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ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS (USPS 412-260)
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FEBRUARY, 2007 , Vol. XLI, No. 2 (1569)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
2. CAN ISLAM STILL BE CALLED A 'RELIGION OF PEACE?
3. St. Symeon of Thessalonica: THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
4. PEARLS FROM THE HOLY FATHERS
5. NEW ITEMS FROM THE BOOK CENTER
Abraham, the disciple of Abba Sisoes the Great, said unto him, “Father,
if there happen to be a congregation on the Sabbath, or on Sunday, and
a brother drink three cups of wine, is that too much?” The old man
saith unto him, “If Satan did not exist, three cups would not be too
much to drink, but since he doth exist three cups is too much.”
The Paradise of the Fathers, Vol. II, #85
1. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
And
The Difference Between Sin and Heresy
An Orthodox Christian would say the following:
"These are the Ten Commandments:
1. I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor the likeness of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou
labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the
Lord thy God.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife; thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's house, nor his land; nor his man-servant, nor his
maid-servant; nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any of his cattle; nor
anything that is thy neighbor's.
[And the Orthodox Christian continues] "It's true. I
am a sinner and sometimes I break the Commandments. Sometimes I've put
other 'gods' [like money] in the primary spot in my heart. Sometimes
I've spoken God's name in vain. Sometimes I haven't observed the Lord's
Day, and on occasion I've disdained by parents, and killed people [in
my thoughts], and committed adultery [in my thoughts], and stolen
somebody else's stuff, and bore false witness, and coveted my friend's
yacht. But that's because I'm weak. I'm really sorry about this, and I
want to correct myself, and I've got to try harder to come up to the
standard that God has set for me."
A man that is in heresy, on the other hand, might
well say the following:
"All that you've read in the
previous paragraphs is claptrap. These are the real Ten
Commandments:
1. I am the Force; thou shalt have many other gods as well as Me.
2. Thou shalt make unto thee graven images, and the likeness of
anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the
water under the earth: thou shalt bow down thyself to them, and serve
them.
3. Thou shalt take the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
vain.
4. Forget the Sabbath day. Seven days shalt thou labor, and do all thy
work.
5. Swindle thy father and thy mother, that thy ways may be strong in
wrong-doing all the days of thy life.
6. Thou shalt kill.
7. Thou shalt commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt steal.
9. Thou shalt bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt covet thy neighbor's wife; thou shalt covet thy
neighbor's house, and his land; and his man-servant, and his
maid-servant; and his ox, and his ass, and his cattle; grab anything
that is thy neighbor's."
Now, as anyone might see from the paragraphs above,
someone is lying. Judging from historical records, the Orthodox
Christian appears to be the one that is correct. Further, although he
acknowledges that he breaks the Commandments on occasion, he
nevertheless respects their validity and upholds the standard of
behavior that they represent, and he also reproaches himself for
breaking them. In other words, he violates God's law sometime, but he
doesn't presume to change it.
On the other hand, the man that is heresy has given
us a novel and hitherto unknown text of the Commandments. Further, the
text of the Commandments that he gives us seem to be altered [to fit
and justify his own behaviour?]. From all the evidence we have, in
fact, it seems clear that he has changed God's law, so that it may
appear that he is not violating it.
That's the difference between sin and heresy. Sin is
a violation of Gods law, whereas heresy is an alteration of God's law.
_______________________________________________________________________
2. CAN ISLAM STILL BE CALLED A 'RELIGION OF PEACE?'
By Gordon Nickel
From the British Columbia, Canada, Christian News
Since the London bombings of 7/7, there has been a renewed effort among
Muslims in the West to present Islam as a religion of peace. In Canada,
this issue recently leapt to the front pages following news that all 17
suspects in an alleged Ontario-based terror plot are Muslim.
For some Muslims, the rise of homegrown terror has meant an interest in
re-examining the foundational texts that extremists have used to
justify their attacks.
The Qur'an contains five commands to kill and 12 commands to fight
(literally, "try to kill"). Most are found in the second (verses
190,191,193,244), fourth (vv. 76, 84, 89, 91) and ninth (vv. 5, 12, 14,
29, 36,123) suras.
The commands address a number of different situations, from "fighting
those who fight you" to "fighting totally." The objects of the fighting
include the unbelievers, the "associators" (mushrikin, or polytheists)
and "the friends of Satan."
In classical Muslim discussions of these verses, two verses attracted
more attention than any others: "the sword verse" (9.5) and "the verse
of tribute" (9.29).
The verse of tribute concerns the "people of the book" — generally
understood by Muslims to be faith communities possessing a scripture,
especially Jews and Christians. The command is to fight those who have
been given the book "until they pay the tribute (jizya) out of hand and
have been humbled." The command in the sword verse is to "kill the
associators (mushrikin) wherever you find them, and take them, and
confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush." At
face value, therefore, polytheists appear to be at greater risk than
Jews or Christians.
The Arabic verb in all of these verses is not the verb related to
jihad. Rather, it is the verb qatala in its first ("to kill") and third
("to fight, try to kill") forms. The Qur'an contains many other verses
using forms of qatala which appear to encourage fighting or killing.
These are the commands. But what do they mean? That is, of course, a
matter of interpretation.
Abrogation
One of the interpretive principles that many commentators used was to
link passages in the Qur'an with events in the story of Muhammad, the
prophet of Islam. Such a chronology permitted the concept of abrogation
- by which recitations originating later in time took precedence over
apparently contradictory passages recited earlier.
The commands to fight and kill could be arranged chronologically in the
prophet's lifetime — from the initial permission Muhammad gave to his
followers to fight, to instructions on defensive warfare, to
conditional aggression, to open unrestricted warfare as the Prophet's
forces grew stronger later in his life. Peaceful passages in the Qur'an
were considered to be superseded by materials with a warlike tone.
David S. Powers, professor of near eastern studies at Cornell
University, has noted that Muslim scholars of abrogation such as Ibn
Salama (d. 1020) claimed the "sword verse" cited above (9.5) had
abrogating power over 124 other verses, including "every other verse in
the Qur'an which commands or implies anything less than a total
offensive against the non-believers." U.S.-born historian John
Wansbrough found that the sword verse "became the scriptural prop of a
formulation designed to cover any and all situations which might arise
between the Muslim community and its enemies." Influential Islamist
authors have expressed their agreement with the classical
interpretation of the commands to fight and kill.
One of the greatest challenges facing peace advocates in Muslim nations
is that the Islamist voices that seem to have the greatest appeal to
youth are those that portray the Qur'anic commands to kill as clear and
unequivocal.
But this need not be the only way of interpreting these texts. One
alternative - quite common in some faith communities - might be to
decide that these were commands for a very particular set of
circumstances, but that they no longer apply to modern believers in
this time. Another option is to reject the classical interpretations of
these commands as a product of the political tensions of the period.
Muslims are not the only scriptural community to face challenges of
interpretation. Devout Jews and Christians must deal with the conquest
of Canaan, the commandment of total destruction, the violence of Samson
and the bloodshed of David - among many other materials that suggest
godly approval for aggressive warfare against non-believers.
Crusades
Conversely, warring Christians who accept the authority of the Gospel
must deal with the apparent prohibition of violence in the teachings
and life example of Jesus. This discussion has been going on among
[non-Orthodox] Christians at least since the Crusades, when critics
were heard to say "that it is not in accordance with the Christian
religion to shed blood in this way, even that of wicked infidels. For
Christ did not act thus."
Within the Christian community, one interpretive option is to read the
Hebrew scriptures through the prism of the Gospel. According to the
Gospel, Jesus said that he had come not to abrogate the Law and the
Prophets, but to fulfill them. Jesus then immediately replaced the law
of retaliation with non-resistance, and commanded love for enemies.
This way of dealing with difficult materials raises many questions, but
it has allowed Christians to pursue pacifism while holding to the
authority of the Hebrew scriptures.
Unfortunately, the Islamic principle of abrogation runs in the opposite
chronological direction in relation to violence. Because the commands
to fight and kill in the Qur'an are considered by Muslims to be among
the recitations made very late in the life of the prophet of Islam - at
a time when his conquest of Arabia was almost complete - Muslims
scholars have been inclined to read the peaceful texts as subordinate
to the later ones.
Plain meaning
In other words, Muslims seeking to find a peaceful message in the
Qur'an must fight not only the plain meaning of the Qur'an's text and
the current fashion for militancy, but also the arrow of Muslim
history.
Interpreting the words of Muslim scripture so they pose no threat to
peaceful coexistence with non-believers seems a large challenge. In
view of the high stakes in the world today, however, it is certainly a
challenge worth taking up. Otherwise, Canadian proponents of
multiculturalism will have a harder time arguing that traditional Islam
is just another peaceful element in Canada's multicultural quilt.
Gordon Nickel has a PhD in the earliest commentaries on the Qur'an; he
is assistant professor of intercultural studies at ACTS Seminaries.
Originally published in The National Post.
________________________________________________________________________
3. That All Christians, Clergy, Monks, and Laymen, Are Obliged to Pray
with
THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST
According to Their Ability.
by the Most Blessed Simeon,
Archbishop of Thessalonica
(translated from V. 5 of the Philokalia)
Let every pious man continually repeat this Name as a prayer in his
mind and with his tongue. Let him always constrain himself to do this
while standing, travelling, sitting, resting, speaking, and doing all
things. Then he shall find great peace and joy, as those who have
occupied themselves with it know from experience. This activity is both
for those in worldly life and for those monks who are in the midst of
turmoil. Each one must strive to occupy himself with this prayer, even
if to a limited extent only. All, clergy, monks and laymen, must have
this prayer as a guide, practicing it ac- cording to their ability.
The monks are dedicated, and have an indispensable obligation to do
this even though they are in labors which are in the midst of turmoil.
They must constrain -themselves to say the prayer constantly, praying
to the Lord unceasingly (I Thess. 5:17), even though they are wandering
in thoughts and in the midst of that confusion which is called
"captivity of the mind." They must not be neglectful because their
thoughts are stolen by the enemy, but must return to the prayer,
rejoicing.
The clergy must be diligent in this prayer as though it were apo-
stolic work and divine preaching, as the one activity which brings
about divine effects -- one which demonstrates the love of Christ.
Let those who arc in the world work at this as a scaling of them-
sclvcs, a sign of their faith, a protector, sanctification, and
expeller of every temptation.
All Christians, clergy, laity, and monks, when rising from sleep must
first think of and remember Christ. They must offer this remembrance to
Christ as a sacrifice and first-fruits of every thought (Hebrews
13:15). For we must remember, before every thought, Christ Who saved us
and has loved us so greatly, for we are, and are called, "Christians."
We put Him on by divine Baptism (Gal. 3:27), and we were scaled with
His Chrism. We have partaken, and do partake, of His holy Body and
Blood. We arc His members (I Cor. 19:27) and His temple (11 Cor. 6:16).
Him do we put on, and He dwells in us. For this reason we are obliged
to love Him and remember Him always. Wherefore, let everyone devote
time, according to his ability, and have a certain amount of this
prayer as an obligation. And this suffices concerning this matter, for
this is a sufficient amount of instruction for those who seek
concerning it.
________________________________________________________________________
4. PEARLS FROM THE HOLY FATHERS
By means of some earthly and carnal affection, by which a man in
his natural will is bound, sin en' tices him, until it becomes to him a
fetter and a chain and a heavy weight, sinking and stifling him in the
world of wicked' ness, and not allowing him to come to the surface and
get to God. Whatever a man has loved in the world, weighs down his
mind, and holds it down, and will not let him come up.
In this balance, with its bias to the scale of evil, all mankind hangs
and is tested, Christians and all, whether dwelling in cities, or in
mountains, or in monasteries, or in fields, or in deserts; be' cause
the natural will of man entices him to set his affection, say, on
property, another on gold and silver, another on the wis' dom of the
eloquence of the world for the sake of the glory from men; another has
loved power, another glory and honours among men, another wrath and
anger—for yielding quickly to it is loving it—another unseasonable
conversations, another jealousy; . . . Whether it be a little thing of
the world or a great that ties him, the man is kept down by it, and not
allowed to rise. Whatever passion a man does not bravely war against,
is an object of his affection; and it holds him fast, and weighs him
down, and becomes to him a hindrance and a fetter, preventing his mind
from going up to God and pleasing Him, and from serving Him only and
thereby proving fit for the kingdom and obtaining eternal life.
Saint Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies, Homily V
________________________________________________________________________
5. NEW ITEMS FROM THE BOOK CENTER
(OAT) ON THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION. Hippolytus: translation
and commentary by Alistair Stewart Sykes. Provides liturgical
information of great antiquity on the liturgy in 3rd century Rome, with
extensive commentaries.. Paper 222pp. d$16.00
(OCST) ON THE CHURCH: SELECT TREATISES. St. Cyprian of
Carthage. Translation and commentary by Allen Brent. The theory
of the nature of church unity developed by this 3rd century Bishop of
Carthage. Contains a brief life and selected treatises on The Struggle
with Paganism and Church and Discipline. Paper
186.pp. d$14.00
(OCSL) ON THE CHURCH: SELECT LETTERS. St. Cyprian of
Carthage. The theory of the nature of church unity developed by this
3rd century Bishop of Carthage. This volume contains a selection of
letters from the crisis of the Decian persecutions, on the unity of the
Church, on the Eucharist and baptism, and his final days. 248pp. d$16.00