Orthodoxy in a Nutshell

We must believe in free will — we have no choice.

Isaac Bashevis Singer

Prosperity Gospel

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the serpentine "S" be lifted up on an upright "I"-shaped pole: 15 That whosoever believeth in "$" should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Abomination of Desolation Standing in the Holy Place

Those of you who've been there, know what I'm talking about;
those who don't, pray that you never will.

The Jewish Trinity

The one in the middle is the Father of the Universe, who in the Sacred Scriptures is called by his proper name, I am that I am ; and the Beings on each side are those most ancient Powers which are always close to the living God, one of which is called his Creative Power, and the other his Royal Power. And the Creative Power is God, for it is by this that he made and arranged the Universe; and the Royal Power is the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it over and govern the creature.

Philo of Alexandria, On Abraham,
chapter 24, paragraph 121.

Ecumenism

...began in Communist prisons.

The Number 23

After serving at the Temple in Jerusalem for the Day of Atonement, offering up incense and prayers for the people of Israel, the righteous Zechariah remained there for the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles as well, continuing to execute the function of his priestly office before God on behalf of the people, and then, seven days later, on the twenty-second day of the seventh month, when the Feast was over, returned home to his wife, Elizabeth, and -by their bodily union- conceived Saint John the Baptist, the Holy Prophet and Forerunner of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.

Breaking News from Stephen Hawking!

We interrupt this blog to bring you this important news-bulletin:

Because there is a law such as gravity, the Christ-Child can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there was something rather than nothing in Mary's womb, why Jesus exists, why we Christians exist.

It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the conception of Christ Jesus going.

The question is: is the way the Messiah was conceived chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second. If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God', but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions.

The Priesthood of All Believers

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Revelation 1:5 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:9 Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with using the above verses as proofs that the New Testament supposedly abolished the notion or idea of there being a special class of priests, the so-called sacerdotal priesthood? Anyone? Anyone?

Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Exodus 23:22 (LXX) If ye will indeed hear my voice, and if thou wilt do all the things I shall charge thee with, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar people above all nations, for the whole earth is mine; and ye shall be to me a royal priesthood, and a holy nation: these words shall ye speak to the children of Israel, If ye shall indeed hear my voice, and do all the things I shall tell thee, I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries.

Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

Synergy

Because the talents God gave us do not multiply themselves automatically.

The Trustworthiness of Oral Tradition

A disturbing proof of the capacity of oral literature to keep entire texts unaltered over millennia consists in this incantation, gathered at the end of the previous [nineteenth] century in Oltenia [south-western Romania], and which is identical with the one cited by Marcellus Empiricus fifteen centuries earlier:

Original Latin	Romanian version	English translation of both
Pastores te invenerunt Sine manibus colligerunt Sine foco coxerunt Sine dentibus comederunt	Ciobanasii te aflara Fara maini te culesera Fara foc te fripsera Fara gura te mancara	Shepherds found you Without hands they plucked you Without fire they fried you Without mouth they ate you

Alexandru Diaconescu, Rhetorical Discourse on the Original Spirit of the Romanians,
Interval magazine, No. 3/1990, page 29.

The Message of Orthodoxy to the West

Before Augustine was, I am.

Protestant Patristics

I am Augustine, thy Father: Thou shalt have no other Fathers before me.

JC & JC: Jesus Christ and John Calvin

The total depravity of the children of wrath, born in sin and conceived in iniquity, inheriting the guilt of original sin, righteously imputed upon them by God's justice for Adam and Eve's disobedience:

Matthew 19:13 ¶Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

Mark 10:13 ¶And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Luke 18:15 ¶And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

Sola Scriptura: A Cinematographic Approach

Taking things out of context since 1517 AD.

Orthodox Christianity: Copycatting Orthodox Judaism Since 33 AD

On the first day of the seventh month, Orthodox Jews celebrate the Jewish New Year; on the first day of the seventh month, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Ecclesiastical New Year.

On the tenth day of the seventh month, Orthodox Jews celebrate the Day of Atonement, by observing a very strict fast; on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Uplifting of the Holy Cross, also by fasting, commemorating Christ's atoning sacrifice on Golgotha.

Religion as the Cause of All Evil

Well... Stalin WAS a seminarian...

V for Vendetta

Remember, remember
Eleventh September
the Twin Towers terrorist plot...

I know of no reason
the Twin Towers treason
should ever be forgot...

V for Vendetta

Remember, remember
that day in September
the Twin Towers came crumble-ing down...

I know of no reason
the terrorist treason
struck on American ground...

Orthodox Gospel

1 Corinthians 1:22-24

²² For the Jews require a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, and Western Christians after gaps: ²³ But we preach Christ crucified: unto the Jews, a stumbling-block; unto the Greeks, foolishness; and unto Westerners, a mystery and a paradox; ²⁴ But unto them that are called, whether Jews or Greeks or Occidentals, Christ: the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The Protestant Pentateuch

How Protestants would name the first five books of the New Testament, if they would be truly faithful and fully honest to their anti-traditional stance, and apply their anti-traditional principles and presuppositions more thoroughly and rigorously:

First Book of Jesus Christ	1 Jesus
Second Book of Jesus Christ	2 Jesus
Third Book of Jesus Christ	3 Jesus
First Letter to Theophilus	1 Theophilus
Second Letter to Theophilus	2 Theophilus

Medieval Mongolian Papacy

In the letter which Mangu Khan sent to the king of France through Ruysbroeck, we find the highest profession of faith of the Mongolian nation: This is the order of the eternal God: There is but one everlasting God in heaven, and there shall be but one ruler on earth: Genghis Khan, the son of God. And Genghis Khan's seal bore the following inscription: One God in heaven, and the Khan on earth: The seal of the ruler of the earth.

Mircea Eliade, The Morphology of Religions. Prolegomena,
published by The Literary Journal, Bucharest, 1993.

Protestant Prosperity Gospel 101

Prosperity Gospel

The Purpose Driven Life

Islamic Double Standards

On one hand, we loved Christ so much that we began worshipping Him as a God ¹; on the other hand, we make up all these fancifully-imaginary stories about Him partaking of a shameful and painful death, by crucifixion, being abused, beaten, cursed, flogged, hurt, insulted, laughed at, mocked, punched, ridiculed, scorned, scourged, slapped, smitten, spat upon, tortured, and finally exposed naked on the rough wood of a Cross, for anyone to look upon Him with disgust, and consider Him as accursed by God Himself! ²


On one hand, Islam denies Christ's divinity; on the other hand, its teaching about the Crucifixion being an illusion was adopted from Docetism, an early Gnostic sect, whose Christology is diametrically-opposed to that of Muslims, considering Jesus to have been solely-divine, possessing only a spiritual body -- and since disincarnate beings like gods, ghosts, and spirits can't die...


¹ itself a question-begging double-standard, since early Christians abhorred the idea of deifying men, no matter how holy or high-up they were -- so why make an exception for Christ?
² Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13.

The Gospel

Don't lust. Don't hate. Give all your money to the poor.