MacGregor appeals to the use of παιδα («lads,» 21:5) to suggest simply men at work, 10873 but in Johannine literature the term appears interchangeably with τεκνα (the former in 1 John 2:14, 18 ; the latter in 1 John 2:1,12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21 ), which Jesus elsewhere applies to the disciples ( John 13:33 ). Jesus» question follows the appropriate Greek idiom to inquire whether fishers or hunters had experienced success but is framed to anticipate a negative response. 10874 As before Jesus miraculously provided bread and fish in 6:11, here he asks the disciples if they have sufficient resources on their own (6:5–6; 21:5), forcing them to recognize afresh that «without him they can do nothing» (15:5). Jesus gives seemingly nonsensical instructions (21:6), underlining the principle that obedience to one wiser than oneself is more prudent than depending on onés own wisdom (cf., e.g., Prov 3:5 ). It has been argued that because the steering oar would be on the right side, nets would normally be cast on the left, making Jesus» command unusual; 10875 such an image would fit the emphasis of the narrative wel1. Scholars often suggest that the net in view here is a large seine net (cf. Matt 13:47–50), which normally would have floats on top and weights on the bottom; one end would be attached to the shore or to another boat, allowing the boat to which the other end was attached to surround and catch fish. 10876 Since Jesus tells them to cast it from the boat, however, the net envisioned here may be different, although undoubtedly large. The story at this point communicates a moral lesson rather than an allegory; that the disciples obey the master indicates the obedience involved in discipleship. 10877 This is especially the case if casting from the right side of the boat was unusua1. That they remain as yet unaware of his identity–or at least uncertain–may suggest the ambiguity of initial revelation (cf. 1Cor 13:12 ), which one must obey to receive fuller revelation (cf. John 14:15–16, 21 ). More likely, however, John provides a moral based on what the audience knows, even though the disciples do not. Recognizing and Approaching Jesus (21:7–8)

http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/world/the-gosp...

5982 E.g., Lev. Rab. 22:6, although this is late; Musonius Rufus frg. 45, p. 140.1 (πειρζων), 8–9 (δοκιμαστριω); cf. other forms of testing in Iamblichus V.P. 5.23–24; 17.71; and sources in Keener, Matthew, 476. 5984 Andrew and Philip appear together not only here (6:5–9) but also in 1:40–44 and 12:21–22. Their geographical origin (1:44) and perhaps kinship would have connected them, but greater precision on the matter is no longer possible. 5985 Estimates vary. If Frier, «Annuities,» is correct, the average per capita income in the early empire was about 380 sestertii, which translates (cf. Perkin, «Money,» 407) into roughly a quarter denarius per day. 5986 Tob 5:14; White, «Finances,» 232; Stambaugh and Balch, Environment, 79; Lachs, Commentary, 334; Perkin, «Money,» 406. 5987 One report from impoverished rural Egypt indicates that pay totaled «two loaves of bread a day, i.e., roughly half a kilogram per person» (Lewis, Life, 69); cf. Plutarch Love of Wealth 2, Mor. 523F. 5988 John refers to the number of νδρες, men (cf. Matt 14:21). Often men alone were counted (e.g., L.A.B. 5:7; 14:4), hence John " s tradition does not report the number of women and children (and unlike perhaps Josephus, some ancient writers were disinclined to invent numbers, recognizing also the tendency of some oral sources to inflate them; Thucydides 5.68.2). Thus we cannot estimate how many would have followed into the wilderness. 5989 Augustine Tr. Ev. Jo. 24.5.1–2 allegorized the five loaves as the five books of Torah (on bread as Torah, see comment on 6:32–51; but to be consistent, he also allegorized the two fish as the priest and king). 5990 Lads occasionally elsewhere served as protagonists; cf., e.g., T. So1. passim (e.g., 22:12–14); the story line in Pesiq. Rab Kah. 18:5. Although they represent distinct pericopes, John " s dependence on 2 Kgs 4:42–44 suggests to some that he derives the «lad» (παιδριον) from 2 Kgs 4:38,41 LXX. 5991 As in the story of two disciples who shared their food with an old man in p. Šabb. 6:9, §3; or the man who shared his cart with vestal virgins in Valerius Maximus 1.1.10.

http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/world/the-gosp...

10866 In its various forms, οδες appears fifty-three times in the Gospel; but more than any other, 15seems to provide the rationale for the usage here. The other uses of πιζω (7:30, 32, 44; 8:20; 10:39; 11:57), however, are clearly irrelevant. 10867 E.g., Iamblichus V.P. 8.36; Protesilaos resurrecting a dead fish (Herodotus Hist. 9.120.1–2; Philostratus Hrk. 9.5). 10868 Epid. inscr. 47, in Theissen, Stories, 110. Priests also used the types of fish gathering in a sacred pool to divine the future (Athenaeus Deipn. 8.333de). 10869 Tob 6:2–5. Following an old Greek story, some Jewish stories of uncertain date speak of God blessing pious people by having them find precious objects in fish (e.g., Matt 17:27; b. Šabb. 119a; Bultmann, Tradition, 238; Jeremias, Theology, 87); ancients thought such occasional fortune plausible (e.g., Alciphron Fishermen 5 [Naubates to Rhothius], 1.5, par. 1; Valerius Maximus 4.1.ext.7). 10872 Cf. Protesilaos " s participation in farming in Philostratus Hrk. 4.10; 11.4; neither work reflects a gnostic antipathy toward creation. 10873 MacGregor, John, 370. Whitacre, John, 491, notes that the usage «lads» stems from modern Greek, unattested in ancient usage. 10875 Selms, «Fishing,» 310. Fishermen normally used nets (e.g., Ovid Metam. 13.922; Babrius 4.1–5; 9.6; Valerius Maximus 4.1.ext.7; Mark 1:19 ; Matt 13:47) except for personal subsistence fishing by the poor (e.g., Ovid Metam. 13.923; Babrius 6.1–4; cf. Matt 17:27); on traditional fishing in the Lake of Galilee, see Nun, «Net.» 10878 For the beloved disciple as one of the two anonymous eyewitnesses present, see, e.g., Boismard, «Disciple.» 10879 Peter " s quickness to act fits his character elsewhere in this Gospel and the gospel tradition as a whole (see, e.g., Blomberg, Reliability, 275). 10880 See Whitacre, John, 492, following Nun, «Wearing,» 20–23,37; certainly Greeks in this period stripped for strenuous activities (e.g., Dionysius of Halicarnassus R.A. 7.72.2–3; see further references below). Citing art and texts, Nun, «Wearing,» argues that cast-net fishermen were typically naked. Even Marcus Cato stripped to work alongside his servants (Plutarch Marcus Cato 3.2), but here γυμνς probably means «stripped to the waist» (LCL).

http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/world/the-gosp...

Предыдущий Следующий Смотри также Are atheists mentally ill? Are atheists mentally ill? So let’s not go down that unhappy road. Let’s dispense with the crude metric of IQ and look at the actual lives led by atheists, and believers, and see how they measure up. In other words: let’s see who is living more intelligently. First Annual “Missions Day” Features Atheist Rocker Turned Dynamic Christian Missionary First Annual “Missions Day” Features Atheist Rocker Turned Dynamic Christian Missionary " Our speaker for the first annual " Missions Day " on our campus is someone you will not want to miss, " enthuses Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield. " Our presenter, Father Themistocles Adamopoulo, was once an atheist Rocker from Australia, now turned missionary to Africa. " Sir Anthony Hopkins: I couldn’t be an atheist Sir Anthony Hopkins: I couldn’t be an atheist Sir Anthony Hopkins told the Catholic Herald this week that he “couldn’t live with” the certainty of being an atheist. Комментарии Catrina B 24 апреля 2017, 01:00 Faith is truly a gift . I am ashamed to say I neglect it often. Lord - Have Mercy! Maria Kot 4 мая 2015, 20:00 Hello. Thank you for this beautiful story. With all respect I wanted to point out a few mistakes that were made in the text of the article: 1) The paragraph repeats itself: [He told me that] he spoke with educated and professors, without having satisfied his thirst for something important. When he heard about me He spoke with professors and the educated, but his thirst for something serious was not satisfied. He heard of me 2) " To (should be " I " or " He " ) told him how to go to an Ascetic Monk " 3) " How " s are you, Lads ? " - should be - " How are you, Lads? " 4) " A saint who was a a (double article) graduate of only the fourth grade of elementary school " Thank you once again for this wonderful article. Tony Ryken 10 февраля 2015, 23:00 To have and share LOVE is far more important in this world of ours than to be riddled with superstitious God belief .A driving force for superiority and power. Get rid of it. Andrew Pantelli 23 января 2015, 16:00 This is so true! Giving in, is not a sign of weakness no! it is a sign of strength, deciding to do what is right! Подпишитесь на рассылку Православие.Ru Рассылка выходит два раза в неделю:

http://pravoslavie.ru/76678.html

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 Are You a True Christian? Navigation Reflections on Prison Visiting " So, what " s it going to be tonight? " asked our babysitter, some years ago, " Church? A Bible study? Or a fun evening out at the prison? " We laughed, but he was right. In the early years we looked forward to our prison visits with a mixture of excitement, anticipation and anxiety. 27 October 2010 Source: The Orthodox Fellowship of St. John the Baptist     ‘So, what’s it going to be tonight?’ asked our babysitter, some years ago, ‘Church? A Bible study? Or a fun evening out at the prison?’ We laughed, but he was right. In the early years we looked forward to our prison visits with a mixture of excitement, anticipation and anxiety. Our involvement started through a friendship with a member of the Prison Fellowship, who asked us to do presentations to the prisoners. We would convene at our house, having rushed home from work for the hour long drive to the prison. Most of the journey would be spent in discussing what each of us had prepared, or not prepared, as the case often was. The fact is that we felt terribly inadequate. We would get together on a Sunday after lunch, and agree on the topic or focus for the presentation, and then struggle to think of anything that seemed relevant to their situation. ‘What have we got to say to them that might be helpful?’ we would moan. The first chaplain we worked with was an ex-borstal boy himself, who was very much ‘one of the lads.’ His relationship with them was like that of an older brother. They liked and respected him, and there was a free and easy atmosphere in the chaplaincy. Occasionally we would get troublemakers who would call out silly remarks and try to impress each other while we were talking. It wasn’t until we very tentatively tried our first attempt at worship that we realised that many of them were nervous. When we began singing, there were waves of uncontrollable giggles. Despite this setback, at this time we had our first encouragement when the chaplain told us that they liked our presentations best of all the groups simply because we were ourselves and didn’t try to put on a show.

http://pravmir.com/reflections-on-prison...

After kissing the cask three or four times, Uncle Kitsos began to chant Christ is risen after his own fashion, as follows: Crisis lads, Crisis risen from the dead by death chomping down death and to those, those in the tombs life most blessed! And yet, despite its singularity, no one ever sang a sacred song with more Christian feeling and enthusiasm, with the possible exception of that worthy old Cretan, long-famed in Athens, who sang the Dumb are the lips of the impious with his own interpolation: " Dumb are the lips of the impious and profane, the scoundrels! , at your revered image.... " Ah, the true Orthodox Greeks! As the shadows lengthened, the men began to dance the klephtiko (the women waited till Monday and Tuesday before dancing the syrtos and the kamara ), and Father Kyriakos, his wife, and young Zachos, whom his father had let off in view of the special day (he had decided that his son was actually to blame for all the confusion), took leave of the company and went back down to the town. Father Kyriakos gave his fellow priest his full share of the collection from Kalivia, and did not even bother to raise the subject of the supposed theft. As it was, Father Theodore himself told him that his share of the parish receipts was in his own (Father Theodore " s) house. He had thought it best, he said, to take both shares out through the back door of the sanctuary, so as to keep them from the eyes of gossips with nothing better to think about, who might otherwise kick up a fuss about all the money priests receive. " On the rare day, " he said, " that we actually get something in the collection box, everyone has plenty to say about it — but they never stop to consider all the weeks and months that go by without harvest! " So that was why Zachos had got it wrong. (1890) Translated by Andrew Watson There are four fasting periods during the liturgical year: Advent, preceding Christmas, which lasts forty days; Great Lent, preceding Easter, which lasts six weeks; the Fast of the Holy Apostles, beginning on the moveable feast of All Saints and ending on 29 June; and the Fast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos, from 1 to 15 August. These fasts reflect the ascetical practises of the Orthodox Church implying a restraint from the utilitarian exploitation of the natural world and its God-given resources through abstention, on the material level, from animal foods — meat, eggs and dairy products — and also from fish, wine and oil on certain other days, coupled with spiritual preparation and contemplation, prayer and confession of sins.

http://pravoslavie.ru/7403.html

And how can Jesus increase, being God? If to man’s estate, since He deigned to be man and was a child; and, though the Word of God, lay an infant in a manger; and, though His mother’s Creator, yet sucked the milk of infancy of her: then Jesus having grown in age of the flesh, that perhaps is the reason why it is said, He must increase, but I must decrease. But why in this? As regards the flesh, John and Jesus were of the same age, there being six months between them: they had grown up together; and if our Lord Jesus Christ had willed to be here longer before His death, and that John should be here with Him, then, as they had grown up together, so would they have grown old together: in what way, then, He must increase but I must decrease? Above all, our Lord Jesus Christ being now thirty years old, does a man who is already thirty years old still grow? From that same age, men begin to go downward, and to decline to graver age, thence to old age. Again, even had they both been lads, he would not have said, He must increase, but, We must increase together. But now each is thirty years of age. The interval of six months makes no difference in age; the difference is discovered by reading rather than by the look of the persons. 5. What means, then, He must increase, but I must decrease? This is a great mystery! Before the Lord Jesus came, men were glorying of themselves; He came a man, to lessen man’s glory, and to increase the glory of God. Now He came without sin, and found all men in sin. If thus He came to put away sin, God may freely give, man may confess. For man’s confession is man’s lowliness: God’s pity is God’s loftiness. Therefore, since He came to forgive man his sins, let man acknowledge his own lowliness and let God show His pity. He must increase, but I must decrease: that is, He must give, but I must receive; He must be glorified, but I must confess. Let man know his own condition, and confess to God; and hear the apostle as he says to a proud, elated man, bent on extolling himself: What have you that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you glory as if you did not receive it? 1Corinthians 4:7 Then let man understand that he has received; and when he would call that his own which is not his, let him decrease: for it is good for him that God be glorified in him.

http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Avrelij_Avgust...

And the scheme proved entirely successful. Throughout the period of his attendance at school he was held in high favour, and, on leaving the establishment, received full marks for every subject, as well as a diploma and a book inscribed (in gilt letters) " For Exemplary Diligence and the Perfection of Good Conduct. " By this time he had grown into a fairly good-looking youth of the age when the chin first calls for a razor; and at about the same period his father died, leaving behind him, as his estate, four waistcoats completely worn out, two ancient frockcoats, and a small sum of money. Apparently he had been skilled only in RECOMMENDING the saving of kopecks — not in ACTUALLY PRACTISING the art. Upon that Chichikov sold the old house and its little parcel of land for a thousand roubles, and removed, with his one serf and the serf " s family, to the capital, where he set about organising a new establishment and entering the Civil Service. Simultaneously with his doing so, his old schoolmaster lost (through stupidity or otherwise) the establishment over which he had hitherto presided, and in which he had set so much store by silence and good behaviour. Grief drove him to drink, and when nothing was left, even for that purpose, he retired — ill, helpless, and starving — into a broken-down, cheerless hovel. But certain of his former pupils — the same clever, witty lads whom he had once been wont to accuse of impertinence and evil conduct generally — heard of his pitiable plight, and collected for him what money they could, even to the point of selling their own necessaries. Only Chichikov, when appealed to, pleaded inability, and compromised with a contribution of a single piatak : which his old schoolfellows straightway returned him — full in the face, and accompanied with a shout of " Oh, you skinflint! " As for the poor schoolmaster, when he heard what his former pupils had done, he buried his face in his hands, and the tears gushed from his failing eyes as from those of a helpless infant.

http://predanie.ru/book/218255-dead-soul...

And what can one say of the varieties of the peach, diverse and multiform, yet blended and compounded out of different species? For just as with those who paint goat-stags, and centaurs, and the like, commingling things of different kind, and making themselves wiser than Nature, so it is in the case of this fruit: Nature, under the despotism of art, turns one to an almond, another to a walnut, yet another to a Doracinus , mingled alike in name and in flavour. And in all these the number of single trees is more noted than their beauty; yet they display tasteful arrangement in their planting, and that harmonious form of drawing – drawing, I call it, for the marvel belongs rather to the painter " s art than to the gardener " s. So readily does Nature fall in with the design of those who arrange these devices, that it seems impossible to express this by words. Who could find words worthily to describe the road under the climbing vines, and the sweet shade of their cluster, and that novel wall-structure where roses with their shoots, and vines with their trailers, twist themselves together and make a fortification that serves as a wall against a flank attack, and the pond at the summit of this path, and the fish that are bred there? As regards all these, the people who have charge of your Nobility " s house were ready to act as our guides with a certain ingenuous kindliness, and pointed them out to us, showing us each of the things you had taken pains about, as if it were yourself to whom, by our means, they were showing courtesy. There too, one of the lads, like a conjuror, showed us such a wonder as one does not very often find in nature: for he went down to the deep water and brought up at will such of the fish as he selected; and they seemed no strangers to the fisherman " s touch, being tame and submissive under the artist " s hands, like well-trained dogs. Then they led me to a house as if to rest – a house, I call it, for such the entrance betokened, but, when we came inside, it was not a house but a portico which received us.

http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Grigorij_Nissk...

At about the same time my older sister became an Orthodox nun in Alaska. Whether it " s a coincidence or not I " m not sure, but from that time on my passion for worldly pursuits began to wane. Surveying my co-workers, no one seemed to be truly happy or content. That elusive quality of satisfaction was never present but always tantalizingly just around the corner. Travelling, sports, drinking with the " lads " all became more and more mundane. Every Monday the same question: " How was your weekend? " Every Friday again: " Any plans this weekend? " London became greyer and greyer and the steady drizzle never managed to wash away the grime. Instead of looking deeper into the causes of my boredom, I placed the blame firmly on the shoulders of corporate culture. I assumed that my disdain for the world was due to the pursuit of monetary gain. So I quit IBM, packed my bags and returned to America. Cherishing my disdain for prosperity and social acceptance, I began my descent into Bohemia. Oddly enough, I failed to notice that the same rules that govern acceptability in corporate life were applicable to the alternative scene. Substitute a leather jacket for a suit, a tatoo for a rolex, and a pierced eyebrow for cufflink and you still have the same man. I began the pursuit of a Masters degree in art and found a job at the Museum of Modern Art. My artwork consisted of large custom-made canvases covered in thick layers of tar. Tar had not been used as an artistic medium before, so my work was instantly popular. I strove to be passionate about obscure modern philosophers, post-punk shows and late-night parting, but it all wearied me. I assumed that something was wrong with me. Why did I find it impossible to seriously discuss a gallery exhibit featuring a basket of crushed aluminum cans and underwear stretched on pieces of wire? Why did I find no joy in watching a performance artist squawk like a chicken for fifteen minutes? Fortunately, I quickly wearied of my " alternative life-style, " and right then a friend phoned me asking if I wanted to go to Japan. I had always had an interest in Asian cultures, and I esteemed myself a floater par excellence, so within a month I found myself in Kyoto, Japan.

http://pravmir.com/article_317.html

  001     002    003