"Orthodoxy is about being consumed by glory: the word means not 'right belief' (as dictionaries tell us) but right doxa, right glory. To be orthodox is to be set alight by the fire of God."
--Kenneth Leech
I'll confess right up front that I am fed up with what I have perceived to be a preoccupation with right belief in the Christian milieu in which I was formed. I prefer the emphasis on orthopraxy (right action) which is making headway in the Christian imagination, but it also makes me a little nervous. I can't help but imagine that eventually political correctness will infect our perception of right action.
Father Leech's way of understanding orthodoxy sets the bar a lot higher, probably beyond our reach. I can't imagine way to achieve right glory. And to be set alight by the fire of God looks to me like a supernatural gift.
After much reflection on the human condition, that is, my own shortcomings, the only position that I've come to trust is that of the humble receiver of gifts. Furthermore, the only condition of heart and mind that can believe and act rightly is the state I'll describe as awe and wonder. Only a heart in right relationship to God, awestruckdumb, if you will, has a
chance of rising to this level of orthodoxy. And only a heart that longs for this gift has a chance of receiving it. And we won't do that if we keep hanging on to the dualistic ideas inherent in the common understanding of orthodoxy and
orthopraxy.
--Kenneth Leech
I'll confess right up front that I am fed up with what I have perceived to be a preoccupation with right belief in the Christian milieu in which I was formed. I prefer the emphasis on orthopraxy (right action) which is making headway in the Christian imagination, but it also makes me a little nervous. I can't help but imagine that eventually political correctness will infect our perception of right action.
Father Leech's way of understanding orthodoxy sets the bar a lot higher, probably beyond our reach. I can't imagine way to achieve right glory. And to be set alight by the fire of God looks to me like a supernatural gift.
After much reflection on the human condition, that is, my own shortcomings, the only position that I've come to trust is that of the humble receiver of gifts. Furthermore, the only condition of heart and mind that can believe and act rightly is the state I'll describe as awe and wonder. Only a heart in right relationship to God, awestruckdumb, if you will, has a
chance of rising to this level of orthodoxy. And only a heart that longs for this gift has a chance of receiving it. And we won't do that if we keep hanging on to the dualistic ideas inherent in the common understanding of orthodoxy and
orthopraxy.
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