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Catechism of the Orthodox Eastern Church (1888)
Ignatios Moschakis, tr. Baker, 1894
2. Part 1, Chapter 2: Concerning Jesus Christ
§ 18. What the Creed Says Concerning Jesus Christ.
“And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, Light of light, very God of very God; begotten, not made; of one substance with the Father; by Whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.”
§ 19. What is the Meaning of These Words?
These words teach us that, as we believe in God the Father, so we ought also to believe in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only-begotten Son, and Word of God, and was not made out of nothing, like the rest of creation, but was begotten of His Father before all ages. He is Light of light, very God of very God. He is of one substance with the Father; as the Father is God, He, too, is manifestly God, and by Him the world was made. The Son of God came down from heaven, and took a body of the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit, and became perfect man, without sin, in order that He might teach men the truth, and guide them to their salvation. In the days of Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Judea, our Lord Jesus Christ was persecuted by the chief priests and scribes and Pharisees, and, having been condemned, was crucified, and suffered, and was buried, and, after three days, rose again; and, on the fortieth day after His resurrection, was received into heaven, from whence He will come again, with His divine glory and power, to judge all men, both the living and the dead. The kingdom of Jesus will have no end.
§ 20. How the World Was Prepared for the Coming of Jesus Christ.
The Son and Word of God became man in Jesus Christ when the fulness of time came—that is, when evil reached its full development, and men, of themselves, perceived the necessity of salvation. Evil reached its height in the time of the Emperor Augustus of Rome, in which reign Christ was born, in the seven hundred and fiftieth year after the foundation of Rome. Jesus Christ came into the world after many ages of preparation. The Jews were prepared by God for the coming of Jesus Christ through the Patriarchs, Moses, and the Prophets, who preached to the Jews one God only, and foretold the coming of the Messiah, or Saviour; but the Gentiles, or idolaters, He prepared through many men of great reasoning power and wisdom—to wit, Socrates, Plato, and others,—who perceived the falseness of worshipping many gods, and whose minds were lifted up to the idea of one God.
§ 21. How Jesus Christ Became the Saviour of the World.
Jesus Christ saved men from sin and from the deception of polytheism. Jesus became the Saviour of men, (i.) because He taught the truth, and a perfect religion; (ii.) because He lived a perfect life, and so gave us the best example of virtue and piety; and (iii.) because He died on behalf of men.
§ 22. (i.) The Teaching of Jesus Christ.
The principal heads of the teaching of Jesus Christ are as follows:—
1. God is the Creator and Father of all men, and men are His children: “Our Father, Who art in heaven” (St. Matt. vi. 9).
2. Men are united to God through love; moreover, it is through love and not through fear that they must accomplish the divine will: “God is love, and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him” (1 John v. 16). God is full of mercy and compassion, and pardons that sinner who sincerely repents, and shows his repentance by his works: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort” (2 Cor. i. 3). Those who sincerely repent form one communion, the kingdom of God upon earth—that is, the Church —the members of which do the will of God, and do not desire merely to seem to be, but truly to be, just and virtuous. For this reason our Saviour teaches us that we should pray to God, and say, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth” (St. Matt. vi. 10).
§ 23. (ii.) Life of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ became, secondly, the Saviour of the world through His life. Moral or religious teaching has great weight, and produces great results, when the life of the teacher is in agreement with his teaching. Now, we see this with regard to our Lord Jesus Christ, whose life exactly fulfilled all that He taught. Our Lord showed Himself the perfect example of piety and virtue. Jesus gathered all His teaching into two great commandments—love toward God, and love toward our neighbour (St. Matt. xxii. 37-39). And these two commandments Jesus perfectly fulfilled. He lived wholly in God and God in Him (St. John x. 30). That He should at all times do the will of His Heavenly Father He deemed to be His meat (St. John iv. 34). In the end, too, He died upon the cross in order that He might fulfil the will of God (St. Matt. xxvi. 39-42). But Jesus Christ also loved His neighbour to the uttermost. Throughout His whole life He was working for the sake of men, and was always benefiting them by word or by deed; and, in the end, He gave that greater proof of His love, He openly sacrificed even His life on behalf of men (St. John xv. 13). Jesus was without sin (1 Pet. ii. 22). Even His very enemies speak of Him as true and just (St. Matt. xxii. 16). Moreover, Jesus Himself, in whom we have the perfect type of humility and love of truth, spake concerning Himself, “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” (St. John viii. 46). Jesus so lived and died in order that He might leave us His life as the noblest example for our imitation, and that He might teach us how we ought to live, if we wish to be true Christians: “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in His steps” (1 Pet. ii. 21).
§ 24. (iii.) The Death of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ became, thirdly, the Saviour of men through His death. The death of Jesus Christ not only set a seal upon His holy life, not only showed His boundless love toward men, but also availed as a sacrifice with God. Men, by their sins, provoked God to anger, and were separated from Him. In vain they sought to propitiate God, and to appease the Divine righteousness with sacrifices of animals and men. These sacrifices were wholly unavailing in themselves: they were simply a type and shadow of the one true sacrifice which the sinless Jesus offered, of His own free will, upon the cross, and by means of which we have been united to God, and once more reconciled to Him: “Being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” (Rom. v. 10). And since Jesus by His death became the Mediator between God and men and reconciled them, He is on this account called Mediator (1 Tim. ii. 5). All, then, who believe in Christ, must crucify—that is, must conquer—their passions and evil desires, that they may be dead to sin, but alive to righteousness and to God.