| St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press launches Coptic Studies Series Source: OCA Natalya Mihailova 27 May 2015 Bishop Suriel presents an icon in the Coptic tradition to Fr. John Behr. Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press , the publishing house of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary , has launched a new series highlighting the history and spirituality of the ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. The first book in the “Coptic Studies Series,” titled, The Life of Repentance and Purity , was authored by His Holiness, Pope Shenouda III and is scheduled for release by December 2015. His Grace, Anba Suriel [Guirgis] , Bishop of the Coptic Diocese of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions, Australia, who studied at Saint Vladimir’s from 1998–1999, is Series Editor for the new line of books. Pope Shenouda’s book was first translated from Arabic in 1989 by Bishop Suriel and was published in 1991 by the Coptic Orthodox Publication and Translation Committee in Sydney. The new translation, also by Bishop Suriel, will include additions and patristic references and will be a joint publication between SVS Press and Saint Athanasius Press, the fledgling publishing house of Saint Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College , Donvale, Australia, where Bishop Suriel serves as Dean . “This is a big step for us,” noted Bishop Suriel. “Being in cooperation with SVS Press, which is well known around the world—even outside of Orthodox circles—will provide more recognition of our own theological press. “I am deeply indebted to Father Athanasius Farag, Father Bishoy Lamie, Phoebe Farag, and several others who worked tirelessly to prepare the manuscript that was presented to SVS Press,” he continued. “I am also grateful to Father John Behr, dean of Saint Vladimir’s, and to Michael Soroka and Deacon Gregory Hatrak, who are employed at SVS Press, for their hard work in assisting in bringing this work to light once more—in a much better edition! “We hope to be able to publish more works in the future, especially with the new series, which we are very excited about,” he said. “We want not only to raise the profile of our school but also to emphasize the importance of Coptic studies.” |
| 79 Limouris G.Orthodox and ecumenical Assemblies… Р. 18. Со ссылкой на: Orthodox Conference of Women in the Life of the Church: Final Statement; Makarios III Seminary, Nairobi Kenya, 1–4 June 1998. 80 Представительница лютеранской церкви Финляндии, сотрудница женского отделения Конференции европейских церквей в Женеве. 81 Churches accused of ignoring or condoning violence against women. By Stephen Brown. Ecumenical News International. 30 November 1998 82 WCC assembly debates role of women. WCC Eighth Assembly – Press Release No. 16. 7 December 1998. http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/assembly/pre-16.html (World Council of Churches. Office of Communication). 83 Материалы этой конференции были опубликованы в сборнике: Kanon. Mutter, Nonnen, Diakonissen. Heidelberg, 2000. 84 Соображения об ответственном подходе к некоторым деликатным вопросам. П. 30. О предстоятельстве женщин. Заключительный отчет Специальной комиссии по вопросу об участии православных церквей в работе Всемирного совета церквей. wcc-coe.org 85 Примечания. П. 51–52. Заключительный отчет Специальной комиссии по вопросу об участии православных церквей в работе Всемирного совета церквей. wcc-coe.org 86 Остапенко Г. Чернышева О.Женщины в протестантских церквах//Европейский альманах. История. Традиции. Культура. 1999. М., 2000. С. 63. 87 В Швеции сейчас в столичной епархии 42% женщин. Всего же на службе в шведской церкви насчитывается 24% женщин от общего числа священников. 88 В течение 20 лет (с 1977 по 1997 г.) число женщин в клире в Американской баптистской церкви возросло с 157 до 712; в епископальной церкви США – с 94 до 1394; в объединенной методистской церкви с 319 до 3003 – Female clergy in Eastern Orthodox churches, Protestant denominations & other religions//religiousTolerance.org со ссылкой на: Zikmund B. B., Lummis A. T, Chang P. M. Y., «Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling», Hartford Seminary, Hartford CT (scheduled to be published in 1998-MAY); Diego Ribadeneira, «The Spiritual Life, Still facing resistance, women ministers expand clergy " s role», Boston Globe, Boston MA, 1998-FEB-07, P. 102. |
| The meeting was a success in that Mlinar and Bishop Vladimir were able to further the petition of the Minneapolis congregation. Igumen George Chudnovski, rector of the cathedral (and whose own native dialect allowed him to understand Mlinar reasonably well) wrote to Toth, explaining the status of the Russian Orthodox Church in America and informing Toth, «your business has been forwarded to St. Petersburg. Write also to the remaining churches that they may follow your blessed path.» 101 In February of that year, Toth traveled to San Francisco and on March 25, Bishop Vladimir visited Minneapolis and received Toth and the parish into the Russian Orthodox Church. 102 When news reached Prešov, Bishop Valyi requested that Toth accept another parish in America as a temporary assignment before returning to Europe, a futile request since Toth no longer understood himself to be under Valyi " s jurisdiction. 103 Toth quickly earned the love and respect of Bishop Vladimir and by September of 1891, Vladimir asked if Toth would be willing to serve both Minneapolis and Chicago and praised Toth’s evangelization efforts toward Carpatho-Rusyns in Pennsylvania, exclaiming, «May the Lord help you win Pennsylvania over to the truth. Do not be dejected. Be patient, and may the Lord bless and help you.» 104 In July of 1892, the Holy Synod officially recognized the reception of Toth into the Orthodox Church by Vladimir and the Russian Mission, though by that time, a new bishop, Nicholas, had been assigned to America. 105 Toth had started his ecclesiastical career in tension-filled Subcarpathia and ended it by adhering to Orthodox Christianity in America. In so doing, he was on the forefront of a mass Carpatho-Rusyn movement from Eastern Catholicism to Russian Orthodoxy. The Eastern Christian tradition was, for him, paramount and the American context allowed him to pursue it more fully than he had been able previously. Initially, holding fast to his Eastern Christian roots meant writing to his bishop back home and meeting with fellow Eastern Catholic clergy, but that proved to be but a short lived initial step. For both Toth and his parishioners came to believe that the only way to maintain their Eastern Christian tradition was to turn to the Orthodox tradition, to restore Orthodoxy as the Carpatho-Rusyn faith. For Toth, this turn, or conversion, had a serious religious grounding. To understand how he perceived his conversion to Orthodoxy to be a return to the tradition of his Orthodox ancestors, however, one has to engage his apologetics, both in evangelistic efforts and his writings because it is there that one finds his motivations and beliefs expressed and witnesses what drew others to follow him. |
| Furthermore, our translators are highly capable, and in the end each book goes through a professional proofreading (Brotherhood of the Monastery of St. Herman of Alaska in Platina, California, and Sarah Anna Boyle). In essence, every human act needs to serve as a signpost that leads to the Truth. The Truth is not on the pages of the book but outside of them. The value of the written word is in a complete guide toward eternal life in Christ, in transformation toward the “abundant life” so that “no one fears death” (Saint John Chrysostom). I am convinced that the English language with this spiritual labor (podvig) of theological translations – because it is required to “construct new terminology” (Saint Gregory the Theologian) – gains a new ethos of terminology, achieves gracefulness and chromaticity, and with that, of course, a spiritual richness which it did not previously possess. What are the plans for the future and will “Sebastian Press” in 2014 delight Serbian and English audiences with new releases? We will soon publish works by: Bishop Ignjatije (Midic), Monk Maximos Constance, Professor Bosko Bojovic, Professor Bogdan Lubardic, Father John Erickson, Vladislav Puzovic, etc. We plan to publish the collected works of Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich and the monumental edition of the book, The Legacy of Kosovo in English. Sebastian Press has started a bilingual edition in French and Serbian. In this regard recently at the Serbian Cultural Center in Paris we held a promotion of the book of poetry by Jovan Ducic. We have already Sebastian Press published The Collection of Works from the International Symposium on St. Maximos the Confessor (held in Belgrade in October 2013), and in December of this year we will publish the Serbian version of it. Sebastian Press will publish some titles for children and youth next year. In the longer term, I think that these publishing activities will carry out perhaps a more fruitful mission after us than at this given time. Additionally, it is planned to publish works for young people who have an insatiable thirst for the truth, but it is up to us to discover the path toward them. Source: The Path of Orthodoxy: The Official Publication of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| And therefore in order that prayer may be offered up with that earnestness and purity with which it ought to be, we must by all means observe these rules. First all anxiety about carnal things must be entirely got rid of; next we must leave no room for not merely the care but even the recollection of any business affairs, and in like manner also must lay aside all backbitings, vain and incessant chattering, and buffoonery; anger above all and disturbing moroseness must be entirely destroyed, and the deadly taint of carnal lust and covetousness be torn up by the roots. And so when these and such like faults which are also visible to the eyes of men, are entirely removed and cut off, and when such a purification and cleansing, as we spoke of, has first taken place, which is brought about by pure simplicity and innocence, then first there must be laid the secure foundations of a deep humility, which may be able to support a tower that shall reach the sky; and next the spiritual structure of the virtues must be built up upon them, and the soul kept free from all conversation and from roving thoughts that thus it may little by little begin to rise to the contemplation of God and to spiritual insight. For whatever our mind has been thinking of before the hour of prayer, is sure to occur to us while we are praying through the activity of the memory. Wherefore what we want to find ourselves like while we are praying, that we ought to prepare ourselves to be before the time for prayer. For the mind in prayer is formed by its previous condition, and when we are applying ourselves to prayer the images of the same actions and words and thoughts will dance before our eyes, and make us either angry, as in our previous condition, or gloomy, or recall our former lust and business, or make us shake with foolish laughter (which I am ashamed to speak of) at some silly joke, or smile at some action, or fly back to our previous conversation. And therefore if we do not want anything to haunt us while we are praying, we should be careful before our prayer, to exclude it from the shrine of our heart, that we may thus fulfill the Apostle " s injunction: Pray without ceasing;and: In every place lifting up holy hands without wrath or disputing. For otherwise we shall not be able to carry out that charge unless our mind, purified from all stains of sin, and given over to virtue as to its natural good, feed on the continual contemplation of Almighty God. Chapter 4. Of the lightness of the soul which may be compared to a wing or feather. |
| And hence that true Mediator, in so far as, by assuming the form of a servant, He became the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, though in the form of God He received sacrifice together with the Father, with whom He is one God, yet in the form of a servant He chose rather to be than to receive a sacrifice, that not even by this instance any one might have occasion to suppose that sacrifice should be rendered to any creature. Thus He is both the Priest who offers and the Sacrifice offered. And He designed that there should be a daily sign of this in the sacrifice of the Church, which, being His body, learns to offer herself through Him. Of this true Sacrifice the ancient sacrifices of the saints were the various and numerous signs; and it was thus variously figured, just as one thing is signified by a variety of words, that there may be less weariness when we speak of it much. To this supreme and true sacrifice all false sacrifices have given place. Chapter 21 .– Of the Power Delegated to Demons for the Trial and Glorification of the Saints, Who Conquer Not by Propitiating the Spirits of the Air, But by Abiding in God. The power delegated to the demons at certain appointed and well-adjusted seasons, that they may give expression to their hostility to the city of God by stirring up against it the men who are under their influence, and may not only receive sacrifice from those who willingly offer it, but may also extort it from the unwilling by violent persecution – this power is found to be not merely harmless, but even useful to the Church, completing as it does the number of martyrs, whom the city of God esteems as all the more illustrious and honored citizens, because they have striven even to blood against the sin of impiety. If the ordinary language of the Church allowed it, we might more elegantly call these men our heroes. For this name is said to be derived from Juno, who in Greek is called Hêrê, and hence, according to the Greek myths, one of her sons was called Heros. And these fables mystically signified that Juno was mistress of the air, which they suppose to be inhabited by the demons and the heroes, understanding by heroes the souls of the well-deserving dead. But for a quite opposite reason would we call our martyrs heroes, – supposing, as I said, that the usage of ecclesiastical language would admit of it – not because they lived along with the demons in the air, but because they conquered these demons or powers of the air, and among them Juno herself, be she what she may, not unsuitably represented, as she commonly is by the poets, as hostile to virtue, and jealous of men of mark aspiring to the heavens. Virgil, however, unhappily gives way, and yields to her; for, though he represents her as saying, I am conquered by Æneas, Helenus gives Æneas himself this religious advice: |
| Study its literature; if possible become familiar with its service. There are many Russian churches in America where one may begin this helpful acquaintance and any sincerely friendly approach will be met with equal friendliness. Practical aid may be extended in the provision of books. The whole realm of our modern religious literature may be opened to Russia: educational courses for use in church schools and organized Bible-study groups will be eagerly utilized. Such books as homiletical aids, guild and society handbooks, would be most useful if translated and adapted to modern Russian conditions. The best religious thought of the modern West should be put at Russia's disposal by translation and publication in Russian. In the interval until the Church is again in a position to publish the Bible and portions of it for itself, the other Christian communions will find it difficult to turn a deaf ear to the appeals of both the Church and the Russian people for copies of the Word of God. Cooperation should be encouraged along all lines of religious endeavor and all our own experience in religious organization and method should be open for the use of the Russian Church. They seek our aid, and we must not withhold it. Any such assistance offered to Russia by Western Christianity will be welcomed with open arms, and if the suggestions here contained are borne in mind there will be no possibility for misunderstanding. Once a thorough appreciation of the essential " Russianity " of the Orthodox Church is established, there will be no misguided efforts to help Russian Christianity through the propagation of other forms of church organization or sectarian propaganda. What Western Christianity gives to Russia must be given through the Orthodox Church and not in any sort of opposition to or competition with it. A church which regardless of the barriers of distance and language, has prayed daily for a thousand years for " the welfare of God's churches and the union of them all " will welcome every sincerely friendly approach from other Christian bodies. |
| Philosophers – who place the end of human good in virtue itself, in order to put to shame certain other philosophers, who indeed approve of the virtues, but measure them all with reference to the end of bodily pleasure, and think that this pleasure is to be sought for its own sake, but the virtues on account of pleasure – are wont to paint a kind of word-picture, in which Pleasure sits like a luxurious queen on a royal seat, and all the virtues are subjected to her as slaves, watching her nod, that they may do whatever she shall command. She commands Prudence to be ever on the watch to discover how Pleasure may rule, and be safe. Justice she orders to grant what benefits she can, in order to secure those friendships which are necessary for bodily pleasure; to do wrong to no one, lest, on account of the breaking of the laws, Pleasure be not able to live in security. Fortitude she orders to keep her mistress, that is, Pleasure, bravely in her mind, if any affliction befall her body which does not occasion death, in order that by remembrance of former delights she may mitigate the poignancy of present pain. Temperance she commands to take only a certain quantity even of the most favorite food, lest, through immoderate use, anything prove hurtful by disturbing the health of the body, and thus Pleasure, which the Epicureans make to consist chiefly in the health of the body, be grievously offended. Thus the virtues, with the whole dignity of their glory, will be the slaves of Pleasure, as of some imperious and disreputable woman. There is nothing, say our philosophers, more disgraceful and monstrous than this picture, and which the eyes of good men can less endure. And they say the truth. But I do not think that the picture would be sufficiently becoming, even if it were made so that the virtues should be represented as the slaves of human glory; for, though that glory be not a luxurious woman, it is nevertheless puffed up, and has much vanity in it. Wherefore it is unworthy of the solidity and firmness of the virtues to represent them as serving this glory, so that Prudence shall provide nothing, Justice distribute nothing, Temperance moderate nothing, except to the end that men may be pleased and vain glory served. |
| Carl Olof Jonsson Introduction THE DISILLUSIONING and sometimes dramatic process that ended up in the decision to publish this treatise could fill a whole book. Due to considerations of space, however, that background can be only touched upon briefly here. Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught to put great trust in the Watch Tower Society and its leadership. Toward the end of my twentysix years as an active Jehovah’s Witness, however, the signs indicating that such trust was mistaken had mounted. To the very last I had hoped that the leaders of the organization would honestly face the facts respecting their chronology, even if those facts should prove fatal to some of the central doctrines and unique claims of their organization. But when at last I realized that the Society’s leaders – apparently for reasons of organizational or “ecclesiastical” policy – were determined to perpetuate what, in the final analysis, amounts to a deception of millions of persons, doing this by suppressing information which they regarded and continue to regard as undesirable, no other course seemed open to me but to publish my findings, thus giving every individual who has a concern for truth an opportunity to examine the evidence and draw his or her own conclusions. We are each responsible for what we know. If a person has information on hand that others need in order to get a correct understanding of their situation in life – information that furthermore is withheld from them by their religious leaders–then it would be morally wrong to remain silent. It becomes his or her duty to make that information available to all who want to know the truth, however this may appear. That is the reason why this book has been published. The role of chronology in the teachings of the Watch Tower Society Few people are fully cognizant of the very central role played by chronology in the claims and teachings of the Watch Tower Society. Even many of Jehovah’s Witnesses are not fully aware of the indissoluble connection between the Society’s chronology and the message they preach from door to door. Confronted with the many evidences against their chronology, some Jehovah’s Witnesses tend to downplay it as something they somehow can do without. “Chronology is not so important, after all,” they say. Many Witnesses would prefer not to discuss the subject at all. Just how important, then, is the chronology for the Watch Tower organization? |
| Accordingly this seems to me to be one principal reason why the good are chastised along with the wicked, when God is pleased to visit with temporal punishments the profligate manners of a community. They are punished together, not because they have spent an equally corrupt life, but because the good as well as the wicked, though not equally with them, love this present life; while they ought to hold it cheap, that the wicked, being admonished and reformed by their example, might lay hold of life eternal. And if they will not be the companions of the good in seeking life everlasting, they should be loved as enemies, and be dealt with patiently. For so long as they live, it remains uncertain whether they may not come to a better mind. These selfish persons have more cause to fear than those to whom it was said through the prophet, He is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman " s hand. Ezekiel 33:6 For watchmen or overseers of the people are appointed in churches, that they may unsparingly rebuke sin. Nor is that man guiltless of the sin we speak of, who, though he be not a watchman, yet sees in the conduct of those with whom the relationships of this life bring him into contact, many things that should be blamed, and yet overlooks them, fearing to give offense, and lose such worldly blessings as may legitimately be desired, but which he too eagerly grasps. Then, lastly, there is another reason why the good are afflicted with temporal calamities – the reason which Job " s case exemplifies: that the human spirit may be proved, and that it may be manifested with what fortitude of pious trust, and with how unmercenary a love, it cleaves to God. Chapter 10.– That the Saints Lose Nothing in Losing Temporal Goods. These are the considerations which one must keep in view, that he may answer the question whether any evil happens to the faithful and godly which cannot be turned to profit. Or shall we say that the question is needless, and that the apostle is vaporing when he says, We know that all things work together for good to them that love God? Romans 8:28 |
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