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.
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Fr. Neketas S. Palassis, Editor Email: frneketas@stnectariospress.com
Telephone (206) 522-4471; (800) 643-4233 U.S. & Canada;
Fax: 206-523-0550
APRIL, 2004 VOL. XXXVIII, No. 4, (1535)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. PASCHAL ENCYCLICAL Of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Seattle
2. More and more Euro-Muslims convert
3. The Nose-Dive Continues
4. The Religious Right*
5. Comparing Orthodox Spirituality & Other Traditions
6. The Miracle of the Holy Fire
7. Items from the Book Center
1. PASCHAL ENCYCLICAL Of His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Seattle
Christ, going down alone to the struggle with Hades,
Came forth again and brought with Him plenteous spoils of victory
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is Risen!
Great was the sorrow of the Disciples at the crucifixion and when it
seemed that all hope was lost our Savior appeared to the Myrrh-bearers
and then to Luke and Cleopas and they brought tidings to all that Jesus
having risen from the grave as He foretold has granted us life
everlasting and great mercy! The Lord appeared again to the disciples
and, they believed not for joy and wonder.
One is overwhelmed and can sympathize with the state of mind of the
disciples upon hearing this new word, that the Lord Jesus Christ is God
the Word Himself Who hath appeared unto us, to heal the broken-hearted
and
to set the captive race of Adam free. It is no wonder that they had
trouble understanding and absorbing this spiritual truth. It stops the
mind! God the Word became man and demonstrated His self-sacrificing,
co-suffering love for us through the Cross and is now risen from the
dead in triumph.
The verses, after the Synaxarion, for the feast of Pascha proclaim:
Christ, going down alone to the struggle with Hades, Came forth again
and brought with Him plenteous spoils of victory.
Our risen Savior shares these spoils with whomsoever wishes to partake
of them. What are these spoils? The certainty that our Christs victory
will last until all eternity and if we so desire, we will partake of
this victory. We need only to respond and work out the details in our
own life.
We look around and see that the world has grown old in sin. Satan
continues his worn out yet effective deception, listen to my counsel.
You do not need your Maker, manage your own affairs without regard to
His revelation and you will come to knowledge and status. You will be
as gods. The kingdom of God has been replaced by the kingdom of man in
our post modern era and various forms of humanism hold sway. Humanism
begets social engineering and the sanctity of human life is eradicated
and abortion and euthanasia are the new order of the day. Humanism
begets ecumenism and the result is a form of godliness, that denies the
power thereof (2Ti 3:5) and the Kingdom of God is subjected to the
kingdom of men. In our day God's revelation and the singleness of Truth
have been abandoned by the ancient sees of Orthodox Christianity.
The world has grown old and the prophesies of the apostasy of the last
days are being fulfilled. ---Yet we have much to rejoice about. Christ
is risen and life eternal has been instituted in the world! With Saint
Paul we can be sorrowful concerning the state of the world, yet always
rejoicing (2 Cor 6:10). In this age of error and confusion, let us
rouse ourselves and hearken to the words of Saint Ignatius the
God-bearer, Consider the times: look for Him Who is above time.
The ultimate victory has been achieved. Neither an angel nor an
ambassador, but the Lord of Glory Himself has trampled down death by
His death and on those in the graves bestowing life. The light of the
Sun of Righteousness has dawned for those that have the eyes to see it.
Our life is in heaven, we are mere sojourners in this earth, therefore
let us hearken to the words of Saint Paul and, be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God
(Romans 12:2). This is the way the saints walked in every generation.
We are all called to be saints, we are called to sanctify ourselves,
looking to the promises of our Savior:
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And
he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and
I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Revelation 21:1-7)
In the midst of the joy and grace of the feast of the resurrection let
us lift our minds to the things of heaven and ask ourselves: what do we
profit if we gain the whole world and lose our soul? What will we be
able to say when we encounter our Christ at the second coming about the
purpose of our life and how we spent our time and resources? Do we
thirst for the things of God? Are our efforts for ego, vanities and
false frenzies? Will our Christ recognize us as His disciples? Beloved,
during this joyous Pascal tide, let us seek to renew ourselves and our
families in Christ. If any of you be in the Body of Christ, you are a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new (2 Cor 5:17).
Let us act on the words of Saint Irenaus, Godmade the things of time,
for man, so that coming to maturity in them, he may produce the fruit
of immortality (Against Heresies, Book IV Chapter V).
Christ is risen! Let us rise up with Him by our way of life and
struggle to produce the fruit of immortality. If we respond to Him and
are steadfast in the teachings of the Apostles and their successors, we
will be saved. Be consoled that the great and final victory has already
been achieved and our Christ seeks to give strength to our weakness and
make up for that which is lacking. Make a beginning and be renewed in
Christ.
Christ is risen!
Your fervent suppliant unto God,
+Moses, Metropolitan of Seattle
Pascha, 2004
2. More and more Euro-Muslims convert
By Uwe Siemon-Netto UPI Religious Affairs Editor
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Dec. 10 (UPI) --Muslim immigrants to Europe and
their offspring are converting to Christianity in increasing numbers,
Roman Catholic and Protestant clerics report.
"In France, there are literally hundreds of former Muslims among the
more than 3,000 adults who present themselves for baptism every Easter
night," reports the Rev. Hans Voecking, an expert on Islam and a member
of the European Catholic Bishops' Conference.
In addition, many Muslims join evangelical congregations of which a new
one is born every nine days in France.
In Germany, the Rev. Michael Stollwerk, Lutheran pastor at Wetzlar
Cathedral, which is also used by Roman Catholics, has been warned of an
Iranian spy in his Sunday services. Stollwerk is famous for baptizing
scores of Iranian women.
Ministers relate most converts claim to have seen Jesus in their
dreams, prompting them to seek instruction in the Christian faith.
3. The Nose-Dive Continues
Drawing its information from Roman Catholic sources, a new book, the
Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II, by
Kenneth C. Jones, a Roman Catholic attorney, gives the following
statistics:
"Priests. After skyrocketing... to 58,000 in 1965, the number of
priests in the United States dropped to 45,000 in 2002. By 2020, there
will be about 31,000 priests - and only 15,000 will be under the age of
70."
"Ordinations. In 1965 there were 1,575 ordinations to the priesthood,
in 2002 there were 450, a decline of 350 percent."
"Priestless parishes. About 1 percent of parishes, 549, were without a
resident priest in 1965. In 2002 there were 2,928 priestless parishes,
about 15 percent of U.S. parishes. By 2020, a quarter of all parishes,
4,656, will have no priest."
"Seminarians. Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped
from 49,000 to 4,700 - a 90 percent decrease.... There were 596
seminaries in 1965, and only 200 in 2002."
"Sisters. 180,000 sisters were the back bone of the Roman Catholic
education and health systems in 1965. In 2002, there were 75,000
sisters, with an average age of 68.... In 1965,104,000 sisters were
teaching, while in 2002 there were only 8,200 teachers."
"Religious Orders. The religious orders will soon be virtually
non-existent in the United States. For example, in 1965 there were
5,277 Jesuit priests and 3,559 seminarians; in 2000 there were 3,172
priests and 389 seminarians.... Every major religious order in the
United States mirrors these statistics."
(New Oxford Review, Jan.-Feb., 2004)
4. The Religious Right*
We hear and read constantly about the religious right. Nowadays the
term seems to imply that the religious right is definitely something to
be looked upon with discomfort, if not outright fear. Recently, the
murder of a young homosexual college student in Wyoming and the killing
of an abortion clinic physician were associated with "extremists"
mentioned in immediate context with "the religious right." Even far
away BBC picked up the stories and repeated the same innuendoes.
One got the impression from London that heartland America is populated
by bigoted Christian fanatics, whose methods rival those of middle
eastern terrorists. All of that would be very well to say if there were
any truth in the allegation. There is not. All Christian groups from
right to left abhor murder!
A very few murderous individuals or miniscule groups of virtual
terrorists may claim the name "Christian," but they represent no
recognized body of Christian believers. Certainly, every mainstream
American Christian denomination, from fundamentalists to extreme
liberals, has decried from the pulpit and even in the media the murder
of abortion clinic workers, the killing of the young man in Wyoming,
and every other such act of violence. But that doesn't seem to be
enough for those who rail against the religious right.
Back when the Moral Majority was formed, the term religious right
simply designated politically-involved fundamentalist Christians.
Recently, however, the term has been quietly expanded by many to
suggest suspicious and perhaps extremist groups which are guilty of
fundamentalist views such as 1) Belief in a literally existing God, 2)
Belief that there are moral absolutes, 3) Respect for the Bible as the
Word of God, 4) Viewing abortion as killing innocent human lives, 5)
Not favoring same-sex marriages, 6) Belief that male and female human
beings are, by nature, distinct (though not unequal) in important
respects, 7) Belief that one has a Constitutional right to speak and
vote one's conscience, even if it is formed on Christian beliefs; and
other dangerous and despised ideas. This broader definition of
fundamentalism and corresponding repudiation of the religious right now
evidently applies to all forms of historic Christianity. As a Black
associate in Florida used to say of specious declarations. "I'm scared
of that!"
5. Comparing Orthodox Spirituality & Other Traditions
By Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos (edited for length)
Orthodox spirituality differs distinctly from any other "spirituality"
of an eastern or western type. There can be no confusion because
Orthodox spirituality is God-centered, whereas all others are
man-centered.
The difference appears primarily in the doctrinal teaching. For this
reason we put "Orthodox" before the word "Church" so as to distinguish
it from any other religion. Dogmas are the results of decisions made at
the Ecumenical Councils on various matters of faith. Dogmas are
referred to as such, because they draw the boundaries between truth and
error, between sickness and health. Dogmas express the revealed truth.
They formulate the life of the Church. Dogmatic differences reflect
corresponding differences in therapy. If a person does not follow the
"right way" he cannot ever reach his destination. If he does not take
the proper "remedies," he cannot ever acquire health; in other words,
he will experience no therapeutic benefits. Again, if we compare
Orthodox spirituality with other Christian traditions, the difference
in approach and method of therapy is more evident.
A fundamental teaching of the Holy Fathers is that the Church
is a "Hospital" which cures the wounded man. In many passages of Holy
Scripture such language is used, for example in that of the parable of
the Good Samaritan. In this parable, the Samaritan represents Christ
who cured the wounded man and led him to the Inn, which is to the
"Hospital" which is the Church. It is evident here that Christ is
presented as the Healer, the physician who cures man's maladies; and
the Church as the true Hospital. It is very characteristic that Saint
John Chrysostom, analyzing this parable, presents the truths emphasized
above.
Man's life "in Paradise" was reduced to a life governed by the devil
and his wiles. "And fell among thieves," that is in the hands of the
devil and of all the hostile powers. The wounds man suffered are the
various sins, as the prophet David says: "my wounds grow foul and
fester because of my foolishness" (Psalm 37). For "every sin causes a
bruise and a wound." The Samaritan is Christ Himself who descended to
earth from Heaven in order to cure the wounded man. He used oil and
wine to "treat" the wounds; in other words, by "mingling His blood with
the Holy Spirit, he brought man to life." Then the Good Samaritan, i.e.
Christ, took man to the grand, wondrous and spacious Inn - to the
Church. He handed man over to the innkeeper, who is the Apostle Paul,
and through the Apostle Paul to all bishops and priests, saying: "Take
care of the Gentile people, whom I have handed over to you in the
Church. They suffer illness wounded by sin, so cure them, using as
remedies the words of the Prophets and the teaching of the Gospel; make
them healthy through the admonitions and comforting word of the Old and
New Testaments." Thus, according to Saint Chrysostom, Paul is he who
maintains the Churches of God, "curing all people by his spiritual
admonitions and offering to each one of them what they really need."
In the interpretation of this parable by Saint John Chrysostom, it is
clearly shown that the Church is a Hospital which cures people wounded
by sin; and the bishops and priests are the therapists of the people of
God. And this precisely is the work of Orthodox theology. When
referring to Orthodox theology, we do not simply mean a history of
theology. In Patristic tradition, theologians are the God-seers. Saint
Gregory Palamas calls Barlaam [who attempted to bring Western
scholastic theology into the Orthodox Church] a "theologian," but he
clearly emphasizes that intellectual theology differs greatly from the
experience of the vision of God. Theology is the fruit of man's cure
and the path which leads to the acquisition of the knowledge of God.
Western theology, however, has differentiated itself from Eastern
Orthodox theology. Instead of being therapeutic, it is more
intellectual and emotional in character. In the West, scholastic
theology evolved and is now based on rational thought whereas Orthodoxy
is hesychastic. Scholastic theology tried to understand logically the
Revelation of God and conform to a philosophical methodology. The
Scholastics acknowledged God at the outset and then endeavored to prove
His existence by logical arguments and rational categories. In the
Orthodox Church, as expressed by the Holy Fathers, faith is God
revealing Himself to man. We accept faith by hearing it not so that we
can understand it rationally, but so that we can cleanse our hearts,
attain to faith by theoria (see note, end of article) and experience
the Revelation of God.
Scholastic theology reached its culminating point in the person of
Thomas Aquinas, a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He claimed that
Christian truths are divided into natural and supernatural. Natural
truths can be proven philosophically, like
the truth of the Existence of God. Supernatural truths - such as the
Triune God, the incarnation of the Logos, the resurrection of the
bodies - cannot be proven philosophically, yet they cannot be
disproved. Scholasticism linked theology very closely with philosophy
and with metaphysics, and is accountable for much of the tragic
situation created in the West with respect to faith and faith issues.
The Holy Fathers, however, teach that natural and metaphysical
categories do not exist but speak rather of the created and uncreated.
Never did the Holy Fathers accept Aristotle's metaphysics. Theologians
of the West during the middle Ages considered scholastic theology to be
a further development of the teaching of the Holy Fathers, and from
this point on, there begins the teaching of the Franks that scholastic
theology is superior to that of the Holy Fathers. Consequently,
Scholastics, who are occupied with reason, consider themselves superior
to the Holy Fathers of the Church. They also believe that human
knowledge, an offspring of reason, is loftier than Revelation and
experience.
It is within this context that the conflict between Barlaam and Saint
Gregory Palamas should be viewed. Barlaam was essentially a scholastic
theologian who attempted to pass on scholastic theology to the Orthodox
East. Barlaam's views -- that we cannot really know Who the Holy Spirit
is exactly, that the ancient Greek philosophers are superior to the
Prophets and the Apostles (since reason is above the vision of the
Apostles), and that the hesychastic way of life (i.e. the purification
of the heart and the unceasing noetic prayer) is not essential -- are
views which express a scholastic and, subsequently, a secularized point
of view of theology. Saint Gregory Palamas foresaw the danger of these
views and through the power and energy of the Most Holy Spirit and the
experience which he himself had acquired as a successor to the Holy
Fathers, he confronted this great danger and preserved unadulterated
the Orthodox Faith and Tradition.
If Orthodox spirituality is now examined in relationship to Roman
Catholicism and Protestantism, the differences are immediately
discovered.
Protestants do not have a "therapeutic treatment" tradition. They
suppose that believing in God, intellectually, constitutes salvation.
Yet salvation is not a matter of intellectual acceptance of truth;
rather it is a person's transformation and divinization by grace. In
the Holy Scripture it appears that faith comes by hearing the Word and
by experiencing "theoria" ("The vision of God"). We accept faith at
first by hearing in order to be healed, and then we attain to faith by
theoria, which saves man. Protestants, because they believe that faith
by hearing saves man, do not have a "therapeutic tradition."
It could be said that such a conception of salvation is very naive.
The Latins as well do not have the perfection of the therapeutic
tradition which the Orthodox Church has. Their doctrine of the Filioque
is a manifestation of the weakness in their theology to grasp the
relationship existing between the person and society. They confuse the
personal properties: the "unbegotten" of the Father, the "begotten" of
the Son, and the procession of the Holy Spirit. The Father is the cause
of the "generation" of the Son and the procession of the Holy Spirit.
The three Disciples of Christ (Peter, James and John) beheld the glory
of Christ on Mount Tabor; they heard at once the voice of the Father,
"This is My beloved Son," and saw the coming of the Holy Spirit in a
cloud, for the cloud is the presence of the Holy Spirit, as Saint
Gregory Palamas says. Thus the Disciples acquired the knowledge of the
Triune God in theoria and by revelation. It was revealed to them that
God is one essence in three hypostases.
A faith, thus, is a true faith inasmuch as it has therapeutic benefits.
If it is able to cure, then it is a true faith.
If it does not cure, it is not a true faith. The same thing can be said
about medicine: a true scientist is the doctor who knows how to cure
and his method has therapeutic benefits, whereas a charlatan is unable
to cure. The same holds true where matters of the soul are concerned.
The difference between Orthodoxy and the Latin tradition, as well as
the Protestant confessions, is apparent primarily in the method of
therapy. This difference is made manifest in the doctrines of each
denomination. Dogmas are not philosophy, neither is theology the same
as philosophy.
Since Orthodox spirituality differs distinctly from the
"spiritualities" of other confessions, so much the more does it differ
from the "spirituality" of eastern religions, which do not believe in
the Theanthropic nature of Christ and the Holy Spirit. These traditions
are unaware of the notion of personhood and thus the hypostatic
principle. And love, as a fundamental teaching, is totally absent. One
may find, of course, in these Eastern religions an effort on the part
of their followers to divest themselves of images and rational
thoughts, but this is in fact a movement towards nothingness, to
non-existence. There is no path leading their "disciples" to
theosis-divinization (see note below) of the whole man.
This is why a vast and chaotic gap exists between Orthodox spirituality
and the eastern religions, in spite of certain external similarities in
terminology. For example, eastern religions may employ terms like
ecstasy, dispassion, illumination, noetic energy, etc. but they are
impregnated with content different from corresponding terms in Orthodox
spirituality.
+++
Notes
Theoria is the vision of the glory of God. Theoria is identified with
the vision of the Uncreated Light, the uncreated energy of God, with
the union of man with God, with man's theosis. Thus, theoria, vision
and theosis are closely connected.
Theosis-Divinization is the participation in the Uncreated grace of
God. Theosis is identified and connected with the theoria (vision) of
the Uncreated Light (see above). It is called theosis in grace because
it is attained through the energy, of the divine grace. It is a
co-operation of God with man, since God is He Who operates and man is
he who co-operates.
6. The Miracle of the Holy Fire
By Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D.
The entire Christian community in Jerusalem today gathered to witness
the greatest of all miraclesthe Miracle of the Holy Fire. It was the
first time I was not bothered by the soldiers, the police, the large
crowds, the noise, the drums of the Boys Scouts and the Girl Scouts
anxiously waiting to receive the Holy Fire from the Life Giving Tomb of
Christ in the Holy Sepulchre.
It was an exciting day where representatives of many churches
from all over the Holy Land come to receive the Holy Fire and carry it
back in small lanterns to their particular churches for the Midnight
Resurrection Service. Palestinians are not allowed to enter Jerusalem
without a special permit thus this year many Christian Palestinians
went to the extra trouble of getting permits in order to partake in
this centuries old celebration that reflects our Christian heritage and
deep roots in Palestine. Unfortunately there were three checkpoints
inside the Old City so many people, although got a ermit to enter
Jerusalem, still got stuck outside the church of the Holy Sepulchre. It
is on this Great and Holy Saturday that the Holy Fire come down from
Heaven and was received by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch as it has been
done every year, on the same day, in the same manner, at the same time,
at the same holy place of Christ's Life Giving Tomb. This is the
miracle that allows us to know that Christ is in our midst. This is the
miracle that allows us to feel that Christ is truly among us. This
miracle is another way that God communicates to us. As we chant in our
Midnight Resurrection Service: "Come ye and receive light from the
unwaning Light, and glorify Christ, Who a rose from the dead."
My son Canaan was very careful to receive the Holy Fire by lighting his
candle and keeping it in a lantern until we reached our small village
of Taybeh. A wonderful parade was held to celebrate the Holy Fire
entering our village. The priests of all three churches, Fr. Daoud, Fr.
Raed and Fr. Jack led the faithful with the choir chanting to meet our
cousins Ibrahim and Philip who traditionally go to the city of Ramallah
to receive the Light from a patriarchate representative who brings it
from Jerusalem to Ramallah for all the Palestinian Christian
communities that cannot reach the Holy City including not just Taybeh,
but Aboud, Birzeit, Jifna and Ein Arik. !
It is one of the most magnificent celebrations in the Holy Land
that has been overshadowed and forgotten during the reoccupation of the
Palestinian Territories. For the last three years the boy scouts have
not carried on our regular tradition of receiving the Holy Fire to the
beat of the drums due to the bloodshed and violence. However, living
the cycle of death every day, it was refreshing for the Christian
community to rejoice in receiving the Holy Fire and celebrate that for
us all hope lies in Christ our Savior. Four years of killing, back and
forth, surely we have been living in the darkness of all evil. "An d
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
(John 1:5)
Thus today we all received the Light that proceeded from the core of
the stone that covers Christ's Life Giving Tomb and once again
celebrated the oldest unbroken Christian ceremony that exists in the
world. By the way, many people make fun of me for participating in the
ceremony of the Holy Fire but since as Christians we are not of this
world, I really do not except the world to comprehend the eternal love
and presence of God. It takes faith. In Luke 16:15 we read that Jesus
said: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved". We witness
the truth and received the Holy Fire today so that all who are not
blessed to live in the land of Christ's Holy Resurrection can believe
that Christ is the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world. (John 1:9) "And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:47).
Our Christian community is small and diminishing but with God's help
and your prayers can survive the terrible occupation, dreadful
checkpoints, the collapsed economy, the segregation wall that is
currently going up and the daily hardships that make life unbearable.
Truly the Lord is Risen!
Note: I would appreciate it very much if you would please subscribe to
Saint George Taybeh Mailing list (www.saintgeorgetaybeh.org)
because the hotmail has become limited in sharing news from the Holy
Land and once it is sent from the website all subscribers receive it
without the hotmail difficulties. As always, I am most grateful that
you share our news with others in your community or email list. Sorry
to trouble you, thank you for subscribing ) go to http://three.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/saint-george-taybeh
7. FROM THE BOOK CENTER
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