Dr. Banev gave a paper called ‘The ecclesiology of the Philokalia‘ in which he corrected the misperception that the Philokalia has no ecclesiology. He outlined the purpose of the original editors, which was to instruct all (Orthodox) believers, including the laity, on pure prayer and the meaning of church observances (fasting, liturgy, charity). The point of these is not that we should do them because we feel we ought, but that we feel compelled to use them as means to union with God because we desire God. The desire to make these writings accessible to all believers guided the selection process and was the impetus for the texts creation.
Banev drew out the implicit ecclesiology of the Philokalia as being bascially that of the Orthodox Church, and then quoted passages that dealt explicitly with that ecclesiology. This involved not just practice but doctrine too (including an anthropology). He emphasized that the ecclesiology is of the Philokalia is one of mystagogy.
In the questions he noted that a common theme of the Fathers and the Philokalia is the need for ‘purity’ in approaching God or we are in danger of being consumed/killed (!). The Philokalia refutes the assumption that the futher up one moves in the ecclesiastical hierarchy the more holy one is (the impression that could be gained from a passage in Gregory Nazianzus’ Second Oration from which he quoted). Purity is not just an ethical performance but begins from God’s initiative in baptism, enabling us to see our imperfections and desire to remove them to approach God.
Banev was asked about how different this was from Western devotional literature and he replied that the Western mystics are closer to this tradition than the theology that emerged from the universities.
It was an excellent presentation.
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