"Протоиерей Иоанн Мейендорф. Byzantine Theology " - читать интересную книгу автора

that. In areas where he transcends Neo-Platonism - the area of the
theologia - he is a real Christian without however being truly original; but
that his doctrine of the hierarchies, even if it represents a genuine
attempt to integrate the Neo-Platonic world-view into the Christian
framework, is an obvious failure, the consequences of which have led to much
confusion, especially in the fields of liturgy and of ecclesiological
formulations. One wonders too if the Western Scholastic doctrine of the
sacerdotal "character" and, to a lesser extent, the confusion, frequent in
the Byzantine East, between the role of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and
that of "holy men" do not go back ultimately to Dionysius.

Liturgy.

The appearance of the Dionysian writings coincides chronologically with
a turning point in the history of Christian liturgy. When Justinian closed
the last pagan temples and schools, Christianity became unquestionably the
religion of the masses of the empire. The Christian liturgy originally
conceived as the cult of small-persecuted communities now came to be
celebrated in immense cathedrals - such as the magnificent "Great Church,"
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, one of the glories of Justinian's reign -
with thousands of worshippers in attendance. This completely new situation
could not help but influence both the practice and the theology of the
liturgy. The Eucharist, for example, could no longer really retain the
external character of a community meal. The great mass of the people in
attendance consisted of nominal Christians who could hardly meet the
standard required of regular communicants. Starting with John Chrysostom,
the clergy began to preach that preparation, fasting, and self-examination
were the necessary prerequisites of communion and emphasized the mysterious,
eschatological elements of the sacrament. The eighth and ninth centuries
witnessed such additions as the iconostasis-screen between the sanctuary and
the congregation and the use of the communion spoon, a means to avoid
putting the sacramental elements into the hands of laymen. All these
developments were aimed at protecting the mystery, but they resulted in
separating the clergy from the faithful and in giving to the liturgy the
aspect of a performance, rather than of a common action of the entire people
of God.
The writings of pseudo-Dionysius contributed to the same trend. The
author's ideas about God's grace descending upon the lower ranks of the
hierarchy through the personal mediation of the hierarchs did much to shape
new Byzantine liturgical forms, which he considered only as symbols
revealing the mysteries to the eyes of the faithful. Appearances and
disappearances of the celebrant, veiling and unveiling of the elements,
opening and closing of the doors, and various gestures connected with the
sacraments often originated in the rigid system of the hierarchical activity
as described by Dionysius and found ready acceptance in a Church otherwise
concerned with preserving the mysterious character of the cult from
profanation by the masses now filling the temples.
Fortunately, Dionysian theology has had practically no effect upon such
central texts as the baptismal prayer and the Eucharistic canons. It served
principally to develop and explain the extremely rich fringes with which