Against the Error of Nominalism

CRITIQUE OF THE 1913 EPISTLE OF THE RUSSIAN SYNOD ON THE NAME OF GOD

By Vladimir Ern (+1918)

THE BOUNDLESS NAME

By Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston, Bishop Gregory of Brookline and Thomas Deretich (HOCNA)

By the term “Name of God,” Orthodox Christians mean two things: 1) We mean the revealed Truth about God, and, 2) in another sense, we mean also the human, created words by which this revealed Truth is articulated. The eternal, revealed Truth about God exists and will always exist, whether we articulate it in our human language or not. This is what our Saviour intimates to us when in the Gospel of St. John, He tells the Jews:

"But now you seek to kill Me, a Man that has told you the Truth, which I have heard from God." (John 8:40)

No one in his right mind would assert that the Truth which God the Son heard from God the Father was communicated in human words! The communication in the Holy Trinity is entirely ineffable. Yet it is this very Truth, the uncreated and ineffable Truth of God, that our Saviour, when He became man for us, revealed to us in human speech. This is also the very same divine Truth with which the Holy Spirit enlightened the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, in accordance with the promise of our Saviour:

"When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak." (John 16:13)

Again, the Truth that the Holy Spirit shall speak and guide Christ’s disciples in, is an ineffable and divine Truth, which He received from the Son. Yet this is the same Truth that the Spirit showed to the Apostles and which they preached with human words in all the known world!

These examples illustrate clearly the two aspects of God’s revelation and the distinction that lies between them: the uncreated and eternal Truth of God’s revelation, and created, human concepts and words with which this revelation is articulated in order to become accessible to the human mind. And this is the very same distinction that exists between the uncreated Name of God, that is, the eternal Truth about God, and the created names of God, that is, human words and concepts, which the Church has taught us to use in order to articulate the eternal Truth about God.

It is exclusively in the former sense, that is, in the sense of the uncreated Truth about God, that we say that the Name of God is an Energy of God, because every revelation of God about Himself, every Truth about God, is His Energy. In the latter sense, that is, in terms of human speech, the names of God are both created and temporal, being part of this world, and they are certainly not an Energy of God.

“THY NAME IS AS MYRRH POURED FORTH”

Sermon of Bishop Gregory of Brookline (HOCNA) on the Feast of the Circumcision, 2014,

delivered at Holy Nativity Convent, Boston.

(lightly edited)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We have come, dear sisters in Christ, to the eighth day after the Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and on this eighth day the Saviour Who became man fulfills the covenant that He gave to His servant Abraham, one of four covenants that He gave to human beings.

The first covenant was that given to Noah, the covenant that was confirmed by the rainbow, saying that there would not be a deluge anymore to punish the iniquities of human beings. And our Saviour fulfilled this covenant because not only was there not a deluge, but water itself was transformed from a means of destruction to the means of salvation through Holy Baptism.

The second covenant He gave to His servant, the father of all the faithful, Abraham. The third covenant was given on Mt. Sinai—the law which was proclaimed by Moses.

And the fourth and final covenant was revealed by our Saviour Himself when He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary. And thus were fulfilled the words of the Prophet Jeremias who said that there will be given another law and another circumcision—not the law written on tablets of stone, but a law written in the hearts of men and circumcision not of the foreskin, but circumcision of the heart. This our Saviour fulfilled by His Incarnation, when He gave us a new law, new life, new commandments—the final covenant.

But today our Saviour is Himself submitting to the covenant that He gave to Patriarch Abraham, being circumcised and named that wonderful and blessed name—Jesus.[1]

When Abraham believed in God and fulfilled everything that God had bidden him, our Saviour gave him the covenant saying that “you shall circumcise the foreskin of all your progeny, and in your seed all nations shall be blessed.”[2] And He changed his name from Abram to Abraham. And truly, in his seed, as Paul the Apostle tells us, in his seed (he uses the singular form of the word in Greek [3]), that is, in our Saviour, all the nations are blessed.

A great thing is revealed today. If we read carefully the homily written by St. Dimitry of Rostov concerning this feast, we shall understand the depth of the wisdom of God. Our Saviour was circumcised, fulfilling the law, but also on this feast He reveals to us a great treasure—the great treasure of that Name by which He will be called from here unto eternity. By all the Angels and men, unto eternity, unto the ages of ages, God the Son will be known as Jesus, the sweetest of names, close to the heart of everyone that believes.

And St. Dimitry of Rostov most beautifully explains that until now, until this Name was revealed, it was [kept as myrrh] in a jar. But on this day of Circumcision the jar was opened, and the Name was spread abroad. And in this was fulfilled that which was written in the Song of Songs by the Prophet and King Solomon; for this whole Song of Songs is a dialogue between the bridegroom and the bride. And the Fathers say that the dialogue is really between Christ, the Bridegroom, and His beloved, the Church. And the Church, the bride, tells our Saviour, “Thy Name is as myrrh spread and poured forth. Therefore the virgins love Thee.”[4] Truly His Name is as myrrh, as fragrant myrrh spread abroad in the whole world, and this begins today.

ΨΑΛΜΟΣ 19:1

Υπό

Μητροπολίτου Βοστώνης Εφραίμ

Όταν ο Σωτήρας μας απευθύνθηκε στους Αγίους Αποστόλους με τις λέξεις: «Λάβετε Πνεύμα Άγιο», δεν εννοούσε ότι θα λάμβαναν την Ουσία ή την Υπόσταση του Αγίου Πνεύματος.

Γιατί;

Επειδή κανένα πλάσμα δεν μπορεί να λάβει ή να συμμετάσχει της Ουσίας του Θεού. Αν ήταν δυνατόν να λάβει ή να συμμετάσχει της Ουσίας του Θεού μας, θα ήτανε τότε ο ίδιος Θεός! Αλλά αυτό είναι φύσει αδύνατο για τον άνθρωπο, που είναι ένα δημιούργημα. Ο Θεός είναι αδημιούρητος, ενώ ο άνθρωπος είναι δημιούργημα. Ο Θεός είναι αιώνιος εκ φύσεως, ενώ ο άνθρωπος είναι θνητός. Ο Θεός είναι εκ φύσεως άγιος, ενώ ο άνθρωπος είναι προφανώς πεπτωκός και αμαρτωλός.

Όμως, με τη Χάρη του Θεού, τα πάντα είναι δυνατά.

Με την Χάρη του Θεού, ο άνθρωπος μπορεί να γίνει αιώνιος. Με την Χάρη ο άνθρωπος, ένα πεπτωκό πλάσμα, μπορεί να γίνει άγιος. Με την Χάρη του Θεού, οι άνθρωποι μπορούν να αποθεωθούν.

Ο Μωϋσής ο Αιθίοπας, ο κλέφτης και δολοφόνος, θα μπορούσε και με τη Χάρη του Θεού, έγινε ο πράος Άγιος Μωϋσής ο Αιθίοπας.

Η Μαρία, η έκλυτη πόρνη της Αιγύπτου, θα μπορούσε και τω όντι, με τη Χάρη του Θεού, να γίνει η Αγία Μαρία Αιγυπτία, η διορατική, η εξαιρετικά σοφός, η καθαρά νύμφη του Χριστού.

Έτσι, όταν ο πρώτος στίχος του Ψαλμού 19 μας ευλογεί με τις λέξεις:

«Επακούσε σου Κύριος εν ημέρα θλίψεως,

Υπερσπίσαι σου το Όνομα του Θεού Ιακώβ»

είναι παρόμοιες με τις λέξεις, «Λάβτετε Πνεύμα Άγιο.» Όπως αναφέραμε παραπάνω, δεν λαμβάνουμε, τω όντι, δεν είναι δυνατόν να λάβουμε την Ουσία ή την Υπόσταση του Αγίου Πνεύματος, αλλά μπορούμε να λάβουμε τη Χάρη του Αγίου Πνεύματος. Έτσι, στην πραγματικότα, ο Σωτήρας μας μας λέει εδώ: «Λάβετε τη Χάρη του Αγίου Πνεύματος.»

Ομοίως, όταν ο ψαλμωδός λέει, «Υπερσπίσαι σου το Όνομα του Θεού Ιακώβ», εννοεί «η Δύναμη, η άκτιστη Χάρη, του Θεού του Ιακώβ να σε υπερασπίσει.»

Όπως έχουμε επισημάνει και αλλού, «το Όνομα του Θεού (η κυρία σημασία και το νόημά του και όχι τα έξωτερικά γράμματα και οι ήχοι του) είναι η θεϊκώς αποκεκαλυμμένη Αλήθεια περί Αυτού του ίδιου του Θεού, και όλες οι αποκαλύψεις του Θεού περί του εαυτού Του είναι η Δύναμη, η Ενέργεια, η Χάρη Του. Σύμφωνα με τη διδασκαλία της Εκκλησίας, η Χάρη του Θεού είναι ο ίδιος ο Θεός (όχι η Ουσία Του, αλλά η Ενέργειά Του).[1] Ως εκ τούτου, με αυτή την έννοια πρέπει να εννοήσουμε το περίφημο ρητό του Αγ. Ιωάννου Κρονστάνδης ‟το Όνομα του Θεού είναι ο ίδιος ο Θεός.” Η έκφραση του Αγ. Κλήμεντος Ρώμης ότι «το Όνομα του Θεού έδωσε ύπαρξη σε όλη τη δημιουργία»[2] πρέπει επίσης να γίνεται αντιληπτή με αυτή την έννοια.

Αυτό, επίσης, είναι ακριβώς που ο προφήτης Δαβίδ λέει με τον ακόλουθο παραλληλισμό:

Και φοβηθήσονται τα έθνη το Όνομά Σου, Κύριε,

Και πάντες οι βασιλείς της γης την Δόξα Σου.

(Ψαλμός 101:15)

Το ίδιο ακριβώς, λέγει και ο Αγ. Κύριλλος Αλεξανδρείας:

[Ιωάννην 17:11: «Πάτερ Ἅγιε, τήρησον αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ Ὀνόματί Σου ᾧ δέδωκάς Μοι».] «Λέει ότι οι μαθητές Του θα πρέπει να φυλάσσονται στο Όνομα του Πατρός, δηλαδή, στη Δόξα και την Δύναμη της Θεότητας Του, έτσι ώστε να πρέπει να είναι έξω από τη δύναμη του εχθρού.»[3]

Ως εκ τούτου, όταν προφέρουμε το Όνομα του Θεού, όταν το γράφουμε ή το διαβάζουμε όταν το αποτύπωνουμε στο νου μας, αυτό είναι η δημιουργημένη όψη, που ανήκει στην ανθρώπινη ομιλία μας. Είναι μια λέξη, μια λεκτική εικόνα, ένα σύμβολο που δημιουργήθηκε. Αλλά η Αλήθεια, που περιέχεται και εκφράζεται σ’ αυτά τα δημιουργημένα ονόματα, η Αλήθεια αυτή που απαυγάζεται και απορρέει, απ’ αυτά τα ονόματα είναι αιώνια και άκτιστη, είτε το εκφράζουμε είτε όχι. Η Αλήθεια του Θεού, αυτή η Αλήθεια περί Θεού, όπως αποκάλυψε ο ίδιος ο Θεός, είναι το άκτιστο Όνομα του Θεού, είναι η Δόξα Του, η Δύναμη Του, η Μεγαλοσύνη Του, η Χάρη Του, κλπ. Αυτό είναι το Όνομα του Θεού, και η Εκκλησία το δοξάζει και το υμνεί από καταβολής κόσμου, και θα συνεχίζει να το μεγαλύνει εις τους απεράντους αιώνες. Όπως ο Άγ. Ιωάννης του Τομπόλσκ (+1715) το εκφράζει τόσο συνοπτικά.

«Οι εκλεκτοί του Θεού επιθυμούν πολύ όπως το Όνομα του Θεού, η Σοφία Του, η Δύναμη Του, το Έλεος και η Αλήθειά Του λατρεύεται με αγιοσύνη από όλα τα έθνη και τις φυλές, ούτως ότι όλοι οι λαοί (ως πλάσματα του ενός Θεού) να ζουν με ειρήνη και ομόνοια.»[4]

Το Όνομα του Θεού δεν είναι μόνο ένα κτιστό σύμβολο, όπως λένε μερικοί (αν και είναι κι αυτό), είναι, πιο σημαντικά, η άκτιστηστη Δύναμη και Χάρης του Θεού.

«Λάβεται Πνεύμα Άγιο.»

«Υπερσπίσαι σου το Όνομα του Θεού Ιακώβ.»

---

[1] « ἑκάστη Δύναμις ἢ Ἐνέργεια Αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ Θεός ». Άγ. Γρηγόριος ο Παλαμάς, επιστολη προς τον ιωαννην γαβραν 13, στον Παναγιώτης Κ. Χρήστου, επιμελ., γρηγοριου του παλαμα συγγραματα, τόμ. 2 (Θεσσαλονίκη, 1966), σελ. 340.

[2] «τὸ ἀρχέγονον πάσης κτίσεως ὄνομά Σου.» Άγ. Κλήμης Ρώμης, επιστολη προσ κορινθιουσ αʹ 59.3.

[3] «… ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Πατρὸς χρῆναι λέγων τηρεῖσθαι τοὺς μαθητὰς, οἱονεὶ τὸ ἐν δόξῃ καὶ δυνάμει θεότητος, τῆς τοῦ κακοῦν ἐθέλοντος ἔξω γενέσθαι χειρὸς …». Άγ. Κύριλλος Αλεξανδρείας, εξηγησις εις το κατα ιωαννην ευαγγελιον 11.9 (επιμέλ. P.E. Pusey, Sancti patris nostri Cyrilli archiepiscopi Alexandrini: In D. Joannis evangelium: accedunt fragmenta varia necnon tractatus ad Tiberium diaconum duo (3 τόμοι, Oxonii: E Typographeo Clarendοniano, 1872), τόμ. 2, σελ. 714–715, http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.fig:002921833.

[4] Άγ. Ιωάννης (Μαξιμόβιτς) του Τσερνίγκοφ και του Τομπόλσκ, илиотропион, или сообразование человеческой воли с божественной волей (ηλιοτροπιον: συμφωνα με τη θεια θεληση) (1714), κεφ. 4, http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/russian/iliotropion.htm.

Answer to an Enquiry

Answer to an Enquiry

Prof. Serge Verhovskoy: The Distinction Between the Created and the Uncreated Names of God.

A particular form of the revelation of God in a word is the revelation of God in the Divine Names. A Name of God, as a human word, is, of course, created. (It is, therefore, possible to use it senselessly or “in vain.” The identification of a Name of God, as a [created] word, with God Himself is a heresy which was condemned by the Russian Holy Synod in the twentieth century.) But God Himself can dwell and act in it.

The Divine aspect of a Divine Name is, as it were, a Divine “self-definition” or a thought of God about Himself. The presence of a divine principle in the Divine Names follows from the whole attitude of the Old Testament toward Them. The Name of God is Holy, and God sanctifies Himself in His Name (Lev. 22:32). Men can offend the Name of God by their sins (Am. 2:7). God acts for the sake of His Name (Ez. 39:7, 25). The [uncreated] Name of God is one, great and eternal, as is God Himself (Ps. 9:2, 135:13, Zech. 14:9). God acts through His Name (Ps. 54:1). If there were nothing Divine in the Name of God, how would it be possible for us to bless, praise and love it, worship and serve it, rejoice in it and be persecuted for it’s sake? Finally it is striking that God reveals His Names (e.g. Ex. 3:13–14, 6:3). It follows that They express the genuine Divine reality.

God is near to a man in His Names (Ps. 76:1). The presence of God is equivalent to the presence of the Name of God. The Name of God dwells in the whole earth and especially in the Holy Land, in Israel, in Jerusalem, in the temple and in individuals. The Jews loved to give their children names in which there was a Divine Name (Ishmael, John, Joachim, Jesus, etc.).

There are about one hundred Divine Names in the Old Testament. Each of them has its own meaning. It is possible to include into Them the entire theology of the Old Testament. The Divine Name is “wonderful” (Jg. 13:17–18); it is “remembrance of God” (Ex. 3:15). God reveals His Name in order for men to know Him (Ex. 6:3, 33:19; Jer. 23:6).

"God and man: the Doctrine of the Knowledge of God in terms of Eastern Orthodoxy," pp. 95-6,  Serge Verhovskoy

Professor of Dogmatic Theology,
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

What’s in a Name? 

 A Biblical Primer on the Glory of God’s Holy Name

Letter to a Friend

We do not consider modern academic theologians and bishops, even Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, to be equal in authority to the great Fathers and Teachers of the Church, such as the three Great Hierarchs and the three Pillars of Orthodoxy. Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky clearly did misunderstand and misrepresent the teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas on the Essence and Energies of God. Saint Gregory’s teachings were accepted and proclaimed as dogma by the Hesychast Councils of the fourteenth century and are included in the Synodicon of Orthodoxy. But around 1913, because of the Latin Captivity and pseudomorphosis, Russian academic theologians and some bishops appear not to have been reading Saint Gregory, these councils, or the full Greek text of the Synodicon. These texts were available in printed editions, but they were not “fashionable” in the Russian theological academies because of the Latin Captivity.

We also do not consider the Russian “synod” of a few government-appointed bishops to be equal in authority to the seven Ecumenical Councils, the Councils held under Saint Photius the Great, or the Hesychast Councils. These councils have been accepted by the entire Orthodox Church and their teachings have been incorporated into the Synodicon of Orthodoxy. Certain modern councils are sometimes given the title “pan-Orthodox Councils,” such as those that condemned the new calendar in the sixteenth century. But the Russian “synod” cannot compare in authority to any of these councils. The Russian “synod”—which existed from the time that Peter the Great abolished the patriarchate until the election of Saint Tikhon as patriarch—was something like a government bureau. The bishops were presided over by a layman (the over-procurator) who was sometimes not even an Orthodox Christian, but a Lutheran. This “synod” made several decisions inconsistent with Orthodoxy. This “synod” once approved intercommunion with Lutherans. Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky protested that un-Orthodox decision.

We must make the proper Orthodox distinction between God’s Essence and His Energies. We all agree that God’s Essence is unknowable, undefinable, and has no name. But we are speaking of God’s uncreated Energies, or Graces, which are knowable, can be participated in, and definitely do have Names (see the work, The Divine Names, by the Areopagite).

The 1913 Russian decree mistakenly claims that when Saint Gregory Palamas called the Energies of God “Divinity/Godhead,” that he was speaking in a way that is more broad than usual. This is false. Saint Gregory, the Hesychast Councils, and the Synodicon all make it clear that the Energies of God must always be confessed to be “Divinity/Godhead.” That is the normal language of the Church.

The Russian decree of 1913 also wrongly claimed that the Energies of God cannot be called “God” and certainly cannot be called “God Himself,” but can only be called “Divinity/Godhead.” But this is the exact opposite of what Saint Gregory Palamas taught. The Saint wrote that “every power or energy [of God] is God Himself.” Similarly, the Hesychast Councils and the Synodicon do not separate “God” from “Godhead/Divinity” in the way that the mistaken 1913 decree does. In the tradition of the Church, these words can and are used interchangeably. For example, God the Holy Trinity is called the Tri-Hypostatic Divinity.

We all agree that we do not render divine worship or adoration to any created name, to material sounds and letters. It is clear, however, that God’s Grace is attached to the sacred names and prayers just as God’s Grace is attached to and works through holy icons. This is not mechanical or magical, but it is one way God’s Grace works. Even the material, created names of God are a type of icon and we venerate holy icons. Thus we venerate God’s created names as we venerate the holy icons.

What the many quotations from the Scriptures, Fathers, and prayers of the Church that we have provided also demonstrate is that the “Name of God” in the language of the Church, often refers, not to the material or created names, but to their inner significance. The “Name of God” often refers to the uncreated Revelation, Grace, and Energy of God. And the Church clearly teaches that all the uncreated Divine Energies are “God Himself.” Thus, when the Scriptures, Fathers, and prayers of the Church enjoin us to praise the Name of God, they mean that we ought to praise God Himself.
Thomas Deretich.

"I have revealed Thy Name unto men." (John 17:6)

7/20 October, 2012
Ss. Sergius and Bacchus

Dear _____ ,

The Church teaches us to pray, saying:

"Glory to the Father and to the Son  and to the Holy Spirit..."

She also teaches us to pray thus:

"Grant us... that we may hymn and glorify Thine All-honourable and Majestical Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."

Do you consider that in the first prayer we are worshipping the Holy Trinity, but in the second - something else? Of course not.

In both cases we worship the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But the fact that we know that there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is because the Holy Trinity revealed Its Names to us. Without these revealed Names, we would not know that there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit at all. It is these revealed Names that allow us to really know that there is Holy Trinity. That is why the Names cannot be separated from God because it is they that reveal Him.

This is what St. Maximus the Confessor says in his scholia to St. Dionysius’ On the Divine Names, 2.7:

“Everything Divine that has been revealed to us (*), can only be known by participation.”

(*) Commentary by St. Maximus “That is - the Names”

St. Ephraim the Syrian:

Father and Son and Holy Spirit can be attained only through Their Names.

Do not investigate Their Hypostases,

Meditate only on Their Names.

If you will start to search out the Hypostasis, you will perish;

But if you believe in the Name, you will live. May the Name of the Father be a boundary for you: do not cross it and do not search out His Hypostasis. May the Name of the Son be a wall for you: do not try to overcome it and do not search out His Begetting. May the Name of the Spirit be a hedge for you: do not enter therein to investigate Him.

St. John of Damascus tells us:

And this also it behoves us to know, that the Names Fatherhood, Sonship and Procession, were not applied to the Holy Godhead by us: on the contrary, they were communicated to us by the Godhead, as the divine apostle says, ‘Wherefore I bow the knee to the Father, from Whom is every family in heaven and on earth’.

And our Saviour Himself prays to the Father, saying:

"I have revealed Thy Name unto men."

When God reveals something about Himself, can that be created?

This is what we mean by the Name of God - the revealed Truth about Him, and only afterwards - the human words by which this truth is articulated. This Truth about God exists and will always exist no matter if we materialize it in our human language or not. During your stay here in Boston, I asked you, whether created concepts and ideas can exist without words. You said: "Of course," and brought as an example the mathematical concepts. This is exactly how the term “Name of God” should be understood. It is the Truth about God, revealed by God, which is then articulated in human, created words. Every revelation of God about Himself, every Truth about God, is His Energy. It is in this sense, and in this sense alone, that the Name of God is His Energy. When this Name is articulated in human words, it, of course,  is not the Energy of God, but rather, it has the same holiness as an icon, and we may say that God's Energy is present in this created (sacred) word.

That is why the Saints say that the Name of God is holy by nature, that it is the source of sanctification, that by it are the mysteries accomplished, that it cleanses the heart of passions, and that is casts out demons etc. These are things that only God can do, and this is because the Name of God (again, its inner meaning and content) is the revealed Truth about God, and thus, His Energy.

This discussion really reminds one of the iconoclast period. The defenders of Orthodoxy taught that the Holy Icons are blessed by the inscription of the names, to which the heretics asked:

“Is the inscription to be venerated, or the icon, of which the title is inscribed? Is it exclusively one or the other, and not both? How?”

St. Theodore the Studite answered:

That is rather like asking, “is it right to venerate the Gospel book or the title on it?” The representation of the Cross or the inscription on it?” I might add also in the case of our kind, “the man, or his name?” perhaps Peter and Paul and each of the individuals of the same species. Would that not  be stupid, not to say ridiculous? What is there, of all things before our eyes that is nameless? How can the thing which is named be separated in honour from its own appellation, so that we may offer veneration to the one and deprive the other of it? These are relationships, for the name is by nature the name of something which is named, and a kind of natural icon of that to which it is applied. Therefore the unity in veneration is not divided.

In a very similar manner, when we worship God, how can His Names be deprived of the honour of worship? It is through them that we are able to know and worship God in the first place. Because these Name are not human deductions but a revelation of God about Himself.

We do not worship or venerate or glorify just the “Names,” independently from God, but rather, as much as the Names of God are a revelation of God, they are inevitably part of the worship that is due unto God. In the same manner, we do not worship simply “Light” or “Providence” or “Power” taken independently, but rather, as much as they are God’s operations, they are part of the worship that we render to God.

I hope this will help to clarify matters.

With love in our Saviour,

+ Gregory *

* Bishop of Brookline (HOCNA)

ΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ
ΩΣ ΣΗΜΕΙΟΝ ΑΝΤΙΛΕΓΟΜΕΝΟΝ

ΣΥΝΤΟΜΟΣ ΕΞΗΓΗΣΙΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΟΔΟΞΙΑΣ

Heresy on Mount Athos:
Conflict over the Name of God
among Russian Monks and Hierarchs,
1912-1914.