Who first used the phrase "potential and actual"?

Who First Used the Phrase "Potentially and in Actuality"?

By Nikolaos Mannis | 12 November 2014

 

INTRODUCTION

In this article, we will not deal at all with the interpretation of the term “potentially and in actuality” ["δυνάμει και ενεργεία"], whose usage by the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos, triggered the occasion (but not the cause) for the Matthewite schism of 1937. We will only focus on who was the first to use this distinction, in order to restore the truth and inform our separated brothers, the so-called Matthewites, who have expressed their views on the matter from time to time.

The positions (because it concerns many positions and not a single one) of the Matthewite followers regarding the matter are conflicting among themselves. Specifically:

1. Eugenios Tombros, the Protosyncellus of the Matthewites, wrote: "After a brief delay, the former Metropolitan of Florina, very hesitantly and with reservations, unexpectedly invented the famous phrase 'potentially and in actuality,' seeking to justify the unjustifiable." [1]

2. Amphilochios Tambouras, currently a bishop of the Matthewite faction under Kyrikos Kontogiannis, wrote about "potentially and in actuality" in his work “You Will Know the Truth”: "This theory was invented by a certain hieromonk named Athanasios Danielides, who was on Mount Athos, and he formulated it in one of his studies, with the guidance of Chrysostomos Papadopoulos himself, with the aim of weakening the strong opposition of the Hagiorite Hieromonks and other G.O.C. [Genuine Orthodox Christians] against New Calendarism." [2]

3. Eleftherios Gkoutzidis, a theologian of the Matthewite faction, wrote about "potentially and in actuality" that: "It was first conceived after the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-1439) by the pro-papal Latinizers of Crete, who recognized that robber council and blasphemed against Saint Mark [of Ephesus]." [3]

4. In the magazine "Herald of the Orthodox Church," the official publication of the Matthewite faction led by Chrysostomos Mitropoulos, we read: "The scientific distinction of 'potentially and in actuality' is an ancient philosophical term first used by the philosopher Aristotle before Christ." [4]

So, in summary, the four answers of the Matthewites regarding who first used "potentially and in actuality" are as follows:

a. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina

b. Athanasios Danielides

c. The Unionists of Crete in the 11th century (Gkoutzidis, in footnote 11 of the mentioned work, mentions Plousiadinos), and

d. Aristotle.

In this case, the correct answer is none of the above.

 

THE HOLY KOLLYVADES

The distinction of "potentially and in actuality," as used by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina (a term referred to in the Holy Canons), was first used in the late 17th century by the Kollyvades Fathers Neophytos Kavsokalyvites and Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite. They were particularly engaged in canon law and the codification of the Holy Canons.

Neophytos Kavsokalyvites, with his significant work Epitome of the Holy Canons, part of which was published by the theologian Hieromonk Theodoretos Mavros the Hagiorite [5], includes an entire interpretive chapter titled "On the potentiality and actuality of the Holy Canons" (pages 167-182 of the aforementioned edition).

 

 

Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite, in his classic work The Rudder, mentions the distinction "potentially and in actuality": a. In a footnote ABOUT the Third Apostolic Canon (and not IN the Third Apostolic Canon, as some Matthewite followers confuse [6]), he writes [7]:

 

 

b. Also, in the footnote in the Canonical Epistle of Saint Gennadios of Constantinople [8] against simony, which the Church considers a heresy [9]:

 

Furthermore, in the meticulous work of the Holy Confessor St Meletios [of Mount Galesion], Alphabetalphabetos, which was published by Saint Nikodemos, there is again a reference in a footnote [10]:

 

 

From the above, it is clearly demonstrated that the blessed Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos Kavourides, who was knowledgeable in theology and canon law, followed the path of the Holy Kollyvades Fathers, who were the first to use the distinction "potentially and in actuality."

 

ENDNOTES

[1] Monk Theodoretos, 4th Open Letter to Fr. Eugenios Tombros, Holy Mountain - Athens, 1973, p. 8.

[2] Hieromonk Amphilochios, You Will Know the Truth, Athens, 1984, p. 9.

[3] Eleftherios Gkoutzidis, The Position of the Genuine Orthodox Church against New Calendarism - Ecumenism from 1924 to 1935, A Presentation to the Dialogue with the Florinites, May 18, 1981.

[4] Herald of the Orthodox Church, September-October 2008, issue 35, p. 232.

[5] Epitome of the Holy Canons, Volume 1, Hierodeacon Neophytos Kavsokalyvites, Aster Editions, Athens, 2002.

[6] Herald of the Orthodox Church, see above, p. 134. Saint Nikodemos takes occasion from this Canon because it is the first in the series of Canons that uses the words "let him be deposed."

[7] The Rudder, Saint Nikodemos, 4th edition, Athens, 1886, p. 18, footnote 1.

[8] Ibid, p. 561, footnote 6.

[9] Many claim that the "potentially and in actuality" distinction of the Holy Canons supposedly pertains only to personal misconduct of the clergy and not matters of Faith. However, they do not specify their basis for this claim.

[10] Alphabetalphabetos, Saint Meletios the Confessor, Holy Mountain, 1928, p. 562, footnote 1.

 

Original Greek source: http://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.com/2014/11/blog-post_12.html