Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Word of God

Question:

Why is the "Word of God" not a sacrament of the Orthodox, Catholic or the Protestant churches??

Answer:

Dr. Alexander Roman (e-mail)

In fact, the Polish National Catholic Church does indeed number the Word of God as one of the seven sacraments (they understand Baptism and Chrismation as one sacrament to keep to the number “7”).

However, we need not formally place the Word of God on the list of the Mysteries/Sacraments in order to celebrate its “sacramentality” in which we experience an encounter with God in which He speaks to us and inspires us in a most direct way. 

In the Christian East especially the Word of God is reverenced in a very special manner that speaks to its sacramentality.  The New Testament is not only liturgically and methodically read and pondered by monastics and all who would make the Way of the Spirit their own, it is memorized and the Book of the Gospels is reverenced as representing Christ our Teacher.  St Seraphim of Sarov read the entire New Testament each week while allowing the Divine Spirit to speak to him what He willed as the great saint simply listened attentively to God’s activity within his heart. 

St Tikhon of Zadonsk grouped the Mystery of Holy Communion alongside that of the Jesus Prayer and the attentive reading of the Gospel as absolute ways in which we are to encounter God and experience His indwelling in our souls within the process of Deification, as you know. 

In one sense, the “sacramentality” of the Sacraments/Mysteries themselves are “effected” through prayer and the Word of God which are intrinsically linked with them.  Prayer and the Word of God as prayer are therefore experiences of the sacramentality of our encounter with Christ our God through the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ which is the Church.  To read and ponder the Scriptures is to engage in direct Communion with God and Christ through the Holy Spirit and this is most definitely a sacramental/liturgical experience and act.

If the Word of God is not formally listed as a Sacrament of the Church it is only because the Word of God is intrinsically united to, and not separate from, the entire sacramental life of the Body of Christ and its sacramental mission in the world which is to transfigure all in and through Christ by means of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father.   The Word of God is Christ Himself whose words of teaching, assurance and healing continue to be spoken by the mouth of His Body which is the Church to this day and until His Coming Again in Glory.

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