I attend St. Paul and it is kind of wild watching an interview done here. Fr. Silviu is such a sweet person. Full of love and grace. I have been taking a class with him.
Beginning at the 52:55 min mark all the way through the end of the recording, Fr. Bunta shares basically a humanist and universalist perspective of salvation, one which the Bible does not teach. His interpretation of the parable of the merchant and the pearl of great value is incorrect, for he sees the merchant as Jesus pursuing us rather than us willing to forsake all to follow and obey God’s righteous commands to enter into His kingdom. If we let our hearts guide us and let them woo us into believing that God is so loving that He doesn’t care whether you are a Christian or not to gain access into His presence, then we have totally misunderstood the holiness of God and have recreated Him to be something that He never says He is in Scripture: a god who overlooks sin and sin’s curse.
Your misinterpretation of Fr. Silviu diminshes the agency of God in our salvation. I suppose you might otherwise engage the ‘faith vs. works’ false dichotomy but classic Christian theology ALWAYS puts God in Christ at the center as protagonist. And the dichotomy Fr. Silviu engages is the much more classic one of mercy and justice. The consensus of theologians has been that our God is the One Who saves. This is a thoroughly Biblical sense of his sovereignty over creation which fell in Adam, very strongly attested in that prayerbook of the Church traditionally ascribed to the Prophet David. To demand of God justice in punishing sinners places us under his condemnation rather than his grace. What is the point of the Son of Man going to his voluntary death on the Cross if not to overthrow the Jewish juridical obsession with punishment? If Christ’s death does not empty hades f all the dead why should He suffer it? He never sets aside his sovereign power over life and death. His greatness is demonstrated in mercy. Deriving universalism from Fr. Silviu’s talk while he does not specifically state it is bad eisegesis. And a view of salvation tending toward the universalist is part of the consensus of pious opinion (θεολογουμενα) of many of the best minds of the Church from very early on. To consider this opinion controversial and ‘unbiblical’ is absurd as it is embraced by the main stream of opinion and preaching, not as doctrine but deriving from dogmatic revelation of God’s super eminent mercy.
Hello. Thank you for your post. You are correct that this passage was seemingly taken out of its original scriptural context in this interview. The Orthodox Study Bible confirms the interpretation that you describe, in that the pearl of great price is Christ, His Church, and salvation. Those who are earnestly seeking these things are the merchants who are willing and do sell all of their belongings to purchase the pearl. I am an Orthodox Christian, but I agree that this parable was not exactly the best for describing that which Fr. Silviu was attempting to describe. A better way to describe it may have been that God still waits for our repentance with love and mercy, much like the Father who waits eagerly for the prodigal son. The prodigal son sees himself when he eventually takes heed of his own sin, and wonders how he will ever be forgiven. But, we know that the father runs to meet the prodigal son when he turns back to him. This would have been a good way to demonstrate how God still loves us and eagerly awaits our return, even while we are still in the midst of unrepentant sin.
I attend St. Paul and it is kind of wild watching an interview done here. Fr. Silviu is such a sweet person. Full of love and grace. I have been taking a class with him.
Thanks for the fantastic interview with Father Silviu! I would love to hear more but honestly it's gonna be tough trying to top this!
Incredible. Thank you.
Beginning at the 52:55 min mark all the way through the end of the recording, Fr. Bunta shares basically a humanist and universalist perspective of salvation, one which the Bible does not teach. His interpretation of the parable of the merchant and the pearl of great value is incorrect, for he sees the merchant as Jesus pursuing us rather than us willing to forsake all to follow and obey God’s righteous commands to enter into His kingdom. If we let our hearts guide us and let them woo us into believing that God is so loving that He doesn’t care whether you are a Christian or not to gain access into His presence, then we have totally misunderstood the holiness of God and have recreated Him to be something that He never says He is in Scripture: a god who overlooks sin and sin’s curse.
Thank you for taking the time to comment on the video.
Zeebra SJB leaving that aside, how’d you feel about the first 52 minutes and 54 seconds?
Your misinterpretation of Fr. Silviu diminshes the agency of God in our salvation. I suppose you might otherwise engage the ‘faith vs. works’ false dichotomy but classic Christian theology ALWAYS puts God in Christ at the center as protagonist. And the dichotomy Fr. Silviu engages is the much more classic one of mercy and justice. The consensus of theologians has been that our God is the One Who saves. This is a thoroughly Biblical sense of his sovereignty over creation which fell in Adam, very strongly attested in that prayerbook of the Church traditionally ascribed to the Prophet David. To demand of God justice in punishing sinners places us under his condemnation rather than his grace. What is the point of the Son of Man going to his voluntary death on the Cross if not to overthrow the Jewish juridical obsession with punishment? If Christ’s death does not empty hades f all the dead why should He suffer it? He never sets aside his sovereign power over life and death. His greatness is demonstrated in mercy.
Deriving universalism from Fr. Silviu’s talk while he does not specifically state it is bad eisegesis. And a view of salvation tending toward the universalist is part of the consensus of pious opinion (θεολογουμενα) of many of the best minds of the Church from very early on. To consider this opinion controversial and ‘unbiblical’ is absurd as it is embraced by the main stream of opinion and preaching, not as doctrine but deriving from dogmatic revelation of God’s super eminent mercy.
Hello. Thank you for your post. You are correct that this passage was seemingly taken out of its original scriptural context in this interview. The Orthodox Study Bible confirms the interpretation that you describe, in that the pearl of great price is Christ, His Church, and salvation. Those who are earnestly seeking these things are the merchants who are willing and do sell all of their belongings to purchase the pearl.
I am an Orthodox Christian, but I agree that this parable was not exactly the best for describing that which Fr. Silviu was attempting to describe. A better way to describe it may have been that God still waits for our repentance with love and mercy, much like the Father who waits eagerly for the prodigal son. The prodigal son sees himself when he eventually takes heed of his own sin, and wonders how he will ever be forgiven. But, we know that the father runs to meet the prodigal son when he turns back to him. This would have been a good way to demonstrate how God still loves us and eagerly awaits our return, even while we are still in the midst of unrepentant sin.