| But whosoever, without possessing that desire of glory which makes one fear to displease those who judge his conduct, desires domination and power, very often seeks to obtain what he loves by most open crimes. Therefore he who desires glory presses on to obtain it either by the true way, or certainly by deceit and artifice, wishing to appear good when he is not. Therefore to him who possesses virtues it is a great virtue to despise glory; for contempt of it is seen by God, but is not manifest to human judgment. For whatever any one does before the eyes of men in order to show himself to be a despiser of glory, if they suspect that he is doing it in order to get greater praise – that is, greater glory – he has no means of demonstrating to the perceptions of those who suspect him that the case is really otherwise than they suspect it to be. But he who despises the judgment of praisers, despises also the rashness of suspectors. Their salvation, indeed, he does not despise, if he is truly good; for so great is the righteousness of that man who receives his virtues from the Spirit of God, that he loves his very enemies, and so loves them that he desires that his haters and detractors may be turned to righteousness, and become his associates, and that not in an earthly but in a heavenly country. But with respect to his praisers, though he sets little value on their praise, he does not set little value on their love; neither does he elude their praise, lest he should forfeit their love. And, therefore, he strives earnestly to have their praises directed to Him from whom every one receives whatever in him is truly praiseworthy. But he who is a despiser of glory, but is greedy of domination, exceeds the beasts in the vices of cruelty and luxuriousness. Such, indeed, were certain of the Romans, who, wanting the love of esteem, wanted not the thirst for domination; and that there were many such, history testifies. But it was Nero Cæsar who was the first to reach the summit, and, as it were, the citadel, of this vice; for so great was his luxuriousness, that one would have thought there was nothing manly to be dreaded in him, and such his cruelty, that, had not the contrary been known, no one would have thought there was anything effeminate in his character. Nevertheless power and domination are not given even to such men save by the providence of the most high God, when He judges that the state of human affairs is worthy of such lords. The divine utterance is clear on this matter; for the Wisdom of God thus speaks: By me kings reign, and tyrants possess the land. Proverbs 8:15 But, that it may not be thought that by tyrantsis meant, not wicked and impious kings, but brave men, in accordance with the ancient use of the word, as when Virgil says, |
| St. Alexander Nevsky, Russia’s Knight in Shining Armor Commemorated November 23/December 6 and August 30/September 12 St. Alexander Nevsky was Russia’s “ knight in shining armor.” His reputation as a man of exceptional valor and surpassing virtue inspired a visit by a German commander who told his people when he returned: “I went through many countries and saw many people, but I have never met such a king among kings, nor such a prince among princes.” The Russians called him their “prince without sin.” He was born just four years before the fierce Tatars, under the leadership of Ghengis Khan, came galloping across the steppes of Kievan Rus. The once flourishing city state—whose social, cultural and spiritual achievements boasted few rivals in Western Europe—had been weakened by quarrelling princes and attacks of warring tribes, and it was an easy prey for the massacring and pillaging Asiatic aggressors. Fortunately, the Mongol Horde’s primary interest in conquest was financial gain, and although it imposed a heavy tax on its subjects, they were left to govern themselves and retained their traditions and religion intact, Nevertheless, the yoke of foreign sovereignty was burdensome; individual princes were reduced to acting as feudal landlords for their Mongol lords, and inclinations toward s national unity—the dream of Grand Prince Vladimir —were stifled. A strong leader was needed if the land of Rus’ was to have any hope of healing internal strife, of throwing off the Tatar yoke, and establishing its identity as a nation state. The baneful effect of internal dissension was a lesson which came early to Prince Alexander, as he witnessed his father, Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, struggle with the proudly independent spirited boyars of Novgorod, It was there that the boy grew up. Like most noble youth s of his time, he had barely learned to walk before he was lifted into the saddle. Training in the martial arts was combined with an education based upon the Scriptures. Under the influence of his mother, who was popularly called “the holy queen” on account of her piety and charitable deeds, the young prince developed a profound spiritual life. He engrossed himself for hours in reading the Old and New Testaments. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Faith leaders in UK demand gay marriage rethink James Kirkup 03 June 2013 May 31, 2013 An unprecedented alliance of religious leaders has called on David Cameron to rethink his plans to allow gay people to marry, warning that the change will “devalue the meaning of marriage”. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders have signed a letter to the Prime Minister, pleading with him to abandon the legislation, which will be debated in the House of Lords next week. Allowing couples of the same sex to marry will cause “injustice and unfairness”, the signatories said, accusing Mr Cameron of rushing the legislation through Parliament to prevent proper scrutiny. The letter was signed by leaders of several Christian denominations, including Bishop Michael Hill, the Anglican Bishop of Bristol and Archbishop Bernard Longley, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham. Other Christian signatories include Bishop Angaelos of Britain’s Coptic Orthodox Church Among the leading Muslims signing the letter is Sir Iqbal Sacranie, a former head of the Muslim Council of Britain. Other signatories include: Rabbi Natan Levy, an adviser to the Board of Deputies of British Jews; Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, a Sikh community leader; and John Beard, a prominent Buddhist. The proposed law would “create a two-tier form of marriage”, they wrote. In same-sex marriages, “the importance of consummation, procreation and the welfare of children, as well as issues such as adultery have been ignored.” That, the signatories said, “devalues the meaning of marriage itself”. Mr Cameron has argued that allowing gay people to marry will address a fundamental injustice and strengthen society. The proposals have already split the Conservative Party, as half of its MPs opposed the legislation in the Commons last month. |
| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation ISIL Will Eradicate Christianity in Iraq, Syria Unless Stopped Source: Sputnik news Natalya Mihailova 19 October 2015 UK-based charity Aid to the Church in Need issued a worrying report to the British House of Lords this week, warning that Christianity could be entirely extinguished in Iraq by 2020, and be put under grave threat in Syria, if the Islamic State terrorist group is not stopped. Photo: AFP 2015/Tauseef MUSTAFA The Catholic charity’s report, ‘Persecuted & Forgotten?’, analyzing the conditions faced by Christians around the world over the past two years, noted that “extremist Islam,” most notably in the form of the Islamic State, is currently “the gravest threat” facing the religion’s adherents. The report suggested that the ongoing “vast exodus of Christians from Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East highlights the very real possibility that Christianity could soon all but disappear from much of its ancient homeland.” According to the report, with an estimated 275,000 Christians believed to remain in Iraq, up to half of them are now internally displaced, and “many, if not most” of them want to leave the country. The report also recalled the sad fact that violence in that country over the past decade has resulted in a dramatic drop in the country’s Christian population, which numbered about one million in 2003, prior to the US invasion. Noting that the country’s “Christian population has been hemorrhaging at a rate of between 60,000 and 100,000 a year,” the charity’s report suggested that “these statistics suggest that unless there is a change for the better, Christianity will be all but extinct in Iraq within five years.” The report recalled that ISIL’s capture of Mosul and Nineveh last year hit the Christian community in Iraq particularly hard, with the sacking of the two cities “arguably tearing the heart out of the Church’s presence in the country.” |
| " They feel betrayed by secular nationalist governments that failed to deliver prosperity and national pride, " he told the House of Lords in October. " They consider the national boundaries imposed by colonial powers to be artificial and obsolete. " They are uninspired by the secular culture of the West with its maximum of choice and minimum of meaning. " And they have come to believe that salvation lies in a return to the Islam that bestrode the narrow world like a colossus for the better part of a thousand years. " And the religious radicals are offering young people the chance to fight and die for their faith, winning glory on earth and immortality in heaven. " He concludes that violence in the name of religion can only be answered by the peaceful voice of religion, with Christians, Jews and Muslims coming together to reject hatred and violence. Politicisation of religion The religion editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Rupert Shortt, in his book Christianophobia, points to the politicisation of Islam and the growing conservatism of some of the faithful that have made it progressively harder for Christians and Muslims to live side by side in many countries, including Nigeria, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. He examines how war and political uprisings in the Middle East in recent years have led to between half and two-thirds of the Christians leaving the region where Christianity first took root. Islamic fundamentalism, and anti-Western sentiment come together in a toxic mix in areas with large numbers of young men, in places with high unemployment, corruption, ethnic tensions, tribal differences and land disputes. Elsewhere, even Muslims and Buddhists fight, while China has seen human rights abuses of its growing number of Christians by the ruling Communist party. Maj Gen Tim Cross, a former British Army officer and practising Christian, believes that many of the disputes ostensibly about religion are really about power and identity. " Fear generally drives conflict, and in an increasingly globalised world, hundreds of millions of people want to know who they are, and a religious identity very often provides that. Those who take on a different identity are seen as threatening. " |
| Tsarevets and the rest of Tarnovgrad had a tragic fate, however, after in 1393 AD, after a three-month siege, it became the first European capital to fall prey to the invading Ottoman Turks. This was somewhat of a logical outcome after the de facto feudal disintegration of the Second Bulgarian Empire in the second half of the 14th century. After Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander (r. 1331-1371 AD)lost his two eldest sons – Ivan in 1349 AD and Mihail in 1355 AD – in battles with the Ottoman Turks, he failed to prevent a number of Bulgarian feudal lords from seceding, and on top of that divided the remainder of the Bulgarian Tsardom between his two surviving sons. His third son Ivan Sratsimir (r. 1371-1396) received the smaller so called Vidin Tsardom, with the Danube city of Bdin (Vidin) as its capital, and his fourth son Ivan Shishman (r. 1371-1395) received the rest, the so called Tarnovo Tsardom, with the capital proper of Tarnovgrad (today’s Veliko Tarnovo). Just two decades later allBulgarian lands, disunited and even warring among themselves, fell prey to the invading Ottoman Turks, ushering Bulgaria into five centuries of Ottoman Yoke (1396-1878/1912), and signifying a practically irreversible loss of its former great power status. As the last ruler of Tarnovgrad, Tsar Ivan Shishman was not in the capital at the time it was besieged by the forces of Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389-1402 AD), its defense was led by the legendary Bulgarian Patriarch St. Euthymius (Evtimiy) of Tarnovo (ca. 1325-ca. 1402-1404 AD), the founder of the Tarnovo Literary School. After they conquered the Bulgarian capital on July 17, 1393, the Ottoman Turks slaughtered its population – an especially dramatic scene was the beheading of 110 capturedBulgarian aristocrats, and razed to the ground the Bulgarian imperial palace and the churches and monasteries of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Tsarevets and Veliko Tarnovo were liberated from the Turks in the summer of 1877 in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 that restored the Bulgarian state. |
| The English Underground If France is a shining example and the envy of Europe, the English opponents of the ligbitist agenda are shadowy resisters, still struggling for their footing. When I traveled to London to meet with about eight organizations concerned about the impact of the same-sex marriage law, I stayed with a descendant of one of the first publishers of Shakespeare’s complete works. We had to rush through Westminster Abbey in only twenty minutes between meetings, but I got to see the bust of one of my host’s ancestors. He went to Eton and Oxford. Tradition was a powerful presence. I cannot explain the difference between France and England, but the strong sense of tradition in the United Kingdom simply never sparked the fireworks that went off across the Channel. Anglicans in England are still dumbstruck by the speed with which the same-sex marriage law passed earlier this year. Many of them are impatient with the leadership of the Anglican Church, seeing clear signs that their bishops are interested in avoiding controversy. Traditionalists in England are equally enraged at the mosques in London (I met with two Muslim groups), because Muslim leaders specifically told their rank and file to remain quiet about same-sex marriage in order not to anger the Labor Party leaders who have political ties to prominent imams. One sheik I met in London for tea and crumpets (no joke) had actually been driven out of his mosque for defying those standing orders and circulating pamphlets in a Muslim neighborhood, warning residents to voice their opposition to same-sex marriage based on Islamic teaching. Britain’s aristocracy caved quickly in the House of Lords, scuttling any hopes of an eleventh-hour veto on the same-sex marriage law last summer. Then the House of Windsor failed traditionalists as well, for the Queen signed on without any fuss. One disadvantage faced by the English is owed to Henry VIII: without a large Catholic population, there simply wasn’t the massive edifice upon which activists, even if mostly secular, could rely for manpower and assistance, as there was in France. |
| Some think that John 6 (or often more specifically 6:51–58, which many regard as a separate source) addresses the Eucharist or reflects a mystic sacramentalism. 6212 Early church fathers like Ignatius and Justin interpreted the text eucharistically, 6213 but, since their thought on other subjects like monarchical bishops is developed beyond known first-century models, we need not suppose that this tendency reveals John s intention any more than such other customs do. 6214 If the passage contains sacramentalism, John could add a eucharistie emphasis to challenge secret believers to identify openly with the Johannine believers. 6215 By contrast, in view of the absence of the Lord " s Supper in the Passion Narrative of this Gospel, others suggest that John is antisacramental, or that he corrects abuse of the Lord " s Supper in a sacramental manner (cf. 1Cor 10:16 ). 6216 Many think the passage is nonsacramental or that it does not address sacramentalism at al1. 6217 To avoid implications of materially eating Christ " s flesh (cannibalism was a common early charge against Christians; see comment opening 6:52–58 above), some patristic writers like Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Augustine interpreted eating Christ " s flesh spiritually, in terms of eating by faith rather than in the Eucharist. 6218 Many scholars find here an emphasis on the necessity of faith rather than Eucharist per se. 6219 Perhaps 6:51–65 combats «a Jewish misunderstanding about the observance of «the last supper.»» 6220 Others suggest that it responds to a docetic denial of Christ " s fleshly crucifixion, manifested in rejection of a symbolic meal that points to it. 6221 If God can work through flesh as in the incarnation, then physical sacraments analogously challenge the Cerinthian or docetic worldview. 6222 Dunn suggests that John omits the Lords Supper lest he accommodate Docetists» emphasis on the ritual; 6223 he argues, «It is in the believing reception of the Spirit of Christ, the λλος παρκλητος, that we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the incarnate Christ.» 6224 As is particularly clear in 6and 6:63, John thus does not exalt the sacrament, but warns that «The eucharistie flesh avails nothing; life comes through the Spirit and words of Jesus.» 6225 As in 3:5–6, mere fleshly ritual is inadequate, and the Spirit is necessary; as in 4:23–24, only worship by the Spirit is adequate worship. |
| Ivánka’s ideas are quite hypothetical, and there are reasons for being sceptical about them; 126 nonetheless, he has found favour with some scholars, for instance I.P.Sheldon-Williams, who would summarize the doctrine of the Divine Names as the Divine Goodness, itself ineffable, making itself known at the level of intelligence as Being, Life, and Intelligence; in the soul as Wisdom, Power, and Peace; and in the physical world as Holy of Holies, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and God of Gods. 127 Whatever the structure of the treatise, the treatment of the divine names provides, on the one hand, a series of illustrations of the interrelationship between cataphatic and apophatic theology – each chapter expounds what is revealed and then beckons the mind to ascend still further by denial of what is revealed – and, on the other, the opportunity for a rather piecemeal exposition of various metaphysical themes fundamental to Denys’s understanding of the universe. We have already dwelt on the former; it remains to treat some of the latter themes. The longest chapter by far is chapter IV on the Good: this contains a long discussion of the problem of evil (which is closely dependent on a treatise by Proclus, and solves the problem of evil by identifying evil with non-being), but also introduces a number of important ideas, notably providence and love, which will provide the starting-point for the rest of this chapter. Providence The notion of providence (pronoia) casts a long shadow over Denys’s thought: he rarely talks about it explicitly, 128 but he very frequently speaks of the divine influence (in its many forms) as being ‘providential’ (pronotikos). Such an emphasis on providence is yet another sign of his affinity with Neoplatonism. For Plato, to deny that the gods exercise providence was a blasphemy drawing upon itself the gravest punishment; 129 later Platonists defended the notion of providence against the idea of fate with which the Stoics and others identified it. In Neoplatonism, providence is a dimension of the notion of procession: lower beings do not simply proceed from the One and the henads, but are the object of the providence of the henads. Proclus derives the term pronoia from ‘before mind’ (pro nou) and sees in it the transcendent form of intelligence found amongst the gods. 130 It is, as it were, the original of which thought and reasoning in minds and souls are a copy or an echo: providence contains within itself the meaning that is discerned at lower levels by thought and reasoning. 131 Providence, or pronoia, characterizes very generally the relation of the henads to lower levels of reality. |
| “I cannot conceal your rash act,” said Fortunatus, “and hence I shall report this to the sacred ears of our lords Diocletian and Maximian, the most invincible Augusti, and to the most noble Caesars, Constantine and Licinius. But you shall be handed over to the court of the praetorian prefect, the lord Aurelius Agricolanus, under the guard of the soldier Caecilius Arva.” On October 30 in the consulship of Faustus and Gallus at Tingis, when Marcellus of the city of Hasta Regia was brought in, one of the court secretaries announced, “Here before the court is Marcellus, whom the governor Fortunatus has handed over to your jurisdiction. He is submitted to your Excellency. There is also a letter here from Fortunatus, which I shall read with your permission.” Agricolanus said, “Read it.” The court clerk said, “It has already been read.” Agricolanus said, “Did you say the things reported in the governor’s official proceedings?” “I did,” replied Marcellus. Agricolanus said, “Did you serve as a centurion of the first cohort?” “I did,” replied Saint Marcellus. “What madness came over you,” said Agricolanus, “that you should renounce your military oath and say such things?” Saint Marcellus replied, “There is no madness in him who fears God.” Agricolanus said, “Did you say all that is contained in the governor’s proceedings?” “I did,” replied Saint Marcellus. Agricolanus said, “Did you throw down your weapons?” “I did,” replied Saint Marcellus, “for it is not proper for a Christian, who fears Christ the Lord, to fight for the troubles of this world.” “Since this is the case,” said Agricolanus, “Marcellus’ deeds must be punished in accordance with military procedure.” Then he spoke as follows, “Whereas Marcellus has publicly rejected and defiled the oath of the centurion’s rank in which he served, and has, according to the governor’s court reports, uttered certain words full of madness, we hereby decree that he be executed by the sword.” Case Study 5: Christian Soldiers in the Roman Army before Constantine the Great 94 |
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