| Nicet.Amas. Patr. Nicetas of Amasia. On the Patriarchs Nicet.Byz. Nicetas of Byzantium Arab. Refutation of the Falsely Written Book of the Arab Mohammed Arm. Refutation of the Epistle Sent by the Prince of the Armenians Lat. Against the Latins Ref.Ep. Refutation of the Epistles of the Hagarenes Nicet.Chon. Thes. Nicetas Choniata. Thesaurus of the Orthodox Faith Nicet.Nicom. Nicetas of Nicomedia Nicet.Steth. Nicetas Stethatos Antidial Antidialogue Arm.etLat. Against the Armenians and the Latins Nicol.I. Ep. Pope Nicholas I. Epistles Nil.Cab. Nilus Cabasilas of Thessalonica Caus.Diss. On the Causes of Dissensions in the Church Prim. On the Primacy of the Pope Nil.Dox. Not. Nilus Doxopatres. The Order of the Patriarchal Sees (Notitia thronorum patriarchalium) Nil.Sor. Nilus Sorskij Pred. Legacy to His Disciples Ustav. Monastic Rule Or. Origen of Alexandria Cels. Against Celsus Jos. Homilies on Joshua Luc. Homilies on the Gospel of Luke Patr.Job. Excerpt from the Record of the Installation of Patriarch Job Patr.Mosc. Establishment of the Patriarchate of Moscow Paul.I. Ep. Pope Paul I. Epistles Paul.Ant. Ep.Thds.Al. Paul of Antioch. Epistle to Theodosius of Alexandria Paul.II.CP. Ep.Thdr. Paul II of Constantinople. Epistle to Pope Theodore Paulin.Aquil. Paulinus of Aquileia Carm. Poems (Carmina) CFor.(796) Council of Frejus-Toulon [Concilium Forojuliense] Fel. Against Felix of Urgel Paulin.N. Ep. Paulinus of Nola. Epistles Petr.Ant. Peter of Antioch Ep.Al. Epistle to the Patriarch of Alexandria Ep.Cerul. Epistle to Michael Cerularius Ep.Dom. Epistle to Dominicus of Venice Ep.H. Epistle to the Patriarch of Jerusalem Ep.Leo IX. Epistle to Pope Leo IX Petr.Chrys. Serm. Peter Chrysologus. Sermons Petr.Dam. Proc. Peter Damian. Against the Error of the Greeks on the Procession of the Holy Spirit Petr.Lomb. Sent. Peter Lombard. Sentences Petr.Sic. Peter of Sicily Hist. History of the Heresy of the Manicheans, Who Are Also Called Paulicians Serm. Sermons against the Manicheans, Who Are Also Called Paulicians |
| For Holy Scripture bears witness that two angels, a good and a bad one, cling to each one of us. And of the good ones the Saviour says: Do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in heaven do always behold the face of your Father which is in heaven: Matthew 18:10 and this also: the angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and deliver them. Moreover this also which is said in the Acts of the Apostles, of Peter, that it is his angel. Acts 12:15 But of both sorts the book of the Shepherd teaches us very fully. But if we consider about him who attacked the blessed Job we shall clearly learn that it was he who always plotted against him but never could entice him to sin, and that therefore he asked for power from the Lord, as he was worsted not by his (Job " s) virtue but by the Lord " s protection which ever shielded him. Of Judas also it is said: And let the devil stand at his right hand. Chapter 18. Of the degrees of wickedness which exist in hostile spirits, as shown in the case of two philosophers. But of the difference that there is between demons we have learned a great deal by means of those two philosophers who formerly by acts of magic had oftentimes great experience both of their laziness and of their courage and savage wickedness. For these looking down on the blessed Antony as a boor and rustic, and wanting, if they could not injure him any further, at least to drive him from his cell by illusions of magic and the devices of demons, dispatched against him most foul spirits, for they were impelled to this attack upon him by the sting of jealousy because enormous crowds came daily to him as the servant of God. And when these most savage demons did not even venture to approach him as he was now signing his breast and forehead with the sign of the cross, and, now devoting himself to prayer and supplication, they returned without any result to those who had directed them; and these again sent against him others more desperate in wickedness, and when these too had spent their strength in vain, and returned without having accomplished anything, and others still more powerful were nevertheless told off against the victorious soldier of Christ, and could prevail nothing against him, all these great plots of theirs devised with all the arts of magic were only useful in proving the great value that there is in the profession of Christians, so that those fierce and powerful shadows, which they thought would veil the sun and moon if they were directed towards them, could not only not injure him, but not even draw him forth from his monastery for a single instant. Chapter 19. Of the fact that devils cannot prevail at all against men unless they have first secured possession of their minds. |
| 781). Bishop Ignatius himself was perhaps a little too interested in explaining the “bodies” of angels in terms of the 19th-century scientific knowledge of gasses; for this reason a minor dispute arose between him and Bishop Theophan the Recluse, who thought it necessary to emphasize the uncompound nature of spirits (who, of course, are not composed of elemental molecules as are all gases). On the basic point, however – the “subtle covering” which all spirits possess – he was in agreement with Bishop Ignatius (see Fr. Georges Florovsky, Ways of Russian Theology, in Russian, Paris, 1937, pp. 394–95). Perhaps some similar misunderstanding on a secondary point or question of terminology was responsible for the opposition which arose in the West in the 5th century when the Latin Father, St. Faustus of Lerins, taught this same doctrine of the relative “materiality” of the soul, based on the teaching of the Eastern Fathers. If the precise definition of the angelic nature is known to God alone, an understanding of angelic activity (at least in this world) is accessible to everyone, for of this there are many testimonies both in Scripture and in Patristic writings, as well as in the Lives of Saints. To fully understand the manifestations that occur to the dying, we shall have to know in particular how the fallen angels (demons) appear. True angels always appear in their own forms (only less dazzling than they are in reality), and they act solely in order to carry out the will and commandments of God. Fallen angels, on the other hand, although they appear sometimes in their own form (which St. Seraphim of Sarov described, from his own experience, as “hideous”), usually assume various appearances and perform numerous “miracles” with the powers they have in submission to the prince of the power of the air ( Eph. 2:2 ). Their special habitat is the air, and their chief function is to tempt or frighten men and thus drag them to perdition with themselves. It is against them that the struggle of the Christian is directed: Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness under the heavens ( Eph. 6:12 ). |
| J. Thackeray, published in the Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1993 reprint of the 1926 edition), pp. 224225. Some defenders of the watch Tower Society’s chronology claim that there is a textual problem with the “fifty years,” pointing out that some manuscripts have “seven years” instead of “fifty” at I, 21, which some earlier scholars felt could be a corruption for “seventy” Modern textual critics, however, have demonstrated that this conclusion is wrong. It has been shown that all extant Greek manuscripts of Against Apion are later copies of a Greek manuscript from the twelfth century CE., Laurentianus 69, 22. That the figure “seven” in these manuscripts is corrupt is agreed upon by all modern scholars. Further, it is universally held by all modem textual critics that the best and most reliable witnesses to the original text of Against Apion are found in the quotations by the church fathers, especially by Eusebius, who quotes extensively and usually literally and faithfully from Josephus’ works. Against Apion I, 21 is quoted in two of Eusebius’ works: (1) in his Preparation for the Gospel, I, 550, 1822, and (2) in his Chronicle (preserved only in an Armenian version), 24, 2925, 5. Both of these works have “50 years” at I, 21. The most important of the two works is the first, of which a number of manuscripts have been preserved from the tenth centuiy C.E. onwards. All modern critical editions of the Greek text of Against Apion have “fifty” (Greek, pentekonta) at Against Apion 1, 21, including those of B. Niese (1889), S. A. Naber (1896), H. St. J. Thackeray (1926), and T. Reinach 8s L. Blum (1930). Niese’ s critical edition of the Greek text of Against Apion is still regarded as the standard edition, and all later editions are based on–and improvements of–his text. A new critical textual edition of all the works of Josephus is presently being prepared by Dr. Heintz Schreckenberg, but it will probably take many years still before it is ready for publication. |
| On his own part, St. Nicholas instructed his catechists “not to insult Buddhism or other local faiths in sermons” (II, 393). Another time he reproached a catechist: “Matsunaga was not right to speak against Buddhism and insult it; we shouldn’t do that in our sermons. It is our business to instruct in the Christian teaching. When it will become understood, then Buddhism will be renounced by itself. Arguing against it too early will only close the path to Christianity in the hearts of many listeners, anger them and provoke them to fight it” (II, 600). He describes how “in the Buddhist newpaper Yamato-Simbun, two articles are printed daily with the most impudent lies and slander against the mission and Orthodox Christians… We never answer these attacks” (IV, 907). During the Russo-Japanese War, the “Buddhist bonza, under the cover of military patriotism, began a persecution against the Orthodox Church… former or plainclothes bonza gave rousing speeches against me and the mission in rallies specially organized for this purpose” (V, 8). This activity was not limited to verbal attacks. The saint cites examples of Buddhists physically attacking Christians with pogroms and beatings in Shirankava (see: II, 787), and also during the Russo-Japanese war in Kayama for the Christians’ refusal to participate in Buddhist prayers for Japanese victory (see: V, 62). Another time, local Buddhists confiscated land from the Orthodox and offered to return it to them only if they return to Buddhism (see: II, 484-484). He recalls one incident that happened to Peter Osida, formerly a Buddhism priest, who endured “persecution from his former parishioners for betraying Buddhism, but bore it steadfastly” (IV, 221). In Sukava two Buddhist fathers beat and tormented their own sons who had decided to receive Orthodoxy, but the latter showed great courage. About this the saint noted, “The fathers of the persecuted will soon also be Christians. This is something borne out by experience. Where Christ has come up against Buddha to the point of a noise that sounds like a shout, listen, and you will hear in the following moment not a shout, but the crash of the idol of Buddha shattering into pieces” (IV, 50). |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy The policy of the Ukrainian authorities to destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was stated at a meeting of the UN Security Council DECR Communication Service, 03.08.2023. On 26 July 2023, a meeting of the United Nations Security Council was held, the topic of which was the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian authorities. In her statement, the Director of the Alliance of Civilisations, Ms. Nihal Saad, stated in particular that, according to the " Review of the human rights situation in Ukraine " published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the reporting period fr om February to April, violence against members and supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had increased. For instance, the Ukrainian authorities conducted searches in places of worship and other facilities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, announced suspicions against clergymen and placed several of them under house arrest, including one of the main hierarchs of the UOC, on the basis of little or no evidence (at the moment, Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl is in custody - note). In addition, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine prematurely cancelled the contract with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the lease of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Also mentioned were illegal decisions of a number of city and regional councils, which banned the activities of the canonical Church on their territory, and actions of local councils, which are aimed at cancelling agreements with it regarding the lease of municipal property. " Thus, we are concerned that the cumulative impact of the government " s actions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church may be discriminatory, " summarised Nihal Saad. She also described as a worrying sign " an upsurge in hate speech and a number of incidents of violence against members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church " . According to the report, " officials, bloggers and opinion leaders used discriminatory and inflammatory rhetoric and openly incited violence " against clergy and supporters of the canonical Church, while " the government and law enforcement agencies failed to take effective action against incidents of hate speech " . |
| Then he set before us table salt, and three olives each: after which he produced a basket containing parched vetches which they call trogalia, from which we each took five grains, two prunes and a fig apiece. For it is considered wrong for anyone to exceed that amount in that desert. And when we had finished this repast and had begun to ask him again for his promised solution of the question, Let us hear, said the old man, your question, the consideration of which we postponed till the present time. Chapter 2. Statements on the different kinds of spiritual wickednesses. Then Germanus: We want to know what is the origin of the great variety of hostile powers opposed to men, and the difference between them, which the blessed Apostle sums up as follows: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places: Ephesians 6:12 and again: Neither angels nor principalities nor powers nor any other creature, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38–39 Whence then arises the enmity of all this malicejealous of us? Are we to believe that those powers were created by the Lord for this; viz., to fight against men in these grades and orders? Chapter 3. The answer on the many kinds of food provided in holy Scripture. Serenus: The authority of holy Scripture says on those points on which it would inform us some things so plainly and clearly even to those who are utterly void of understanding, that not only are they not veiled in the obscurity of any hidden meaning, but do not even require the help of any explanation, but carry their meaning and sense on the surface of the words and letters: but some things are so concealed and involved in mysteries as to offer us an immense field for skill and care in the discussion and explanation of them. And it is clear that God has so ordered it for many reasons: first for fearlest the holy mysteries, if they were covered by no veil of spiritual meaning, should be exposed equally to the knowledgeand understanding of everybody, i.e., the profane as well as the faithful and thus there might be no difference in the matter of goodness and prudence between the lazy and the earnest: next that among those who are indeed of the household of faith, while immense differences of intellectual power open out before them, there might be the opportunity of reproving the slothfulness of the idle, and of proving the keenness and diligence of the earnest. |
| not innocent, but are demonic, precisely as their origins prove. There are evil spirits. Devils do exist. Christ came into the world so that, through death, He might destroy him that had the dominion of death, that is, the Devil (Hebrews 2:14). Christians must see that our greatest foe is the Evil One who inspires nations and individuals to sin, and who keeps them from coming to the truth. Until we know that Satan is our real enemy, we can make little spiritual progress. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Today we witness a revival of satanist cults and special satanic ceremonies on Halloween night. Everywhere Satan reaches out to ensnare more innocent people with spiritualism, supernatural phenomena, seances, prophesies and all sorts of demonically inspired works. Divine Providence ensured that St. John of Kronstadt, that physician of our souls and bodies, should have his feast day on the very day of Halloween, a day the world dedicated to the destroyer, corrupter, and deceiver of humanity. God has provided us with this powerful counterpoise and weapon against the snares of Satan, and we should take full advantage of this gift, for truly God is wonderful in His Saints. http://stgeorgehermitage.org/halloween.html Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| That Jesus had many brothers is not surprising; families often had many children with a wide range of ages. 6319 Honoring kinship ties was very important, 6320 and brothers were normally the closest and most trustworthy of allies, 6321 which makes the unbelief of Jesus» brothers (7:5) all the more disconcerting. (Intrafamily strife was considered particularly tragic.) 6322 Although Jesus» younger siblings seem to have achieved prominence in the later church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; 1Cor 15:7 ; Gal 1:19; 2:9,12 ; Jas 1:1; Jude 1), it is not clear that John is polemicizing against them in that later role here (any more than he polemicizes against Peter, a prototypical disciple). They serve a literary function in the narrative, challenging disciples to have deeper faith and to endure rejection by their families, 6323 a common early Christian situation ( 1Cor 7:15–16 ; 1Pet 3:1 ; Matt 10:21). 6324 The statement that «not even his brothers were believing in him» (7:5) follows immediately after the apostasy of many of his disciples (6:66); likewise, believers experienced both tragic defection from their ranks (1 John 2:19) and familial opposition (cf. Matt 10:21, 35–37). If Jesus» brothers serve any function related to their genetic kinship with Jesus, it might be an apologetic purpose, to counter or guard against the charge of nepotism that would allow Jesus» relatives to assume so much rank in the early church. Josephus defends Moses against such a charge regarding Aaron (Josephus Ant. 4.26–28, 34, 58), and John may wish to show that the charge cannot be laid against Jesus. 6325 Or, if John does qualify popular allegiance to Jesus» physical family, it may be in a manner similar to that in which he challenges thoughtless devotion to Peter, ever reminding believers that Jesus alone is the chief shepherd and lord (cf. 13:24, 38; 21:15–22). (That this Gospel would be sensitive to such questions is not surprising. Early eyewitness tradition indicates that John son of Zebedee, with whose tradition, at least, most scholars associate this Gospel, once shared leadership in the conservative Jerusalem church with both Peter and James; Gal 2:9 .) |
| 288 Cf. C. Stewart (trans.), The World of the Desert Fathers: Stories and Sayings (Oxford: SLG Press, 1986), p. 37. 291 C. Stewart, " " We»? Reflections on affinity and dissonance in reading early monastic literature», Spiritus 1 (2001), 93–102, esp. 94. 293 See K. Anatolios, Athanasius. The Coherence of His Thought (London: Routledge, 1998); on Arius, see R. Williams, Arius: Heresy and Tradition (London: SCM, rev. edn 2001). 299 See Athanasius of Alexandria, Against the Pagans 19, and cf. Against the Pagans 10 (with reference to Plato); on his robust (and often misunderstood) argument against idolatry at Against the Pagans 2–29, see Anatolios, Athanasius, pp. 26–84. 303 J. Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, vol. 1 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971), p. 218. 310 Athanasius of Alexandria, Epistle to the Africans 4; likewise, the Council of Sardica as well as Jerome and Epiphanius of Salamis: see J. T. Lienhard, " Ousia and hypostasis» in S. T. David, D. Kendall, SJ, and G. O " Collins, SJ (eds.), The Trinity: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Trinity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), pp. 99–121, esp. 103–4. 311 Thus (ps.-)Basil, Letter 38.1. Scholars now usually attribute this writing to Gregory of Nyssa; but since most Greek texts and English translations assign it to Basil, we follow that attribution, despite the possible inaccuracy. 313 Gregory of Nyssa, Against Eunomius 1.21; see further, B. Daley, «Nature and the «mode of union»’, in S. T. David, D. Kendall, SJ, and G. O " Collins, SJ (eds.), The Incarnation: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Incarnation of the Son of God, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 164–96. 317 For details on Evagrius " s life, see further A. Casiday, Evagrius Ponticus (London: Routledge, 2006), pp. 5–22. 318 J. Driscoll, Steps to Spiritual Perfection: Studies on Spiritual Progress in Evagrius Ponticus (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003). 323 Thus, rightly, M. Plested, The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern Christian Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 59–71. |
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