Theology and Prayer: An Orthodox

Abstract

Abstract In offering an essay in honor of Geoffrey Wainwright, it seems appropriate to attempt a reflection, however modest, on the relation between theology and prayer. Coming from an Orthodox theologian, and a Western one at that, it will naturally endeavor to respond to what Geoffrey has written on the subject and to be true to the Orthodox perspective on the subject of the Latin adage Lex orandi, lex credendi. The very mention of this adage immediately calls for a remark from an Orthodox point of view. When we say Lex orandi, lex credendi, it seems indispensable to add at once Lex credendi, lex orandi---or better, echoing Pope Pius XII, Lex credendi statuit legem orandi. Indeed, if we remain with the traditional saying, without correcting it by adding its converse, we run the risk of finding (as we do in the history of the Church) that sometimes certain local liturgical customs may beget heretical doctrine. One example of such deviation-apart from that of the Arians and others quoted by Professor Wainwright in his article “Lex orandi, lex credendi” in the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement, is the “Adoptionist” heresy in eighth-century Spain. The Spanish theologians who defended the idea that Christ was the “adopted Son of God” were referring to their liturgical tradition, which contained this phrase. The relation between the rule of prayer and the rule of faith must therefore be a two-way relation. Before explaining this in detail, however, it seems necessary to reflect upon the nature of theology-and also, of course, upon certain aspects of the nature of prayer.