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On Faith

Author(s): Horia Dumitru IONESCU
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion
Published by: Editura Doxologia
Keywords: Saint Dumitru Stăniloae; Philokalia; prayer; orthodox mysticism; atheism;
Summary/Abstract: We are what we believe.The author-theologian Dumitru Horia Ionescu, grandson of Saint Dumitru Stăniloae, gives this statement a completely different meaning than the one commonly used in preventive medicine (a disciplined lifestyle in terms of diet, desire for exercise, and respect for fundamental health norms). He started from the existential reality that it is easy for anyone to claim to be a believer, in the religious sense of the term, and emphasised the need to understand the fundamental truth of the statement: faith must be professed. At the same time, professing faith truly, realistically, with one’s entire soul, presupposes a state of mind full of sincerity, responsibility, and hope, that state full of optimism that comes from the saving love of God, which is difficult to attain through unceasing prayer. Revealing his own notes, more than 50 years old, made after short conversations with his grandfather in order to find answers and organise his thoughts, the author recalled the harsh conditions of the communist era, the atheistic, Marxist doctrines instilled in the younger generation by the educational system of the time, and demonstrated—supported by well-known and recognized theologians, doctors, and philosophers quoted in the work—that without God there is nothing, even our own lives would be nothing but nothingness and darkness. Atheism itself cannot exist without God. Without Him, there are no atheists to deny Him. Without God, atheists have no reason to exist. The key words of theology and, implicitly, of faith in God: repentance, perseverance, persistence (without which prayer is nothing but a form without substance) recur and are detailed in the work. His conviction that prayer is a continuous confession — a continuous dialogue with God that comes from the heart, is not formal, is not a daily duty, nor any kind of school exercise — which emerges from the entire work — emphasises the fact that when a person prays, they are no longer alone! Prayer changes people, and people change the world!

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