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At times, some members might notice that those such as myself, various Orthodox members like my Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox friends @prodromos @HTacianas @FenderTL5 @dzheremi and other friends of ours such as @ViaCrucis may use a vocabulary somewhat unfamiliar to the average Western Christian, but it is one replete with Greek and to a lesser but important extent, Syriac and indeed Coptic and Church Slavonic theological terminology that was of extreme Patristic importance during the first 1200 years of Christianity, and which remains of great relevance and utility today.
I thought it might be of benefit and interest to members if I decode some of this Oriental jargon, much of which is used by members of different ethno-linguistic groups. For example, the Syriac Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox divine liturgy are populated with phrases that are either Greek (such as Stomen Kalos “Stand aright!” And “Kyrie Eleison” (Lord have mercy!) and which in other cases are loanwords of Koine Greek origin, for example, the Syriac Orthodox vestment which corresponds to the western Chasuble or Cope is called a Phayno, from the Greek Phelonion, and a major variety of Syriac Orthodox hymn is called a Qanone in Syriac Aramaic, because it is based on the Greek type of him called a Canon (not to be confused with the Roman Canon, which is a Eucharistic Prayer, or Anaphora, to use the Greek term; Anaphora is a rhetorical term of art, but in Christian Ecclesiastical usage always refers to the prayers for the consecration of Holy Communion).
So here are some additional useful terms that you might not know, aside from the ones I just mentioned, which I rather like to use as do many fellow members:
Phronema - Greek for “forehead”, specifically, to have an “Orthodox Phronema” means to understand the Orthodox faith (even if one is not themselves Orthodox). Acquiring an Orthodox phronema is a challenging task for Catechumens, another Greek word which means those learning the faith. When Catechumens are ready to be baptized, usually on Holy Saturday, they are said to be Energumens.
Prelest - this is a Church Slavonic word (my friend @ViaCrucis knows the Greek original, but I forgot it, as most Orthodox literature recently composed for some reason uses the Church Slavonic), that refers to spiritual delusion. Catechumens and even the faithful can fall into spiritual delusion as a result of embracing heresies. However, within the Orthodox church there is a freedom to have opinions, within the limits defined by the ecumenical councils and church tradition, or Paradosis, these being known as theolougoumemna in the plural or as a theologoumemnon in the singular. The word is a bit of a tongue twister and one risks sounding perhaps a tad pretentious if one drops it in casual dinner conversation, but it is quite a useful word. It literally means “theological opinion” or “opinions”, and usually has the context of being an acceptable opinion which is not heretical. However, all heresies one can argue begin life as bad theologoumemna, and so some Orthodox fathers discourage one from being highly opinionated and equate opinionation with arrogance, which is certainly a viewpoint I have some sympathy with. Nonetheless the fact that Orthodoxy allows its members to have diverse theologoumemna on issues not defined by Holy Tradition, by the Kerygma, or teaching, of the Church, provided that one is clear to assert that these are private opinions, shows that the Orthodox churches are not as conformist as they are depicted as being.
Indeed I would argue Orthodoxy demands much less conformity than most Western churches, in that Orthodox theology tends to be defined apophatically, that is, through negation; to a large extent Orthodoxy is more dogmatically proscriptive than prescriptive (but where Orthodoxy certainly is prescriptive is in liturgics, that is, in worship, for Orthodoxy literally means “Correct Glorification.” The Slavonic word Pravoslavie is an almost literal translation of this.
Perhaps there are other Eastern theological terms of art that you have seen those of us learned in them casually toss about without understanding what on Earth we are talking about, which is nothing to be ashamed of, on the contrary, it puts one in the thrilling position of being able to learn this language which I feel enriches the mind and insofar as much of it is of Scriptural origin, provides some greater context to the Bible itself. And otherwise, to the writings of the early church Fathers. Understanding it is also key to understanding Eastern Christianity, which otherwise can appear to simply be some strange form of mystical Christianity, when in fact it is as rigorously intellectually grounded as Calvinism, Catholicism or Lutheranism.
So what are some Eastern theological terms you have seen us use, but do not understand? I am at your service, as your guide in exploring this terminology.
I thought it might be of benefit and interest to members if I decode some of this Oriental jargon, much of which is used by members of different ethno-linguistic groups. For example, the Syriac Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox divine liturgy are populated with phrases that are either Greek (such as Stomen Kalos “Stand aright!” And “Kyrie Eleison” (Lord have mercy!) and which in other cases are loanwords of Koine Greek origin, for example, the Syriac Orthodox vestment which corresponds to the western Chasuble or Cope is called a Phayno, from the Greek Phelonion, and a major variety of Syriac Orthodox hymn is called a Qanone in Syriac Aramaic, because it is based on the Greek type of him called a Canon (not to be confused with the Roman Canon, which is a Eucharistic Prayer, or Anaphora, to use the Greek term; Anaphora is a rhetorical term of art, but in Christian Ecclesiastical usage always refers to the prayers for the consecration of Holy Communion).
So here are some additional useful terms that you might not know, aside from the ones I just mentioned, which I rather like to use as do many fellow members:
Phronema - Greek for “forehead”, specifically, to have an “Orthodox Phronema” means to understand the Orthodox faith (even if one is not themselves Orthodox). Acquiring an Orthodox phronema is a challenging task for Catechumens, another Greek word which means those learning the faith. When Catechumens are ready to be baptized, usually on Holy Saturday, they are said to be Energumens.
Prelest - this is a Church Slavonic word (my friend @ViaCrucis knows the Greek original, but I forgot it, as most Orthodox literature recently composed for some reason uses the Church Slavonic), that refers to spiritual delusion. Catechumens and even the faithful can fall into spiritual delusion as a result of embracing heresies. However, within the Orthodox church there is a freedom to have opinions, within the limits defined by the ecumenical councils and church tradition, or Paradosis, these being known as theolougoumemna in the plural or as a theologoumemnon in the singular. The word is a bit of a tongue twister and one risks sounding perhaps a tad pretentious if one drops it in casual dinner conversation, but it is quite a useful word. It literally means “theological opinion” or “opinions”, and usually has the context of being an acceptable opinion which is not heretical. However, all heresies one can argue begin life as bad theologoumemna, and so some Orthodox fathers discourage one from being highly opinionated and equate opinionation with arrogance, which is certainly a viewpoint I have some sympathy with. Nonetheless the fact that Orthodoxy allows its members to have diverse theologoumemna on issues not defined by Holy Tradition, by the Kerygma, or teaching, of the Church, provided that one is clear to assert that these are private opinions, shows that the Orthodox churches are not as conformist as they are depicted as being.
Indeed I would argue Orthodoxy demands much less conformity than most Western churches, in that Orthodox theology tends to be defined apophatically, that is, through negation; to a large extent Orthodoxy is more dogmatically proscriptive than prescriptive (but where Orthodoxy certainly is prescriptive is in liturgics, that is, in worship, for Orthodoxy literally means “Correct Glorification.” The Slavonic word Pravoslavie is an almost literal translation of this.
Perhaps there are other Eastern theological terms of art that you have seen those of us learned in them casually toss about without understanding what on Earth we are talking about, which is nothing to be ashamed of, on the contrary, it puts one in the thrilling position of being able to learn this language which I feel enriches the mind and insofar as much of it is of Scriptural origin, provides some greater context to the Bible itself. And otherwise, to the writings of the early church Fathers. Understanding it is also key to understanding Eastern Christianity, which otherwise can appear to simply be some strange form of mystical Christianity, when in fact it is as rigorously intellectually grounded as Calvinism, Catholicism or Lutheranism.
So what are some Eastern theological terms you have seen us use, but do not understand? I am at your service, as your guide in exploring this terminology.
