| Photo: M.Rodionov/Pravoslavie.ru The seed of Orthodox Christianity, planted on the American soil by Russians, has begun to sprout. It is not only Russians who wish to live in the Orthodox faith, many other peoples who populate America have turned their attention to the Orthodox Church, in hopes that it would become the clear wellspring of true faith. Those Americans who have met with true Orthodoxy have been unable to abandon it, many have been obliged to learn the Russian language, Russian culture and Church Slavonic services. One of the brightest examples of this is Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of blessed memory, highly revered both in America and in Russia. Fr Seraphim was not a graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary, nor was he a resident of Holy Trinity Monastery, but he traveled the typical path of Americans who convert to Orthodoxy from another faith, and who are generally called converts. The Russian Church always was in will always be a missionary church, meaning it is ready to receive anyone from a great variety of national and cultural traditions. Orthodox missionaries who went to proselytize among the Aleutians, Koryaks, Chukchi and other peoples of the far north always honored the local cultures. The main problem these missionaries faced was the language barrier and the explanation of the texts of Holy Scripture, divine services and prayers. According to the great missionary of the Russian Church, the Apostle of Siberia and America, St Innocent of Moscow, the prime challenge of the missionary is to translate the texts of Holy Scripture to the vernacular. The difficulty is not to impose an alien cultural tradition on the local population, but to ensure that the truth of Christ grows within the local culture. Photo: M.Rodionov/Pravoslavie.ru The Russian Church Abroad set as its goal first and foremost to be a church for the Russian people who found themselves in forced exile. But with time, gradually, it became obvious that her mission was much broader. The aroma of true Orthodoxy, as Fr Seraphim liked to say, could not be attract people of other nations who one way or another came into contact with Orthodox Christianity. |
| 162 Eugene Rose. «Emptiness» and «Fulness» in the Lao Tzu thesis, deposited in the Library of the University of California. Berkeley. 1961. On July 19. 163 См. отрывки из работы Евгения в книге: Иеромонах Дамаскин. Христос – вечный Дао (Christ the Eternal Тао). Изд-во Братства прп.Германа, 1999. С.483–485, 487, 490. На англ. яз. 182 «Сердитыми молодыми людьми» поначалу называли группу молодых английских писателей 1950-х гг., бросавших вызов системе ценностей и условностей послевоенного общества. 184 В 1930г. Генон, оставив близких в неведении, уехал в Египет, где и прожил более 20 лет, до конца своих дней. 192 Опубликована посмертно отдельной книгой – Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age (Нигилизм: истоки революции современной эпохи) (Fr. Seraphim Rose Foundation, 1994. Revised edition: St.Herman Brotherhood, 2001). Книга вышла на русском, сербском, румынском, болгарском, латышском и итальянском языках 196 Friedrich Nietzsche. The Will to Power. Vol.1//The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche. New York, 1909. Vol.14. P.6. 222 Евгений Роуз. Прим. к гл.8 («Цель революции: тысячелетнее анархистское правление») работы «Царство человеческое и Царство Божие». 224 Т.е. вышеупомянутую книгу, опубликованную посмертно в 1994г., содержащую законченную седьмую главу «Царства человеческого и Царства Божия». 229 Бывший президент США Билл Клинтон и вице-президент Эл Гор публично вознесли хвалу писаниям Кена Уилбера. См. критический разбор этих писаний в эпилоге издателя к книге о. Серафима (Роуза) «Книга Бытия, сотворение мира и первый человек» (Братство прп.Германа, 2000. С.557–575). 231 «Gorbachev, God and Socialism». Time. Vol.134.1989.11 dec. Emphasis added (Добавлен акцент). 241 Он как бы полемизировал с Альбером Камю, определившим абсурдное как попытку человека найти опору для разума в безумном мире. 254 John Gregerson. The Transfigured Cosmos: Four Essays in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. New York, I960. 257 Евгений не знал тогда, что икона эта называется «Троеручица» и история ее удивительна. Написана она в VIII в. великим богословом и песнописцем св. Иоанном Дамаскиным . Иконоборцы отсекли ему руку. Он молился перед иконой об исцелении, и рука приросла. В благодарность за чудо он приложил к иконе Божией Матери изображение руки, т.е. «третью руку». Замечательно, что Евгений, не зная истории иконы, пришел к ней, когда сам нуждался в исцелении. |
| hieromonk Damascene (Christensen) Bibliography Afanasiev, Victor. Elder Barsanuphius of Optina. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2000. Aleksiev, Archimandrite Seraphim. The Meaning of Suffering. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman Brotherhood, 1994. Allen, Reginald E., ed., Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle. New York: The Free Press, 1985. Anderson, Ken. Bold as a Lamb. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991. Athanasius the Great, St. On the Incarnation. Centenary Press, 1944. Revised ed. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1953. –. «Defense of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria», «Against the Heathen». In The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 4. Reprint. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994. Augustine, Sr. The Confessions. New York: Collier-Macmillan, 1961. Barsanuphius and John, Sts. Guidance Toward Spiritual Life: Answers to the Questions of Disciples. Translated by Fr. Seraphim Rose. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1990. –. Questions and Answers (in Greek). Volos, 1960. Basil, St. The Fathers of the Church Series, Vol. 13. New York: Fathers of the Church, 1958. Calciu, Fr. George. Father George Calciu: Interviews, Homilies, and Talks. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2010. Cavarnnos, Constantine. Meetings with Kontoglou. Belmont, Mass.: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1992. Chang, Chung-yuan. Creativity and Taoism: A Study of Chinese Philosophy, Art, and Poetry. New York: Julian Press, 1963. Reprint. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970. Chariton, Abbot of Valaam, comp. The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology. London: Faber and Faber, 1966. Chetverikov, Fr. Sergius. Elder Ambrose of Optina. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1997. Christodoulos (Aggeloglou), Hieromonk, Elder Paisios (in Greek). Mount Athos, 1994. English version: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, Mount Athos, 1998. Cleary, Thomas, trans. and ed. The Essential Tao. San Francisco: Harper, 1991. |
| And so let us take some trouble over our children: first let us give them the chance to take more part in church – and in a wider and more elevated form than just giving the censer to the priest; and secondly, let us adapt ourselves somewhat to our children when praying together with them. Let the children be conscious that they are members of Christ’s family. Let the children come to love church! – Reprinted from Orthodox America, November, 1982. Fr. Michael was born November 7/19, 1888. He graduated from the Kiev Theological Academy in 1912. He is the author of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, translated by Fr. Seraphim Rose. Fr. Seraphim writes the following about Fr. Michael: “Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky is unique among contemporary Orthodox theologians. At over 90 years of age he is surely the oldest of those still writing theological articles [Ed note: Fr. Michael reposed in 1988]; but more important, he received his theological formation not in any of the theological academies of the present day, all of which reflect to some degree the theological uncertainties and divisions of today’s Orthodoxy, but in the pre-Revolutionary academies of Russia, when Orthodoxy was still one in spirit, was still rooted in the age-old past of theological tradition, and did not suffer from the ‘identity crisis’ that plagues so much of Orthodox theological literature today.Most of all, in Fr. Michael’s writings one may see a characteristic of genuine Orthodox theology that is so often lost sight of in our cold, rationalistic age…. Most of all, in Fr. Michael’s writings one may see a characteristic of genuine Orthodox theology that is so often lost sight of in our cold, rationalistic age. Theology is not primarily a matter of arguments, criticisms, proofs and disproofs; it is first of all men’s word about God, in accordance with the Divinely-revealed teaching of Orthodoxy. Therefore, its first purpose and intent is always to inspire, to warm the heart, to lift one above the petty preoccupations of earth in order to glimpse the Divine beginning and end of all things and so to give one the energy and encouragement to struggle towards God and our heavenly homeland.” |
| November 11, 1957. Hieromonk Seraphim Rose (1934–1982) at the St. Herman Monastery in the mountains of northern California, 1978. 3. Modern Syncretism vs. Ancient Apologetics This book’s comparison of the Tao Teh Ching with Christian Scriptures opens it up to the accusation of being merely another attempt at religious syncretism. A serious reading of the text, however, will bear out that this is not the case. Religious syncretism, in its modern form, regards all paths as possessing equal truth simultaneously, and in so doing is forced to overlook certain basic distinctions, or to offer complicated explanations in order to rationalize these distinctions away. The ancient Christian teachers, on the other hand, took a more honest and discerning approach, which in the end proved to be more simple, natural, and organic. Rather than mixing all the religions together like the moderns do, these ancients understood that there was an unfolding of wisdom throughout the ages. They saw foreshadowings, glimpses and prophecies of Christ not only among the ancient Hebrews, but also among other peoples who lived before Him, and they saw the writings of pre-Christian sages as a preparation for Christ as the apogee of revelation. This is explained most clearly in the quote by St. Seraphim which begins this book 9 . If we concede that the pre-Christian philosophers did seek the truth, and that they did catch glimpses of it, it only stands to reason that their teachings should bear some similarities, like a broken reflection of the moon in water, to the fullness of Truth in Jesus Christ. Therefore, these similarities need not appear as a threat to Christianity; instead, they offer one more proof of Christ as universal Truth. Christ the Eternal Tao, then, should be seen as following not in the modern syncretic tradition, but rather in the ancient apologetic tradition. The latter began less than a century after Christ, with St. Justin Martyr (A.D. 110–165), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 153–217), and Lactantius (A.D. |
| We must also remember that man’s life is in God " s Hands. Only He determines the moment of death and the destiny of every soul on separation from the flesh. For this reason, attempts to produce experiments in this field are in conflict with the Will of God and bring the experimenter into contact with the fallen spirits of that world. As a result, the data will be inaccurate and the conclusions will be false. In regards to this, Hieromonk Seraphim Rose writes the following: «Many present day researchers acknowledge or at least sympathize with occult teachings in the realm of the out of body condition, only because it is based on an experiment, which is also at the root of science. But, experimenting in the material world differs in essence from experiments in the realm of out of body experiences. In the material world, the objects of study and the laws of nature are morally neutral and can consequently be objectively studied and corroborated by others. On the other hand, the current objectives of study are hidden from man, not easily captured and frequently display their own will with the purpose of deceiving the observer. " pg. 127–128]. This happens because the spiritual sphere closest to us is filled with demons, consciously evil beings, who are specialists in the realm of deception. They gladly partake in any experiments and give the experiments their own spin. Because of this, we must take seriously Hieromonk Seraphim " s warning. And so, in our time a string of researchers, having started with authentic medical cases of clinic death, have moved on to personal examinations of out of body experiences. Without the guidance of Christian teachings and the many centuries of knowledge and experience of the Orthodox Church, they started studying the condition of the «astral» body and fell into the labyrinths of occultism. Unfortunately, this happened to Dr. Moody, the female psychotherapist E. Kubler-Ross, and several others. As an example, Dr. Moody, who published three valuable books full of authentic data, began to experiment in the areas of Theosophy and transcendental meditation. He recently published a book on this theme, titled «Coming Back,» in which he lays out the typical Hindu gibberish regarding reincarnation. (Please refer to the conclusion for an unraveling of this teaching). The Stories of those who committed Suicide |
| 24 General editor’s note: This volume of the ACCS was prepared and edited – almost completely – before the appearance of Genesis, Creation and Early Man: The Orthodox Christian Vision by the late Fr. Seraphim Rose, with an introduction by Phillip E. Johnson (Plantina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2000), to which the reader is referred for additional patristic selections and interpretations of Genesis. We are grateful for the massive labors of Fr. Rose, from which our efforts have belatedly benefited. While his work has directed us to selections we otherwise would have bypassed, all our translations The spadework for this anthology of passages from the Fathers was done by Dr. Marco Conti, though the final version is the result of our collaborative effort. The introduction is mine. In the passages selected, a number of already existent translations have been used, often modified in the interests of accuracy or clarity. No attempt has been made, however, to introduce inclusive gender language; this would have been in elaborate task, since so much of Genesis 1–11 concerns the human condition, and in seeking a variety of strategies to avoid using the term man we would have run the risk of obscuring the Fathers’ thought. The reader should bear in mind that in the original languages used by the Fathers the noun translated “man” (in Greek antropos, in Latin homo) embraces both male and female. University of Durham Durham, U.K. 1:1 THE BEGINNING OF CREATION 1In the beginning God the and the earth. When God began to create heaven Overview: God created heaven and earth through the Word, since “in the beginning was the Word” (Augustine). God made heaven and earth in the beginning, not in the beginning of time but in Christ (Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine). God created heaven and earth, that is, the matter of the heavens and the matter of the earth, which came to be from nothing (Basil, Nemesius of Emesa). The birth of the world was preceded by a condition of things suitable for the exercise of supernatural powers. The meaning of creation is known from divine revelation (Basil). To Moses, God’s revelation of the beginnings was made adequately known, and his account is to be fully trusted (Chrysostom). 1:1 In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and Earth |
| Feel free to write whatever is in your mind or heart. With love, Fr. Seraphim Hieromonk Seraphim Rose at the St. Herman of Alaska Monastery, Platina, California. Icon of the Mother of God, «The Mountain Unhewn by Hand of Man». The icon’s title and symbolism refer to Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, described in Daniel 2:34–35 , of «the stone cut out of a mountain by no human hand», which the ancient Christians saw as a prophecy of Christ’s birth from a Virgin (i.e., without human seed). In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – which occurred around 600 B.C., the time of Lao Tzu – the stone (Christ) «became a great mountain and filled all the earth». This image is referred to in chapter 15 of Part I: «Christ the Eternal Tao». Painted in Russia in the sixteenth century, the icon shows the artistic influence of Russiás neighbor, China – especially in the clouds which are woven into the Virgin " s clothing, symbolizing the heavens. 543 Lossky, Mystical Theology, p. 201; St. Theophan the Recluse, The Spiritual Life, pp. 61–62. 545 Nous is sometimes rendered as “intellect,” as in the English translation of The Philokalia. Such a rendering can be misleading, since in modern usage “intellect” carries the connotation of abstract and deductive reason, from which the nous is to be carefully distinguished. In the following pages we have chosen to translate nous as “spirit,” since this captures more of the meaning of the word for the modern mind. 546 Lii Tung-pin [Lii Yen], The Secret of the Golden Flower, Thomas Cleary, trans., p. 13–15, 138–139. 548 Pomazansky, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p. 136. St. John Damascene, «Orthodox Faith», p. 236. 550 P’o (“inferior soul,” “animal soul,” “body soul”) and ying, which according to Gi-ming Shien is to be equated with hun (“superior soul,” “breath soul,” “spirit soul”). In the ancient Chinese conception, it is the hun winch passes to the other world when the body dies. Similarly, the ancient Christian tradition teaches that only the nous passes into the future life at death, while the lower powers of the soul cease to be. (See Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox Spirituality, pp. 86–87, 96–97.) |
| The Chinese are one of the most tradition-conscious peoples. Up until the coming of communism, the Chinese were doing things that they had been doing all the way back to Confucius; and Confucius said they were doing these things all the way back to the third millennium B.C. The whole outlook on life remained basically the same, and whenever there was a dispute, they would appeal to antiquity. " This is the way it was done in ancient times; we can’t change it.’» 790 Eastern Orthodoxy, with its uncompromising adherence to the original, unadulterated Christian path and its unbroken, unchanged transmission of Christ’s teaching from apostolic times, thus resonates with the Chinese mind. Secondly, Eastern Orthodoxy’s depth of teachings on the inner spiritual life, drawn from two millennia of mystical experience of the saints, can meet the ancient Chinese spiritual teachings on their own ground. Modern Western Christianity cannot do this. Orthodox Christianity alone can understand, appreciate and embrace the profound realizations of the genuine Chinese sages of the past, beginning with Lao Tzu, and separate these from what Lao Tzu called «sidetracks from the Way» in Chinese religion and philosophy. Moreover, Orthodox Christianity alone can open to the Chinese the greatest mysteries and the final end of the life in Christ: deification through total infusion of the Light of Uncreated Teh. In 1981 Fr. Seraphim, speaking of the ancient orthodox tradition of China, said, «If Christianity could have managed to get inside this tradition somehow and become a part of it, it would have worked, for the soul of the Chinese people would have been very well disposed to it». 791 With people coming to Christ as never before in the history of China, at a rate of more than ten million per year we see today the fulfillment of Fr. Seraphim’s wish. While love for Christ is evaporating from decadent Western civilization, it is blossoming in China. The Far East is far outpacing the West not only in the number of new Christians, but also in its sacrificial witness of Christ before the modern world. The Chinese people, who speak the oldest surviving language in the world, are connected to a noble and profound ancient culture. Now that so many are finding Christ the incarnate Tao, their next step is to connect themselves with the ancient tradition preserved in the Christian East, where they will find the most pure image of Christ and the most powerful means of acquiring His Grace. When this occurs, the noetic Jesus Prayer, enshrined in the inner temples of many Chinese hearts, will rise like incense to Christ. May the present book serve as a stepping-stone in this process of discovering, connecting and ascending. Appendix Two: A Letter of Hieromonk Seraphim Rose to a Spiritual Seeker |
| On spiritual fatherhood in the Christian East, the standard work is by Irénée Hausherr, Direction spirituelle en Orient autrefois, Orientalia Christiana Analecta 144 (Rome: Pont. Institutum Studiorum Orientalium, 1955); English translation, Spiritual Direction in the Early Christian East, Cistercian Studies Series 116 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1990). Consult also I. Hadot, «The Spiritual Guide,» in A. H. Armstrong (ed.), Classical Mediterranean Spirituality: Egyptian, Greek, Roman (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 436–59; Graham Gould, The Desert Fathers on Monastic Community (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), especially 26–87; Stephan B. Clark, Unordained Elders and Renewal Communities (New York/Paramus/Toronto: Paulist Press, 1976); John Chryssavgis, Ascent to Heaven. The Theology of the Human Person according to Saint John of the Ladder (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1989), 211–30; H. J. M. Turner, St. Symeon the New Theologian and Spiritual Fatherhood (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990). For a comparison between Climacus and Symeon, see my introduction to the English translation of Hausherr, Spiritual Direction, vii-xxxiii. On the Russian tradition, consult J. B. Dunlop, Staretz Amvrosy: Model for Dostoevsky " s Staretz Zossima (Belmont, MA: Nordland, 1972); I. de Beausobre (ed.), Macarius , Starets of Optino: Russian Letters of Direction 1834–1860 (Westminster: Dacre, 1944); Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), Saint Silouan the Athonite (Tolleshunt Knights: Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, 1991). For modern Greek examples, see Elder Paisios of Mount Athos, Athonite Fathers and Athonite Matters (Thessalonica: Holy Convent of the Evangelist John the Theologian, Souroti, 1999). On Romania, see [Hiermonk Seraphim Rose], Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky (Platina, CA: Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1976); Romul Joanta (now Metropolitan Seraphim of Germany and Central Europe), Roumanie : tradition et culture hesychastes, Spiritualité orientale 46 (Begrolles: Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1987); English translation, Romania: Its Hesychast Tradition and Culture (Wildwood, CA: St Xenia Skete, 1992). |
|
|
