Easter Letter, 2021

13th Century Medieval Latin Manuscript Illustration of the Resurrection (Getty Trust)

Beloved Eminences, Esteemed Brother Bishops, Reverend Fathers, Father Deacons and Faithful, 

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! 

As we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we remember that this is the foundation of the Gospel that we declare to all men! Because Christ is Risen, we are made holy to the Lord, a new covenant people, and a foretaste of the Kingdom of God which is to come! Titus 2:11-15 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise you.” 

As Orthodox Christians in the Anglican Patrimony, we remember that our understanding of Christ’s finished work on the Cross is not one based upon a wrathful Father God. Rather than “Penal Substitution”, we believe in the ancient theology of the “Christus Victor.” This theology was absolutely central to the Ancient Church’s view of salvation, which was pictured, not as a legal process, but as a relational, transformative, creative process of recapitulation - of connecting our created lives with the Uncreated Life of the Holy Trinity. In our Orthodox understanding, much more is made of His Incarnation and His Resurrection, which are believed to present patterns of Christian victory, rather than a focus on individual shortcomings and the hopelessness of the human condition. This is the reason for our overwhelming joy in the Paschal Season! 

Christ chose physical means to save us, both in His own body, but also in his Life, Death, and Resurrection, He used physical means. He physically rose from the grave. He has promised the physical rebirth of our bodies after death, and the physical recreation of the world. Therefore, we have physical recourse to Salvation on Earth - through the Grace of God that is present in the Orthodox Church, a physical place with physical people, through a physical act of renouncing sin through confession to our brothers and sisters, and with priests acting as witnesses to our confessions, and through a physical act of taking communion. Thus, in the flesh, we have our sins forgiven and we are brought back into the physical and spiritual communion of the Saints, who are cleansed by Christ's Forgiveness and who have turned their backs on sin. This is the Eternal Church that is both here on earth and in heaven, which is not just a spiritual kingdom, but is a physical presence on earth, and as such, is the “firstfruits” of all creation glorified at the End of Time. 

May God give us a wonderful Pascha, a rebirth into spiritual life, and a vision of the glory that God has prepared for us forever! Let us look forward to that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ! 

Christ is Risen! 

Bp. Joseph Boyd

(Ancient  Church of the West)