THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH

THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH

“I am the way and TRUTH and the LIFE

ALSO THE TRUTHS OF GOD IN OUR CREED 

True God of True God, begotten not made!

“Let God be true and every man a liar!”

     The world is a stranger to truth, for if truth ruled the world, nation would not rise against nation and peace would reign supreme. Truth brings peace and love, also truth brings eternal salvation, for without truth, man walks about as a blind man.  The Truth who came from heaven is the moral guide of the human race who seek Him.   Truth is definable as  “the exact representation of a being”, a being meaning anything that exists. Jesus Christ is the Truth because He exactly depicts God the Father, hence he said to Philip: “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”  An accurate depiction of anything in creation is considered true.

   All divine truths originate from the living Truth, which is constantly under attack by opposing lies. These lies derive from the father of the lie, the Devil or Satan.  It was the Satan while in the form of a serpent,   who introduced the lie to the first woman and she to her husband, the purpose being to  poison her mind by mixing his lie with the truth of  God who warned them concerning the tree: “You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it that you may not die”.  Satan, hating God and the new creatures made in His image, responded to the woman:  “You will not surely die. For God knows that in whatever day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you would be as gods, knowing good from evil.” This lie mixed with  truth is now swirling around in her mind.  The woman had been gazing at the forbidden fruit on the tree,  contemplating  it.  Filled with desire and confusion she ate, gave to her husband who also ate.  The devil, first learned of God’s truth from the woman and then poisoned her soul with the false  promise that they would become like God. Clearly falsehood or partial truth mixed with falsehood are the devil’s strategy by which he poisons the race of man. This is a continual account of sin in humanity, God speaks in the right ear and the devil speaks in contradiction through the left ear. Our duty is to find who is our friend and who is our enemy,  who seeks our salvation and who seeks our destruction. 

  In our days many Orthodox leaders, by their words and actions, present a false picture of the One true Church, ignoring its total exclusivity.  When someone rises to declare this truth, they attack that person, calling them different names. They do not use Orthodox truths against the many heretics surrounding Orthodox Christians, which cause many to go astray.  Such corrupt teaching mixed with others now appear in the Church harming the faithful. 

     These leaders do not follow Christ’s  commandment to guide and shepherd their flocks, which are already rapidly diminishing in many churches. Instead of educating their flock against the heretics that surround us, they enthusiastically engage in illicit conversations concerning union with others and a common cup between Orthodoxy and heresies. They do not reprove the  many heresies, and struggle to bring each of them into Orthodoxy.  Those engaging in these talks, should be challenging the many Catholic and Protestant heresies, and then persuade them by the truths of Orthodoxy to baptized by the only true baptism.

NEW HERESIES

NEW HERESIES

By Metroplitan Augoustinos (Kantiotes) of Florina

“We will not deny you, beloved Orthodoxy.”

(Joseph Vryennios Spiritual Father of Mark of Ephesus)

     Of late, certain theologians, under the influence of contemporary world-wide currents, have begun to savor the words “ecumenism”, “ecumenical spirit,” and “ecumenical movement”, as if  they were hard candy.  Ecumenicism, what a beautiful word!  And yet, behind those words, lay hidden a most fearful danger for Orthodoxy.  What is this danger?  We will show you by means of an example.

    Imagine a beautiful woman faithful to her husband,  a woman who will allow no third party to  enter into their relationship, ever mindful of the promises that she made before God and before men.

She is a woman of exceptional beauty drawing the eyes of many a man. On account of her uprightness, however anyone who dares to touch, or proposition  her, immediately meets with her anger.  Should such a one persist, this honorable one will deliver a strong slap to his face in order to bring him to his senses.

  Those men who learned this vile business, however, will try another method.  They will try to uncover what the woman likes; does she perhaps love poetry, or philosophy, or art? By means of these things, the secret admirer will trap her. With deftness he will begin having innocent conversations on those subjects that are beloved to her.  “What a wonderful poem!”  A beautiful painting!”  What a wonderful play!” “How sweet a piece of music!” And thus begins the dialogue. Gradually the unsuspecting woman is lured into longer conversations with the deceiver who, while his tongue speaks of philosophy and art, his heart leaps at the thought of taking the woman for himself.  Finally, after an air of great familiarity and mutual understanding has been achieved  through these conversations, the door is open to the foul deed, the shameful union.