Do As I Do, Not Do I As I Say

A Reflection on St. Gregory Palamas and the Bogomils

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I recently finished the book After Christendom by Michael Warren Davis, who is a new convert from Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodoxy. I will probably write a review of it in the next week or so, as I think it provides a lot of good lessons and was a breath of fresh air compared to other works I have read that address similar topics. You can purchase it here. (paid link)

In the chapter titled “The Universal Call to Mysticism”, Davis highlights the point that for Christians to make any semblance of progress with winning converts and purifying the Church of lukewarm elements, they need to return to the basics. Simply throwing arguments at people and calling it a day will no longer cut it; instead, they need to be what Davis calls “lived witnesses” for Christianity, acting like Christ instead of just talking about Him (Davis, pg. 71, 75). 

To demonstrate his point, Davis first points to the renowned Roman Catholic saint, Francis of Assisi, and his interactions with the Waldensians. The Roman Church at this point was in a sorry state, so much so that it would only be 150 more years before the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation (pg. 71). The Waldensians were essentially a precursor to the Protestants; as Davis points out, they rejected the Church hierarchy and emphasized the need for “apostolic poverty” against the lavish lifestyles of many a Papal cleric (pg. 72-73). Francis of Assisi did not write polemics, fling anathemas or hurl insults at this group. Instead, Francis and his followers made themselves icons of Christ through their actions, such as by feeding the poor and healing illnesses like leprosy (pg. 72). This made him and his fledgling order popular with many, including the Waldensians. Davis notes that there is a reason why the Reformation never gained a strong foothold in southern Europe; the actions of Francis showed how one could still be a faithful Christian even in the midst of clerical corruption and impotence, and so the locals never felt a need to join the Protestants (pg. 73-74).

Yet after this section, Davis then points to a scenario similar to that occurred in the East. Many people have probably not heard of the Waldensians, and even fewer have heard of the Bogomils. Davis describes the Bogomils as a sort of Eastern version of the Waldensians; like their Western counterparts, the Bogomils had come to reject key aspects of Orthodox doctrine and worship in part for some of the same reasons the Waldensians did,; they embraced ideas like only using the “Our Father” for formal prayer, and lived in the mountains away from the official centers of Church authority (pg. 74). And yet many of them returned to the Orthodox faith through the witness of St. Gregory Palamas. Davis describes what happens as follows:

It is true that Gregory had a great deal of sympathy for the Bogomils. He agreed that, by itself, Byzantine liturgical prayer could be too rigid and impersonal. And like them, he longed for an intimate relationship with the living God. But Gregory’s solution was to become the champion of hesychasm (bold in place of italics in original text): the mystical tradition of the Eastern Church that centers on the Jesus Prayer. 

In addition, Gregory would often go into the mountains where the Bogomils had their strongholds and spend days arguing with their priests. Gregory praised them for their devotion to the Gospel…But he also insisted that no true Christian could rejet the Church, her bishops, her priests, and her magisterial faith. Before too long, whole villages would convert to orthodoxy. Gregory would then accompany the Bogomil leaders back to the imperial city, where they would make a formal act of submission to the Patriarch of Constantinople (pg. 74-75). 

While these two instances are highlighted in Davis’ work to show how universal this phenomenon can be in the Christian world, I think it provides a valuable lesson for contemporary Orthodox, especially in how we help others to enter the Church. 

Simply put, it is this; arguments alone will not work. 

I think of the process of my own conversion and realize that Davis, and by extension, Palamas, are correct. Logical argumentation certainly played a major role. I read scholarly literature, listened to apologetic material, and examined Orthodox documents and writings. But what also had an impact on me, sometimes even more so than the written word, was the holiness I saw in the Orthodox people I met. 

What was this holiness? It was  the guidance of my former spiritual father who provided me spiritual direction even before I had decided to convert. It was the many clergy and lay people who noticed I was the “new guy” when I attended liturgy and made me feel at home. It was the Orthodox young people I met at a retreat who wanted to get to know me and called me their friend even after only knowing me for just a few days. And most of all, it is the lives of the Saints I read then and have read since, who became saints not just because of what they said and wrote, but because of what they did. This is a major reason as to why I tell people who are interested in Orthodoxy to attend Divine Liturgy before doing any kind of academic or theological research. It is in the parish setting, interacting with those who are formed in the Orthodox Faith by the liturgy that one will see Orthodoxy as it is meant to be.

I think Davis almost rounds out Palamas in a certain sense, giving a fuller portrait of the great saint. Many converts come to know Palamas as a “Pillar of Orthodoxy” for his unwavering devotion to Orthodox dogma in the face of Latin errors and to his exposition of the true Faith in his many writings. These works are beyond important, but they are not the entirety of Palamas, nor any saint for that matter. As Davis demonstrates, Palamas didn’t just defend Orthodoxy, but he also lived it.

Us contemporary Orthodox need to do the same thing. We should be enthusiastic about promoting sound apologetics and proper catechesis for new converts on the truths of Orthodoxy. But we also need to be just as enthusiastic about encouraging these converts to live the Orthodox life. We need to be fanatics for street evangelism, for serving our communities’ poor, for promoting global missions, and other acts of Christian charity and service. Even just the small but invaluable gesture of being friendly to newcomers can pay dividends in the long run. They won’t remember the anonymous Twitter user named “basedorthodoxtsarist” who called them a heretic as the source for their conversion. Rather, they will remember the “lived witness” of the parishioners they encounter on Sunday as a testimony to the grace found in Orthodoxy.

We cannot defend or prove the truths of Christianity with just books and words. Our very lives need to be proof Christianity. Because if they aren’t, do we really understand Christianity to begin with?

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner