The Eastern Diocese mourns the passing of an eminent Orthodox theologian.
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“We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.”
Those are the words of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, from an early chapter of his influential book, The Orthodox Way. In the latter decades of the 20th century, Ware’s writings were among the rare resources accessible to a broad readership interested in the theology and spirituality of the Orthodox churches. Indeed, he was the fatherly guide who helped numerous souls engage more deeply with their faith.
Born in England in 1934, the young Timothy Ware became an early exemplar of a phenomenon that would become more common in the ensuing decades: the Anglican convert to Eastern Orthodoxy. His turn to the Christian East, chronicled in an essay titled “My Journey to the Orthodox Church,” took place in 1958. While still a layman he wrote The Orthodox Church (1963), which he followed with The Orthodox Way (1979).
Between the two publications, in 1966, he received the sacrament of ordination and began his long service as a clergyman under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was under the priestly name “Kallistos” that he undertook his distinguished academic career at Oxford University, and eventually became consecrated as a bishop and titular metropolitan of Diokleia. (Click here to read more about his life and ministry.)
As a theologian, Ware developed a reputation as a sort of C.S. Lewis of Orthodox Christianity. The comparison is inexact; but the clarity of Ware’s thought, and the facility with which he communicated ideas to the public, can be seen in the elegant simplicity of his chapter titles in The Orthodox Way: “God as Mystery,” “God as Trinity,” “God as Creator,” “God as Man,” “God as Spirit,” “God as Prayer,” God as Eternity.”
While Armenian specialists might diverge from him on certain points of doctrine and ecclesiology, Ware’s writings remain a valuable doorway to understanding the intellectual and spiritual heritage of the ancient Christian East, which will continue to bring light to the faithful of many traditions.
Metropolitan Kallistos entered his eternal rest at his home in Oxford on August 24, after a brief period of illness. He was 87 years old. We offer prayers for the repose of our Lord’s faithful servant, and for the consolation of his flock and loved ones. May our risen Lord Jesus receive him into God’s eternal kingdom on the great day of judgment.
By C.H. Zakian