I wanted to share these thoughts on Arch. Sophrony's book, On Prayer.
The Name Jesus as knowledge, as ‘energy’ of God in relation to the world and as His proper Name, is ontologically bound up with Him. It is spiritual reality. Its sound can merge with its reality but not necessarily so. As a name it was given to many mortal men but when we pray we utter it with another content, another ‘frame’ of spirit. For us it is the bridge between us and Him. It is the canal along which the streams of divine strength flow to us. As proceeding from the Holy God it is holy and it hallows us by its invocation. With this Name and through it prayer acquires a certain tangibleness: it unites us with God. In it, this Name, God is present like a scent-flask full of fragrance. Through it, the Celestial One can be sensed imminently. As divine energy it proceeds from the Substance of Divinity and is divine itself.
Reference: Archimandrite Sophrony, On Prayer (Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1998), p. 133.
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Someone over at OC.net asked me if I could explain the difference between the Holy Eucharist and calling upon the Name of Jesus. Note that although I have taken some courses in theology, I am not a theologian, neither do I have an MA in theology. My specialty is linguistics.
However, that said, reception of the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist is not the same as pronouncing the Name of Jesus. In the reception of the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist, we receive not bread and wine, but our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. Our Lord truly is present to us in the Holy Mysteries, and it is He who gives us the remission of our sins and life everlasting.
[list] "Whoever who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me" (John 6: 54-57 (NKJV) [i]Orthodox Study Bible[/i], 2008, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008, p. 1436). [/list]
However, God's Name is a created word, which we use to identify Christ. The Name of God is neither an uncreated Divine Energy, nor is the Name of Jesus God Himself contrary to what Arch. Sophrony asserts in his passage above. The Bible mentions nothing about invoking the Name of Jesus for the guaranteed remission of our sins and for a guarantee of life everlasting. "Name it and claim it salvation" is preached by those Protestants who believe "Once Saved, Always Saved," not by True Orthodox Christians. According to the late Father Alexander Schemann of the OCA, even when a priest prays the prayer of Absolution seven times during Holy Confession, if a penitent is not repentant, his sins will not be forgiven (c.f. [i]For the Life of the World[/i]). Even though the Bible does mention that demons tremble at the Name of Jesus, it also states that not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord" will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Furthermore, if the Name were uncreated, why would a large number of men be named Jesus? How could these Hispanic men continue to live with such a Divine Name? This is a question which the Name-Worshippers carfefully avoid.
Name-Worshippers claim that the God's Name is uncreated and also claim that His Name is a Holy Sacrament. If a priest's prayer of absolution cannot guarantee remission of sins, then mentioning the Name of God is not a sacrament. If merely saying the Name of Jesus is efficacious and effects changes, then why, as told in the New Testament, could not men cast out demons in the Name of Christ? Thus, Name-Worshipping is a false teaching that was rightfully condemned by both the EP and the MP in 1913.