Theology, Life & Love: Their Inseparable Connection

by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia

It is with sentiments of great spiritual joy and satisfaction that St Andrew’s Theological College launches this wonderful initiative titled the ‘Theology and Life’ Blog, which will contain a series of brief articles, on a more popular level, written by different members of our Faculty. The underlying hope is that these will be for the edification of all those seeking to learn about the Orthodox Christian faith—her teachings, as these have been revealed in the Scriptures and in the Church’s doctrine; her history throughout the centuries; her services and sacraments; her Fathers and saints, who have kept alive the light of Christ throughout the centuries creating a light-filled pathway for the faithful today to encounter Christ. The hope is that this initiative will contribute towards meeting some of the greater educational needs of our Holy Archdiocese and bring to light the inseparable connection between this rich treasure of our theological tradition and the way that this informs how we are called to live our life on a daily basis. Indeed, one of the pre-eminent aims of these popular essays will be to show that the Church’s doctrines are not abstract teachings devoid of any practical significance, but on the contrary relevant to how we are called, as Christians, to relate with one another and the world more broadly.

With these brief introductory remarks, I would like to begin this series by sharing with you a personal conviction of mine: there is no greater joy—indeed, there is nothing more awe-inspiring and more blessed in life—than seeking an encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ—which is the ultimate end of all theological education. In highlighting some of the most basic teachings of the Christian faith with his disciples, Christ Himself said: “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Upon entrusting our life to Him, then, actively striving to follow Him in all that we do, and making Him present to those around us, we are truly fulfilled as human beings. Indeed, in opening our heart to Christ’s unfathomable love, our entire life is radically transformed by the “God of love” (cf. 2Cor 13:11), to the point that all things quite suddenly take on a new form; they are reborn and recast into their original beauty and purpose; the joy of the transfigured world is opened up before us and for this reason, we too can sing, as the Church does in one of her hymns: “Rejoice…. [for] Christ has risen from the death… and filled the universe with sweet fragrance.” (Lauds, 3^rd tone).

The joyous dimension of theological learning is attributed to fact that theology is ultimately an encounter with Jesus Christ. Far from simply having to do with merely acquiring intellectual knowledge about God, theology invites us to enter into a trusting and loving relationship with Christ. At every Divine Liturgy, we pray many times to be counted worthy to be in the company of the saints and the Mother of God, who are with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom, and together with them to commit ourselves in placing our whole being, our whole existence before the Lord. The deacon exclaims:

“Τῆς παναγίας ἀχράντου ὑπερευλογημένης, ἐνδόξου Δεσποίνης ἡμῶν Θεοτόκου καὶ ἀειπαρθένου Μαρίας μετὰ πάντων τῶν Ἁγίων μνημονεύσαντες, ἑαυτοὺς καὶ ἀλλήλους καὶ πᾶσαν την ζωὴν ἡμῶν Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ παραθώμεθα.

[Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most blessed, glorious Lady Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary with all the Saints, let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God].”

This is precisely the motivating power behind all theology; namely, not simply to gain greater ‘understanding’ about the ‘divine mysteries’, but rather, and more importantly, to inspire a trusting relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Ultimately, theology is an invitation to a way of life in which we are called to lovingly entrust ourselves to Him; that is, learning to open our heart to Christ who, as the Psalmist says, “has put gladness in our heart” (Ps 4:7). This is why we say that theology is not simply learnt, but it needs to be lived, and more so, loved! Whilst pre-eminently being a gift from God, theology is, at the same time, nothing less than our loving response to Christ, who has stretched out His hands, lovingly seeking to unite Himself with us—that is, to graciously give us all that He is by his very nature.

St Maximus the Confessor wrote: “the reward of faith is knowledge… knowledge gives rise to our love for God.” (Four Hundred Chapters on Love, 2.25). In this profoundly beautiful and succinct phrase, we note very clearly the intimate connection between the study of theology and love. Very simply, according to the saint, the criterion according to which we may judge and evaluate the extent to which our study of theology is genuine or not, is the degree to which our love for God can be seen to grow and intensify within our hearts. And elsewhere, as St Maximus writes, in accordance with what we read in the New Testament: “the one who loves God cannot help but love also every human person.” This axiom, of course, is very similar to the words of St John the Evangelist: “those who say, ‘I love God’ and hate their brothers and sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or a sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen” (1Jn 4:20). That is to say, our love and charity towards others, according to the saint, namely a heart open to the needs of others, is regarded identical with our love for Christ. It is for this reason, that true theology—namely our contemplation of the awe-inspiring mystery of the Holy Trinity—in a very real sense, gives birth to a growing realisation of the power of divine love in our life, and an experience of this in and through those around us.

Theology is therefore inseparably connected with learning to live life lovingly. St Paul’s teaching to the Church in Rome is highly instructive in this regard. He writes: “love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord… extend hospitality to strangers” (Rom 12:10-12). Indeed, service and charity towards our neighbour, namely a heart open to the needs of others is regarded identical to our love for Christ and the ultimate purpose of all theological learning. Only in looking beyond ourselves, and focusing our entire existence in serving others, will we experience the joy of theology. But more than joy, the study of theology, understood as this encounter with our Lord, ushers us into a reality—and this is where the true power of theology lies—which up to this point would have been unattainable, not to mention unimaginable, given our human predicament: namely, the gift of Christ’s victory over death to the entire world. In this sense, then, true theology is one which leads us before the loving and life-begetting presence of Christ, sets us free from the torments of Hades and grants us the gift of eternal life.

About the Author

His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia Dean of St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College Born in Heraklion, Crete, in 1973, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios (Griniezakis) of Australia completed his early education in Crete and in the Athens Rizarios Ecclesiastical School (1987-1990). He graduated from the Higher Ecclesiastical School of Athens and from the University of Athens, School of Theology. He pursued graduate studies in the field of Christian Ethics at Boston University, School of Theology... Read author's full bio here..

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