Praxis, a transliteration of the Greek wordπρᾶξις (derived from the stem of the verbπράσσειν,prassein "to do, to act"), means "practice, action, doing".[1] More particularly, it means either:
Eastern Christian writers, especially those in theByzantine tradition, use the term "praxis" to refer to what others, using an English rather than a Greek word, call 'practice of the faith', especially with regard toascetic andliturgical life.
Praxis is a key to understanding theByzantine tradition, which is observed by theEastern Orthodox Church and someEastern Catholic Churches. This is because praxis is the basis of the understanding of faith and works as conjoint, without separating the two. The importance of praxis, in the sense of action, is indicated in the dictum of SaintMaximus the Confessor: "Theology without action is the theology of demons."[3][4][5]
Union withGod, to which Eastern Christians hold thatJesus invites mankind, requires not justfaith, but correct practice of faith. This idea is found in theScriptures (1 Cor11:2,2 Thes2:14) and theChurch Fathers, and is linked with the term 'praxis' in Byzantinetheology and vocabulary.[6] In the context of Orthodoxy, praxis is not mentioned opposite theology, in the sense of 'theory and practice'.[7] Rather, it comprehends all that Orthodox do,[8] and is considered to be 'living Orthodoxy'.[9]
Praxis is perhaps most strongly associated withworship. "Orthopraxis" is said to mean "right glory" or "right worship", and is then synonymous with orthodoxy;[10] only correct (or proper) practice, particularly correct worship, is understood as establishing the fulness of glory given to God. This is one of the primary purposes ofliturgy (divine labor), the work of the people. Some Byzantine sources maintain that in theWest, Christianity has been reduced "to intellectual, ethical or social categories," whereas right worship is fundamentally important in our relationship to God, forming the faithful into theBody of Christ and providing the path to "true religious education."[11] A "symbiosis of worship and work" is considered to be inherent in Byzantine praxis.[12]
Fasting, another key part of the practice of the Christian faith, is mentioned as part of Byzantine praxis, in connection with theSermon on the Mount (Mt6),[13] and in comparison with the history and commemorations ofLenten fasts.[14]
Praxis may also refer to proper religious etiquette.[10]
In theLatin Church, parallel ideas of asceticism and worship exist. The word used in this regard is the regular English word "practice", since in English the term "praxis" is not normally used in this sense.
The simplest and most common understanding of the term "practising Catholic", a minimal interpretation of the phrase, is that the person has been baptized (or canonically received into full communion with the Catholic Church) and strives to observe the Church's precept of attending celebration of theMass orDivine Liturgy onSundays andholy days of obligation.[15] Someone who does not fulfil even this minimum requirement for being considered "practising" is referred to as alapsed Catholic.
A more ample indication of what practice involves is given in a statement by Bishop Luc Matthys ofArmidale,New South Wales,Australia.[16] Living the Catholic faith involves much more than the minimum requirements referred to above.
Matters such as fasting have applications that vary according to place and according to the autonomousparticular Church to which a person belongs. In each of theEastern Catholic Churches, practice is generally the same as in the associatedEastern Church with which it is not in full communion. Thus, practice in the Eastern Catholic Churches ofByzantine Rite is identical with that described above for the Churches that constitute theEastern Orthodox Church, but differs from that of, for instance, theSyro-Malabar Catholic Church. Within the Latin Church too, there are variations in such matters in accordance with rules laid down by theepiscopal conferences in view of local conditions and traditions.
In English, the word "praxis" is more commonly used in the sense not of practice but with the meaning given to it byImmanuel Kant, namely application of a theory to cases encountered in experience or reasoning about what there should be as opposed to what there is: this meaningKarl Marx made central to his philosophical ideal of transforming the world through revolutionary activity.[17] Proponents ofLatin Americanliberation theology have used the word "praxis" with specific reference to human activity directed towards transforming the conditions and causes of poverty. Their "liberation theology" consists then in applying the Gospel to that praxis to guide and govern it.[18]
