DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ST. JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF SHANGHAI AND SAN
FRANCISCO
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS (USPS 412-260)
is published monthly by St. Nectarios American Orthodox Cathedral,
10300 Ashworth Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98133-9410.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
OCW, 10300 Ashworth Ave. N., Seattle, WA. 98133-9410
Fr. Neketas S. Palassis, Editor Email: frneketas@stnectariospress.com
Telephone (206) 522-4471; (800) 643-4233 U.S. & Canada;
Fax: 206-523-0550
APRIL 2007, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 4, (1571)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. NEW BIBLE TRANSLATIONS ARE NOT THE TRUE WORD OF GOD
2. HOW WE SHOULD CONDUCT OURSELVES IN OUR DAILY WORK
3. DO WE ALL WORSHIP THE SAME GOD?
4. NEW ITEMS FROM THE BOOK CENTER
Come, as we all gladly celebrate the all-festive, glorious, radiant
Resurrection of Christ, let us also celebrate the shining festival of
the holy Great Martyr George; with flowers of springtime, come, let us
now crown him who hath proved invincible, that by his most mighty
entreaties we may be redeemed from afflictions, tribulations, and all
our iniquities.
First Sticheron of the Praises for Saint George, April 23
1. NEW BIBLE TRANSLATIONS ARE NOT THE TRUE WORD OF GOD
By Mike Christophorus, Editor, The Sword
Many Bible translations have been
published recently in an effort to make the Bible more accessible to
young readers.
Purportedly “sexist” language became taboo in such
new Bible translations as the New Revised Standard, the Good News
Bible; The Inclusive English language Lectionary used in many liberal
churches; Today’s New International Version and the New Oxford
Annotated Bible.
“Mankind” was changed to “humankind;” “he” was
changed to “she,” male pronouns that refer to God were changed from
“Father” to “Our Father/Mother,” the divinity of Jesus Christ was
questioned; whole phrases of Bible were eliminated in certain passages;
and key sections of the Bible were reinterpreted to negate or water
down Christian beliefs about homosexuality.
Does any of this matter so long as people are
exposed to the Bible?
YES IT DOES, maintains Gene Edward Veith, cultural
editor of World magazine.
“The bisexual deity “Father-Mother” is not the true
God, nor is this made-up religion Christianity, Veith wrote in an
article appearing in the World 1Oct. 15, 2005. “These
translations are not the Word of God, but the word of Man”.
Craig Blomberg, a Bible scholar at Denver Seminary,
highly endorses all these new Bible translations.
Many young people and new Christians ask, “Why are
the Proverbs written only to men,” Blomberg wrote in an article
published in World magazine on Feb. 26, 2005. “It is still hard for
them to get it out of their heads that the Bible isn’t outdated or
biased against women in ways that it never intended to
be.”
Sometimes God’s writers used Greek words like
“anthropoi” that refer to no specific gender or one person,
should translators change “fathers” to “parents” and “he” to “they?”
asked reporter Wayne Gruden in an article appearing in World magazine
Feb. 26, 2005. Does this imply that God really didn’t know what He was
doing?”
Of the many new Bible translations, the New Oxford
Annotated Bible is one of the biggest culprits. This Bible which was
published in conjunction with the liberal National Council of Churches,
claims that God allegedly destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of
inhospitality, not for homosexual sin.
Rev. Troy D. Perry, founder of the Metropolitan
Community Churches praises the most important theological breakthrough
in the 33-year old history of the Metropolitan Community Churches.
“There is no Biblical condemnation of homosexuality,
only prohibitions against its misuse, just as there is no Biblical
blanket condemnation of heterosexuality, only prohibitions against
misuse of that gift.”
Perry errs when he claims the Bible doesn’t condemn
homosexuality. Injunctions against its use are mentioned several times
in both the Old and New Testaments. Leviticus 18:22 specifically says,
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind, it is an
abomination.”
Roman 1:25-27 also strongly condemns homosexuality.
...
Veith said that the tinkering proved not be enough
either. In 1995, he noted that Oxford University Press published the
New Testament and Psalms. An inclusive version not only uses gender
inclusive language for God and Jesus (“God our Father-Mother”) it also
eliminates “all pejorative references to race, color, or religion, and
all identifications of persons by their physical disability.
In the Bible version, Good as New: A Radical
Retelling of the Scriptures uses what its introduction calls ‘cultural
translation’.
Not only is it inclusive, it translates ancient
forms to their modern-day equivalent. Thus demon possession” becomes
“mental illness”.
Even names are changed. Peter, Nicodemus and
Bethsaida become “Rocky,” “Ray,” and “Fishtown.”
Religious terminology is eliminated, as not being in
accord with out culture. “Baptize” is changed to “dip” band salvation
is changed to “completeness.” The same version changes “Thou art my
beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased to “That’s my boy”; Spouses
become “regular partners”.
It becomes apparent that devout Christians should
ignore all these new Bible translations. The Bible contains inspired
words of God, and those words should not be tampered with.
Adapted from the June, 2006 issue of THE SWORD, 8515
N. 59th St., Brown Deer, WI 53225. The Sword is a very interesting
publication which we believe our readers would enjoy. It is
published three times a year.
2. HOW WE SHOULD CONDUCT OURSELVES IN OUR DAILY WORK
(from Saint Cosmas Aitolos Orthodox Church Bulletin)
In order to live, most of us have to work. There are many types of
work: manual work, such as various trades, agriculture, and so forth;
and intellectual work, such as administration, law, management,
education, etc. There is important and unimportant work, difficult and
easy, extraordinary and conventional, work for yourself, for your
family for society, etc.
All work that is not opposed to moral law and that we do to support
ourselves and our families, is work entrusted to us by God Himself. It
is the Lord God Who established and sanctioned various professions in
human society, and it is He Who allows us or arranges for us to be in
the positions or professions in which we find ourselves in life.
Without God's will or God's forbearance nothing takes place on earth.
God is the King of all the earth (Ps. 46:8). Therefore, the holy
Apostle Paul told slaves, who were working not for themselves, but for
their masters, that they didn't actually work for their masters, but
for the Lord Himself Servants, he wrote in his Epistle to the
Colossians, obey in all things your masters, except, of course, for
sin, and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto
men (Col. 3:22-23).
So, whatever work you have to do in your position or profession,
whether it is to hold the reins of some governmental agency, to judge
people, to teach people, to write something, to engage in some kind of
art or handiwork, to plow the fields, to labor in construction, to
bring up children, and so on, do all of this, for whomever you do it,
whether for yourself and your family, or as a duty to others-Ao all
this as for the Lord God Himself. Do it because the Lord God demands it
of you, and because that work is God's work. Do it and say to God in
your heart: "O Lord, You assigned me this work. I am doing it in
obedience to You and to please You." Or: "O Lord, bless my labor. It
was not without Your will that I found myself in the position in which
I live, and the work that I do or should do is work demanded by my
position. You assigned it to me, so bless me and help me."
Whoever does his daily work with such an attitude, no matter what it is
and for whom he does it, works actually for the Lord God, and therefore
will receive a reward from Him, as the holy Apostle says to slaves,
whatsoever ye do for your masters in the flesh, do it heartily, as to
the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ (Col.
3:23-24). But whoever works without this disposition of soul, labors as
worldly people and pagans do, that is, he labors not for the Lord Jesus
Christ, not out of love for the Lord God, not to the glory of God, but
labors only for himself, for some temporary need or gain-for
sustenance, to gain wealth and pleasure in life, to obtain honor, or to
satisfy his own inquisitiveness. Or he may work temporarily for other
people. But he does not think of God. The work of whoever works this
way is pitiful, because this person awaits a reward only from himself
or from other people, and not from the Lord God. But the reward from
other people, whatever it consists of, is only earthly, temporary, and
therefore of little importance; what kind of reward can you get from
yourseiv But work for the Lord God, and expect your reward principally
from Him. Only He is the true recompenser.
In doing all your work for the Lord Himself, always do it as God's work
should be done; that is, do all your work from the soul, gladly and
without complaining. How can one do any kind of work for the God
unwillingly, grudgingly, and with grumbling? A grateful person does
everything gladly, even for a low-ranking earthly boss; how, then, can
we do something unwillingly or grudgingly for our greatest and constant
benefactor, the Lord God?
Do every task required by your position diligently and correctly; do
not in any case permit unwarranted slowness and carelessness. Do
everything as well as you possibly can. Because work not done as
quickly and as well as you can, just like work done incorrectly or
carelessly, is done deceitfully, and the holy prophet says, cursed be
he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully (Jer. 48: 1 0). My
friends, remember these terrible works and be carefu!
If your work goes successfully, do not take pride in this, and in
particular do not ascribe this success to your own powers. Never say in
your heart my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this
wealth (Deut. 8:17) Rather always remember that the Lord gave you that
power (Deut. 8:18). For without Me ye can do nothing, He said to His
disciples (John 15:5). Remember these words of the Lord. They are a
great defense against pride and arrogance, toward which we are all
inclined and which are spiritually ruinous for us.
If the work you have to do is difficult and demands great effort, or is
unpleasant and demeaning, demanding much patience, or is hindered and
slowed by ill-intentioned people or by unfortunate circumstances, and
leads you to despondency, or is little respected or even despised, do
not be fainthearted, do not be lazy, and do not give in to anger,
impatience, annoyance, complaining, etc. Will your work go better and
be finished faster if you are lazy or angry or grumble or use bad
language? No, it will be harder and go more slowly, and may not even
get done at all. My friend, it is bad to behave this way. Only
unbelievers behave like this, because they do not have faith in God's
control over the world. But we are Christians. We know that our job and
our position in life is given to us by God.
To help keep your soul in a holy attitude during hard, prolonged, or
unpleasant work and to protect it from any attitude that is not
pleasing to God, it is good to strengthen yourself with thoughts such
as the following:
"This work, which seems to me to be so difficult and unpleasant,
undoubtedly helps to save my soul. I know that God does nothing without
the most saving intentions for us. He truly wants to save everyone. So,
of course, He desires to save me also. Without His action and
foresight, I would have been lost long ago. Having assigned me the work
at hand, He undoubtedly wishes to deliver me from grievous sins or from
temptations, errors, or dangers. So I shall try to do my work
diligently and wholeheartedly.
"Perhaps the work that I am doing right now is the last in my life, and
after this work God will immediately demand from me an account of all
my deeds at His eternal Judgment. How can I not work diligently and
wholeheartedly?
"This work, which is so trying and such a burden, will not last
forever. It will end with my earthly life. And even if it lasts a
hundred years, is this earthly life long,? All of eternity is the
reward for life on earth, if it is spent in obedience to God. How can I
not work diligently and wholeheartedly?"
If you think such thoughts, your difficult or unpleasant work will
never serve as a cause for sin, but for eternal blessedness. Because in
thinking this way, you won't avoid your work, no matter how difficult
or unpleasant it may seem, but will pray in your heart to the Lord that
He help you to begin and furnish your work worthily, and, indeed, you
will do so. And in doing so, perhaps you will be delivered from serious
sins and from the perdition of your soul. For after such prayers, as
holy toilers have already found out a thousand times by experience, God
has often eased the difficulty and unpleasantness of hard daily labor
to the point where the laborers do it and fniish it without difficulty,
sometimes even easily and even pleasurably. But if this doesn't happen
to us, we must remember that every diligent work and every diligent
worker will indeed be rewarded appropriately, not in the present life,
but in the future one. It is precisely in the future life, as the holy
Apostle attests, that the Lord will render to every man according to
his deeds (Rom. 2:6). So let us be patient. Are not all our temporary
burdens and difficulties worth eternal happiness?
_____________
An edited and somewhat condensed portion of the book How to Live a Holy
Life by Metropolitan Gregory Postnikov (1784-1860), published in
Russian in 1904.
3. “DO WE ALL WORSHIP THE SAME GOD?”
In discussing this issue with friends and acquaintances, the
following parable might be useful in clarifying our thoughts.
There is, indeed, only one true God, as the Holy Scriptures and our
Holy Orthodox Faith affirm, but not all men worship Him; nor is it
simply a matter of different people calling Him by various names, as
some suppose. In various passages of the Old and New Testaments, He has
described Himself to us, as far as it is possible for us to comprehend;
these descriptions exclude many of the attributes which, for example,
Hindus and others ascribe to Him. He has also become man for us in time
and space, and given us teachings about His person and His relationship
with the Father and the Holy Spirit (hence we know that He is One God
in Trinity). So, as we said, we know that there is only one true God
and that He has certain identifiable attributes.
Likewise, there is only one Neketas Palassis in the whole universe. He
is unique, since, presumably, only he has his unique DNA and other
unique characteristics. Now – paraphrasing Father Michael Azkoul’s
example* – suppose you wanted to meet Father Neketas and you asked me
to describe him to you. If I were to tell you that he is seven
feet tall, weighs 300 pounds, has a red beard, green eyes, speaks only
Swahili with a French accent, and lives in Lompoc, California, would
you ever be able to locate him and make his acquaintance – if you
accepted my description of him as true?
In like manner, if you accepted a wrong description of God as being
true, would you be able to find and acknowledge Him? For example,
if someone were to tell you that God highly esteems men who are suicide
bombers that kill innocent men, women, and children; or that He
approves of the “honor killing” of women; or that He reincarnates
people as cats, dogs, or fish; or that He is a Tibetan monk and He
teaches that nothing has any meaning; or that He is the Great Pumpkin
Who rises into the sky from the Sacred Pumpkin Patch on Halloween night
– would you ever be able to find the real God – if you believed any of
these false descriptions of Him?
In Church terminology, these false descriptions are called “heresies.”
Further, it is important to know that, in the teachings of its Saints,
the Orthodox Church – unlike Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in
Western Europe – did not seek to exterminate or condemn to death
individuals who differed from the Church’s teachings. St. John
Chrysostom, one of the Church’s foremost preachers, taught us the
following: I do not persecute the heretic bodily, but I wage war
against him with words – and not even against the heretic, but only
against his heresy: I do not disdain the man; it is the error I
hate, and I seek to pull him out of it . . . I am accustomed to being
persecuted, not to persecute others . . . Thus did Christ triumph; He
did not crucify, but rather it was He that was crucified. He did
not smite others, but was Himself smitten. [PG 50, 701] *
See the published text of Father Michael Azkoul’s talk, “The Western
God,” given at the Seattle Conference of 1980.
4. NEW ITEMS FROM THE BOOK CENTER
(EV3-2) THE EVERGETINOS, BOOK 3, VOLUME 2. The latest volume in
this traditional collection of sayings and accounts from the lives of
the Desert Fathers. 177pp. Paper f$8.00
(COP) SAINT JOHN CASSIAN ON PRAYER, trans. by A. M. Casiday. St.
John Cassian’s Conferences 9 and 10 on prayer, in a newe translation
with introduction and notes. 59pp. Paper f$8.00
(LJF) LIVES OF THE JURA FATHERS by Tim and Kim Vivian and Jeffrey
Russell. The story of the 5th century monastics who settled in the
rugged Jura Mountains of eastern France and brought the desert
tradition to early Christian Gaul. A fascinating look at two centuries
of true Christianity in a corner of Europe. 240pp.
Paper d$22.00