Orthodox Patristics

Why Modernists hate scholasticism? Part Two

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:47:23 +0000

Thus, incorrect to say that scholasticism is a product of the West and intellectual import, derived from Europe. Scholasticism – a certain style of thinking, control and custody of mind over the spirit that emerged in the era of secularization of church property and ozemleniya human consciousness, heavily weighted in favor of analytical thinking, a change in mentality, a shift from synthetic, whole perception, and to fractional differential. Scholasticism is the substitution of contemplation reasoning, intuitive vision of the spiritual world – deductive-inductive method of cognition. At the same heart as the center of spiritual life and gnosis is giving way to reason and sanity trying to strengthen the periphery of consciousness – the border zone to the enemy, breaking from the outside, did not take to the capital. The modernists deliberately confuse cause and effect. They scholasticism, as the cause of spiritual omirschvleniya. This superficiality.

Scholasticism was the result of secularization, the change of the vectors of knowledge, in some sense a reaction against the very secularization and the desire to oppose it rational barrier. It was a kind of “ohranitelstvom” of unrestrained Reformation. Scholasticism not antipode patristic writings, as the modernists want to present it as a forced move from the contemplative to a systematic theology, built on a fixed structure and a given plan. Scholasticism was inspired by the decline in the spiritual level of the Christians, their omirschvleniem and toning down the religious intuitions. Although Western scholasticism had its predecessor Byzantine scholasticism, but the process of secularization took place in the West so rapidly that a few centuries ahead of the East. Therefore, the West has collected considerable material for the construction of the scholastic system is already up to the time when the East in the face of aggressive secularism also had to build a wall of scholasticism, as the ancient empires were building the border wall by invasion of barbarian tribes. But scholasticism on

East went in a different way than in the West. Eastern Scholasticism was mainly systematic accumulated by centuries of material, construction of schemes for a better awareness, perception and memory. It differed from the western scholasticism more careful and correct use of philosophical language, whereas the western scholasticism began to use logic and Aristotle’s categories in relation to the metaphysical world. On this he wrote St. Maxim the Greek: “They (the Latins) do not believe the dogma, if not check them through the syllogisms of Aristotle. Scholasticism does not deny patrologists, want to present it as modernists, but rather is an iron frame for theology, based on patrology to theological knowledge could withstand the pressure of rationalistic criticism, which was later adopted Protestantism in devastating form. In Europe, Biblical criticism has turned into a kind of frenzy of reason, lasted for several centuries, and the Reform – the destruction of monasteries and the destruction of the altars. Therefore, we largely have to be thankful for scholasticism that did not follow the path of revolutionary Protestantism. Currently, when humanity is in a state of unprecedented spiritual and moral decay, can not be artificial, as it were, by order restore the spirit, mentality and lifestyle of Christians patristic period. Initially, in the era of the patriarchs

Revelation was transmitted orally from generation to generation. Then there came a time when it became necessary written fixation – Record of Revelation in order to save it literally in the integrity and purity. The process of secularization continued. It was reflected in that of the cognitive powers of man became more and more reason to stand out, and religious feelings and intuition, as a special gnosis became progressively dull. Then had to seek to preserve the purity of Orthodox faith rational guidance – Construction of theological systems, with the inevitable schematization. Then there was the need to address casual questions posed in the face of faith wavering mind. Loss of the ability of contemplation and synthetic thinking in much of the Christians created a vacuum, which took scholasticism.

Narbeh Aslan

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Why Modernists hate scholasticism?

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:47:21 +0000

Currently modernist forces okapavshiesya in the Church, under the guise of fighting for the purity of Orthodoxy, are undermining the very foundations of Orthodoxy. To implement its ambitious plans they have to distort and change everything the traditional doctrine, the leading home of the apostles, to break the continuity of theological, dogmatic destroy, destroy samples of faith, adopted at the cathedral, and the spiritual wasteland to create a universal religion, but on the ground blasted the church to build its pantheon .

The modernists declared the Church “sick body” that were infected with the Catholic errors and for this reason require treat it, that is subjected to injections of theosophy, rationalism, and Protestantism, as in recent times confessors of Christianity was subjected to violent treatment of psychotropic drugs, from which a normal person sick. Modernists ridiculed the Orthodox dogmas and do not hesitate even to mock the main soteriological dogma of redemption. These Protestant theologians are trying to represent Catholicism as the antithesis of orthodoxy, and Fragment similarities between the Catholic and Orthodox theology to interpret the influence of Catholicism, which claims to have suffered Eastern Church over the last several centuries.

However, Catholicism is not anti-Christianity, and distorted, deformed, littered with false dogmas and traditions of Christianity. If we consider the Catholic catechism, you can see in it the deviation from the truth, perversion of ecclesiology, painful growths in doctrine and so on, but at the same time to discover that part of the Catholic catechism word for word the same as the Orthodox. Naturally, that Catholicism has retained many of the patristic heritage of the time when the Roman Patriarchate located in prayerful communion with the Eastern churches, and represented with a single church. After breaking away from Orthodoxy, Catholicism, has created a different mental and spiritual field, where the same term has acquired a different semantics and sound. Therefore, verbal coincidences can not speak about Catholic influence, and even more about Catholic “Captivity”.

The prosecution of the Orthodox Church in the okatolichenii has similar charges sectarian Protestant persuasion who are trying to prove that the Church has preserved the purity of faith only to the 3-4-th century and then began to make extensive borrowing from paganism, with the result that the Orthodox should look like the Gentiles, and to send them missionaries to bring them back to the apostolic faith. In fact, Orthodox theologians used the legacy of pagan philosophy, as prevailing philosophical language, with the rethinking of ancient terminology, to adapt it to the needs of the Church, to refine and differentiate it. As for the symbolic ritual, the symbol represents a stable, connecting the sign, so the characters of all peoples and religions have another similarity.

Let me quote one example: When the Europeans entered the Siamese kingdom, then were surprised to see that in Buddhist temples are lit candles and lamps, there is consecrated water, burned incense, so that between the rituals and symbols of distant from each other religions there is a certain analogy, of course, when the difference of content. The ancient heritage used by Fathers of the Church, represented ore, thrown into a blast furnace, which implies processed and refined metal. Particularly aggressive attack by the modernists are works on systematic theology, they want to be thought of as Catholic scholasticism and Western imports. It appears that the Modernists are not quite clearly understand what the word “scholasticism” and explicitly ascribed to him the negative content. This term in antiquity signified the training, education, scholarship, and then – thinking style and method of presentation, when the material is located in a certain system and is considered by the analysis.

There were Greek scholasticism, for example, “Categories” of Aristotle, as well as Chinese, Indian, Muslim, etc. As scholasticism in Christian theology, she appeared in Byzantium in the ranks of imitators and commentators patristic writings. Elements of scholasticism can be found in the main product of St. John of Damascus “Exact Exposition of the Orthodox faith, which was several times translated from Greek into Latin and served as a source of” Amounts theology of Thomas Aquinas – the top of Western theology. The modernists accuse orthodox theologians in that they sometimes use the collected material in the West. But here again a misunderstanding.

The basic source of scholasticism was Byzantine theology. From the western scholasticism Orthodox theologians took something valuable that has always belonged to the Church, and found a grain of gold carefully separated from the land. That was taken from the scholasticism of the West, is largely a return that the West picked up from the East and transferred into your language. Some analogue of this process can serve as a translation into Arabic of Aristotle, whose works in connection with the loss of the originals were subsequently re-translated from Arabic into Greek and Latin languages. To say that the Orthodox Church was in a Catholic prisoner for several centuries, as outrageous as the claim that the Fathers of the Church, to use the terminology and some of the ideas of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and Platonists, found in pagan captivity.

Narbeh Aslan

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Patristics or Patrology – the study of Early Christian writers

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:00:49 +0000

Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers and Mothers: the pillars and theological mainstays of Orthodox Christianity. The names derive from the Greek pater (father). The period is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age (circa 100 CE) to either 451 CE (the date of the Council of Chalcedon), or to the 8th century Second Council of Nicaea, see also First seven Ecumenical Councils. The study of the Church Fathers is central to an understanding of and appreciation for the history and content of Orthodox Christianity. It is in these holy men and women that the Church has found her voice throughout the centuries, in these lives transformed and illumined that she has found her most poignant mouthpeaces. It was these that produced the Scriptures, the formulations of the Councils, and the sacred writings that continue to form the textual tradition of the Church. Often, the writings of the Fathers can be complex, for much hearkens from an era different from our own. Context can seem distant, and the mire of words difficult sands through which one must sift. Yet the great quality of the writings of the Church Fathers is their transcendence of the human moment: their ability to speak to the very heart of man even centuries, perhaps millennia, after they were first written. It is the voice of the Holy Spirit of God that speaks through their words, and thus their message is eternal and ever applicable to the contemporary state of humanity. It is the Fathers of the Church who have produced her great textual treasures: her Scripture, her hymnody, her theological apologetics, her histories. Thus a proper understanding of any of these elements of Orthodox life can only be obtained when approached with a Patristic sense of mind. Saint Tikhon, the holy New-Confessor, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America, began his episcopal service as bishop of the Aleutian Islands and North America from 1898-1907. His missionary zeal was nothing short of extraordinary, not only in its obvious presence in his own life and actions, and those of the clergy under his guidance and pastoral care, but also in the important place he desired it to hold in the life of the laity over whom he presided. The following sermon, delivered in 1903 on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (first Sunday of Great Lent) at the Cathedral Church in San Francisco, presents the missionary call to which all are exhorted, which itself is part-and-parcel with the gift of the Church that all Orthodox have received. It is an especially relevant text today, in a time when many Orthodox have lost sight of the great missionary commission imparted by the Triumph of Orthodoxy to all the Church’s faithful. The sermon of St Tikhon on the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. This Sunday, Brethren, begins the week of Orthodoxy, or the week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, because it is today that the Holy Orthodox Church solemnly recalls its victory over the Iconoclast heresy and other heresies and gratefully remembers all who fought for the Orthodox faith in word, writing, teaching, suffering, or godly living. Keeping the day of Orthodoxy, Orthodox people ought to remember it is their sacred duty to stand firm in their Orthodox faith and carefully to keep it. For us it is a precious treasure: in it we were born and raised; all the important events of our life are related to it, and it is ever ready to give us its help and blessing in all our needs and good undertakings, however unimportant they may seem. It supplies us with strength, good cheer and consolation, it heals, purifies and saves us. The Orthodox faith is also dear to us because it is the Faith of our Fathers. For its sake the Apostles bore pain and labored; martyrs and preachers suffered for it; champions, who were like unto the saints, shed their tears and their blood; pastors and teachers fought for it; and our ancestors stood for it, whose legacy it was that to us it should be dearer than the pupil of our eyes. And as to us, their descendants – do we preserve the Orthodox faith, do we keep to its Gospels? Of yore, the prophet Elijah, this great worker for the glory of God, complained that the Sons of Israel have abandoned the Testament of the Lord, leaning away from it towards the gods of the heathen. Yet the Lord revealed to His prophet, that amongst the Israelites there still were seven thousand people who have not knelt before Baal (3 Kings 19 LXX1). Likewise, no doubt, in our days also there are some true followers of Christ. ‘The Lord knoweth them that are His.’ (2 Tim 2.19) We do occasionally meet sons of the Church, who are obedient to Her decrees, who honor their spiritual pastors, love the Church of God and the beauty of its exterior, who are eager to attend to its Divine Service and to lead a good life, who recognize their human failings and sincerely repent of their sins. But are there many such among us? Are there not more people, ‘in whom the weeds of vanity and passion allow but little fruit to the influence of the Gospel, or even in whom it is altogether fruitless, who resist the truth of the Gospel, because of the increase of their sins, who renounce the gift of the Lord and repudiate the Grace of God’. ‘I have given birth to sons and have glorified them, yet they deny Me,’ said the Lord in the olden days concerning Israel. And today also there are many who were born, raised and glorified by the Lord in the Orthodox faith, yet who deny their faith, pay no attention to the teachings of the Church, do not keep its injunctions, do not listen to their spiritual pastors and remain cold towards the divine service and the Church of God. How speedily some of us lose the Orthodox faith in this country of many creeds and tribes! They begin their apostasy with things, which in their eyes have but little importance. They judge it is ‘old fashioned’ and ‘not accepted amongst educated people’ to observe all such customs as: praying before and after meals, or even morning and night, to wear a cross, to keep icons in their houses and to keep church holidays and fast days. They even do not stop at this, but go further: they seldom go to church and sometimes not at all, as a man has to have some rest on a Sunday (…in a saloon); they do not go to confession, they dispense with church marriage and delay baptizing their children. And in this way their ties with Orthodox faith are broken! They remember the Church on their deathbed, and some don’t even do that! To excuse their apostasy they naively say: ‘this is not the old country, this is America, and consequently it is impossible to observe all the demands of the Church.’, as if the word of Christ is of use for the old country only and not for the whole world. As if the Orthodox faith is not the foundation of the world! ‘Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel into anger.’ (Is 1.4) If you do not preserve the Orthodox faith and the commandments of God, the least you can do is not to humiliate your hearts by inventing false excuses for your sins! If you do not honor our customs, the least you can do is not to laugh at things you do not know or understand. If you do not accept the motherly care of the Holy Orthodox Church, the least you can do is to confess you act wrongly, that you are sinning against the Church and behave like children! If you do, the Orthodox Church may forgive you, like a loving mother, your coldness and slights, and will receive you back into her embrace, as if you were erring children. Holding to the Orthodox faith, as to something holy, loving it with all their hearts and prizing it above all, Orthodox people ought, moreover, to endeavor to spread it amongst people of other creeds. Christ the Savior has said that ‘neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.’ (Mt 5.15) The light of Orthodoxy was not lit to shine only on a small number of men. The Orthodox Church is universal; it remembers the words of its Founder: ‘Go ye into the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’ (Lk 16.15), ‘go ye therefore and teach all nations’ (Mt 28.19). We ought to share our spiritual wealth, our truth, light and joy with others, who are deprived of these blessings, but often are seeking them and thirsting for them. Once ‘a vision appeared to Paul in the night, there stood a man from Macedonia and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia, and help us,’ (Acts 16.9) after which the apostle started for this country to preach Christ. We also hear a similar inviting voice. We live surrounded by people of alien creeds; in the sea of other religions, our Church is a small island of salvation, towards which swim some of the people, plunged in the sea of life. ‘Come, hurry, help,’ we sometimes hear from the heathen of far Alaska, and oftener from those who are our brothers in blood and once were our brothers in faith also, the Uniates. ‘Receive us into your community, give us one of your good pastors, send us a Priest that we might have the Divine Service performed for us of a holy day, help us to build a church, to start a school for our children, so that they do not lose in America their faith and nationality,’ those are the wails we often hear, especially of late. And are we to remain deaf and insensible? God save us from such a lack of sympathy. Otherwise woe unto us, ‘for we have taken away the key of knowledge, we entered not in ourselves, and them that were entering in we hindered.’ (Lk 11.52) But who is to work for the spread of the Orthodox faith, for the increase of the children of the Orthodox Church? Pastors and missionaries, you answer. You are right; but are they to be alone? St. Paul wisely compares the Church of Christ to a body, and the life of a body is shared by all the members. So it ought to be in the life of the Church also. ‘The whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.’ (Eph 4.16) At the beginning, not only pastors alone suffered for the faith of Christ, but lay people also, men, women and even children. Heresies were fought against by lay people as well. Likewise, the spread of Christ’s faith ought to be near and precious to the heart of every Christian. In this work every member of the Church ought to take a lively and heart-felt interest. This interest may show itself in personal preaching of the Gospel of Christ. And to our great joy, we know of such examples amongst our lay brethren. In Sitka, members of the Indian brotherhood do missionary work amongst other inhabitants of their villages. And one zealous brother took a trip to a distant village (Kilisno), and helped the local Priest very much in shielding the simple and credulous children of the Orthodox Church against alien influences, by his own explanations and persuasions. Moreover, in many places of the United States, those who have left Uniatism to join Orthodoxy point out to their friends where the truth is to be found, and dispose them to enter the Orthodox Church. Needless to say, it is not everybody among us who has the opportunity or the faculty to preach the gospel personally. And in view of this I shall indicate to you, Brethren, what every man can do for the spread of Orthodoxy and what he ought to do. The Apostolic Epistles often disclose the fact, that when the Apostles went to distant places to preach, the faithful often helped them with their prayers and their offerings. Saint Paul sought this help of the Christians especially. Consequently we can express the interests we take in the cause of the Gospel in praying to the Lord, that He should take this holy cause under His protection, that He should give its servants the strength to do their work worthily, that He should help them to conquer difficulties and dangers, which are part of the work, that He should not allow them to grow depressed or weaken in their zeal; that He should open the hearts of the unbelieving for the hearing and acceptance of the Gospel of Christ, that He should impart to them the word of truth, that He should unite them to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; that He should confirm, increase and pacify His Church, keeping it forever invincible, we pray for all this, but mostly with lips and but seldom with the heart. Don’t we often hear such remarks as these: ‘what is the use of these special prayers for the newly initiated? They do not exist in our time, except, perhaps, in the out of the way places of America and Asia; let them pray for such where there are any; as to our country such prayers only needlessly prolong the service which is not short by any means, as it is.’ Woe to our lack of wisdom! Woe to our carelessness and idleness! Offering earnest prayers for the successful preaching of Christ, we can also show our interest by helping it materially. It was so in the primitive Church, and the Apostles lovingly accepted material help to the cause of the preaching, seeing in it an expression of Christian love and zeal. In our days, these offerings are especially needed, because for the lack of them the work often comes to a dead stop. For the lack of them preachers can not be sent out, or supported, churches can not be built or schools founded, the needy amongst the newly converted can not be helped. All this needs money and members of other religions always find a way of supplying it. Perhaps, you will say, that these people are richer than ourselves. This is true enough, but great means are accumulated by small, and if everybody amongst us gave what he could towards this purpose, we also could raise considerable means. Accordingly, do not be ashamed of the smallness of your offering. If you have much, offer all you can, but do offer, do not lose the chance of helping the cause of the conversion of your neighbors to Christ, because by so doing, in the words of St. James, ‘you shall save your own soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins’ (Jas 5.19-20). Orthodox people! In celebrating the day of Orthodoxy, you must devote yourselves to the Orthodox faith not in word or tongue only, but in deed and in truth. St. Tikhon of Moscow’s Last Sermon during His Years of Ministry (1898 to 1907) as the Archbishop of the American Missionary Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Given on the Sunday of Orthodoxy (the First Sunday of Great Lent) in 1907 at the New York City Cathedral where you can find help with anger management for children and at Brush Park you can discover Aikido. English translation from the Russian by Alex Maximov, with editing by Dr. David C. Ford St. Tikhon’s Seminary and Monastery Church S. Canaan, PA. This Sunday is called “The Sunday of Orthodoxy” or “The Triumph of Orthodoxy,” since on this day the Holy Church solemnly commemorates her victory over Iconoclasm and other heresies. And this triumph of Orthodoxy took place not just a thousand years ago. No – for due to the mercy of God, the Church up to this day, now here and now there, gains victory and is triumphant over her enemies – and she has many of them. It is not a coincidence that the Church is likened to a ship, sailing amidst a ferocious, stormy sea which is ready to drown it in its waves. And the further the ship sails, the harder the waves slam against it, the fiercer they attack it! But the harder the waves hit the ship, the further they are thrown away and rejoin the abyss and disappear in it, and the ship continues its triumphant sailing as before. For “the foundation of God standeth sure” (2 Tim. 2.19), since the Church of Christ is built on an immovable rock, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16.18). The Church of Christ is the kingdom not of this world. It does not possess any of the attractions of the earthly world. It is persecuted and slandered. Yet it not only avoids perishing in the world, but grows and defeats the world! This happens everywhere, and here in our land as well. “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4.20). It is true that our Church here cannot boast of the quantity of its members, neither of their erudition. Just like the “preaching of Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1.23), for some it seems lowly and contemptible, and for others it seems simple and foolish, but in reality “God’s power and wisdom” (1 Cor. 1.24) are concealed in it. It is strong and rich with the authenticity of the doctrine which has been preserved unaltered, with full adherence to the guiding regulations of the Church, a deep sense of liturgical service, and a plenitude of grace. And with all of this it is gradually attracting the hearts of people, and it is growing and getting stronger more and more in this country. You brethren have witnessed and seen for yourselves the growth and strengthening of Orthodoxy here. Just a mere twelve to fifteen years ago, we, aside from faraway Alaska, barely had any churches here. There were no priests, and the Orthodox people numbered only in a few dozens and maybe a few hundreds. And even they lived dispersed, far from one another. And now? “The Orthodox are seen this day in this country.” Our temples appear not only in big cities but in obscure places as well. We have a multitude of clergy, and tens of thousands of faithful – and not only those who have been Orthodox for a while, but those who have converted from among the Uniates. Schools are opened, the brotherhoods are established. Even strangers acknowledge the success of Orthodoxy here. So how can we ourselves not celebrate “The Triumph of Orthodoxy,” and not thank the Lord who helps His Church! But it is not enough, brethren, only to celebrate “The Triumph of Orthodoxy.” It is necessary for us personally to promote and contribute to this triumph. And for this we must reverently preserve the Orthodox Faith, standing firm in it in spite of the fact that we live in a non-Orthodox country, and not pleading as an excuse for our apostasy that “it is not the old land here but America, a free country, and therefore it is impossible to follow everything that the Church requires.” As if the word of Christ is only suitable for the old land and not for the entire world! As if the Church of Christ is not “catholic”! As if the Orthodox Faith did not “establish the universe”! Furthermore, while faithfully preserving the Orthodox Faith, everyone must also take care to spread it among the non-Orthodox. Christ the Savior said that having lit the candle, men do not put it under a bushel but on a candlestick so that it gives light to all (Matt. 5.15). The light of the Orthodox Faith has not been lit to shine only for a small circle of people. No, the Orthodox Church is catholic; she remembers the commandment of her Founder, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature and teach all nations” (Mark 16.15; Matt. 28.19). We must share our spiritual richness, truth, light, and joy with others who do not have these blessings. And this duty does not only lay upon the pastors and the missionaries but on the lay persons as well, since the Church of Christ, according to the wise comparison of the Holy Apostle Paul, is the body, and every member takes part in the life of the body. By means of all sorts of mutually binding bonds which are formed and strengthened through the action of every member according to his capacity, the great Church body receives an increase unto the edifying of itself (cf. Eph. 4.16). In the first centuries it was not only the pastors who were tortured, but lay persons as well – men, women, and even children. And it was lay people likewise who enlightened the heathen and fought heresies. And now in the same way, the spreading of the Faith should be a matter that is personal, heartfelt, and dear to each one of us. Every member of the Church must take an active part in it – some by personal podvig spreading the Good News, some by material donations and service to “the needs of the holy persons,” and some by profuse prayer to the Lord that He “keep His Church firm and multiply it” – and concerning those unaware of Christ, that He would “proclaim the word of truth to them, open to them the Gospel of Truth, and join them to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” I have told this numerous times to my flock. And today, upon my departing from this land, I once more command all of you to preserve and act upon this, and especially you brethren of this holy temple. You witnessed yourself last Sunday that “The foreknowledge of God drew you closer to the bishop’s cathedra, and that the awareness of this closeness elevates your Christian spirit and edifies the nature of your undertakings, inspiring you for everything good.” Your temple is a Cathedral. It is preeminent in the diocese. And being its parishioners, you brethren must give others an example in everything good that concerns the life of the Church, including caring for the Orthodox Faith. Furthermore, your parish is Russian, almost entirely consisting of people who came from Russia. And to this very day Russia has been famous as a holy Christian land, whose adornment is the Orthodox Faith, the piousness of her people, and her temples of God. So brethren, uphold here in a foreign land the glory of your motherland. Manifest yourselves before the non-Orthodox as the Russian Orthodox people. I can say with comfort that in these days, with your zealous attendance at our temple, you’ve made a good impression on the local residents. And you have especially gladdened my heart and expelled the sadness and grief which was felt not only by me in other places at the sight of empty temples during the feastday Church services. May the Lord strengthen you to excel in the Orthodox Faith more and more – my last prayer is about this . . . Today I depart from you. And so, farewell, fathers and brethren of this holy temple, who are close to me not only in spirit but in our joint prayers, labors, and residence! Farewell to you, the rest of my flock scattered across the wide horizon of this land! Farewell, all those of you wandering in the deserts, working in the mountains and in the depths of the earth, and those on the islands far out in the sea! Farewell to you, my Cathedral temple! You are dear and close to me. It has been during the time of my service that you were opened, you were adorned during my time as well, and you were made a cathedral during my time. Perhaps for some who have seen the large, magnificent temples in Russia, you might seem small and modest, and you do not shine with gold and silver and precious gemstones like those temples do. But for Russian Orthodox people, who suffered here for a long time without a temple, you represent a precious treasure, and they rejoice that they have you – like the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity rejoiced at the time of the construction of the second temple, even though it was not as splendid as that of Solomon. So: “Oh Lord, the God of Israel! May Thine eyes be open toward this house night and day, that Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of Thy people when they shall pray in this place! . . . Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of Thy people, when he shall come and pray in this house, hear Thou him from Heaven, Thy dwelling place!” (3 Kingdoms 8.26-27, 39-41). Farewell to you, this country! For some you are the motherland, the place of birth; for others you gave shelter, work, and well-being. Some received the freedom to profess the right Faith in your liberal land. God spoke in ancient times through the prophet, “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall you have peace” (Jer. 29.7; Hebrew text). And so, let us pray to the Lord that He send this country “a plenitude of the earthly fruits, fair weather, timely rain and wind, and preserve it from the cowardly, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners, and civil strife.” Let God’s blessing be upon this country, this city, and this temple. And let “the blessing of the Lord, with grace and love for man,” rest upon you all, “now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

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Eritrean wedding traditional christian orthodox religion tewahdo marriage

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:43:14 +0000

Tigrinya traditional marriage of eritrean in Germany. Eritrean christian orthodox way to marriage mostly the higlands of Eritrean wedding in that way. Filmed by insideeritrea.com

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Japanese Orthodox Church

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:52:35 +0000

Orthodox Church of St Nicholas of Japan The Japanese Orthodox church was created by the efforts of an outstanding missionary, Nikolay Kasatkin (1836–1912), who became the first Orthodox archbishop of Japan and was canonized a saint in 1970.

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The Angel and the Muse: Inspiration, Revelation, Prophecy

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:42:49 +0000

Michael Sells from the University of Chicago Divinity School presents at Villanova University. An award-winning teacher and author of many books including Dante and the Orient and Power and Prejudice: The Reception of the Gospel of Mark, and Michael Sells, Islamic Studies, University of Chicago Divinity School, author of Approaching the Qur’an. Villanova University has enjoyed a national reputation through its Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference (PMR) for over thirty years. Finding its natural niche and center in philosophy and theology, but extending from there to embrace a wide variety of disciplines in the field, the PMR has established a tradition of scholarship and collegiality complimentary to, rather than in competition with, the larger conferences such as Kalamazoo, the Oxford Patristics Conference, or the Medieval Academy.

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Orthodox Wedding in Tuscany

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:35:54 +0000

The Orthodox wedding ceremony is a union that takes example from the alliance between Christ and the Church. Man and woman are united not just in prospective of themselves as individuals, but also in prospective of their life as a family. By uniting two people, the Orthodox wedding ceremony blesses the human spirit, soul and body, thus giving the family a solid structure in which give birth and educate its children.

Marriage is considered a way to execute Christ’s love and the Christian heroism, although it’s not an obligatory sacrament. The weights that one carries when unmarried are to be shared with the life partner after the official union. To represent this, the Orthodox ceremony also crowns the bride and the groom to represent Christ’s dignity but also in memory of the spiked crown he had to wear on his head while carrying his cross.

When the engaged willingly promise to protect, love and be faithful to each other, it’s a promise they make not to the priest, but to God himself and to the Church.

In the Orthodox ceremony there are two fundamental parts of the process: the Betrothal and the Crowning. The first includes the exchange of the rings, the procession, the declaration of intent and the lighting of candles. The Crowning, on the other hand, includes the readings from the epistle and gospel, the Blessing of the Common Cup and the Dance of Isaiah. When the sacrament is over, the priest walks around the analoj three times (Dance of Isaiah): it represents the way of the new family leading to Christ, through the eternal life and the pain of the cross. After that, crowns are removed. Orthodox wedding ceremonies, curiously, do not include an official vow, but obligations of marital fidelity and mutual support are obviously expressed.

The ceremony ends with the Greeting of the Couple.

At Villa Poggio ai Merli we will help you to set up your marriage in Italy in the way you wish. Foreign celebrations and traditions are always highly interesting, appreciated and intriguing and the staff is willing at its best to provide all that you might need to have your unforgettable wedding ceremony in the wonderful and naturalistic Tuscan landscape of our estate.

Francesco Adduce

Web Promoter
Orthodox Wedding at Villa Poggio Ai Merli

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Eastern Orthodoxy Not Refuted 3

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:30:12 +0000

Finishing up addressing the points and issued raised by drakeshelton in his videos “Eastern Orthodoxy Refuted.” To read the passage from the letter of St. Clement of Rome to the Corinthians which I refer to here go here: www.ccel.org

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Agreement With Church Could Increase the Pace for Wtc Rebuilding

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:21:21 +0000

The announcement of the World Trade Center project being behind schedule made the community aware that something has to be done to remedy the situation; we might have just gotten our first break. The executive director of the Port Authority, Christopher Ward, told the local Community Board 1 last night that an agreement with the leaders of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church for an exchange of land needed to provide the congregation with a new home near ground zero had been reached. The church was destroyed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center’s South Tower collapsed and obliterated the building.

The unrealistic expectations of many have made for disagreements. The public wants to see the World Trade Center in its glory as soon as possible, however people must be patient. We are verging on the 7th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, and we are ready to get closer. Mr. Ward later clarified his comments to reporters, saying, “We are finalizing an agreement and I would expect it to be done soon. “The inability to strike a deal with the church has impeded the Port Authority from building the 16-acre site’s southern foundation wall and finalizing designs for an underground security screening center. Negotiations stalled over the funding for and exact location of the new church.

Mr. Ward was joined at the hearing by the deputy mayor for economic development, Robert Lieber, the president of World Trade Center Properties, Janno Lieber, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., Avi Schick, the president of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, Joseph Daniels, and the president of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, Robert Harvey, who were answering questions from residents and members of the community board about delays at the site.

Also on hand for the meeting was the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver. The president of Community Board 1, Julie Menin, presented the officials with 10 demands, including that the community board and local residents be provided with a list of realistic deadlines for reconstruction, to be answered by September 30. Following the meeting Ms. Menin said she was pleased with the candor of the responses. “I was happy to see for the first time I have ever seen since I have been involved in the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan that people actually said no. There were some emphatic nods, and that is the right answer because one of the things that has stymied the rebuilding process has been too many platitudes, and too many unrealistic deadlines.”

New Yorkers reactions to the delay are varied, however many are anxious for it to be finished. The agreement with the church is one step closer to finishing the WTC project. People are being very understanding of the situation and know that the city is trying to do a good job and provide the public with a place to come to pay their respects. There is also the unfortunate situation of the reoccurring illnesses among World Trade Center workers. Napoli Bern Ripka Napoli is doing everything they can to get the compensation for the rescue workers, and encourages people to participate in the Journey.

Irv Kaplan provides information about WTC rescue workers and captive insurance fund.To know more how you can help the rescue workers visit www.wtccaptivefund.com

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A Wsidom Religion

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:46:40 +0000

Sophia is a central term in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism, Orthodox Christianity, Esoteric Christianity, as well as Christian mysticism. Sophiology is a philosophical concept regarding wisdom, as well as a theological concept regarding the wisdom of God. God, love, and wisdom are all central to mainline denominations.

So, what’s wrong with the picture of life today?

Could it be that most religions have taken off on their own journey, thought that they were wise in their own ways (after all isn’t that what the EGO does?), and created. Jesus, the Christos didn’t come to start yet another religion. Paul and early church fathers did that. Jesus said that God was LOVE and went about modeling such.

So, where are we today?

Tom Harpur writes, “Even at present, hatred toward Jews, homosexuals, Muslims, and others is still being encouraged in some quarters by extreme biblical literalists. We will never have peace on earth as long as literalism controls religions.” It’s not just Christianity. Islam and Judaism both have their fervent fundamentalist block of believers.

Fervency isn’t always beneficial.

Wisdom is generally a deep understanding of people, things, events or situations, which empowers and gives the ability to choose or act to consistently produce the optimum results with a minimum of time and energy. Wisdom is a product of a lot of missteps. If Jesus pointed us in any direction it was in the direction of love and wisdom.

We seem to be lacking in both areas but there’s still time to turn things around before we do ourselves in with hatred and ignorance: especially the ignorance of thinking that we’re separated from others. We aren’t. We are ONE!

BE IT!

As a spiritual-futurist, I have a BA degree majoring in history. One cannot know the future without knowing the past which holds clues to what is on the horizon. The world is in such a rapid expansion of knowledge that we are close to entering a tipping point that will forever change earth as we know it.

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