Who do you say that I am?

He is the supreme god and ruler of heaven. He is mighty, glorious, awesome and wise, and although he shows a certain degree of surprising foolishness and naiveness, he is a wise ruler. He also demands just and righteous action from man. He was however vengeful, as can be seen in the creation of man. He is the guardian of political order and peace. His armor is so glorious and at the same time awful to behold that no human could see him in all his magnificence and survive. His weapon is hurled at whoever displeases him.

This description of a powerful, angry and judgmental god who sits "somewhere up there" removed from the created world is that of Zeus, the mythical Greek god who lived on Mount Olympus. And yet, this same view is held by many Christians today of our God … including many who call themselves Orthodox.

Knowledge is the deeper understanding of truth, and as members of His Body we must begin by understanding that Christian faith is Truth. There is neither conspiracy nor creativity involved to “fill in the blanks”. Truth was delivered to Moses and shared to the prophets, and through the Incarnation of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Truth was fully revealed and given to the Apostles (Luke 10:16, etc) and thereafter became the very foundation of the Church which is His Living Body in this world (Ephesians 2:19-22, etc).

It is incorrect for any Orthodox Christian to say that we believe in Tradition over Holy Scripture. There is only one Truth, and the Scripture contains this Truth in written form. Our duty as Christians therefore becomes to grow in the knowledge of this Truth, which indeed is the only path to Salvation. The irony and difficulty for many is that to follow this Way requires us to set aside what we learned from this world and things we love that has been accepted by culture and society, and in our thinking become an infant again (Mark 10:15).

This is why the road is not easy (Matthew 7:13-23), and why many who were with Him could not understand and even walked away (John 6:60). Selectively choosing what we feel makes sense in order to become “good people” hinders the fulfillment of our potential to grow into the likeness of our perfect God (Genesis 1:26, Matthew 5:48).

The Indian Orthodox Church begins a new Liturgical cycle on the first Sunday of November, and in the Gospel reading (Matthew 16:13-23), we hear Jesus ask His followers, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

To answer Him with the words and conviction we see from St. Peter requires continuous study of Holy Scripture using His teachings, handed down to us by the Church and entrusted to us so that we can learn and carry on to the next generation. Further, we should not endeavor to do this alone, nor does it require us to re-define of rationalize to make more convenient for our thoughts and lifestyle. Just as in any other field, in the face of truth there is no opinion (e.g., 2+2 is always 4) and as Christians we must dedicate our lives to understand and be transformed. St. John Chrysostom emphasized this point and stated that it was ignorance for anyone to consider themselves a Christian but “not be able to give a reason for his own faith”.

The inherent difficulty is that the Truth is often radically different from what we as intelligent, modern thinking people have learned. On the surface, many things don’t make sense and we see struggles from the ancient days of Christianity, where often the revealed Truth instilled resistance, anger and sheer hatred in people. Our lesson from the blood of the martyrs that nourished the Church is that we cannot compromise on the teachings and only through the Sacramental life are we able to transform ourselves into acceptable living sacrifices to the Lord (Psalm 50(51):19).

Ironically, what really is "radical" is the revelation that God is Love. We are all special and we are all loved, and the "power" that will ultimately prevail is not individual strength, richness, beauty or popularity but rather love, joy, peace, and so on (Galatians 5:22). The One True God is no doubt of supreme might and awesome, incomprehensible power … and yet through the Word we know that He is self-denying and humble (Philippians 2:5-11) and is patiently guiding us. This is not so He can inflict His wrath for deeds that truly do hurt Him – this is not the will of God! But rather, His will is for all mankind to understand the purpose of creation and choose this transformation to be like God. Obedience and genuine understanding of the Scriptures is required, but this is the only way to truly glorify Jesus Christ and have the assured hope that we will ultimately enjoy the incomprehensible joys of everlasting life.


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"Strange were it that the physician, or the shoemaker, or the weaver, in short all artists, should be able each to contend correctly for his own art, but that one calling himself Christian should not be able to give a reason for his own faith; yet those things if overlooked bring only loss to men's property, these if neglected destroy our very souls.

Yet such is our wretched disposition, that we give all our care to the former, and the things which are necessary, and which are the groundwork of our salvation, as though of little worth, we despise."

- St John Chrysostom