THE SERVICE OF THE LAITY IN THE THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT OF NIKOLAY AFANASYEV AND FATHER GEORGU FLOROVSKY

Abstract

Every member of the Church is first and foremost a lay person, that it, the very act of being accepted into the auspices of the Church is ordination to the rank of a lay person. The division between clerics and laymen stem from the diversity of church services, and this diversity cannot exist without joint service in the Church. All the participants of the assembly together with their superiors form one people of God, the imperial priesthood. Therefore, it is necessary that the Anaphora prayers, which represent the central part of Liturgy, are known to all present, so that their participation is realistic. In principle, the Church should nurture the spirit of charity, since the Church’s concern for the needy stem from its ethos. From the very beginning of the Church, Christians felt that they were called to actively participate in the construction of a new society in history, and in all people suffering from poverty or illness, they saw the continuation of the suffering of Christ Himself. Christianity sees the social problem as an attack on the individual and the community of individuals. The social activity of the Church should be rooted in the liturgical and soteriological experience of the Church so that it is not reduced to mere moralism. Christian love is not just an abstract concept, but a concrete way of life, which has its goal in effective service to others. The author deals with the role of the laity in the life of the Church, their involvement in charitable activities, as well as social issues that the Church should respond to, primarily in the spirit of active love, care for neighbors, witnessing its evangelical mission in this world as the only part that leads to salvation and the transformation of the entire creation indicating its Eucharistic and congregational character where true Christian love will be shown in the realization of equality according to the image of unity in the Body of Christ.