By Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon
In the biblical narrative of the creation, it is noteworthy that the original day of creation is not designated “the first” day. It is called, rather, “one day” (yom ’ehad). Although this difference of expression in Genesis 1:5 has proved too subtle for virtually all biblical translations into modern languages, its significance caused it to be maintained in the ancient versions, such as the Septuagint (hemera mia) and the Vulgate (dies unus). In addition, that difference of expression (“one day” instead of “first day”) was the object of explicit discussion in nearly all ancient commentaries on Genesis 1:5, whether Jewish (e.g., Philo and Rashi) or Christian (e.g., Basil and Augustine).
In those classical comments on the text, moreover, we find the common assertion that the words “one day” served to elevate that day to something more than part of a sequence. There is a profound reason why the original day of creation is appropriately called “one,” whereas the second day is not appropriately called “two,” nor the third day “three,” and so forth. The original day is “one” in a manner analogous to the number itself. “One” is not simply the numeral that precedes two; it is, rather, the number out of which that second number comes. There is a formal disparity between one and the other numbers. One (to hen) is the font determining the identity of two and the subsequent numbers. “One” is not just “first” as part of a sequence; it is what we call a principle, an arche. The principle of something possesses its qualitative form.
For example, there is a parallel and corresponding proposition to be argued with respect to repentance, metanoia. Repentance is the arche, the foundational principle, of the life in Christ; it functions in the life of grace as the number “one” functions in arithmetic. It is not simply the “first” step of the Christian life. Repentance, rather, provides the abiding and formative structure of the whole life in Christ. Repentance is not a first step that we take with a view to getting past it. We are called to remain forever repentant. Although there is certainly progress to be made in the life of grace, all genuine progress is indicated by a renewal of repentance. A Christian does not “grow” in Christ by diminishing in repentance. True growth and authentic progress in Christ always imply growth and progress in repentance.
There are several very important inferences to be drawn from this premise of repentance as a principle of the life in Christ:
First, as the initial effect of grace, repentance is not of an order different from holiness. This needs emphatically to be said, because for some few centuries now there has roamed abroad the fallacious theory that God’s act by which we are justified remains external to us. This rather recent theory effectively separates repentance from holiness, as though God would declare a man righteous without actually making him righteous, pronounce him to be just without causing him to be a “saint,” and convert him but without giving him a new heart. Against this theory, the Bible indicates that the conversion of repentance is not just an act of God; it is also an act of man’s free will under the accepted influence of God’s grace. Man’s heart, his interior, is altered by repentance.
Second, because repentance is the free decision of man as well as the free gift of God, the grace of repentance, if not properly safeguarded, can also be lost. Again, this truth has been obscured in recent centuries by an erroneous theory asserting that repentance, if genuine, cannot perish. However, a more complete reading of the Bible obliges us to say that the blessed assurance given us in Christ (cf. Romans 8:31-39) is no substitute for humility and vigilance. At no point in our Christian lives can we afford to forget that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), with discipline lest we fall away (1 Corinthians 9:27). “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (10:12).
Third, if repentance is a sustained constant in the life of grace, it is also repetitive. This repetition is both possible and required, not only for the daily shortcomings that befall us all, but also for those more serious infidelities that may even constitute apostasy. Once again, a fairly recent pernicious theory, interpreting the adjective “impossible” in Hebrews 6:4 in an excessively literal sense, has imagined that there is no return for a believer who has deliberately fallen from grace. This mischievous theory, however, is dashed to pieces by the biblical examples of such men as David and Peter. The command “Repent!” is addressed, not only to non-Christians (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22), but to Christians as well (Revelation 2:5, 16; 3:3, 19).
Repentance is the non-negotiable, foundational constant of the life in Christ. However much God’s saints differ from one another in style, tone, and emphasis, repentance is a grace and discipline - a principle - shared by them all.
Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and a Senior Editor of Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. He is also the author of Christ in the Psalms and Christ in His Saints.
This article originally appeared in AGAIN Vol. 25 No. 4.