Christian youth witness in a pluralistic society Fr.

Atanasije Yevtic

Born in the south-west of Serbia in a village "half-way between San Francisco and Tokyo" in 1938, Fr. Atanasije studied in the Belgrade seminary, and then in Athens wrote his doctoral dissertation on the ecclesiology of the Apostle Paul. After teaching in Paris, he returned to Serbia to lecture as professor of Patristics, as well as Church History. He is now the Dean of the Theological Faculty in Belgrade, and a Monk at the Vovedenje Monastery. The current address was given at the SYNDESMOS-EYCE Consultation Christian youth witness in a pluralistic society in Rakovica monastery, Yugoslavia, 1-8 December 1989 Let me begin by saying that I think Christians today have forgotten the meaning of the 'fear' of God in the Old Testament understanding of the word; the fear which is complemented by the word Faith in the New Testament. The Gospel begins by saying 'Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand'. Matthew and Mark give slight nuances in their expressions of this phrase, but both presuppose that the Gospel is necessarily the way to the Kingdom of God. As the Fathers of the early Church said, the newness of the Gospels is first and foremost the newness of Christ, the Divine-human Person. Belief in the Gospel means belief in Christ. Faith in Christ is a reality which is beyond that of a religion. Because religion is a reality of this world here. Above all, man is homo religiosus . In Eastern Europe under communism, a great deal was written about religion. Europe since the 18th century, is the first civilisation to have concerned itself with proving God exists. Before, the Divinity was a fact of life in all societies. Under communism, we too have been apologists for Christianity, talking about immortality and so on. But this has led us to abandon the very first scandal of the Gospels, which is to believe that God entered History, became Man, was crucified and resurrected. I believe that the witness of young people today in society will return to the themes of the early witnesses of Christianity, the expression of the Good News which is the Gospel. But I don't think this is enough for the youth of today. Above all the person who thirsts for truth needs a witness like that of the very first Apostles. 'Come and see the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. ', as Philip says to Nathaniel, who replies 'Does anything good come from Nazareth'. Philip replies simply, 'come and see'. We do not know if Nathaniel went straight to Christ, or if Christ came to Nathaniel. We do know that Christ did not criticise Nathaniel, but greeted him as a true Israelite, saying he saw him under the tree. Nathaniel replied, 'Christ my God.' We do not know what happened between Christ and Nathaniel, but we see the result. Another example is that of the prodigal son who returns home after coming to his senses. The Father goes to meet his son without waiting for his repentance. Again the Father moves towards the son, but there is a mystery as to the cause. Only the reality of this meeting is evident. These examples are both much more than religiousness. There is a search, a quest for the True God, who is not unknown to Man. Perhaps Nathaniel prayed under the tree.

Whatever happened, Christ went to Nathaniel. Many Catholic and Protestant Theologians have developed the idea of Grace preceding and following Faith. I believe that both are necessary. For an encounter, a meeting with God, both are necessary; as Fr. Justin Popovic, the great Orthodox theologian said, for true salvation, all of Man and all of God are necessary. Because if we remain in the human world, in the religious world, -and here I mean true religions such as Islam, or the Indian religions, not pseudo-religions- then we are not truly saved. The great Indian mystics, like Plotin, look to the deep roots of the human's being for God; if you know yourself, you know God. But this kind of 'circular', mystical, religion excludes the notion of encounter, and excludes novelty. Christianity is first of all an encounter between two realities, which always remain two, God and Man. No union can efface the seperate identities of these two realities. For a real encounter these two realities must be involved. We can then talk about the third reality, which is the other, the neighbour. Christianity has revealed the reality of love. Not the mystery of eros, which also exists for the mystics, but eros is not able to depass this religious circle. For many mystics such as Plato, eros signifies that the first being loved all that was around him because he saw in it the reflection of himself. In Indian thought, the subjective 'self' searches for the objective universal being. We could say the personal soul is searching for the universal soul. But ultimately there is a union where the two become one, merged and confused. In the coming, the advent, of Christ, God comes to meet Man and Man goes to meet God, 'face to face', as is found in much ancient literature, and in the Old Testament, with Jacob and Moses. This 'confrontation' is at the very essence of the Gospel. But in order to make this confrontation with God, it is necessary to renew onself. Repentance is not primarily a moral act, but rather it is an ontological event. We canot witness in a truly Christian sense without questing for this encounter, this meeting with the face of God. St. Paul says remember those who gave you the Faith, and imitate their way of life, because Jesus Christ is the same yesteday, today and tomorrow. (Hebrews 13:7,8) For young people witnessing in any society, therefore, this encounter with God must come first; the existential context has not changed, despite the changes in society. We must witness, as Christians have always witnessed, that the living God is none other than Christ. For God has given us Christ precisely because this allows us our freedom, and avoids the absorbtion, the merging which would be the sign of a totalitarian God. **** In response to questions concerning the attitude of the Church in the face of the first free elections this week, I decided to write this short text. This is my own text, and it is in no way official. It expresses my own thoughts on the question, as I wrote them. 'Seek Ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all things shall be added unto you.' (Matthew 6:33)

I feel this is the most fundamental guide in the Gospel for how the Church should act in society, and is true for avery member of the Body of Christ. With such a position, the Church, as a sign of the Heavenly Kingdom on earth, acts as a 'corrective' to all political factions in this world. Because with our 'Heavenly politic' (Epistle to the Phillipians 3:20) the first choice in any election is the Heavenly Kingdom. This does not mean that with this choice we reject our historical life and destiny, but that we throw light and Grace onto this historical reality. The reality of our situation is a historical reality, which in the world of Christ is the 'other' which will be added to the Heavenly Kingdom. For fifty years we have lived as the Christian people in slavery to communism, and the most terrible result of this experience has been the 'catastrophe of the souls', the catastrophe of the Christian spirit, ethics, culture and of humanism. The loss of dignity of the human being, but also of a people. Our first need is for repentance and internal purification, because this slavery is not without our responsibility. The Church, as the catholic divine-human Body, respects all the good that mankind has built and created for his future. But the principle value for the Church is the value of the person. The Gospel for the Church today is none other than the Gospel of Christ, the 'egality and fraternity' of all men as children of God. For this reason the Church can never be for the captivity and domination of any person or people. For the Church, there is no difference between an individual tyrant, or a race which tyrannises. I mean slavery in its broadest sense, of a group by a group. After our experience of carrying or Cross during this difficult period of communism, we must understand that any political party, no matter how good its programme, is only a part of man and of society. The Church, as a universal reality, covers all the reality of existence of man. We, as Christians do not want the politicisation of Christianity, but rather the Christianisation, the humanisation of the world, of society. The Church, as living reality, as a the soul of our spiritual and historical reality, cannot be against any party, and cannot be against the free competition of human gifts and talents. Because we believe in the goodwill of each group, but we must emphasise that the Church is not for any political party, but for the country; not partial but universal, and patriot. We would like to emphasise the great gift of freedom, for each person and every people, which must imply a personal responsibility and a national responsibility. And we must emphasise that the true freedom is to be found in the Spirit of God. As St. Paul says, keep in the freedom of the Spirit. The Gospel must act as a yeast, so that each person is social, as a salt in humanity. Because only through the Gospel can the entirety of our being truly become the bread of the Heavenly Kingdom. I am using a Eucharistic language when I speak of bread. Before these elections, we recommend that you not forget the value and dignity of each person and all people, far greater values than those simply of democracy. It is more meaningful to save human beings and human values even than democracy itself. In other words, the content of democracy is none other than these human values, the values of the people. (I do not mean simple nationalism or patriotism here). I don't know how you react to this text, which is not for or against any party, or person, but which tries simply to underline certain fundamental points. I feel this is just an outline, a framework in which people can think, something very important for

people in this country. But this text demands an involvement. Now please ask questions; I am not a politician or a diplomat, I can answer any questions! I come into contact with many young people who seek in non-Christian faiths, Zen, T.M., Buddhism, some Truth. But unhappily our Church is not active enough to quench the thirst of those younf people. Many say that this country is traditionally Christian, but they forget that the Gospel is always new. We Christians who lived through communism entirely re-examined our Faith in Christ. I have never denied Christ, but I really confronted Marx as a great temptation, and provocation. When I meet these young people, I realise that these religions from the East are also a great temptation, because the youth seek in them a satisfaction, an auto-perfection, an insatant Salvation. For me the second great temptation now is western civilisation, as distinct from its great culture. I'm talking about the consumer society, not the great traditions of the rights of man. The great spanish writer Lorca has said he is afraid of Spain entering the European Community. Europe is a very good thing because it condemns our disorder. The problem is that it can also be a totalitarian temptation. Here, where there is great backwardness in all areas of life, I feel it is possible for us to be integrated into Europe and we will certainly benefit economically from this. But we will perhaps lose something essential in the process. Firstly, the freedom of the human person, of human relations. When we read the Gospel, what do we find? A collection of primary, family relationships. Father-son; brother-sister; friends; life and death. The Gospel is always simple, short and essential. Above all, the Gospel is never tempted by totalitarianism. This is why in the Gospel there is a place for the sinner. Our communist system has always aspired to the perfectionism of the human being, while losing the idea of the human person. Europe, as an institution, has always emphasised the rights of man. As a pretext for protecting the rights of man, we have lived under the protection of the Americans, who have really destroyed rights of the person. I have lived in America, I know America. A greek doctor there once told me that he hoped that America could one day become Orthodox, but that there is a lot to be done for this. America is not far from the Kingdom of God, but at the same time it is really very far from the Kingdom of God. We really find ourselves at a crossroads. Without any fanaticism or conservatism I can say that we may prefer the Orthodox tradition, but that in no way signifies that we are an Orthodox country. If a democratic Party was to take power after the elections, I still don't think that we can attain the Eternal Life without the Cross, without ascesis, repentance, without Christian martyrdom in History. I am convinced that no society can replace the Kingdom of God, no society can replace the Church. Of course, the Church is not yet the Kingdom of God, but as I used to say to the communist authorities, although I suffered in the Church, and not only because of you, but also because of my Fathers and Brothers, and yet I have never found such great freedom as I have found in the Church. The Church is really the place of the living. I try to make the young people I work with feel this. I cannot take the burden of these young people on myself alone, like Christ. But neither can I wash my hands of them. In the Church we are part of a community which is moving together towards the Kingdom of God, towards an eschatological future and time. This is an essential point for the Christian, so different

from the european understanding which is always futurist, progressivist. As a Christian, like the Church we must always maintain a distance, a time from judgements of others and things in the world. Because there are many idols in the world. We can never exchange Christ for an idol. I am not talking apocalyptically, but in terms of a concrete historical reality. The way of the Christian is always different from others, and always more difficult. But there is no other vocation or position which is more worthy of man. I am not a maximalist. We are all sinners. But the difference between us and others is that we believe that all sinners and all the world has a Saviour. And we have tasted this Salvation which is to come, we have felt the love of this Saviour. Perhaps we will be persecuted more than others, but we cannot ever deny that He loves us and saves us. This is why we Christians are unhappy, and at the same time optimistic and full of joy. This is perhaps the Christian dialectic. (Edited transcript of recording)