The purpose of all doctrine

There is an excellent and brief post on Fr Stephen's blog Glory to God for All Things. It underscores the importance that the experience of God has for the Christian. I will explain no further, but only provide a short quotation which spoke volumes to me, and leave it to you, dear brethren, to continue if you wish and read his whole thought, called We Have Seen. This, I testify again, is true Orthodoxy. This is what is waiting for all followers of Jesus, if they have not yet reached it.

The safeguarding of saving knowledge (true participation in the life of God) is the purpose of all doctrine. Every dogmatic statement of the Church has as its sole purpose the safeguarding of true participation in the life of God. Dogma is not an argument over ideas, but a statement that guards the Apostolic witness (which is living and true).

There is also a wonderful story from the Desert Fathers at the end of his post which I will not spoil by retelling it—it too is short, to the point, and memorable, and will no doubt join your personal library of anecdotes. I would call this story The Rabbit Chase.