| Craig S. Keener The close of the Gospel. 21:24–25 MANY SCHOLARS THINK THAT the emphasis on the conditional nature of the questions (21:22–23) suggests that disappointment with the beloved disciplés death existed in the early church. 10963 That is, Jesus apparently said something about some disciples remaining until he returned, which the Synoptics already apply to the transfiguration ( Mark 9:1–2 ; Matt 16:28–17:2; Luke 9:27–29); the death of the last disciple could well provoke some confusion about the meaning of such a saying. In such a case, 21:24–25 would likely constitute a later addition to the text (especially if one accepts the rest of ch. 21 as part of the Gospel), which is the view of most scholars. It can read like a miniature letter of recommendation (cf. Rom 16:2 ; 1Cor 4:17; 16:10 ; Phil 2:19 ; Col 4:7; Phlm 17; 3 John 12 ). 10964 At the same time, the disciple himself could issue the same sort of warning as he was recognizing his age and impending death; the Lord might well not return in his lifetime. If the disciple remains alive at the time of the Gospel " s completion, this could help explain the present tense of μαρτρων in 21:24, 10965 although one could also interpret 21otherwise (e.g., the disciplés witness continues to live even if the disciple does not; see comment on 19:35). The community («we») may second the verdict of the singular voice in 19:35, which commends the truth of the beloved disciplés witness, unless this represents an editorial «we,» 10966 which many argue, on the basis of Johannine style in general, seems less likely. 10967 The concluding verse (21:25) harks back to 20:30, 10968 suggesting that it stems either from the author or from those close enough to the author to understand and articulate his mind. At least the plural in 21:24, however, would seem to represent others, 10969 perhaps the Johannine circle of disciples, 10970 confirming the veracity of the beloved disciplés witness. 10971 Ancient Mediterranean legal documents typically listed witnesses at the end of the document, 10972 just as the book (perhaps of life?) in Revelation is sealed with seven attesting seals. 10973 Nonlegal documents could also follow the legal pattern and cite a past figurés saying as if citing a closing legal testimony (Seneca Nat. 5.18.16). |
| Туманное утро во Франции, урожай тыкв из США, прогулка с малышами в Царском Селе Самое красивое время года в подборке фотографий со всего мира 1. Олень на рассвете. Деревня Городиловичи, Белоруссия 22 октября 2017 года Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty 2. Путешественники наслаждаются теплым осенним днем в Швейцарии 12 октября 2017 года Denis Balibouse/Reuters 3. Орво, Франция 17 октября 2017 года Stephane Mahe/Reuters 4. Тыквы выставлены на продажу на ярмарке Maple Acres в Пенсильвании 17 октября 2017 года Matt Rourke/AP 5. Солнце садится за виноградником Остховен недалеко от Страсбурга, Франция 17 октября 2017 года Christian Hartmann/Reuters 6. Дети играют в листве в городе Алма-Ата, Казахстан 13 октября 2017 года Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters 7. На ярмарке Maple Acres в Пенсильвании 17 октября 2017 года Matt Rourke/AP 8. Китайские фермеры убирают урожай риса в восточной провинции Цзянсу 23 октября 2017 года AFP/Getty 9. Птицы на закате в Канзас-Сити, США 18 октября 2017 года Charlie Riedel/AP 10. Вид с воздуха на кукурузные поля в штате Висконсин, США 25 сентября 2017 года CC BY-SA PJ Nelson 11. Двухлетняя девочка и ее мама гуляют по туннелю из деревьев на старой римской дороге неподалеку от городка Халнакер в Великобритании 16 октября 2017 года Dan Kitwood/Getty 12. Силуэты дубовых листьев на фоне солнца во Франции 16 октября 2017 года Loic Venance/AFP/Getty 13. Человек идет через утренний туман в Лионе 12 октября 2017 года Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty 14. Женщина гуляет с малышом в Царском Селе 17 октября 2017 года Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty 15. Парк Хумлегорден, Стокгольм 18 октября 2017 года Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty 16. Осенние деревья в Висконсине Фото сделано с помощью дрона 17 октября 2017 года CC BY-SA PJ Nelson 17. Пара фотографируется напротив стены, увитой плющом, в Лондоне 16 октября 2017 года Carl Court/Getty 18. Солнце поднимается над статуей Христа во Франции 17 октября 2017 года REUTERS/Christian Hartmann 19. Осеннее утро в швейцарской деревне |
| Patriarch Bartholomew: Our Churches are Called to a Common Ministry and Mission Address By His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew To The National Council of Churches Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch 25 April 2014 Distinguished members of the Council of Churches, Beloved colleagues and friends, It is a great joy always to meet with colleagues and coworkers in the ecumenical field, who are laboring to serve the people of God in a united manner, faithful to the teachings and commandments of the Lord. Of course, every Christian is called to follow the way of Christ and respond to the needs of “the least of our brothers and sisters,” in whom Christ is manifested. Nevertheless, when our Churches humbly work together, the blessing is always more fruitful and more tangible. For, the truth is that, as individual communities, we are “fragile sticks,” to adopt the words of the Prophet Ezekiel (chapter 37, verses 15-28). Together, however, we can become one people under one God, neither divided among ourselves nor defiling the covenant of the Lord. This means that our Churches are called to a common ministry and mission, proclaiming and promoting a worldview in which God’s authority – the authority of the kingdom – guides our ways and determines our actions. If, we are to submit to the authority of God, then we must be authentic and prophetic in our criticism of the world’s poverty and suffering, as well as the world’s greed and consumerism. We must remember and remind our faithful that “the earth and all the fullness thereof” belongs to the Lord (cf. Psalm 24.1), that the world’s resources must always be oriented toward our brothers and sisters. We must recall the Lord’s beatitude, according to which “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5.5). For the meek person is the one who reverses the world’s attitudes to power and possessions; otherwise, the world becomes a place of division and violence. Meekness is ultimately a way of caring, a way of sharing. And it stands as a contrast and correction to the division and desecration that we have brought into God’s creation. |
| On Tithing Sadly, nowadays not very many Orthodox Christian communities can care for the poor, send missionaries, or even hold daily services to the One Who continually cares for us. The priests and deacons who serve in the Holy Altar are forced to leave God’s services and, in violation of canon law, obtain secular employment in order to feed themselves and their families. Source: Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov’s blog The Church is the Body of Christ, and just as Christ united in Himself human and heavenly nature, in the Church the heavenly is united with the earthly. The Church is not only comprised of apostles, saints, and holy monks, but also of us—exactly in as much as we submit our earthly selves to the heavenly—”I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20); in as much as we live in Christ. As the Lord builds His Heavenly Church through the saints, He builds the Earthly Church through us. In the Old Testament times, God gave His people commandments by which they could live righteous lives that were pleasing to God. One of the commandments was a law about tithing. Having received earthly blessings, the people of God gave the first and best—a tenth of all they had—for the upkeep of God’s Temple. The Temple of the Lord was magnificent and the services went on without ceasing. Now that we no longer live under the law; we are not required to fulfill the Old Testament commandments: we don’t have to eat kosher foods, nor are we forced to tithe ten percent of our income. But Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). That is, He came to fulfill with everything perfect and good; and now it is not the fulfillment of commandments that God requires of His people, but holiness: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). It is no longer “an eye for an eye,” but “love” (Matt. 22:39); no longer “give ten percent”, but “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me ” (Matt. 25:40). |
| Tweet Нравится Irenical letter of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew addressed to the Patriarch of Romania Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Source: Basilica News Agency December 23, 2015 Your Beatitude and Most Holy Daniel, Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Wallachia and Patriarch of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Romania, our dearly beloved and cherished brother and concelebrant in Christ, we embrace Your venerable Beatitude fraternally in the Lord and greet you most joyfully. Having reached the holy days of the inexpressible condescension and Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hasten with heartfelt love and esteem, as we do each year, to embrace Your illustrious Beatitude and Your entire Church, congratulating you that " God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons " (Gal. 4:4-5). All of creation rejoices at this event. The angels and the shepherds, the cave and the manger invite us to glorify God in the highest, worshipping the Saviour born as an infant. The Son and Word of God, the divine power and wisdom, is born unto us as an insignificant and defenseless child, subjected to humankind, in order tangibly to prove that " God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength " (1 Cor. 1:25), thereby establishing a " new creation in Christ " (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). This new period of God's grace implies a new understanding of the world, a new way of thinking and acting with indiscriminate love to all as our compass: " Love your enemies " (Matt. 5:44, Luke 6:27 and 35). Thus, the new-born child lives as the Son of man and the Son of God acquires the right to decide emphatically: " Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. 18:3), asking us to " be transformed by the renewing of our minds " (cf. Rom. 12:2) and " be infants in evil " (cf. 1 Cor. 14:20). |
| Homily by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Joint Prayer Service (Holy Sepulcher, May 25, 2014) Source: Apostolic Pilgrimage to Jerusalem Lastly, this sacred Tomb invites us to shed another fear that is perhaps the most prevalent in our modern age: namely, fear of the other, fear of the different, fear of the adherent of another faith, another religion, or another confession. Natalya Mihailova 26 May 2014 “Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matt. 28.5-6) Your Holiness and dearly beloved brother in Christ, Your Beatitude Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, much loved brother and concelebrant in the Lord, Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, and very reverend representatives of the Christian churches and confessions, Esteemed brothers and sisters, It is with awe, emotion and respect that we stand before “the place where the Lord lay,” the life-giving tomb from which life emerged. And we offer glory to the all-merciful God, who rendered us, as His unworthy servants, worthy of this supreme blessing to become pilgrims in the place where the mystery of the world’s salvation transpired. “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen. 28.17) We have come as the myrrh-bearing women, on the first day of the week, “to see the sepulcher” (Matt. 28.1), and we too, like they, hear the angelic exhortation: “Do not be afraid.” Remove from your hearts every fear; do not hesitate; do not despair. This Tomb radiates messages of courage, hope and life. T he first and greatest message from this empty Sepulcher is that death, “this last enemy” of ours (see 1 Cor. 15.26), the source of all fears and passions, has been conquered; it no longer holds the final word in our life. It has been overcome by love, by Him, who voluntarily accepted to endure death for the sake of others. Every death for the sake of love, for the sake of another, is transformed into life, true life. “Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life.” |
| The Last Judgment, Giotto di Bondone. 1306 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it… And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened… And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. (Rev. 20:11-12) The theme of the Last Judgment of God’s creation has been the subject of many books, lectures, sermons, and conversations. However, its relation to the First Judgment of creation is seldom discussed. The First Judgment In Genesis chapter one, we see God creating the earth and calling it “good” over and over. When He reaches the end of the last day of creation, He looks upon all His work and judges it as “Very good” (Gen. 1:31). This is the First Judgment of creation, when all was natural – meaning it was all exactly as God designed it to be. But as we know, mankind fell into sin, and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Death, decay, corruption, sickness, and many other problems entered humanity, and through us, to the rest of creation (cf. Rom. 8:20, St. Symeon the New Theologian, Discourses, 28-29). This fall into sin and death is unnatural for creation. So, we, along with creation, entered a sub-natural state. When we say, “I am only human,” we misjudge the glorious state of what it means to be a truly healed human. The Cure The Son of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, took upon Himself our humanity so that He could heal it of sin and death. He became sin for us to reconcile us to God (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20-21). In doing so, He began the work of creation’s restoration. For all creation is restored in and through us, the Church. Depart: I Never Knew You Our Lord tells us at the Last Judgment, many will appear before Him and be shunned. These will be people who did great works in God’s name, yet their lives were not in accordance with the Gospel. To these people, our Lord states the fearful words, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). It parallels another passage of the five wise and five foolish virgins. By virginity, we can understand it to mean those who kept themselves pure from the ways of the world. When “the door was shut,” they knocked but were not allowed entry. They cry out, “Lord, Lord, open to us!” Then the dreadful words are spoken, “Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matt. 25:1-13). Apparently, even being rigorous about purity is not enough. |
| Скачать epub pdf On the nature of conscience Once an impoverished woman stole something in a store and carried it away. No one saw her. On her way home a disturbing feeling gnawed at her peace of mind. She had to return to the store and replace the stolen item, after which she returned home feeling relieved. There are countless similar examples of people being compelled to do not what they want but what is right. Every person is familiar with his inner voice which on occasion accuses and oppresses him, and on occasion brings him joy. This small subtle voice, an inborn feeling, is called conscience. Conscience by its nature is a spiritual instinct, which more clearly and quickly differentiates between good and evil than does the mind. He who listens to the voice of his conscience will never regret or be ashamed of his behavior. In the Holy Scripture conscience is also called «heart.» In the Sermon on the mount the Lord Jesus Christ compared conscience to the «eyes» by which a person can evaluate his moral condition (Matt. 6:22). The Lord also compared conscience to a «rival» with whom a person must come to terms before he presents himself at God " s Judgment (Matt. 5:25). The word «rival» stresses the main attribute of conscience: to oppose our evil desires and intentions. Our personal experience convinces us that this inner voice, called conscience, is not under our control but expresses itself spontaneously in spite of our will. In addition, just as we cannot persuade ourselves that we are full when we are hungry or that we are rested when we are tired, similarly we cannot convince ourselves that our behavior is correct when our conscience tells us otherwise. In the words of Christ regarding the «indestructible worm» ( Mark 9:48 ), the Fathers of the Church see the guilty conscience that will punish sinners in the future life. The Russian poet A. S. Pushkin very vividly described these torments in his dramatic play «Miserly Knight:» " Conscience – A sharp clawed animal, which scrapes the heart; |
| Craig S. Keener The call. 21:15–23 SOME SIGNS IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL yield to explanatory discourses (5:6–9 with 5:19–47; 6:11–13 with 6:32–70; 9:6–7 with 9:39–10:18), and 21:1–14 follows this pattern. After Jesus provides fish for his followers, he summons their leader to continue to provide for his followers; as in Markan tradition, Jesus calls Peter to fish for people, so here he plays on Peter " s fishing from a different angle. Peter " s call ultimately involves following his Lord in martyrdom (21:18–19). The beloved disciplés call was different from Peter " s and might not involve martyrdom (21:21–22). Barrett helpfully suggests that Peter " s role is pastoral whereas the beloved disciplés is as a witness; 10929 in this case, the Gospel may be framed by John the Baptist (1:19–36) and the beloved disciple (21:20–24) as narrative models of witness. The shift to the beloved disciple then provides the transition for closing the Gospel on the note about that disciplés testimony (21:24–25). Feed My Sheep (21:15–17) Just as Jesus fed his disciples here (21:9–14), so Peter is to feed them after Jesus departs. This involves not so much physical nourishment as the bread of life (6:26–27). It is, however, noteworthy that Jesus invites Peter to feed others only after Peter has himself first eaten (21:15); just as Peter had to accept Jesus» washing before he could serve the Lord (13:8–10), he had to eat his mea1. 1. Peter " s Role Brown suggests that this passage, being redactional, allows Peter a more pastoral role than elsewhere in the Gospe1. 10930 Yet the portrait of Peter " s pastoral role here is hardly incompatible with the rest of the Gospel; it can either add to it or complete it. Thus onés view on Peter " s role here may depend on onés prior assumptions concerning whether the chapter is a later addition from a different hand; it cannot be used as evidence in making that decision. It is true that Peter " s calling receives little emphasis elsewhere in the Gospel; but if one does not start with the assumption that John 21 belongs to a different hand than the rest of the Gospel, this apparent difference stems from an argument based on silence. Explicit mention of Peter " s special call (as opposed to merely his special prominence as an outspoken disciple or his intimacy as one of the three closest disciples) is rare in the Synoptics except for Matt 16and Luke 22:32, both of which discuss it in the same context as Peter " s failure. |
| Holy Matrimony The Image of the Most-holy Trinity, and, except in certain special cases (such as monasticism, for example), he is not intended by God to live alone, but in a family situation. Just as God blessed the first humans, Adam and Eve, to live as a family, to be fruitful and multiply, so too the Church blesses the union of a man and a woman. In the theology of the Orthodox Church man is made in the Image of the Most-holy Trinity, and, except in certain special cases (such as monasticism, for example), he is not intended by God to live alone, but in a family situation. Just as God blessed the first humans, Adam and Eve, to live as a family, to be fruitful and multiply, so too the Church blesses the union of a man and a woman. Marriage, however, is not a state of nature, but is rather a state of grace, and married life is a special vocation (no less than the special calling of monasticism), requiring a gift or charism from the Holy Spirit – this gift being conferred in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. That Holy Matrimony has divine sanction comes no less from the words of the Lord Himself, Who says: Have you not read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh [Gen. 2:24]? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (Matt. 19:5-6). The Holy Apostle Paul sees this mystical union of husband and wife as reflecting the mystical union of Christ with His Church: Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, His body…. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her…. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His body…. This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church… (Eph. 5:22-25, 28-30, 32). |
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