| John Anthony McGuckin Deaconess MARIA GWYN MCDOWELL An ordained female member of the priestly order, at the level of diaconate. The office reached its zenith in the early Byzantine period, though it has never been altogether abandoned. Phoebe, commemorated as “equal to the apostles,” is referred to by Paul as a deacon (diakonos, Rom. 16.1 ) and is the prototype of the later office of the deaconess. The church also commemorates as deacons Tabitha (or Dorcas, Acts 9.36), Lydia (Acts 16.14), Mary, Persis, Tryphosa and Tryphena, Priscilla and Junia ( Rom. 16.3–15 ), the daughters of Philip (Acts 21.9), Euodia and Syntyche ( Phil. 4.2–3 ), all of whom were fellow-workers with Paul and laborers in the gospel; 1 Timothy 3.8–11 presents the requirements for diaconal service. An array of early theologians such as Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 3, 6, 53.3–4), Ori- gen (Commentary on Romans 10.17), John Chrysostom (Homily 11 on 1 Timothy), Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, all interpret 1 Timothy 3.11 as referring to female deacons. The 4th-7th centuries are rich in archeological, epi- graphical, and literary references in which diakonos with a feminine article and diakonissa are used interchangeably. There is no evidence of significantly different functions between male and female deacons in the earliest church, a time when the diaconate itself was rapidly evolving. By the 3rd century the liturgical function of ordained women mirrored the culturally normative public/private segregation of roles and functions. Early deaconesses assisted in the baptism and anointing of adult (naked) women, and engaged in catechetical, pastoral, social, and evangelistic work among women. Like the male deacon, they were liaison officers for the bishop, specifically with a ministry to the women among whom it would have been inappropriate for a man to venture. The rise of infant baptism reduced their baptismal role but they continued to supervise the liturgical roles of women, to lead them in liturgical prayer, to chant in the church, participate in liturgical processions, and like the other priestly orders, the deaconesses all received the Eucharist at the altar with their fellow clergy. The deaconess did not lead worship in the same manner as male deacons reciting the Ektenies. However, in absence of male clergy, monastic deaconesses read the gospel and scriptures among women, and evidently poured water and wine into the chalice (Madigan and Osiek 2005: 6–7). |
| John Anthony McGuckin Resurrection THEODORE G. STYLIANOPOULOS Belief in resurrection, and specifically resurrection from the dead, is a distinct biblical teaching that derives from Judaism and finds its full significance in the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth, historically proclaimed to have died, been buried, and risen from the dead. Much more so than in Judaism, resurrection is absolutely central to Christianity ( 1Cor. 15.12–19 ), especially Eastern Christianity, because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ constitute the foundational saving events, and the core of the gospel, which lie behind the birth and character of the church, the New Testament, and Christian theology and spirituality. While resurrection is chiefly tied to the resurrection of Jesus and to the hope of the resurrection of the dead at his glorious return, the term also carries diverse metaphorical meanings such as the historical restoration of a people, life after death, immortality of the soul, and even an experience of spiritual renewal in this present life. In ancient paganism the theme of resurrection was connected not to a historical person or historical event, but rather to mythological deities such as Isis and Osiris whose cult celebrated the annual rebirth of nature and the power of fertility, a phenomenon that scholarship has widely judged to be entirely different from the Christian understanding in origin, scope, and meaning. In the Old Testament the focus was on this present order of life, the main arena of God’s blessings and chastisements. Existence after death was viewed as virtual nonexistence, called Hades, a “land of forgetfulness,” a place of shades ( Ps. 88.10–12; 87.11–13 LXX), having no contact with the living and cut off from God himself ( Ps. 6.5; 6.6 LXX). Exceptionally, some righteous persons such as Enoch ( Gen. 5.24 ) and Elijah (2 Kings 2.11) escaped death not by resurrection but by direct transfer to heaven. In other rare cases, Elijah and Elishah revived dead children to ordinary life as apparent acts of healing (1 Kings 17.21–22; 2 Kings 4.34–5). Texts such as Hosea 6.1–3 and Ezekiel 37.1–14 look to the resurgence and restoration of Israel in space and time, although also easily seen by Christian interpreters as prophecies of the final resurrection of the dead. A singular text such as Isaiah 26.19 that foresees a resurrection of the dead is as rare as it is peripheral to classic Old Testament teaching. Regular belief in a future resurrection of the dead, especially of the righteous as reward for their persecution and martyrdom, developed among Jews after 200 bce and is attested notably in Daniel 12.1–3 and 2Maccabees 7.9, 22–9. By the time of Jesus, among other divergent views of the afterlife, this doctrine was firmly established among the Pharisees (in contrast to the Sadducees, Mk. 12.18 ) and subsequently became a key teaching of mainstream Christianity. |
| Материал из Православной Энциклопедии под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла DISCIPLINA ARCANI [реже arcana; лат.- тайное учение], совр. термин, означающий правило древней Церкви не допускать присутствия некрещеных (включая оглашенных) при совершении таинств - прежде всего Крещения и Евхаристии. D. a. подразумевала запрет на разглашение чинопоследования таинств и их смысла, а также точной формулировки крещального Символа веры и молитвы «Отче наш» до перехода желающего креститься в разряд «приступающих ко просвещению» (на Западе - competentes). По отношению к христ. практике термин стал употребляться со 2-й пол. XVII в. (одним из первых его использовал Жан Дайе (Даллеус) - Dallaeus J. De scriptis, quae sub Dionysii Areopagitae et Ignatii Antiocheni nominibus circumferuntur. Gen., 1666; idem. De usu patrum ad ea definienda religionis capita. Gen., 1686). Существует 3 теории происхождения D. a. Ряд исследователей ( Hatch. 1904) видели здесь влияние языческих мистериальных культов, в которые входили запреты на разглашение тайного знания непосвященным ( Firmic. Matern. Math. 7. 1. 1-3; Suet. Aug. 93; Apul. Apol. 53. 7; Plut. Vitae. Alcib. 22). Однако раннехрист. авторы отмечали, что подобные ограничения были и в философских школах ( Clem. Alex. Strom. 5. 9. 58; 59. 1; Orig. Contr. Cels. 1. 7). П. Батиффоль предположил, что христ. D. a. происходит из иудейской традиции ( Batiffol. 1926). Помимо примера секты ессеев, в к-рой существовала практика поэтапного допуска новых членов к культу и аспектам вероучения, запреты на разглашение полученного в откровении известны в пророческой лит-ре (Дан 12. 4) и межзаветной апокалиптике. Вместе с тем зачатки D. a. можно найти в проповеди Самого Спасителя, Который говорил притчами, обращаясь к тем, кто не были в числе Его учеников (Мф 13. 10-13, 35; Мк 4. 11, 34; Лк 8. 10). Кроме того, в Мф 7. 6 приводится заповедь «не давать святыню псам», к-рая в ранней Церкви толковалась как относящаяся к участию некрещеных в Евхаристии (ср.: Didache. 9. 5). Необходимость поэтапного наставления в истинах христианской веры отмечается ап. Павлом (1 Кор 3. 2). |
| Из найденных в библиотеке Ассурбанипала таблиц, содержащих в себе сказание о творении, найдены очень немногие, – сохранившиеся притом в испорченном виде и только в отрывках, – по которым можно составить „не более как общее представление относительно содержания” (Chald. Gen. 61) этого ассирийского сказания. Всего Смитом обнародовано около 12 отрывков этой серии ассирийских сказаний, состоявшей, по его мнению, из 12 таблиц; но принадлежность одних из этих отрывков именно к сказанию о творении признаётся им самим, „очень сомнительной”, а в других сообщается сказание собственно „о борьбе между богами и злыми духами” (там же, стр. 61). Поэтому мы остановим внимание исключительно на трёх отрывках, сообщающих сказание именно о творении мира. Первый отрывок составляет начало первой таблицы о творении, и слово, которым начиналась эта таблица, служило названием или титулом всех дальнейших таблиц той же серии, подобно тому, как папские буллы называются обыкновенно по первому их слову. Этот отрывок говорит о хаосе и происхождении богов. Вследствие важности его, как заключающего начало вавилонской космогонии, сообщаем его в двух переводах: Смита, с изменениями Фр. Делича, и Опперта 1 . Именно: А. Перевод Смита Перевод Опперта В начале вверху небо не имело имени, и то, что внизу на земле, не имело названия. 3) и бездна не имела границ, Потому что распростиралась пустая бездна, бывшая их началом. Хаос был морем, из которого произошло всё это. 5) Устроены были только эти воды; но Воды сливались в одно, Была тьма без рассвета, буря без затишья, 7) Когда не произошло ещё богов, ни одного из них, В начале боги не существовали, 8) не было растения и не существовало порядка, Не было какого-либо имени, не установлен порядок. 9) были созданы великие боги, Созданы были боги... 10) боги Ляхму и Ляхалу повелели им произойти... бог Люхму, бог Ляхаму существовали (только), 11) и произросли... пока увеличилось (их число)... 12) боги Сар и Кисар были созданы... боги Ассор и Киссор потом созданы; 13) Ряд дней, продолжительное время протекло... |
| A Third of Practising Christians Not Watching Church Services during Lockdown, Study Finds Source: Premier A third of practising Christians have not been engaging with online church services since the start of lockdown, according to a new study from US faith-based research group Barna. The generation most likely to shun digital services were millennials, with over half of those surveyed admitting they had stopped attending virtual church services altogether when the lockdown hit. In comparison, 35% of Gen X Christians and 26% of Baby Boomer Christians say they stepped back from church when it shifted online. The report stated: “Though younger generations might be more accustomed to digital routines and innovations, their tenuous relationship with institutions seems to persist during this era of digital church. “These trends highlight the importance of churches continuing to reach out to and disciple the next generation, especially those who are seemingly falling away during the pandemic.” In addition, 14 per cent of practising Christians say they switched churches during the pandemic, while 18% of practicing Christians reported viewing worship services from multiple churches throughout the month. Barna also noted the profound impact on Christians who have chosen to forsake their regular churchgoing habits, adding: “Respondents who have stopped attending church during COVID-19 are less likely than their peers who are still attending the same church during the pandemic to agree with the statement ‘I am not anxious about my life, as I have an inner peace from God’ (76% vs. 87%). “Practicing Christians who have stopped attending church in recent weeks are more likely than all other practicing Christians to say they feel bored ‘all of the time’ (17% vs. 6%) or that they have felt ‘insecure’ for at least some of each day (11% vs. 7%).” 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. |
| Archive Patriarch Kirill sends greetings to participants in the 11th meeting of Joint Russian-Iranian Commission for Dialogue ‘Orthodox-Islam’ 7 May 2018 year 12:00 The 11 th meeting of the Joint Russian-Iranian Commission for Dialogue ‘Orthodoxy-Islam’ took place on May 5-6, 2018, in Teheran. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent a message of greeting to the participants in the meeting. The message states: Esteemed participants in the meeting, I cordially greet you as you have gathered for the 11th meeting of the Joint Commission for Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Islamic community in Iran. In the course of your meeting, you will discuss the protection of the environment. The importance of this topic is difficult to overestimate. In 2015, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established a day of special prayer for God’s creation, which is held on the first Sunday in September. It is clear that environmental problems stem from the manifestation of human egoism. Seeking to live as comfortably as possible, to consume as much as possible, people exhaust natural resources without thinking about consequences. In pursuit of momentary profit, human beings make their planet ever less suitable for life and trample upon God’s creation – nature, thus distorting the design of the Heavenly Creator for the world and ever more strongly enslaving their spirit to flesh. Such a rapacious attitude to nature today dooms the generations to come to deprivations. Therefore, the principal cause of the ecological crisis is precisely the crisis of people’s moral responsibility. As the Bibles tell us, God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Gen. 2:15). We are called to cherish the environment in the awareness of our responsibility for it before the Creator. Let the voices of our communities help us in this endeavor and may the present work of the Joint Commission serve the cause of the common witness of Christians and Muslims to the importance of preserving our home, the Earth, safe and intact. I wish the participants in the meeting success in their work. +KIRILL PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| Разделы портала «Азбука веры» 8 Фев 2024 Фото: mpda.ru В Издательстве Московской духовной академии опубликован первый выпуск научного журнала кафедры библеистики «Библейские схолии» за 2023 год, четвертый в общей нумерации. «Библейские схолии» (Biblical Scholia) — журнал, созданный на кафедре библеистики Московской духовной академии. Издание предполагает всестороннее изучение Священного Писания Ветхого и Нового Заветов: филологии, археологии, богословия, экзегетики, герменевтики и прочих библейских дисциплин. Основная цель и задачи журнала — знакомство читателя с актуальными вопросами современной библеистики, а также с наследием русской библейской дореволюционной школы, являющимся золотым фондом отечественной науки. Главным редактором научного журнала является заведующий Библейским кабинетом МДА, старший преподаватель кафедры библеистики протоиерей Александр Тимофеев. Содержание настоящего номера включает в себя следующие статьи: Новозаветные исследования «Обоснование атласа генеалогических схем рода по плоти Господа Иисуса Христа. Ветхозаветный период» — монахиня Александра (Мушкетова); «Обоснование атласа генеалогических схем рода по плоти Господа Иисуса Христа. Новозаветный период» — монахиня Александра (Мушкетова). Экзегетика Священного Писания «Учение Древней Церкви о воздержании в браке (по 1 Кор. 7:1–11)» — протоиерей Климов Георгий; Святоотеческая экзегетика «Лествица духовного восхождения в отражении Божественных гимнов прп. Симеона Нового Богослова » — Розалия Моисеевна Рупова; «Опыт современной поэтической транскрипции Божественных гимнов прп. Симеона Нового Богослова » — Розалия Моисеевна Рупова. Рецензии Рецензия на: Four Views on the Apostle Paul/gen. ed. by M. F. Bird. Grand Rapids (Mich.): Zondervan, 2012. 236 p. ISBN 9780310326953 — Михаил Всеволодович Ковшов; Рецензия на: Tolmie D. F. Pointing Out Persuasion in Philemon: Fifty Readings of Paul’s Rhetoric From the Fourth to the Eighteenth Century. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021. (History of Biblical Exegesis; vol. 1). xiv + 383 p. ISBN 9783161564246 — Михаил Всеволодович Ковшов. Скачать весь номер целиком и каждую из статей по отдельности можно на сайте Издательства МДА по следующей ссылке . Источник: Московская духовная академия Другие новости Православие о Опросы Загрузка ... Популярное Сейчас в разделе 3 чел. Всего просмотров 426 тыс. Всего записей 3132 ©2024 Азбука новостей к содержанию Входим... Куки не обнаружены, не ЛК Размер шрифта: A- 15 A+ Тёмная тема: Цвета Цвет фона: Цвет текста: Цвет ссылок: Цвет акцентов Цвет полей Фон подложек Заголовки: Текст: Выравнивание: Сбросить настройки |
| We can’t accept that God is the ‘maker’ of the wrongs we see all around us. It’s not possible that God created corruption, pain, sickness and, finally, death. But then, how do they exist? There are a variety of explanations and, of course, the Church has expressed its own theological view on the issue. This is a view which is ‘embodied’ when there’s faith and not so much in rationality, arguments and proofs. In chapter 3 of Genesis, the tragic moments of what we call the Fall are described. People ‘rebelled’ and sought to become gods themselves, ‘an illusion of autonomy’. Instead they achieved rupture, division, separation and solitude. They ruptured their relationship with God, other people and the rest of creation. Confusion reigned, as is clear from Babel (Gen. 11, 1-9). It became an effort to produce the bread they ate (Gen. 3, 19) and the earth itself also took its revenge, in its own way, with ‘thorns and thistles’, which pricked them and made them bleed (Gen. 3, 18). Because of them, the whole of creation is now subject to decay, not because it has any blame, but because that’s what the people wanted who thus subjected it (Rom. 8, 20). We should note here, that the person who sinned is actually each and every one of us, our common human nature. But Saint Paul gives us the prospect of hope, which, again, is based on the same chapter of Genesis. God was unable to look upon His creation in a state of decay. Hope didn’t die (Rom. 8, 20). The head of the serpent will be crushed (Gen. 3, 15) and, for those who desire them, bright days will return. Humankind will be reborn from its ashes. The path to the tree of life will be reopened (Prov. 3, 18). For those before the Incarnation of Christ, this will happen through observance of the Law, while for those reborn ‘in Christ’ it will occur through true faith in Him. They will be the continuation of the sacred remnant of the Old Testament. He came and took upon Himself all our burdens, He raised His own people onto His shoulders and in His wounds we have found our own healing (Is. 53, 5). He came in the form of a servant, ‘He became a worm, not a man’ (Ps. 21, 7). He was dishonoured, mocked, condemned and yet became the new progenitor of the human race, a spring of life with cleansing water. He remains alone, but unites everyone. He sets to rights, heals, sanctifies, and gives meaning to the human perspective from the outset. He labours at humility and exaltation (Phil. 2, 8-11; Heb. 1, 3) and does so with discretion, without noise or fanfare. He entered the kingdom of death and destroyed it, so that ‘Hell was embittered’. It ‘laments aloud’. |
| Angel is the Greek biblical term for “messenger” of God (angelos) and in most of the many scriptural references to the angels ( Gen. 16.7, 32.1 ; Judg. 6.11 ; Dan. 7.10 ) they appear as heavenly beings, sometimes radiant in light and power, but on earth usually in human form (called “Sons of Men” or “Sons of God”), made present as intermediaries who serve God’s will by mediating with humankind. In the biblical texts the angels are especially the deliverers of revelation and, as such, play a large role in the New Testament stories of the annunciation, the nativity, and the resurrection ( Mt. 28.2–7 ; Jn. 20.12 ). The late intertestamental (especially the Apocalyptic) texts saw the angels chiefly in the court of God, attending on the divine will for earth and supervising human affairs as his ministers of providential care. This influenced the thinking of the early Christian literature (especially the Book of Revelation and the Letter to the Hebrews) and this aspect of angelic attendance at the divine court developed among the earliest churches into a vision of the angelic host as the preeminent singers of God’s glory, the liturgical choir of divine praise, which was also thought to be specially attracted to the church Eucharistic liturgies, so as to join in with them. Jesus referred to angels on several occasions, teaching that they always enjoyed the presence and vision of the Father ( Mt. 18.10 ), and that they would form the accompanying army of God which would return with the Son of Man at the Second Glorious Coming (Parousia; Mt. 16.27 ). Some very early Jewish Christian sects developed an angelology which saw Christ as a high archangel who had come to earth to deliver a salvific gospel. That theological trend to use angels as a synonym for divine presence and action, and to hypostatize the divine presence by an angelic reference, was already advanced in Hellenistic Judaism, as can be seen in the instance of Philo and in elements of some Christian gnostics. The trend imagined the angelic mediators as “manifestations” (hypostases) of the divine on earth; thus, the Law was seen to be given through angels, not directly by an epiphany of God to Moses. It is a doctrine that is clearly rebutted in several parts of the New Testament (the pastoral letters and the Epistle to the Hebrews) which insist that Jesus Christ is “far superior” to the angels (Col. 2.18; Heb. 1.4). |
| Archive Christmas Message from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia 6 January 2023 year 08:00 Christmas Message from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia to the Archpastors, Pastors, Deacons, Monastics and all the Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church. Beloved in the Lord archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters, Today, as the Heavenly and earthly Church in conciliar unity glorifies God Incarnate, I extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you on the great and radiant feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Once again we look back at the events that occurred in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago, beholding the meek Infant lying in the manger, surrounded by His Most Pure Mother, the righteous Joseph and the shepherds who were the first to hear the glad tidings of the Saviour coming into the world. We join the heavenly hosts in praising the Most High Creator Who through His Begotten Son granted unto people peace and good will. St. Gregory the Theologian reveals the very essence of this feast, saying: It is this which we are celebrating today, the Coming of God to Man... that we might go back to God (Oration 38). Truly, the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt 3:2); the long-expected Shiloh (Gen 49:10) has come to earth to fulfil the ancient prophecies; unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given... and his name shall be called... The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Is 9:6). Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you (Jn 14:27), Christ says to us. What kind of peace is it, which the Lord granted unto man and which the angels were singing of at the time of the Saviour’s birth? Has there been less enmity or conflicts in the world since then? We hear all around, Peace, peace; when there is no peace , as Jeremiah the prophet writes (Jer 8:11). Yet, the true peace of God that came down to earth with the Nativity of Christ surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7) and is unaffected by external circumstances or afflictions and hardships of this transient life. This invincible inner peace is in God Himself Who, having become a man like us in all things but sin, is not only active, but visibly present in the human history. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth (Jn 1:14). The Lord is at hand, my beloved, let us never forget that and be of good cheer! In Him is our strength, our firm hope and spiritual comfort in all vicissitudes of life. |
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