Words and Music Born out of Silence. Liturgical and Hesychast Influences on lex orandi and lex credendi in Vladimir Lossky and Fr Dumitru Stǎniloae
Abstract
The article argues that liturgy is not the exclusive expression of lex orandi (the rule of prayer), that also Hesychast practices of prayer can be included into this rule. It explores how the Hesychast practices of prayer expand the rule, and what impact such expansion has on the relationship between lex orandi and lex credendi, and in particular on the possibility of an equal mutual exchange between them.
It draws on the contributions of two theologians of the Neo-Patristic renewal, Vladimir Lossky and Fr Dumitru Stăniloae, and in particular on their understanding of the relation between the apophatic and kataphatic way. The article argues that rediscovering of the antinomic character of the lex credenda is foundational for the discernment of what is and what is not Christian orthodoxy.
It uses the analogy of the relationship between words and silence here as it demonstrates how the life of prayer impacts on the type and depth of the knowledge of God and vice versa, how the knowledge of God impacts on the type and depth of the life of prayer.