God is not a Prosecutor, but a Physician
The Scriptures, the works of the Early Church Fathers, and the liturgical texts of the Church, all attest to the fact that the Ancient Church did not teach that Christ’s Incarnation was intended to be a propitiation of divine righteousness. Rather, Christ came as a Physician intent on bringing healing to fallen mankind. Christ’s Incarnation brought the whole of human nature together, with His Divine Nature, for a cure. His spiritual medicine brings healing, removes the stain of sin that had introduced death to the cosmos, and makes everything whole.
This condescension of God, taking on our human flesh, and joining His Divinity to us, can not be seen in legalistic terms, but must be seen from a medical perspective. We are ill. Our sin is not about law, but about illness. In our fallen state, we’ve departed from communion with God, and Christ’s death upon the cross was accomplished, not because the Father demanded blood, but because He desires to heal us, and restore life to His creatures who’ve inherited death from our fallen forefather, Adam. That Christ assumed our human nature, made possible the cure.
The Lord Jesus Christ established His Church as a hospital of the soul, and it is within Her walls that we are given the medicine to bring about the healing we so need. God does not desire suffering, nor our blood, but only that we be restored to the image He intended for us. This loving Father is not our prosecutor, but our physician.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
About the author
Fr. Tryphon is the Abbot of the Monastery of the All-Merciful Saviour, which was established in 1986 by Archimandrite Dimitry (Egoroff) of blessed memory. The Monastery is under the omophore of His Eminence Kyrill, Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America, of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.
2 thoughts on “Physician of Souls”
Hi Father,
On behalf of my Greek family, I am submitting this important question..."How do people get to heaven and can we be sure? There seems to be plenty of confusion about this.
Thank You,
John
I will address this question in either one of my upcoming daily blog articles, or on one of my for times a week videos.
With love and blessings,
Abbot Tryphon