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
AUGUST, 2006, Vol. XL, No. 8 (1563)
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. SERMON ON THE 9TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
2. MINI-CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES
3. ON PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND
4. NEW ITEMS FROM THE BOOK CENTER
The truly intelligent man pursues one sole object: to obey and to
conform to the God of all. With this single aim in view, he disciplines
his soul, and whatever he may encounter in the course of his life, he
gives thanks to God for the compass and depth of His providential
ordering of all things. For it is absurd to be grateful to doctors who
give us bitter and unpleasant medicines to cure our bodies, and yet to
be ungrateful to God for what appears to us to be harsh, not grasping
that all we encounter is for our benefit and in accordance with His
providence. For knowledge of God and faith in Him is the salvation and
perfection of the soul.
Saint Anthony the Great
1. SERMON FOR THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Today's gospel passage contains one of the most encouraging
and hopeful messages for us all.
Our Saviour just completed feeding the five thousand and sent
both the disciples and the multitudes away. He then went up
onto a mountain to pray in solitude, not because he needed to
separate Himself from the multitude to converse with the Father,
since He is everywhere present and fills all things, but so as to
show Himself as an example and a pattern for us all.
The disciples were in the ship rowing until the fourth watch of
the night and wind was contrary. They were discouraged and
anxious and our Savoir passed by, walking on the water. Upon
seeing him, they thought He was a spirit. Our Saviour called out
to them to them saying, "Fear not, it is I." Saint Peter in his
ardour and zeal said "If it is Thou, bid me come on the water"
And our Saviour bade him to come. So Saint Peter undertook to
approach our Saviour, and seeing the wind boisterous and the
waves of the sea, thoughts began to enter his mind. He reasoned
also concerning the great depth of the sea, which as a fisherman
he knew so well. These things filled his mind and he became
distracted even in the presence of our Saviour. His faith began
to fail him and he started to sink, yet even in his failings he
knew Who to turn to, and cried out, "Lord save me!"
Our Saviour replied, "O ye of little faith, why didst thou
doubt?" Clearly warning us that lack of faith is an obstacle to
any of the works of virtue and the grace of God.
It is good to reflect at this point on the character of Saint
Peter. Saint Peter was a good man with many virtues. He
demonstrated his humility when our Saviour worked the miracle of
the great catch of fish and in astonishment Saint Peter humbly
said, "Lord depart from me for I am a sinful man." Saint Peter
had zeal and love-but his faith was not always as it should have
been. Time went on, St Peter saw miracles, healed the sick and
even experienced the Transfiguration. Then he endured another
more grievous tempest than before-our Saviour's voluntary
Passion.
At the Mystical Supper our Saviour warned Saint Peter that,
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat: But I have made supplication for thee,
that thy faith fail not: and when thou hast turned again,
strengthen thy brethren."(Luke 22:31-32)- St John Kronstant
explains that by the term "sifting" our Saviour meant that Satan
was going to distract Saint Peters mind and make him forgetful
and cause him to fall.
The chief priests and the officers appeared at the Garden of
Gethsemane to take our Saviour and in his ardour Saint Peter
pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the
high priest. Saviour commanded him to put away his sword.
Consternation and confusion set in, yet, when our Saviour was
taken away, Saint Peter followed him out of love and devotion.
Saint Peter was threatened and he was distracted and faltered in
his forgetfulness. He was accused that he was a disciple of Jesus
by one of the maids and he denied. Again he was accused and again
he denied. Then, according to our Savior's prediction, the cock
crowed and Saint Peter had to confront his sin. He had become
distracted and that lead to confusion, which tempted his faith,
which lead to denial. Yet he knew where to turn to and did not
despair -but wept bitterly before God. His faith failed him, but
he did not lose faith in God's mercy. These things are recorded
for us that we keep the remembrance of this faith in God's mercy
for time of need. Saint Peter demonstrated what the Holy Fathers
call "praiseworthy audacity." We should always trust in God's
mercy and even be audacious in our pursuit of it. Yet, we have to
act in order to find mercy. We have to find a way to repent.
How do we know that Saint Peter repented? There is a tradition
that whenever Saint Peter heard a rooster crow, he remembered his
denial and wept. That is an important lesson for us. If we fall
into a sin and try and convince ourselves that we have repented,
the only way to be sure is by the measure of our contrition and
regret. It is easy for us to be lazy and complacent and not
really repent. One indication that we have not repented is if
someone were to bring the sin up and we become angry or try and
justify ourselves, or trivialize our sin. Such and attitude is
self-deception and not repentance.
Saint Peter had failings, but he loved God. The elder Ambrose of
Optina once stated, "You know, personalities are only significant
in human judgement, and that is why they are praised or scorned.
But in God's judgement, personalities, like natural tendencies,
are not approved or disapproved. The Lord looks at good
intentions and struggle for the good, and values opposition to
the passions..."
Yea, our God looks to the sincere disposition of the heart and
struggle and effort. Saint Peter failed, yet because he loved and
was sincere and did not justify or trivialize his actions,
grace supported him even in his fall and eventually restored him.
This image of Saint Peter in the wind tossed depths of the sea is
a powerful one. It reminds one of the many perils that the
saints endured, and yet in the midst of perils the kept their
eyes on Christ.
As Saint Paul described his spiritual journey of contending with
the billows of life, "...in scourgings above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews five times received
I forty scourges save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once
was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I
have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of rivers,
in perils of robbers, in perils from countrymen, in perils from
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness
and painfulness, in vigils often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside external matters,
the tumult against me daily, the care of all the Churches. Who is
weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am not
inflamed?" (1Cor 11)
Such is the Apostolic life. It is precisely because they were
steadfast in similar perils the saints were glorified. Saint John
Chrysostom lived during the golden age of Christianity. Yet, his
life was filled with tumult from the time he became Archbishop
of Constantinople. The Patriarch of Alexandria Theophilus did not
want him as a candidate and continually intrigued against him
after he was elected. The local clergy resented him because they
thought he was too strict in some matters. He raised the ire of
the Empress because he complained about immodest dress (including
hers) and stood up to her when she took some land that had been
part of a poor family's estate for generations. Whisperings and
intrigues were continually used against him. These storms
intrigue were against the "Golden Mouth," the greatest preacher
in the history of the Church. The empress and the patriarch of
Alexandria conspired against him and he ended his life in exile
ever looking to our Saviour and saying, "Glory to God for all
things."
Saint Herman of Alaska was part of that band of heroic men that
came to Alaska to preach the world of God to the local natives.
After Saint Juvenal was slain by a certain group of natives,
Saint Herman and the others found willing converts to the word of
God, but it was a corrupt leader of the Russian America Company
that undermined all of their efforts. As it is written in the
life, the others became demoralized, yet Saint Herman simply
withdrew from the corrupt leader and redoubled his prayers,
finding another location and way to help the Christian converts.
Things were not as he wished, but he prayerfully kept the mind of
his eye on Christ and made it through the storm.
These things are recorded in the lives of the saints in order to
instruct us how we can set our gaze on Christ in the midst of
storms in our own lives.
Today there is much confusion in the world. There may be a time
when to do the right thing for yourselves and your families will
be very unpopular with society and with those you interact with
on a daily basis. When a Christian stands for what is right that
person is many times vilified in the press and abandoned by fair
weather friends.
It is precisely during these times we must remember the image of
Saint Peter and the examples of the saints and more earnestly
direct our gaze towards our Lord Jesus. Without our Christ we are
nothing, with Him we can rise above the storms of life. In Christ
we can find forgiveness of sins, if we truly repent. Let us 'seek
the face of God at all times and be strengthened' (Psalm 104) in
the storms of life and find consolation both here and in the age
to come, in Christ Jesus, to Whom be all glory honour and worship
with His Unoriginate Father and all Holy and Good and Life
Creating Spirit. Amen
_______________________________________________________________________
2. MINI-CONFERENCEIN LOS ANGELES
The Parish of St. Demetrios in Pomona, California will sponsor a
Min-Conference on the week-end of November 11-12, 2006, celebrating
both the parish feast and the 40th anniversary of the ordination of Fr.
Nicholas Liberis. The topic of the mini conference is The Orthodox
Christian Family in Today's Pagan World. Speakers will be: Metropolitan
Moses, Bishop Sergius, Fr. Simon, Iconographer of the St.
Gregory of sinai Monastery and Fr. Panagiotes Carras.
Arrangements have been made to visit the opening of a large exhibition
of icons and religious items from Mt. Sinai at the Getty Museum on the
Tuesday following the Conference, led by Metropolitan Moses.
For further information contact:
Justine
Hernandez
or
Sister Mary Miller
email:
justine4moi@aol.com
phone: 626-786-2302
phone: 760-949-9306
________________________________________________________________________
3. AN ENCYCLICAL ON PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND
AND ON CONFESSING THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH
by
His Eminence, Metropolitan Ephraim of Boston
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest
them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you: Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say,
Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:37-39)
My beloved Orthodox Christians:
On viewing the terrible conflict in the Middle East, and the real
danger of the spread and escalation of those local problems to all the
surrounding countries and even, perhaps, the rest of the world, one
brings to mind the numerous passages from the Holy Scriptures that
enjoin us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and of Israel:
Ask now for the things which are for the peace of Jerusalem.... (Psalms
121:6)
But them that turn aside unto crooked ways shall the Lord lead away
with workers of iniquity; peace be upon Israel. (Psalms 124:5)
The Lord bless thee out of Sion, and mayest thou see the good things of
Jerusalem all the days of thy life. And mayest thou see thy children's
children; peace be upon Israel. (Psalms 127:6-7)
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Sion....He bringeth
peace upon thy borders. (Psalms 147:1, 3)
This theme is found also in the hymnology of the Church; for example,
in the
hymns for Palm Sunday we hear:
O thou who proclaimest good tidings to Sion, ascend the mountain; and
thou preacher unto Jerusalem, raise thy voice with might. Glorious
things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Peace be to Israel, and
salvation to the nations (Katavasia of the Fifth Ode)
And yet -since the time of our Saviour's advent in the flesh, there has
been no peace in the Holy Land. On the contrary, there have been wars
and rumors of wars; armies and army camps encircling the Holy City and
the other cities of the Holy Land; invasions, and strife, and
destruction.
As our Saviour foretold, Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70, at which
time not a stone was left upon a stone. In A.D. 135, the year of the
Bar Kokhba revolt, the destruction was repeated and was total. It is
said that the Roman troops spread salt on the ruins of Jerusalem so
that even grass would not grow. Furthermore, the Roman emperor Hadrian
prohibited Jews from dwelling in the city. This is why, after many
generations of exile and absence from this area, the Jewish people
forgot the locations of many of their holy sites, for example, the
exact location of the Temple on the temple mount, the tomb of King
David -which was known in apostolic times, as the passage in Acts 2:29
testifies.
Some time before the Roman legions invaded the area in the year 132,
prophets appeared who predicted the destruction that was imminent, and
so the bishop of Jerusalem, Mark, and the small Christian community
(all were Jewish Christians at that time) departed and went to Pella in
the Trans-Jordan area.1 Since the Roman
authorities did not consider this small Christian community to be of
the Jewish religion, our faithful were allowed to return to settle
amidst the ruins of Jerusalem.
Therefore, the Christian community has known no break of continuity in
its presence in that area. This is why, from generation to generation,
the Christians have kept a living memory of the location of the sites
of the holy places. Hence, when Saint Helen, the mother of Emperor
Saint Constantine the Great, came to the Holy Land in the year 327, the
Christians were able to point out to her the site of Golgotha, the
location of the lifegiving tomb of our Saviour, the place where our
Saviour's ascension into the Heavens took place, the cave of the
Nativity in Bethlehem, and other holy sites. In some cases, the pagan
Roman authorities did the Christians a favor -unwillingly, to be sure
-by building pagan shrines over Christian holy sites. Thus the Roman
Emperor Hadrian, in order to spite the Christians, built a shrine to
Venus in the form of a rotunda over Golgotha, thereby marking the exact
location of this holy site. The same tactic was used in
Bethlehem, where a "sacred" grove and a shrine to Adonis were
established over the cave where Christ was born. 2
During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363), the Jews revived
their hopes of rebuilding the temple, and with the permission of the
emperor began to gather materials for this purpose. However, on the eve
of the commencement of this work, a devastating earthquake struck.
Entire buildings collapsed, and, as Sozomen the Historian recounts from
the accounts of eye-witnesses (Ecclesiastical History, Book V), the
violent agitation of the earth heaved huge boulders from the depths of
the earth, "hundreds of the workers and leaders of the Jews perished
and many others were severely mutilated and wounded." Shortly
thereafter, Julian himself was killed in battle, and so the plan to
rebuild the temple was never realized.
During the Justinian era (527-565), Christian shrines were erected on
the temple mount to commemorate the feast of the Meeting of Our Lord in
the Temple (February 2) and the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple
(November 21).
In 637, the Muslim forces under Omar - a companion of the "Prophet",
who had died only five years before - entered the Holy City. At this
point, it should be mentioned that much of the mythology surrounding
Muhammad was invented in order to make events in his life roughly
parallel those of Christ. During His earthly sojourn, our Saviour
worked many great and mighty wonders: He healed the sick, raised the
dead, cast out demons, commanded the wind and the sea, and He Himself
arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. In contrast, as the Koran
itself admits in dozens of places, Muhammad performed no miracles
whatsoever (see, for example, Sura 17:91-95). Thus, at a later date,
there was invented the story of Muhammad's ascent into Heaven from
Jerusalem on the back of the winged horse Burâq.
To quote a remarkable study on the Dome of the Rock, 3
"The history of the Night Journey and the Ascension [sic] [of Muhammad]
is a complicated one. It begins with a very simple verse in the Koran
(17:1): 'Glory to the One [God] who took His servant [Muhammad] for a
journey by night from the Sacred Mosque [Mecca] to the furthest mosque
(Masjid al-Aqsâ), whose precincts We [God] have blessed, so that
we could show him [Muhammad] some of Our signs; for He is the Hearer
and the Seer.' The holy [sic] text does not mention Jerusalem or an
ascension, but as early as the middle of the eighth century [over one
hundred years after Muhammad died], the expression 'farthest mosque'
was understood to mean a place in Jerusalem and the first elements of
the story of a heavenly journey then made their appearance." But when
Muhammad died suddenly and unexpectedly in 632, there was no mosque in
Jerusalem! (The Dome of the Rock was not built until 692). Undeterred
by these elementary historical facts, the Mus lims -to this very day -
point out Burâq's hoof marks on the stone from which this steed
allegedly leapt into Heaven, carrying Muhammad on his back.
Since they were a nomadic people with no architectural skills, the
inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula were obliged to employ Byzantine
craftsmen and mosaic artists to build and decorate their Dome of Rock.
Since the time this edifice -which, admittedly, is very beautiful -was
constructed on the temple mount, it has become the secular symbol of
the city of Jerusalem, much as the church of St. Basil in Red Square is
a symbol of Moscow, or the Parthenon is of Athens.
With the recent intensification of problems in the Mid-east, many
Orthodox Christians have wondered: why is it that in the land where the
Prince of Peace was born, lived, suffered the holy and voluntary
Passion, was crucified, arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven -
why is it that there is no peace? Since His advent in the flesh,
throughout the centuries, there have been wars and rumors of wars,
whether it be against the Romans, Jew against Jew, or the Samaritan
revolt, the Persian and Muslim invasions, Muslims aga inst Muslims,
Muslims against Crusaders, Arabs against Turks, Turks against European
colonial powers, Kurds against Christians, Arabs against Arabs, Secular
Jews against observant Jews, and now Jews against Palestinians, and
vice versa. Bitter and remorseless strife, endless bloodbaths,
unquenchable lust for revenge, implacable and unforgiving hatred,
without respite or apparent hope for any sort of resolution and
reconciliation.
Then the words which our Saviour spoke, which I quoted at the beginning
of this encyclical, come to mind, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem.... behold,
your house is left unto you desolate." When Israel rejected the Prince
of Peace, it also rejected Him Who sent the Prince of Peace. "Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father" (I John 2:23).
But that was not yet the full extent of the rejection.
The authors of the aforementioned book, The Dome of the Rock, Saïd
Nuseibeh and Oleg Grabar, supplied countless color photographs of this
beautiful edifice. In addition to the beautiful photographs of the
interior and exterior of the Dome of the Rock, for the very first time,
translations of the mosaic inscriptions adorning the interior octagonal
base of the dome have been supplied by the authors.
Before the publication of this book, we never knew what these
inscriptions said. We assumed, of course, that they were Koranic, but
the authors clarify this assumption. They explain that the "mosaic
epigraphy contains selections from the holy [sic] Koran, interspersed
with many pious [sic] phrases, supplications, and remarks on the
original construction" (p.78).
As a matter of fact, it becomes quite evident that the whole purpose of
these inscriptions was to preach against the divinity of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who had "wrought salvation" in the midst of the Holy Land and
the city of Jerusalem itself. That is to say, in the very city where
our Saviour came to His voluntary Passion, was crucified, died and was
buried, where He arose from the dead on the third day, within view of
the Mount of Olives where our Saviour truly (unlike Muhammad) ascended
into Heaven, Islam erected these blasphemous inscriptions to taunt the
Christians and their faith.
Here is a sampling of this "mosaic epigraphy":
In the name of God,
The Beneficent,the Merciful....
No god exists but God alone,
Indivisible without peer.
Say, God is one,
God is central
Birthing no child, nor birthed in turn.
Nothing and no one is comparable.
In the name of God,
The Beneficent, the Merciful....
No God exists but God alone, Indivisible.
Praise be to God who never fathered a child.
No peer exists in all of creation,
nor has God need of counsel.
In every way elevate and magnify God!
O People of the Book!
Don't be excessive in the name of your faith!
Do not say things about God but the truth!
The Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, is indeed a
messenger of God:
The Almighty extended a word to Mary, and a spirit too.
So believe in God and all the messengers
And stop talking about a Trinity.
Cease in your own best interests!
Verily God is the God of unity.
Lord Almighty! That God would beget a child?
either in the Heavens or on the Earth?
God alone is the best protector.
Neither Christ nor the angels in Heaven
scorn servitude and worship of God.
Whosoever looks down upon worship,
considering it something beneath him....
they will be swept unto God in the end.
O God, bless your messenger
and servant, Jesus, Son of Mary.
Peace be upon him
the day he was born,
the day he dies,
and the day he is raised again.
Say only the truth about Jesus over whom you dispute:
He is the son of Mary!
It is not fitting that God should beget or father a child.
Glory be unto God!
Some years ago, in an article entitled "New Age Bishops,"4
many quotes were provided from the Koran, comparing them to passages
from the New Testament. This comparison was quite startling. On the one
side, the Koranic verses, brimming with agitation and anger; on the
other side, equivalent verses from the New Testament, filled with a
profound wisdom and peace.
Once a Coptic visitor to one of our monasteries related that a Muslim
acquaintance of his in Egypt asked him, "Why is it that when someone of
your faith becomes more observant, he also becomes more calm and
peaceful; whereas when someone of our faith becomes more observant, he
also become s more angry and agitated?" The Copt answered, "You've just
answered your question."
It would be well worth your time, my beloved Orthodox Christians, to
re-read the above mentioned article, "New Age Bishops," simply to
examine and perceive for yourselves the Spirit that moves through the
passages of the New Testament, and the vituperation that flows from the
mouth of Muhammad, who aside from the many anomalies that marked his
career, suffered also from some type of violent seizures.5
In the Koran (see Sura 3:59; Sura 4:173; Sura 5:19, Sura 5:75, 78; Sura
9:30), Muhammad insisted that Christ was a mere creature, like Adam.
Consequently, says Muhammad, he is a mere mortal; but because of his
exceeding virtue, he was adopted and became a child of God, not the
Child of God; he became a son of God, not the Son of God. Muhammad
claimed that it is blasphemy to say that Jesus, the son of Mary, was
God.
On the other hand, in the New Testament, Saint John the Evangelist and
Theologian teaches us that, "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). And again, in his First Epistle, he
writes "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether
they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God;
and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
should come, and even now already is it in the world" (I John 4:1-3).
Muhammad teaches that it is blasphemy to confess the divinity of
Christ. The Holy Scriptures teach us that it is blasphemy not to
confess this. Now, both sources cannot be God-inspired. It is either
one or the other. The Holy Spirit cannot be inspiring both of these
sources.
We, as believing Orthodox Christians, believe that in the Holy Gospels
and the Epistles of the holy Apostles, again and again it is
demonstrated not only from the very words of our Saviour Himself and
those of His holy disciples, but also by the awesome and mighty
miracles which He wrought (which Muhammad did not do), and by His
triumphant resurrection from the dead (which Muhammad did not do), that
He is Light of Light, and very God of very God. This is the central
teaching -indeed, the very foundation -of Christianity; that is, the
Christ, the Word of God, Who came in the name of the Lord, died, was
buried, arose, and ascended into Heaven, is in very truth the Messiah,
the Only-begotten of God the Father, and, therefore, the fulfillment of
the countless prophecies and oracles found in the Old Testament. He is
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our Fathers. He is the
One Who spoke to Moses and appeared to Abraham. As He told the Jews,
"Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:48). He is very God of very God, Who
came to forgive and save us. Only God can forgive sins. The Jews knew
this clearly, and it is for this that they leveled the accusation of
blasphemy against our Saviour, charging that He made Himself the Son of
God when He told the paralytic in Capernaum, "Son, thy sins are
forgiven thee" (Mark 2:1-12).
Up to this point, we have spoken of the Muslims and what they believe
concerning our Saviour. Despite their erroneous beliefs, they
nonetheless recognize our Saviour as a great and virtuous prophet, who
was born of a Virgin. Indeed, they have many good things to say about
Christ and the person of the Virgin Mary; however, they vehemently deny
His divinity, and they believe that Muhammad is the summit and seal of
the prophets.
But what of the Jews? On the one hand, the secular Jews, who make up
80% of the modern Israeli population, are basically atheists, and
either antagonistic or indifferent to religion. On the other hand, the
remaining 20% who are observant and religious, nurture -if one were to
judge from the texts of the ir Talmud -an implacable and spiteful
hatred for Christianity. The Talmudic texts that deal with our Saviour
are so filled with filth and seething malice, I cannot repeat or quote
any of them. Not only do these texts deny the divinity of our Lord
Jesus Christ and His virgin birth, but they literally seethe with the
most ugly and blasphemous diatribes concerning the origin and person of
our Saviour.
Indeed, in view of these sorry facts, there is no way that modern
"observant " Israelis could constitute the "chosen people," "the people
of God," or the rightful heirs of the land of Israel, as some misguided
Protestant fundamentalists naively believe. God extends His promises to
all mankind, first and foremost to the true Israel that is faithful to
His promises, and also to the nations who believe in and accept the Son
and Word of God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He does not extend them to
those who maliciously and stubbornly curse and reject His Son, the
Prince of Peace.
One writer recently commented on the belief held by some fundamentalist
Protestants that the contemporary State of Israel is the fulfillment of
scriptural prophecy. He writes, "These people [the Protestant
fundamentalists] don't seem to mind that many [actually, the great
majority of] Israelis hold their own religion in contempt, and further,
they [the fundamentalists] are quite indifferent to the plight of Arab
Christians.... Many of the pro-Israel American Protestants seem to hold
a crude interpretation of the Old Testament, according to which, just
as God specifically commanded the ancient Israelites to exterminate
some of their enemies, the modern Israelis would be justified in
slaughtering the Arabs. Never mind the minor difference that Ariel
Sharon has received, as far as we know, no divine command to kill
Palestinians. For these [fundamentalist] Christians, it seems to be
enough that a modern secular state, ethnically Jewish, calls itself by
the scriptural name 'Israel' " (The Wanderer, April 25, 2002).
But an "Israel" that is either supremely indifferent to or blasphemous
against the true God of Israel -the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit - is not Israel.
What does the sacred hymnology of the Church have to say about this?
What are the teachings of the holy and God-bearing Fathers regarding
this matter?
What - for example - is the significance of the fig tree, which was
cursed by our Saviour and which withered away? The following hymns from
the Ninth Ode of the Palm Sunday canon for Compline provide us with the
proper understanding:
The rod of Moses was turned into a serpent, and the rod of Aaron, which
had been withered and fruitless, was changed into a green branch that
brought forth leaves; but the lawless synagogue was changed into a
fruitless fig tree.
Thou hast cursed the fruitlessness of the law, since it brought forth
as leaves the shadow of understanding of the letter, but had no fruit
of deeds because of its lawlessness
On the other hand, what do the ancient patristic texts teach us about
the true Israel, the new Israel, the new Jerusalem?
Israel, Thy Church on earth, taken out of the nations with a full heart
and a willing soul sings [in praise of Thee]. Apostolic
Constitutions, VII, 35
Through Christ, Thou hast brought home the nations to Thyself as a
people fo r Thine own
possession [Deuteronomy 7:6], the true Israel, beloved of God, and
seeing God. Apostolic Constitutions, VII, 36
For the true spiritual Israel and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac
and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of and blessed by God
on account of his faith, and called the father of many nations) are we
[Christians] who have been led to God through the crucified
Christ. St. Justin the Philosopher, Dialogue with
Trypho the Jew, XI, 5.
The word of God speaks to those who believe in Christ as being one
soul, and one synagogue, and one church St. Justin the
Philosopher, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, LXIII, 5
Even so we [the nations], who have been quarried out from the bowels of
Christ, are the true Israelitic race. St. Justin the
Philosopher, Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, CXXXV, 3.
All who through Christ have fled for refuge to the Father, constitute
the blessed Israel. St. Justin the Philosopher,
Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, CXXV, 5
[God], through Jesus Christ, introduces to the Kingdom of Heaven both
Abraham and his seed, that is, the Church, upon which also is conferred
the adoption and the inheritance promised to Abraham. St.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, IV, 8.
The patriarchs and prophets sowed the word concerning Christ, but the
Church reaped, that is, received the fruit. St. Irenaeus,
Against Heresies, IV, 25.
What the prophets have, according to the aspect of their message,
sometimes called Jerusalem, sometimes the Bride, sometimes Mount Sion,
and sometimes the Temple and God's Tabernacle, is
the Church. St. Methodius of Olympus, The Symposium,
VIII, 5
In his commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaias, Saint Basil writes
the following:
Indeed, though few from Israel were found to be of the elect, the
portion of those that believed in Christ was saved. Wherefore [that
portion] became like yeast among the nations, drawing all to its own
likeness, so that thereby it might become both Israel and the People of
the Lord, and so that he that was of the nations who believed might
become a Jew mystically and also an heir of the spiritual
promises. PG 30:160c-161a.
Saint Cyril of Alexandria, in his exegesis of the same prophetic book,
tells us that when the Prophet speaks of "the spiritual Jerusalem,"
"the spiritual Judea," or "the spiritual Sion, " he is proclaiming them
as types of the Church of Christ, and as the true Sion (PG, 70:65d,
68c, d, 781d).
1 Eusebius, Church History, III, 5; St. Epiphanius of
Cyprus, Against Heresies, 29:7 and 30:2.
2 Eusebius, Life of Constantine, III, 26, 28; Jerome,
Epistle 58, To Paulinus; Socrates, Church History, II, 1.
3 The Dome of the Rock , by Saïd Nuseibeh and Oleg
Grabar (Rizzo li International Publications, New York, 1996, pp. 43,
47).
4 This article, originally published in the Orthodox
Christian Witness
(June 4/17, 1990), has been reprinted in the third edition of Against
False Union, St. Nectarios Press, Seattle, WA.
5 In his book, Islam Unveiled, (The Scholars Press, Shermans
Dale, PA.,
1991), Dr. Robert A. Morey writes, "Early Muslim tradition records the
fact that when Muhammad was about to receive a 'revelation' from Allah,
he would often fall down on the ground, his body would begin to jerk,
his eyes would roll backward, and he would perspire profusely." This
manner of "prophesying" is very reminiscent of that of the pagan Boxers
in China who received "Spirit Warriors" (whatever they were!} through
initiation: fixed gazes, intense sweating, falling on the ground -
before they sallied forth to massacre the Christians.
CONTINUED IN NEXT ISSUE
________________________________________________________________________
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