Anthony, Take Care of Thine Own Self

One of the distinctions between Orthodox piety and the rationalism of the west is that, in the Orthodox Church, there are certain things that are left to the realm of mystery and the judgments of God. This is something that is part of the very essence of Orthodox piety, base on the practical experience of the saints. We have an example of just such an experience from the life of Saint Anthony the Great:

Abba Anthony besought God to inform him why young children died whilst so many old men lived, and why upright men were poor whilst the wicked were rich, and why some were blind and others had their sight, and why the righteous suffered from illness whilst the wicked were healthy, and a voice came, which said, “Anthony, take care of thine own self, for these matters are the judgments of God.” [p. 200 The Paradise of the Holy Fathers Vol. II, Translated by E. Budge, Chato & Windus 1907, London]

Speculating and making judgments, even well meaning ones, concerning Divine providence, can at times cause one to draw nigh to usurping the Divine prerogative. For this reason we would all do well to remember these words spoken to one of the greatest saints of the Church, “Anthony, take care of thine own self, for these matters are the judgments of God.”

Even Saint Paul had to admonish the Corinthians concerning this, saying, “For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? ... But those who are outside God judges.” (I Cor. 5:12-13).

Yet, some Church writers have written concerning the fate of the non-Orthodox in a daring way. One such writer was Bishop Gregory Grabbe, who put forth many ideas concerning the fate of the non-Orthodox in his treatise, “The Unity and Uniqueness of the Church.” Nonetheless, he made sure to humbly and candidly qualify his daring statements with the words, “But this is merely a speculation of ours, which, as far as heretics and schismatics are concerned, does not have firm grounds in the writings of the Church; for the Church points out the unique and therefore the absolutely true way to salvation.”

Consequently, anything that would confuse the teaching given to us by the Apostles that only through the Church do we have “the unique and absolutely true way to salvation” is a disservice to the Church and the salvation of men.

The Russian writer Vladimir Lossky commented on the limits we should impose on ourselves regarding this topic, “But the limits of the Church beyond death and the possibilities for salvation for those who have not known the light in this life, remain a mystery of the divine mercy for us, on which we dare not count, but to which we cannot place any human bonds.” (Lossky, V., The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, p. 235)

Hence, the only way to approach this topic is to humbly admit our limitations and say it is a mystery for God “has mercy on whom He wills.” (Romans 9:18) The inscrutable mercy of God is incomprehensible, therefore we entreat all those who insist on treading where wise men refuse to go, “take care of thine own self, for these matters are the judgments of God.”

Thus, our work in this life is to “take care of our own selves” by striving in prayer-filled, self-sacrificing love for all men and doing all we can for the good witness of our local Church in order to help provide for the salvation of as many as possible. Let us pray and work for the unity of all of the Traditionalist Orthodox Churches throughout the world so that as many as possible will see the light of Christ on the lamp stand and come to the knowledge of truth and become members of the Body of Christ in this life. Amen.

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Our Savior said many “hard sayings” concerning salvation. There is an excellent book review written by the Priestmonk Haralampos on The Non-Orthodox: The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside the Church by Patrick Barnes. This most patristic review has “firm grounds from the writings of the Church,” to use the words of Bishop Gregory Grabbe.

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