| 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). |
| Arhiva Mesajul de felicitare al Patriarhului adresat mitropolitului Chiinului i al întregii Moldove Vladimir cu prilejul aniversrii a 40 de ani de la hirotonia întru iereu 22 mai 2016 12:30 Sanctitatea Sa Patriarhul Moscovei i al întregii Rusii Chiril l-a felicitat pe mitropolitul Chiinului i al întregii Moldove Vladimir cu prilejul aniversrii a 40 de ani de la hirotonia întru iereu. Înaltpreasfiniei Sale, Înaltpreasfinitului Vladimir, mitropolitul Chiinului i al întregii Moldove Înaltpreasfinia voastr! Hristos a Înviat! V felicit cordial cu aceste cuvinte afirmatoare de via ale bunavestirii pascale i v felicit cu prilejul aniversrii a 40 de ani de la hirotonia întru iereu. Actualmente, privind la roadele trudelor svârite de Dumneavoastr, a vrea s menionez c dorii s fii permanent un bun lucrtor al Viei lui Hristos. Pe parcursul a multor ani, purtând responsabilitate pentru Biserica Ortodox din Moldova încredinat grijii Dumneavoastr, cu râvn i dragoste îndeplinii aceast ascultare deloc uoar. În perioada ce s-a scurs ai svârit multe pentru dezvoltarea vieii eparhiale, parohiale i monastice. Sub conducerea Dumneavoastr sunt restaurate i construite biserici noi, este realizat activitatea de luminare, de misionarism i cea social, sunt soluionate probleme referitoare la educarea moral-duhovniceasc a generaiei tinere, la pregtirea viitorilor slujitori i nevoitori ai Bisericii lui Hristos. Este important i faptul c Dumneavoastr dorii relaii fructuoase cu puterea de stat i cea municipal, cu reprezentani ai societii civile. În condiiile contemporane ale tentaiilor i scindrilor de diferit gen, cu rbdare i ndejde în mila lui Dumnezeu v purtai crucea pus pe umerii Dumneavoastr. Îmi exprim ndejdea c sub conducerea Dumneavoastr episcopatul, clerul, cinul monahal i pstoriii evlavioi ai Moldovei vor pstra i în continuare fidelitate Ortodoxiei, îi vor aduce contribuia la furirea pcii i a concordiei civice. Pentru trudele sârguincioase i cu prilejul evenimentului semnificativ marcat de Dumneavoastr, consider just s v înmânez o panaghie memorabil. Începtorul vieii (Fapte 3:15) i înfptuitorul mântuirii noastre – Domnul – s v adauge zile i ani în slujirea Dumneavoastr pentru mrturia în continuare a atotbiruitoarei i creatoarei puteri a credinei ortodoxe. Cu dragoste întru Hristos Cel Înviat +CHIRIL, PATRIARHUL MOSCOVEI I AL ÎNTREGII RUSII Календарь ← 6 martie 2022 19 aprilie 2020 |
| The Feast and the Eucharist Sermons, Lectures Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 The Feast and the Eucharist By Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk Oct 12, 2010, 10:00 Discuss this article Printer friendly page Source: Department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate (DECR) The paper read by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk at the Assumption Readings (29 September 2010, Kiev) Your Beatitude, Your Eminences, Fathers, Brothers and Sisters: The day which followed the six days of the creation was the first feast to be celebrated as a day free from work, a day of rest and quiet (this is how the modern man understands any feast): By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (Gen. 2:2-3). The life of the primordial couple in Eden went in the context of the Sabbath rest. Man was not yet to work by the sweat of his brow to earn livelihood. He was in continued communion with God, and the world around him was in the state of harmony. The fall however put an end to this condition of paradise. Man had to give most of his time to work necessary to meet his vital needs. For communion with God, which consisted mostly in thanksgiving (eucharist in Greek), special days were assigned, which is confirmed by the biblical description of Cain’s and Abel’s sacrifices. It means that already at that time there was a ritual of feast-sacrifice fixed for a certain season and there were certain obligations of man before God expressed in thanksgiving through sacrifice. The Bible repeatedly speaks of sacrifices made by people in gratitude to the Creator for His mercy. These included the sacrifices made by Noah at the end of the Flood (see, 8:20-22), and Abraham near Bethel (see, Gen. 12:8) and the sacrifices near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron (see, Gen. 13:18), and in Beersheba (see, Gen. 26:23-25). Jacob set up an altar in Shechem (see, Gen. 33:18-20). The Lord ordered Jacob to build an altar in Bethel where He had appeared to him earlier when he was fleeing from Esau (see, Gen. 35:1), etc. |
| 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). |
| Материал из Православной Энциклопедии под редакцией Патриарха Московского и всея Руси Кирилла Содержание ГНЕВ [греч. ορϒ, θυμς, лат. furor], 1. Г. Божий; 2. Страстная раздражительность, один из основных человеческих пороков. В НЗ и у св. отцов чаще встречается слово ορϒ (напр., сущ.: Мк 3. 5; Иак 1. 19; Кол 3. 8; 1 Тим 2. 8; Еф 4. 31; прил. ρϒλον: Тит 1. 7; глагольные формы: Мф 5. 22; 18. 34; 22. 7; Лк 14. 21; 15. 28; Еф 4. 26), к-рое происходит от ρϒομαι ( Theodoret. In Gen. 95) или от ρϒν ( Isid. Pel. Ep. IV 223 ). Но и θυμς со значением сильного раздражения, вспышки Г., ярости также используется достаточно часто: Лк 4. 28; Деян 19. 28; 2 Кор 12. 20; Гал 5. 20; Еф 4. 31; Кол 3. 8; Евр 11. 27). Нередко ορϒ и θυμς не различаются, и все же употребление этих 2 слов рядом, напр. в НЗ, свидетельствует об их различии (Еф 4. 31: πικρα κα θυμς κα ρϒ - в синод. пер.: «раздражение, и ярость, и гнев»; Кол 3. 8: ρϒν, θυμν, κακαν - в синод. пер.: «гнев, ярость, злобу»; ср.: Macar. Aeg. I-II 40. 1). Раздражение (θυμς) и Г. кажутся почти одним и тем же, пишет прп. Исидор Пелусиот , но 1-е указывает на быстрое движение страсти, похищающее и способность мыслить, а 2-й - на долговременное пребывание в страсти. 1-е берет свое название от слова αναθυμασις - воспламенение, а 2-й от ορϒν - вскисать и αμνες ερν - желать отмщения ( Isid. Pel. Ep. III 125). Свт. Василий Великий объясняет различие раздражения и Г. след. образом: «...раздражение (θυμς) есть какое-то воспламенение и скорое испарение страсти, а гнев (ρϒ) - постоянная скорбь и продолжительное стремление воздать равным тому, кто обидел, так что душа как бы жаждет мщения»,- и то и другое является грехом: и когда человек безумно кидается на обидчика, и когда злонамеренно расставляет ему сети ( Basil. Magn. Hom. 10. 6//PG. 31. Col. 369). Для обозначения гневной страсти в различных оттенках ее проявления употребимы и такие слова, как πικρα (раздражение), παροξυσμς (ожесточение), μνις (неудовольствие), κτος (злоба). Прп. Иоанн Кассиан Римлянин выделяет 3 рода Г.: 1-й (θυμς - ярость) пылает внутри; 2-й прорывается в слово и дело (ρϒ); 3-й вспыхивает не на короткое время, но сохраняется долго (μνησικακα - злопамятство) ( Ioan. Cassian. Collat. V 11). Свт. Тихон Задонский определяет злобу как утвердившийся, «закоснелый и застарелый», Г. (Т. 5. С. 229). |
| Christ is not calling us to reject our life, but to sanctify it: to bring every aspect of our life to the service of the kingdom, to remember that the goal of Christian life is theosis—a union with Christ and ascension of our nature to the right side of the Father, not shop-osis—a union with groceries and ascension to the nearest shopping mall. In today’s Gospel reading (Matt. 6:22-33), Christ urges us not to be anxious about our lives and bodies—what we shall eat, drink, or wear (25). But how can this be, if we must eat and drink, and clothe ourselves? Are we not earthly beings, who are bound by laws of biological existence? Do we not come from our forefather Adam, who is dust (Gen. 3:19), and as he was so we also are (1 Cor. 15:48)? This is true; we are descendants of Adam, and find ourselves in a fallen state. We sustain our lives by devouring the created world, we wrap out bodies in that which is corruptible, our soul draws its inspiration from the lusts and desires of our bodies, and our spirit feeds on the passions of the soul. This is the order of life that has become habitual to us, but it is not natural for us; God did not create us for such an existence. Christ came to restore our nature, to lift us out of the fallen state, and to give a new and original order to our lives. Our spirit must now find nourishment in God, the source of being; our soul must be inspired by things divine, even as the spirit draws it to God; even our bodies must not live “by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4; RSV here et passim ), that is to say, by Christ Himself, Who is the Word of God; and instead of our old corrupt nature, we must now put on new nature (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10)—Christ Himself (Gal. 3:27). And as He is, so we also are (1 Cor. 15:48). Finding the basis of our being in the things of this temporal world, we mold our lives in accordance with that which is not the source of being, and today is, “but tomorrow is thrown into the oven” (Luke 12:28). By being anxious about corruptible things, in other words, by treating them as treasure, as something that has worth, we unite our hearts to corruption; for where our treasure is, there our heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). |
| Tweet Нравится Open Unto Us the Doors of Mercy A Homily on the Nativity of the Theotokos Archimandrite Cleopa (Ilie) Fresco, Studenica Monastery, Serbia (1304). Thy Nativity, O Virgin, Hath proclaimed joy to the whole universe! The Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, Hath shone from Thee, O Theotokos! By annulling the curse, He hath bestowed a blessing. By destroying death, He hath granted us eternal Life. Troparion of the Feast Beloved faithful! When I think of the great honor and glory with which the Most-Good and Most-Generous God has adorned in the heavens the Mother of God, when I think about the eternal doxology with which the heavenly powers praise Her, then, when I think about those services and prayers which all the children of the Church of Christ lift up to Her here on the earth, and of the laudatory words composed in Her honor by those holy and elect of God, the thought enjoins me, foolishly, to add today, to the bright feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, this tiny droplet to the great sea of praises in Her honor. This is what I would like to say. My beloved brothers in Christ, have you ever pondered why the holy and divine fathers who composed the Synaxarion and established the feasts of the Lord, adorning the course of the year of the Lord, began with the Nativity of the Theotokos and ended with Her Dormition ? After all we, as you know, in the first month of the new Church year, on September 21, celebrate the Nativity of Most Holy Theotokos, and in the last month of the Church year, on August 28, we celebrate her Dormition. The mystical reason why the year begins and ends with feasts of the Theotokos is that the All-Merciful God was pleased to begin and finalize His plan for the salvation of mankind from servitude to the devil and the torments of hell by the intercession of the Mother of God. Understand, dear brothers, that God opened His Divine plan for the salvation of the world through the Theotokos already at the beginning of the world, when He told Eve that her seed would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). For about Christ it was said “Seed of the Woman” as having been born not from the seed of a man. At the very beginning of the world the All-Good God already through the old Eve in this mysterious way pointed to the new, spiritual Eve, that is to the Mother of God, able to bear in the fullness of time the New Adam, Christ, Who by His Incarnation crushed the head of the serpent, and death, and sin, for as in Adam all die, so in Christ all are quickened (cf. 1 Cor. 15:22). |
| Why is the Orthodox Church Against Homosexuality? Question: Why is the Orthodox Church so categorically against homosexuality? I am not talking about gay parades; I myself do not see any point in them, although I am a woman living with a woman. How are we different? Why are we any more sinful than everyone else? We are also human beings. Why the negative feelings? Thank you. The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah, by John Martin. 1852. The holy fathers teach us to distinguish the sin from the person whose soul is sick and needs healing of a serious ailment. We feel compassion for such a person. However, it is not possible to heal someone who persists in his blindness and does not see his disastrous state. Holy Scripture calls any violation of Divine law a sin (see. 1 Jn. 3:4). The Lord and Creator bestowed particular emotional and physical qualities upon man and woman so that they would complete each other and thus make a unity. The Holy Bible witnesses that marriage, as a constant, lifetime union between a man and a woman, was instituted by God at the very onset of human existence. According to the Creator’s plan, the meaning and goal of marriage is joint salvation, united labor, mutual assistance, and physical union for the purpose of having children and raising them. Of all earthly unions, marriage is the most intimate: They shall be one flesh (Gen. 2:24). When people have a sexual life outside of marriage, they corrupt the Divine plan for a grace-filled, lifetime union, relegating everything to a sensual-physiological level, casting aside the spiritual and social goals. Therefore, the Holy Bible calls any cohabitation outside of the bonds of marriage a mortal sin, for it tramples upon the Divine institution of marriage. An even more serious sin is the indulgence of sensual desires by unnatural means: And thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination (Lev. 18:22). This applies equally to women. The Apostle Paul calls this a vile affection, shameful, unseemly: For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet (Rom. 1:26–27). People who live in sodomite sin are deprived of salvation: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9–10). |
| Превратившаяся в соляной столп жена Л. довольно рано в христ. традиции стала рассматриваться в качестве символа того, что все, вступившие на путь добродетели, «не должны снова возвращаться к диаволу и миру, от которых отреклись и избавились», и наглядной иллюстрацией евангельских слов о том, что «никто, возложивший руку свою на плуг и озирающийся назад, не благонадежен для Царствия Божия» (Лк 9. 62; ср.: Лк 17. 31-32 - Cypr. Carth. Exhort. mart. 4; ср.: Athanas. Alex. Vita Antonii. 2; Clem. Rom. Ep. I ad Cor. 12). Этот инцидент получает в трудах отдельных авторов символическую интерпретацию, указывая т. о. на «Церковь, которая есть соль земли, осталась в пределах земли и подвержена человеческому» ( Iren. Adv. haer. IV 31. 3). Климент Александрийский видит иносказательно суть этого образа в том, чтобы «приправить и подсолить того, кто обладает способностью духовного видения» ( Clem. Alex. Strom. II 14. 61). Ориген пишет, что соль символизирует благоразумие, которого жене Л. недоставало ( Orig. In Gen. hom. 5. 3). В апокрифической и греческой литературе эллинистического периода В кумран. тексте «Апокриф на Книгу Бытие» содержится пересказ библейской истории о Л., дополненный новыми подробностями: во время пребывания в Египте Л. выступает посредником в переговорах между Авраамом и фараоном, пораженным тяжкой болезнью из-за похищения Сарры (1Q 20. 22-26). Также более подробно, чем в Библии, пересказана история пленения и освобождения Л. Авраамом, к-рый, прежде чем пойти в бой, плачет о своем племяннике, попавшем в беду (1Q 22. 3-4). Бегство из Содома. Саркофаг Лота. Ок. 340 г. (ц. Сан-Себастьяно-фуори-ле-Мура в Риме) Бегство из Содома. Саркофаг Лота. Ок. 340 г. (ц. Сан-Себастьяно-фуори-ле-Мура в Риме) В ветхозаветном апокрифе «Книга Юбилеев» от лица ангелов говорится о спасении ими Л. из Содома благодаря тому, что Господь вспомнил об Аврааме. Грех же Л. с дочерьми получает суровое осуждение: подобного ему «не было на земле от Адама до сего времени». За это преступление на небесных скрижалях начертано, что семя Л. |
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