By Professor Georgios I. Mantzaridis
Christ, as the true and universal man,
is the measure of all things for all people. He is the ultimate measure,
universal and timeless, for the whole world. He is the true measure by
which we can define or revise our spiritual quests. The universality
of man is an expression of his catholicity, that is, of his status as an
image of the True Being, Christ. In contrast, the universality
proclaimed by those engaged in the destructive process of global
unification obliterates man’s personality and restricts his freedom.
The rapid rate at which globalisation is
currently taking place focuses attention on one of Christ’s essential
characteristics: His universality. Christ’s universality comes into
focus not because it is connected with the current process of
globalisation but because it acts as an antidote to the disillusionment
that this globalisation ultimately creates.
Universality (pankosmiotita) and globalisation (pankosmopoesis)
are two formally related terms but in fact essentially have
diametrically opposite meanings. The former denotes physical unity and
personal completeness, while the latter denotes oppressive unification
or standardisation. Universality is founded on individual identity and
gives it the recognition it deserves, while globalisation obliterates
individual identity and turns individuals into a shapeless mass.
When we say that Christ is a universal
figure we mean that He holds the whole world together in Himself. Christ
embraces the whole of human nature, with all its natural
characteristics. This truth has been particularly noted and stressed in
the doctrinal teachings of the Church.
To secularised modern man, and perhaps
even the average Christian, the doctrinal debates and disputes that took
place about Christ’s human nature seem redundant or even strange. What
does it matter if Christ had a perfect human nature or not? Is it not
enough that He is the Theanthropos who came to save the world?
Of course, things are not so simple.
Although a full study of this subject is not possible in this brief
article, we shall endeavour to approach it from the perspective of
universality.
If Christ did not have a perfect human nature, if, that is, He did not possess a human soul, human reason, human energy and human will as part of His hypostasis, as various heretics have occasionally claimed, then He would not have been a true man. Neither would He have been able to be a universal man.
In the ancient Greek world man was
described as a microcosm. In Christianity, however, he was accorded a
much higher status. Man was viewed as ‘the great world in the small’.1 This human majesty is revealed in Christ, just as the truth and majesty of the individual are revealed in Christ.
In the person of Christ the whole of
creation is recapitulated and renewed. As the new Adam, Christ assumed
the ‘Adam of all generations’ (the whole of mankind). Yet He did not
confine Himself to this: out of infinite love, He suffered for man,
sacrificed Himself for him, and led him through death into life. He did
not avoid death but defeated it through His divinity so that man could
partake of His Resurrection.
In this way Christ passed through all
the stages of human existence. He lived, died and descended into Hell to
meet all of Adam’s descendants. And the Resurrection of Christ was not
merely an individual event but the resurrection of human nature as a
whole. As is well known, in Orthodox tradition the Resurrection of
Christ is depicted by the image of the Harrowing of Hell and His raising
of Adam and Eve. And the inscription on this icon is not ‘The
Resurrection of Christ’ but simply ‘The Resurrection’, in other words,
the resurrection of all men.
We often speak of the salvation of man
but we do not always have a clear idea of what this means. The salvation
of man actually means the restoration of his unity. And this
restoration takes place on two levels: on the level of the individual
person and on the level of human nature. If man’s unity is not restored
on the level of human nature, his unity as a person cannot be restored.
Christ is the saviour of men because He redeemed human nature by
assuming it into His divine hypostasis. He Himself became a universal
figure and offered all men the opportunity to share in this
universality. However, God never acts unilaterally in human life. Man’s
salvation as a person and the ‘forgiveness’ of the world in his person
require man to cooperate of his own free will. Christ did not confine
Himself to the space and time of His historical presence but continues
to remain in the world in His Church. And the Church, which is His body,
is catholic and universal. It embraces the whole of mankind.
Every member of the Church, as a member
of the body of Christ, is capable of being transformed by the dynamics
of the new man in Christ. He or she is called, through grace, to become
Christ and to assume the whole of mankind into his or her hypostasis. As
St. Symeon the New Theologian notes, ‘We, the faithful, should look
upon all men as one single being, and should consider that Christ dwells
in each of them’.2
A contemporary ascetic also says: ‘To
follow Christ means to open oneself up to the conscience of Christ
Himself, who bears within Himself the whole of mankind, that is, the
whole tree including every single leaf. If we acquire this conscience,
we will pray for all people, just as we pray for ourselves.’3 And this prayer becomes a vehicle for universality.
The truth of existence lies in the
individual and not in some impersonal or suprapersonal principle.
Divorced from the individual and interpersonal relations, everything
sinks into a state of nothingness, into the ‘true non-being’.4
Catholicity, as well as its outward expression, universality, exists
primarily in the person of Christ, who possesses a completeness of
being. Just as completeness of being exists in the person of Christ, so
too, through grace or as a divine reflection, does it exist in the
person of every individual that is an image of Christ. Universality
exists.
The universality of man is an expression
of his catholicity, that is, of his status as an image of the True
Being, Christ. In contrast, the universality proclaimed by those engaged
in the destructive process of global unification obliterates man’s
personality and restricts his freedom.
The quest for universality, as a quest
for the perfect and catholic man, is essentially a Christological quest,
that is to say, a quest for Christ Himself. And this is only natural
because Christ is the archetype of man. In other words, human nature by
its very composition relates to Christ. So it is natural that it should
seek Him. Man’s mind, desire and memory attain their full worth in
Christ. Christ, observes St. Nicholas Kabasilas, was the first and only
one to reveal the true and perfect man through both His ethos and His
life and everything else.5
Such Christological quests exist not
only in those cases where man finds Christ but also in those cases where
he fails to find Him. An unsuccessful Christological quest might be one
in search of wisdom, or happiness, or freedom, or love, or
universality, or immortality, or any other kind of quest that pleases
man. If they are not to terminate in disappointment and disillusionment,
all of these quests should be tested by the measure of Christ. Christ,
as the true and universal man, is the measure of all things for all
people. He is the ultimate measure, universal and timeless, for the
whole world. He is the true measure by which we can define or revise our
spiritual quests. The quest that is particularly characteristic of
modern man, and which at the same time poses a threat to him, is his
quest for universality. Common needs, common dangers and common hopes
have brought men closer to each other today than at any other time in
the past. This phenomenon is being exploited by the mighty of the Earth
in order to further the barbarous process of globalisation. The same
phenomenon, however, gauged by the measure of Christ, calls on man to
live and promote a redemptive form of universality.
The problem constantly faced by man is
how to achieve fulfilment as an individual in a peaceful and united
world: how to make room in his heart for all other men, and how to
rejoice in the presence of others. Christ reveals the solution to this
problem. Man, however, usually makes a mess of his life and loses it,
without realising the strength that lies hidden within him.
NOTES
1 See Gregory Palamas, Homily 53: 35 in S. Oikonomou (ed.), Tou en agiois patros hymon Gregoriou archiepiskopou tis Thessalonikis Palama, Omiliai KB (Twenty-Two Homilies of Our Father Among the Saints Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica), Athens 1861, p. 172.
2. Chapitres théologiques, gnostiques et pratiques, ed. J. Darrouzès, Sources Chrétiennes, Vol. 51, Paris 1980, p. 120.
3. Archimandrite Sophrony, Peri Pnevmatos kai Zois (On the Spirit and Life), Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Essex, England, 1995, ch. 48, p. 29.
4. See Archimandrite Sophrony, Peri Prosefchis (On Prayer), Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Essex, England, 1994, p. 50.
5. Peri tis en Christo zois, 6 (On Life in Christ, 6), PG 150, 680C.
Source-Pemptousia.com
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