ON THE USAGE OF THE DIPTYCH IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH. THE CORPORATIST DIMENSION OF REPRESENTATION

  • Denys Bakirov PhD student of Philosophy, teaching Assistant of the Department of Theory of Cultureand Philosophy of Science V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1684-653X
Keywords: Christian Church, political representation, ecclesiology, philosophy of language, intercessory prayer, spiritual exercise, imiaslavie, liturgical theology, Rowan Williams

Abstract

The aim of this article is to clarify the connection between intercessory prayer and representation. The hypothesis is that intercessory prayer is the first step toward representation because intercession allows a doer of prayer to bring another person into the centre of one’s life. The argument runs as follows. I observe that St. Paul’s prayers are the prayers of eucharistic intercession: he thanks God for his beloved ones. Then I observe that St. James sees mutual confession of sins and mutual intercession as the ground of Christian “healing”. Then I observe that Dietrich Bonhoeffer conceptualises the Church as constituted by the practice of intercession. Lastly, I observe that Rowan Williams frames intercession as a discipline of bringing another person into the presence of God. Since a doer of prayer brings another person into the presence of God, she thus makes another person the centre of her life. And from this centre, she cannot help but make this person present to others, to “bear witness” to this person in her words and deeds. But intercession succeeds in bringing another person into the centre of a doer of prayer’s life because the “token” of intercession is the “name”, that part of human beings which is also a part of language, a “word” that can be exchanged and uttered. To make the other present and to become present in the other is to become present in the “names” we have already exchanged – to make another person’s “name” the centre of one’s life and to become present in one’s “name” which is presented to others. To make another thus present is to continually call upon another’s “name” – to approach the other not as a thing under our control but as a person who is to act upon us, who is to become present in and through us. To make nothing besides the self-disclosed “name”, trust in our self-presentations, the medium of our communication. What used to be called “hallowing the name”. Making another present with the entirety of one’s conduct, the life of a human person in the new medium of another’s body, the eucharistic act of taking another’s “body” into one’s own body, begins with the intercessory act of taking another’s “name” into one’s speech. Thus, representation starts with intercession, the discipline of keeping each other in prayers. In the final section, I examine how the so-called pomyannik can be a valuable asset for those who aspire to practice intercession as part of a prayer routine

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Published
2023-12-03
Cited
How to Cite
Bakirov, D. (2023). ON THE USAGE OF THE DIPTYCH IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH. THE CORPORATIST DIMENSION OF REPRESENTATION. The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series "Theory of Culture and Philosophy of Science", (68), 36-42. https://doi.org/10.26565/2306-6687-2023-68-04