Perichoresis

[-Kyriaki-]

Okay, inspired by the thread on "Generous Orthodoxy".

A lot of what's been said in that article rings true with a lot of what I grew up with. And περιχώρησις is a word that was (usually mispronounced) thrown around often, and people were always saying about the fact that the Church Fathers used it, but not direct references.

So, you people who might know this stuff - what exactly does it mean (I'm assuming, given the fact that it actually doesn't fit with Orthodoxy that much, not the definition I grew up with) and who among the Fathers used it, where, and referring to what?

Thanks :) Just looking to clear up some of the stuff that's lurking un-sorted in the back of my mind.

[Kreikkalainen]

Hi Kyriaki :wave:

Περί means around, in the area of, or in certain contexts it can render "on" (example: imagine an academic article entitled "On the social position of women in 4th century Kyrgyzstan" - that's the kind of "on" I'm talking about, as in "regarding").

The second bit comes from χωρώ meaning to fit somewhere, or conversely to contain, to have enough area/place/space/room for something.

I'll leave the theology to people who have had relevant education and/or are reading the Fathers. I don't fit either bill. They may be able to explain how, in what sense and by whom that composite word was (perhaps coined? and) used to describe the Communion of Persons in the Holy Trinity. What is adamantly clear though, is that the whole concept is totally unrelated to dancing. If people have connected it to dancing & have based their whole "theological" reasoning on that (as this guy in the other thread did), then they are well-intentioned but misinformed, at best, charlatans & foolish ones at that, at worst.

I think for us common people the best source of theology is probably the prayers of the Church. The following is from the Great Vespers of Pentecost:

Come, you peoples, let us worship the Godhead in three persons, the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit; for the Father timelessly begot the Son, co-eternal and co-reigning, and the Holy Spirit was in the Father, glorified with the Son; one power, one essence, one Godhead, whom we all worship as we say: Holy God, who created all things through the Son, with the co-operation of the Holy Spirit. Holy Strong, through whom we have come to know the Father, and through whom the Holy Spirit came into the world. Holy Immortal, the Advocate Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son. Holy Trinity, glory to you.

The translation is trustable, it comes from Fr Ephraim Lash's site http://www.anastasis.org.uk/

So if one asked me what we believe about the Trinity, I would refer to the above and not bother too much about an obscure greek word :).