ON THE POSTURE OF HOLINESS: UNDERSTANDING GOD’S ANGER THROUGH THE BIBLICAL LENS OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN FATHERS

The Popular Understanding of the Wrath of God, Just as in this Movie Poster Illustration from the 1956 Hollywood Blockbuster “The Ten Commandments”, Often Convolutes the Motivation and the Theological Categories of God’s Judgment into a Caricature of Human Fury, Forgetting James 1:20 - “The Wrath of Man Does Not Accomplish the Righteousness of God.” 

By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West) 

Introduction

In our current theological landscape, dialoguing between Conservative Anglicans and more open and westerly-engaged Eastern Orthodox and Assyrian Christians, confusion often arises when interpreting God’s anger as depicted in Scripture. Some in the West take a purely retributive view, aligning divine anger with human emotions of disgust or condemnation, which are believed to be the most biblical and effective way to correct moral failures. However, through the lens of the Eastern Fathers, particularly St. Isaac the Assyrian, the central theological patron of our jurisdiction, God’s anger is better understood as the expression of His love, aimed at healing rather than condemning. This perspective challenges many assumptions about why contemporary Anglicanism, and the wider Christian world, have fallen into such severe moral degradation, with widespread tolerance for sin and an inability to repent.

The Ancient Paradigm: Therapeutic View of Sin and Sacraments

The Eastern Fathers, following the tradition that sees the Church as a hospital, offer a view of sin and salvation that is vastly different from the punitive, expiational understanding that dominates much of Western Christianity. St. John Chrysostom famously said, “The Church is a hospital, not a courtroom, for souls are healed in it.” Sin, in this paradigm, is not a legal violation demanding punishment but a disease that requires healing. Psalm 147:3 speaks of God as a healer: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” This healing is administered through the sacramental life of the Church, where confession, the Eucharist, and the other sacraments are understood as therapies restoring the soul to communion with God.

St. Isaac the Assyrian, writing on divine anger, emphasized that God's "wrath" is not punitive but pedagogical. God does not desire to condemn but to heal: “Do not call God just, for His justice is not manifest in the things concerning you... Friend, I do thee no wrong... I wish to give to this last even as I give to thee. If He is good, then not just; if just, then not good” (Homily 51). The mercy of God is also central to Scripture, where we see that Psalm 103:8 proclaims: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” God's seeming "anger" is, in truth, His passionate desire for our healing and return to Him. This desire for restoration is so profound that He waits patiently for our repentance, as 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us: “The Lord is... patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

The Misinterpretation of Ancient Theology Influence as a Contributor to Anglicanism’s Decline

Some mistakenly argue that the Ancient Eastern Christian paradigm, which emphasizes the therapeutic view of the sacraments and the atonement, is responsible for the moral decay that we see across the Anglican world, where tolerance for sin and lack of repentance are rampant, and secular definitions of marriage, family, sexuality and identity are more closely correlated to the latest political fads than they are to a biblical perspective. However, such a position misunderstands the heart of Eastern Christian theology. It is not the embrace of Eastern teachings that has liberalized Anglicanism or diluted its commitment to holiness, but rather a departure from the very principles that are central to our theological paradigm - constant repentance towards God and turning away from self by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Theosis, the doctrine of humanity’s participation in the divine life, as articulated by the Eastern Fathers, necessitates a life of constant repentance, tears, and turning back to God. Isaiah 55:7 calls us to this constant return: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him.” St. Symeon the New Theologian described the Christian life as one of “metanoia,” complementing what St. Paul said in many passages about finding God through repentance, framing our life in the Spirit as a continual transformation through the act of turning back to God, empowered by God’s love, into the likeness of Christ (Acts 17:27, 20:21, 26:20, Romans 2:4, 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:20, 7:10, Ephesians 2:8-9). This process is not about human perfectibility in a superficial sense but about radical inner change, which can only occur through continual self-examination, confession, and repentance, as 2 Corinthians 3:18 says: “And we all... are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory.”

What we see in Anglicanism today is a result of theosis being misunderstood as "being nice" and mistaking love for affirming everyone’s decisions without holding ourselves and others around us accountable to the revealed truth of Scripture and the theological responsibilities of the creature to the Creator to love, follow and obey what is commanded of us. The collapse of Anglican moral integrity is rooted in humanism and secularism, not in dialoguing and learning from the Eastern Christian tradition. James 4:4 warns us, “Friendship with the world is enmity with God.” As St. Isaac and other Fathers emphasized, holiness cannot exist without the willingness to confront our sins, weep over our alienation from God, and return to the path of repentance. Liberalism’s tolerance for sin is a rejection of the sacramental life and the ascetical struggle for holiness. It loves the world more than it loves God, directly opposing the command of 1 John 2:15-16: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world... For all that is in the world... is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

The True Source of Moral Degradation

The apostasy we witness within Anglicanism is not unique. We see it in other Christian traditions, including the liberalizing forces at work in World Orthodoxy and the high echelons of the Roman Catholic Church. The root cause is a coldness of heart, a spiritual pride that rejects God’s love and replaces it with human control and self-righteousness. In Matthew 23:2-4, Jesus condemned those who sit in the seat of Moses, laying heavy burdens on others while neglecting mercy, justice, and faith. Today’s crisis in Anglicanism reflects this same failure—an unwillingness to uphold the truth in humility and love, preferring instead the praise and acceptance of the world, as Jesus warns in John 12:43: “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

In this sense, the liberalization of Anglicanism can be seen as the fruit of rejecting the therapeutic nature of the Church’s mission. As St. Basil the Great said, “We must understand that we are all diseased by sin, and without constant recourse to the Divine Physician, we will not be healed.” Jesus Himself declared in Luke 5:31-32, "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The refusal to confront sin as a disease, requiring ongoing healing through repentance and the sacraments, has led to a focus on affirming personal choices rather than calling believers to a life of sanctification, contradicting 1 Peter 1:16: “Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

God’s Anger and the Posture of Holiness

Understanding God’s anger in light of St. Isaac’s teachings allows us to adopt a proper posture toward sin, repentance, and holiness. God’s "wrath" is not arbitrary or vengeful but a reflection of His deep desire for us to turn away from sin and return to Him. Hebrews 12:6 teaches us, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” As John 3:17 reminds us, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” The true Gospel is not one of scrupulosity and self-aggrandizing condemnation but of healing, reconciliation, and restoration, as 2 Corinthians 5:18 declares: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

As I reflect on the heated conversation we had last night with an Anglican priest, I recall how easy it is for us to fall into the trap of the Pharisees, assuming the mantle of judgment that belongs to God alone. In John 8:7, Christ tells the accusers of the adulterous woman, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” This moment exemplifies the difference between the false gospel of condemnation and the true Gospel of restoration. The Ancient Eastern Fathers, with their emphasis on repentance, healing, and the therapeutic nature of the sacraments, call us away from the desire to cast stones and instead toward the hard work of personal repentance. This attitude is not reflected by the carnal young men who ignorantly argue about Orthodox canon law online, who are equally blind to this process as our reactionary Anglican friends. Galatians 6:1 reminds us, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” We are not called to correct through furious anger and debate, but through love, humility, care and friendly conversation. Only in illustrating the Incarnation, emptying ourselves of all glory, and showing self-sacrificial love, blessing those who curse us, can we strive to be true Christians. 

Returning to the Beginning: Finding Christ in Humility and Repentance

The collapse of Anglican theological integrity is truly lamentable and a blow to Christians of every tradition around the world. It has not come from accepting the Eastern Christian paradigms but from rejecting the Ancient Christian pathway of repentance and holiness in favor of humanism and secularism. The true path forward lies in returning to the ancient understanding of the Church as a hospital, where sin is treated as a disease, and the sacraments are the medicine. This return requires continual repentance, a willingness to acknowledge our own sinfulness, and a deep reliance on the grace and mercy of God. Romans 2:4 reminds us that “the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” Theosis is not possible without tears, penance, and the transformation of the heart, and this is a gift of God, a power of the Holy Spirit, that does not naturally flow from our sinful hearts. The modern world rejects the concept of sin, repentance, and new life in Christ, but it is through these that we find true freedom, healing, and holiness, as Christ Himself declared in John 8:36: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Let us heed the wisdom of the Fathers and Scripture, seek God’s mercy, and strive for true holiness - not through reactionary debating, name-calling, accusations of apostasy and heresy, effete attempts at excommunications, striving, vain jangling, the judgment of others, condemning others to Hell - but through the constant renewal of our own hearts in the image of Christ, which is truly the only evidence that will ever convince anyone of the reality of God’s existence and the transformative power of a relationship with our Lord and Savior. 

Peace be with you!