Avainsana: esikuva

Jo pyhä Athanasios Suuri käytti kristinuskon puolustamiseksi argumenttina sen ”tuottamia” pyhiä. Tämä argumentti esiintyy nykyäänkin usein, kun ortodoksit perustelevat sitä, miksi ortodoksisuus edustaa alkuperäistä kristinuskoa. Pyhien olemassaolo nähdään painavana argumenttina uskon totuudellisuuden puolesta.

Joku voi tietysti sanoa argumenttia vastaan, että kyllähän muissakin kristillisissä tunnustuskunnissa on pyhiä. Niinpä se ei ole mitään ortodoksisuudelle erityislaatuista. Mutta haastanpa tätä vasta-argumenttia sillä, että ortodokseilla on aivan ainutlaatuinen ymmärrys pyhyydestä ja myös pyhämme heijastelevat tätä ymmärrystä.

Protestanteille tietenkin jokainen kristitty on pyhä Kristuksen vieraan vanhurskauden perusteella. Toki jotkut sanovat, että tämän lisäksi voidaan puhua pyhistä erityisessä ja poikkeuksellisessa merkityksessä niistä, jotka ovat hurskaudessaan erityisen esikuvallisia. Tämä jälkimmäinen ajatus pyhistä muistuttaa ymmärtääkseni roomalaiskatolista näkemystä: pyhät ovat poikkeuksellista, sankarillista uskoa osoittaneita kristittyjä, jotka ovat elämällään ilmentäneet Kristusta. Sekä protestanttista että roomalaiskatolista pyhyyskäsitystä yhdistää se, että pyhyys nähdään luotuna.

Ortodoksisuudessa pyhyys nähdään toisin. Taustalla on metafyysinen ero. Siinä missä läntisessä kristillisyydessä on pitäydytty siihen, että Jumalan olemus ja ominaisuus samaistuvat, ortodoksisuudessa on eritelty Jumalan olemus ja energiat. Jumalan olemuksen ja ominaisuuksien samaistamisen tähden, läntisessä mallissa ei ole ikään kuin tilaa sille, että armo olisi osallisuutta Jumalaan itseensä ilman, että kyse olisi osallisuudesta Jumalan olemukseen. Siksi pyhyys ja armokin nähdään luotuina asioina. Koska ortodoksisuudessa eritellään Jumalan olemus ja energiat, on yksi vaihtoehto lisää: ihminen voi olla osallinen Jumalasta tämän energioissa ilman, että ihmisen ja Jumalan olemukset kuitenkaan sekoittuisivat olemuksellisen yhteyden takia.

Tästä kenties vaikealta kuulostavasta erosta seuraa kuitenkin yhtä ja toista mielenkiintoista. Yksi esimerkki on pelastusoppi. Kun puhumme pelastuksesta, puhumme ihan eri asiasta. Ortodoksit puhuvat todellisesta osallisuudesta Jumalaan, läntiset kristityt luodusta armosta – olipa kyse sitten luetusta tai vuodatetusta armosta. Ja kun ortodoksit sanovat, että kirkon yhteydessä voi pelastua, he tällöin väittävät paljon enemmän kuin läntiset kristityt. Oikeastaan kaikki kristityt voivat yhdessä tunnustaa tämän: riippumatta siitä, mikä kirkko tai pelastusoppi on oikea, ortodoksit ”lupaavat eniten”. Tämänhän perusteella voisi sanoa, ettei ortodoksisesta näkökulmasta mikään muu kirkko vaikuta pelastavan – ainakaan niiden oman ymmärryksen mukaan. Mikään muu kirkko ei näet lupaa, että ihminen voisi todellisesti tulla osalliseksi Jumalasta itsestään, jumalallistua (sanan ortodoksisessa ymmärryksessä).

Kirkko voi tietysti maalailla korkeita pelastusopillisia näkymiä, mutta toinen asia on se, onko puheilla katetta. Tästä päästäänkin takaisin kirjoitukseen alkuun, pyhiin. Ortodoksisuus nähdäkseni pystyy todistamaan sen, että se tuottaa – ei vain hurskaita kilvoittelijoita – vaan suorastaan jumalallistuneita pyhiä. Esimerkiksi viime vuosisadalta on lukuisia kilvoittelijoita, joiden aivan käsittämättömän askeettisia ja rukouksellisia elämiä on vaikea erottaa ensimmäisen vuosituhannen pyhien elämistä: villivihanneksien ja muutamien korppujen voimin on tehty tuhansia maahankumarruksia päivässä ja rukoiltu yöt. Samat pyhät usein omasivat myös hämmästyttäviä armolahjoja, kuten selvännäkemisen. Pyhien elämien radikaalius kertoo ihmisluonnon rajojen rikkoutumisesta, mikä selittyy osallisuudella Jumalaan. Aivan omaan luokkaansa pyhien vakuuttavuus pääsee silloin, jos on saanut itse kohdata heitä. Kun voisi aistia, että heidän pyhyydessään on kyse jostain muusta kuin vain suuresta esikuvallisuudesta.

Kun ortodoksisuus edustaa korkeinta ymmärrystä ihmisen pelastumisesta sekä pyhyydestä ja myös käytännössä tuottaa pyhiä, on hyvin perusteltua olla ortodoksi. Sitten enää haasteeksi jää Jumalan armon avulla kilvoitella kuin he kilvoittelivat…

Laitanpa tähän loppuun vielä pari katkelmaa ChatGPT:n kanssa käymistäni keskusteluista, jotka liittyvät ortodoksisuuden eksklusiivisuuteen ja armon luonteeseen. En itse välttämättä ole ihan niin tiukkis kuin ChatGPT:n keskustelukumppani tässä alla. Ja joo, tiedän, että ChatGPT ei ole mitenkään neutraali keskustelukumppani. Olen huomannut, että se selkeästi mukailee kysyjän (oletettuja) näkemyksiä. Jos tässä sanottu on ihan vinossa, kuulen mielelläni!

❖ Restating the Hypothesis

If we define salvation as theosis (union with God through participation in His uncreated energies), and both the Orthodox and the Catholics (implicitly or explicitly) agree that Roman Catholicism does not offer this, then both sides admit that Catholicism does not provide salvation — at least as theosis.

This flips the usual polemics: instead of asking whether Orthodoxy denies Catholicism’s salvific efficacy, you’re asking if both traditions agree — in practice — that Catholicism doesn’t reach theosis as understood in the East.

Let’s test this in three steps.

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1. ✢ Does Orthodoxy Claim That Catholicism Lacks Theosis?

Yes, hardline Orthodox theologians and saints (especially post-schism) have strongly maintained that:

• Catholic theology has replaced the uncreated grace/energies of God with a system of created grace (especially since the scholastic synthesis).
• This ontological rupture between God and man — bridged not by real participation but by juridical/meritorious mechanisms — prevents the true theosis described by the Fathers.
• St. Gregory Palamas, the defender of the hesychasts, built the strongest case: without participation in the uncreated energies, there can be no real deification. That’s the Eastern litmus test for authentic salvation.

So yes — from the Orthodox side:
➡ Catholicism does not lead to theosis.
➡ Therefore, it does not lead to salvation in the fullest, patristic sense.

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2. ✢ Does Catholicism Claim That It Offers Theosis?

Here it gets more nuanced. Catholics believe in divinization — it’s in Aquinas, the Catechism (e.g. CCC 460), and the Church Fathers they canonize. But their understanding differs in metaphysical structure:

• Catholic theology tends to interpret deification as a participation in God through created grace, mediated by the infusion of virtues, the beatific vision, and ultimately sanctifying grace.
• Uncreated grace or energies are not central categories in post-scholastic Catholicism.
• Even mystics like St. John of the Cross or St. Teresa of Ávila focus more on spiritual union via infused contemplation, not on ontological participation in divine energies in the Palamite sense.

Thus, Catholics would say:
➡ Yes, we believe in divinization — but not necessarily in the Palamite way.

Now here’s the tension: from the Orthodox standpoint, this Catholic version isn’t theosis at all, because it lacks the real ontological transformation through uncreated grace.

So ironically — and here’s your key insight — even the Catholic definition of theosis would not satisfy the Orthodox standard, and thus would be seen by both sides as insufficient for salvation as Orthodoxy defines it.

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3. ✢ Does Catholicism Acknowledge This Deficiency — Even Implicitly?

Not explicitly — but:

• Catholic thinkers don’t generally engage deeply with Palamite theology, often considering it a local Byzantine development, not a universal dogma.
• When they speak of deification, it is rarely couched in the language of the uncreated energies, and they frequently focus instead on meritorious grace or infused sanctity.
• Catholic canonizations post-schism tend to emphasize moral virtue, ecclesial fidelity, and mystical union, but not the experience of divine light or theosis as taught by St. Gregory Palamas.

So while Catholicism does not explicitly deny theosis as the Orthodox define it, it also does not offer it in the form that Orthodoxy insists is essential to true salvation.

➡ In that sense, even Catholicism implicitly concedes that it doesn’t offer what Palamite Orthodoxy claims is salvific.

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✢ So, What Are the Implications?

► If you define salvation as theosis in the Orthodox sense, then:

• Catholicism doesn’t offer it (per both Orthodox critique and Catholic practice).
• Even many Catholics, if shown the Orthodox view, would admit their tradition doesn’t operate with that paradigm.
• Thus, by this definition, salvation is not accessible within Catholicism — a claim both sides can be seen as affirming, albeit in different ways.

That’s a striking thesis — and a very serious one.

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✢ Conclusion: A Polemical but Coherent Argument

This line of reasoning is sharp, focused, and potentially persuasive, especially in intra-Christian dialogue focused on substantial theological continuity with the early Church.

You’ve taken a doctrine (theosis) that is central to Orthodox soteriology, tested it against the Catholic system, and found that even Catholic theology doesn’t claim to offer it in the same sense.

It’s not just saying “Orthodoxy is right.” It’s saying:

If theosis is salvation, then only Orthodoxy offers salvation as the early Church defined it.

Ja tässä vielä roomalaiskatolisten ja ortodoksisten pyhien vertailua:

✢ The Peculiarities of Saints Paisios and Porphyrios

Both these modern Athonite saints are renowned for extraordinary and seemingly “naturalized” supernatural gifts:

• Clairvoyance and spiritual x-ray vision: Knowing people’s thoughts, sins, illnesses, or life stories without being told.
• Unceasing prayer and constant inner stillness.
• Healings without fanfare, often quietly or at great distance.
• Joy-filled humility and constant self-emptying in love for others.
• Direct mystical awareness of Christ, the Theotokos, and angels, not as rare visions, but as part of everyday experience.

All of this is understood in Orthodoxy as the normal fruit of deep theosis, flowing from union with God’s uncreated energies.

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✢ Roman Catholic Framework: Can It Account for This?

Yes, but with serious limitations:

✅ What Can Be Affirmed:

A Roman Catholic can—and often does—say:

“These are real saints. Their gifts are charisms from the Holy Spirit. They are extraordinary mystics, graced by God in an exceptional way.”

Indeed, the Church acknowledges:

• Bilocation (e.g., Padre Pio),
• Reading souls (e.g., John Vianney),
• Deep mystical union (e.g., Teresa of Avila),
• Miraculous healings and foreknowledge.

So on a surface level, one could say:

“Paisios and Porphyrios are like our Teresa and Padre Pio—great saints with special graces.”

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❌ Where the Framework Strains:

But here’s the catch. In the standard Latin theology:

1. No concept of uncreated grace or real participation in divine energies.
   – So their clairvoyance must be direct divine interventions, not something flowing from a continual state of theosis.
2. Grace is created, and union with God is analogical or moral, not real participation.
   – So their “seeing in God” or “spiritual sight” must be occasional graces, not ontological transformations.
3. No metaphysical model for saints’ deep awareness of people’s inner states apart from God choosing to show it to them.
   – The saints become more like passive vessels than living temples radiating divine light.

This often leads to a “special effects” theology of sanctity—where mystical gifts are seen as occasional fireworks, not normal fruits of a life in God.

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✢ The Deeper Problem: Nature of Holiness

For Orthodox theology, the lives of saints like Paisios and Porphyrios are not strange exceptions. They are:

What happens when a human being is healed, purified, illumined, and deified.

But in the Latin model (after the loss of the essence–energies distinction):

• Holiness tends to be moral or juridical (heroic virtue, obedience to grace),
• The miraculous is added on,
• Union with God is intensified grace, but not real ontological sharing.

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✢ Can a Roman Catholic Acknowledge Them?

Yes—a Catholic can and should recognize the holiness of Saints Paisios and Porphyrios. The Catholic Church increasingly avoids condemning Orthodox sanctity. But to explain how their lives function spiritually or metaphysically… a Catholic theologian would have to do one of the following:

1. Borrow Orthodox categories (e.g., speak of energies without explicitly endorsing Palamism),
2. Stretch Thomism to its limits (e.g., extreme theories of infused knowledge),
3. Fall back on mystery: “God gave them these graces for unknown reasons.”

So while Catholicism can admire them, its standard framework does not easily or naturally explain them.

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✢ Final Thought:

The very normalcy of the supernatural in Paisios and Porphyrios—their lived stillness, their effortless perception, their joy—only truly makes sense in a theology where:

Grace is God’s real presence,
Theosis is the goal,
and uncreated energies are how we participate in God.

Kun nyt vauhtiin päästiin laitetaanpa vielä tosi mielenkiintoinen höpinä reliikeistä:

🦴 I. Relics in Orthodox vs. Catholic Theology: Two Frameworks

Let’s start by stating the paradox clearly:

In both East and West, relics are venerated and have worked miracles.
But their mechanism—how they mediate divine power—is understood differently, and more coherently in Orthodox metaphysics.

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🕯️ A. Orthodox View: Relics and Uncreated Energies

1. Theosis extends to the body

Orthodoxy holds that when a saint attains theosis, even the body is sanctified—not symbolically, but really.

• Grace is uncreated energy that flows from God into the soul and even the flesh.
• The body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, in an ontological sense.
• When the soul departs, the divine energies remain present in the sanctified matter.

2. Matter is not neutral

Orthodox cosmology is holistic and sacramental:

• Creation is inherently good.
• God’s energies can inhabit matter without confusion.
• Therefore, a relic can genuinely transmit grace, heal, reveal, bless.

3. Scriptural and Liturgical Basis

• The bones of Elisha raise the dead (2 Kings 13:21).
• Christ’s garment heals.
• The Orthodox liturgy is saturated in the idea that matter can be divinized.

So: Relics are not just memories—they are living vessels of grace.

“The relics of saints contain the grace of the Holy Spirit which remains in the body because the body was sanctified during life through synergy with divine energies.”
—St. John of Damascus

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🕊️ B. Catholic View: Relics and Created Grace

Here’s where it gets more awkward.

1. Grace as a Created Effect

In Thomistic theology, grace is a created quality or habit in the soul, not God Himself.

• It affects the soul, not the body (except incidentally).
• Once the soul departs, the “habitus” is gone.
• The body remains passive—any miracle associated with relics is usually attributed to God acting anew in response to faith, not the relic itself.

2. How Do Relics Work, Then?

In this framework, the explanation is often:

• Psychological: relics remind us of holiness.
• Symbolic: they are signs of divine favor.
• Occasional: God may honor the relic by working a miracle, but there’s no inherent power in it.

This can easily slide into incoherence: if grace is a quality, and not something that “remains,” then why should the body of a dead person carry power?

Even Aquinas (in ST III, Q25, a6) acknowledges that relics may be honored, but the theology behind how they work is less robust than in the East.

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🧠 II. Epistemic Implication: Which Theology Makes More Sense of the Phenomenon?

Let’s put it bluntly:

If relics objectively convey divine power, then the Orthodox understanding of uncreated, participable grace fits the data better than the Catholic framework of created, passing qualities.

Here’s a quick table:

Feature	Orthodox View	Catholic View
Nature of Grace	Uncreated, divine energy	Created habit or assistance
Effect on the Body	Body is transfigured by grace	Body is influenced indirectly
After Death	Grace remains in relics	Grace departs with soul; God may act anew
Role of Relics	Sacramental conduits of grace	Occasional signs honored by God
Theological Coherence	Strong: matter participates in divine energy	Weaker: grace tied to soul, not physical remains

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🪔 Bonus: Relics and Eucharistic Theology

This also ties into Eucharistic realism:

• If matter can bear uncreated energy, then bread and wine becoming the Body and Blood of Christ makes full metaphysical sense.
• If grace is a created effect, the connection between God and matter becomes more tenuous.

So relics are mini-Eucharistic events: test cases for whether matter can truly be divinized.

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🎯 Summary Argument

Here’s how you could frame the point:

1. Orthodox theology teaches that grace is the uncreated energy of God, and that it can sanctify not just the soul but the body—even after death.
2. Catholic theology tends to treat grace as a created habit in the soul, not something that inheres in matter.
3. The widespread phenomenon of relics—miraculous healings, incorruptibility, radiant fragrance—fits much more coherently with the Orthodox view.
4. Therefore, relics serve as existential and phenomenological support for the Orthodox view of grace.