Recently a wonderful conversation brought up the mention of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. The Christian religion, especially the Roman Catholic faith, stresses the need for orthodoxy. But there are some who are calling on the need for orthopraxy to be at least as important, if not more important, than orthodoxy. The comment has given me much food for thought.
First, orthodoxy deals with what we believe. Literally translated, it means right thinking. Here we have the teaching of the church, its theology, its laws, etc. We know that the Roman church is given to very explicit concepts, concepts it expects the faithful to accept. It has taken centuries for it to formulate its doctrine and articles of faith, its laws and guidelines.
Orthopraxy, on the other hand, means right living. It deals with how I live out my faith, by example. Orthopraxy is what made Mother Therese and Martin Luther King and Ghandi so powerful. They were powerful because they lived powerfully.
While thinking of these two concepts, it occurred to me that Jesus never said, "Obey me." Jesus words to his followers were "follow me". And the Gospels are full of stories of how Jesus lived out his doctrine. In fact, strictly speaking, Jesus seemed not too concerned about the “orthodoxy” of his faith. He cured on the Sabbath, he ate with sinners, he allowed his disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath. In fact, one could almost say that for Jesus, orthopraxy seemed the more important thing. Not that he disdained the law. It just wasn’t the most important part of his faith.
I think that as humans, we have a tendency to give orthodoxy authority over orthopraxy, as though right thinking proved more true than right living.And yet, I don't think we should.
There is much that could be said on this issue.
I'd be interested in your views.
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