“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

There is this idea floating around in American Orthodox communities that theology is an academic pursuit and spirituality is a devotional pursuit.  As such, those who are serious about Christ should pursue spirituality and not theology.

But this type of thinking creates a false division between theology and spirituality, one that does not need to exist.  There is no necessary reason why it has to be either/or.  This type of thinking is logically fallacious; the name of the fallacy is False Dilemma because there is no reason that these two have to be the only two options. It can be both theology and spirituality.

I find it interesting because reading the Fathers is both spiritual and academic.  For example, reading The Hymns on Paradise of St. Ephrem the Syrian, there is an interesting stanza in the 12^thhymn which recounts how Christ heard the request of the demons named Legion who were inhabiting a man to go into the swine.  St. Ephrem’s language suggests that they were praying to Christ and He heard their prayers (The Hymns on Paradise XII.8, pg. 163).  When we personally reflect on this, it makes us think that if Christ heard the prayers of demons, then how much more will hear ours?  This emboldens us and strengthens our faith in Christ when we offer own prayers to Him.  This will then lead our prayer life to become more fervent and effective.

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Often, those not wanting to bring in the writings of the early Church argue that they are providing their congregations with milk and not solid food because that is what their congregations need.  They say that their congregations are like small children requiring only milk and are not like those grown who can eat solid food.

Yet, I find this analogy to be self-defeating for those making this argument.  Why?

Milk

Well, there are two places in the New Testament where the analogy of milk and solid food in relationship to spiritual development is used.

The first is in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, the Apostle Paul says,

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal.  For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

The background to the Apostle Paul’s critique was that the Corinthians were being sectarian by focusing on personalities instead of focusing on the understanding of Christ crucified and the mystery of the wisdom of God.  In the end, it was the same teaching but communicated by different preachers.  The Corinthians chose to focus on the teachers rather than on the teaching.

But how long had the Corinthians been Christians anyway?  If we know the answer to this, then we will have an idea as to when Christians should be eating solid food instead of drinking milk.  The Apostle Paul preached the Corinthians during the Second Missionary Journey.  His time at Corinth can be dated to the years AD 50-51.  But when was the above passage written?  The First Epistle to the Corinthians can be dated to the years AD 54-55.  So, the Apostle Paul is not happy with the fact that they are still in need of milk and not solid food after four to five years of having received Christ.

The second passage where the analogy of milk and solid food appears is in Hebrews 5:12-14where the writer of the epistle has begun explaining the typological interpretation of Melchizedek as a type of Christ,

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

He critiques the Hebrews because they cannot see Christ in the Old Testament through a typological interpretation of the Bible.  This is one thing that modern day people would call theology, yet he’s critiquing them for not being able to engage with this spiritually.  This means this Christ-centered interpretation was a spiritual ideal for the first generation of believers. This type of interpretation was emphasized in the early Church because it lifted up the mind to see Christ everywhere and thus to always lift up our minds and hearts to Christ making us transformed in the inner person and thus having a deeper contemplative prayer life. He continues the typological interpretation of Melchizedek in the following two chapters.

As you can see from the two passages, this analogy is not used in a positive way, nor is it used as a way to help those in pastoral positions to think about their service, but it is a critique of Christians who should be more mature in their faith and understanding.

How Long Does It Take to Grow?

Seeing this is how the analogy of milk and solid food is used in the New Testament, two questions arise.

First, how long should we aim to give milk to our congregations?  Second, how long does it take for them to grow beyond needing milk?

If we are to expand on the analogy, milk is for babies and solid food is for children who have teeth.  Further, if we are to take to the normal progression of learning in any skill as a guide, then we can come up with an idea for how long believers should be given milk and not solid food.

Can you imagine if you have a group of children who do not know how to read or count today that in 13 short years of education they could know advanced physics, calculus, and would read literature such as Shakespeare?  Do you believe this could happen?

It happens all the time; it’s called school kindergarten through 12^thGrade.

Yet, let’s take reading as an example.  Children who enter kindergarten cannot read, but they begin learning how to sound out words and understand basic sentences in kindergarten and 1^stgrade.  By 4^thgrade, they are no longer learning how to read, but they read in order to learn.  There happens a transformation.  They leave the milk behind and begin eating solid food.

So how long should believers be given milk? Should we not have a plan for how to help them grow?  Should we not know what elements of the Church’s rich tradition we will bring to them at certain times?  Do the Church Fathers have any place in this?  Does the history of the Church have any place in this?

The reality is if they read the history of the Church and if they read the Church Fathers, then they will learn to pray deeper, they will learn to see Christ in everything and not only in the Church or its writings, and the reality is they will grow beyond what is currently imaginable if they are only given milk.

That will lead to witness.

The Christian Witness in an Advanced Civilization

We live in a civilization that is extremely dependent upon knowledge (and thus the mind) unlike any other civilization before it. Those who take the most unskilled of jobs today are more skilled than many of the elites of the past.  For example, those who are in the housekeeping professions today are able to read.  In the past only 5% of the population on average was able to read.

So how can it be that we present the teachings of the Church in a simplistic way when many out there especially those who keep our civilization running are highly educated people and who value the mind?

It would be helpful to their spiritual journeys if they see that the Church has good answers directed to the mind and not only to the heart and soul.  The Fathers regularly model how to incorporate the heart, the soul, and the mind into prayer and worship.  Reading the Fathers will help those who are journeying to see the Church as a source of nourishment for the whole person when they see that mind (in addition to the soul and heart) is respected and nourished.

In modern times, C.S. Lewis was one of those people. In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, Lewis retells that his mind was not able to accept Christianity, thinking it was just another myth, and that myths were nothing too serious.  But when the person who was speaking to him about Christianity, his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, challenged his thinking of mythology that it was not something light but that it expressed something fundamental in humanity and that Christ by becoming human fulfilled these fundamental expressions, that allowed C.S. Lewis to bring his heart and soul to Jesus.  His heart and soul were led to Christ by the mind, which in turn was guided by J.R.R Tolkien.  Further, he engaged with the Fathers as is evident from the footnotes in many of his writings.  Further, some of his views on things such as miracles are based directly on the Fathers especially St. Athanasius.  He briefly mentions the view on miracles in his “Introduction to On the Incarnation,” and develops it in his book Miracles where the central focus is on the Incarnation of Christ to make sense of all other miracles.

Think about the great impact C.S. Lewis has had on the generations that came after him.  It cannot be overestimated.  How many C.S. Lewises can arise in the midst of our churches if we take the commandment seriously to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and all our souls, and all our MINDS (Matthew 22:37)?  If we skip the last part of that commandment, then we are not following the commandment, and it is no wonder that things fall apart so often.  It is because we are not fully following the commandment.

Just like any school system has multiple grades, churches should have ministries that give milk and ministries that give solid food. There should be a vision as to when we will introduce the writings of the early Church and at what ages we will encourage our congregations to go deeper in their spiritual lives.

There should be all these ministries in any church, and they should be evident.  We should not be left guessing as to whether the Church has a deeper way for those we have raised and those who are ready.

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