It is interesting to note that every time St. Paul speaks about the wrath of God it is always that which is revealed to those who have become hopelessly enslaved, by their own choosing, to the flesh and the devil.
Fr John Romanides
“The chief concern of the Orthodox Church is the healing of the human soul.”
Fr John Romanides, Patristic Theology, p. 19
From a Patristic point of view, a theologian is someone who has attained theosis, because after someone experiences theosis, he cannot be deceived. So he can produce theology without the fear of falling into delusion. In other words, according to the Fathers, only theoptes – those who have seen God – are theologians.
Fr John Romanides, Patristic Theology, p. 202
Those who have earned a degree from a theological faculty at some university are nowadays considered to be graduates with a degree in theology. But these self-styled theologians do not bear any relation to the genuine theologians of the Patristic tradition.
Fr John Romanides, Patristic Theology, p. 90
The Fathers do not say anything about God on the basis of philosophical reflection. They do not sit at their desks like the Scholastics in order to do theology, because when the Church Fathers theologize, speculation or reflection is strictly forbidden [...] If and when someone reaches theosis, he will know from the very experience of theosis precisely what is meant by the sayings and concepts that he comes across in the Bible [...] In other words, they [the Fathers] wrote what they wrote on the basis of this experience and because of this experience what they wrote is divinely inspired.
Fr John Romanides, Patristic Theology, pp. 85-86
