Spotlight on Eastern Orthodoxy II: Christmas Service

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church

There is something serenely peaceful about listening to religious chanting and there is much of that in the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Allston, MA.

Because they go by the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, their Christmas service is held on January 7.

The HROC is a relatively small building with the iconic orthodox cross on its roof.

As you walk in the entrance is unassuming with a small sign pointing the way to the sanctuary which is up the stairs to the left or right.

I was somewhat unsure at first whether I found the correct door to the sanctuary, but there was enough evidence that I somewhat timidly opened the door and found myself surprised.

Icon of Madonna and Child

Ahead of me were two pictures of saints on golden colored stands, one to my left and another to my right. There were two more ahead of those.

As people approached the icons they kissed them, bowed, and made the sign of the cross. Some of the bows were so low that they resembled a Muslim salah.

Ahead of the icons was an inner sanctum, which only the clergy was allowed to enter. The inner sanctum had two smaller entrances on the side and a larger one in the center.

Back: Inner Sanctuary

There was minimal seating and I found out later that the majority of people stood through the entire service. Near the walls there were more (but less ornate icons).

The entire service, with the exception of the short sermon, was chanted. There was a call and response from the clergy and the parishioners. Most of the clergy were wearing ornate white robes, with an icon: crosses, images of Jesus, and the like.

While the priests did most of the chanting, "Lord have mercy" was repeated several times as a response by the congregation.

As noted in my last post this was a common refrain (almost literally) in The Way of the Pilgrim. Lord have mercy was praised for its versatility; it could mean forgive my debts and give me alms (as well as other potential meanings).

With the exception of the sermon and the three or four carols they sung at the very end of the service, there was little to indicate that this service was a Christmas service. 

However, I was invited to dine with them, which I did. This is when it was obvious they were celebrating Christmas

It was a feast. Chicken, mashed potatoes, pork, good wine, cheese, deserts, and more. People where exchanging gifts at this moment as well. And the two new deacons (who were ordained during the Christmas service) received gifts from the church.

This was the second time I had a meal with members of this church. And both times I felt as though everyone I spoke to was thoughtful and genuinely lived a moral and devout life.

I was able to briefly talk to a few people in the process. One was the priest who let me borrow The Way of the Pilgrim and I told him that one thing that struck me was the repetition. And I mentioned that I saw that on their website they quoted St. John Chrysostom as encouraging people to read the Bible everyday.

He told me the following. He said, you have a job right? And in your job your expected to read your bosses instructions and carry them out. You would be fired if you did not do this. Heavily implying a good Christian is obliged to pray and read the Bible everyday.

Another person I spoke to was a convert to Orthodoxy. He and his mother saw an Eastern Orthodox priest talk about C.S. Lewis. His mother converted before he did and they felt this was the right path. Previously I saw this person bow the lowest out of the entire congregation during a part of the liturgy.

As I was leaving there were several performances of Christmas carols and classical music ensembles. I left during the first performance. I left through the back door so that I did not have to fight my way through the crowd to the front of the room.

As I was leaving I saw one of the parishioners speaking to a man outside who appeared to be homeless. The parishioner was offering food from their table on behalf of the church.

Bottom line:

There isn't much to critique here. The chanting is a reminder of collective effervescence formulated by Durkheim, but I have mentioned this elsewhere when writing about other traditions. Experientially, this was closest to Buddhist chanting at the Kurukulla Center.

More than most churches it seemed to me that all the people I had a chance to speak to had a sense of a shared mission and more than that a thoughtful disposition to their faith.

Though not entirely through reason, if reason is meant as a naturalistic worldview. The priest at least, seemed to advocate for knowledge based on revelation or at least intuition that is not empirically verifiable in addition to empirical knowledge.

Sure this type of epistemology (worldview or way of knowing) has opponents, but how we know anything is a very difficult question for philosophers. This includes theologians and philosophers of religion, as well as naturalistic philosophers. 

Christmas III: Scripture (Isaiah 9)

"A prophecy that misread could have been." -- Yoda. 

Or Whose Bible is it Anyway

Christmas is not a time for extended exegesis about Bible passages. However, Isaiah 9 struck me as odd the six times I heard it in as many services as straightforward evidence that prophesied the birth of Christ.   


However, Jews typically interpret this verse as referencing the birth of Hezekiah son of King Ahaz. Both cannot be right. Let's look at the passage itself:

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders, And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this -- Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV translation).

There are Jewish commentators who dislike various aspects of this translation. 


First the English translation is in the present tense, when in the original Hebrew it is clearly past tense. I can forgive the KJV translation since 'is' was often used as a helping verb in some forms of past tense prior to 1900 or so (though not in every instance). The above NIV translation has no excuse. 


Second, 'Mighty God' could alternately be translated as mighty hero, as is done in other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures. 


Third, prince of peace should be ruler of peace. It was likely translated as 'prince' to make the association to Christ, the Son of God, stronger than the text would have otherwise implied.  


Even looking at just the English there are problems with associating this verse with Christ. 


There are more references to Earthly matters than Heavenly ones. 
Isaiah 9 uses the word 'government' twice and even references David's throne and kingdom. The verse seems to imply that there will be a future political ruler, which aligns better with the Jewish interpretation. 


Also can Jesus really be called 'Everlasting Father;' he is the son of the Trinity, not the Father. 


Of the three translation problems the first is the most damaging to a Christian reading. Though Christian apologists will point to other scriptures in which the past tense was used for things that have not occurred yet. 


The second and third should be noted as questionable translations, but from a Christian perspective neither is a smoking gun. Might God is an acceptable translation and ruler of peace would be an acceptable title for Jesus for most Christians. 


Finally, there are many theological ways to get out of the various problems apparent in the English translation. For instance, one could claim that Jesus' throne beside his father is King David's throne and the Church is the new Israel. 


Since the Trinity is three persons, but one God means that in some sense Jesus is the Father, as well as the son and Holy Spirit. And under certain interpretations could be the 'Everlasting Father' mentioned above.  


These are just examples of solutions; there are many more. However, it is not my goal here to adjudicate between who is right or wrong, but to contemplate how the same text is interpreted by different groups of people. 


Bottom Line:

People should be encouraged to read and think from another's perspective. We should always, when possible, acknowledge alternate translations and interpretations. 


Any translation involves interpretation. Prince of Peace implies a son of a king, whereas Ruler of Peace does not. This translation choice was an interpretative move. Though this example is blatant, other attempts at translation are interpretative in less obvious ways. 

Christmas II: Carols and Misrecognition

For those who celebrate, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Yuletide, Festivus, Kwanzaa, or whatever it is you are celebrating, have celebrated, or will be celebrating!!!

I had the fortune to attend 5 Christmas Eve services and 1 Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. 

There was a surprising amount of consistency between the services of various denominations. Virtually every service featured the carols: "Silent Night," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Joy to the World," and "We Three Kings of Orient Are." 

The Scripture readings were almost universally from Luke 2 and Isaiah 9. Some also chose to read the famous John 3:16. 

In this post I will talk about the carols and in the next post I will briefly discuss the chosen Scriptures. 

Catherine Bell in Ritual Theory: Ritual Practice talks about various aspects of ritual/practice, including 'misrecognition.' Rituals feature a misrecognition is of their limits and constraints, and of their ends and means, pg 82. 

One example given is that in a gift exchange there is often a misrecognition of generosity, since the gifts exchanged are usually of approximately equal value pg 83. 

(The basic idea of misrecognition is that ritual participants are involved in something that can not be brought about solely through their actions as individuals.)

If Bonhoeffer was right that Christians should and do participate in the Christmas story, if Walter Kim (the pastor giving the sermon at Park Street) is right that Christians participate in the most epic story ever, then we should take seriously the activities of Christmas services as ritual. 

Thus, we should find instances of misrecognition. 

Two of the services I attended, Park Street Church and King's Chapel, had a mother and father with an infant child dress up as the Holy family (Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus).

Christmas Decorations at Park Street Church

These congregations invited us to adore the Holy family. A deliberate misrecognition of what they were actually doing vs. what was happening in the ritual. (No one really thinks that they were adoring the actual Holy family). 

Many carols exhibit a similar misrecognition. "Silent Night" was sung almost exclusively in the present tense. Almost as if by singing the song we were witnessing Christ's birth. 

Two others, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "We Three Kings of Orient Are" start with present tense while Christ is being born and end either in the contemporary world using present tense or reference the fulfillment of Christ's life. For instance, in "We Three Kings of Orient Are", the final verse references the 'stone cold tomb.'

Many liturgical calendars also exhibit a similar misrecognition of time. 

According to many traditions, Christmas or Christmastide is actually twelve days and ends with Epiphany. In twelve days of ritual time we go from the birth of Christ to Epiphany.

Thus, the Christmas story, more than most Christian stories has a tendency to mesh the beginning and end of Christ's life. 

Arguably all of these are examples of a 'misrecognition' of time and place with believers being invited to participate in witnessing the birth of Christ as if it is currently happening. 

Christmas I: God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For Christmastime, I decided to read God is in the Manger, an advent devotional composed of: selected writings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a famous German theologian and political prisoner of Hitler), some of his letters, supplemental writings from other authors, and scripture.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This was organized and edited by Jana Reiss and translated from the original German by O.C. Dean Jr. Thus, though the words are Bonhoeffer's, it's organization is not.

The word 'advent' means waiting, so advent is about waiting for the coming of Christ the child. Those who read advent devotionals already know that Christ has come and, at least for Bonhoeffer, it is a reminder to await the second coming as well. 

A devotional assumes that you are Christian and are well versed in the story of Christ. Specifically it assumes that you believe that Christ's birth was foretold to Mary, the wise men, and shepherds, that Mary was a virgin, and that Christ would redeem us. 

For simplicity's sake this post will be written mostly from this perspective. (Remember the goal is to understand before critiquing).

Like many devotionals, this devotional is organized to be read daily and each week has a theme. 

The first week's theme is waiting. 

But how can you wait for something that has already happened? The first reading answers this question by comparing the wait of the first Advent to the wait for the second Advent:

The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, pg. 2.

This is followed by a letter from Bonhoeffer to his parents saying that he does not not know how much longer we have.

Not all can wait, some are satisfied or do not have respect, but those who do will also wait for Truth, love, and all that is good. If we cannot wait then we will not have these things. We have largely become indifferent to the fear that Christ's coming should arouse in us (pg 8).

The second week's theme is mystery of Christ and mystery in general.

Mystery is a child-like quality; mystery is where we reach the boundary of our being. The greatest mystery is the person next to us. And the deeper you know someone the greater the mystery; the greatest mystery is when you know someone so well that you fall in love. The fact that you can be so close to someone is the "greatest mystery" (pg. 20)

It is also the wonder of wonders that God loves the broken and the lowly, the excluded and the broken. He loves us so much he became one of us. Like God becoming mortal we should celebrate Christmas by laying down our power and dignity. By doing so we participate in the mystery that is Advent. 

The third week's theme is redemption. 

Jesus does not want to exonerate himself from the guilt because people he loves are living in it; so he becomes guilty, the one who takes all the guilt. He does this out of love. 

Even those who act responsibility should not want to absolve themselves of guilt, this would blind them to the guilt that all humanity shares. 

Advent reminds us that we are participants in world judgment and world redemption. But God does not wish to frighten us; we should not be afraid. pg. 44. But only by experiencing the initial fear described in the first week's reading, can we appreciate the beauty of advent. The initial fear should not last. 

The fourth week's theme incarnation.

God wants us to become human, pg. 50. God became human so that human beings can become human. "In Christ the form of human beings before God was created anew," pg. 52. 

Remembering the Incarnation every year at Christmas time is a reminder that he lets himself be found by everyone. He was here among us. 

The Christ-child is God despite his weakness and poverty because of his divine love. Bonhoeffer encourages us to pause at this statement: "God became a child!"

In this devotional it almost seems as if the transformation from God into God-child happens every Christmas pg. 58-59.

Before advent is a liminal period, an in between of promise and fulfillment - Luci Shaw quoted in God is in the Manger pg. 61.

After Christmas

There are readings for the twelve days of Christmas and the beginning of Epiphany as well. Though I won't write about those, at least not yet. 

Bottom Line

Overall I can see why this is a popular Christmas devotional. All the chosen pieces were beautifully written and Bonhoeffer was writing from a context of waiting to get out of a prison cell, giving it additional meaning. 

Supplementary readings from other authors and the Bible passages were well chosen to help put into context Bonhoeffer's main passage.

From an outside perspective you could criticize this devotional on its various theological claims. And you are free to do so. But personally I would find that uninteresting. 

And assuming an internal Christian perspective there is little to critique. It is a book that is intended to aid in Christmastide meditation/thought/prayer. A Christian may even disagree with the thoughts in the book, but that still means it did its job as an aid to Christian thought. 

One thing I would like to point out is to say that this is not a rational book, in the sense that it is not even trying to be rational. 

There is no real argument, there are only ideas to meditate on around Christmas time. This is something that certain critics of religion often forget; sometimes religion is not trying to be rational, nor should it necessarily always be rational. 

Religion is often experiential and this book is designed to aid in the religious experience of Christmas.