ScottH247 wrote:
According to Orthodoxy, why did Jesus come? In western theology, God the Father sacrificed His own Son for our sins. Is it the same with Orthodoxy?
This is a human question motivated by a human need to quantify and qualify everything...akin to Augustinian Western Rationalism.
Also, you are asking two questions within your question:
\\"Why did Jesus come?\\"
and
\\"How does the Orthodox understanding of the sacrifice of The Triune God in the person of God, The Son compare with that of most western heterodox thinkers?
For the second answer, I would refer you to the three recognized Theologians of The Orthodox Church:
The Apostle Saint John
Saint Gregory the Theologian
Saint Symeon the New Theologian
As Vladimir Lossky has written, there is a reason why only three people deserve the name of \\"Theologian\\" in the Tradition of the Orthodox Christian Church: All three Theologians are well known for their Theology which is the result of a profound faith and a mystical experience of God, an intense life of prayer, and a profound spirituality.
Note that Lossky did not deign to include himself within this group, though The Church Herself could someday do so, should She be in one accord on the matter.
The Orthodox Church historically does not concern Herself with questions about God, per se. Within Holy Orthodox Apostolic Tradition, The Church is most centered on The Mysteries in and of The Revelation of God and in responding to heretical theologies and actions.
In the process of answering these questions and commenting on The Revelation of The Triune God (including Holy Scripture) The Church has gathered unto Herself a great body of written works; works not meant to tell The Church what to believe but rather to reflect what The Church has always believed.
Having said all that (TMI, I suppose) the answer to your first question is most honestly and properly answered by saying:
God The Son came into this world through the power of God The Holy Spirit to give glory to God The Father.
Our salvation can only be fully understood within this Holy paradigm.
To interject ourselves into this spiritual equation without first recognizing God and God\'s purpose as transcendent is to elevate the importance of ourselves in relation to the eternal nature and works of The Triune God.
Better to ask, \\"What is the effect on humanity of the Incarnation, Presentation, Baptism, Proclamation, Transfiguration, Persecution, Passion, Prosecution, Crucifixion, Death, Burial, Resurrection, Revelation and Ascension of The Lord Jesus Christ?\\"
Gordie
