A Gospel in the Gospel of Judas?
Rev. Dr. Theodore Stylianopoulos, Th.D.
Casting Judas not as a culpable betrayer, but as an intimate friend and collaborator of Jesus, the recently announced Gospel of Judas has understandably generated a stir. However, what the ancient document says about Jesus is even more controversial. According to this "Gospel," Jesus was a bearer of a deep secret that apparently he revealed to no other disciple except Judas; and then got his help to die that his spirit may be released to some heavenly realm. Recruited for this purpose, Judas then "betrays" the Master as an act of intimate friendship. This is heady stuff. Does the Gospel of Judas cast doubts on the accounts of the four traditional Gospels and, implicitly, on all early Christianity?
The fact that the Gospel of Judas has been authenticated as belonging to the third century, the original written about a century earlier, does not of course mean what it says is true. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. 180 AD) knew about it and denounced it as heresy. Many other Church Fathers and theologians have, before and after Irenaeus, refuted the same kind of thinking found in dozens of similar documents which distorted the apostolic faith. Scholars have called that religious ideology Gnosticism, a phenomenon that flourished mainly in the second century and created serious problems for the Church. Since the late 1940's, when a slew of them were found buried in the dry sands of Egypt, scholars have been able to study these document first hand.
In the National Geographic documentary featuring the Gospel of Judas, biblical scholar Craig Evans, near the end of the film, bluntly stated that nothing new and nothing historically authentic is to be found in the document. Although the documentary leaned to the opposite view, most scholars will probably agree with Evans. The Gospel of Judas is but another small window to Gnosticism, a hodgepodge of religious speculations that exploded on the scene during the second century. At that time, individual intellectuals or small and elitist groups around them, bothered by the basic story of the Bible, especially the "violent" God of the Old Testament and the "scandalous" death and resurrection of Jesus, generated their own religious philosophy. They combined Jewish, Christian and pagan elements to construct literally fantastic systems of speculation including astrology and magic. The core theme, found in the Gospel of Judas, is secret knowledge (gnosis) that leads to salvation.
What was that secret knowledge about? It was essentially about the Gnostic system itself that roughly runs as follows: A higher god, infinitely superior to the God of the Old Testament, sends periodic illuminators to earth with a secret message to draw back to heaven the inner divine sparks of receptive human beings hopelessly caught in utter darkness. According to this worldview, the Old Testament God is an inferior and ignorant God, responsible for creating the lowest sphere of existence, the earth, where all the evil of the cosmos had dredged. Material things, including human bodies, if not evil, are the seat of evil, and to be escaped from. So in Gnostic thinking the eternal Christ, who was the son of the higher god and not the Son of the God of the Old Testament, could not truly have taken human flesh. Instead, he temporarily entered into Jesus at his baptism and later, at some point during his arrest and suffering, left the material body and returned to the sphere of light.
In the Gnostic system, the saving death and resurrection of Christ play no role and they are usually entirely omitted. The one killed is not the Son of God, but only the human Jesus, whose body presumably decayed to dust. What is decisive for the Gnostic view is not the person of Jesus the Christ, crucified and risen, but the Gnostic "gospel" itself, that is, the message of the secret Gnostic system. This system was thought to provide the key to a kind of self-salvation through self-knowledge and self-realization in the discovery of the inner divine self.
What's wrong with all this? The whole thing. That Jesus passed on a single secret to a single intimate collaborator is immensely absurd. Jesus conducted an open ministry addressing his message to all and publicly conflicting with religious leaders over such issues as the Sabbath observance, the ritual washing of hands, and the temple activities. Not even radical critics would deny essential truth in these words of Jesus: "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together; I have said nothing secretly" (John 18:20). The events of the early Church and its astonishing mission, reported in the Book of Acts, were "not done in a corner," St. Paul pointedly observed (Acts 26:26). Against the Gospel of Judas, none of the New Testament books, all written in the first century, give any hint that early Christianity was all about elites conveying secrets to elites. The "mysteries" of God's kingdom proclaimed by Jesus (Matthew 13:11) were not about objective teachings, such as "love your enemies" and many others like it in the Sermon on the Mount. These were taught to all, disciples and the crowds. Rather, the mystery of God's kingdom, both then and today, is the same: it is the personal experience of grace and forgiveness arising in human hearts from hearing about God's rule and living by the gospel.
The Gospel of Judas turns Christianity on its head. Long ago St. Irenaeus accused the Gnostics of using the Bible as a mosaic from which they extracted selected tiles and created a wholly different portrait of Christ, turning, as he said, the portrait of the king into that of a fox! The Christian gospel puts Christ at the center of the salvation message and proclaims a true incarnation, a true death, and true resurrection by which of sinners are redeemed from the power of sin and enjoy a new life of grace in obedience to Christ. Contrary to the Gnostic message, the Christian gospel is rooted in the Old Testament as part of the saving plan of the only true God and Father of Jesus Christ. St. Paul declares that there is only one Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) and that he and all the numerous eye-witnesses to the risen Christ preach the same Gospel of the crucified, buried and risen Lord (1 Cor. 15:1-11). In view of the testimony of these eyewitnesses, many of whom had actually walked with Jesus, only a fool would attribute any credibility to a strange document written one hundred fifty years later.
Let readers be aware that there can be no compromise here. One cannot choose parts from the traditional Gospels and parts from the Gospel of Judas. The two versions of salvation by their very nature negate each other. They are not two alternative, more or less acceptable, takes on what authentic Christianity was and is. The Gnostic gospel proclaims Christ as a kind of disembodied messenger who opposes the work of the Old Testament God. The Christian gospel proclaims an incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ in complete harmony with the same God who is his Father. The Gnostic message views the human body as virtually evil, something to discard. The Christian message holds the human body as holy, redeemable, destined for glorious transformation through resurrection. The Gnostic way of salvation is one of inward meditation toward self-realization. The Christian way of salvation is taking up the cross in obedience to Christ and in communion with his body, the Church, which has a vital mission in part to work for justice and peace in this world that God loves. When the two interpretative perspectives are assessed as wholes, the historical and theological evidence clearly favors the Christian option as being the most faithful to the message of the Bible and worthy of life-long commitment.
What about Judas' betrayal? The betrayal was not as decisive for Jesus' death as one might think. Jesus' enemies would have gotten to him one way or another. Jesus did not, of course, need Judas' help to die, if Jesus' wanted to do that, because he could have surrendered to the authorities himself. The idea that Jesus was looking to die is totally refuted by the experience of Gethsemane in which Jesus with distress and tears prayed three times to be spared the cross.
The betrayal of Judas is significant in its moral (rather immoral) immensity. Yet, why did Judas betray Jesus? Was it envy, greed, an attempt to force Jesus' hand toward revolution against the Romans, or even an attempt at a reconciliation meeting with the religious leaders for the common national good? No little attention in print and film has been given to such questions, and it is no sin. The vilification of Judas in Christian history is lamentable. For Christians, the right response to all sinners, including ourselves, is sorrow and prayer in the spirit of Christ's love who forgave his crucifiers. What a magnificent testimony to God's forgiveness, if Judas, like Peter, had repented of his misdeed and run up to Jesus as he stumbled up the hill to Golgotha and asked for mercy! Forgiveness would have been certain. But it was not to be. Falling into despair on account of his betrayal, Judas killed himself, an act that would otherwise have no reasonable explanation, unless one is prepared to adopt the Gnostic system and see Judas as committing suicide to release his own soul to astral regions.
Who has the story right? The second-century Gnostics with their new-fangled speculations, or the earliest Christians who provided the traditions behind the four Gospels? If it were not a culpable betrayal, why would early Christians want to create and perpetuate an embarrassing story about one of the twelve disciples handing over his Master to the enemies? To reverse morally the betrayal into an act of friendship seems utterly ludicrous.
The crux of the fuss has to do with the value wars in the second as well as the twenty-first centuries. Over recent centuries, the failings of Christians and institutional Christianity, wars and all, have caused offense to many intellectuals who have consequently looked elsewhere for answers. Out of frustration and sometimes hatred, some have even proposed and have actively sought either radically to revise or even wholly to destroy traditional Christianity. They have wanted to throw out the proverbial baby with the water. This sort of thing is both regrettable and unacceptable. The institutional Church ought to be fully transparent and get its act together for an effective mission in the world. However, a radically revised Christianity is no Christianity at all, but only a fake shadow of it, unworthy of support. One must also consider that the despisers of Christianity have not come up with some viable communal alternative that works.
The ancient Gnostics seem to have been gripped by similar frustrations and anger. The pain of an unjust and violent world led the Gnostics to the dreamy ideal of escaping from reality instead of facing it. They thought to find self-redemption in meditative self-absorption and the construction of ethereal speculative systems, rather than by following the way of the cross and martyrdom as adherents of apostolic Christianity did. Part of the spiritual revolt of the Gnostics, so it seems, was to attack basic teachings of the Bible and the Church. And what crazy stuff it was that some came up with. The Naassenes or Ophites (the respective words in Hebrew and Greek mean "snake") venerated the deceiving serpent of Genesis thought to have the wisdom of the superior god against the plan of the Old Testament God! Other Gnostics advocated three, seven, nine, thirty or thirty-three levels of divinity. Marcion, an extreme ascetic who saw evil in matter, allowed only single people in his communities. He prohibited marriage and childbearing because, in his view, such practices aided the work of the inferior creator god. And so Marcion condemned his own congregations to eventual extinction.
These examples may show that it is not the case, as some loudly claim today, that oppressive bishops and a rigid Church suppressed the Gnostics. For centuries the Church was under persecution and had no social or political power to oppress anyone. Naturally the leaders and theologians of the Church were concerned to maintain the apostolic traditions and therefore they disciplined their own communicants. However, any person or group outside the Church, or cast out of the Church, had the same opportunity to flourish in their choices. The decline of Gnostic groups was chiefly due to the inability of their own message and practice to draw and keep adherents. Christianity triumphed not because of its rigid administrative or theological systems, but because it served the needs and hopes of many who were willing to make the costly commitment to the apostolic gospel.
In modern democratic societies, individuals and groups have equal opportunity to promote their ideologies and practices. The promise of success is open to all. Let God's truth be served in providing real solutions for the real problems of humanity by means of example and persuasion. In the cauldron of the current cultural war, it is no surprise that people would differ as radically as people did in the second century and still regard themselves as Christians. Some continue to teach that Jesus' transformed bodily resurrection is an unnecessary myth, despite the protestations of St. Paul (1 Corinthians, chapter 15).
Others advocate same gender marriage despite the witness of the Scriptures, all of the historical wisdom and the drastic social implications. Still others have supported almost limitless destruction of the unborn as if only the will and convenience of the potential parent really counts. And many caught up in the spirit of the age, whether consciously or unconsciously, follow the post-modern message of looking for the "real" self, finding one's way, creating one's own truth, and doing one's own thing while still claiming to follow Christ. For such persons, the Gospel of Judas may perhaps be of considerable value. For many others, however, it is no "gospel" at all.
Rev. Dr. Theodore G. Stylianopoulos,Archbishop Iakovos Professor of Orthodox Theologyand Professor of New Testament Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of TheologyBrookline, Ma 02445
tstylianopoulos@hchc.edu
GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
THE SACRED COMMUNITY OF THE HOLY MOUNTAIN ON THE DIALOGUE WITH THE PAPISTS
Source: Ecclesiastic News Agency "Romfaia"
http://www.romfea.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3199&Itemid=1
By Emilios Polygenis
SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE : The Sacred Community of the Holy Mountain has stated its official position regarding the Convention of the Joint Commission for the Dialogue between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, which is to take place in Cyprus.
The Sacred Community has decided as follows:
1. Throughout the past centuries, the Holy Mountain has remained - with the Grace of Christ - the faithful guardian of the holy Orthodox Faith, which the God-heralding Apostles had delivered to the Church and which our God-bearing Fathers with the holy Ecumenical Synods had preserved, unforged, over the ages. This same delivered Faith was likewise preserved faithfully by our predecessor Holy Mountain Fathers.
2. After having been informed that during the impending Plenary Session of the Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue in Cyprus, between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholics, the subject is to be «the role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Churches during the first millennium», our Sacred Community, not knowing the exact content of the said Dialogue, is hereby expressing its extreme worry and concern, because the Papal Primacy is foreseen for discussion, before Papism has even begun to cast out its heretic dogmas and its secular character (the Vatican State). Therefore, the only prerequisite for a discussion of the Primacy to take place is the return of the Roman Catholics to the Orthodox Faith and the Conciliar polity of the Orthodox Church, and not the "unity in diversity" of dogmas.
3. «This is the Orthodox Church - the only One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church» as also declared in the most venerable Holy Temple of the Protaton by His Most Holy Beatitude the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the 21-8-2008, during his visit to the Holy Mountain. That is what we believe also, and we will remain steadfast in everything that our holy fathers had proclaimed.
All the Representatives and Principals of the twenty Sacred Monasteries of the Holy Mountain Athos.
SOURCE: OODE
http://www.romfea.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3199&Itemid=1
By Emilios Polygenis
SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE : The Sacred Community of the Holy Mountain has stated its official position regarding the Convention of the Joint Commission for the Dialogue between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, which is to take place in Cyprus.
The Sacred Community has decided as follows:
1. Throughout the past centuries, the Holy Mountain has remained - with the Grace of Christ - the faithful guardian of the holy Orthodox Faith, which the God-heralding Apostles had delivered to the Church and which our God-bearing Fathers with the holy Ecumenical Synods had preserved, unforged, over the ages. This same delivered Faith was likewise preserved faithfully by our predecessor Holy Mountain Fathers.
2. After having been informed that during the impending Plenary Session of the Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue in Cyprus, between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholics, the subject is to be «the role of the Bishop of Rome in the communion of the Churches during the first millennium», our Sacred Community, not knowing the exact content of the said Dialogue, is hereby expressing its extreme worry and concern, because the Papal Primacy is foreseen for discussion, before Papism has even begun to cast out its heretic dogmas and its secular character (the Vatican State). Therefore, the only prerequisite for a discussion of the Primacy to take place is the return of the Roman Catholics to the Orthodox Faith and the Conciliar polity of the Orthodox Church, and not the "unity in diversity" of dogmas.
3. «This is the Orthodox Church - the only One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church» as also declared in the most venerable Holy Temple of the Protaton by His Most Holy Beatitude the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the 21-8-2008, during his visit to the Holy Mountain. That is what we believe also, and we will remain steadfast in everything that our holy fathers had proclaimed.
All the Representatives and Principals of the twenty Sacred Monasteries of the Holy Mountain Athos.
SOURCE: OODE
THE ELDER JOSEPH THE HESYCHAST (+1959), STRUGGLES, EXPERIENCES, TEACHINGS (1)
Introduction
It is only natural for noble memories to be recorded, so that they remain forever as glowing landmarks in spiritual history. This is the more necessary these days, when life is in a state of flux and rapid change so that the traditional foundations are almost totally transformed. Anyone of an advanced age will have something to say from his experience of the past, as a witness to events and a source of reliable information. But this is also an obligation which creates history. This is how knowledge about the lives of former generations is handed down to us – of how they lived, how and what they thought and what their social and spiritual life was like.
It is on these grounds that we write these lines, because we wanted to leave a living memory of some aspects of monastic life – something that anyway corresponds to my own bent, since I became a monk at an early age. My impressions, which to be sure are those of a monk, revolve mainly around the life and words of devout and virtuous monks and elders whom I have met or heard about from reliable sources. From my youth I was thrilled by the Lives of the Saints, and I always cherished the hope that one day I might meet people like that, true workers of virtue, heroes in the practice of arduous ascetic labours and genuine friends of God, filled with divine love towards God and their neighbour.
Nearly two millenia have passed in the history of our Church, during which the bitter struggle of good and evil has gone stubbornly on and their respective supporters have constantly clashed. However much the workers of virtue diminish in number – the ‘little flock’, in the words of Our Lord (Lk 12.32) – they have not ceased to be a presence in every age, even under harsh conditions. And this is because we are simply seeing the fulfilment of the Lord’s prophecy that ‘the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church and the flock of Christ’ (Mt 16.18), and because indeed ‘He who is in you in greater than he who is in the world’ (1 Jn 4.4).
* * *
Monasticism goes back almost to the days of the holy Apostles, and started to be organised after the third century in Egypt and Palestine. The initial solitary way of life was followed by a communal life, first in lavras that were semi-coenobitic and later with a purely coenobitic rule. According to sacred tradition, the monks under Pachomius the Great at Tabennisi, by the mouth of the Nile, received the rule and foundation for their communal life in a revelation from an angel of God. The basic characteristic of this rule which was given them was a small variation from coenobitic life in a strict sense to accommodate the desire and godly fervour of the spiritual warriors of the time – a degree of independence as to the intensity of their spiritual struggle. Each was allowed to make his own choices as to diet, form of struggle, ascetic labour, vigil, prayer and whatever else.
In a relatively short time this tradition spread to Palestine, where Theodosius the Great instituted the purely coenobitic life, for which he is called the Coenobiarch. During this period, monasticism spread to almost every part of the world where the Church was to be found. Monasteries, sketes and hermitages were built, where zealous Christians would resort to put into practice the commandments of the Gospel according to their desire and their fervour, devoting themselves solely to the things of God. In the east the monks were not left in peace for long, especially after the spread of Islam, which was undoubtedly a sore trial for Christendom. Thus began the gradual movement towards the area around Byzantium, and Olympus in Bythinia (Asia Minor) became a thriving centre. In the capital, too, there flourished the Studites, renowned for their zeal for the patristic tradition and architects of our hymnology it its detailed form, building on a tradition received from the famous Lavra of St Sava. But here, too, the iconoclast heresy did not allow them to dedicate themselves in peace to their monastic labours, and the search began for a new place to continue this sacred tradition.
So begins the history of Holy Athos, which from that time has remained down the years an unshakable bastion of true piety and virtue, the spiritual and fragrant paradise of the Most Blessed Mother of God, whose special love and care for it continues to be made manifest in practical ways.
It is not our intention to write a general history of monasticism, so we are not going into details in our brief account. We have given this summary sketch only because we shall refer later to the spiritual warriors of Mount Athos, the legitimate continuators of our patristic tradition.
* * *
It is sad indeed that despite the rich spiritual contribution of Athonite monasticism which has survived and thrived uninterrupted for more than a thousand years, nothing has been written that is worthy of its splendour. Even the names of those who passed through and handed on this rich heritage have not been written down. We are unequal to this task and also untimely born, having missed almost all the vast wealth of this spiritual heaven. Indeed, Athos has stood permanently between earth and heaven, to reconcile the human race with God and, often, to stand in the way of the divine justice which human treachery has provoked.
When we first started out in our own homeland, the first thing we learned about monastic life was the Holy Mountain. This was because it happened that both our Abbot Barnabas and the spiritual father of our monastery, Hieromonk Kyprianos, had previously been Athonites. They were always telling us about living images and examples of holy monks from Athos whom they themselves had seen and heard . They told us about the Elder Kallinikos the Hesychast, the Elder Gerasimos of Chios, Father Gregorios, Father Kosmas, Father Savvas, Ilarion and many others. All these were people full of godly zeal, real ascetics, true spiritual warriors, men of inwardness and watchfulness , sober, filled with divine grace and the spirit of prescience.
These vivid tales, combined with our youthful fervour at that time, were so uplifting that they kindled in us the desire to visit this holy place for ourselves. And if God did not grant us the blessing of meeting such fathers, we could at least venerate their holy relics and see at first hand the holy places where they lived and strove, and learn from their successors as much as we could about their marvellous and supranatural lives. Such were the motives that led us to set out, and so by the grace of God we found ourselves on holy Athos, where we encountered far more than we had expected or dreamed.
* * *
There is nothing strange or rare in recounting the lives of remarkable men and some part of their feats and struggles. If only this were always done: it would offer some hope for restoring stability to a corrupted society which, alas, is inundated with contradictions. A form of impassioned love possesses people’s hearts. To a greater of lesser extent, everyone loves something, is interested in something – something occupies their minds. In their struggle to organise whatever it is they areinterested in, they may be satisfied or frustrated. But taking their life as a whole, they are not satisfied, because most of their time and energy has been wasted on pitiful vanities and in the service of pointless ends. Many philosophies amd theories have been articulated and written down since the dawn of history, but there has been no improvement in this harsh reality.
The meaning of truth is not easy for people to grasp in the place of exile and condemnation in which they find themselves. The ancient commandment of the Creator following the sin of disobedience remains inexorable: ‘and at the east of the garden of Eden God placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life’ (Gen. 3.24). Entry to Eden, to joy and happiness and peace, has been forbidden for ever! In its place, the earth keeps bringing forth thorns and thistles and ‘in the sweat of your face shall you eat bread all the days of your life’ (Gen. 3.19,17).
So the fullness of time had to come for this new Gospel to overturn the ancient condemnation and grant human beings the blessing, to grant them true happiness and joy. ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give unto you’ (Jn 14:27). Since the moment when the new Gospel gave the good news to men and revealed the true meaning of life – real peace and joy – many centuries have passed up to this day, and the course of mankind continues unimpeded towards its realisation. Indeed, ‘to all who received Him, He gave power to become children of God’ (Jn 1:12).
Out of the countless heroes who continue this course we shall speak of one, whom God in His love for mankind granted us to live close to for a considerable time. ‘We have seen and heard and touched’ (cf. 1 Jn 1:1) personally the actual life of this man, and also his thoughts, as far, of course, as it was possible for us.
The basic characteristics of this blessed Elder were the comprehensive commandments: on the one hand love for God with all his heart and soul, and for his neighbour as himself, and on the other the bitter, lifelong struggle with various trials in order to put this commandment into practice. It is impossible not to meet with difficulties if one travels the narrow way (cf. Mt. 7:14) of virtue in order to come out on the other side – or rather, in heaven – even as ‘through many tribulations we must enter into life’ (cf. Acts 14:22). But for those who by a higher providence are prepared by God for the strengthening of others, and who in a certain way bring renewed vitality into a situation of neglect, the struggle is incomparably more bitter and rougher, and often seems quite relentless. This is not difficult to see also from the lives of the great Fathers and founders of the monastic life, who, according to the degree of their mission, also encountered the violence of exceptional trials. In the course of life it is natural that things often change, for the better or worse, in accordance with the prevailing circumstances which their environment creates over and above the natural laws governing them.
This was what the Elder would tell us sometimes in answer to our questions on the subject. ‘It happens’, he said to us, ‘that the love of our fellow men, and generally the sympathy of the whole environment, can lighten our load so that the trials are scarcely perceptible; and at other times people’s cruelty and revulsion can make our cross an unbearable weight.’
Those of us who lived close to the Elder learned from his life and his words many valuable things which he knew from experience. But the brothers who came later, who joined us towards the end of his life, insisted that we should write down for them something of the Elder’s life, maintaining that an oral account would soon be forgotten. So it was their insistence, and that of the others who had known our Elder, which induced us to write down something of his life, despite our very limited abilities. This should have been done by others who were more capable. But perhaps this is difficult, because owing to the Elder’s peculiar manner of life there are not many witnesses who saw and heard him at first hand. Perhaps, again, something will be written in the future by others who have both the enthusiasm and an ability with words.
When I began gradually noting down what I remembered and had got about half way, I was overcome by a kind of disheartenment and lost the will with which I had started off. I shut my notes up in a cupboard and was thinking not to continue for the time being. About two months went by in silence, then one morning the brother who lived with me said in surprise, ‘Last night I saw the Elder in a dream, and he gave me two big seals to give you. One was all ready, with its lettering carved on, and the other had no lettering and needed to be carved. I asked, “What should I tell him to do with them, Elder?” and he replied clearly, “Give them to him, and he will know what to do with them.” Then I woke up.’ (Bear in mind that my handicraft at the time was making wooden prosfora seals). When the brother told me this, I immediately understood what it meant because that was where my thoughts turned, and I continued with a will to finish writing the Elder’s life.
I too must admit now that it is very useful to have the lives and experiences of godly and virtuous people written down, as a support and example for later generations. With care and a sense of responsibility, without fanaticism or ulterior motive, we describe what we saw and heard personally of the life of our ever-memorable Elder, as well as the testimony of others who knew him before we did.
To be continued…
SOURCE: VATOPAIDI
Saturday, October 3, 2009
DEATH OF ORTHODOX NUN EUPRAXIA IN ARIZONA. A NEW SMILE FROM ETERNITY
NUN EUPRAXIA
See the after death smile of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi: http://greekorthodoxchr.blogspot.com/2009/07/funeral-of-blessed-elder-joseph-of.html
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
THE SPREADING OF SWINE FLU AND THE MYSTERIES (SACRAMENTS) OF OUR CHURCH
The spreading of Swine Flu and
the Mysteries (Sacraments)of our Church
Source: http://www.imml.gr/webpages/egkyklioi/2009/41.htm
A spiritual Encyclical containing many messages was issued by the Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, fr. Nicholas,
regarding the spreading of the Swine Flu virus and the Mysteries of our Church.
ENCYCLICAL 41
Subject: «The spreading of the swine flu virus and the Mysteries of our Church»,To the pious people of our Sacred Metropolis
Dear brethren,
Recently, on account of the outbreak of the pandemic of Swine Flu, the matter of possible transmission of sicknesses through Holy Communion was also -unnecessarily- brought up. Unfortunately, with an unbecoming vocabulary, a sarcastic attitude and argumentation that was not in the least well-meaning, one more attempt has been made to dismantle our Faith, at a time when we have no other support to hold on to. So, with this opportunity, I think it proper to provide certain truths, which are necessary for preserving the priceless treasure of our Faith inside us.
Our Church has been transmitting the grace of Her Mysteries for two thousand years, in the familiar, very humane and simultaneously blessed way, for the "healing and therapy of soul and body". She has never needed to speculate with the contemporary logic of irreverent doubting, but has been living day to day with the experience of affirmation of a supreme miracle. How is it ever possible for communion with God to be a cause of sickness or even the slightest harm? How is it ever possible for the Body and the Blood of our Lord and God to pollute our body and our blood? How is it possible for a daily experience of over two thousand years to be quashed by mere rationalism and the cold shallowness of our time?
Faithful people - both healthy and sick - have been receiving Holy Communion for centuries, distributed by the same holy Communion spoon - which is never washed and never disinfected - and never has anything been observed. Priests who serve in hospitals, even in hospitals for contagious diseases, all distribute Holy Communion to the faithful and then consume the remaining contents of the Chalice with reverence, and all of them enjoy long lives. Holy Communion is everything that we as a Church and as people hold holy; it is the supreme medication for soul and body. That is likewise the teaching and the experience of our Church.
Those who are distrustful of the miracle of the Lord's Resurrection, all those who scorn His birth by a Virgin, all those who deny the fragrance that emanates from holy relics, all those who show contempt towards everything holy and sacred, all those who conspire against our Church, all those who seek to eradicate the slightest trace of faith from our souls will naturally strive to exploit the opportunity to also insult the most sacred mystery of the Divine Eucharist.
The fact that the Anglicans and the Catholics have decided for precautionary reasons to cease the distribution of holy communion in England and New Zealand respectively, if true, is not a show of prudence and freedom - as some would maintain - but instead, it actually highlights in the best possible way the huge distance between our Church, which is eucharistic in Her theology and Her life and who lives, believes and preaches that Mystery/Sacrament, and the remaining christian groups, which are indirectly confessing the absence of Grace and God's signs from their so-called sacraments, as well as the loss of their ecclesiastic identity. Life without a Mystery resembles a serious illness without a remedy.
Unfortunately, the big problem is not the flu virus - as the Mass Media are wont to advertise - nor is the virus of worldwide panic - as supported by the medical unions; it is actually the virus of irreverence and the microbe of disbelief. And the best vaccine is our frequent participation in the mystery of Holy Communion, "with a clean conscience" and an "irreprehensible" one. Our response to this unholy provocation of our time is our very way of life.
It would be advisable, if our spiritual fathers could exhort the faithful (with due discernment, and provided there are no spiritual obstacles) to receive Holy Communion more frequently during these difficult times, while those of us who already have our spiritual fathers' blessings should also approach the Cup of Life more frequently. but always "with the fear of God, very much faith and sincere love".
____________________________________________
Rev. Nikolaos Hatzinikolaou - Short Biography
Born in Thessaloniki, 1954.
A Graduate from the Physics Department of the University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Master's degree in Astrophysics from Harvard University in Boston.
Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in Boston.
Master's degree of Theological Studies from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
Master's degree of Theology from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Boston.
1986. Doctoral Degree from Harvard University. Specialized in Biomedical Engineering (Bio-fluid dynamics).
2003. Doctoral Degree from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, School of Theology. Specialized in Bioethics.
2008. Horonary Doctoral Degree from Univesrity of Athens, School of Theology (Science and Religion).
Worked as research fellow for various hospitals in Boston and as a consultant in space medical technology for Arthur D. Little and NASA.
In January 1988, went to Mount Athos, and since May 1990 to April 2004 served as a priest-monk at the Athonite Metochion of Ascension in Athens.
Teaches the course «Hemodynamics Pathophysiology of Vascular Diseases» at the Medical School of Crete.
Since 1992, Director of the Hellenic Center for Biomedical Ethics.
Also, President of the Bioethics Committee of the Church of Greece and member of the National Bioethics Committee.
Was elected and ordinated Metropolitan of Mesogaea and Lavraeotica, April 30th, 2004.
Translation: K.N.
Source: OODE, Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquires
the Mysteries (Sacraments)of our Church
Source: http://www.imml.gr/webpages/egkyklioi/2009/41.htm
A spiritual Encyclical containing many messages was issued by the Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, fr. Nicholas,
regarding the spreading of the Swine Flu virus and the Mysteries of our Church.
ENCYCLICAL 41
Subject: «The spreading of the swine flu virus and the Mysteries of our Church»,To the pious people of our Sacred Metropolis
Dear brethren,
Recently, on account of the outbreak of the pandemic of Swine Flu, the matter of possible transmission of sicknesses through Holy Communion was also -unnecessarily- brought up. Unfortunately, with an unbecoming vocabulary, a sarcastic attitude and argumentation that was not in the least well-meaning, one more attempt has been made to dismantle our Faith, at a time when we have no other support to hold on to. So, with this opportunity, I think it proper to provide certain truths, which are necessary for preserving the priceless treasure of our Faith inside us.
Our Church has been transmitting the grace of Her Mysteries for two thousand years, in the familiar, very humane and simultaneously blessed way, for the "healing and therapy of soul and body". She has never needed to speculate with the contemporary logic of irreverent doubting, but has been living day to day with the experience of affirmation of a supreme miracle. How is it ever possible for communion with God to be a cause of sickness or even the slightest harm? How is it ever possible for the Body and the Blood of our Lord and God to pollute our body and our blood? How is it possible for a daily experience of over two thousand years to be quashed by mere rationalism and the cold shallowness of our time?
Faithful people - both healthy and sick - have been receiving Holy Communion for centuries, distributed by the same holy Communion spoon - which is never washed and never disinfected - and never has anything been observed. Priests who serve in hospitals, even in hospitals for contagious diseases, all distribute Holy Communion to the faithful and then consume the remaining contents of the Chalice with reverence, and all of them enjoy long lives. Holy Communion is everything that we as a Church and as people hold holy; it is the supreme medication for soul and body. That is likewise the teaching and the experience of our Church.
Those who are distrustful of the miracle of the Lord's Resurrection, all those who scorn His birth by a Virgin, all those who deny the fragrance that emanates from holy relics, all those who show contempt towards everything holy and sacred, all those who conspire against our Church, all those who seek to eradicate the slightest trace of faith from our souls will naturally strive to exploit the opportunity to also insult the most sacred mystery of the Divine Eucharist.
The fact that the Anglicans and the Catholics have decided for precautionary reasons to cease the distribution of holy communion in England and New Zealand respectively, if true, is not a show of prudence and freedom - as some would maintain - but instead, it actually highlights in the best possible way the huge distance between our Church, which is eucharistic in Her theology and Her life and who lives, believes and preaches that Mystery/Sacrament, and the remaining christian groups, which are indirectly confessing the absence of Grace and God's signs from their so-called sacraments, as well as the loss of their ecclesiastic identity. Life without a Mystery resembles a serious illness without a remedy.
Unfortunately, the big problem is not the flu virus - as the Mass Media are wont to advertise - nor is the virus of worldwide panic - as supported by the medical unions; it is actually the virus of irreverence and the microbe of disbelief. And the best vaccine is our frequent participation in the mystery of Holy Communion, "with a clean conscience" and an "irreprehensible" one. Our response to this unholy provocation of our time is our very way of life.
It would be advisable, if our spiritual fathers could exhort the faithful (with due discernment, and provided there are no spiritual obstacles) to receive Holy Communion more frequently during these difficult times, while those of us who already have our spiritual fathers' blessings should also approach the Cup of Life more frequently. but always "with the fear of God, very much faith and sincere love".
____________________________________________
Rev. Nikolaos Hatzinikolaou - Short Biography
Born in Thessaloniki, 1954.
A Graduate from the Physics Department of the University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Master's degree in Astrophysics from Harvard University in Boston.
Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in Boston.
Master's degree of Theological Studies from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
Master's degree of Theology from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Boston.
1986. Doctoral Degree from Harvard University. Specialized in Biomedical Engineering (Bio-fluid dynamics).
2003. Doctoral Degree from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, School of Theology. Specialized in Bioethics.
2008. Horonary Doctoral Degree from Univesrity of Athens, School of Theology (Science and Religion).
Worked as research fellow for various hospitals in Boston and as a consultant in space medical technology for Arthur D. Little and NASA.
In January 1988, went to Mount Athos, and since May 1990 to April 2004 served as a priest-monk at the Athonite Metochion of Ascension in Athens.
Teaches the course «Hemodynamics Pathophysiology of Vascular Diseases» at the Medical School of Crete.
Since 1992, Director of the Hellenic Center for Biomedical Ethics.
Also, President of the Bioethics Committee of the Church of Greece and member of the National Bioethics Committee.
Was elected and ordinated Metropolitan of Mesogaea and Lavraeotica, April 30th, 2004.
Translation: K.N.
Source: OODE, Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquires
Thursday, July 9, 2009
DOES GOD PUNISH?
Does God punish?
by the Elder Joseph (†) of the Vatopedion Monastery
A excerpt from the book "Ascesis, the Mother of Sanctification"
Re-published, by: http://vatopaidi.wordpress.com/
"Why does God punish?"
To this persistent and curious question, posed by those who are not aware, we would like to give a brief reply based on the Holy Bible and the Fathers.
The God-designed creation of Man included self-government in his choices and his decision-making, and the element of freedom in his personality. The divine will and the decision that "God did not create death, nor does He delight in the perdition of the living" (Wisdom of Solomon 1:13) convince us that punishment or condemnation were not an issue from the very beginning. God demanded of His creatures, He "commanded" (given that they originated from Him and cannot exist and function without Him, as causal entities) that they be dependent on Him, Who is the initial Cause. This commandment - or, better still, the advice - given by God was not an imposition and a demand per se, but a counsel for Man's logical use of his life's natural limitations. If Man had followed that counsel, there would have been a prolongation of the laws of existence for beings.
The underlying cause therefore of the anomaly was the irrational thought, decision, choice and utilization of rights by the causal entity, Man, to detach himself from the ever-living Cause - God - as a result of which, he rendered himself mortal. It was by his own actions that Man tumbled into the status of death and has thereafter suffered all the consequences of mortality and corruption, which have infiltrated the whole of human nature. Apart from his material aspect, Man also suffered a debacle and losses in his spiritual world. Apart from the pains, the fear and the sorrows, he also acquired a "mentality inclined towards wickedness" from the moment of his birth. His entire world, and the treasure of his logical majesty (the "image of and likeness of") were overturned thunderously, and unfortunately, the "originally-created beauty" thereafter "associated itself to the mindless beasts" - if not "to the demons" - and "resembled them" (Psalms).
From this point on is where the consequences of idiotic autonomy begin, which lead to a calamitous ending. Having severed himself from the Cause of eternal life, Man, that inferior particle, has remained a pitiful victim of complete perversion, in whom the light and the prudence of logic has been extinguished.
The first symptom was Man revolting against himself and against his Maker and Creator.
That bizarre monster of perversion, the devil, extinguished the light of logic by proposing desire in lieu of dependence, and in the place of order and concord, seizing and lying, and instead of good behaviour, egotism and hatred.
Now captive, post-Fall Man in his irrationality is unable to act justly and be prudent, neither as a person nor as a community. He has become rebellious and a dangerous, destructive factor to Creation's harmony.
The benevolent providence and condescension of the Logos-God made provision for a full recovery from this perversion, but it was not imposed by force upon the human personality. Given that Man earned corruption and death through his own erroneous choice of autonomy, he must likewise voluntarily return to logic and his natural dependence on the first Cause - God - in order to rediscover the life and the incorruptibility that he had forfeited.
That is why God "demands" obedience and dependence from His creations. Dependence is not the authoritative imposition of the Creator, but an ontological and existential necessity for the creations. Without it, the life and the existence of beings is interrupted. Dependence on the first Beginning and Cause is therefore a natural law and condition for the existence and the composition of all beings.
Man has refused the practice of restoration that was suggested by the renovator and saviour God; he has stubbornly persisted - perhaps still weak from his captivity - in the law and the system of the irrational and is thus fashioning his own condemnation.
The benevolent providence of God with His presence among us has not only extinguished the first guilt, but has rewarded with an excess of Grace all those who desire to be healed and return to their original state. However, the severe disfiguration that the "image and likeness of" has undergone, forces towards a tendency and a movement towards the worse; there, Man's intellect which has been stripped of divine illumination and enlightenment, becomes either bestial or demonic. But with His incarnation, the all-benevolent Saviour and Redeemer proved that fallen Man has not been deprived of his will and the right to choose; subsequently, he is able to find his health once again and achieve his regeneration, because the Saviour has restored the Grace that Man lost with his Fall. And not only that! Our Saviour, Christ the Lord, has even chosen us "unto adoption" and has given us such treasures, "which even the angels desire to gaze upon" (1 Pet. 1:12).
Our Lord, as the saviour of our fallen nature, proved in practice with His life that He has supplemented our ailing and our weakness and has also returned Man to a higher place than his pre-Fall place and condition. Subsequently, contemporary Man can recover his personality, return to the "image and likeness of", but also reach way above that, since "to those who have received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God" (John 1:12). And as proven by the millions of heroes of our faith, who had pursued and emulated His all-virtuous lifestyle, "the works that I do, ye shall also do, and shall do even greater ones than those" (cmp. John 14:12).
When Man rediscovers the worth of his god-semblance, he will hear from his Redeemer that "wherever I am, that is where my servant will be" (John 12:26), therefore there is no issue of judgment and punishment. Punishment of course exists, but it is outside and far away from God and is for the demons, who are voluntarily malicious.
God does not punish people who remain with Him, upholding the rules of their personality and their nature. Instead, He rewards them with adoption and renders them inheritors of His eternal reign.
Those who are "sent away" by God to "hell, which has been prepared for the devil" are those who have personally willed to be cut off from the natural conditions and laws of their nature. They are the ones who have stubbornly persisted in the irrational condition and the way of life of beasts and demons, and who have persisted throughout their lives in absolute perversion while refusing to correct themselves through repentance.
God, being fully aware of mankind's weakness and its ease in lapsing, has given them the element of repentance, which can be prolonged throughout their lifetime. Those who do lapse and succumb to the folly of irrationality, are enabled to mend their error by returning to the basis of their true destination. There are many examples, both from within the Bible as well as from people's lives, wherein the mending and the return to the rules of morality and the godly way of living have been proven true, through repentance, which was how those who had momentarily strayed and distanced themselves from the path of piety had succeeded in acquiring blessedness and divine shelter. Unfortunately, however, most people have remained incorrigible or even completely lapsed, thus rendering themselves examples of apostasy and of falling away from the way of life of God.
On the matter of salvation, there are unfortunately in circulation by the so-called "churches" of the west a number of assorted teachings that are rife with fallacies which distort the Orthodox Christian teaching. Man's salvation, as divine revelation informs us, is not Man's riddance of a miserable situation or position and his removal to a "better place" or a "more blissful environment".
The epicenter of Man's goal is his re-attainment of Man's original place: the "image and the likeness of". The main objective of the incarnation of God the Logos was His personal union with mankind. That is why our Fathers, as genuine bearers of this characteristic, spoke of and projected Theanthropism* as the true objective of the Faith.
The words: «...You, Father, are within Me and I am within You.... and the glory that You gave Me, I have give given to them, so that they might be one, just as We are one - I within them, and You within Me...» (John 17:21-23) and also justifiably the words «...to those who have received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God...» (John 1:12) reveal precisely the aforementioned fact, which is the quintessence of Christianity. And it is not too bold a statement to say that if theanthropism were not the main objective and purpose of the Christian faith, then attendance and sacrifice for its sake would have been worthless.
In previous chapters of the book, we stressed the significance of comprehensive ascesis as a necessary means to regain whatever we lost. We noted that the cause of fragmentation of Man's personality was his perverted mentality following his departure from God, which now «leans towards mischievous things». Without therapy, Man is struggling in vain. Our Saviour, as a physician, has given us in practice the method of balancing out the problem. Without needing to, He Himself observed comprehensive ascesis and the fighting spirit, in order to convince our stubbornness that without toiling and struggling, we cannot re-gather what we had scattered. When Man applies himself, with struggles, to resisting the law of perversion and irrationality which characterize an impassioned life and thus bring himself back to the basis of his original created status, he will be rightly entitled to the union and the cohabitation in eternity with his Creator.
In His Archpriest prayer, the Lord clearly designated coexistence and eternal residence along with mankind: «...I desire that wherever I am, they shall also be...» (John 17:24). Our Lord had very aptly challenged us to emulate Him - as His own kindred - by saying: «...Become ye holy, for I am holy» (1 Peter 1:16).
Consequently, God does not actually condemn those who disfigured themselves and have discarded the conditions and the laws of logical nature by pursuing bestial and demonic behaviour. It was they who cut themselves off from the laws of logic and dignity. Albeit divine benevolence tolerates the straying of sinners and re-accepts them if they repent and return, they themselves have chosen to not be susceptible to repentance and a change in their corrupt life and beliefs. It is through their own choice that they have preferred and selected the life of perversion, crime and hatred and have enforced it - spiritually - to the death! How, therefore, is God "judging" them, if they themselves have preferred malice and perversion, through their own opinion, decision and enforcement? Wouldn't it be unjust, if they were to be unwillingly placed in a situation that was contrary to their own will and preference?
There is of course the absolute justice of God, which metes out to each person his just deserts, based on his works and his preferences.
In the present lifetime, the friends and the lovers of the works of evil and crime have been prevailing. They have been imposing themselves on moral and meticulous people. They have been abusing and killing them. Millions have been slaughtered by the devil's workers, and in fact without having actually done anything to deserve it, but simply because they believed in the truth and upheld the rules of morality and dignity. So, what is your opinion? Should they also partake of the bliss and the serenity of kindness and love?
According to the Scriptures, the situation after death is static* and subsequently, whatever one has become in this lifetime will remain so, for all eternity. Therefore, all those who have departed from this life as criminals and irrationally minded will remain in the condition that they themselves have shown preference to and persisted in living, therefore it will be impossible for them to live alongside the benevolent and peace-loving workers of kindness and love.
Consequently, God does NOT judge mankind; He merely makes accommodations accordingly, for whatever each one of us prefers to bring along with him for eternity. Therefore, behold, now is the time for each one of us to prepare his own future!
_________________________________________________________
* "Theanthropism (n.) A state of being God and man. In Orthodoxy deification can be achieved by the unification with God's uncreated energies but not with His essence which is inaccessible to human nature, thus opposing idolatry and pan/polytheism"
* OODE note: To those who are familiar with Orthodox dogmatics, it is obvious here that with the word "static", the Elder is NOT referring to the progress that the righteous will be attaining throughout eternity, or the unjust in their unjustness; he is actually referring to the (then) unalterable state of Man's intentions. Because after death, repentance is not an option for the sinner, just as there will be no lapsing for those who were on the path of repentance, enlightenment and deification (theosis).
Translation by K.N.
by OODE, Orthodox Outlet Dogmatic Enquires
by the Elder Joseph (†) of the Vatopedion Monastery
A excerpt from the book "Ascesis, the Mother of Sanctification"
Re-published, by: http://vatopaidi.wordpress.com/
"Why does God punish?"
To this persistent and curious question, posed by those who are not aware, we would like to give a brief reply based on the Holy Bible and the Fathers.
The God-designed creation of Man included self-government in his choices and his decision-making, and the element of freedom in his personality. The divine will and the decision that "God did not create death, nor does He delight in the perdition of the living" (Wisdom of Solomon 1:13) convince us that punishment or condemnation were not an issue from the very beginning. God demanded of His creatures, He "commanded" (given that they originated from Him and cannot exist and function without Him, as causal entities) that they be dependent on Him, Who is the initial Cause. This commandment - or, better still, the advice - given by God was not an imposition and a demand per se, but a counsel for Man's logical use of his life's natural limitations. If Man had followed that counsel, there would have been a prolongation of the laws of existence for beings.
The underlying cause therefore of the anomaly was the irrational thought, decision, choice and utilization of rights by the causal entity, Man, to detach himself from the ever-living Cause - God - as a result of which, he rendered himself mortal. It was by his own actions that Man tumbled into the status of death and has thereafter suffered all the consequences of mortality and corruption, which have infiltrated the whole of human nature. Apart from his material aspect, Man also suffered a debacle and losses in his spiritual world. Apart from the pains, the fear and the sorrows, he also acquired a "mentality inclined towards wickedness" from the moment of his birth. His entire world, and the treasure of his logical majesty (the "image of and likeness of") were overturned thunderously, and unfortunately, the "originally-created beauty" thereafter "associated itself to the mindless beasts" - if not "to the demons" - and "resembled them" (Psalms).
From this point on is where the consequences of idiotic autonomy begin, which lead to a calamitous ending. Having severed himself from the Cause of eternal life, Man, that inferior particle, has remained a pitiful victim of complete perversion, in whom the light and the prudence of logic has been extinguished.
The first symptom was Man revolting against himself and against his Maker and Creator.
That bizarre monster of perversion, the devil, extinguished the light of logic by proposing desire in lieu of dependence, and in the place of order and concord, seizing and lying, and instead of good behaviour, egotism and hatred.
Now captive, post-Fall Man in his irrationality is unable to act justly and be prudent, neither as a person nor as a community. He has become rebellious and a dangerous, destructive factor to Creation's harmony.
The benevolent providence and condescension of the Logos-God made provision for a full recovery from this perversion, but it was not imposed by force upon the human personality. Given that Man earned corruption and death through his own erroneous choice of autonomy, he must likewise voluntarily return to logic and his natural dependence on the first Cause - God - in order to rediscover the life and the incorruptibility that he had forfeited.
That is why God "demands" obedience and dependence from His creations. Dependence is not the authoritative imposition of the Creator, but an ontological and existential necessity for the creations. Without it, the life and the existence of beings is interrupted. Dependence on the first Beginning and Cause is therefore a natural law and condition for the existence and the composition of all beings.
Man has refused the practice of restoration that was suggested by the renovator and saviour God; he has stubbornly persisted - perhaps still weak from his captivity - in the law and the system of the irrational and is thus fashioning his own condemnation.
The benevolent providence of God with His presence among us has not only extinguished the first guilt, but has rewarded with an excess of Grace all those who desire to be healed and return to their original state. However, the severe disfiguration that the "image and likeness of" has undergone, forces towards a tendency and a movement towards the worse; there, Man's intellect which has been stripped of divine illumination and enlightenment, becomes either bestial or demonic. But with His incarnation, the all-benevolent Saviour and Redeemer proved that fallen Man has not been deprived of his will and the right to choose; subsequently, he is able to find his health once again and achieve his regeneration, because the Saviour has restored the Grace that Man lost with his Fall. And not only that! Our Saviour, Christ the Lord, has even chosen us "unto adoption" and has given us such treasures, "which even the angels desire to gaze upon" (1 Pet. 1:12).
Our Lord, as the saviour of our fallen nature, proved in practice with His life that He has supplemented our ailing and our weakness and has also returned Man to a higher place than his pre-Fall place and condition. Subsequently, contemporary Man can recover his personality, return to the "image and likeness of", but also reach way above that, since "to those who have received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God" (John 1:12). And as proven by the millions of heroes of our faith, who had pursued and emulated His all-virtuous lifestyle, "the works that I do, ye shall also do, and shall do even greater ones than those" (cmp. John 14:12).
When Man rediscovers the worth of his god-semblance, he will hear from his Redeemer that "wherever I am, that is where my servant will be" (John 12:26), therefore there is no issue of judgment and punishment. Punishment of course exists, but it is outside and far away from God and is for the demons, who are voluntarily malicious.
God does not punish people who remain with Him, upholding the rules of their personality and their nature. Instead, He rewards them with adoption and renders them inheritors of His eternal reign.
Those who are "sent away" by God to "hell, which has been prepared for the devil" are those who have personally willed to be cut off from the natural conditions and laws of their nature. They are the ones who have stubbornly persisted in the irrational condition and the way of life of beasts and demons, and who have persisted throughout their lives in absolute perversion while refusing to correct themselves through repentance.
God, being fully aware of mankind's weakness and its ease in lapsing, has given them the element of repentance, which can be prolonged throughout their lifetime. Those who do lapse and succumb to the folly of irrationality, are enabled to mend their error by returning to the basis of their true destination. There are many examples, both from within the Bible as well as from people's lives, wherein the mending and the return to the rules of morality and the godly way of living have been proven true, through repentance, which was how those who had momentarily strayed and distanced themselves from the path of piety had succeeded in acquiring blessedness and divine shelter. Unfortunately, however, most people have remained incorrigible or even completely lapsed, thus rendering themselves examples of apostasy and of falling away from the way of life of God.
On the matter of salvation, there are unfortunately in circulation by the so-called "churches" of the west a number of assorted teachings that are rife with fallacies which distort the Orthodox Christian teaching. Man's salvation, as divine revelation informs us, is not Man's riddance of a miserable situation or position and his removal to a "better place" or a "more blissful environment".
The epicenter of Man's goal is his re-attainment of Man's original place: the "image and the likeness of". The main objective of the incarnation of God the Logos was His personal union with mankind. That is why our Fathers, as genuine bearers of this characteristic, spoke of and projected Theanthropism* as the true objective of the Faith.
The words: «...You, Father, are within Me and I am within You.... and the glory that You gave Me, I have give given to them, so that they might be one, just as We are one - I within them, and You within Me...» (John 17:21-23) and also justifiably the words «...to those who have received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God...» (John 1:12) reveal precisely the aforementioned fact, which is the quintessence of Christianity. And it is not too bold a statement to say that if theanthropism were not the main objective and purpose of the Christian faith, then attendance and sacrifice for its sake would have been worthless.
In previous chapters of the book, we stressed the significance of comprehensive ascesis as a necessary means to regain whatever we lost. We noted that the cause of fragmentation of Man's personality was his perverted mentality following his departure from God, which now «leans towards mischievous things». Without therapy, Man is struggling in vain. Our Saviour, as a physician, has given us in practice the method of balancing out the problem. Without needing to, He Himself observed comprehensive ascesis and the fighting spirit, in order to convince our stubbornness that without toiling and struggling, we cannot re-gather what we had scattered. When Man applies himself, with struggles, to resisting the law of perversion and irrationality which characterize an impassioned life and thus bring himself back to the basis of his original created status, he will be rightly entitled to the union and the cohabitation in eternity with his Creator.
In His Archpriest prayer, the Lord clearly designated coexistence and eternal residence along with mankind: «...I desire that wherever I am, they shall also be...» (John 17:24). Our Lord had very aptly challenged us to emulate Him - as His own kindred - by saying: «...Become ye holy, for I am holy» (1 Peter 1:16).
Consequently, God does not actually condemn those who disfigured themselves and have discarded the conditions and the laws of logical nature by pursuing bestial and demonic behaviour. It was they who cut themselves off from the laws of logic and dignity. Albeit divine benevolence tolerates the straying of sinners and re-accepts them if they repent and return, they themselves have chosen to not be susceptible to repentance and a change in their corrupt life and beliefs. It is through their own choice that they have preferred and selected the life of perversion, crime and hatred and have enforced it - spiritually - to the death! How, therefore, is God "judging" them, if they themselves have preferred malice and perversion, through their own opinion, decision and enforcement? Wouldn't it be unjust, if they were to be unwillingly placed in a situation that was contrary to their own will and preference?
There is of course the absolute justice of God, which metes out to each person his just deserts, based on his works and his preferences.
In the present lifetime, the friends and the lovers of the works of evil and crime have been prevailing. They have been imposing themselves on moral and meticulous people. They have been abusing and killing them. Millions have been slaughtered by the devil's workers, and in fact without having actually done anything to deserve it, but simply because they believed in the truth and upheld the rules of morality and dignity. So, what is your opinion? Should they also partake of the bliss and the serenity of kindness and love?
According to the Scriptures, the situation after death is static* and subsequently, whatever one has become in this lifetime will remain so, for all eternity. Therefore, all those who have departed from this life as criminals and irrationally minded will remain in the condition that they themselves have shown preference to and persisted in living, therefore it will be impossible for them to live alongside the benevolent and peace-loving workers of kindness and love.
Consequently, God does NOT judge mankind; He merely makes accommodations accordingly, for whatever each one of us prefers to bring along with him for eternity. Therefore, behold, now is the time for each one of us to prepare his own future!
_________________________________________________________
* "Theanthropism (n.) A state of being God and man. In Orthodoxy deification can be achieved by the unification with God's uncreated energies but not with His essence which is inaccessible to human nature, thus opposing idolatry and pan/polytheism"
* OODE note: To those who are familiar with Orthodox dogmatics, it is obvious here that with the word "static", the Elder is NOT referring to the progress that the righteous will be attaining throughout eternity, or the unjust in their unjustness; he is actually referring to the (then) unalterable state of Man's intentions. Because after death, repentance is not an option for the sinner, just as there will be no lapsing for those who were on the path of repentance, enlightenment and deification (theosis).
Translation by K.N.
by OODE, Orthodox Outlet Dogmatic Enquires
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