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Praxis, a transliteration of the Greek word πρᾶξις, which is derived from the stem of the verb πράσσειν (prassein) "to do, to act.", means "practice, action, doing".[1] More particularly, it means either:
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Orthodox writers 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 to ascetic and liturgical life.
Praxis is key to Eastern Orthodox understanding because it is the basis of faith and works and the understanding of not separating the two. The importance of praxis, in the sense of action, is indicated in the dictum of Saint Maximus the Confessor: "Theology without action is the theology of demons."[3]
Union with God, to which Christians hold that Jesus invited man, requires not just faith, but correct practice of faith. This idea is found in the Scriptures (1 Cor 11:2, 2 Thes 2:14) and the Church Fathers, and is linked with the term praxis in Orthodox theology and vocabulary.[1] In the context of Orthodoxy, praxis is mentioned opposite theology, in the sense of 'theory and practice'.[2] Rather, it is a word that means, globally, all that Orthodox do.[3] Praxis is 'living Orthodoxy'.[4]
Praxis is perhaps most strongly associated with worship. "Orthopraxis" is said to mean "right glory" or "right worship"[5]; only correct (or proper) practice, particularly correct worship, is understood as establishing the fulness glory given to God. This is one of the primary purposes of liturgy (divine labor), the work of the people. Some Orthodox sources maintain that in the West, 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 the Body of Christ and providing the path to "true religious education."[6] A "symbiosis of worship and work" is considered to be inherent in Orthodox praxis.[7]
Fasting, another key part of the practice of the Christian faith, is mentioned as part of Orthodox praxis, in connection with the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 6),[8] and in comparison with the history and commemorations of Lenten fasts.[9]
Praxis may also refer to proper religious etiquette.[10]
In the Catholic 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 the Eucharist on Sundays and holy days of obligation.[4] Someone who does not fulfil even this minimum requirement is referred to as a lapsed Catholic.
A more ample indication of what practice of the Catholic faith involves is given in a statement by Bishop Luc Matthys of Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.[5] 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 autonomous particular Church to which Roman Catholics belong. In each of the Eastern Catholic Churches, practice is generally the same as in the Eastern Church not in full communion with Rome with which that Catholic Church is associated. Thus, practice in the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine Rite is identical with that described above for the Churches that constitute the Eastern Orthodox Church, but differs from that of, for instance, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church or the Latin Church. Within the Latin Rite, there are variations in such matters in accordance with rules laid down by the episcopal conferences in line with 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 by Immanuel 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 meaning Karl Marx made central to his philosophical ideal of transforming the world through revolutionary activity.[6] Inspired by Marxism, proponents of Latin American liberation 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.[7]
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