Theology & Doctrine

The foundational truths of the faith: Trinity, Christology, Pneumatology, soteriology

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    The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity (Part 4 of 7)

    ByJobin

    Week 4 of The Undivided Light is now up on Seeking Theosis, and this one is on the Holy Spirit.
    The post draws on Ephrem the Syrian, Jacob of Serugh, and Cyril of Alexandria to look at who the Spirit is and what the Spirit does, both in the broad sweep of salvation history and in the specific life of prayer, baptism, and the Qurbana. There is also a brief and honest note on the filioque question, which is something that comes up whenever the Spirit’s procession is discussed, and where the Oriental Orthodox position is clear and worth knowing.
    It is perhaps the post in the series so far that has felt most personally relevant to write. The Spirit is the person of the Trinity closest to us and yet the hardest to speak about directly, and the Syriac fathers have things to say about that which I have found genuinely helpful.

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    The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity (Part 3 of 7)

    ByJobin

    The Undivided Light | Week 3 is now up on Seeking Theosis
    The Eternal Son, Begotten Not Made
    There is a phrase in the Nicene Creed that most of us have said so many times that we have stopped hearing it.
    “Begotten. Not made.”
    Two words. One of the most consequential theological statements ever written. And if they are true, the entire Gospel stands. If they are not, the entire Gospel falls.
    This third post in the summer Trinity series looks at the eternal Son, the second person of the Trinity, through the eyes of three fathers whose voices shaped the Oriental Orthodox confession of the Nicene faith.
    Three fathers guide the reading: Athanasius of Alexandria, who spent most of his life defending this confession against enormous pressure and explained why it is the foundation of the entire Gospel. Cyril of Alexandria, whose theology of participation shows why the Eucharist depends on the Son being truly and fully God. And Jacob of Serugh, who expressed the mystery of the begotten Son in Syriac verse of remarkable beauty and depth.
    There is also a reflection toward the end on what this theology means for how we receive the Qurbana, which may be the most practically useful part of the post.
    Do share it with anyone who might benefit, and prayers for the completion of the series remain very much asked for and appreciated.

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    The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity (Post 2 of 7)

    ByJobin

    *The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity* Part 2 of 7

    _The Father, Source Without Origin_

    There is a moment in prayer that most people who pray regularly will recognise. We begin to speak to God, and somewhere in the middle of the words, the words run out. Not because we have lost concentration. But because we have arrived at something so vast that language cannot quite reach it.

    The Christian tradition has a name for what we are standing at the edge of in that moment.
    It is the Father.

    This week the series looks at the first person of the Trinity, the Father, asking what it means in the Syriac and Alexandrian tradition to call God the Source Without Origin. Ephrem the Syrian, Cyril of Alexandria, and Severus of Antioch are the three voices guiding the reflection, and there is a section toward the end on what this theology actually changes about how we pray day to day.

    There is also a short reflection on how the structure of the Malankara Qurbana itself teaches us this Trinitarian truth every Sunday, whether or not we have had words for it.

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    The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity (Post 1 of 7)

    ByJobin

    The first post in the new summer series on Seeking Theosis is up.

    The series is called The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity, and it runs every Wednesday through the summer. This first post asks a simple but important question: why Trinity? It begins not with a definition but with Pentecost, looking at what actually happened on that day and why it reveals the Trinity more clearly than any diagram or formula ever could.

    Three church fathers guide the reading in this post: Ephrem the Syrian, Cyril of Alexandria, and Jacob of Serugh. Their writings are referenced at the end of the post for anyone who wants to follow up.

    You can read it at seekingtheosis.blog.

    Do share it with anyone who might benefit, and prayers for the series as it continues week by week would be very much appreciated.

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    The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity | Introduction

    ByJobin

    A new series begins on Seeking Theosis this Wednesday.

    After Pentecost, the Church enters what is perhaps the most demanding season of all: the season of learning to live inside the mystery that has been fully given to us. That mystery is the Holy Trinity.

    “The Undivided Light: The Holy Trinity” is a Wednesday summer study walking through Trinitarian theology as received and expressed in the Oriental

    Orthodox tradition, through the voices of Ephrem the Syrian, Jacob of Serugh, Cyril of Alexandria, Severus of Antioch, and the liturgical prayers of the Malankara Qurbana.

    Seven posts. Seven Wednesdays. One mystery that is not a problem to be solved but a life to be received.

    The introductory post is up now.

    And if you think of it, please pray for the writer as this series gets underway.

    To read the full blog –

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    The Feast of Pentecost: The Fire Has Fallen

    ByJobin

    *Feast of Pentecost – The Fire Has Fallen*

    Blessed Feast of Pentecost, dear brothers and sisters.

    The nine days of waiting are over. The fire has fallen.

    The feast day reflection is now on the blog, drawing on the prayers and readings of our own Pentecosti service alongside the Syriac patristic tradition.

    It sits with the three-service structure of the feast, the theology of the sprinkling of blessed water, the tripartite gift of the Trinity poured out on the gathered community, and the connection between Pentecost and the theology of theosis that gives the Seeking Theosis blog its name.

    One line from the liturgy has stayed with me through the morning: _the opening prayer that asks to be made worthy to receive the spiritual drink of the new wine of the Comforter Spirit._

    The new wine is being poured on the morning of Pentecosti Sunday. May our vessels be open to receive it.

    Come, Holy Spirit. Ta Ruha d-Qudsha. Come.