“In the expression of the Heiromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, faith is a vessel by which water is scooped up; but one must be next to this water and must put the vessel in it: this water is the Grace of God.
……without touching here on the nature of faith (the Apostle) indicates only what its gaze is directed towards: towards that which is awaited, towards the invisible; and thus he indicates precisely that faith is the penetration of the soul into the future (the substance of things hoped for), or into the invisible (the evidence of things not seen).
This testifies to the mystical character of Christian faith.”
From Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, pp 55.
“In the expression of the Heiromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, faith is a vessel by which water is scooped up; but one must be next to this water and must put the vessel in it: this water is the Grace of God.
……without touching here on the nature of faith (the Apostle) indicates only what its gaze is directed towards: towards that which is awaited, towards the invisible; and thus he indicates precisely that faith is the penetration of the soul into the future (the substance of things hoped for), or into the invisible (the evidence of things not seen).
This testifies to the mystical character of Christian faith.”
From Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, pp 55.
Hope this is worthy contribution to your thread.
Thank you for sharing this.
A priest I know has a great saying:
1. You are not God.
2. This is not Heaven.
3. Don't be a jerk.
It has helped me a lot when trying to figure out doctrinal differences.