Doru Costache - The Ecclesial Synaxis 1

(Published in The Greek Australian Vema, January 2009, 8)

THE ECCLESIAL SYNAXIS

EPITOME OF A LEARNING SOCIETY (Part 1) Revd Dr Doru Costache Much has been said in recent times on the need to change the current mentality concerning education and learning as exclusive features pertaining to earlier stages of life. Within this trend, an important concept is that of the learning society, which transfers the problematic related to education from the individual level to that of entire societies. According to its promoters, all societies have to be established upon learning or else they will die. This requires that the respective societies make the effort to keep up with the rhythm of the change and development. Thus, they need to invent and implement learning systems able to ensure the appropriate institutional adjustments. What is however interesting, beyond this pragmatic motivation, is the emergence of a new understanding of education and knowledge. In their quest for more than what can be acquired through customary educational environments, the promoters of this concept postulate learning as a goal for individuals and societies alike. This further step (from the necessity of adjusting to changes to the understanding of knowledge as a goal in itself) represents the main contribution of this trend. Symptomatic of this understanding is the idea of mature and lifelong learning. Perhaps there is nothing new about this presentation, given that we live in a society that encourages lifelong education. But before getting to the actual topic – which is the identification of the Divine Liturgy as paradigmatic for a learning society – a brief assessment of this contemporary concept is in order. Thus, although one might see in this concept the positive and creative reiteration of a traditional cultural pattern (traditional societies are essentially learning societies), the substitution of knowledge for wisdom (a very modern characteristic) is quite visible. The issue with such a substitution lies in the fact that the many axiological, existential and ethical dilemmas experienced by modern societies originate mostly in their abandoning of wisdom. And in fact it is this impasse that makes the Divine Liturgy relevant to our discussion, since within it knowledge is taken as a means leading to wisdom and never the latter’s substitute. Now, turning to our topic, one might wonder: is the Church (God’s people) gathered in the holy synaxis (assembly) representative of a learning society? If so, what kind of a learning society does it constitute? The answer to the first question is simple and this is the aspect to which I will now refer. Alongside the worshipping aspect, both the catechetical dimension of the Church and the structure of the Divine Liturgy – as two inextricably intertwined features – witness to this reality. Around and within the holy gathering of the liturgy, teaching remains central, representing a prerequisite for the consummation of the ecclesial event of communion.

Some background notes might serve to make sense of this aspect. Everything within the Church points to its dimension as a learning society. This side of ecclesial life was visible from the very beginning in the institution of the catechumenate whose function has been – and still is – to guide the converts and neophytes toward the ‘newness of life’ (cf. Romans 6:4) through teaching and learning. Closely related to the stages of Christian initiation (see Hebrews 6:1-2), one should mention the ‘discipline of secrecy’ (cf. Hebrews 13:10) preventing those without ecclesial instruction from having access to the holy mysteries. Overall, the faithful are invited to deepen their awareness of the ecclesial mindset and life (see 2 Timothy 3:14-17); for that matter, they are constantly challenged to learn through the annual cycle of scriptural readings and their appropriate interpretation, within the implicit hermeneutical framework of the liturgy and iconography. All these dimensions of ecclesial education are supported by the highly informative character of liturgical hymnography, which in the Byzantine tradition has no other purpose but to allow the faithful to reach a prayerful or doxological state by way of a thorough initiation into the inner aspects of ecclesial mindset. Indeed, far from serving merely as a pretext for skilful chanting, liturgical hymnography has been originally designed to function as a means of teaching or an implicit school. Furthermore, in itself, the Divine Liturgy incorporates all these elements, constituting the space par excellence of ecclesial teaching and learning, where the message of the Gospel is proclaimed and interpreted in order to ease our access to life eternal and the fullness of life (see Acts 5:20; John 10: 10; 17:3; 20:30-31). God willing, I shall address this aspect in more detail in future articles. For the time being, it is necessary to attempt an answer to the second question, dealing with the specifics of the Church as a learning society. As already mentioned, one of the issues with contemporary society is the unilateral emphasis of knowledge and the marginalisation of wisdom. This issue may be traced, for instance, at the origin of a well-known phenomenon, namely the disproportion between inner (subjective, personal) and external (objective, social, civilisational) achievements. Only recently have people become aware of the problems emerging from the lack of wisdom and interest in the inner accomplishments, which characterise ‘civilised’ societies, such as the disintegration of values and the unprecedented proliferation of psychoses. Unfortunately, the new enlightenment through learning does not seem to be able to compensate the lack of wisdom or to heal the wounds caused to the souls of our contemporaries. At best, this new enlightenment may render those avid of learning as well-informed; it is doubtful, however, that this will ever bring them to a state of well-formed and transformed people, without the discerning tools provided exclusively by wisdom. By comparison, the Church gathered in the holy synaxis is motivated primarily by the thirst for wisdom and the fullness of life. Thus, at the core of the ecclesial learning process lies the ideal of acquiring not bare knowledge, but the wisdom that is so necessary in any endeavour to reach the fullness of life. Wisdom provides us not just with the capacity to adjust to changes and other external challenges; in fact, it allows us to adapt to various circumstances whilst it also safeguards our identity as people and Church, pointing to meanings and purposes for our lives. To God’s people everything that matters throughout the learning process is the acquisition of wisdom that assists us in the endeavour to adjust to new conditions without ever abandoning our identity, criteria and values. However, teaching and learning aim at more than helping us adjust to external conditions. The final goal of any ecclesial endeavour is indeed the spiritual reshaping (μετάνοια) of people’s minds and lives, which is the outcome of a transformative process – of both individuals and communities – through learning the rhythms of the kingdom.

Is then the Church a learning society? Indeed it is, yet what it invites us to appropriate is the discernment pertaining to the wisdom leading to the fullness of life.