ORTHODOXY – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Part Three

Members in the Church

     Many of us attend regular church services, especially  Divine Liturgy on Sundays and on some Feast Days, but why and is that all there is? What does it mean to be an Orthodox Christian and members of the Church? Is everyone that goes to church really worshiping the true God in heaven?  Can we distinguish between true Christians and those who are not. Just attending church does not make us into Christians although it does contribute.  However, there are, according to God’s law, three attributes that distinguish true Christians, being faith, holiness, and justice. In order to possess these virtues  one must possess the Holy Spirit. Thus a true Christian contains Holy Spirit and before men  he confesses that Christ is the Son of the living God.

     The virtue of faith is the firm belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. The virtue of holiness means that we struggle to live without sin and obey every commandment of the Gospel. Sinlessness is possible to those who desire to do God’s will, for He makes it possible. The virtue of justice is practiced when we deal with all men in fairness and honesty in accordance with the Christian law.

     A true Christian is a vessel of the Holy Spirit, and confessing Christ, he behaves in conformance with the will and law of God, keeping his soul free from all contamination of flesh and spirit. Those who are destitute of these things will be excluded from the kingdom and bridal chamber of Christ, for He says: “Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, I too will confess before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever shall deny me before men, I too shall deny before my Father who is in heaven” and “he that believes not on the Son is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.”  These words of Christ makes it evident that God cannot approve us if we are without faith, making faith an essential attribute of a Christian, who also must confess the true Faith.

     Concerning the gift of the Holy Spirit and the sanctification of the soul, St. Paul says: “Now if any man does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Also: “But as many as are led by the Spirit of God; they are sons of God” (Rom. 8:9-14).  That is why St. Paul upon coming to Ephesus and finding disciples there, said to them: “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him: We have not so much as heard that there is a Holy Spirit. And he said unto them, unto what then were you baptized? And they said, unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, Truly John baptized into the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on Him who should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with languages and prophesied.” It is evident that no one can be considered a Christian who has not received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that every Christian is baptized in Holy Spirit in order to become holy and a member of the Church of Christ. For this reason it is written: “Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” 

     Concerning the virtue of justice (righteousness), Christ says: “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord shall enter in the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name have cast out demons? And in your name have done many wonderful works? And then I will reply unto them, I never knew you; depart from me you workers of iniquity” (Mat. 7:21-23).

      It has been shown that in every Christian these virtues are present, faith with full knowledge, holiness, and justice necessary for membership in Christ’s Church. These three attributes correspond to the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The Son requires faith, the Holy Spirit requires holiness, and the Father requires justice. Everyone of us can acquire these three virtues by obeying the laws that God has handed to the Church, which we will deal with in Part 4 of this series.

ORTHODOXY – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Part Two

The Church's Attributes

     The Church is described in our sacred Creed as being one, holy, catholic, and apostolic and it will prove to be beneficial to review what these terms mean to all of us in the Church.. 

The Church bears the name apostolic because of having received it’s basic teaching directly from the holy apostles. Being apostolic is critically important for it means that the Church was established with the apostolic tradition both written and verbal. The Lord established this, saying to the apostles: “Go, therefore and teach all nations. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you;  and lo, I am with you always, even unto the close of the age” (Mat. 28:19-20). So The Church preserves and teaches the pure teaching of the apostles which they had received from Jesus Christ. No other Church is genuinely apostolic except Christ’s holy Orthodox Church.

     The Church bears the name catholic because it is for all people and nations, as the new testament. The Church of Christ is called catholic because it is the same in relation to all the nations of the earth and among all nations, not undergoing change with respect to time and place. It receives all men alike and equal before the law and are entitled to honor maintaining the same principle regarding all men. The old testament was for a single people, the Jews. The new testament is for everyone and excludes no one from entering the Church because it is catholic it welcomes all. The Church’s beginning was when Christ established it at Caesarea and Philipi, in response to Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ, Son of the Living God.” 

ORTHODOXY – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Part One
                                                     

     Recently there was much talk and speculation concerning the declining continuity of those born into Orthodoxy remaining membership in the Orthodox Church. Some objected claiming the numbers were skewed due to PEW disregarding an large influx of converts not included in the research of PEW who raised the subject of decreasing membership by their analysis. However the quantity of Church members is not the only factor indicating the general health of the holy Church. For those who are interested we present here what is  the truly healthy condition of the Church, as well as the unhealthy condition. 

While there are certainly faithful Orthodox throughout the many churches in countries all over the world,  the church is suffering from various ills. Why are our ecclesiastical affairs in a bad way and becoming increasingly worse? For in the church among both clergy and laity there is an abundance of impiety self-love, money concerns and material interests. Why is this condition present in the Church? It is due to the lack of remembrance of the Church and her purpose and how an Orthodox Christian should live.

     The Church was created to radiate divine light before men as Christ described to His disciples: “You are the light of the world; let your light shine before men that may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” When the Church is vibrant and filled with faith, zeal, and brilliance its proof is that it continuously increases in great numbers, as people  That this is true, we must keep in mind the Church’s infancy with only twelve and later seventy apostles and their rapid and lasting increase. The Church is much more than the Priest and parishioners attending Liturgy or Mass  as in the West. It ought to be the Priest and his many active assistants who continuously supply the Priest with converts well catechized and prepared for baptism and who in turn will carry on the same work and this process multiplies.

THE SPIRITUAL WORLD – ITS NATURE

      We are familiar with our physical world observed by our senses, but contrary to some false teaching, but we humans are much more than sensualists like countless other common creatures. There is another spiritual world which is the ultimate destination of every man and women. Observing men with their wonderful intellect and freedom of behavior we see much more than animalistic sensuality. Men are created and rise above all other creatures, for endowed with intellect and the freedom to do what we will, he is not trapped in a particular style of life and fixed behavior. For we live under laws many of which we ourselves have made,  free to distinguish between and choose our preferences. Among all creatures on earth, we alone are endowed with the freedom to understand and choose either good or evil and man lives under laws which reward and punish those who freely make their choice. But there is so much more that elevates man to the heights! Before the physical world was created, God made the spiritual world, where life is endless and this is the destiny of those who heed God and is the abode of angels, who are spirits of fire dwell. This spiritual world is more important to men as it is much higher being vastly superior to the physical world. For God’s plan is to form men and women to become godlike in His own image and likeness.

     God created the heavenly and spiritual world of angels for His own specific purpose and to serve Him in establishing  his great plan for the whole created universe. Angels were created as intellectual  and free beings able to respond or reject the Lord. Angels are not the object of the perfect plan of God but are His assistants who minister to men..  There is a misconception that angels are above and superior to man but this is not true, for they are assigned to assist men in their endeavors. St. Paul says this:  “But to which of the angels did He say at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. 1:13,14).

JEHOVAH WITNESSES

ENEMIES OF TRUTH

     The Holy Orthodox Church founded by Christ has existed and preserved pure Christianity from generation to generation and from century to century.  While the Church has zealously preserved without change the doctrine it received, some members with a corrupted doctrine and established their own churches known as heresies. They were known as heretics because itmeans in Greek “having an opinion.” (Different than the Church)

     Numerous attacks were waged against Christ’s Church by every type of heresy, seeking to corrupt from within the Church’s infallible teaching. Opponents and defenders appeared and waged battle against one another, but the Orthodox or true worshipers did not choose unjust means, but championed the truth as handed down to them from Christ and the Apostles. To mention only a few heresies there were, Adoptionism, Apollinarism, Arianism, Docetism, Luciferianism, Monophystism, Nestorianism and Gnosticism.  These heresies corrupted the truth about Jesus Christ the God-man. They attacked his divinity and humanity, his nature and life as both God and man.

    The most widespread heresy in our time is the Papacy, also called the Roman Catholic Church, which usurped the authority of Christ and the Holy Spirit by establishing a new head, a super bishop the infallible Pope. The Protestants broke away from the Papacy and later divided and subdivided, serving to show that they were not a divine and human institution as is the true Orthodox Church of Christ which never divides, but remains one. They do not have Christ as their head and divine guide as does the true Church where Christ is both divine and human and His Body the Church is the same and will never corrupt the truth but will preserve it forever.

     Christ clearly stated that the gates of hades would not prevail against His Church and they have not, but their attack continues and will continue. Repetition of old heresies is one of the most common forms of attack among belligerents, and such are the Jehovah Witnesses which sprang up in the USA in the year 1874.  It is important to note that the evil one is always behind the action. Thus though sects arise and declare their new beliefs, their aim in not at the many other false beliefs but is aimed at the doctrine of the true Church.

THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL UNIVERSE

     The uncaused cause of the single creation of the universe is God who is the only Creator, the Ancient of days, and He remains eternal and ever the same. The world, of course does not have a mind of its own nor can it cthink of or create anything for it is also created by God who determines the course of all that He has made..

     Before the world was created the idea of its existence was in the mind of God, but not the actual  and real world, which would come into existence according to God’s decision. Thus previously the world was non-existent and outside of God. The transition from ideal to actual depended on the decision of God. His decision causes whatever He planned to occur, and the world is a multitude of beings which receive their origin outside of God.  Everything that exists is arranged in a certain order with a specific purpose. The world has come into existence according to the particular and fine plan of the Logos. The ideal world  exists in the mind of God as an internal world, and when He decides it comes into existence and becomes an actual world. 

The world as it exists is the work of a perfect intellect and will which possesses necessary power. It is the work of the Logos of the Father: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). It is also the work of the Spirit because it came into existence through His power and by this power is held together and maintained. 

     At first, matter was invisible because it was transparent and rarefied, but in time it changed to what appears before us today. It was also formless because it did not have the form of the world and things in it were not yet in order nor did they have a regular formation which came later. Out of this created matter the world was to be made, heavenly and earthly, spiritual, physical and moral. Single units of atoms as well as multitudes, in fact the sum total of all particles were in the world. There was nothing excess nor missing, for creation proceeded in accordance with God’s eternal plan. Everything was correct and perfect  for it to serve its purpose.

This is the special quality of an all-wise intelligence that knows everything, knows the composition of each being and its purpose which is no less that a great wonder seeing through this the wisdom and power of God in creation, for all beings that exist, are thus formed including man and his high and noble position among beings.

     Due to these facts nothing is created at the present time  but whatever is born comes into the world. For it does not receive its existence now but its nature and appearance through the law of birth. Therefore let all men recognize and acknowledge how truly marvelous are the great wisdom and power of God. The Father in heaven knew of everything that could possibly be born and exist. The exception is evil which God did not create and which only serves to oppose God’s work, but always fails in the end.

The ideal world found eternally in the perfect and limitless mind of God, receives being in time and outside of God by His own might.  It started as matter lacking form or kind, but still was available and suitable for creation of this world according to the law of progress from the less than perfect to the more perfect.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

THE FORMATION OF MATTER AND 

CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

     Matter came into existence being created out of nothing by God’s power, without shape or form and remained so until God gave it its final forms causing it to blossom into the magnificent universe, which delights our senses and lies spread out before us far beyond our visibility. We learn and continue to learn much about this universe through our senses. We see countless and various types of beings small and great, including the giant sun, the fluffy clouds, bright light and darkness, mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes accompanied by many streams. We see living creatures. insects, birds. elephants, alligators and lions. We hear the sound of other men, animals, and natural resources. Many and various vehicles which make various noises. Animals and birds howl and tweet singing merrily. We detect the smell of many beings, horses, dogs, cats, sheep. pigs, flowers offer various sounds and smells. So we develop our own very small idea of what a portion of our universe consists. But this is only the visible universe which is quite different from the vast spiritual and moral universe, for this universe is invisible and intelligible. We confess this invisible and moral universe in our sacred Orthodox Creed wherein we declare:  “I believe in one God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.” There are two worlds the world of matter which surrounds us and the other is invisible world with which we communicate.

     In the visible universe we can see an arrangement of beings and different substances, carefully arranged according to reason all having a specific and general design and purpose, and for this reason everything that exists is in perfect order for the designed plan of their creation and function. They do not interfere with each other or destroy one another because their reason for existence is specific not accidental.  Orthodox Christianity alone demonstrates the true concept of God, including His unity as one God in three hypostases. Now we see the visible and invisible universe which was created by the same true God and Creator who made heaven and earth and all therein.

     This is indeed the truth because the universe could not exist of itself and if it did it would have to be a second eternal being. But two eternal beings of two different natures, or essences cannot coexist. If God is the essential being then the universe is something that cannot come into existence of its own.He who is absolute, perfect, eternal and ever-living can only be one.

     There are various thoughts harbored among men and some speculations concerning the origin and source of the universe. The Bible establishes in a few words, clearly and authoritatively, the exact source and cause of the universe: “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth” (Genesis 1:1.)  Creation out of nothing and without a Creator is an impossibility for creation is an effect of the uncaused Cause who is God. Brought before Holy Scriptures, the false suppositions go up in smoke and like a rock the truth prevails. The universe has God for its existence and came into existence in time which was created by God. Who can offer proof contradictory to the truth of God?

                                                                                           

THE HOLY TRINITY

THE THREE HYPOSTASES

     There are three substances or hypostases in the Holy Trinity, and they are of the same essence and nature. One in three and three in one, it is the Holy Trinity for it is co-essential and inseparable.  The three persons are differentiated one is the Father, the second is the Son and the third is the Holy Spirit. The Father exists of himself because He possesses within himself the reason for His existence. The Son and Holy Spirit are not persons who exist of themselves for their reason for existence are not in themselves but are in the Father. If the Father did not exist neither would the Son or Holy Spirit exist, thus the existence of both is from the Father.

     The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in their one nature and one essence which are common to the three persons. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God – one God  of one nature and essence in three hypostases.  The Father is able to have other persons proceed from Him.  The Father is being itself and the first cause from which the other two persons, the Son and  the Holy Spirit derive their being. The Father is the first person; He is the Lord.  The Father has life in himself and gives life to the Son to have life in himself.

The Son of God has His origin in the Father who is the cause of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but the Father himself alone is without cause. The Son is called God by the Psalmist David: “The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand . . . (Psalm 101:1). Isaias says of the Son: “angel of great counsel, wonderful counselor, mighty God, Lord and master, prince of peace, Father of the age to come” (Isaias 9:6). 

     The Son, Jesus Christ, has an abundance of life. He speaks of this: “For as the Father has life in himself so has he given life to the son to have life in himself” (John 5:26). Also: “I live by the Father” (John 5:26).  “ . . . . no man knows the Son, but the Father, neither knows any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him” (Matt. 11:27).

     The Holy Spirit is called Comforter and life-giving Spirit. The third person of the Holy Trinity is able to create life and comforts our souls;  He is also called God and Lord just as the Father and the Son are called. The Holy Spirit has His origin and cause and proceeds from the Father.

     There are three wills in the three hypostases, but only one will in the essence, three in one and one in three. The relationship between the Father and the Son is that of begetting and of being begotten. The relationship between the Father and the Holy Spirit is that of projecting and of proceeding.

     Those who consider in their imagination that God is a single person, fabricate a pseudo-god who is non existent, for their thoughts are entirely in opposition to the unerring teaching of Jesus Christ. Orthodox theology demonstrates that God is one, that is one in three hypostases – the Father from whom are all things, the Son through whom are all things, and the Holy Spirit in whom are all things. Whoever does not correctly accept and believe these great dogmatic truths of the Holy Trinity, cannot be a Christian, and as St. John Chrysostom says, we need both the correct dogmatic belief in true dogmas and correct moral and ethical belief and action for are both necessary in order to be saved.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

THE NATURE OF GOD 

IN ORTHODOXY

     God is self existent and is distinguished from all other beings for He is a primary reality, set apart from created substances and beings. His existence is necessary, eternal and not subject to change.  He is distinct from other beings that change from worse to better.

     God always remains the same, complete and whole being perfect,  his self existence is necessary. He lacks nothing being himself the cause of everything that exists. All things are empty and must acquire what they lack in order to be completed. These qualities of God are put forth when men think properly about God, it being unable to think of him with different qualities. If anyone thinks of God in completely different terms it would be false for God cannot be other than His true nature. Descriptions of God that differ do not describe God and therefore are irrational and false. History shows many various false opinions of the nations regarding the nature of God in both ancient and modern times.   

        

     St.Paul the Apostle speaks of this, saying: “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by things that are made; even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse, because that, when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were they thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:20-22).  St. Paul faulted the ancient world because instead of the true concept of God they falsified it changing His incorruptible glory into images of man, into birds and beasts and creeping things.   They worshiped the creature instead of the Creator and the truths concerning God into a lie.  This was true of the entire ancient world until Greek philosophy established the existence of orthos logos as being the cause.

     Against the eternal existence of God has been proposed by pseudo scientists that matter is the source of created beings and that life is accidental not intentional. God is declared to be a specific force who merely shapes formless matter into different types of creatures. 

THE GOODNESS OF GOD

     God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is absolutely perfect lacking nothing and is the source of everything that exists. God is good and possesses all things in himself being filled with all  blessings.  Giving everything existence He endowed many creatures with life, power and intellect It is   in His wonderful and divine will to share all of His blessings with His many creatures, who, not being complete fail to possess everything. God being  good does not keep his blessings to himself, for it His fervent desire to create beings beside like himself and grant each of them a share of His goodness. 

     So God created all the other beings outside of himself and through Christ the Godman He shows them the way of perfection. Every creature has an ultimate goal set by the Creator which is best for its individual nature and purpose.  Thus we and all creatures have come into being out of the goodness of God and are so made so that they fit into His eternal and perfect plan.

     We have all received our being, our faculties and purpose out of the goodness of God. In fact everything that exists in our universe comes out of His goodness. All creatures that exist have come to be out of the goodness of God. High on the list of creatures is man who was created in the image of God.  His destiny will be fulfilled when he becomes also the perfect likeness of God. This agrees with  God’s plan: “Let us create man in our own image and after our own likeness.”

     We see in the entire universe the goodness of God, which causes our hearts to sing out in praise of His glory and majesty. Nothing is left undone, nothing that He established can undergo improvement because everything is perfect from the beginning, and marked for its ultimate purpose according to God’s perfect fore-knowledge.

     Concerning God’s perfect nature, we see that it has perfect power, perfect will and purpose for the good, which is the ultimate purpose for all His creation, in particular the destiny of man. The God we believe in is the glory and exultation of all Orthodox Christians, for he is the God of truth. He is the God of power and infinite goodness. And to Him, the uncreated one, is due all glory and honor, to the Father Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY OF 

JESUS CHRIST

     The Logos and Son of God who became incarnate of the Ever-virgin Mary. And became the Son of man Jesus Christ, the Anointed Savior. He was born a Jew among the Jews but did not come to save the Jews but the entire race of man. He is the King and God of all mankind and the only legitimate religious authority in existence, Orthodoxy is His Body and Church.  Christ did not come and then disappear into history, but He came and He established his religious authority to which all nations will one day submit. Christ is the Truth and established His Church so as to embrace all men. His authority will bring peaceful coexistence of all nations and the happiness and prosperity of all mankind.

The whole earth is destined to recognize the religious authority of Christ alone is truly, and that He alone is truly God and truly man – the Theanthropos, the Savior and Redeemer of men, and the only one who has been totally victorious and through His victory has granted eternal salvation to all men who so desire. What results can we expect from the recognition of Christ’s authority which is offered to all and will certainly be accepted sooner or later? 

JEWS IN THOUSANDS BROUGHT  TO FAITH  BY JESUS CHRIST

     St. Gregentius was at first a deacon in the church of Milan, then he was taken to Alexandria where he was consecrated bishop of the Homerites in south Arabia by Patriarch Proterius. He was a good shepherd and wonder-worker, organizing the church with the help of the Christ-loving King Avram. He performed great and wondrous things by his holy prayers. He governed the church for thirty years, and entered peacefully into eternal life in the late fifth century.

     In the town of Zafar, the majority of its inhabitants were Jews who clung to the old law being firm in their conviction not to recognize the Messiah. Gregory strove among them seeking to bring them to Christ and the truth of the Christian Faith. After a period of time the Jews suggested to  King Avram that there ought to be a debate on faith, offering him the assurance that if they were defeated, they would embrace the Christian faith, for they were certain tht God would give them the victory. After a period of forty days of preparation the debate began Ervan being spokesman and orator for the Jews. The spokesman for Christians was Saint Archbishop Gregentius.

    During the debate Ervan accused the Christians of worshiping three gods, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and how the Lord gave the great commandment in Mt. Sinai that God is one. Gregentius countered: “The Christians worship one God the Creator of all, in three hypostases, even as the Lord God was mentioned thrice in the verse just cited. Hearken now to the words of the psalmist David: “By the Logos of God were the heavens established, and all the might of them by the Spirit of His mouth (Psalm 32:61).  Observe how David also proclaims three hypostases, but a single divinity, co-essential, without beginning, co-everlasting, and co-enthroned. The Lord is one God the Father, His Son and Logos, and His Spirit is the Holy Spirit.”  

     Inspired by the Holy Spirit, and drawing prophecies and other writings from Scripture, Gregentius totally dominated the debate, leaving Ervan impotent in his meager efforts. Soon Ervan attempted to flee the debate but his co-religionists prevented him, saying: “Do not abandon us, for God is with us.”

Ervan then  attacked the adoration of material icons claiming this to be idolatry. Gregentius proved the correctness of the honor given by  many other material things, the golden jar with manna, the tablets of the law, the ark of the covenant, the golden jar with the manna, the tablets of the law, Aaron’s rod that budded, the altar, the censer, and the seven lamps” Ex. 25:37). . He said: “Did not the cloud cover the tabernacle of witness? For the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord (Ex.40:34). The debate lasted for four days leaving Ervan dispirited, and he remarked to his fellow Jews, “The man is far superior to me in intellect and oratory, I cannot gainsay or contradict his reasoning.  He has turned to nothing all my arguments and queries. The Jews would not accept Ervan’s words insisting that God is with them, and will assist us to utterly defeat Gregentius. 

     That night Ervan had a dream in which he saw Moses and Christ, Moses having his arms crossed across his breast was bowing to Christ as Lord and God. He asked Moses, if it was proper to conduct myself in such a way before Jesus? Moses rebuked him and told him to be quiet while he was worshiping the Lord. Moses told him to stop harassing Archbishop Gregentius and perverting the Scriptures, saying, know this that you shall be defeated tomorrow. The vision vanished and he was awakened not knowing what to think or do.  

     The next day the debate continued and the Archbishop continued to prevail over Ervan reducing his arguments to worthlessness.. Then Ervan came up with an idea which he hoped would snare the holy man, for he could not offer any further arguments against the Christian faith. He said to the Saint: Why should we consume so much time in discourse and argument which has proved vain and without profit? Let us do away with all contention and rivalry and come to actual deed. Show me this Jesus Christ living, that I might perceive Him with the senses and converse with Him.  Then in truth shall I become a Christian. The Jews objected to his words and urged Ervan to continue and never become a Christian, but play the man and be strong. Stand firm and be strong and do not waver in our religion for God is with us.

Ervan rebuked his fellow Jews, saying: “What nonsense are you speaking, O mindless ones? If Gregentius should truly show me the Christ of whom the prophets spoke, and  if I choose to resolutely disbelieve then would I be an imbecile and wanting in understanding, and indeed estranged from the God of our Fathers".

     The Jews were convinced that  the appearance of Christ alive would be an impossibility. They reasoned that He had been put to death and buried for so many centuries and could never again appear alive.  The Saint, however, was cognizant of the words of the Lord who said in the Gospel: “Amen, amen, I say unto you,  whoever believes in me the works which I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go to my Father” (John 14:12).

     Then the Saint, faced east, and entreated the Lord with tears flowing from his eyes, then with all his heart he cried in faith: “O Master Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Logos of the awesome and invisible Father, who impassibly and without change, was begotten, not made, before all the ages; and who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit is worshiped and glorified by whom the heaven and earth were created and the foundations thereof are laid; and who for our sake and our salvation, bowed down the heavens and descended and became man of the Holy Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit; and who, as the Lover of man showed yourself upon earth and conversed with men, associating with the lawless Jews and  working signs and wonders among them; do you overshadow them with your power and open their darkened eyes which have been blinded by the Devil. Do you appear to them, according to the multitude of your pities, that they may see for themselves, this very day, and believe in you the only true God, together with the Father who sent you and your Holy Spirit” (John 20:21).

     Hearing his words, all eyes turned toward the Archbishop. Suddenly a great earthquake occurred with the boom of a mighty thunderclap in the direction of the east. In terror everyone fell to the ground, and after a while they looked up toward the east. They saw the heavens opened and parted. Then a radiant cloud stretched before them. They beheld Jesus Christ coming on the cloud from the heavens toward them which caused terror among the Jews.

     His countenance was filled with ineffable light, and His garments were shining as lightning. He appeared clothed in a scarlet cloud that was most beautiful and glorious. The beautiful crown upon His head which was extraordinary, the rays coming from the it caused it to look like a crown of thorns. The Christians were filled with awe standing in reverence but the Jews were terrified beating their breasts as they bowed their heads to the ground.

Then the voice of the Lord was heard, saying to the Jews: “On account of the supplication of my great archbishop have I appeared unto you whose fathers had .crucified me." The Jews fell to the ground and were immediately blinded and unable to see anything.  The Christian  believers saw everything, and watched Christ and the cloud receding into the heavens.After all this the Jews continued to resist baptism but when their leader received his faith and the return of his sight upon being baptized, all of the thousands of Jews, desiring the return of their sight, were baptized and then after Baptism believed in Jesus Christ.                                                                                                                                                             

VANITY OF VANITIES ALL IS VANITY

VANITY OF VANITIES

ALL IS VANITY

    Human lives begin and end sooner or later and many do not have an idea of life’s great importance and what really happens to all of us after death which always follows life and is serious and inevitable. The world and its various things and many occupations occupy the  entire lives of many  people, many having heard of God and His laws, but pay little or no serious attention to them. However, after death instead of being unaware and asleep in death which they expected, their whole attention will be on the sins of their lives and their failure to repent. Man was created by God for a very important purpose, created in His image, he must during his time on earth, become also His likeness, and by fulfilling this purpose of the Creator leads man to eternal life. The Creator equipped  him well for his struggling journey into the kingdom of heaven, for God endowed man with intellect, affection  and the full freedom of his will to choose and decide his ideas, actions and how he would conduct his earthly life.

     “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes)  “What advantage is there to a man, in all his labor that he takes under the sun. A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth stands forever. And the sun arises, and the sun goes down” (Ecclesiastes1:3-4).  

     Everything on this earth can be summed up as large bundles of repetitions. Each day is similar to previous days and offers little that is new and different. Everything that is seen outside of God, cut off from God and done without the fear of God is vanity.

     It is vanity to live out our present lives, when not in accordance with God’s laws, but by our own imaginative  and pointless thoughts and desires. Why do men remain in captivity to such vanity?  It is due to stoniness of their hearts and the many attractions of this world,  which stifle a man in ignorance. A stony heart is empty of the love of God, it is filled with vanity and the fear of everything that threatens carnal gratification.

     What does the fruit of a stony heart produce? Ignorance, complete ignorance of all divine things, divine ways and divine laws. Such a heart is completely blunted where spiritual life and spiritual thoughts are concerned. A stony heart cannot see the eternal good nor realize anything about God or the  potential of his divine destination.

     What is the ultimate end of stoniness of heart and ignorance of divine truth? It is an understanding, which is darkened and alienated from the life of God. Darkened understanding causes the mind to become as dark as the inner workings of the body. The light that is in man becomes darkness, and such great darkness! A man whose mind is in darkness is unable to evaluate the meaning of anything. Such are the pagans and the impious and such are false Christians and those who have little faith. Their lives only concern this world and its desires and truly are just vanity.

      Christ, the divine Logos, came into the world and is the great light of the world, for His light dispels all vanity and darkness and illumines the hearts of men. Christ came with a specific purpose, for being the perfect image and likeness of God, He teaches men and women to become like Him through His commandments and the Holy Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist. The light which radiates from Christ causes  vanity to completely vanish from the hearts of believers. Our entire lives  always change drastically as faith in Christ causes gladness and hope to envelop our hearts and His divine wisdom to enter and illumine the mind. Soon everything changes as joy and gladness in the lives of the faithful which becomes the path leading into the kingdom of heaven.

TWO GREAT EVENTS UNDER PATRIARCH PROCLUS

ORIGIN OF THE TRISAGION HYMN

    When St. Proclus, a friend and disciple of St. John Chrysostom, was Patriarch of Constantinople, he governed the church in wisdom and piety. Two events occurred during his tenure in the fifth century. The first event was the translation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom from Comana to Constantinople. The emperor, Theodosius the Younger with his wife Pulcheria  and the patriarch all desired the event of this translation.

     The second event being miraculous, was when Constantinople and the surrounding country were experiencing a terrible earthquake. People were terrified and many outstanding and beautiful buildings were destroyed. The Patriarch with the faithful conducted a barefoot procession seeking help from the Lord. The tremors increased dramatically. While this was going on a young child was taken high up into the heavens and became invisible to the human eye. After a while the child returned and came to the ground very gently. He told them of the miraculous event that had occurred and which he was transmitting to them. Upon being asked where he went, the child said that he was raised up to the heavens among the angels, and listened as they sung: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy upon us.”  He said that a voice commanded him to tell the Patriarch that the people should make their supplication with this hymn. Upon hearing it sung by the child the Patriarch and people joined in singing the new trisagion hymn, and as they sang at once the earthquake ceased.

    This wonderful and heavenl;y hymn glorifying the Holy Trinity was adopted by the Church and is frequently used in the churches until this very day. It is called the Trisagion (Thrice Holy) Hymn. It is used at the end of the Doxology during Orthos and at other times. Also before the reading of the epistle in the Divine Liturgy.  St. Proclus peacefully entered eternal rest in 446 AD.

FULL AND EMPTY

     When we prepare to go on an automobile trip, one of the first things we usually check is the fuel supply. Are we full or empty. Obviously an empty tank will bring us nowhere, but a full tank can  mark the beginning of our long journey.

     We enter this world as an infants who begin the journey of life with a full tank.  When we are baptized in Orthodoxy by triune immersion, and sealed with the gift of Holy Spirit, then our spiritual tank becomes full and we are ready to continue to continue our journey to the next life.  To fill our spiritual tanks we need to listen to Christ and receive fuel and help. Our journey’s destination is to live according to Christ, keeping His commandments, for we were baptized into Christ and have put on Christ and will be all be judged by Christ when we leave this world, and we will enter the final life with our spiritual tanks, empty or filled     .

     If our spiritual tank is empty, we will only  find emptiness and a sorrowful end to the next life for it will be lonely and we will be found empty and unable to escape the terrible punishment.  For we have received life in this world for a specific purpose, not just for pleasure, and although most people do not fill their spiritual tanks with spiritual gifts, there are many whose spiritual tanks are overflowing with various good works and virtues. 

     The Lord spent three years teaching us what we must do and if we fail to respond, our future life will be shallow and our future will be completely empty of every good thing. On our journey through this life to the next life we need to serve the One who will judge us which is Jesus Christ. We have do not have control over the end of our life which can come upon us at any time with or without warning.  

GIVING THANKS TO GOD

FOR HIS LIGHT

 

     God created the universe and everything that exists in it and those who understand this know somewhat of His plentiful bounty. Most Orthodox Christians have a special and keen awareness, for Christ through the Gospel teaches everything that contributes to our progress and edification. Man and woman are the most noble of all creatures being the crowning glory of God’s creation. God grants all benefactions to man that he might gratefully praise God and show his love for Him as he struggles to keep His commandments, for the commandments of Christ are a brilliant light in human souls, and keeping them demonstrates our sincere love for God, as Christ says: “If you love me keep my commandments.”

     But we are often negligent in offering gratitude to God, first for our existence and life, but also for the countless bounties which has been bestowed upon us by the Lord. Behold, the sun rises daily shining brightly giving man heat and light during the day. But do we cry out: “Glory to you who have shown us the light?”  Much needed rain comes systematically giving  gardens much needed watering for plant health and life. Do we give thanks for the rain? The day ends and the twilight arrives heralding the night with the moon and stars for a lesser light. Do we bless the Lord for the moon and the stars and the darkness for sleep and rest? All weather is a blessing from God to who is due our earnest thanksgiving. We should not complain of bad or wet weather, which may be too hot,  too cold or too dry. But we should give thanks for this as well. We need to thank him for each of these blessings which maintain our existence and provide for our daily lives.

     We expect daylight to continue to dawn every day without thinking that this could change as God may so decide. Scripture says: “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun; But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity” 

     Seeing the light of each day should always remind us of Christ the Light of the world. We should remember that before Christ mankind lived in darkness and had no idea of why he existed and what was his destination before death.  Truly without Christ everything is darkness, vanity and meaningless, but Christ being brighter than the sun shines His light upon the souls of the human race filling them with wisdom and knowledge of the true meaning of life.  He appeared to us as the perfect Godman, as the man whose perfect human nature we all need to acquire for God said: “Let us create man in our own image and likeness.”

     Our giving thanks should be continual and our remembrance frequently expressed if we consider all that Christ continues to give to us. We must turn away from egoistic self-centeredness and the vain material things of this world, and be aware of the beautiful things which  our Creator personally bestows upon us. Through His perfect wisdom and knowledge he shows us how to live happily and in peace with one another, and how to achieve our destination as He desires/  Here, in a parable is an example of what Christ teaches us to enlighten our souls filling them with wisdom.

     “Behold, a sower went forth to sow, and it happened as he sowed, that some fell by the wayside, and the fowl of the air devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depths of earth; but when the sun was up it was scorched; and because it had no root it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred. And He said unto them, he that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:3-9).

     Christ often taught with parables which used subjects which we applied things which we knew about, to teach. The light shining from this parable is the sown seed which represents the word of God, the unreceptive ground typifies the souls of unreceptive men.  The good ground are the many souls of receptive men. The Godman Jesus Christ,our Lord and Creator, teaches us everything that our soul needs in order to be sanctified by acquiring perfection and holiness. When we plant seed in the earth we expect it to grow into a desirable or useful plants. Thus, divine seeds that are planted in the human soul grow in man and change him gradually to divine holiness and sanctification.

     Every word of the Bible is filled with the light of God’s truth and wisdom being the best possible food for our souls. Here is an example  found in the fifth chapter of Matthew: “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”  Meekness is a virtue that opposes anger which is a vice that is one of the vices plaguing many families, and which often goes out of control, able of causing much misery.  It can be in the form of loud talk or yelling, and can get physical, so it needs to be remedied, especially for those who desire to live a peaceful Christian life. 

     Christ teaches and blesses the meek which arepo those having the virtue opposed to the vice of anger. The virtue of meekness, which is more peaceful and natural for people, enables them to overcome anger and remain calm at all times. As this virtue increases within the soul, the vice of anger quickly diminishes and eventually will disappear. For this one thing we give heartfelt thanks to the Lord for His benefactions. Acquiring this single virtue eliminates the vice of anger, and demonstrates the important benefit of Christ’s teaching.  The same principles apply to the vice of pride and arrogance which stand opposed to the virtue of humility. Christ showed the virtue of humility which in Him was perfect, to everyone, especially when He suffered His holy Passion, and His great humility while hanging on the Cross. As an example and with these instructive words He teaches us blessed humility, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

OPPONENTS OF CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY

      For almost two thousand years, the many opponents of Christ striking out against the Church, have achieved results exactly opposite those that they would expect. From the beginning the Jewish leaders loudly demanded the crucifixion of Christ, believing that they would do away with Him once and for all. They deemed Christ only worthy of death by crucifixion crying: Away with Him! Crucify Him! They achieved the opposite of their intentions for after His glorious third-day Resurrection 

     He continues to be honored and celebrated throughout the world. This showed Christ not just alive but as the Giver of Life He offers eternal life to the whole world. The river of Christianity keeps on flowing on always getting larger and traveling further, opponents attempted to block its flow and instead it became widened and deepened, and now has spread everywhere. Their plans were to get rid of memory of Christ and dry up Christianity but they achieved opposite results for instead of drying up, Christianity has continued to flood over the entire world.

Martyrs appeared in many places and glorified Christ; trying to stamp out the Christian faith opponent rulers tortured and put many to death and as a result often hundreds of new Christians observing their brave and firm actions, followed them in strong faith and acceptance of Jesus Christ

The killing of one martyr would cause dozens of new believers to be baptized. The opposite of their intentions was the result, for God’s power is invincible.

CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA AND THE WEST

CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA AND 

THE WEST

     The chief error of western civilization is that people want to be people but without God. However, the Creator of man and of  heaven and earth, wants every person to be personally united with Him, which is the only way to become the real person he is meant to be!  God’s plan is for men to become His own image and likeness, so all who live without God live badly and  walking away from God they travel the path leading to destruction and eternal death.

     Most people look at new born babies delighting in what they see and hear, unspoiled innocence with delightful cooing and coupled with sweet smiles but no laughter. In a godless society, the formerly innocent babies will more than likely follow the path to godlessness, and if so  be caught up in well tolerated sins and live badly. Happiness will always be evasive for as long as they travel off their predestined path. The Lord called for the little children to come into His Kingdom and he still calls. There are only two ways to go through the temporary life of this world, 1. with faith following Christ and  2. faithlessly following the devil without Christ. Following Christ leads us up to heaven and eternal life, without Christ leads us down to eternal death. There is no other way.  To those who ignore or hate Him He warns that they will be judged and condemned. To those who love and follow Him, he gives help and the firm promise of eternal and everlasting joy.

     Although Christ and the church are preached outside of Orthodoxy the preaching is woefully distorted by Catholics and Protestants. They all choose to acknowledge that the one holy Church established and headed by Jesus Christ necessarily has remained faithful for almost two-thousand years, as Christ promised. Roman Catholics, who were once part of the true church, placed a man in Christ’s place, thus usurping Christ’s position as head and they morphed into the Papacy, which is not a part of the Church founded by Christ and their sacraments are invalid. Protestants broke from Rome introducing countless errors of dogma and faith, and many leaders formed their own religions, such as Jehovah Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists. They all preach their distorted gospel and deceive many, especially those who do not know the history of the true Church and its Head Jesus Christ.

     The true Church, Orthodoxy has not escaped the influence of western Christianity due to the breaking of divine laws and violation of sacred Canons by hierarchs.  Contrary to divine and sacred laws and Canons converts are being deprived of triune baptism, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and cannot put away their sins. For genuine baptism cannot possibly exist outside the Church.  Inter marriage of Orthodox with non-Orthodox has been illicitly introduced by false interpretation of St. Paul in Holy Scripture.

   Those who willfully distort the words of Christ and of Holy Scripture have no place in the heavenly kingdom, which includes those outside of the Church. Christ will not be present in the heretical and schismatic churches as the Scripture says and as we Orthodox confess: “I believe in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light, true God of True God, begotten not created, co-essential with the Father through whom all things were made.” Also every word spoken in Scripture is true, for all Divine Scripture is God-inspired. God is the Absolute Truth and is the Source or Fountain of Truth.

 TRAGEDY OF HOLY ORTHODOXY

      Recently published statistics by Pew Research has established that around 50 % of Young Orthodox leave the Church.  Many of us see in our own communities the truth of these statistics as the churches are practically empty on Feast Days, and very diminished on  Sundays. Few are the younger people who remain in the Church Why is this so and what can be done about it.

    This should send out alarms to our hierarchs involved in ecumenism and the papacy to abandon these fruitless endeavors and return to preaching the Gospel in their churches. This is what their function ought to be. The Bishop should directly represent Christ and be like Him, humble and meek, filled with love and peaceful. Every one of us clergy and laity will one day be judged for what we have done or failed to do during this present life.

Our Lord reminds us: 

    “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise; as some men count slackness, but is fore-bearing toward us; He is not willing that any should perish; but that all should come to repentance”     (II Pet.  3:9).

     The tragedy of our days is the lack of fear or love of God, the lack of preparing for the great day of His appearance. Our unbelief will never cancel God’s firm promise which is sure to come, for God is “not slack concerning His promise” As certain as we are of death which is to come, so we should be just as  certain of the judgment that is to come

MAN – HIS COMPOSITION

BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT

Part Two

     There are two natures in the human soul which  are developed in  accordance with what the desires of its affective faculty, and what it rationally decides  through the cognitive faculty. The body strives to use the faculties of the soul to satisfy itself. It contends against the spiritual nature and thus the fleshly or carnal faculties can  become tyrannical, because the desires of the flesh and of the spirit are contrary to each other. From the spirit of God the soul’s affective faculty receives good things.

     The soul being a single hypostasis without parts is indivisible and indissoluble.  It has three faculties, Cognitive, affective and volitive, intellectual, feelings and the deciding will.  The function of the cognitive faculty is to enlighten the will or volitive faculty to indicate the objects it adapts and laws of fulfillment. The affective faculty feels the needs of the body and soul, and cry out and seeking their fulfillment by the volitive faculty. The function of the volitive faculty is to decide to do whatever is requisite in order to fulfill the needs felt by the affective or cognitive faculty. 

     Example: As noon approaches, the cognitive faculty takes note that it is almost time for lunch. The affective faulty feels the hunger and thirst sometimes with hunger pangs. With this information the volitive faculty acts deciding to eat lunch, and this process will be repeated at the next mealtimes.  The source of the soul’s two natures, carnal and spiritual, are due to the soul’s union with aa carnal body and a spirit from God. The carnal affective faculty makes its needs or demands felt as does the spiritual affective faculty, and this arouses conflicts which may be settled by the cognitive rational faculty. The carnal affective faculty or stomach is aware of a steak cooking and desires arises and almost succeeds in directing the will to get it. But the cognitive faculty reminds the will that it is a fast day and not permissible. Whichever is stronger will prevail, the affective or cognitive faculty. If they agree the will choose accordingly.