| 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. |
| Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787). The Holy Icons. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, convoked by the Empress Irene and met at Nicaea from September 24 to October 13, 787. Patriarch Tarasios (commemorated February 25) presided. The council ended almost fifty years of iconoclast persecution and established the veneration of the holy icons as basic to the belief and spirituality of Christ's Church. As the Synaxarion says, " It was not simply the veneration of the holy images that the Fathers defended in these terms but, in fact, the very reality of the Incarnation of the Son of God. " " The second Council of Nicaea is the seventh and last Ecumenical Council recognized by the Orthodox Church. This does not mean that there may not be ecumenical Councils in the future although, in holding the seventh place, the Council of Nicaea has taken to itself the symbol of perfection and completion represented by this number in Holy Scripture (e.g. Gen. 2:1-3). It closes the era of the great dogmatic disputes which enabled the Church to describe, in definitions excluding all ambiguity, the bounds of the holy Orthodox Faith. From that time, every heresy that appears can be related to one or other of the errors that the Church, assembled in universal Councils, has anathematized from the first until the seventh Council of Nicaea. " Synaxarion In Greek practice, the holy God-bearing Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council are commorated on October 11/21 (if it is a Sunday), or on the Sunday which follows October 11/21. According to the Slavic MENAION, however, if the eleventh falls on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the service is moved to the preceding Sunday. Holy Trinity Church On the Sunday that falls on or immediately after the eleventh of this month [N.S., 21st O.S.], we chant the Service to the 350 holy Fa thers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, which ga thered in Nicaea in 787 under the holy Patriarch Tarasius and during the reign of the Empress Irene and her son, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, to refute the Iconoclast heresy, which had received imperial support beginning with the Edict issued in 726 by Emperor Leo the Isaurian. Many of the holy Fa thers who condemned Iconoclasm at this holy Council later died as Confessors and Martyrs for the holy Icons during the second assult of Iconoclasm in the ninth century, especially during the reigns of Leo the Armenian and Theophilus |
| John Anthony McGuckin Healing ANDREI I. HOLODNY In Orthodox Christian perspective, healing of both specific infirmities as well as the fallen nature of humankind is accomplished through the incarnation, suffering, and resurrection of Christ. Prior to the Second Coming and the bodily resurrection of the saints, the church, as the Body of Christ (Col. 1.24) cares for the spiritual and physical wellbeing of her members through the holy sacraments and the merciful caring for the sick. Patristic teaching suggests that Adam was originally created by God not only holy, passionless, and sinless, but also physically without blemish or illness. Adam’s sin, therefore, had spiritual as well as physical consequences. Following the fall of humanity, death, corruption, and decay became characteristic not only of Adam, but also of all of his progeny. Hence, the purpose of the promised Redeemer was to heal both humanity’s spiritual nature as well as its physical nature: both the specific ills which affect every person individually as well as what afflicts humanity as a whole, understanding that the former is a consequence of the latter. In the Old Testament, God’s mercy and the foreshadowing of the coming Redeemer are emphasized by healings and even resurrections of the dead – for example, the resurrection of the widow’s son by Elijah (1 Kgs. 17.8–23) and the reviving of the dead child by Elisha (2 Kgs. 4.8–27). God’s promise of the restoration of humanity extends also to the healing of the infirmities of old age – the paradigmatic example of this is the elderly Abraham and Sarah’s conception of a child, Isaac ( Gen. 15.1–6; 18.10–15; 21.1–8 ). The ultimate restoration of humanity, including our physical wellbeing, is foretold by many Old Testament prophets – for example, Isaiah: Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way... Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy... They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. ( Is. 35.3, 5–6, 10 ) |
| The Nativity Fast is one of four main fast periods throughout the ecclesiastical year. Beginning on November 15 (28) and concluding on December 24 (January 6), the Nativity Fast gives individuals the opportunity to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour in the Flesh on December 25 (January 7). By abstaining from certain food and drink, particularly from meat, fish, dairy products, olive oil, and wine, as well as focusing more deeply on prayer and almsgiving, we can find that the primary aim of fasting is to make us conscious of our dependence upon God. During his sermon delivered before the beginning of the fast, Patriarch Daniel urged the faithful to prepare themselves ‘to receive in the cave of our soul our Lord Christ Who is spiritually born in the life of every Christian, according to their faith and love for God and fellow people.’ ‘Fasting is a divine commandment (Gen 2:16-17). According to Basil the Great, fasting is as old as humanity itself,’ reads the official document on The Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today issued following the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church. Nativity Fast reminds of the long fasting periods of the Old Testament patriarchs and righteous people, who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah – the Redeemer. Through its 40-day duration, this fasting season also recalls of Moses on Mount Sinai, who patiently waited in fasting to receive the words of God, the Decalogue, Fr Ene Branite, a renowned Romanian liturgist, notes. The duration of the Nativity Fast was established in 1166, at a Council in Constantinople, held under the chairmanship of Patriarch Luke Chrysoberges. Regarding the practice of the fast, the Holy and Great Synod recommends that it be linked to uninterrupted prayer, sincere repentance and acts of charity. As recommended by the Orthodox hierarchs who gathered in Crete in 2016, the true fast is inseparable from unceasing prayer, genuine repentance and merciful deeds. Photogaphy courtesy of Basilica.ro Archive |
| Материал из Православной Энциклопедии под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла ИАФЕТ [евр. , или греч. Ιαφθ], 3-й, младший сын ветхозаветного патриарха Ноя, брат Сима и Хама (Быт 5. 32). Точная этимология имени И. не установлена. Нек-рые исследователи возводят его к евр. глаголу - «быть красивым». Народная этимология имени И., основанная на игре слов МТ: «...да распространит Бог Иафета» ( ) (Быт 9. 27), связывает его с евр. глаголом - «быть широким» и указывает на наследование И. большой территории. Во всех списках сыновей Ноя И. неизменно упомянут на 3-м месте (Быт 5. 32; 6. 10; 7. 13; 9. 18; 10. 1; 1 Пар 1. 4). Однако в Быт 9. 24 Ной называет Хама меньшим сыном, что, вероятно, является отголоском иной традиции, отличной от подчиненных строго хронологическому принципу генеалогических списков. В христ. экзегезе этот стих не связывался с И., а истолковывался как указание на низкое духовное состояние Хама по сравнению с духовным состоянием др. братьев (см., напр.: Ioan. Chrysost. In Gen. 29. 6). В раввинистической традиции И. считался старшим сыном Ноя (Санхедрин 69b; Берешит Рабба 26. 3; 37. 7). После спасения от потопа И. вместе со своими братьями был удостоен божественного благословения и участвовал в заключении завета (Быт 9. 1, 17). Когда И. получил от Хама известие об опьянении Ноя, то вместе с Симом вернулся в виноградник и почтительно прикрыл наготу отца. После чего И. был благословлен Ноем, к-рый сказал: «...да распространит Бог Иафета, и да вселится он в шатрах Симовых; Ханаан же будет рабом ему» (Быт 9. 27). Это благословение может указывать на последующий союз израильтян с филистимлянами против хананеев во времена царя Давида. В т. н. таблице народов потомки Ноя представлены 7 сыновьями И.: Гомером, Магогом, Мадаем, Иаваном (Елиса - по LXX), Фувалом, Мешехом и Фирасом (Быт 10. 1, 2). Иосиф Флавий сопоставил их с названиями 7 индоевроп. народов: киммерийцев, скифов, мидян, ионийцев, фовелийцев, каппадокийцев и фракийцев ( Ios. Flav. Antiq. I 1. 6). Четыре сына И.: Гомер, Иаван, Фувал, Мешех - упомянуты в пророческих книгах (Ис 66. 19 и Иез 27. 13; 32. 26; 38. 2, 3, 6; 39. 1). Наибольшую известность из потомков И. получили племена Киттим (Числ 24. 24; Ис 23. 11; Иер 2. 10) и Фарсис (Ион 1. 3; Иер 10. 9), давшие название одноименным землям. |
| Обращаясь к своим женам, Л. воспевает победную песнь воина, в которой восхваляет себя за свершение кровной мести (Быт 4. 23-24). Эта песнь представляет собой один из первых встречающихся в тексте Библии образцов древнеевр. поэзии (ср., напр.: Исх 15. 21; 1 Цар 18. 7; Суд 15. 16). Она состоит из 3 двустиший и строго следует принципу библейского параллелизма: каждому элементу в начале стиха соответствует семантический аналог в конце. В песне провозглашается ожидание Л. «семидесяти-семикратной» мести по отношению к тому, кто нападет на него, что превосходит семикратную месть против всякого, кто убьет Каина (ср.: Быт 4. 15 и запрет многократной мести в законе: Исх 21. 23-25). В МТ речь идет о 77-кратном отмщении ( ), в LXX тяжесть ожидаемой мести усилена - 70 раз по 7 (βδομηκοντκις πτ). Исследователи усматривают нумерологический аспект в песне: Л. был 7-м потомком в родословии Адама, а повторение числа 7 в песне может выражать идею полноты, к-рую род Каина обрел в лице Л. ( Speiser. 1979. P. 43). Возможно, что представленная в тексте связь числа 7 с личностью Л. повлияла на возникновение известного только у Иосифа Флавия предания о том, что у него было 77 сыновей ( Ios. Flav. Antiq. I 2. 1). Согласно переводу LXX, убийство «мужа» будет совершено за нанесение «травмы», т. е. серьезного повреждения (τραμα), «отрока» - за незначительный «синяк» (μλωψ). Большинство исследователей полагают, что слова «я убил мужа в язву мне и отрока в рану мне» говорят не о 2, а об одном инциденте: слова «муж» ( ) и «отрок» ( ) часто выступают в качестве синонимов, а указывает не на ребенка, а на молодого мужчину (ср.: 3 Цар 12. 8, 10; 4 Цар 14. 21; Дан 1. 4) ( Hess. 1992. P. 134; Wenham. 1987. P. 114; Westermann. 1984. P. 335). В раннехрист. экзегезе высказывались мнения как о том, что здесь идет речь о 2 людях ( Basil. Magn. Ep. 260. 5), так и о том, что это указание на одного человека ( Theodoret. In Gen. 45). Обычно значение песни понимают как восхваление себя после происшедшего события (совершение мести за незначительные повреждения) либо как угрозу грядущего возмездия, т. е. Л. выражает самодовольную готовность убить даже и отрока за причиненное им ранение, вселяя т. о. страх в души потенциальных врагов ( Brayford. 2007. P. 256). Мн. исследователи считают, что исходное значение песни не может быть точно установлено, поскольку изначально она относилась к несохранившемуся циклу преданий о героических подвигах воинственного Л., где имела совершенно иное значение, и впосл. уже была включена в повествование о роде К. ( Westermann. 1984. P. 335-336). |
| Материал из Православной Энциклопедии под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла Содержание КИР И ИОАНН [греч. Κρος (ββ Κρος, Αββακρος) κα Ιωννης; лат. Cyrus (Abbacyrus) et Ioannes; араб. ; груз. , ] († 311), мученики-бессребреники вместе с мученицами Феодотией (Феодотой), Феоктистой, Евдоксией и Афанасией (пам. 31 янв.; 28 июня - перенесение мощей К. и И.). Основные сведения о К. и И. сохранились на греч., лат., араб. и груз. языках. Греческая традиция Мученичество Кира и Иоана. Миниатюра из Минология Василия II. 1-я пол. XI в. (Vat. gr. 1613. P. 360) Мученичество Кира и Иоана. Миниатюра из Минология Василия II. 1-я пол. XI в. (Vat. gr. 1613. P. 360) В рукописи Vat. gr. 1607, датируемой ее первым издателем А. Маи XIII в. (Spicilegium Romanum. 1840. T. 3. P. VII), а др. исследователями - X в. ( Duffy. 1984. P. 77; Gascou. Les origines. P. 5), содержится свод текстов, практически полностью посвященный К. и И. В него входят 2 анонимных Жития, 3 кратких Слова (Oratiunculae) под именем свт. Кирилла Александрийского (412-444) (BHG, N 472-474) и корпус мон. Софрония (впосл. Иерусалимский патриарх свт. Софроний I ), включающий Вступление, Панегирик и Чудеса (BHG, N 475-479; CPG, N 7645-7646). Первое греч. Житие (BHG, N 470; CPG, N 7674), сохранившееся в рукописи Vat. gr. 1607, не имеет начала, полный текст содержится в рукописях Ath. Kutlum. 37, Ath. Laur. 327 и Ambros. gr. 144. Исследователь Ж. Гаску считает, что Житие было составлено в последние десятилетия VI в. или в нач. VII в., поскольку в рукописи Ath. Kutlum. 37 (X в.) к нему примыкает описание 5 чудес К. и И. (BHG, N 479b), датируемое 24-м годом правления имп. Ираклия (т. е. 634/35). Второе греч. Житие (BHG, N 469; CPG, N 7673) в рукописи Vat. gr. 1607 имеет лакуны; целиком текст содержится в рукописи ГИМ. Син. греч. 162 (380), 1022 г. ( Владимир (Филантропов). Описание. С. 572) и в Минологии X/XI в. (Glasgow. Gen. 1112). Оба Жития были изданы Ж. П. Минем под именем свт. Софрония I, однако, по всей видимости, ему не принадлежат. Существуют также редакция Жития К. и И., составленная в X в. Симеоном Метафрастом (BHG, N 471) и переведенная на лат. язык в XVI в. Лаврентием Сурием, и еще одна более поздняя редакция в Минологии XII в. (Berolin. SB. gr. 220), начало которой было опубликовано Т. Ниссеном, отметившим имеющиеся в ней заимствования из Метафрастовой редакции ( Nissen. 1939. P. 68-71). Ниссен установил, что лат. перевод данной версии был выполнен в 1643 г. болландистом Отто ван Зейлом по рукописи Berolin. SB. gr. 220 или по ее копии. Кроме того, ван Зейл перевел 15 описаний чудес из корпуса мон. Софрония (BHG, N 479а; ActaSS. Ian. T. 2. P. 1084-1095). |
| The Legacy of Patriarch Abraham On Authentic and Imagined Monotheism. Part 1: Christianity Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) The Old Testament Trinity - The hospitality of Abraham Monotheism is not only the oldest but also the original form of religion. This is recognized both by Christian theologians as well as by many historians of religion. In the first chapter of the book of Genesis, only one God is mentioned. There are no references to any other " gods " : " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth " (Gen. 1:1); " And the Lord said... " (Gen. 6:3); " And God saw... " (Gen. 6:5); " Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he " (Gen. 6:22). The retreat from monotheism took place after the events of the tower of Babel. The fallen nature of man was increasingly rooted in sin. Gradually, the notion of God became obscure. In human life, sensual and carnal inclinations prevailed. The deep-seated habit of attaching value only to that which is entirely visible and tangible, as well as a vital dependence on the natural environment and a fear of the natural elements, led people to deify the sun, moon, stars, sea, rivers, mountains, animals, plants, and people (rulers and heroes). As the Holy Apostle Paul writes, idolaters " changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator " (Rom. 1:25). At that time, pagan nonbelief was ubiquitous. It had even infected those who descended from Patriarch Abraham. The Lord speaks through Joshua to the Jews: " our fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods " (Josh. 24:2). God called upon Abraham and took him from the land of his ancestors in order to keep intact true veneration of the Divine, by which Abraham differed from his other contemporaries: " And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan " (Josh. 24:3). |
| There are two misunderstandings about marriage which should be rejected in Orthodox dogmatic theology. The love that exists between a man and a woman is an important theme in many books of Scripture. The Book of Genesis, in particular, tells us of holy and pious couples, such as Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel. A special blessing, bestowed on these couples by the Lord, was made manifest in the multiplication of their descendants. Love is praised in the Song of Songs, a book which, in spite of all allegorical and mystical interpretations in patristic tradition, does not lose its literal meaning. The very attitude of God to the people of Israel is compared in the Old Testament with that of a husband to his wife. This imagery is developed to such an extent that unfaithfulness to God and idolatry are paralleled with adultery and prostitution. When St Paul speaks about marital love as the reflection of the love which exists between Christ and the Church (cf. Eph.5:20-33), he develops the same imagery. The mystery of marriage was established by God in Paradise. Having created Adam and Eve, God said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen.1:28). This multiplication of the human race was to be achieved through marriage: ‘Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh’ (Gen.2:24). Marital union is therefore not a consequence of the Fall but something inherent to the primordial nature of human beings. The mystery of marriage was further blessed by the Incarnate Lord when He changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. ‘We state’, St Cyril of Alexandria writes, ‘that He (Christ) blessed marriage in accordance with the economy ( oikonomia ) by which He became man and went… to the wedding in Cana of Galilee’. There are two misunderstandings about marriage which should be rejected in Orthodox dogmatic theology. One is that marriage exists for the sole purpose of procreation. What, then, is the meaning of marriage for those couples who have no children? Are they advised to divorce and remarry? Even in the case of those who have children: are they actually supposed to have relations once a year for the sole purpose of ‘procreation’? This has never been a teaching of the Church. |
| Jesus did not live with his disciples after his resurrection as he had before his death. Filled with the glory of his divinity, he appeared at different times and places to his people, assuring them that it was he, truly alive in his risen and glorified body. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). It should be noted that the time span of forty days is used many times in the Bible and signifies a temporal period of completeness and sufficiency ( Gen 7:17; Ex 16:35, 24:18; Judg 3:11; 1 Sam 17:16; 1 Kg 19:8; Jon 3:4; Mt 4:2 ). On the fortieth day after his passover, Jesus ascended into heaven to be glorified on the right hand of God ( Acts 1:9-11; Mk 16:19; Lk 24:51 ). The ascension of Christ is his final physical departure from this world after the resurrection. It is the formal completion of his mission in this world as the Messianic Saviour. It is his glorious return to the Father who had sent him into the world to accomplish the work that he had given him to do ( Jn 17:4-5 ). ... and lifting his hands he blessed them. While blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ... (Lk 24:51-52). The Church’s celebration of the ascension, as all such festal celebrations, is not merely the remembrance of an event in Christ’s life. Indeed, the ascension itself is not to be understood as though it were simply the supernatural event of a man floating up and away into the skies. The holy scripture stresses Christ’s physical departure and his glorification with God the Father, together with the great joy which his disciples had as they received the promise of the Holy Spirit who was to come to assure the Lord’s presence with them, enabling them to be his witnesses to the ends of earth ( Lk 24:48-53; Acts 1:8-11; Mt 28:20; Mk 16:16-14 ). In the Church the believers in Christ celebrate these very same realities with the conviction that it is for them and for all men that Christ’s departure from this world has taken place. The Lord leaves in order to be glorified with God the Father and to glorify us with himself. He goes in order to “prepare a place” for and to take us also into the blessedness of God s presence. He goes to open the way for all flesh into the “heavenly sanctuary ... the Holy Place not made by hands” ( see Hebrews 8-10 ). He goes in order send the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father to bear witness to him and his gospel in the world, making him powerfully present in the lives of disciples. |
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