| 3538 (For more on the «name,» see comment on 14:13–14.) The righteous are to trust in Gods name; 3539 believing in Jesus» name hence implies trusting in him as deity. 3540 In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus comes in his Father " s name, that is, as his agent (5:43; 12:13; 17:11–12), 3541 works in the Father " s name (10:25), and seeks to glorify his Father " s name (12:28; 17:6, 26). His followers are to believe in Jesus» name (1:12; 2:23; 3:18), receive life in his name (20:31), ask in his name (14:13–14; 15:16; 16:23), and expect to suffer for his name (15:21). Aside from 2(cf. 1 John 3:23; 5:13 ), «believing in his name» appears only in the strategic passage 3and in the first and (by implication) last references to faith in the Gospel (1:12; 20:31), allowing John to combine motifs at these strategic points and probably to stress the necessity of embracing God " s agent. (3:16–18 is also the one passage that repeats the prologués μονογενς, explicitly recalling it; cf. 1 John 4:9 .) Different segments of Mediterranean antiquity would read «children of God» in different ways. Bultmann derives the language from the Mysteries, to whose usage he wrongly at tributes the eschatological sense he thinks implied in this text. 3542 Those influenced by Greco-Roman philosophy, for instance, could view good people as offspring of God, 3543 or speak of God " s fatherhood of humanity, or the universe in terms of creation (cf. Acts 17:27–29). 3544 The image of the supreme deity as father of creation was also much broader than among the philosophers, filling classical Greek literature 3545 as well as sources closer to the period of early Christianity. 3546 Philo concurs that God is father of humanity by virtue of creation, 3547 as did other hellenized early Jewish and Christian sources (cf. Acts 17:27–29). 3548 Likewise in Philo, possessors of wisdom are God " s friends, not his slaves; by adoption such a person becomes God " s «only son» (ατω μνος υις). 3549 In other texts as well, those who have knowledge of God are his children, though this does not divinize them. |
| In one, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the age to come. Amen. The First Article of the Creed. 1. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible . To believe in God means to be steadfastly sure that God exists, that He cares for us, and to wholeheartedly accept His Divine revelation; that is, everything that He revealed about Himself, and about the salvation of people by the incarnate Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. But in order that our faith be alive and active, it is necessary to confess it. To confess faith means to openly express internal faith in God by words and good works, and that neither danger, persecution, suffering, nor even death are able to force us to renounce our faith in the true God. Only by such a firm confession will we be able to save our souls. For man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation ( Rom. 10:10 ), says Apostle Paul. The holy martyrs serve as examples of steadfast and courageous confession of faith. They had such faith in God and were so animated by love for the Lord Jesus Christ that for His name’s sake they renounced all earthly gain, underwent persecution and such martyric sufferings that could be contrived only by the most evil imagination of man. The words of the Symbol of Faith, «In one God,» indicate the uniqueness of the true God. God is one, and there is no other beside Him ( Ex. 44:6 , Ex. 20:2–3 , Deut. 6:4 ; John 17:3; I Cor. 8:4–6). This reminder is given in order to repudiate pagan teachings about many gods. God is the highest Being, above all that is mundane or supernatural. To know the being of God is impossible. It is higher than the knowledge not only of men, but even of the angels. From the revelation of God, from the clear testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, we are able to get an understanding of the existence and the basic nature of God. God is Spirit ( John 4:24 ); living ( Jer. 10:10; I Thess. 1:9); self-existent, that is, dependent on no one, and having received life from Himself – He is ( Ex. 3:14; I John 2:13 ); everlasting ( Ps. 90:2 ; Ex. 40:28 ); unchanging ( James 1:17 ; Mala. 3:6; Ps. 102:27 ); omnipresent ( Ps. 139:7–12 ; Acts 17:27); omniscient (I John 3:29, Heb. 4:13); omnipotent ( Gen. 17:1 ; Luke 1:37; Ps. 32:9 ); all good (Matt. 19:17, Ps. 24:8 ); wise ( Ps. 104:24 ; Rom. 14:26; I Tim. 1:17); righteous ( Ps. 7:12 ; Ps. 10:7; II Rom. 6:11 ); self-sufficient (Acts 17:25); all blessed ( I Tim. 6:15 ). |
| But the devil did not resist after the defeat he suffered at the hands of the martyrs. When the Church of Christ triumphed in the world he raised up a new, even more dangerous persecution against her: from within the Church, as the Holy Apostle Paul had foretold in his conversation with the Ephesian presbyters: “Men arose speaking perverse things.” Paul called such men “grievous wolves.” (Acts 20:29,30). These were heretics who tried to pervert the true teaching of Christ concerning faith and piety in order to make this teaching ineffective for men. When this happened, the Holy Church, in the person of its best servants, took up arms against these heretics in order to defend its true, undistorted teaching. There began to be convoked first local and then ecumenical councils. Bishops came together from all the corners of the earth and through the Holy Spirit they gave voice to the pure and undistorted Truth, following the example of the First Apostolic Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:6-29). They also cut off heretics from the Church and anathematized them. This was in accordance with the clear commandment of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who said, If he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican . (Matthew 18:17); and in accordance with the commandment of the Holy Apostle Paul, that great apostle to the nations who said, But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:8). And in another place he states: If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22). Thus our moving, majestic and solemn Rite of ORTHODOXY takes its beginning from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and from his great Apostle, called by Him to be the apostle to the nations, i.e., of the whole pagan world. From the ninth century on the Holy Church has established that this rite should be served on the first Sunday of Holy Great Lent and that it be named the Sunday of Orthodoxy. This rite, brothers and sisters, is particularly important and significant in the evil times we are experiencing, times in which the Orthodox faith is wavering and shaking. |
| Christians and the Law In her excellent paper, Sister Vassa appears to argue that the Old-Testament rules of ritual purity are contrary to Christian anthropology and soteriology. The justification for this argument seems to be a general assertion that “ Orthodox Christians, male and female, have been cleansed in the waters of baptism, buried and resurrected with Christ, Who became our flesh and our humanity, trampled Death by death, and liberated us from its fear” (Larin). In my previous response, I pointed out some factors which had not been discussed by Sister Vassa. Here, I wish to offer further documentary evidence in favor of a more careful consideration of the injunctions of the Old Law, especially concerning blood. In the Scripture, we find the following text which seems to defy the notion “ that nothing is unclean in itself” (Rom. 14:14; RSV here et passim): “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well” (Acts 15:28, 29). Of course, what is most relevant to our topic in this verse is the command to abstain from blood (as food), which is also a command found in Leviticus 17:11, 12. Thus, “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit” that an Old-Testament purity rule be preserved. We must not think that there was a dietary or public health reason to keep such a rule; other peoples consumed blood, apparently with little if any ill effect to their health. Saint Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-215) speaks of such people and of Christian customs: “When faint with hunger, [the Scythian] asks his horse for sustenance; and the horse offers his veins, and supplies his master with all he possesses—his blood. … Perish, then, the savage beast whose food is blood! For it is unlawful for men … to touch blood” (The Instructor 3:4). In another place, Saint Clement restates the passage from Acts (15:28, 29) as bearing the authority of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles, particularly Paul (The Stromata 4:15). |
| Fasting, then, is valueless or even harmful when not combined with prayer. In the Gospels the devil is cast out, not by fasting alone, but by ‘prayer and fasting’ (Matt. 17: 21 ; Mark 9: 29); and of the early Christians it is said, not simply that they fasted, but that they ‘fasted and prayed’ (Acts 13: 3; compare 14: 23). In both the Old and the New Testament fasting is seen, not as an end in itself, but as an aid to more intense and living prayer, as a preparation for decisive action or for direct encounter with God. Thus our Lord’s forty-day fast in the wilderness was the immediate preparation for His public ministry (Matt. 4: 1-11). When Moses fasted on Mount Sinai (Exod. 34: 28) and Elijah on Mount Horeb (3 Kgs. 19: 8-12), the fast was in both cases linked with a theophany. The same connection between fasting and the vision of God is evident in the case of St. Peter (Acts 10: 9-17). He ‘went up on the housetop to pray about the sixth hour, and he became very hungry and wanted to eat; and it was in this state that he fell into a trance and heard the divine voice. Such is always the purpose of ascetic fasting – to enable us, as the Triodion puts it, to ‘draw near to the mountain of prayer’. 10 Prayer and fasting should in their turn be accompanied by almsgiving – by love for others expressed in practical form, by works of compassion and forgiveness. Eight days before the opening of the Lenten fast, on the Sunday of the Last Judgment, the appointed Gospel is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matt. 25′: 31-46), reminding us that the criterion in the coming judgment will not be the strictness of our fasting but the amount of help that we have given to those in need. In the words of the Triodion: Knowing the commandments of the Lord, let this be our way of life: Let us feed the hungry, let us give the thirsty drink, Let us clothe the naked, let us welcome strangers, Let us visit those in prison and the sick. Then the Judge of all the earth will say even to us: ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.’ 11 |
| The same Prophet Hosea, proclaiming the name of God and addressing the chosen people, says: “for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee” (Hosea 11:9). God defines Himself as such, which means that holiness is one of the most important definitions of God (Cf., Leviticus 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:3, 7, 26; 21:8; 22:2, 32. Jesus of Navi [Joshua] 24:15, 19. 1 Kings Samuel] 2:2, 10; 6:20; 2 Kings Samuel] 22:7; 4 Kings Kings] 19:22. 1 Paralipomena Chronicles] 16:10, 27, 35; 29:16. 2 Paralipomena Chronicles] 6:2; 30. 27. Tobit 3:11; 8:5, 15; 12:12, 15. Judith 9:13; Job 6:10; Psalms 2:6; 3:5; 5:8; 10 14 15 17 19 21 23 26 27 32 42 45 46 47 50 64 67 70 76 77 54; 78 88 97 98 5, 9; 101 102 104 42; 105 110 137 144 21; Proverbs 9:10; Wisdom of Solomon 1:5; 9:8, 10, 17; 10:20. Wisdom of Sirach 4:15; 17:8; 23:9–10; 43:11; 47:9, 12; 48:23. Esaias [Isaiah] 1:4; 5:16, 19, 24; 6:3; 8:13; 10:17, 20; 11:9; 12:6; 17:7; 29:19, 23; 30:11–12, 15; 31:1; 37:23; 40:25; 41:14, 16, 20; 43:3, 14–15; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 52:19; 54:5; 55:5; 56:7; 57:13, 15; 58:13; 60:9, 14; 63:10–11; 65:11, 25; 66:20. Jeremias [Jeremiah] 23:9; 31:23; 50:29; 51:5. Baruch 2:16; 4:22, 37; 5:5; 20:39–40; 28: 14; 36:20–22; 39:7, 25. Ezekiel 43:7–8; Daniel 3:52–53; 4:5–6, 10, 14–15, 20; 5:11; 9:16, 20, 24. Joel 2:1; 3:17; Amos 2:7. Abidias 1:16. Jonas 2:5, 8; Michaias [Micah] 1:2; Abbacum [Habbakuk] 1:12; 2:20; 3:3; Sophonias [Zephaniah] 3: 11–12; Zacharias [Zechariah] 2:13; 2 Maccabees 8:15; 14:36; 15:32; 3 Maccabees 2:2, 11, 16; 5:8; 6:1–2, 4, 17, 26; 7:8; 2 Esdras 14:22; Matthew 1:18, 20; 3:11; 12:32; 28:19. Mark 1:8, 24, 29; 12:36; 13:11; Luke 1:15, 35, 41, 49, 67, 72; 2:25–26; 3:16, 22; 4: 1, 34; 11:13; 12:10, 12. John 1:33; 7:39; 14:26; 17:11; 20:22; Acts 1:2, 5, 8, 16; 2:4, 33, 38; 3:14; 4:8, 25, 27, 30–31; 5:3, 32; 6:3, 5; 7:51, 55; 8:15, 17–19, 39; 9:17, 31; 10:38, 44–45, 47; 11:15–16, 24; 13:2, 4, 9, 35, 52; 15:8, 28; 16:6; 19:2, 6; 20:23, 28; 21:11; 28:25. 1 Peter 1:12, 15–16; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 2:20; 5:7. Jude 1:20; Romans 5:5; 9:1; 14:17; 15:13, 16; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 3:17; 6:19; 12:3; 2 Corinthians 6:6; 13:13. Ephesians 3:5; 4: 30; 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6; 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:14; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 2:4; 3:7; 6: 4; 9:8, 14; 10: 15; Revelation 3:7; 4:8; 6:10; 15:3–4; 16:5). |
| 105 . Idem. Melito and Israel. – In: Anti-Judaism in early Christianity, Separation and polemic. Waterloo, Ont. 1986, 81–102. 106 . Unnik W.C. van. Een merkwaardige formulering van de verlossing in de Paschahomilie van Melito van Sardes. – In: Ex Auditu Verbi (Festschrift G.C. Berkouwer). Karnpen, 1965, 297–311 [сравнение гом. § 68 οτς στι ρυσμενος μς... с Песахим X. 5 и Epistola apost. 21 (32)]. 107 . Halt S.C. Melito in the Light of the Passover Haggadah, – JThS 22, 1971, 29–46. 108 . Trisoglio F. Dalla Pasqua ebraica a quello cristiana in Melitone di Sardi. – Augustinianum 28, 1988, 151–85. 9 . Квартодециманское окружение 109 . Lohse B. Das Passafest der Quartadecimaner. Gütersloh, 1953. 110 . Cantalamessa R. Questioni melitoniane. Melitone e i latini; Melitone e i quartodecimani. – Rivista di Storia e Letteratura religiosa 6, 1970, 245–67. 111 . Grossi V. La pasqua quartodecimana e ii significato della croce nel II secolo. – Augustinianum 16, 1976, 557–71. 10 . Литературные влияния и связи 112 . Smit Sibinga J. A study in 1 John. – hr. Studies in John presented to J.N. Sevenster on occasion of his seventieth birthday. Leid., 1970, 194–208. 113 . Hall S.G. Melitós Paschal Homily and the Acts of John. – JThS 17, 1966, 95–8. 114 . Unnik W.C. van. A Note on the Dance of Jesus in the «Acts of John». – VigCh 18, 1964, 1–5. 115 . Perler O. L " Évangile de Pierre et Méliton de Sardes. – Revue Biblique 71, 1964, Perler 1990, 331–7. 116 . Kraft R.A. Barnabas’ Isaiah Text and Melito’s Paschal Homily. – Journal of Biblical Literature 80, 1961, 371–3. 117 . Jossa G. Melitone e I ’ A Diogneto. – Annali dell " Istituto italiano per gli Studi storici 2, 1969/70, 89–109. 118 . Lohse B. Meliton v. Sardes und der Brief des Ptolemäus an Flora. – In: Der Ruf Jesu und die Antwort der Gemeinde (Festschrift J. Jeremias). Gött., 1970, 179–88. 119 . R. Les homélies pascales de Méliton de Sardes et du Pseudo-Hippolyte et les extraits de Théodote. – In: Epektasis (Festschrift J. Daniélou), ed. J. Fontaine et Ch. Kannengiesser, P., 1972, 263–71. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Dining with Caesar Source: No Other Foundation Archpriest Lawrence Farley 19 April 2021 An old proverb says that whoever dines with the devil must use a long spoon—i.e. one should be very careful and keep as much distance as possible. I suggest the same advice is suitable for dining with Caesar. When Caesar is unfriendly to the Church (as he has often been in history) we Christians have cause to be a bit nervous. When he is friendly to the Church we have cause to be even more nervous. For if there is one thing the long history of Byzantium has taught us it is that there is a definite down side to being a State church, and that Caesar has a disturbing tendency to over-reach himself. Everyone knows that he who pays the piper calls the tune. And when Caesar begins to pay our bills—or gives us a break economically—he often feels more than a bit entitled to run our show. That is why the word “Caesaropapism” has such an ugly ring to it. The Church’s relationship to the State of course did not begin with Constantine, Justinian, and the rest of the Imperial gang. It began long before that. Our charter for such a relationship was set by the Lord when He said (in response to a “heads I win, tails you lose” question about paying taxes to Rome), “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s—and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:13-17). The trick is, of course, to figure out which things are which. It is not always easy. Conflict with the State began soon after the Day of Pentecost (if you don’t count the Crucifixion). The high priest had legal authority from Rome to run Jerusalem and the Jewish nation in Palestine. Everyone acknowledged that the high priest had this authority from God, and everyone respected him—including St. Paul (see Acts 23:1-5). But when the high priest and the other chief priests who ran things ordered the apostles to cease publicly preaching that Jesus was the Messiah, they firmly declined. In response to the very legal orders to shut up and sit down, Peter drew a line in the sand which has never been erased: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). |
| In fact in this hierarchically-ordered world, there are multiple and overlapping forms of submission. Children are to submit to parents (Ephesians 6:1), slaves to masters (Ephesians 6:5-8), laity to clergy (Hebrews 13:17), those in society to their rulers and to the king and his delegates (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14). In a fallen and imperfect world, of course some people in authority will abuse their authority. That is to be expected. That is just where the suffering of Christ provides a model for us all. It was precisely because the world is fallen, sinful, and in need of saving that Christ suffered at the hands of those in authority. By doing this He left us an example, that we might follow in His steps, entrusting ourselves to God whose righteous judgment will eventually vindicate us and punish the abusive evildoer (1 Peter 2:21-23). The counsel of St. Peter to slaves living under harsh masters to model themselves after the suffering Christ was sensible as well as strategic. Suffering will always be our lot in this age. The only question is how we are to respond to it. But let us be clear: submitting to those over us, whether wives submitting to husbands or slaves to their masters, or citizens submitting to the government, does not mean that we should not protest injustice or challenge abuse. When Christ was slapped unjustly after speaking with the high priest at His trial, He said to the person slapping Him, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” (John 18:23) Submission to those over us does not mean we must become mindless doormats or masochistic cyphers. We may still protest injustice and seek to escape it and even ask for redress. It does mean, however, that such unjust abuses should not lead us to deny the authority of those over us. What then of the wifely submission of which we spoke earlier? A few things may be said. First of all, wifely submission does not involve accepting abuse or violence without protest or self-defence. When those with secular authority over Paul moved to have him illegally bound and scourged, he protested and defended himself (Acts 22:23-29). Another time he even insisted upon a public apology from those in authority (Acts 16:37-40). Submission therefore is consistent with challenge and self-protection. |
| Of course, in the Divine Liturgy, it is the priest or deacon who reads from the actual writings we call “the Gospels.” However, not only do the Epistles of St. Paul predate the writings of the evangelists, but St. Paul himself reminds us that through his writings he is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ (a point St. Paul makes most forcefully in Galatians 1). Thus, when a reader reads the epistle at the Divine Liturgy, he or she is reading the Gospel; he or she is proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Sometimes people say, “I am just a reader,” as though this were a petty or insignificant ministry. However, when the reader (whether tonsured or not) begins chanting the selection from the Acts or the Epistles, he or she is performing an evangelical ministry that is absolutely essential to the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, and as such it demands the same care and preparation as any other liturgical ministry. What Does a Church Reader Do? The task of the church reader is to chant scriptural texts: the Acts of the Apostles or the Epistles in the Divine Liturgy; Old Testament readings at Vespers for certain feasts; sometimes the Canticle of St. Simeon (Luke 2:29–32) and the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13); and at all of the daily offices, excerpts from the Psalms. In fact, aside from short texts like the Trisagion prayer or the “Glory . . . Now and ever . . .” that concludes readings from the Psalter, the church reader is fundamentally a reader of Scripture. This should not be surprising, since Orthodox liturgical worship is scriptural, first and foremost. Not only are the services themselves composed largely of texts taken directly from the Bible, but the church year is based on Scripture. The content of most of the church feasts is taken directly from the New Testament. It is only through the evangelist’s account of such events as the Nativity or the Transfiguration that we celebrate these feasts of our Lord and Savior. Could we imagine celebrating the Feast of the Nativity without hearing St. Matthew’s account of our Lord and Savior’s birth (Matt. 2:1–12), or the Feast of the Transfiguration without hearing the evangelist’s account of that stunning revelation on Mount Tabor (Matt. 17:1–9)? Consider as well the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil on Holy Saturday with its fifteen Old Testament readings. |
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