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Bartholomew Koutloumousianos was born on 22 nd December, in 1722, on the island of Imbros in the northern Aegean , near to the coast of Asia Minor . He received his first schooling on both Imbros and the neighbouring island of Enos .

At the age of 21, in 1793, he went to the Koutloumousiou Monastery on Mount Athos where he professed the monastic life. He was subsequently ordained a deacon and soon after a priest, and it was from the monastery that he took his name. While on Mount Athos and within the environment of Koutloumousiou he widened his knowledge under the instruction of the priest-monks Chrysanthos and Cyrillus and, most significantly, St Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain .

In 1803 Bartholomew returned to his birthplace with the intention of setting up a school there, but this plan had to be postponed when he went to Kidonies in Asia Minor, together with his brother Cyrillus, who was also a priest-monk, to follow a three year course under the tuition of Sarafis and B. Lesbios at the then renowned Kidonies School. He returned to Imbros in 1812 and tried again to establish a school at the Koutloumousiou metochion of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, but yet again this second attempt had to be abandoned because of a serious outbreak of the plague as well as the negative reception of the local aristocracy and of bishop Nikiphoros Tselepis.

Two years later, in 1814, Bartholomew went to Thessaloniki in response to an invitation by Ioannikios, the Intendant of Mount Athos, to be a tutor. He taught mainly the children of wealthy and well-established families, such as those of Kaftantzoglou and Charissi, and remained in the city for much longer than he had initially anticipated. The outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821 compelled him to flee to Marseilles in order to save his life and he remained there for six years. Then, in 1827, he was invited by the Greek community in Venice to teach at the Flaginio School where he worked for seven years, as a teacher and headmaster, during which time he contributed considerably to its reorganization. Simultaneously he served as priest to St George's church, and was generally active in both the social and publishing domains of the city and as a benefactor to the Greek community in Venice as a whole.

In 1834, on the recommendation of his friends A. Moustoxidis and B. Kapodistrias, he was asked by the Ionian Parliament to teach at the Ecclesiastical School of the Ionian Academy, but two years later, following an invitation by his fellow-compatriots and the intervention of the Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VI, he returned to Imbros with the hope of continuing his vocational work in the educational sphere. Yet once again he failed to establish a school on the island and in 1837 Patriarch Gregory appointed him as the Principal of the recently founded School of Divinity at Fanari in Istanbul . This school had been set up in order to counteract the sectarian teachings of Theophilus Kairis which were being disseminated by his students, and it closed down shortly after its aims were achieved.

Subsequently, in 1840, Bartholomew was appointed Principal of the Trade School in Chalki where he taught until 1847. It was in this same year that he returned to the Koutloumousiou Monastery and, forever an educator, there also undertook a number of school classes in replacement of the renowned Athonias School which at that time had ceased operating. He died on 16 th August 1851 .

Bartholomew Koutloumousianos was a leading cultural figure of his time, a priest and a teacher, a writer, and editor of liturgical texts that are distinguished among the cultural output of his age. He lived during the period when the ideology of the Enlightenment was rapidly spreading throughout Greece . He maintained a critical attitude towards these freshly imported ideas which he accommodated up to the point that he considered they would serve his purposes. He became acquainted with representatives of the Enlightenment, towards whom he kept a relatively open stance, without distancing himself from the traditional beliefs of the Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

He compiled a Grammar of the Greek Language (1828) and The Little Prayer Book (1829), and with the encouragement of the Governor of newly-liberated Greece , Ioannis Kapodistrias, he drew up an enchiridion of Prayers for every Profession and Trade. Although completed by 1831, his work Synopsis was never published, as neither were his other two texts, Arithmetic and Sermons. Bartholomew also wrote two historical monographs, one on his birthplace, Imbros (1845), and the other on the Monastery of the Holy Virgin at Chalki (1846). For many years he was much involved in the editing and publication of the main liturgical books of the Orthodox Church, the Orologion (1831), the Penticostarion (1837) and the Menaion (1846), thus accomplishing a remarkable task for which he was well-known in both ecclesiastical and cultural society.

Bartholomew's personality and work, which is the subject of the present study, are instrumental in helping us to better comprehend the social circumstances and events of his age, and much previously unknown information from a large volume of unpublished data that has been brought to light in this work also contributes to our understanding of modern Greek spiritual and liturgical life as well as of the history of the Church.

(From the book "Vartholomeos Koutloumousianos", published in Greek by the Holy Monastery of Koutloumous)

Sir Steven Runciman, the noted Byzantinologist, in his last interview said: " Sometimes I am disappointed by the other churches. Nevertheless, it pleases me to think that before one hundred years pass, Orthodoxy will be the only remaining historical Church . I believe that she offers the real spirituality which the other churches can no longer offer."(1) If this foreboding rings true, then the universality of Orthodoxy becomes current. At the same time its apostolicity , which is one of the four distinctive features of the Church according to the Creed, is emphatically presented on the modern stage.

Apostolicity links the Church together with historical and institutional origin, while at the same time it denotes character and perspective. The Church of Christ is Apostolic because her origins and teachings are based upon the Apostles of Christ. Besides, the Lord's command to the Apostles had universal scope: " Go therefore and make disciples of all nations". (2)

Christ was born as a man through the lineage of Juda to redeem the people of Israel and the whole world.(3) He did not overlook the other races and nations but recapitulated all in His theandric (God-Human) Body, namely the Church. Although the twelve Apostles represent the twelve races of Israel , they assume ecumenical conscience and teach " all the nations ". Racial, national and other kinds of divisive characterizations exist before death's borders. The Church, rooted upon the truth and actual experience of the victory over death, does not disregard such divisions, yet she transcends the distinctions and unites the entire world in one and undivided body.

The racial and national divisions existing during the time of the Apostles still exist today. Even idolatry powerfully introduces itself in both the non-Christian and Christian worlds in one of its most ancient forms, that of covetousness. The present age believes in money and is directed by capital. Capital governs man, corrupts his morals, shapes his social life and determines political choices.

The Holy Bible and the Fathers of the Church directly relate man's freedom and justification to a detachment from money and to the broadening of one's conscience to embrace the entire world. The Gospel indicates the metaphysical dimensions that money potentially acquires transforming itself and becoming Mammon.(4)

St. Paul says that avarice is idolatry.(5) The Fathers of the Church also condemn avarice as a crime.(6) However, the contraction of the ecumenical conscience of a Christian and the return to a nationalistic outlook of perception is also to be identified with idolatry.

Man has infinite value. In himself the persona is a kind of centre capable of containing in himself the whole fullness of Divine and human being.(7) This is the claim of Christian anthropology, which is neglected by the Christian world but preserved in Orthodox Theology. It is true that on a moral and social level the traditionally Orthodox peoples may not hold a superior position compared to the non-Orthodox. This is because of the secularization that began in the West and was ultimately transplanted in the East, resulting in disadvantaging the Orthodox. The desire to imitate and the inherent difficulty to assimilate and exploit foreign cultural elements created personal and social turmoil. Nevertheless, the superiority of Orthodoxy stems from its theological foundations. Orthodoxy remains as a pure truth of Christian Faith. In the Orthodox Church, Christian truth is unspoiled and the eschatological perspective of Christianity is preserved. This is Orthodoxy's greatest value and this guarantees the quality of what the Church profess to the world.

For the Orthodox self-criticism and repentance is essential. From this perspective we see the challenge the Orthodox Church faces with globalization. When the spirit of the world in the form of avarice, love for power, religious syncretism, nationalism, liberalism or conservatism, entraps Orthodoxy in the inevitable web of corruption and death, the reduction or relativization of Orthodoxy's absolute and universal spirit can be fatal.

Should the Orthodox Church rest upon a conventional presence in the contemporary world, should the Church fail to respond to the today's challenges with Christ's universal spirit, man will be without help. Man will submit to globalization's homogenization. However, if the Church fosters the spirit of Tradition on a personal and community level, the truth of Christ's universality will trump the illusion of globalization.

Present perspectives are disappointing. All phenomena betray the crisis and portend the inevitable explosion. If man's focus is on individual interests and man neglects fellow-man, society is undermined and is lead to an impasse. The economic growth model becomes the author of self-destruction. The rich grow richer with modern capitalism since wealth is retained by those that are wealthy. The poor grow poorer because the model's cyclical fluctuations and inherent need to sustain viability affect the income of the poor the most. This process can only lead to self-implosion.

The solution shall surface only when man decides to turn his eyes outward to his surroundings; when he decides to follow a basic Christian precept: "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.»(8) When everyone takes interest in fellow-man, when the interests of others are in our focus, when man recognizes the benefit of other's as the ultimate goal of work, then man will take the right place in human society. At that time man shall ascertain that his true self, his true being, lies in his neighbour.

Yet, all these are not simply human choices. They emerge as a consequence of man's spiritual rebirth. Specifically, they spring as fruits of man's participation in the life of Christ. The one who follows Christ and becomes a partaker of His death and resurrection, enters into the perspective of His universality. Whether the individual is an ordained priest or lay person, he is summoned to bear the grace of the " royal priesthood "(9) and to offer services in the work of the reconciliation of the whole world, which is accomplished through Christ. This requires intense ascesis and prayer, which in turn reveals the image of God in man. (10)

Every person and Humanity as a whole are an image of God. This iconological character of man makes necessary the nexus between man and God. When a person ceases to reflect God in his being, he becomes self-deleted. He becomes the image of nothing. Man's reference to God is what gives substance to his hypostasis. It makes man a partaker of the Divine Being, a god by grace : « I say, You re gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;»(11)

Such a high perspective for man and his life forms the ideal of the Orthodox Church. Besides, the Church is a "communion of deification".(12) The Church is the community constituted by the Presence of the Holy Spirit which elevates us to the status of the Universality of Christ. Yet, this elevation of humanity is concurrently given and demanded. It is offered as a donation from Christ in His Church, but it also has to be accomplished by the faithful through the activation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This achievement is not a painless process, yet it becomes possible by the means of humility and kenotic [i.e. self-emptying] love.

Man can not easily chasten himself or get rid of his egotism to accept his fellow-man. Although the loving disposition is inherent to human nature, a lack of true love does characterize the " fallen " man. True love is revealed only through the sacrifice of egotism. The model for this love is the Triune God. Unity in the Holy Trinity is accomplished through the kenotic and loving inter-penetration of the Divine Persons, thereby being the model for the unity of Humanity and for the creation of the communion of deification.

Such love was revealed to the world by Christ. This kind of love is what the Orthodox Church proposes to man for his salvation, which is identified with his becoming a universal person. In the Church the believer is called to live the universal tragedy which runs through history, in order to proceed through repentance to the universal reconciliation, to the catholic communion of love. In this way the entire world is fraternized and every man is opened to universality.

The ascendance to such a perspective of life requires great effort. The created and corruptible man is summoned to assume the ethos of the uncreated and timeless Being. Undoubtedly, this is not achieved by his powers only. Orthodox Theology always speaks about the synergy between God and man. The limit of this synergy is death. In the final analysis, death proves man's fidelity to God and his faith that death has been defeated. In this way the barrier of death is broken down and the new creation of the New Covenant is revealed. That is why, according to St Paul , the New Testament is not " man's gospel ".(13)

Many people characterize our age as a post-Christian age. This must mean two things: First, that the former ages were Christian. Moreover, that our age is no longer Christian and that Christianity has nothing more to offer. This premise is doubly mistaken. Because neither the former period was Christian, nor is the potential of Christianity ever exhausted, with nothing more to offer for the present and future. This does not mean that Christianity has not affected the past and the present. It means that Christianity has not been lived in its authentic dimensions by the masses.(14)

Christianity is personally-centred. The individual is not seen as being subject to the impersonal whole, nor juxtaposed to the community. Christianity perceives the person as being in communion in the Church, and sees in every man the ability to reflect in his person all humanity. Consequently, Christianity does not seek to amend society by altering social structures. It seeks the amendment of society in the amendment of each person. In this perspective Christianity prioritizes the internal unification of man, which is achievable through the reunion of the intellect to the heart. In this reunion lies the essence of the godly hesychia (i.e. quietude, quiet contemplation or solitude), a basic element of Orthodox Tradition.

In our turbulent age the reminiscence of quietude seems unrealistic. This does not mean that it is beyond one's reach or, worse, that it is useless. Orthodox hesychia means not stagnancy or dullness but self-concentration and intense activity on the level of the inner man. It is the presupposition for the internal reorganization of man and the establishment of his relationship with God and his neighbour. In the confusion of noises and data our present society offers man can easily lose his identity and humanity. Unless he concentrates on himself and returns to a true relationship with God and his fellow-man, all human progress is condemned to annihilation. That is why devout hesychia is a priority which leads to man's perfection. This is in essence real social activism and missionary work.(15)

Orthodox Theology was cultivated throughout the ages through internal quietude, which creates the conditions for the spiritual experience and for the avoidance of the alienating influence of the world.(16) The witness of the Orthodox Church in the contemporary world will be authentic and convincing only if it comes out of silence and quietude. Hesychia, as perceived by Orthodoxy, can bring about a creative explosion of activity, which is man's only hope amidst the suffocating fetters masterly scattered to the entire world by recent globalization. This spiritual explosion will promote the disclosure of the authentic human person in the impersonal globalized society. The counter-offer of the Orthodox Church to activistic globalization is the hesychastic universality.

The authentic human is universal. In this universal person the world can find its universality. The Saints were such persons. In the person of the Saint the whole of creation is sanctified. Moreover, in the principal holy figure, the Mother of God, lies the "universal joy"(17) and the "universal glory".(18) Unless we see the ontological content of the human person in this unfathomable depth we can not rightly experience the mystery of the Church.

The Orthodox Church, with her theological and ascetic tradition summed up in the Divine Liturgy, preserved the aforementioned perspective, something that can not be affirmed for the western theological tradition. Principal tenets of Orthodox Theology and asceticism, such as the teaching about the real communion between God and the world, the kenotic love, which culminates in the love for the enemies, and hesychasm, which rescues the priority of the human person, form essential presuppositions for the restoration of the alienated Christian world.

In the Divine Liturgy the believer experiences the communion with God and the whole world. He participates in the kenotic love and is instructed the application of this love for all people. He enters eternity, he renders incorruptible the created nature and he lives the universality. The Divine Liturgy and other services, give the believer the proper impulse for the right life as embodied in the petition " for the peace of the whole world .". Thus, the believer evolves into an authentic person, into a universal man. In this way man's desire for universality is satiated and man is properly armed to face the perils of globalization.

The above-mentioned are a treasure entrusted to the Orthodox Church. Here lies the Church's importance and monumental responsibility. The witness of Orthodoxy is not a confessional case, because it is of a catholic and universal significance. It is a witness emanating from her quality as the Catholic and Apostolic Church . Meanwhile it is the witness which has to be given, so that we can cherish hope for the future.

The truth of the Orthodox Church is testified not in the air but in the hearts of the Orthodox. It is not offered with reference to the past but through experience and activation in the present. Today, at a time when the world considers money as the measure of all things, when mankind is governed by money and deifies money, the witness of Orthodoxy must be given through the scorn of money, through the crumbling of this false god. This witness must be primarily given by the Orthodox monasticism as well as by the whole body of the Church.

If the world is induced to believe that everything can be bought with money, it is necessary to see authentic forms of life, such as an Orthodox cenobitic monastery, or a traditional family, which remain free from money. Moreover, the world must be informed that with money only " the inferior and the insignificant things " can be bought, whereas " the necessary which constitutes our life " are common to all. (19) The money of the whole world, and the world itself, is nothing compared with the value of only one man, of only one human soul.(20)

12. St Gregory Palamas, Sermon on the Holy Spirit 2 ,78 in P. Christou, Gregory Palamas, Works, vol.1, Thessaloniki 1962, p.149

Anestis Keselopoulos
Professor of Ethics, Aristotle University of Thessalonica

In Holy Scripture there are two meanings which are used to express the reality of the present condition of the world. The first is the meaning of the world as it was originally created by God in all of its goodness and beauty. But there also exists the reality of the fallen world which is liable to death and destruction. These two worlds coexist in such a way that they cannot be separated. At this point it is necessary to underline the characteristic meaning of creation since, in contrast with ancient Greek view, the Christian teaching states that the world was created out of nothing. The world was not created out of pre-existent matter. Thus the world was created free to be able to progress and proceed in freedom. And man, from his creation up to the present day, is found in continuous dialogue with the world. On this dialogue depends not only world civilisation itself but also the progress or the disappearance of all mankind.

In the theology and cosmology of the Fathers of the Orthodox Church nature is looked upon and considered as the creation of God. Is is presented as the highest mystery which was sacredly formed by the Holy Trinity . Nature was not formed out of a pre-existent reality, nor as a result of the granting of a particular property. Nature was produced and created out of nothing . This is the basic difference between the creations of God and the creations of man. The creations of God have real being because as creations out of nothing they are founded not on themselves - since their nature by itself is destructible and liable to decay and ontological ruin awaits it - but on the almighty and all-loving will of God. The creations of God are real and eternal. They exist on account of the unalterable and eternal will of God . On the contrary, the creations of man are always produced from pre-existent material and in reality they are simply constructions. In some ways even the greatest inventions and the most original works of art are, more or less, discoveries. The creations of man are results of a will which is liable to change and a mind which is limited, because both (will and mind) are created. For this reason creations of man contain changeability and deterioration since they are oriented to death. An example which remains throughout history is the inevitable fall of great civilisations, while the creations of man, without the collaboration of God, are subject to time and oriented to deterioration, the creations of God are oriented to life and eternity.

The world exists as a work of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. The Fathers of the Church teach that created beings lead us not only to believe that God exists as the cause of creation, but mainly they reveal and help us to understand the way in which God exists. From the order, the harmony and also the difference which exists among created things, one is informed about the love of God the father, the maker of creation, about the personified wisdom of God-the Divine Logos, who holds all things together, and about the Holy Spirit, who is the life-giving power of creation . From an apophatic approach of the universe, one is taught the apophatic conception and understanding of God. The one and Triune God "brings forth out of nothing" and "gives essence" and "establishes ineffably" the whole world. His command preserves and maintains all things. The Wisdom of the Father provides for all things, perceives "before all ages" and desires and loves the things of the world. Moreover the true beauty of the world reveals the care, the will and the love of the Father. This revelation is the manifestation of the Energies of the Son, "through Whom all things were made". And God the Father, who creates and "brings forth all things through the word" holds the together through the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit .

The entire creation is found in direct relation to God and it leads to comprehension of the place of his presence. However, the relationship between God and the world presupposes, simultaneously a diversity and a fundamental difference. This difference proceeds from the fact that the world was created out of nothing. God, having inexpressible essence and nature, is found both within the world and at the same time outside the world. On the other hand, all created things are found within God "as Creator and the One who holds all things together" but simultaneously hey are also apart from God, because as created beings they are separated from the uncreated God. The existence of God as the cause of all things explains the simultaneous separation between Creator and creation. Moreover God exists as love, and love is the light which enlightens the whole world without originating from the world and without having anything in common with it.

The area of earthly reality is the place of God, since from created things one can know He who made them. The beauty of creation, which leads to the creative God, prompts man to doxological relation with the Creator of all. Nevertheless in order for the world to be revealed to man as the inseparable place of the divine personal Energy, man must remain "within the proper limits of his own being". Only in this way man achieves self-transcendence of his individuality, which makes possible a personal approach to the personal existence of God. Within the framework of this personal relationship of man with the Maker of all - a relationship which is founded on faith - the world ceases to be autonomous as a neutral object, which is measured and vindicated by experience. In this case the world "is the place", that is to say the place where the relationship between God and man occurs. The man who has the mind of Christ and desires to know the outward beauty of creation discovers the accessibility of God within the reality of the creation of the world, without refuting the physical distance between God and the world, which is as distant as uncreated nature is from created nature. Therefore man is able to admire the Creator through created things. However he is not to confuse uncreated and created nature or to identify the creation with the Creator, which would lead to worship of created things in ignorance of He who made them. From the size and beauty of created things man is able to perceive and to acquire a better understanding of the Creator. He then becomes conscious of the fact that his nearness toward God in the world is not physical but local, that is to say a nearness which is created by his personal relationship with God. Therefore he understands that it is not this world which "contains" God, but it is the will and energy of God which "contains" the world. If someone does not respect this apophaticism in relation to the created and the uncreated -an apophaticism which consists of the interrelationship between God and the world, yet at the same time their simultaneous distinction- it is very easy to fall into the heresy of idealistic or materialistic humanism, which in the final analysis form two sides of the same coin.

On the other hand, man on account of his physiology has direct relation with the rest creation, since man together with his spiritual, has also his material dimension as well. The basic structural element of man is dust, that is to say his most natural and biological element. Man exists as a biological being, and as part of the natural creation his physiological structure and function does not differ greatly from the other physical beings. His materiality, although it has a higher form and quality than plants and animals, is a basic element of his being. Moreover the unity, connection and the common origin of creation bears witness to the unique and dynamic character in the relation between cosmology and anthropology. So, it is not possible for the one world to be examined without the other. Neither can one of the two aspects of creation be considered separately and independently from its relationship to the other. All the levels of existence are found in man. This is why the physiology of man, as is presented in the writings of the Church Fathers , has direct relation and is of essential interest to orthodox cosmology.

Therefore, according to the physiology of man and his creation "in the image of God", the inseparable unity of spirit and body are supported, and the indwelling of the uncreated within the created is emphasized. This forms the greatest honor bestowed by God upon the human body. Man, having been created in the image of the personal God and of the personal Word, forms the created hypostasis of rational beings. Man as the true "microcosm" contains all the created realities within his being and he receives the natural dynamism of creation, which is called to lead to its completion. Man being created "in the image" is called by God to preserve and to complete the correct orientation of this dynamism. Man will fulfill this work when he uses correctly the faculties, gifts and natural powers with which he has been endowed by being created "in the image" of God.

Man and the world are proportionally related. Man can be considered as a "microcosm" of the world, while the world can be described as the "macrocosm" of man. The soul of the world is the intelligible creation, while its body is the sensible. Likewise in man, intelligible creation is the soul, and the sensible is the body. The world exists as the icon and image of that which occurs within man. The Holy Fathers, using imagery from the heavenly bodies, transfer them to man and they stress that the world, as the image of man, has not been contrived by men, but has been formed this way by God Himself .

The entire material creation was given by God to man freely as a blessing. In the interpretation of the relative pericope in Genesis, it is stressed that God did not grant to man only Paradise but the whole earth. Likewise in explaining the passage "to labour and to keep", the Fathers teach that these two words constitute mutually connected meanings which refer not only to the rights, but also to the obligations of man, in relation to the environment where he lives . The proper use of creation, which refers to the phrase "to labour", necessarily implies the duty to protect and to conserve it, which refers to the phrase "to keep". The proper use of the environment without its simultaneous protection is not possible. Man is called to work responsibly and to carry out his productive and creative efforts not only as the representative and Stewart of God, but also as caretaker and guardian of the physical environment. Likewise the command of God "to cultivate the earth" does not constitute permission which exempts man from the misuse and destruction of the natural environment. And if man has been, so to speak, "overestimated" by God by God in relation to the rest of creation and if he "rules and lords over them", it does not mean that man's relation to the environment should fall into a relationship of "oppressor toward the oppressed". The domination of man over nature implies certain corresponding responsibilities because it constitutes an authority which is at the same time both liable and sovereign. Thus the meaning of the dominion of man within creation is not without its restrictions. It involves man's capacity to use the potentialities of nature in a correct and proper way which helps and serves mankind. The ultimate problem in the relationship of man and nature is not who will prevail over whom, but how man will co-exist in harmony with the rest of God's creation .

In the relationship of man and nature it is not nature which leads man to God but it is man who achieves the "rationalization" of nature. This work which has as its starting point man's natural intervention between God and the world is completed in the deification of man and the restoration of the world to its original beauty, which was not realized by Adam on account of the Fall. It was man himself who upset the harmony of his relation with creation. As a result of the fall and because of his disobedience to God's commandment, man has altered his position in relation to the rest of creation. God's commandment was directly related to the use of the world (Gen. 2,17). Since man did not keep the commandment and he did not conduct himself properly within the environment where he was placed, he received the consequences of his behaviour. Thus, man was unwillingly brought into the subjection of his fallen condition. The Fathers particularly emphasize that the enslaved condition of creation does not constitute its natural development. Creation is presented as victim because it has been deprived of its original beauty, brilliance and harmony by man. That is why nature refuses to submit to transgressive man .

The differentiation and estrangement which the earth and indeed all of creation endures after the Fall reveals that their origin is found in God. Moreover the violation of creation by man is carried out in part by his separation from God. The transgression of the commandment of God and above all the lack of repentance by man is that which removed him from paradise, since the estrangement of his fallen condition directly influences and is extended to the whole of creation. For this reason the world in its fallen condition looses its original sense as ornament and creation of God and it falls into a negative meaning. A sinful and impassioned relationship arises between man and the other created things, which is found under the influence of the devil who is the "ruler of this world". Nevertheless God as Creator of the universe "rules naturally and authoritatively" over all things. The devil acts within creation as a parasitic power. For this reason, although it is called "the natural world" it is not at all natural since it is not found in its original condition, but rather in a fallen condition and in rebellion which leads to destruction and death.

As a result of the Fall, man governs nature with his own self-interest in mind, independent from responsibility to God. When man governs creation and material goods for himself, that is to say in a "selfish" way, apart from their Creator, he lives in an impassioned condition. He is found enslaved to the material world not because he desires it and loves it correctly, but because he has distorted his will and he has distanced the world from the life-giving Energy of God. In reality man does not impose his own will upon matter because he feels that he shares something in common with it, rather it is because he has been mistakenly placed against it. When the world is governed in a selfish way and when it is cut off from its original cause, which is God, it essentially ceases to exist; it is reduced to a non-ontological condition. St Symeon the new Theologian goes further when he says that the condition of the world - that is to say man's position against it - is not "permanent, perpetual and everlasting" but it is something which is "transient, ephemeral and momentary" . This position of man against nature -in which is clearly based the entire phenomenon of contemporary technology - regards the world as if it created itself. As a result, man reaches the point where he idolizes created matter.

Because he regards the world as having been created by itself, man therefore passes into a narcissistic attitude toward matter which leads to the abuse of the environment. Thus the world is transformed into an impersonal object which is shamelessly forced into complete subjection to man's greed. The Holy Fathers emphasize that from the relation and the use of the things of the world -whether reasonable or unreasonable - man is correspondingly characterized as being either virtuous or perverse. St Symeon the New Theologian adds that men who do not have a correct relationship with the things of the world, live a life contrary to nature. it follows that the cosmology of St Symeon would reject this form of abuse of the environment. Man's self-centred imposition upon the world and his consumptive disposition constitute the practical application of a cosmology which is diametrically opposed to the cosmology of the Church Fathers because it regards nature as an impersonal and neutral object, which is at the disposal of the desires and the needless "necessities" of man. The misuse of technology and the overemphasis on the pursuit of money serve and enhance man's abuse of the environment.

The exact opposite of abuse of the environment is its true and eucharistic use, which has as its point of departure the respect for the original purpose of all created things. Created things, at the root of their being, possess the will of God, which is revealed through the "acts" of God. The Church Fathers, in many of their writings, often refer to the purposes of created beings and they emphasize the importance of their discovery and understanding by man . Man is led to a deeper faith and a higher love for God by means of the consideration of the motives for the Creation. One cannot acquire complete love for God without spiritual knowledge of the purpose of created things, through which "is seen" their Creator and Maker. Through examining the motive of creation, we arrive at a functional harmony with nature, which constitutes not only the possibility for a personal relationship between man and nature, but also the possibility for his personal relationship with the Creator. Therefore the reason for the purpose of the existence of creation, and of man himself, is the point of departure in the theology of the Church Fathers.

The existence of the world in itself neither assures man a true conception of the nature of created things, nor the ultimate discovery of the purpose of Creation. A negative aspect of this "discovery" is man's enslavement to the passions. It is necessary first of all for man to live a life of true repentance changing his way of thinking, in order to be continually given the possibility of being correctly orientated to Creation and to develop a relationship of love with the things of the world. The cause of the creation has as its source, as its foundation and as its end, the Divine Word, from Whom the "reasonableness" of the world springs forth. It is exactly for this reason that consciousness of the presence of the Word of God is needed to enable man to know the cause of their being.

The approach to the reason of beings presupposes the use of the world according to nature, while the separation in man's relation with his environment reveals a relationship which, being contrary to nature, borders on the absurd. If, however, absurdity and a life contrary to nature are manifested in the misuse and abuse of the world, respect and regard for the purpose of creation and a life in accordance with nature are expressed in the ascetic, efficient and eucharistic use of the world. In the first case the hedonistic demands of the senses rule over the life of man, creating in him an improper view of creation, which does not at all correspond to the true nature of things. These hedonistic demands distort and corrupt the true beauty of nature forcing it to submit and to serve the self-centredness of man. In the second case there exists man's self-renunciation of the demands of his senses, which form the ascetic-eucharistic use of the world, which is the only way of true life and knowledge. The writings of the Holy Fathers particularly emphasize the ascetic use of the world, which saves not only the environment but also mankind. Thus, only the "indispensable needs of man" are projected as the measure for the correct use of the environment which functions together toward the cause for social justice .

Especially in the present age of immeasurable exploitation and rape of the environment, this ascetic and efficient ethos which is proposed by the Fathers is particularly salutary. It shows the way in which man must restrict his greedy desires toward nature, in order that he may be more substantially and more harmoniously connected with it, as God created him to be. The monk is the embodiment of this ethos - without, certainly, being its only manifestation. The life of the monk is one which protects and preserves the truth, the purity and the respect of his relationship with nature which surrounds him. His ascesis is not interpreted as abhorrence of matter and of the natural environment but further as transcendence of human selfishness. The true monk does not harm the material things of the environment, but he takes care of them and respects them. Therefore matter and the environment in the use of the life of the monk are brought back to their original beauty .

The duty of man to be the mediator between God and the world was not fulfilled by the first Adam. Nevertheless, its fulfillment was found in the person of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who became the "first born" of the new creation. The incarnation of the Word was realizes because of man's desecration of nature, which has the character not only of its misuse but also its idolization. With the renewal of man in Christ all of creation is renewed as well. New creation means re-creation in dynamic relation with the created Word of all beings, that is to say a relation not only with God but also with nature as His creation. Within orthodox theology, cosmology and anthropology are christologically based and are seen in light of the re-creation in Christ. This forms a realization of the mystery of divine economy for the salvation of man and the transfiguration of the world. The relationship between man and creation has a christological basis and a soteriological perspective.

The reality of the Incarnation presents us with a great paradox. The Person of Jesus Christ necessarily implies that it is only God who is truly and fully human. In Jesus Christ we find "humanity at its best" and we realize that the fullness of mankind is found only in God. Moreover, when man neglects to realize and respond to the divinity in which he participates, he remains ontologically speaking, in a sub-human state. As ironic as it may seem, all of his attempts to improve the quality of his condition, within the sphere of the atheistically orientated secular humanism of today, drives man further away from the fullness of his ontological being. And it is obvious that there is a cooperation of the divine and the human, the uncreated and the created. Christ is the perfect man, the complete man, the whole man. But Christ is also God. This is to say that it is God alone who is the perfect man. Only God is completely and utterly human. In so far as man fails to realize the divine in himself, to that extent he falls short of being completely human. He remains less than human. His human nature is truncated just as the divine nature is truncated and less than divine if it is not humanized. It is not accidental or a cause of surprise that man's attempts to be only human to fulfil the ideals of the non-religious humanism of the last centuries- results in a dehumanization both of man and of the forms of the society which he has fabricated around himself .

When man rejects the reality of the Incarnation, he puts himself in a condition which is less than completely human. The divine and human natures are united in the person of Jesus Christ. When man insists on separating the two, by either placing God outside the realm of man's daily life, or by viewing himself as the basic source of his own being, he leaves mankind in a less than truly human condition. Man is a mystery, and to deprive him of the divine reality of his nature which is his through the Incarnation of Christ, is to deprive him of his "truly human" rights. The idea of man existing apart from God, or of God as existing apart from man, is a false idea. If we think of God as totally and absolutely transcendent to man, and of man as without any inner affinity with God, we fail to recognize that it is man's divinity that constitutes the essence of his humanity and consequently we dehumanize our idea of man. But at the same time, if we think of this divinity as belonging to man in his own right, so to say, and not as deriving from God who is altogether "other" than man, we end up by thinking that God is unnecessary and so by denying Him and in deifying ourselves in His place. Both the attitude which sees God as irreducibly outside and beyond man and the attitude which attributes to man the principle of his own existence or regards him as a self-subsistent splinter of divinity result in a dehumanization of man. Only when God and man are seen as indivisible but distinct elements in a divine-human reality in which the presence of the transcendent God constitutes the core of man's being, and in which God and man mutually determine each other, is it possible to envisage either God or man in a way which perhaps does some justice to the mystery and majesty of both.

The Incarnation of Christ presents us with the reality that to be human, that is to say to participate in human nature, is to participate in the divine. The Fathers of the Eastern Church explicitly teach that man has the capacity to attain the divine nature, which is his in Christ. This is what it means to be human. And to live in Christ is to live within His Holy Church, where the spirit of man is nurtured and nourished, as he grows into the image and likeness of God-Man may fail to realize or even reject the divine potential inherent in his nature. But whether he accepts it or not, the life in Christ and in His Holy Church is the only means of attaining the fullness of the mystery of being human. And this is salvation.

By virtue of the Incarnation and his participation in the person of Christ, man is placed at a cross-roads. He is directly attached to both the material world and the world of the divine. Not only attached, but man is also responsible, and he finds himself in the position of mediator between both worlds. This stands in contradiction to the contemporary approach which tends to alienate mankind from the material world, and which views nature as something separate from the reality of his own being. Thus, modern man has lost sight of his divine mission as care-taker and custodian of the natural world. His relationship with the rest of creation and with the environment in which he lives is less significant and more self-indulgent. The accordance and agreement which marks the natural relationship between man and the environment becomes deprived and de-moralized.

But it is the Eucharist which embodies the reality of the Incarnation today, for contemporary man. And it is the Eucharist which embodies the intimate involvement of man within the act of salvation, as Christ renews, regenerates and resurrects the whole of creation. When this sacramental involvement of man with the rest of creation is removed, he deprives himself of the essential quality of his human nature. When man neglects his priestly calling, and fails to realize the divine nature which is inherently his in the Person of Christ, he leaves himself susceptible to self-interested greed and over-indulgence. Depriving himself of deification, he prides himself on his humanity which is apart from God, making man even more less-human than he ever was before.

The Church as the body of the Incarnate Christ has the possibility of gathering together the entire world. If the Church did not exist, which is the communion of rational and intellectual beings, creation would not be able to have a personal relation and conscious participation in the energies of God. The entire universe forms an organic unity which has as its heart the Church of Christ. The presence of the Church in the world is the presence of God Himself. Consequently there does not exist a part of the intelligible and sensible creation from which divine energy, as the cohesive and promoting power of the entire universe is absent. Therefore we have the "ecclesiasmos" of the material creation and its participation in the glory of God. The world cannot exist apart from and independent of the Church. This is why man has the blessing and the honour of being its priest who leads creation into communion with the Holy Trinity. After the Fall the world became estranged and it was brought under the influence of the power of evil, and now the grafting of the world into the Church depends upon renewed man. The possibility for the "ecclesiasmos" ["churchification" or "ecclesiazation"] of the world manifests the dynamic quality of God's creation .

In the end, a genuine love for matter and the world is needed, before any measures can be taken to protect the environment. This genuine and original love and respect for the environment is beyond any kind of ecological movement and it is above the limitations of childish sentimentality and barren worship of nature. If man does not rediscover this original love for the world and for creation, he will be condemned to a life contrary to his nature. This genuine love makes us realize that with every tree which is cut or burnt down, a part of life is lost and even every stone which is ill-naturedly used is a sin. This is directly connected with the issue of man's over-consumption of the environment. Therefore the ultimate question which lies before us is whether or not it is possible for the Christian ethos to be one of over consumption and ill-use. And it is the Divine Eucharist which is the most substantial and spiritual relation of man with God. It is fulfilled with the material and sensible body and blood of Christ, which are offered to the faithful, making them participants in the life of God. The bread and the wine, as the representative elements of the material world, become the Body and Blood of the Incarnate Word of God, the Creator of the world. In this way man is called to be to be nature's officiate priest, eucharistically rendering creation back to the Creator. This eucharistic dimension in regard to the use of the environment plays no small role in Orthodox Theology. Rather it is the most essential element which assists man in providing him with a new approach to his relationship with the natural environment. Indeed, it might very well be the "final solution" of the ecological problems facing mankind today .

3. St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Inscription of Psalms 3, PG 44,441C. See also Dim. Staniloae, "The world as gift and sacrament of God's love", in Sobornost 59 (1969), pp 671-674.

5. St Basil, On the Holy Spirit 16,38, PG 32, 136AB & Gregory of Nazianzus, Homilies 45,5, PG 36, 629A

6. St Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogy 7, PG 91, 684D-685A; Methodius of Olympos, On the Resurrection , ed. GCS 2, 10, 2-3 p. 351.

7. Gregory of Naz., Sermons 38,11, PG 36,324A; Nicetas Stethatos, Contemplation for the Paradise , SC 81, p.158 and St Symeon the New Theologian, Traites Ethiques IV, SC 129, p.64.

8. See St Symeon the New Theologian, Catecheses 25, SC 113, pp 56-58; St Athanasius of Sinai, PG 89, 540-541 & 961-970.

9. For the contemporary thought on this point see: T.S. Derr, Ecology and human need , ed. Westminster Press. Phil. 1975 and P. Land, Theology meets progress , Gregorian University Press 1971.

10. For the consequences of man's transgression on the world is characteristic a passage of St Symeon the New Theologian cited in Traites Ethiques A, chapter 2, SC 122, p. 190. See also Rom. 8,20.

12. St Gregory of Nyssa, In Hexaemeron , PG 44,73A & 73C, Maximus the Confessor , Chapters Theologic 3, PG 90,1261D.

13. See J. Petrou, Social Justice: The problem of social justice in the orthodox tradition (in Greek), Thessaloniki 1986.

15. See Ph. Sherrard, The Rape of Man and Nature: An Enquiry into the Origins and Consequences of Modern Science , Ipswich, Suffolk 1987, p.32.

16. See Paulos Gregorios, The Human Presence. An Orthodox View of Nature , Geneva 1978, p. 32.

17. For the Eucharistic approach of the world see my work Man and theEnvironment: A study on St Symeon the new Theologian, SVS Press, New York 2001.

3. MAN AND ENVIRONMENT AN ORTHODOX PERSPECTIVE (Anestis Keselopoulos)