| Repentance, Confession, and Fasting (Part I) One needs to repent before someone. This does not mean simply to change one’s lifestyle, or one’s inner feeling, or one’s experience, as in, say, Eastern religions and cultures. These religions say that man must make his own experience, must know himself, and realize himself, so that the light of his consciousness might awaken. But God is not needed for such a change. Christian repentance is necessarily before someone. Source: Ora et Labora Repentance is the beginning of the new Christian life, or of the new Christian existence, an existence in Christ. The Gospel began with the words of St John the Forerunner: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” And Christ’s preaching after His Baptism was: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” But in our times the question is raised: why does one need to repent? From a social point of view it is inappropriate to speak of repentance. There is, of course, something like repentance, especially in the countries of eastern totalitarianism: when someone deviates from the party line, then “repentance” is required of him, or when the party leaders themselves deviate from their original plan – only this is not called repentance, but some sort of “reform” or “perestroika”… This indeed is not repentance. Who of you has seen Abuladze’s film “Repentance”? There it is namely false repentance that is talked about, and it is only at the end of the film that one sees what true repentance is. The film unmasks false repentance, as a sort of alteration of an “ideal,” or “style” of power, which remains unchanged in essence. Indeed, such “repentance” has nothing in common with true repentance. In Holy Scripture there are (in the Greek text) two different expressions for repentance. One expression is metanoia, and the other is metamelomai. Sometimes this second expression is translated not by the word “repentance” [покаяние], but by the word “rethinking” [раскаяние]. I intended, for example, to go to Frankfurt and “rethought,” that is, I changed my mind: I won’t go. This, in Holy Scripture, is called metamelomai, it is simply a change of intention. This has no spiritual significance whatsoever. In social and psychological thought there is something like “rethinking” [раскаяние], that is, change. In the field of psychology there is a “reconstruction” [перестройка] of one’s character, of one’s neurosis… In the depth psychology of Adler, or of Freud, or even in Jung, there is no understanding of repentance. |
| " Mike Higton is to be commended for his effort and the manner in which it will provoke thought. Again, his chapter concerning the role the Anglican pattern of worship plays in the academic life alone makes the book a worthwhile project. The chapters preceding it provide a concise summary of theology " s influence over time. The chapters succeeding it provide thoughtful considerations of what the future may hold. " -- Modern theology " He [Higton] is clearly one of the ablest theologians of our era, and a book that attempts to engage theologically with higher-education culture in the UK and the United States could not be more welcome or timely. This is a real gem of a book, and full of fresh and incisive theological insight, which opens up a compelling argument about the nature and purpose of higher education. " -- Church Times Комментарии ( 0): Написать комментарий: Правила о комментариях Все комментарии премодерируются. Не допускаются комментарии бессодержательные, оскорбительного тона, не имеющие своей целью плодотворное развитие дискуссии. Обьём комментария не должен превышать 2000 знаков. Републикация материалов в комментариях не допускается. Просим читателей обратить внимание на то, что редакция, будучи ограничена по составу, не имеет возможности сканировать и рассылать статьи, библиограммы которых размещены в росписи статей. Более того, большинство этих статей защищены авторским правом. На просьбу выслать ту или иную статью редакция отвечать не будет. Вместе с тем мы готовы рассмотреть вопрос о взаимном сотрудничестве, если таковые предложения поступят. Прим.: Адрес электронной почты опубликован не будет и будет виден лишь модераторам. Зарегистрированным пользователям Отправить Другие публикации на портале: 12 ноября 2012 10 22 октября 2012 10 18 октября 2012 10 18 сентября 2019 10 14 декабря 2012 10 8 декабря 2012 10 4 декабря 2012 10 30 ноября 2012 10 29 ноября 2012 10 19 ноября 2012 10 12 ноября 2012 10 22 октября 2012 10 18 октября 2012 10 18 сентября 2019 |
| Serbia without Kosovo is like a corpse without soul and heart, Patriarch Irinej says/Православие.Ru Serbia without Kosovo is like a corpse without soul and heart, Patriarch Irinej says Hieromonk Ignaty (Shestakov) Gracanica, Kosovo, June 29, 2015 On June 28 Serbs all over the world commemorated the Battle of Kosovo (1389) – Vidovdan. On this day solemn services, processions of the cross, prayers for repose of souls of the heroes who gave their lives for the faith and freedom are held in Serbia and abroad. This year at Gracanica Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Kosovo His Holiness Patriarch Irinej celebrated a Divine Liturgy with several Serbian hierarch concelebrating. After the service the primate addressed himself to the faithful and noted that on that day all Serbs were spiritually with Kosovo. “Today the eyes, thoughts, and feelings of all Serbs – in our motherland and all over the world – are spiritually here, together with us. There is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one’s life and sacrifice oneself; it was this sacrifice that the Holy Prince Lazar made and with him – the numerous army of Kosovan heroes who came together with him to the Battle of Kosovo (“the Kosovo Polje”), who shed there their blood and filled this holy soil with it,” the patriarch accentuated. Speaking of the special significance of Kosovo and Metodija (Metohija) for all Serbs, the Patriarch stressed that they (Serbs) should make every effort so that Kosovo could remain Serbian. “What is Serbia without Kosovo and Metodija? It is a corpse without a soul and heart. Holy Serbia can exist only together with Kosovo and Metodija,” Patriarch Irinej emphasized. Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral, Bishops Joanikije of Budimlje- Niksic, Teodosije of Raska-Prizren, Jovan of Slavonia, Atanasije of Zahumlje and Herzegovina (retired) as well as an assembly of clergy concelebrated with the Patriarch at the Divine Liturgy at Gracanica. The faithful from Serbia, Montenegro, Republika Srpska, and diaspora came to Gracanica and Gazimestan (the monument commemorating the Battle of Kosovo). At the end of the Vidovdan celebration the fallen Serbian heroes were commemorated. |
| You brought us out from non-existence into being, and when we had fallen, you raised us up again, and left nothing undone until you had brought us up to heaven, and granted us the Kingdom that is to come. For all these things we give thanks to you, and to your only-begotten Son, and to your Holy Spirit; for all the benefits that we have received, both known and unknown, manifest and hidden. We thank you also for this liturgy which you have been pleased to accept from our hands, even though there stand around you thousands of archangels and tens of thousands of angels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim, six-winged and many-eyed, soaring aloft upon their wings, singing the triumphant hymn, shouting, proclaiming and saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosannah in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosannah in the highest. (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) SEE ALSO: Christ; Contemporary Orthodox Theology; Deification; Holy Spirit; Holy Trinity; Incarnation (of the Logos); Logos Theology; Perichoresis; St. Dionysius the Areopagite; St. Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS Bentley-Hart, D. (2003) The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. McGuckin, J. A. (1994) “Perceiving Light from Light in Light: The Trinitarian Theology of St. Gregory The Theologian,” Greek Orthodox Theological Review 39: 1–2, 7–32. McGuckin, J. A. (2008) The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Its History, Theology and Spiritual Culture. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Russell, N. (2004) The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Staniloae, D. (1998) The Experience of God: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Vol. 1: Revelation and the Knowledge of the Triune God. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press. Читать далее Источник: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity/John Anthony McGuckin - Maldin : John Wiley; Sons Limited, 2012. - 862 p. Поделиться ссылкой на выделенное |
| Muscovite Builds Record-Breaking Jesus Statue in Syria October 23, 2013 A bronze statue of Jesus Christ, taller than the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, has appeared in war-torn Syria. The statue, titled " I Have Come to Save the World " was apparently the brainchild of Yury Gavrilov, a 49-year-old Muscovite who runs an organization in London called the St. Paul and St. George Foundation. The project was backed by both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government, which takes an active interest in Syria, as seen in recent events. Russia also has a navy base on Syria " s Mediterranean sea coast. Despite the statue " s Russian connection, it was cast in Armenia and made by an Armenian sculptor, Artush Papoian. Syria " s ethnic Armenians have been fleeing the country in droves since the conflict began, to the extent that Armenia has built a new settlement called New Aleppo to house them, the news website Eurasianet.org reported. The settlement is named after the war-torn northern Syrian city where most of Syria " s ethnic Armenian population live. Some 7,000 of Syria " s ethnic Armenians are now seeking refuge in neighboring Armenia, Armenian news agencies reported. The Armenian statue was installed Oct. 14, which coincided with two religious holidays — both Orthodox Christian and Muslim. Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast day of the Protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mary and Muslims celebrate Kurban Bayram. Though all military activity was suspended in the region while the statue was being installed, the project has been in the works since 2005 and is not related to the current military crisis in the country, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported. The statue is located on a mountaintop near the city of Saidnaya. The statue is near the Monastery of the Cherubim, perched above the historic pilgrimage route from Constantinople to Jerusalem and is 2,100 meters above sea level. The statue stands at 39 meters tall together with the plinth, which is taller than Rio de Janeiro " s Christ the Redeemer statue, which stands at 38 meters. The enormous statue can be seen from neighboring countries Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. The director of Gavrilov " s St. Paul and St. George Foundation, Samir el-Gadban, commented on the importance of the statue in the war-torn country and expressed his hopes for the future. " " We hope that this sculptural composition brings peace and love to the hearts of people and that our work will help restore peace and calm in this long-suffering region, " " he told Komsomolskaya Pravda. The Moscow Times By Grace Cuddihy 24 октября 2013 г. ... Смотри также Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| 16 W.J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture. Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, Leiden-New York-Koln (Brill) 1996, p. 520. 17 Irish Theological Commission, A New Age of the Spirit? A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon, Dublin 1994, chapter 3. 18 См. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago (University of Chicago Press), 1970, p. 175. 19 См. Alessandro Olivieri Pennesi,//Crista del New Age. Indagine critica, Vatican City (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) 1999, везде, но особенно с. 11–34. См. также главу 4 ниже. 20 Стоит вспомнить слова этой песни, которые быстро запомнились целому поколению в Северной Америке и Западной Европе: «When the Moon is in the Seventh House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then Peace will guide the Planets, and Love will steer the Stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius... Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding; no more falsehoods or derision – golden living, dreams of visions, mystic crystal revelation, and the mind " s true liberation. Aquarius...» («Когда Луна окажется в Седьмом Доме, а Юпитер на одной линии с Марсом, тогда Мир будет управлять Планетами, а Любовь – направлять Звезды. Это рассвет эры Водолея... Гармония и понимание, сочувствие и доверие, ни обмана, ни насмешек – золотой век, мечты наяву, мистическое кристальное откровение и истинное освобождение сознания. Водолей...»). 21 Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement. The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity, Oxford (Blackwell) 1996, p. If. «Журнал христианской коалиции Беркли» (Journal of the Berkeley Christian Coalition) за август 1978 говорит об этом так: «Всего 10 лет назад вызывающая духовность хиппи, основанная на наркотиках, и мистицизм западной йоги ограничивались рамками контркультуры. Сегодня они нашли свой путь в основном культурном потоке. Наука, здравоохранение, искусство, не говоря уже о психологии и религии – все это используется для реконструкции их основополагающих посылок». Цит. по Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy. Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, Los Angeles (Tardier) 1980, с 370f. |
| It is possible to reduce all spectrum of social roles, which an outstanding monk could have being in touch with the ‘worldly’ society, to three main types: 1) ‘a healer’, 2) ‘a mediator/patron’, and 3) ‘a missionary’. The first type occurred in the sources more often, than the others. A monk (the first of all, the ‘Holy man’) appeared as a healer in various diseases, both somatic and mental. The activity of a monk as a mediator had some addition aspects. But the chief one was his efforts in mediating the social conflicts and everyday activity. This point indicates the great authority of «outstanding» monks among both common people and the officials, which helped them successfully to carry out these functions. The data concerning the missionary activity of the monks as reserved in our sources shows their contribution in dissemination of Christianity along the Egyptian chora in the IV t h century. However, this activity was sporadic and unorganized and, as a rule, had a peaceful character 713 . Also, the social ties of «outstanding» monks have an all-class character, not only the peasant one. The Appendix of the book examines the notions of three basic terms of monastic asceticism: euche («pray»), askesis (»exploits») and logismos («mind», «thought», «Einstellung»). The meanings of all these terms are generally the same in the sources. Some divergences can be explained by stylistic preferences of the authors and, in some cases, by rising of social importance of monasticism. It is possibly to assume that despite the ‘stormy’ evolution of monastic organisation’s forms and their original mobility, the basic terms of monastic asceticism remained permanent. 3 Примером первого может служить «Житие преп. Онуфрия» – Voytenko, 2007. Р. 635 – 637, образцом второго – «Повесть об убиении монахов на Синайской горе» – Афиногенов, 2002. С. 85 – 86. Правда, стоит отметить, что эллинистический роман, наряду с судебными процессами над мучениками, античными биографиями и божественными аретологиями рассматривается как один из жанровых «источников» агиографии – см. Browning, 1995; Déroche, 2004. P. 368. |
| Archive Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk: Constructive relations between Russia and United States are essential for the security of the whole world 12 December 2021 year 16:42 On December 7, 2021, a video summit between the presidents of Russia and the United States took place. At the request of Yekaterina Gracheva, the host of “The Church and the World TV programme,” chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion, shared his thoughts about the results of the talk between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden. “I think it is good that the two presidents have talked,” said the hierarch. “They had a two-hour long conversation; and there were touched upon problems which are dividing our countries now and hindering to mend relations between the two nuclear powers.” Metropolitan Hilarion is sure that constructive relations between the United States and Russia are of crucial importance, above all, for the security of the whole world. “On the one hand, nuclear powers have a potential for restraining the arms race, but on the other – if contradictions become too obvious, the arsenal at their disposal might be used. It is important not to allow either side to do it. Therefore, communication between the presidents is essential for agreements to be reached with the international situation taken into consideration.” “Moreover, normal relations between the two countries have a direct impact on the situation in both of them affecting the well-being of people,” continued the archpastor. Among other issues discussed by the participants in the video summit, Metropolitan Hilarion named the problem of the normalization of diplomats’ work, mentioning in particular the proposal of the Russian president to cancel all the existing restrictions on the functioning of the diplomatic missions. “Many complications have emerged in the relations between the two countries. If the existing problems start to be settled, one cannot but only welcome the process,” concluded the DECR chairman. DECR Communication Service /Patriarchia.ru Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| Kidnapped Syrian bishops " whereabouts remain unclear/Православие.Ru Kidnapped Syrian bishops " whereabouts remain unclear Aleppo, April 24, 2013 Confusion surrounds the whereabouts of two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria on Monday, but who were said to have been freed on Tuesday. There were reports that the two men, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, were back in the city of Aleppo. But other sources with links to the bishops have told the BBC this is not so and their families are still worried about their whereabouts. They had been returning from the Turkish border when they were seized. It was not immediately clear who had kidnapped them. Bishop Ibrahim is the head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo, while Bishop Yaziji leads the city " s Greek Orthodox Church. They are the most senior Christian clerics caught up directly in the war. Abductions on the rise Kidnappings have increased dramatically in Syria in the past year but the abduction of such high-ranking Christian figures is unusual, the BBC " s James Reynolds reports from the city of Istanbul, in neighbouring Turkey. BBC map Christians made up about 10% of the mainly Sunni Muslim country " s population before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began just over two years ago. President Assad " s government has hoped to retain their loyalty, based on a shared fear of what might happen if Sunni Muslims take over the country, our correspondent says. But some Christians have chosen to join the opposition - including George Sabra, the newly appointed leader of the opposition coalition, he adds. State TV earlier announced that an " armed terrorist group " had kidnapped the two bishops as they carried out " humanitarian work in [the] Aleppo countryside " . Their driver is thought to have been killed in Monday " s kidnapping attack. Abdulahad Steifo, a Syriac member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said the men had been kidnapped on the road to Aleppo from the rebel-held Bab al-Hawa crossing, which is close to the Turkish town of Reyhanli. |
| A Note on Pelagius The selection criteria do not rule out passages from Pelagius " s commentaries at those points at which they provide good exegesis. This requires special explanation, if we are to hold fast to our criterion of consensuality. 10 Rosemary Radford Ruether, Gregory of Nazianzuff Rhetor and Philosopher (Oxford Clarendon Press, 1969); Rosemary Radford Ruether, ed., Religion and Sexism: Images of Women in the Jewish and Christian Traditions (New York Simon and Schuster, 1974); David C. Rord: «Men and Women in the Early Church: The Full Views of St. John Chrysostom» (So, Canann Penn.: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1995). Cf. related works by John Meyendorff. Stephen B. Clark and Paul K. Jewett. The literary corpus of Pelagius remains highly controverted. Though Pelagius was by general consent the arch-heretic of the early fifth century. Pelagius’s edited commentaries, as we now have them highly worked over by later orthodox writers, were widely read and preserved for future generations under other names. So Pelagius presents us with a textual dilemma. Until 1934 all we had was a corrupted text of his Pauline commentary and fragments quoted by Augustine. Since then his works have been much studied and debated, and we now know that the Pelagian corpus has been so warped by a history of later redactors that we might be tempted not to quote it at all. But it does remain a significant source of fifth-century comment on Paul. So we cannot simply ignore it. My suggestion is that the reader is well advised not to equate the fifth-century Pelagius too easily with later standard stereotypes of the arch-heresy of Pelagianism. 11 It has to be remembered that the text of Pelagius on Paul as we now have it was preserved in the corpus of Jerome and probably reworked in the sixth century by either Primasius or Cassiodorus or both. These commentaries were repeatedly recycled and redacted, so what we have today may be regarded as consonant with much standard later patristic thought and exegesis, excluding, of course, that which is ecumenically censured as “Pelagianism.” Pelagius’s original text was in specific ways presumably explicitly heretical, but what we have now is largely unexceptional, even if it is still possible to detect points of disagreement with Augustine. We may have been ill-advised to quote this material as «Pelagius» and perhaps might have quoted it as «Pseudo-Pelagius» or «Anonymous», but here we follow contemporary reference practice. Читать далее Источник: InterVarsity Press. Downers Grove, Illinois. 2001 Поделиться ссылкой на выделенное |
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