I'd like to ask, does this conform perfectly with the Orthodox "phronema"?
"I'd like to ask, does this conform perfectly with the Orthodox "phronema"?"
Before I answer your question, let me make a few observations. First, this is near the finest Western writing I have seen on what it means to strive for Theosis addressed to people who live in the world as oppossed to something written by and for monastics. Second, I would add to what the bishop has written that every last one of us is called to die to the self even more than he has laid out but the chances of any of us in the world doing better than what the bishop has laid out are slim indeed. Third, I finally understand what the Western talk of sanctification means. Its means what we call the process of theosis, climbing the Ladder of Divine Ascent if you will, so that we might "conform" ourselves to Christ...to become like God. Finally, I am pleasantly surprised but admittedly confused by this piece; surprised because I recently came across some very, very polemical tracts by +Ryle which were, to put it kindly, venomous when it came to the Liturgy, the sacraments as we and the Romans know them and most especially with regard to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and confused because, despite his obvious understanding of why we are here and what we must do to become like God, he evidently persisted in his disbelief in what we call Orthopraxis and some very fundamental theology of The Church.
Now, is this an example of orthodox phronema? No, not really. Orthodox phronema, or worldview, is the result of living a life in tune with everything the bishop here is teaching AND living one's life within the liturgical community of The Church. There is a rythm in the liturgical year, through the cycle of services, devotions and liturgies which sets the tone for virtually everything in our lives as Orthodox Christians. That said, it is the end of those cycles to advance us along the very course which the bishop has laid out. From my observations of non Orthodox Christians and non Orthodox Christian societies, I think the missing element in making what the bishop has laid out actually occur on anything approaching a society wide basis, or even better, that an understanding and acceptance of what the bishop has said be seen on a society wide basis, is precisely that cycle of liturgies, devotions and services which encompass the liturgical community and create a framework for achieving theosis as best we can in the world.