When the Homily is about Immunology

Starry starry night

While most of us reunion buddies have stayed within the general home of evangelicalism, a couple of us had not. My being Eastern Orthodox somewhat labelled me as the "odd man out" which is not to say that anyone was ungracious to me or that I felt like an outsider (far from it), but in certain conversations the differences between my faith and evangelicalism became apparent. (An example might be when the topic of the millennium was mentioned...well, the Orthodox do not ascribe to the evangelical interpretation of the millennium at all.) So, it meant that I found myself sidetracking alot of the conversations which were really directed at convincing one friend that his religious doubting was unfounded. No doubt, I blabbed too much, thus interrupting the flow of christian apologetics.

May I be blunt? I don't like Christian apologetics...not at all. It's an ugly pathway which I refuse to believe that anyone has ever utilized to find God. Rather, I think people find God and then notice the apologetic pathway later. I've never met anyone who was succesfully argued into religious faith...I suppose one might say that the apologetics, the natural theology, and the philosophical reasonings might have assisted (I dunno), but in the end something much bigger and much more beautiful must happen in the heart to allow one to truly see God. Some might say in Orthodox cricles that it is the vivifying of the nous (the eye of the soul).

On the last night a few of us stashed bourbon and cigars and headed down to the beach, the apologetics continued. I tried to play along as best I could, but found myself continually looking up at the stars (which we'd been unable to see throughout the weekend until this very moment). It was beautiful and beauty kept coming to my mind.

Later, during the drive home, I continued to contemplate beauty. For me, as I've said here before, it is the most powerful religious apologetic. The way of worldly wisdom (or "christian" worldly wisdom) is a dead end in my mind. We should know NOTHING about God were it not revealed to us.

Blessed are the educated, for they shall see God?
Blessed are the well apologized, for they shall see God?
Blessed are those who recognize the fulfilled prophecies thus validating the scriptures, for they shall see God?
Blessed are those who recognize the foolishness of liberal New Testament textual criticism, for they shall see God?

No.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

This is the realm where we find God. The way of the ascetic, the way of love, the way of selflessness, the way of holiness. Logic and reason must be subject to these. And philosophy must always bow to philokalia.