A Portrait of the Faster as a Crucified Man

Orthodox in the third week of Fasting.

Galatians 5:24

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Repentance: You're Doing It Wrong!

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

This Thanksgiving...

...remember to thank God that you're NOT Orthodox!

The Purpose of Fasting

Monotheism.

I am the LORD thy God: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 5:6-7)

Psalms 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

1 Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Philippians 3:19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

On The Ninth Day Of Fasting, The Fathers Said To Me...

...that even snakes fast for hundreds of days in a row, but still remain poisonous.

Phyletist Post of the Day

Actually, I have noticed while visiting Romania that though Romanians are proud of their nation they don't have the hostile, aggressive attitude toward the West and the fear of non-Orthodox churches that I encounter in other Orthodox countries. In Romania I don't hear, or only very occasionally hear, people talking about 'Judeo-Masonic conspiracies' against the Orthodox world. So, in my experience at least, Romanians seem to be more balanced than many other Orthodox in their views about the rest of the world.

+Kallistos Timothy Ware

Catch-22

Is it any surprise to anyone that the oldest Christian New Testament Canon (that of the Syriac Peshitta) had exactly the same number of books as that of the Jewish Old Testament Canon, especially given their common Semitic background? Or that the current New Testament Canon has 27 books, according to the same Jewish reckoning? (Since five of these 22 books are "doubled": 1^st & 2^nd Samuel, 1^st & 2^nd Kings, 1^st & 2^nd Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Jeremiah-Lamentations).

Copyright Infringements

On the 25th day of the ninth month, Orthodox Jews celebrate the Feast of the Purification of the Temple in Jerusalem by Judah Maccabee.

On the 21st day of the ninth month, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Entrance of the Holy Mother of God into the Temple, herself being the fleshly Temple whose womb, just like the Holy of Holies, housed the incarnated Lord of Glory (which is made abundantly clear in the hymns of the Feast).

On The Third Day Of Fasting, The Savior Said To Me...

Matthew 6:16 ¶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

On The Second Day Of Fasting, Isaiah Said To Me...

Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

On The First Day Of Fasting, My True Love Said To Me...

...that two whole months of total sexual abstinence await us...

Patristic Exegesis

Since therefore it is impossible to learn anything true concerning religion from your teachers, who by their mutual disagreement have furnished you with sufficient proof of their own ignorance, I consider it reasonable to recur to our progenitors (ancestors), who both in point of time have by a great way the precedence of your teachers, and who have taught us nothing from their own private fancy, nor differed with one another, nor attempted to overturn one another’s positions, but without wrangling and contention received from God the knowledge which also they taught to us.

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks,
Chapter VIII.

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Since therefore it is impossible to learn anything true concerning religion from your teachers, who by their mutual disagreement have furnished you with sufficient proof of their own ignorance,

i.e., the Protestant pastors.

I consider it reasonable to recur to our progenitors (ancestors),

i.e., the Church Fathers.

who both in point of time have by a great way the precedence of your teachers,

i.e., the antiquity of the Church Fathers versus Protestantism's lack thereof.

and who have taught us nothing from their own private fancy,

Contra Protestantism's innate tendency of turning the individual believer into the sole authority and ultimate interpreter of Holy Writ...

nor differed with one another,

i.e., the Patristic Consensus versus the plethora of various rival Protestant views, opinions, and interpretations.

nor attempted to overturn one another’s positions,

As opposed to what the founders of countless Protestant denominations have done throughout the centuries...

but without wrangling and contention received from God the knowledge which also they taught to us.

i.e., the chain of transmission of Holy Tradition throughout consecutive or successive generations. (2 Timothy 2:2)

Contracepting to the Glory of God!

The only question is: which God?

There is no God, other than my own Comfort, and Onan is its Prophet.

Don't you find it rather ironic how Christians, who confess to the existence of a Heavenly Father and His only-begotten Son, adopt [pun intended] a contraceptive mentality, whereas Muslims, who outright reject the concept of God as being anyone's Father, have children by the truck-load?

Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.


Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Orthodox Christianity: Rightly Dividing Law And Gospel Centuries Before Luther

Are the Orthodox Lutherans before Luther ?


First Kontakion

Let the leaders of the Angels of the Trinity, Michael and Gabriel, be praised by us all, those who cherish Feast Days and take cover under the shadow of their wings, being thus from all sorts of wants and needs delivered, to the one saying: Rejoice, Servant of the Law, and to the other singing: Rejoice, Angel of Grace !

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The Trouble With Galileo Galilei

...is that he was a Catholic.

Yes, the guys trying to burn him at the stake were Catholic as well, I get that: but, -you see-, just because Sicilian mobsters "murderize " each other doesn't make either one of them less Italian than the other... so there's no point in trying to make poor ol' Galileo into some sort of standard-bearer for the cause of militant atheism and agnosticism, and its cheap religion-vs.-science propaganda, as long as the man himself was neither an atheist, nor was there any conflict in his mind between Catholic Christianity and scientific truth...

Protestantism as a "Demonic" Religion

Have you ever noticed how Protestantism demonizes (divides) between things which no sane, God-fearing person would ever dare to tear asunder? Like between God and His Saints, the Lord and His mother, Christ and His Cross, Scripture and Tradition, faith and good works, Baptism and regeneration, the Lord's body and Holy Communion, the universal and the sacerdotal Priesthood, or -as in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses- between the Heavenly Father and His Only-Begotten Son. Truly, as our Savior Himself said: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." ( Matthew 12:25; Mark 3:24-25; Luke 11:17 ). -- Actually, how can any religious faith or belief-system that confesses the Holy Trinity believe in "Sola" anything ?

Martin Luther on Faith Alone and Eternal Security

Out of love for the truth and the endeavor to establish it...

+ In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. +

1. Since our Master and Lord Jesus Christ said: Repent, etc. wishes He that the whole life of His faithful followers on earth be one of constant and unceasing repentance.

3. However, He did not mean for it to refer only to the inner repentance: yea, the inner repentance is null, and no repentance at all, where it does not outwardly work all sorts of deadenings of the flesh.

4. Keeping this same sorrow and regret, that is, true repentance, as long as one dislikes himself, namely, until the passage from this life into the everlasting one.

94. Christians should be urged to strive and follow their Head, Christ, through Cross, death, and Hell.

95. And all the more through much effort in Heaven to arrive, than through the comfort and consolation of peace to become more assured.

Priest: That we may carry out the rest of our lives in peace and repentance, let us ask of the Lord.

Faithful: Grant us this, oh Lord.

Priest: Let us offer up ourselves, each other, and our entire lives, unto Christ our God.

Faithful: Unto Thee, oh Lord.



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How The Doctrine Of Predestination Does Away With Works-Righteous Ascetic Labor

It... doesn't.

If you don't believe me, take a long hard look at the only Church Father whose views on Grace are homoousios with those of Calvin: Saint Augustine of Hippo spent his whole life in the most severe asceticism: Although he did believe in Grace Alone, or Sola Gratia, he did not believe in Faith Alone, or Sola Fide. (Nor did he believe in Sola Scriptura, for that matter). For him, the Grace of Election was not merely the forgiveness of past sins, but also the divine power bestowed upon the elect to live out a life of holiness, which included good deeds and works of righteousness: No Lutheran "cover of snow"; no Reformed-Calvinist divine 'glasses' of imputed righteousness.

Orthodox Christianity: Delivering Its Opponents To A Bitter Death Since 306 AD

Fifth Condac
The pagan emperor Maximian, taking an interest in gladiator games, sat and watched as many Christians were being killed by the hands of a strong and powerful fighter named Lyaeus, from the tribe of the Vandals. Unable to suffer seeing such wickedness any longer, the young Christian Nestor, zealously aflame with passion, went to meet with you in your cell, Saint Demetrius, and confessing to you his heart's ardent desire, asked for your blessing and prayers, so that he might defeat him; and you, Holy Martyr, putting your hope in the One Who strengthened you, and signing him with the mark of the Cross, told him: "Go forth, for against Lyaeus will you conquer, and Christ our Lord will you confess ", singing together with him: Hallelujah!






Fifth Icos
The young Nestor, putting his hope in God through you, Holy Great Martyr Demetrius, and hastily running towards that frightful place, cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Oh, Lyaeus, come let us both fight !"; but the emperor, seeing him so young and fair, took him to the side and told him: "Can't you see how many people Lyaeus killed ?", trying to lure him into becoming of one mind with him; but he, unwilling to comply, cried out: "God of Demetrius, help me !". And right away started fighting with Lyaeus, and throwing him into the sharpened spears, delivered him unto a bitter death, thus fulfilling your prophecy, Holy one; for which we greet you with these praises:

Rejoice, for Lyaeus' pride have you humiliated;
Rejoice, for you have encouraged Nestor to fight against him;
Rejoice, for you have foretold that through the sign of the Cross will he conquer him;
Rejoice, for unto a bitter death have you delivered him;
Rejoice, for the young Nestor a strong anchor in Christ through your holy prayers has found;
Rejoice, for his Hope did not disappoint him;
Rejoice, for your prophecy, oh Holy one, came true;
Rejoice, for Nestor also Christ confessed;
Rejoice, for the emperor's bait he did not accept;
Rejoice, since for him also a heavenly crown was prepared;
Rejoice, for at the emperor's command, by Marcian was he beheaded;
Rejoice, for his pure soul in Heaven with the Martyrs was counted;
Rejoice, myrrh-streaming Great Martyr Demetrius!

Sixth Condac
When the mad emperor found out that you, Martyr Demetrius, were the cause of Lyaeus' destruction, he became very afflicted, more so than as if he would've had lost his whole kingdom, and straight away commanded his soldiers that you likewise by spears shall be pierced; and you, praiseworthy Martyr, were awaiting your sentence thinking of the imperishable heavenly rewards you would soon be gaining, singing unto God: Hallelujah!

The Wrath Of God

The Role Of Women In Orthodoxy

A picture's worth more than a thousand words...

Orthodox Christianity: Silencing The Opposition Since 325 AD

When Constantine returned to Byzantium, certain philosophers came to him to complain of the innovations in religion, and particularly of his having introduced a new form of worship into the state, contrary to that followed by his forefathers, and by all who were formerly in power, whether among the Greeks or the Romans. They likewise desired to hold a disputation on the doctrine with Alexander the bishop; and he, although unskilled in such argumentative contests, and perhaps persuaded by his life, seeing that he was an excellent and good man, accepted the struggle at the command of the emperor. When the philosophers were assembled, since every one wished to engage in the discussion, he requested that one whom they esteemed worthy might be chosen as spokesman, while the others were to remain silent. When one of the philosophers began to open the debate, Alexander said to him, “I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ not to speak.” The man was instantaneously silenced. It is then right to consider whether it is a greater miracle that a man, and he a philosopher, should so easily be silenced by a word, or that a stone-wall should be cleft by the power of a word, which miracle I have heard some attribute to Julian, surnamed the Chaldean. I have understood that these events happened in the way above narrated.

Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History,
Book I, Chapter XVIII.

A Protestant-Orthodox Dialogue

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Hmmm... now, let's see, what happened?

the sufferings of iconodules were mostly later fabrications anyways.

Just like those of the early Christian martyrs, you mean?

iconodules re-wrote the history after their victory, luridly making up stuff of what horrible nasty persecutors the iconoclasts had been.

Christians re-wrote the history after their victory, luridly making up stuff of what horrible nasty persecutors the pagans had been.

your childish apples-and-oranges comparison between the denial of iconodulic martyrdom and the martyrdom of early Christians

Yes, indeed: how childish of me to compare the persecution of Christians with... the persecution of Christians! Dumb, huh? What a totally original, completely controversial, and wholly counter-intuitive idea!... Who'd've thunk it !?

RC/EO historians have slandered the memory of iconoclast emperor Constantine V "Copronymus" - "dung-named"

Curiously enough, I don't see him saying the same about them "slandering" Arius' earthly departure...
[The former defecated in his Baptismal water, whereas the latter died of dysentery: although there was nothing super-natural or un-common and extra-ordinary about any of these things, the Orthodox interpreted them as signs of bad omen: in the first case, as a prophecy of Copronymus' future heresy; in the latter, as a divine punishment for Arius' heretical views].

Nestorian Assyrians have been famous for their detestation of images,

That's why they probably found a huge statue of the Virgin Mary in a seventh-century Nestorian Temple in China...

But here's yet a bit more, from Gibbon: "In their Syriac liturgy the names of Theodore and Nestorius were piously commemorated: they united their adoration of the two persons of Christ; the title of Mother of God was offensive to their ear, and they measured with scrupulous avarice the honors of the Virgin Mary, whom the superstition of the Latins had almost exalted to the rank of a goddess. When her image was first presented to the disciples of St. Thomas, they indignantly exclaimed, "We are Christians, not idolaters!" and their simple devotion was content with the veneration of the cross."

I kindly advised him to take the word of an actual Indian Orthodox Christian over that of a man whose main purpose in his book was the "open denigration of organized religion ". -- all to no avail...

[The reason why we even arrived at this point of our discussion in the first place was because I challenged him to answer how exactly is it that the Ancient Churches of the East (that the article was about) had the same teaching concerning the veneration of icons, saints, and relics as we do, even though they broke off from the rest of Christendom whole centuries before the dreaded Seventh Ecumenical Council of Second Nicaea].

John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

Begging The Question: Big Time!

The Lord Created Me, The Beginning Of His Ways

The Lord created Me, the Beginning of His ways, before His works of old.
From everlasting was I founded, from the beginning, ere than the earth was made.
There were no depths when I was born, nor any springs laden with water.
Before the mountains' foundations were established, before the hills were formed, was I begotten.

Before Abraham was, I am.

Orthodox Christianity: Making Terrorist History Decades Before Bin Laden Ever Laid Hands On A Rifle

Reporter: These days, it sounds a little strange... loving the Arabs, that is. The world is afraid of them, at best.

Mioara Roman ¹: Out of ignorance. Next to nothing is known about them, not even the fact that not all of the Arab world is Muslim. For instance, the one who committed the first major terrorist act, back in the 70's, was a Palestinian Orthodox Christian, just like us. The idea is that out of over one billion Muslims, only 200 million are Arabs.

Tango Magazine, March 2009

¹ Scholar of Arabic and ex-wife of former Romanian Prime-Minister Petre Roman.

What's Wrong With This (Beautiful) Picture?

Islam's Sexual Self-Contradictions

Do you think that Islam and ancient biblical Judaism are alike? That Allah is just another way of spelling Elohim? That the Qur'an is similar to the Old Covenant? That Moses and Musa are one and the same? Well, think again:

From the Taurat given to Musa:

Exodus 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. 16 ¶And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.


From the life of Prophet Daud:

1 Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread ; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.


From the Injil given by Isa:

Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God ? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

Biblical accounts of especial encounters with the divine, as well as scriptural commandments about approaching the holy things, not to mention the Judeo-Christian depictions of the afterlife, always require chastity as a necessary prerequisite and non-negotiable condition, as opposed to the more lax Muslim view of Paradise, expressed by Muhammad in the Qur'an, and described by his closest faithful followers in the Ahadith.

A Sixth Century Roman Deacon on the Filioque

For the Father indeed begets, and begotten He is not; and from someone else He is not, as from Him others are; the Son truly is begotten, and nothing co-eternal does He beget ; and the Holy Spirit from the Father proceeds, and nothing co-eternal proceeds from or is begotten by Him. Some of the very ancient to these properties have also added, that just as the Spirit together with the Father does not eternally beget the Son, neither does the Spirit proceed from the Son as from the Father. To tell you the truth, that indeed the Spirit does not eternally beget the Son, this I confess ( for neither do we speak of two Fathers ); but whether He truly proceeds from the Son in the same manner as from the Father, this I haven't yet perfectly figured it out.

Rusticus, Disputation Against the Acephali, page 36 (1237).

Monarchy and Monotheism

The Kings of Israel, as well as Saint Constantine the Great, imposed or enforced monotheism as a tool for strengthening their own political power, and/or fortifying the unity of their empires: one God in Heaven, one King on earth; divine unity equals political and imperial unity.

Was the mighty Egyptian empire monotheistic? No. Did the great Chinese and Babylonian empires ever worship one God? No. Did Alexander the Great, who conquered the whole known world, ever bow his knee to a single deity? No. Then...? What gives?

The Fifth Commandment

Honour THY father and THY mother, but NOT anyone else's parents: and especially NOT Mine!

Islam's Iconographic Inconsistencies

Do you think that Islam and ancient biblical Judaism are alike? That Allah is just another way of spelling Elohim? That the Qur'an is similar to the Old Covenant? That Moses and Musa are one and the same? Well, think again:


From the Taurat given to Musa:

Exodus 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Exodus 26:1 ¶Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Exodus 26:31 ¶And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made.

Exodus 36:8 ¶And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

Exodus 36:35 ¶And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

Exodus 37:7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

Numbers 7:89 And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.


The Temple of King Sulaiman:

1 Kings 6:23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. 35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

1 Kings 7:29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

1 Kings 8:6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. 7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

1 Chronicles 28:18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 3:7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls. 10 ¶And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward. 14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

2 Chronicles 5:7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: 8 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

Just out of curiosity: Do Mosques also have their walls covered in ornate iconographic depictions of Angels and Cherubim? If not, then why not?

Prosperity Gospel

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Numbers 21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Biblical Old Testament Icons

From the Torah:
Exodus 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

Exodus 26:1 ¶Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Exodus 26:31 ¶And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made.

Exodus 36:8 ¶And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

Exodus 36:35 ¶And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

Exodus 37:7 And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 9 And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

Numbers 7:89 And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him.


From the Prophets:
1 Kings 6:23 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. 24 And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 26 The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub. 27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without. 32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees. 35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

1 Kings 7:29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work. 36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

1 Kings 8:6 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. 7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.


From the Writings:
1 Chronicles 28:18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 3:7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls. 10 ¶And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward. 14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.

2 Chronicles 5:7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims: 8 For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

Injil

The Gnostic Gospels ?

Given the actual information provided by Mohammed in the Qur'an on the life of Jesus, it surely seems that such is indeed the case... (various apocryphal Infancy Gospel accounts, a Docetist view of the Crucifixion, etc).

Futility, Thy Name Is Apologetics

The title says it all.

Calvinism 101

Take, eat: this is My spirit.

Drink ye all of this: this is a mere figure of My blood.

Do this in remembrance of Me. [ emphasis in the original Greek ]

So much for Sola Scriptura...

On Gay Marriages and Women's Ordination

Making the Case for Orthodoxy to a Protestant Audience

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

The purpose of life is to end.

Agent Smith, The Matrix

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.

The Fallacy Of Believing That Christ Died On The Cross To Appease The Father's Wrath

Matthew 5:43 ¶Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Why We Baptize Infants Of Believing Parents

Because God is a Trinity, not a Monad.

1. Man and woman are one:

Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

2. Father and Son are one:

John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

3. Mankind is in God's image, the family being the icon of the Trinity:

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.

4. Hence why, in conclusion (since children are one flesh with their parents, and wives one flesh with their husbands) the members of a family or household are received communally, and not individually, into the Church:

(See: Acts 16:15; Acts 16:31-34; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20).

When parents entered into covenant with God, they brought their children with them. This was a law in the Hebrew Church. When a proselyte was received into membership, he could not enter without bringing his children with him. -- Easton's Bible Dictionary.

Why "Activists" Will Lose Their Souls, Even Though Sinners Might Be Saved

Because the former makes repentance impossible, since nobody repents for things that are not sins.

(I do not repent of the fact that I have dark hair, for instance).

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

A Rose, By Any Other Name...

...or a short history of Western Christian thought, from Shakespeare to Orwell:

Unlike their sinful Protestant and Orthodox counterparts, Catholics don't get a divorce... they get an annulment.

Unlike their unregenerate and totally-depraved Catholic and Orthodox counterparts, Protestants don't sin... they "backslide ".

Psalm 141:4 Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.

Works Righteousness

Every Thing You Always Wanted To Know About Me * But Were Afraid To Ask

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

The Fool Hath Said In His Heart: "There Is No Pope !"

Saint Peter became a rock of faith in Matthew 16:18... and a stone of stumbling in Matthew 16:23. What changed? The words coming out of his mouth. In the former, he confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God... whereas in the latter, he committed a blunder, albeit a well-meaning one. This shows us that the Pope's quality of being a true rock of faith is conditioned, and not unconditioned, as official Roman Catholic teaching upholds.

The dogma of Papal Infallibility bears thus an uncanny resemblance to the Calvinist doctrines of Unconditional Election and Perseverance of the Saints : only that in this case, it's Unconditional Infallibility and Perseverance of the Pope.

Why the Filioque is False

Because Eve was taken from Adam's side:

she was neither begotten by him ¹, nor generated by him and his son.

¹ since Catholic Scholasticism maintains that if the Spirit were from the Father alone (as the Son also is), there would be no difference between the former's procession and the latter's generation.

Link.

Icon-ceivable!

- God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

- You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.

About The Information Available Here On This Site

Talmudic Icons

Not much later, at about the time the Dura Synagogue came into being, the Palestinian Talmud records the grudging recognition of Jewish art ( Abodah Zarah 48d ): “In the days of Rabbi Jochanan, men began to paint pictures on the walls, and he did not hinder them”, and “In the days of Rabbi Abun, men began to make designs of mosaics and he did not hinder them.” ( Abodah Zarah 42b ). To the above passages, we add still another, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Leviticus 26:1. This Aramaic translation first paraphrases the prohibition against making idols and graven images and such figures in stone as men bow down to. Then the text makes an exception: “But a stone column carved with images and likeness you may make upon the premises of your sanctuaries, but not to worship them.” At last we hear the correct application of the second commandment.

Jacob Milgrom, “The Dura Synagogue and Visual Midrash,”

Scriptures for the Modern World, ed. Paul R. Cheesman and C. Wilfred Griggs
(Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984), 29–60.

Unconditional Election

Luther have I loved, but Calvin have I hated.

More Unanswered Questions

Why must we suddenly abandon what we knew and believed simply because a man 600 years later claims prophethood without engaging in meaningful exegesis?

Why must we suddenly abandon what we knew and believed simply because a man 1,500 years later claims to be a "Reformer"? Is it probably because he was "engaging in [a more] meaningful exegesis" than the 'meaningless exegesis' of the fifteen centuries of Fathers, Saints, and Martyrs that have gone before him?...

So Islam is begun by a message from a supposed angel that presents a new gospel that does not come from the Church, and one that preaches against what is taught in the New Testament. [...] As Paul warns, even demons can appear as "angels of light" to deceive mankind.

...but if instead of "angels of light " we have 'men of flesh and blood', then I guess it's AOK, right?...

Source.

Apostolic Succession 101

New Patron Saint And Blog-Motto

Orthodoxy is THE TRUTH !


St. Michael, pray for us !

Transfiguration Day

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst out at once into the sky,
that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...

Bhagavad Gita

Choose your transfiguring light.

Matthew 17:1 ¶And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Mark 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

...or, in the words of a famous Jewish singer, poet, and song-writer:

Give me Christ, or give me... Hiroshima !

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

What Dinosaur Fossils And Ancient Synagogue Paintings Have In Common

They were both put there in the ground by the devil for atheist archaeologists to discover, to lure the unsuspecting hearts and minds of pious, God-fearing Evangelical Christians into thinking that false, heretical doctrines such as Darwinism, Evolution, and Eastern Orthodoxy might actually be true...

About Myself

To all my Protestant readers out there who might otherwise find themselves in any way or manner persuaded or convinced by any of the articles hosted here on this blog.

Why Contraception Is A Sin

Because God is a Trinity, not a Binity.

Why the Fathers of Nicaea Were NOT Old Calendarists

Because –if they would've been such– they would've never-ever dared to change the then-existing, traditional Church calendar, by moving the Spring Equinox to a date four days prior. In other words, the currently-so-called Old Calendar was an innovation in its time.

Western Wonders

Exporting Christianity by the sword and Democracy by bombs.

(Now there's an oxymoron, if there ever was one...)

Fourth Century Arian Icons

So... not only did the pre-Constantinian Christians and Jews already have icons, –as the late-second to early-third century church and synagogue unearthed during the excavations at the Dura-Europos archeological site bear historical witness to this indisputable fact–, but the same also holds true for non-Constantinian and even anti-Constantinian Christian heretics... rather odd, isn't it?

Unanswered Questions

Imagine Muslims going to Christians and saying, "Oh, your interpretation of the Bible is just tradition, we know what it really means."

Imagine Protestants going to pre-Reformation Christians and saying, "Oh, your interpretation of the Bible is just tradition, we know what it really means."

Wait, doesn't this sound familiar? Ah yes...it's because this is what many Muslim apologists do.

Wait, doesn't this sound familiar? Ah yes...it's because this is what many Protestant apologists do.

It is just as dishonest and shameful when Christians do it as when Muslims do it.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Source.

The Reformed View On The Eucharist

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Tribute To Tony's Tale

The Final Chapter Of A Catechumen's Tale.

The Protestant Deformation

... or how Scripture Alone mutilates Scripture:

John 3:16 For God so hated the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Fallacy Of Believing That Saint James Speaks Of Justification Before Men

Matthew 6:1 ¶Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5 ¶And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 16 ¶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Protestantism And Historical Continuity

2 Kings 21

Manasseh reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem, and did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen: for he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them, and built altars in the two courts of the house of the LORD for all the host of heaven; he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger, and set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house of the LORD. Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols. Moreover, he shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

On one hand they make recourse to Biblical passages such as the one cited above to support their position that there were indeed times in which the [ Old Testament ] Church has been completely wiped out of the face of the earth... yet on the other hand they can't deny the fact that no such thing ever happened during similar historical periods of comparable length and intensity of persecution, such as the relatively recent Communist experience, for instance...

Begging The Question: Big Time!

The Difference Between Protestant And Orthodox Apologetics

Protestant:

1 Peter 3:15 Be ready always to give an [ afore-prepared and over-rehearsed ] answer [ learned by rote ] to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. [ And if he doesn't actually ask, feel free to start the conversation yourself !]

Orthodox:

Luke 12:11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

The Fallacy Of Believing That Jesus Was A Mere Man, Later Deified By His Followers

Acts 10:25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. 26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

Acts 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. 22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

Acts 14:11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Feminist Double Standard

On one hand, we don't ordain women; on the other hand, we "worship" Mary.

Reformed Protestant Double Standard

Philip Schaff


History of the Christian Church, Third Volume


Chapter IX. Theological Controversies,
And Development Of The Ecumenical Orthodoxy.


§ 142. The Orthodox Christology: Analysis and Criticism.

Such considerations suggest the true position and the just value of the Creed of Chalcedon, against both exaggeration and disparagement. That symbol does not aspire to comprehend the Christological mystery, but contents itself with setting forth the facts and establishing the boundaries of orthodox doctrine. It does not mean to preclude further theological discussion, but to guard against such erroneous conceptions as would mutilate either the divine or the human in Christ, or would place the two in a false relation. It is a light-house, to point out to the ship of Christological speculation the channel between Scylla and Charybdis, and to save it from stranding upon the reefs of Nestorian dyophysitism or of Eutychian monophysitism. It contents itself with settling, in clear outlines, the eternal result of the theanthropic process of incarnation, leaving the study of the process itself to scientific theology. The dogmatic letter of Leo, it is true, takes a step beyond this, towards a theological interpretation of the doctrine; but for this very reason it cannot have the same binding and normative force as the symbol itself. As the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity stands midway between tritheism and Sabellianism, so the Chalcedonian formula strikes the true mean between Nestorianism and Eutychianism. It accepts dyophysitism; and so far it unquestionably favored and satisfied the moderate Antiochian party rather than the Egyptian. But at the same time it teaches with equal distinctness, in opposition to consistent Nestorianism, the inseparable unity of the person of Christ.

§ 159. Semi-Pelagianism.

Semi-Pelagianism is a somewhat vague and indefinite attempt at reconciliation, hovering midway between the sharply marked systems of Pelagius and Augustine, taking off the edge of each, and inclining now to the one, now to the other. The name was introduced during the scholastic age, but the system of doctrine, in all essential points, was formed in Southern France in the fifth century, during the latter years of Augustine’s life and soon after his death. It proceeded from the combined influence of the pre-Augustinian synergism and monastic legalism. Its leading idea is, that divine grace and the human will jointly accomplish the work of conversion and sanctification, and that ordinarily man must take the first step. It rejects the Pelagian doctrine of the moral roundness of man, but rejects also the Augustinian doctrine of the entire corruption and bondage of the natural man, and substitutes the idea of a diseased or crippled state of the voluntary power. It disowns the Pelagian conception of grace as a mere external auxiliary; but also, quite as decidedly, the Augustinian doctrines of the sovereignty, irresistibleness, and limitation of grace; and affirms the necessity and the internal operation of grace with and through human agency, a general atonement through Christ, and a predestination to salvation conditioned by the foreknowledge of faith. The union of the Pelagian and Augustinian elements thus attempted is not, however, an inward organic coalescence, but rather a mechanical and arbitrary combination, which really satisfies neither the one interest nor the other, but commonly leans to the Pelagian side.