NOTE: If you have not already read the About AFSOC page and the Doctrine page, then you should start there and then come back. This page will make a lot more sense if you do that first.
The Ancient Future Scriptural Online Church (AFSOC) evolved from a blog site named Deep Dive Bible Adventures, which was launched in the Spring of 2024. (As AFSOC evolves, I plan to take down the Deep Dive site.) I launched that site because of many discussions over the years with people that wanted to know more about the Holy Bible and the Christian life. The concept came from a couple of experiences that I had while scuba diving in the cold waters of Lake Superior during my career in the Air Force. That concept, coupled with 25 years of attending Orthodox Christian congregations in various parts of America, plus attending theological classes at an Orthodox monastery (with plans of getting ordained as a deacon, which is just below a priest), taught me that there are “deeper levels” that most people don’t even notice — much less understand. But, the early Christians understood them — and we should, too. So, here are a few examples to help “spark your brain waves”.
Before you even walk in the door
Orthodox Christian architecture conveys rich meanings. Those meanings are visually taught before a person even walks in the door of the building. For example, an Orthodox parish is built so that the people of the congregation will be facing eastward while worshipping God. Jesus said, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:27) So, the ancient architects wanted the congregants to be “ready at any time” for their departure from this world. Having them face eastward was a sign of respect, so that they would not have their backs turned toward Jesus when He returns.
Similarly to the placement of the building, the shape of the building also conveyed meaning. Many early church buildings were in the shape of the Holy Cross. This turned out to have functional applications, as well. (I’m a big believer in the engineering philosophy that “form without function is failure”.) Depending upon the size of the building, the “bars” of the Cross-shape could be used for storage rooms, a preparation area (there is a formal process for preparing the Elements [bread and wine] of Holy Communion), administrative offices, a choir area (the added volume increased the acoustics), etc. Other building shapes included round (conveying the universality of Christian truth) and octagonal (in the Hebrew number system, eight is the number of the Messiah).
And, no discussion of Orthodox parish building architecture would be complete without mentioning those distinctive “onion” domes — especially of the Russian and Ukrainian ethnic traditions. Although there are some differing opinions regarding the meanings of the domes, some principles are generally recognized. Even the number and color of the domes has meaning. A typical example is one large dome in the center, surrounded by four smaller domes. This represents Jesus surrounded by the four writers of the Gospels. The royal blue stands out against the sky in any type of weather, and so it can be seen from afar. There is an entire web page dedicated to this topic, if you would like more details.
The iconostasis
The iconostasis* is an interesting and unique feature of Orthodox architecture. (*a compound Greek word, meaning “a stand for icons [pictures that represent a larger meaning]”) It is the “wall” that separates the “nave” of the sanctuary from the “presbytery” (“place of the leader”, the area where the “altar” [high place] is located). The concept is taken from the veil* of the Temple in Jerusalem. (*The veil of the Temple was not a thin piece of cloth, as a face covering is. It was about twice as thick as a heavy theatrical curtain.) The veil separated the Holy Place (the “nave”) from the Most Holy Place (the “presbytery”), which contained the Ark of the Covenant (until it disappeared during the Babylonian sacking of Jerusalem). In the Orthodox Church, the blessed elements of Communion conveys the Presence of God, just as the Ark of the Covenant did in the Temple.
An iconostasis can be fairly simple…
Or, it can be dauntingly ornate. (This is where I used to go to church.)
Regardless of how plain or fancy the iconostasis might be, its function is a visual reminder that there is a wall of separation (our sin) between us and a holy God. That wall cannot stop the saving sacrifice of Jesus, who comes to us through the door in the form of Holy Communion. His sacrifice is so powerful that Yehowah tore the thick Temple curtain in two — from top to bottom, thus proving that no mere man did it. So, both the existence of the wall, and the act of the priest carrying Communion through the door, tell a powerful story without the need for a single spoken word.
The baby and the bathwater….
Sadly, a lot of modern Protestant pastors have “thrown out the Baby* with the bathwater”. (Yes, I intentionally used a capital “B”.) In their zeal to prove that they are “not Catholic”, they have deprived their followers of the opportunity to learn about these rich meanings. (One of the strongest condemnations in the entire Holy Bible was when Jesus referred to the religions teachers of His time as “blind guides”, who will “strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel”.) Please don’t be “that guy”….
So far, everything shown above was “visual learning”. A person did not even need to know how to read in order to get a solid Christian teaching while standing in a church building. The same is true with the Orthodox use of music and incense. The ancient form of worship involved all of the senses — even the sense of balance, when parishioners bowed forward to touch the floor while making an extended version of the Sign of the Cross over their bodies, or going fully prostrate to show contrition in the Presence of the awesome God. Involving both body and soul together is part of what Jesus meant when He said that His mission was that people would be “made whole”. We need to regain what those early Christians felt and experienced as “common knowledge”, which has been tossed aside in the modern urge to get out of church and get home before the football game starts on television or “get to the buffet before those guys from that other church…”. Shame on us for how much we have thrown away in exchange for so little.
“Too religious”, or merely “misunderstood”…??
As much as I value the formal aspects of the Orthodox form of worship, even I can find some practices “too religious”. For example, the 40-day fasting period of Lent is — in my opinion — extremely “overdone”. In the examples of Scripture, only two people fasted for 40 days: Moses and Jesus. In both cases, they were given special power by Yehowah (God the Father) in order to survive and function during the fasting period. Other than those two examples, the longest fast recorded in the Holy Bible was when Queen Esther declared a fast for only three days — to save the entire nation of Israel while they were in captivity! Thus, any fast declared for more than three days is likely (in my opinion) motivated by some desire to “be seen” while being “very religious”, rather than by any genuine purpose.
Other examples of “too religious”, in my opinion, are kissing a priest’s hand, kissing icons, kissing a crucifix, repeating a phrase up to 40 times, etc. For example, at one parish, the people line up and kiss the crucifix in the priest’s hand, and then they move on. At another parish, they kiss the crucifix, and then kiss the priest’s hand. At yet another parish, they kiss the crucifix three times, and then kiss the priest’s hand, etc. Those are examples of wanted to be “seen before men”, rather than showing piety to God. Although they are loathe to admit it, some modern Protestants have their own version of such things. A lot of it has to do with how loudly they “crank up the music”, or how high they can jump while dancing, or whether the pastor can finish a sermon “on time*”, etc. (*If we are in church to get ready for eternity, then what difference does it make if a sermon is a few minutes longer than usual?? Oh, yeah — football.)
On the other hand, if one seeks the deeper meaning behind certain religions activities, then those activities can be very fulfilling. Let’s consider the example from above: bowing. One person considers bowing to be “inconvenient” at best, and so they refuse to do it. They stand there, watching others bow, and haughtily think to themselves, “Am I in a church or a gymnasium?” Another person uses the formality of bowing as a reminder of their own need for humility, and so the act of bowing exemplifies the relationship of a person (“we are but dust”) in the presence of Almighty God. They are happy to bow. It’s all a matter of perspective, and we can choose our perspective.
“Seek and you will find”
This process of seeking the deeper meaning behind routine activities is how we grow closer to God. Any soldier that has raised or lowered the American flag in a foreign country knows “experientially” that it is about much more than two minutes with a piece of cloth and a rope. Likewise, we need to consider our time in church (and in private worship during the week) as much more than an hour of “obligation and drudgery”. I have not even touched on the deeper meanings behind the Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion, or Annointing. It literally almost makes me vomit when I hear a professing Christian refer to the act of baptism as “getting dunked” (even though that is what the Greek root word means…). The more we seek to understand religious rituals, rather then mock them, the more clear the meaning of God’s Word will become. (I have known former prisoners of war in Vietnam that told how a daily religious ritual was the only thing that helped them survive starvation and torture.) The more we seek the hand of God in our daily lives, the more we will see His hand at work. Let us be seekers and not scoffers. Let us dive deeper to find the hidden treasuries of meaning.
