| John Anthony McGuckin Old Testament EUGEN J. PENTIUC TWO TESTAMENTS, ONE BIBLE The Jewish Bible, also known as Tanakh or Hebrew Scriptures, is for the Orthodox Church the first part of the Christian Bible or Holy Scripture. It is called by Christians the Old Testament in a precise theological balance to the affirmation of the New Testament. These terms were first signaled by Origen of Alexandria in the 3rd century and were developed into a theory of interpretation using Hellenistic hermeneutics where typology was used to read the Old Testament in the light of the New (Kannengiesser 2006). The early church’s struggle with Marcion of Pontus over the Old Testament’s place and role besides the emerging Christian scriptures occupied most of the 2nd century. Marcion (d. 160) rejected the Old Testament as having any authority for Christians. He argued that the God of the Jews was totally different from, and inferior to, the Christian God. His radical view, one that was often echoed by Gnostic teachers, accelerated the broader Christian embrace of the Hebrew Scriptures as a whole, and most scholars agree that the defeat of Marcion greatly helped to fix the church’s canon of received scriptures. Another early danger, supersessionism, discernible in the indictment of the Parable of the Wicked Tenants ( Mt. 21.33–46 ) and supported by Paul’s teaching that the coming of Christ put an end to the custodian role of the Law ( Gal. 3.24–5 ; Rom. 10.4 ; cf. Heb. 8.13), led to a premature devaluation of the Old Testament among some Christian commentators. The idea that the church and its new Scripture (New Testament) superseded the old Israel and its Hebrew Scripture is attested in many early Christian writings. Even so, the church as a whole has been able to keep the two Testaments in a dialectical unity, in the main avoiding factual reductionism and supersessionism as dangers. The centrality of the Christ event in Christian tradition, not least as a key hermeneutical principle, helped in reaching this objective. |
| Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches-Message Natalya Mihailova 10 March 2014 Synaxis of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches (Phanar, March 6-9, 2014) Message In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Through the grace of God, the Primates of the Most Holy Autocephalous Orthodox Churches, to the Orthodox faithful throughout the world, all of our Christian brothers and sisters as well as every person of goodwill: we extend God’s blessing and our greeting of love and peace. “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess. 1.2-3) 1. Having convened by the grace of our compassionate God, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, at the Phanar, from March 6-9, 2014; having deliberated in fraternal love on matters concerning our Holy Church today; and concelebrating in the Patriarchal Church of St. George on the glorious occasion of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, we address you with these words of love, peace and consolation. Inasmuch as our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Orthodox Church dwells in the world, it also experiences the challenges of every age. Faithful to Holy Tradition, the Church of Christ is in constant dialogue with every period of time, suffering with human beings and sharing their anguish. For “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and to the ages” (Heb. 13.8). The trials and challenges of history are especially acute in our days, and Orthodox Christians cannot remain uninvolved or indifferent to them. This is why we have assembled “together in one place” (Acts 2.1) in order to reflect on the problems and temptations facing humanity today. “There is fighting without and fear within.” (2 Cor. 7.5) These Apostolic words are also valid for the Church today. 2. In reflecting upon people’s suffering throughout the world, we express our support for the martyrdom and our admiration for the witness of Christians in the Middle East, Africa, and other parts of the world. We call to mind their dual martyrdom: for their faith as well as for the safeguarding of their historical relationship with people of other religious conviction. We denounce the lack of peace and stability, which is prompting Christians to abandon the land where our Lord Jesus Christ was born and whence the Good News spread to the entire world. |
| The Ascension. Giotto, c.1305, Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (Heb. 4:14). Let us follow along now mentally, brethren, with the sacred writers, depicting the path of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, in the glory of His Father. This path, ending with His Ascension to the Father (Jn. 20:17) and His receiving of the Heavenly glory which He had in His Divinity before the world was (Jn. 17:5), commenced with His sufferings. Ascending up far above all heavens, our Lord had to descend first into the lower parts of the earth (Eph. 4:9-10) to disappear into the bowels of the earth, into the depths of the abyss, and be cut off from the land of the living that, having made Himself an offering of propitiation (Is. 53:8-10) for the sins of man, He could present Himself as our High Priest, able to be touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Heb. 4:15). And we see how this bearer of man’s sin, forsaken among the dead and reduced into the dust of earth (Ps. 88:5, 21:15), is the Victor over hell and death , and binds the strong man, that is, the devil (Mt. 12:29). He Who cometh from Edom … glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength (Is. 63:1), and ascended on high , receives rather the spoils of human souls saved by Him (Ps. 68:18), as the King of glory, entering through the gates of Heaven itself, to appear there as the Forerunner and Intercessor for us (Ps. 23:7-10; Heb. 6:20, 12:23-24). If, brethren, such is the path of the Ascension of Christ Himself into His glory (Lk. 24:26)—that is, a path of suffering and death—then can our path be otherwise? If He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn. 14:6), then how can we come to God the Father, if not by imitating our Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 13:15)? If our Lord Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of God, then set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth , for if we have died with Him, then, according to the apostle, our lives must now be hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:1-3). Let us mortify our earthly passions and thoughts (Col. 3:5) in order to have our citizenship in Heaven (Phil. 3:20), and with our purified minds to follow Christ, the Lord of our lives, Who has ascended into Heaven and is drawing us there where He is. Let us prepare our minds with contemplation and prayer for that spiritual joy with which the apostles were filled as they stood watching Christ as He ascended from Earth to Heaven, and afterwards returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Lk. 24:52; Acts 1:10-12). |
| Archive Congratulation sent by Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on his 75th birthday 20 November 2021 year 14:47 His Beatitude Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, congratulated His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on his 75th birthday. Your Holiness, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain… I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far (Phil. 1:21, 23). With these words St. Paul calls all, especially the archpastors of the Church, to focus their life around Christ. For in Him we live and move and have our being… (Acts 17:28). Each day of our life belongs to Him. Our life and our death are in His hands (cf. Phil. 1:20). Christ leads us through earthly life to today’s Golgotha and puts us, just as He did St. John, at the foot of the cross and asks us what else we can do for the Church. He has made everything, and we should preserve these inexhaustible reaches received on Golgotha, i.e., the faithful standing with Him in the evening of our life and in the morning of our resurrection. With the Easter’s “Christ is Risen”, we raise the depressed world and it becomes new. Never before has our service of Christ been so important as it is today. Concern for the healthy Orthodox ecclesiastical family has become for us the primary task of our archpastoral ministry. Faith, hope, love and wisdom are our success. Humbleness and unity are our fortress. The Word of God is our sword. The destiny of our Church is victory and resurrection. Everything passes while Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). He is the corner stone. We and our Church are the foundation built on it. Your Holiness, today marks the 75 years of your life on earth and this year marks the 45 years of your episcopal ministry and 12 years of your Patriarchal service. Your Holiness, you, like a solid foundation, hold the walls of the Russia Orthodox Church. You take upon yourself all the blows of the wave of the modern world. Under your wise archpastoral omophorion the Russian Church is developing, and attention is given in much of this to the whole Orthodoxy, which is in crisis today. I congratulate Your Holiness on your 75th birthday and wish you much spiritual joy, good health and successful fight for the salvation of many. I remember with gratitude the visit of Your Holiness to the Polish land. Your Patriarchal blessing and witness to the Lord’s truth before our society stands to this day. May the Lord save you for this! Once again, I greet you on your 75th birthday, brotherly embrace Your Holiness and exclaim, Many Years of life to Your Holiness! With love in Christ, + Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| From an interview published in Trud, Pascha 2012. There is no death Archimandrite Tiikhon (Shevkunov) Photo: V. Kornushin/Pravoslavie.ru —Father Tikhon, why is Pascha celebrated each time not as the anniversary of the Resurrection of Christ but as the Resurrection itself? —The Apostle Paul made an astonishing revelation about two thousand years ago. He said, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Heb. 13:8). Christians feel the great power of these words, if their faith is not just matter of tradition but rather a living faith; if they also feel and live their communion with God as the most important reality of their lives. This relates also to the Resurrection. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) it is impossible to convey this through mere theoretical postulates. This is just how God has ordained it. If faith were no more than a theory, Christ’s Church would have withered only a few years after it began. After all, our faith is something different, it is like a living connection between God and His people, between God Who became man—Jesus Christ, and each one of us Christians. The living feeling of the pulse of eternity, which responds in every Christian, is especially felt on the feast of Pascha, the Resurrection. Little children are aware until they grow up that death is something completely foreign, incomprehensible, and unnatural to man. We adults remember well this perception of the realty of eternity in our childhood as one of the constants of existence of a person only recently come into the world. There are not many such constants for children, but to them they are an undoubted truth. They are their mother’s love, the daily revelation of a beautiful world, and the sureness that their existence and the existence of all those they love is eternal. We even have a song that goes, " Let mama be forever, let me be forever. " But even in adulthood, and even at the end of one’s life, a sense of the absurdity of his own death never leaves him up to the last minutes. Every doctor and every priest can testify to this.This is by no means some sort of psychological phenomenon or self-deception. It is an astonishing reality that is open to a person.The Resurrection of Christ tells us that we are not mistaken: There is no death for a human soul, for a human personality. The revelation of the life of the age to come, the kingdom that is not of this world, and the invitation to it is the very essence of the Gospel, the main significance of the Resurrection, and the essence of the matter of Jesus Christ in the human race. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Cross JOHN A. MCGUCKIN Orthodox theology approaches the cross of Christ most characteristically as a trophy of divine glory. It is the cipher above all others that sums up and encapsulates the love and mercy of the Lord for his adopted race. It is the “sign of salvation,” the icon of hope. In many Orthodox painted crosses the title bar does not read “Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews” (INRI in Latin, INBI in Greek, IHЦI in Slavonic), but is made to read “The Lord of Glory,” and often on Orthodox devotional crosses one reads marked there the generic superscription Philanthropos Theos: “The God Who Loves Mankind.” At first, early Christian theology demonstrated mainly a horrified sense of awe that the powers of wickedness could treat the Lord in such a violent way (Acts 2.22–35). But the tone was decidedly that God’s glorification of his servant Jesus far outweighed the dishonor that the dark spiritual powers tried to inflict. The Apostle Peter, in his speech to the people of Jerusalem, sums it up in the words: “God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2.36). There is a regular contrasted pairing of the ideas of humiliation (in the cross) and exalted glorification of Jesus by God (because of the faithfulness to the point of crucifixion) such as can be seen in the ancient hymn which the Apostle Paul quotes ( Phil. 2.6–11 ), as well as in the schemes of Ascent (Anabasis) and Descent (Katabasis) that structure St. John’s theology of crucifixion and glorification in his profound gospel (cf. Jn. 3.13–15 ). St. Paul took a decisive step when he made the cross not merely a scandal to be explained away but a mystery of faith and God’s love that ought to be celebrated as pivotal ( Gal. 6.14 ). The cross in Christian use was already, and rapidly, shifting away from a thing of shame to being the great sign of the new covenant of reconciliation ( Eph. 2.16 ; Col. 1.20; Heb. 12.2). In the early apologists and apostolic fathers the cross is rarely mentioned (though see Ignatius of Antioch, Letters to the Ephesians 9.1; 18.1; To the Trallians 11.2; To the Philadelphians 8.2). But popular devotion to it as a confident symbol of Christian victory over the powers of this world was steadily growing, as can be seen in the appearance in art and inscription from the 2nd century onwards of the cross-shaped monogram Fos – Zoe (“Light and Life in the Cross”: one must imagine the words written at right angles to one another, Fos down vertically, Zoe horizontally, making a cross, with the middle letter of both being shared in common). |
| Looking back on 2015 with OrthoChristian.com Another year is quickly drawing to a close, while the new is preparing to dawn upon us. Everywhere people will make resolutions for the coming twelve months in hopes of improving their lives and relationships. Every year, no matter how the prior passed, we look ahead to the new, filled with the expectation of something brighter, something better. As Orthodox Christians, dedicated to living according to the Truth of Jesus Christ, we understand truly what it means to move ahead to something “better.” For those of us united to Christ in His Body, the Church, through the life-giving font of holy Baptism, we understand that He alone is that Light which brightens the world, and it is only as we move nearer to Him that we can begin to glimpse that better future. The divine Scriptures teach us put not your trust in princes, in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation (Ps. 146:3), and 2015, with its bloody conflicts throughout the world, further revelation of Planned Parenthood’s murderous practices, and the legislative march into Sodom, has taught us nothing if not that it is on Christ that we must singularly focus our gaze. While the world and its moral compass changes as fast as time, Christ our God stands outside of time, the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8), and it is this stability and constant Truth that provides the framework for our lives, and for understanding and navigating through the maze of modern life. OrthoChristian.com aims to provide our readers with such timeless truths to edify and inspire us on our paths of repentance—trusting not in sons of men but in the Son of Man. In view of this, we present here some of our favorite original pieces of the preceding year, offering commentary on the events of the year and other soul-profiting material from the well-spring of Orthodox wisdom, a review of which can serve to spring us into the coming year with a renewed focus on Christ and our never-ending path towards Him and towards a “better” and “brighter” future. |
| Marriage: The Great Sacrament A Sermon delivered in the Church of St. Nicholas, Trikala, Greece, 17 January, 1971 On (June 25/July 8), the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Saints Peter and Febronius, and the nation celebrates an official " Day of " Family, Love, and Faithfulness. " To honor the day, we have posted a classic homily on this theme by Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra, Mount Athos from the website, Orthodox Christian Information Center. Fr. Aimilianos gives excellent advice not only to young people thinking about marriage, but also to married couples, who are carrying their saving cross in life, travelling together as one body to the Kingdom of Heaven. Nobody would dispute that the most important day in a person's life, after his birth and baptism, is that of his marriage. It is no surprise, then, that the aim of contemporary worldly and institutional upheavals is precisely to crush the most honorable and sacred mystery of marriage. For many people, marriage is an opportunity for pleasures and amusements. Life, however, is a serious affair. It is a spiritual struggle, a progression toward a goal—heaven. The most crucial juncture, and the most important means, of this progression is marriage. It is not permissible for anyone to avoid the bonds of marriage, whether he concludes a mystical marriage by devoting himself to God, or whether he concludes a sacramental one with a spouse. Today we will concern ourselves primarily with sacramental marriage. We will consider how marriage can contribute to our spiritual life, in order to continue the theme of our previous talk. We know that marriage is an institution established by God. It is " honorable " (Heb 13.4). It is a " great mystery " (Eph 5.32). An unmarried person passes through life and leaves it; but a married person lives and experiences life to the full. One wonders what people today think about the sacred institution of marriage, this " great mystery " , blessed by our Church. They marry, and it's as if two checking accounts or two business interests were being merged. Two people are united without ideals, two zeros, you could say. Because people without ideals, without quests, are nothing more than zeros. " I married in order to live my life " , you hear people say, " and not to be shut inside four walls " . " I married to enjoy my life " , they say, and then they hand over their children—if they have children—to some strange woman so they can run off to the theater, the movies, or to some other worldly gathering. And so their houses become hotels to which they return in the evening, or, rather, after midnight, after they've had their fun and need to rest. Such people are empty inside, and so in their homes they feel a real void. They find no gratification there, and thus they rush and slide from here to there, in order to find their happiness. |
| May God Give You Wisdom! The Letters of Fr. John Krestiankin. On the Work of a Pastor / On the Work of a Pastor Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8) Pastorship is one of the great treasures of salvation, granted and blessed by Christ through His Holy Church. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine … and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd (Jn. 10:14, 16). And they have gone, and go even now, and save themselves, embodying God’s will in life. God’s Church and God’s world were created by instructorship, preaching, and pastorship. God’s Church lived in unity of spirit and peaceful union. The Church grew and flourished during the centuries of the great ecumenical teachers, Holy Fathers, holy elders, martyrs, and the people of God. Obedience to the Church and its Fathers formed the great work of mankind’s salvation. The voice of truth, heard and received by the heart, continued the truth of life, while the reply and reward for this truth was the gift of God – piety shown forth in its great strength. What nourished the truth of life? What fed and raised up people of spirit, strength, and courage? First of all, faith in God the Creator and Provider; second, love for God and awareness of His boundless magnificence and goodness; together with the humble awareness of one’s ultimate infirmity and inadequacy. The great ideals of purity and holiness gave birth to the desire to live and labor in the name of these ideals, and humility rewarded those laborers with strength from God and their perfection. Faith, love, and humility were the sure guides of those people in the swirling sea of life, leading them into true life, sincerity, and simplicity. The people of God lived in one spirit with their pastors, with one and the same understanding and yearning for salvation. The power to bind and loose, given to father confessors by the Savior, bound them with the great responsibility for the souls of their flock, enabling their formation, and not their destruction. |
| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf THE WAY THE WAY (also called the Two Ways). In Scripture (q.v.): Participation in the Kingdom of God and salvation are tied to ethical and mission-oriented action. This action is symbolically described as “The Way of the Lord.” The Two Ways for men and women are 1) the way of the Lord, or the good and right way ( Gen 18:19 ; Ps 18:21, 25:9 ; 1Sam 12:23 ); and 2) the way of evil, that of sinners and the wicked ( Ps 1:1 ; Prov 2:12 ; Jer 18:11 ; Ezek 3:18 ). Although a person’s way may be either good or evil (1 Kgs 8:36; Gen 6:12 ) depending on his free will, the way of the Lord is always right, perfect, just, and true. As the Old Testament text states, the Lord desires not the death of anyone, but that he turn from the evil way and live. When God began to teach and lead his people under the first covenant, the way of the Lord was identified with the Mosaic Law. Jesus talks about the way in his teaching ministry: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life and those who find it are few” ( Mt 7:13–14 ). The New Testament writers saw the way of the Lord, as it was proclaimed by the prophets, completed and fulfilled in Christ ( Mt 3:3 ; Mk 1:2–3 ; Lk 3:4 ; Jn 1:23 ; 1Cor 12:31 ). In John’s Gospel (14ff.), Jesus says to the disciples “and where I go you know the way . . . I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” The “new and living way” (Heb 10:20) to God was made possible by Christ as a way of salvation, of truth, and of peace. Thus, Luke rightly identifies Christianity as “the Way” and emphasizes this repeatedly. The Two Ways in the Qumran documents (“Dead Sea Scrolls”): These antedate Jesus and are a condensed course in ethics or proper moral behavior. This religious community had as its purpose to keep the Law and the Covenant in the True Way. Unfortunately, members of the community were taught “to be unremitting in hatred towards all men of ill repute, and to be minded to keep in seclusion from them.” Jesus and Joh n the Baptist were, no doubt, familiar with the Qumran Community. The genius of Joh n the Baptist as he is described in the New Testament, and as distinct from the Qumran community, lies in the fact that he did not limit the practice and preaching of the Good Way to a closed community. |
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