it is focused on competition, denying the other his right, and a lack of vision for national unity. This is expressed by saying “I am more important than you and greater than you.” Politics is always focused on the ego, and the ego always denies the other’s ego. All that is based on humans is human, which is to say that within it are people’s desires. But if we lay aside politics and its struggles within a religion or within multiple religions, and we focus the heart and mind on God in a continuous Ramadan or in Lenten fasting, we will feel that we are human beings capable of unity and coming together and that we are in principle a single society.

The outward, organizing form of this society is that it is a civil society. The search for this is ongoing, without a limit to the expression. In sum, it is for us to be a religious society that, in so being, does not have a political aspect. Or, if it must be so organized, it must submit to civil laws without sectarian reference.

What is important is for us to be free of all vainglory and that we should not strive for what pertains to this world. When will we turn in this Ramadan direction?

If, during Ramadan, you are among the select or the select of the select, to the point of reaching God, look at His servants in the way that He does, that is that they are His children, according to the Christian terminology. No matter what your language, God is the one who shelters you and He calls all those under his shelter unto Himself. I do not only mean on the last day. We are drawn to Him at all times through His mercy and loving-kindness.

Through bodily abstinence, through spiritual abstinence, or through both of them, we shall enter Ramadan together in perfect brotherhood.

Met. Ephrem's Sermon for July 17, 2011

This sermon was given on Sunday, July 17 in the Church of St. Marina in Amioun. The Arabic original can be found here.


In the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit,


Beloved, you heard this passage from the Gospel of Matthew that is taken from the Sermon on the Mount. It is one of the most important passages from the Gospel, beginning with the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." And he says in this passage from the Gospel ,"You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before the people so that they may see your good works and praise your Father who is in heaven."

"You are the light of the world," he says to the disciples. Everyone who follows Christ is expected to be light for the world, to shine into the world because this world, as you often see, is in darkness and perdition and is in need of people to illuminate them, to show them the right way. Christ comes to the disciples, meaning to the Christians, that is to us, and you must shine into the world, show them the right way. How can a person be light?!

Is ther light in your eyes? One who studies physics knows that the eye does not have any light in it- it reflects outside light! It reflects the light of the sun and likewise we are expected to reflect the light of Christ. Just as the sun is the source, so Christ is the source of light, because he says, "I am the light of the world." Those who among us can reflect the light, can be light, if their heart is pure. If, like the eastern Fathers say, Grace is active in us, then each one of us who has God's grace has the Holy Spirit whom we received through baptism. However, God's grace is not active in each one of us! The Lord gave us freedom. Some accept for the Lord Jesus to be active in them and some refuse! Some love to come to church and some do not like to come to church. Those who want the grace of God that is present in their hearts to be active within them, at that point their mind is illumined, at that point grace is active. How is grace active? When we give a good example in order to "shine your light before the people so that they see your good works and praise your Father in heaven." There are Christian people who live Christ's commandments and give a good example in their life and there are those who do not care and God's grace is not active in them. Today we celebrate first of all the holy fathers at the Fourth Ecumenical Council. What is the meaning of the holy fathers from all the world who gathered at the Fourth Ecumenical Council in a city called Chalcedon, near Constantinople, today Istanbul? What was their decision? They decided the basic belief of the Church, which is that Christ is perfect God and perfect man.

The Christ in whom we believe is first of all God. The Jehovah's Witnesses say that Christ is not God, but our Orthodox belief says in the First and the Fourth Councils that our Christ is our God and he is our savior. If he were not God, then he would not be able to save us. Second of all, he is perfect man. In some sects, they believe that Christ is God who outwardly became incarnate, meaning that he is not fully human, that is he did not take on all our being, all our human weaknesses. This is something very important, because it shows us the way that we must follow in order to be saved. He came and lived as a human just like us on this earth. One who reads the Gospels knows that he got tired and wept and was sad... he had all human emotions and at the same time he was God.

For this reason he suffered on the cross and died, but by his divine power he rose from the dead. This is the teaching of the Fourth Ecumenical Council. However, the second feast, and the one that you are celebrating today is your feast of Saint Marina. Who is a martyr? How can a virgin or a lady become a holy martyr? Every one of us can become a saint! In foreign languages they say 'martyr' [the Arabic is shahid] and in the original language it is 'martyr'. A martyr means one who bears witness and a martyr is one who is prepared to die for Christ's sake! At the same time, he lives his Christianity and is a martyr,that is a witness, meaning that he witnesses through his life that he is a Christian. This is found in the Gospel passage that you heard today, which says at the end of the sentence, "One who does and teaches is called great in the Kingdom of Heaven." It is not enough to teach as we are. It is not enough for one to teach and preach and chant. We must live the words that we read and chant. One who teaches them must live them, otherwise he will develop schizophrenia, saying one thing and living something else. No, a holy martyr is one who believes and lives and embodies his faith, so God makes him holy by His grace. We celebrate and remember him and he intercedes for us, amen.

Met. Ephrem on the Feast of Saint Sisoes

This sermon was originally given at the Church of St. Sisoes (Sassine) in Afsadiq, Lebanon on July 19. The Arabic original can be found here.



On this day we celebrate this saint ,the righteous Sisoes who lived in Egypt in the fourth and fifth centuries and who is one of the great, righteous saints! In Egypt, among the Copts they call him Bishoy and here in our country we call him Sassine. He was a disciple of Saint Anthony the Great as well as of Saint Macarius the Great, who are two of the greatest monastic saints who lived in the desert. This Sisoes or Bishoy is known as the penitent of the desert, which means that he went to the wilderness, to the desert to repent to the point that at the time of his death they asked him, "father, what do you see?" His response was, "I see a group coming to take me and I hope they will give me a moment to repent before I leave this life." For this reason he is called the penitent of the desert.

You heard this reading from the Gospel-- the Church always chooses for righteous ones, that is monks who live almost without sin in repentance and so were in the desert far from life's comforts and temptations-- you heard this reading from the Gospel of Matthew, which says "Come unto me you who are heavy-laden." People today are tired, and why is that? The heavy-laden, they are the ones who feel that they are carrying a burden, and in reality they bear their sins, their weaknesses, their passions. "And I will give you rest." The one who is speaking is the Lord Jesus Christ. "Learn from me." How simple the Gospel is, but it is also very profound. "Learn from Me, I am meek and humble of heart." One who is humble is gentle, calm, not anxious, agitated, and fearful. One who is humble of heart does not take account of his condition and does not consider himself to be the center of existence. Whether or not we exist would not change very much and so we have no reason to be proud. This is the only sentence in the Gospel where the Lord Jesus speaks about himself, about his virtues and qualities, to show that they are the most important thing and that they can be the most difficult thing for people because every one of us is attached to himself, while a meek, humble person looks to the other and has the humility to accept and to love the other. "Learn from me, I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest within yourselves." If we heard today how our holy fathers lived-- and our saint was known for denying his own heart-- if we only learned this lesson then we would know that when we are weary, that we come to church, we confess, we pray, we cast this burden off our back and we have rest in our soul. It is only Christ's teaching that gives rest! The person who is gentle and humble is at rest and gives others rest. This is in all the simplicity and brevity of the teaching that the Lord Jesus gives us and that the saints lived so that we might learn and seek their intercession, amen.

Fr, Touma (Bitar) on Virginity, Marriage, and Reproduction

The Arabic original can be found here.




Virginity and the Correct View of Fertility


Have you ever wondered why Adam did not know Eve in the Garden of Eden, in the sense of entering into physical intimacy with her, but rather it was only after they were expelled from there (Genesis 3:23-24, 4:1)? Then would it have been possible for them to have children had they remained in Paradise and had not been placed outside?

If your response to the second question is yes, they could have had children if they had remained in Paradise, then this raises the question: Why did the Bible not indicate this? Perhaps there is an omission about this matter? I don't think so! There are no omissions in what pertains to God! If your response is no, they could not have children, then why did the Lord God create them capable of fertility and of having children?

My answer to you, starting from the last question, is that the Lord God, in His foreknowledge, knew that Adam and Eve would fall and would be expelled from the Garden of Eden. For this reason He created them capable of fertility and of having natural, human children. As for the actual reproduction, this was was to come after the Fall, for a very worthy purpose! This does not at all mean that sex, insofar as it is the physical faculty of fertility and the means of having children, and so bodily intimacy, is something connected to corruption or is something fallen. Not at all! Sex is from God and physical intimacy is from God, even if they are often used contrary to God's purpose! So both of them are blessed. Both are signs of God's love for humanity, in that God's love was behind His creating man. However, what was God's purpose in creating what would come into effect after the Fall? And going on, why was the capability for fertility and having children not activated in Paradise, before the Fall?

The response that sheds light on all the above questions is that Adam and Eve in Paradise did not need to activate human, natural fertility and having children because they enjoyed another kind of fertility on account of which in Paradise there was no need for natural fertility. This is spiritual fertility, in that they were enveloped in God's grace. Spiritual fertility causes natural human fertility to lack divine value. This is why the Lord said in the Gospel of Matthew, "In the Ressurection they do not marry or are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:30)." Thus the Book of Genesis did not mention Adam's knowledge of Eve and his begetting children with her. As for why this matter is mentioned after the Fall, it is first of all because Adam and Eve were excluded from spiritual fertility, and secondly because within God's purpose, the precise goal of human, natural fertility is the restoration, or more exactly the attainment of the state of spiritual fertility in the most perfect way possible. The purpose of natural fertility and this state is exactly so that humanity could reach the time of the Lord's Christ! The Lord's Christ came, humanly, through natural fertility (Matthew 1:1-17) and in God's economy for humanity, He did not come, as is clear, except in this way. Then, after the Lord's Christ came, that is after the incarnation of the Son of God, He entered us, through faith in Him, into divine, spiritual fertility, since following His ascent into heaven He sent us from the Heavenly Father, the comforting Spirit, the Lord's Holy Spirit. This is exactly the Spirit of divine fertility. Thus man has been given the gift of spiritual fertility, the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven, through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit!

All this means that human marriage, or you could call it natural fertility, and the sex and having children that are connected to it, are no longer obligatory after the coming of Christ the Lord. For this very reason the Lord Jesus did not marry, as a human, because He is the fullness of divine, spiritual fertility and because there is no longer any necessity for human fertility. For this reason also, many in the Church of Christ spontaneously inclined toward refraining from natural marriage and toward being content with the struggle toward spiritual marriage, that is toward spiritual fertility, through being engrossed in the principles of the spiritual life-- keeping the commandments, striving to acquire the Gospel virtues, and participating in the divine mysteries. This refraining from marriage had not been known prior to the coming of Christ to the degree that we notice after His coming or according to the new spirit in man's life with regard to spiritual fertility that came to us through the Lord Jesus Christ and through Him alone!

Naturally, here the question is posed: If there natural marriage and natural fertility are no longer required and necessary after divine, spiritual fertility became available, then does this mean that marriage and having children were abolished? Why do Christians still marry and give in marriage? No, until the general resurrection Christian marriage is not abolished, but it takes on a new orientation! Marriage, in Christ, is blessed and so is not marrying! Naturally, it is more virtuous for a person to empty himself completely for the struggle of spiritual fertility, that is working for holiness and the acquisition of the Spirit of the Lord without entering into natural marriage, because he has redoubled his effort toward the One! Let us not forget the reason, as the Apostle Paul presented it in his first letter to the Corinthians: "He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife (1 Corinthians 7:32-33)." The Apostle Paul said this while giving advice that "I want you to be without care (verse 32)," despite that what is sought in both states, marriage or being unmarried, is the same: spiritual fertility, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, holiness, the Kingdom of Heaven, eternal life... This makes natural fertility within the framework of Christian marriage into a new reality! Natural fertility, or you could say natural marriage, has no Christian value in itself. Its value, in Christian terms, is with the goal and within the framework of lively striving toward spiritual fertility, toward holiness, toward caring for "what is the Lord's" (1 Corinthians 7:32)! So what has become available and required in Christ of both the married and the unmarried all at once is the same thing! The difference for one or the other is in the degree and not in the type of new life! Both of them must be for the Lord. "For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord" (Romans 14:8). However, the unmarried pray more, fast more, worship more, and practice asceticism more... Married people practice this things, but to a lesser degree because they have to provide for a family and because there are social obligations and a job. However, in principle both are fully and completely committed to the principles of the spiritual life, each according to his ability and the situation he finds himself in.

I will add to this that the ultimate goal of Christian marriage or its most prominent gift is to leaven the world in which those married in Christ exist, the world that has not yet come to the knowledge of Christ in spirit and in truth. I say leavening it with new leaven for Christ, whether through following the divine commandments, in love, or in the other Christian virtues, and especially in preaching the divine word wherever possible! Unmarried believers also work in all these evangelistic fields, but within different frameworks and measures than the frameworks and measures of married believers. So, as long as the Word of salvation has not reached all the earth, we are ever in need of apostles of the Word and for witnesses of Jesus' love. Thus we are in need of Christian families to have children and to make generation after generation, according to Jesus' love, who will become new servants for Him, fulfilling his command to go forth and make disciples of all the nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20).

This is the framework of Christian marriage for us and this is its purpose. It is not fitting for Christians to treat natural marriage and natural fertility as though it was a value in itself, disconnected from spiritual fertility in the way that unbelievers treat it, because they-- that is Christians-- are chosen to become living temples of God so that God might dwell within them. All Christians, whether married or unmarried are all called in this way, not necessarily to celibacy but to virginity, insofar as the deep meaning of virginity is for a person to become a temple of God. The word "batoul" [i.e. 'virgin] comes from "beit El", that is the house of God! But as for those Christians who practice sex for its own sake or who enter into mixed marriages on the basis of human, natural fertility without Christ,the spiritual life, and lively effort toward holiness, even if they still consider themselves to be formally Christians, they are deceiving themselves and effectively practicing paganism, which is the worship of the self, the passions of soul and body under the guise of God and His Christ! And so they are living in clear, practical error!

In short, the purpose and framework of natural fertility and natural marriage in Christ is spiritual fertility and an entrance into the wedding-chamber of Christ. This is the very same goal and framework as that which the unmarried and those not seeking natural fertility seek, if they believe in Christ. And so we seek the face of God, Jesus' word and God's spirit in every matter, and after this we do as the Spirit inspires us. If not, we go astray and fall into error!

There are those who might wonder after this exposition: What about how to treat the body within the framework of Christian marriage, outside the bounds of begetting children, or if one or both of the spouses is unable to have children? Indeed, we do not have a response to give about this. The questions are related to personal conscience and the Church does not legislate about it for us. Indeed, she leaves it for those within the relationship themselves. She only confirms that spiritual fertility is the framework and goal of every physical relation between husband and wife and hands them over to mature, competent spiritual fathers to arrange the matter between them for their well-being, building them up, and rooting them in making an effort toward holiness in their life, insofar as those fathers are our experts in the struggle for spiritual fertility, its details, and the principles of the spiritual life.

Archimandrite Touma (Bitar)
Abbot of the Monastery of St. Silouan the Athonite- Douma
May 29, 2011