Page 38 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 3

Christian Anthropology

Comment

to „The concept of a person accor-
ding to Orthodoxy“

Trevor Griffiths

This article is a valuable statement of Eastern Orthodox Russians, I know that their language is very direct, ma-
anthropology. As a Protestant who has spent ten years king blunt statements, unlike the English who hide their
also attending the Russian Orthodox liturgy and vigils in mystical persons behind many pretty words! There is one
England, and talking in depth with the Archpriest Bene- point where I would take issue with Fr Andrey, however,
dict Ramsden, I feel privileged to be able to comment. and I hope to say this bluntly to show my respect for him.
I feel he very cleverly shows, in the paragraph after he de-
To overcome its problem, which is its length, I would scribes the human cosmos, how the mistake (the fall, the
draw the reader’s attention first to the final section, sub- sin) of mankind is to believe that he/she as an individual
titled ‘personal development’. I cannot emphasise enough can truly be king/queen of their own cosmos. The natural
how important for the western mind is the notion of per- world and the inner psychological conflict provide plenty
sonal development inherent in Orthodox anthropology. of evidence that he/she is not! “Human cosmos is always
By focusing on life, and eternal life, the eastern mind incomplete, distorted and scary if it is not crowned by
avoids the western obsession with asserting ontological God. In the absence of God, human cosmos is perma-
existence as a mere philosophical proposition. The wes- nently defective.” Fr Andrey then attempts to show the
tern mind, by focusing instead on sin rather than eternal fallen ‘likeness of God’ in the way a human being needs
life, shows its inherently neo-Platonist footing, unable to to crown the human cosmos with a ‘Supreme Person’, and
take its eyes off ‘fall from Ideal’. The eastern mind is more usually puts his or her self there! Now here is the prob-
inherently Trinitarian in seeing a developmental ascent lem for me, in my westernised mind-set. It would be very
to greater Life. easy to mis-read this… as if it suggested that, in the fully
How does this article avoid that neo-Platonist obsession? restored cosmos, God is the Supreme Person. However, I
The development of a person is explained in the previous know that the Orthodox Church is very Trinitarian. She
two sections, ‘Determination of the way of existence’ and preserves the mystery of God in the relatedness among
‘Passing the watershed – interior and exterior’. Fr Andrey three Holy Persons, reflected in the relatedness among
here uses Chursanov’s definition of a person, first stated human persons in-
at the beginning of the article, to describe an alternative cluding Jesus Christ.
to the neo-Platonist ontological person. He emphasises Thank God, in that
in these two later sections that the mystical, non-reduci- mystery, that every
ble person (who determines the way of existence of the single human being
human being) demonstrates its ‘development of self-de- can be welcomed
terminism’ from an interior re-integration out to exterio- into that Godly con-
rised effects in the shared world with others. versation that is the
Supreme crowning
To understand this vital interior-exterior distinction and of every human cos-
developmental transition, I would like to reveal an im- mos, as we throw
portant connection with the notion of personal cosmos our crowns down in
that Fr Andrey states in the introductory pages of this worship, and deve-
article. There he uses six statements (in italics) to de- lop to better contri-
scribe how the field of psychology concerns various sets bute ourselves into
of relations. The sixth one of these reads: ‘A set of rela- that conversation. Dr Trevor Griffiths, Great Bri-
tions – to himself, to others, to the world, desires, free I applaud this artic- tain, was a General Medical
choices, and responsibility for all that – is a personal hu- le, difficult though Practitioner for 25 years, with
man world; it is his cosmos’. In Orthodox anthropology, it may be to read in a particular interest in men-
the human person is king/queen over his or her cosmos. English, and com- tal health and systemic family
In the Orthodox marriage service, for example, the bride mend it to you as therapy. He trained at Oxford
and groom are both crowned, physically with gold-effect worthy of effort to University and Westminster
crowns, as king and queen over their new shared cosmos, master. Hospital medical School. He
as restored Adam and Eve empowered now in their rela- now runs the Emotional Logic
tedness to restore Creation. Centre, and provides training
I think Fr Andrey has captured well these distinguishing to promote health and perso-
features of Orthodox anthropology, but they may have nal development. He works
been obscured to a new reader who approaches the ar- with churches and various
ticle in a western mind-set. Having spent some time with community organisations.

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