| The US-backed Kiev aviation authorities re-directed international passenger airlines to fly over war zones bristling with anti-aircraft missiles while Kiev’s jets bombed the rebellious cities and towns. One flight was shot down and nearly 300 civilians perished. Immediately an explosion of accusations from Kiev blaming Russian President Putin flooded Western media with no real facts to explain the tragedy/crime. War-crazy President Obama and the slavering prime ministers of the EU ejaculated ultimatums, threatening to convert Russia into a pariah state. ‘Sanctions, sanctions, everywhere . . . but first… France must complete its billion sale to the Russian navy.’ And the City of London exempts the Russian oligarchs from the ‘sanctions’, embedded as they are in London’s money-laundering, parasitical FIRE (Fire, Insurance and Real Estate) economy. The Cold War has returned and has taken an ugly turn… with exceptions…for business. Confrontation among nuclear powers is imminent: And the maniacal Baltic States and Poland bray the loudest for war with Russia, oblivious to their positions on the front lines of incineration… Each day Israel’s war machine chews up more bodies of Gaza’s children while spitting out more lies. Cheering Israeli Jews perch on their fortified hills to celebrate each missile strike on the apartments and schools in the densely populated Shejaiya neighborhood of besieged Gaza. A group of orthodox and secular entrepreneurs in Brooklyn have organized group tours to visit the Holy Sites by day and enjoy the Gaza pyrotechnics by night . . . night goggles to view the fleeing mothers and burning children are available at a small extra charge… Again the US Senate votes unanimously in support of Israel’s latest campaign of mass murder – no crime is depraved enough to ruffle the scruples of America’s leaders. They hew close to a script from the 52 Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations. Together they embrace a Beast from the Apocalypse gnawing on the flesh and bones of Palestine. |
| This means that doctors in Belgium are taking decisions about ending the lives of their patients into their own hands when they themselves decide that an agony has gone on long enough and also, to use the quote reported by Cohen-Almagor, when they want to “facilitate” the death of the “terminally ill, demented and inhumanly deteriorated patient.” In other words, this designates patients who are considered no longer fit to live. According to the report, doctors in Belgium are acting on the grounds of “compassion” in “futile medical situations.” But Cohen-Almagor does point out how difficult it is to define when a situation is “futile,” and to estimate how long a patient actually has to live, whereas Belgian doctors who admit having resorted to the deliberate shortening of lives through this form of “involuntary” (and illegal) euthanasia are prepared to state that on average, they have shortened their patient’s life by one week or more in 6.4 percent of cases. The report observes that “deliberately ending the lives of patients without their request is taking place in Belgium more than in all other countries that document such practices, including the Netherlands,” a fact that Cohen-Almagor judges to be “worrying.” While the practice appears to be receding, respect for life at its most fragile is certainly receding at the same time as acceptance of euthanasia has become mainstream. The Belgian Society of Intensive Care Medicine issued a statement in 2014 placing the “responsibility” of end-of-life decisions on the intensive care physician. While the doctor is expected to seek a “consensus” with the patient’s near and dear ones “the final decision is made by the care team” who should discern whether the patient has “no prospect of a ‘meaningful recovery,’” whatever that may mean. There is no question of what the patient’s desire may be. And so euthanasia, which was legalized in order to respect patient autonomy, has made physicians comfortable with the idea of hastening death and patient autonomy might very well be on its way out. |
| What’s in the Stars? A Close Look at Astrology Millions of people apparently not only consult their horoscope daily, but base their day " s activities on what the stars supposedly tell them to do. They eagerly test all the events of a day and deceive themselves into believing that things turned out just the way the horoscope said. Many claim it is only an innocent pastime, and others see nothing in it contradictory to religion. Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South 29 January 2009 Source: Orthodox Research Institute (…For at it they who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore Thee, the Sun of righteousness, and to know Thee the Orient from on high…”) (The Christmas Troparion) The average person today likes to think of himself as a product of the scientific age. He often flatters himself with the thought that he is superior to his ancestors, not standing in awe of the natural world, having no fear of the unknown, and being free from superstition. He is reluctant to believe anything that cannot be proven logically or scientifically and rejects what he often refers to as “myth” in religion: man’s creation from nothing, his fall, the promise and the coming of the Savior, salvation and life in the world to come. Twentieth-century man has been described as man “come of age”, too sophisticated and knowledgeable to accept these things as literally true, and he takes this description of himself very seriously. He doubts that the Supreme Being, whoever He may be, could have any interest inn or plan for man and the rest of creation. For the advocates of twentieth-centuryism, man is entirely on his own and has to work out his own destiny and the meaning of his existence. In rather glaring contradiction to all this theorizing and self-satisfaction of modern man and his exaggerated ideas about himself, stands one unquestionable fact: …man is as superstitious (today) as at any time in recent centuries. There are more “psychics” and “mediums”, more “seers of the future,” more “fortune tellers,” now than at any time in recent centuries. Hundreds of cheap publications, usually available not only in newspaper and magazine stores, but even in the super-markets, carry the “predictions” of self-styled “clairvoyants,” tales of the supernatural, accounts of communication with the dead and experiences with demonology. |
| Nevertheless, the effects of the brutality meted out to the Orthodox Church in Russia for over a period of seventy years cannot be eradicated overnight. St. Catherine's OCA Church shares with her sister Russian parishes not only the joys of spiritual regeneration but also the myriad tribulations that sudden freedom can bring. The communist bureaucracy has left a legacy of inertia, inefficiency and corruption that will take generations to overcome. This has entailed frustrating delays in the return of all of the church property. The shadow of the past still hangs over St. Catherine's in the form of the rectory, which is now occupied by the Federal Security Service (the former KGB). However, these considerations pale into insignificance when confronted by the mammoth cost of financing the church restoration project. The needs of the church far outweigh the sacrificial contributions that Russian parishioners make and have always made out of love for the Church. Economic reform in Russia in recent years has meant that prices for materials have soared to world levels or above, while the average monthly salary for Russians remains at the equivalent of St. Catherine's Church, while representing the interests of a Church from the most affluent country in the world, finds itself in the paradoxical situation of being one of the poorest parishes in Moscow. The needs of the church are formidable: a new iconostasis has to be constructed and new icons painted, the parish house needs major remodelling, new window frames are urgently required to replace the rotting old ones; the list can go on. Yet it is the ardent belief of those who are labouring for the growth of St. Catherine's OCA Church and her unique mission that with the grace of God these needs can be met so that she can truly be an embodiment of Universal Orthodoxy. The Byzantine double-headed eagles which adorn the surrounds of St. Catherine's gazing in the direction of both East and West are an eloquent symbol of the spiritual bridge that is being formed between Orthodox of the old and new worlds. It is our hope that this bridge will last well into the next millennium. |
| “The absolute chronology of the Babylonian first group of kings is easy to establish because, as has been mentioned, Ptolemy quotes the report of an eclipse in the time of king Mardokempados. Even more important, this absolute chronology has been independently confirmed by cuneiform texts from Babylon which contain astronomical observations. These number more than 1000 pieces of daytoday astronomical observations of positions and phases of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, beginning around 650 B.C. and continuing, in increasingly dense numbers, into the first century before the beginning of our era. Thanks to these astronomical diaries, numerous overlaps with the royal list in Theon’s Handy Tables have been established, always in agreement. In other cases, the lengths of the reigns of individual kings in Theon’s royal list can be confirmed by the careful study of the dates given in contemporaneous economic and administrative texts found in Babylonia; this is possible because for parts of the period covered by the royal list, we have so many of these texts that they average out to one every few days. In this way namely, by using Theon’s royal list, Babylonian astronomical diaries, and Babylonian dated tablets–one is able to establish with confidence the absolute chronology back to the middle of the eighth century B.C., i.e. the reign of king Nabonassar of Babylon.” (A. J. Sachs, “Absolute dating from Mesopotamian records,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Ser. A, Vol. 26,1971, p. 20; emphasis added) As Professor Sachs points out in this statement, the Royal Canon has been gradually replaced in recent times as the foundation of ancient chronology by the many native sources from Babylonia, in particular by the great number of astronomical cuneiform documents, which provide “numerous overlaps” with the Royal Canon, “always in agreement,” thereby replacing it at these many points. The earlier role of the Royal Canon as the foundation of ancient chronology has dwindled to a fraction of the period it covers. At some points, it is still needed as a trusted complement because of its proven reliability. Depuydt, a renowned Egyptologist and specialist on ancient chronology who has been examining the history and reliability of the Royal Canon for a long time, aptly describes the shifting foundation of the chronology of antiquity: |
| For long periods of its history we have precious little information about what life was really like for the average monk on the Holy Mountain. Since for the most part there was nothing particularly remarkable about it, there was no reason to write it down. We only know about the stars who shine out by reason of their exceptional qualities, their enduring writings, or their adventurous exploits. ‘When exploring Athonite spirituality,’ writes Metropolitan Kallistos, ‘we are like children gathering sea shells on the margin of an uncharted ocean.’ 338 Certainly for the seventeenth century and the early part of the eighteenth there was a mood of gloom and despondency throughout much of the Greek world and Athos was no exception to this trend. Economic decline set in as a result of punitive taxes imposed by the Ottoman authorities, followed by intellectual decline which manifested itself particularly in neglect of the libraries and their contents. There is also some evidence of spiritual decline, though standards of asceticism were upheld and vows were strictly observed, despite the universal adoption of the idiorrhythmic system. We gain some idea of conditions for monks on Athos at the time from the accounts of pilgrims. The Russian traveller Vasily Barsky (1702–47), for example, visited the Mountain as a pilgrim in 1725 and again in 1744, leaving copious accounts of both journeys. When he arrived at the Russian monastery of St Panteleimon in 1725, he found just four monks, two Russians and two Bulgarians; on his second visit, in 1744, he noted that the monastery was now in Greek hands, that it was idiorrhythmic, and that its buildings were in a serious state of disrepair. 339 He observed Russian monks ‘wandering hither and thither about the hills, living by manual labour, eating scraps and being despised by all’, though he suggested that they only had themselves to blame for this sorry state of affairs: ‘for in Russia, where all labour is carried out by dedicated Christians, the monks live in great ease and comfort’. 340 Spiritual life on the Holy Mountain had clearly reached a pretty low ebb, especially for the Slavs. |
| 30. 12–3 Архитектура Западных Церквей 30. 2 Мозаика, живопись (иконы, фрески, миниатюры, картины). 30. 21 Дохристианская мозаика, живопись 30. 22 Христианская мозаика, живопись 30. 221 Раннехристианская и византийская. Мозаика и живопись Поместных Православных Церквей. 30. 222 Мозаика, живопись Русской Православной Церкви 30. 222–1Иконописные школы 30. 222–2 Отдельные иконописцы, художники и скульпторы 30. 223 Мозаика и живопись Западных Церквей 30. 3 Христианская иконография 30. 31 Богословие иконы, символика 30. 32 Специальная иконография 30. 321 Изображения Святой Троицы 30. 322 Изображения Бога-Отца. 30. 323 Изображения Иисуса Христа. 30. 324 Изображения Святого Духа… 30. 325 Изображения Божией Матери 30. 326 Изображения Креста… 30. 327 Изображения святых небесных сил бесплотных 30. 328 Изображения святых 3. История религий Общие вопросы истории религий] Религии Древнего мира] Буддизм. Зороастризм. Индуизм. Ислам . Иудаизм. Конфуцианство. Сикхизм. Синтаизм] Другие религии] 4. Агиография 4. Общие вопросы 41 Жизнеописания святых неразделенной Церкви. 42 Жизнеописания восточных святых 43 Жизнеописания западных святых 44 Жизнеописания святых Русской Православной Церкви 45 Канонизация святых и составление служб. 46 Сказания о земной жизни Божией Матери 47 История чудотворных икон и других святынь… 48 Паломничество по святым местам 5. Богословие Основное богословие] 51. 1 Бог , природа и человек 51. 2 Размышления о процессах, происходящих в человеческом обществе. 51. 3 История христианской апологетики 51. 4 Общее религиоведение 51. 41 Религия и наука. 51. 42 Религия и культура 51. 5 Апология религиозных истин 51. 51 Истина Воскресения Христова 51. 6 Апология Христианства. Догматическое богословие] 52. Общие вопросы 52. 1 Триадология (Учение о Святой Троице) 52. 2 Антропология (Учение о человеке) 52. 3 Амартология (Учение о грехопадении и его последствиях) 52. 4 Христология (Учение о Лице Богочеловека и двух естествах) 52. 5 Мариология (Учение о Божией Матери) 52. 6 Догмат воскресения Христова… |
| как дым... как одежда. Эти метафоры подчеркивают преходящую сущность тварного мира (50,9; ср. 24,4; 34,4; Пс. 67,2; 101,4.27 ; Ос. 13,3 ; Евр. 1,10.11 ; 2Пет. 3,10 ). Мое спасение. См. ком. к 12,2. правда Моя. См. ком. к 1,21. 51 в сердце закон Мой. См. Пс. 39,9 ; Иер. 31,31 ; Иез. 36,27 . 51 Восстань, восстань. Пророк от лица всех гонимых и угнетенных взывает к Богу о помощи. Раава. Очевидно, подразумевается египетский фараон периода исхода из Египта. крокодила. Исаия прибегает к образу этого животного, как к обобщенной метафоре силы, противостоящей Богу Творцу и Спасителю ( Иов 7,12 ; Пс. 73,13.14 ; Иез. 29,3–5; 32,2–6 ). Напоминая о поражении Египта, противостоявшего Божиему плану спасения Израиля, пророк обращается к заимствованному из культурного обихода соседствующих с Израилем народов образу водяного чудовища, тем самым соотнося исход из Египта с ныне описываемым исходом из Вавилона. И Вавилон, и Египет выступают олицетворением зла как противления воле Божией. 51 Утешитель. См. ком. к 40,1. 51 пленный... в яме. Эти слова относятся не только к плененным иудеям, но и ко всем, кто будет испытывать чувство беспросветного одиночества и скорби в день гнева Господня (42,7.22; 49,9.24.25; 52,2; 61,1). 51 Я Господь. См. ком. к 41,4. возмущающий море... волны его ревут. В ветхозаветной поэзии власть Бога над морской стихией является воплощением Его власти над всей вселенной ( Иов 26,12 ; Пс. 106,25 ; Иер. 31,35 ). Господь Саваоф. См. ком. к 1,9. 51 слова Мои в уста твои. Остаток Израиля представляется здесь прообразом Иисуса Христа (см. ком. к 49,2; 50,4). 51 Воспряни, воспряни. См. ст. 1,9; 52,1.11; ср. Еф. 5,14 ; ком. к ст. 9. чашу ярости Его... чашу опьянения. Метафора Божественного суда (29,9; 63,6; Пс. 74,9 ; Иер. 25,15–31 ; Иез. 23,31–34 ; Зах. 12,2 ; Ин. 18,11 ; Откр. 14,10; 16,19 ). 51 два бедствия. Т.е. опустошение земли и гибель населявших ее людей. 51 как серна в тенетах. Осада Иерусалима вавилонянами. 51 мучителям. Т.е. вавилонянам ( Плач 1,4.5.12; 3,32 ) и всем, кто будет преследовать и угнетать детей Божиих. |
| Because the agent had to be trustworthy to carry out his mission, various teachers ruled on the character the pious should require of such agents; 2708 an agent who fails to carry out his commission is penalized. 2709 This also implies, of course, that a shaliach " s authority was entirely limited to the extent of his commission and the fidelity with which he carried it out. 2710 Granted, high-ranking ambassadors could act in the spirit of their senders, but even in such cases governing bodies could refuse or modify their agents» terms. 2711 (In this Gospel Jesus appears as the Father " s perfect agent, in continual communion with him, rendering such modification unnecessary; cf. 5:19–20; 8:28–29.) In the broader Mediterranean world as well, messengers of all sorts were required to have exceptional memories so as to communicate accurately all they were sent to say, 2712 and any suspicion that they exaggerated a report could be held against them. 2713 The LXX regularly employs ποστλλω and not πμπω with divine sending. 2714 For instance, God sent Joseph (unknown to Joseph; Gen 45:5,7,8 ) and Abigail (unknown to her; 1Sam 25:32 ); the term often applies to one sending another on a mission. 2715 But God particularly sent Moses (Exod 3:10,13–15; 4:28; 7:16; Deut 34:11 ; cf. Exod 4:13; 5:22) and the prophets, whether individually ( 2Sam 12:1; 2 Chr 25:15; cf. 2Sam 12:25 ) or collectively (2 Kgs 17:13; 2 Chr 24:19; Bar 1:21 ). Especially noteworthy here are 2 Chr 36(God sent by his γγλους, the noun cognate of ποστλλω apparently being unavailable), and the language of Jeremiah ( Jer 7:25; 24:4; 26:5; 28:9; 35:15; 44:4 ), where unsent prophets are evil ( Jer 14:14–15; 23:21, 32; 27:15 LXX]). Some later Jewish teachers thus viewed as agents Moses, 2716 Aaron, 2717 the OT prophets 2718 or, most generally, anyone who carried out God " s wil1. 2719 Jewish teachers who saw the prophets as God " s commissioned messengers were consistent with the portrait of prophets in their Scriptures. Israel " s prophetic messenger formulas echo ancient Near Eastern royal messenger formulas such as, «Thus says the great king,» often addressing Israel " s vassal kings for the suzerain king Yahweh. 2720 Old Testament perspectives on prophets inform the early Christian view of apostleship, 2721 although they do not exhaust its meaning; 2722 early Christianity clearly maintained the continuance of the prophetic office, while seeming to apply to apostles the special sort of position accorded only to certain prophets in the OT (such as prophet-judges like Deborah and Samuel, and other leaders of prophetic schools like Elijah and Elisha). 2723 |
| ...Ничто столько не заставляет любить богатство, как тщеславие (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 234). ...Не закапывай в землю ни золота, ни чего-либо другого тому подобного, потому что сокровище ты собираешь для червя, тли и для воров. Хотя ты и сбережешь его от этих истребителей, но не сохранишь своего сердца от порабощения и прилепления ко всему земному, – потому что где будет сокровище твое, там будет и сердце твое (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 236–237). Источник. Богатство соединяет в себе два противоположных зла: одно сокрушает и омрачает – это есть забота; другое расслабляет – это есть роскошь (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 467). Если Господь не пощадил для нас Самого Себя, то чего будем достойны мы, когда, дорожа богатством, не щадим души своей, за которую Он не пощадил Себя? (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 521). Источник. ...Любовь к богатству превратила и ниспровергла все и истребила истинный страх Божий. Как таран разрушает крепость, так и она ниспровергла души людей (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 616). Хотя бы мы в остальных отношениях и были добродетельны, богатство истребляет все эти добродетели (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 643). ...Приращение богатства более и более возжигает пламя страсти и делает богачей беднее прежнего... (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 645). Источник. ...Знай, что не умножением богатства, но истреблением в себе страсти к нему прекращается зло (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 648). Источник. Страсть эта разоряла многие дома, воздвигала жестокие войны и заставляла прекращать жизнь насильственной смертью. Да еще и прежде этих бедствий она помрачает добрые качества души и часто делает человека малодушным, слабым, дерзким, обманщиком, клеветником, хищником, лихоимцем и вообще имеющим в себе все низкие качества (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 648). Как же можно спастись богатому? Все стяжание свое делая общим для нуждающихся, как поступал Иов, изгоняя из души пристрастие к большему и ни в каком случае не преступая пределов необходимого (свт. Иоанн Златоуст , 51, 751). Источник. |
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