Saint Basil the Great on the Need to Defend the Faith Wherever it is Endangered

St. Basil the GreatThere are not a few clergy today, under the influence of the spirit of the world in the form of philetism or ecumenism, that neglect to come to the aid of Orthodox outside of their Local Church who are struggling against innovations and heresy. They suffer from indifference. In the first instance, out of a mistaken ecclesiology which claims that only the Ecumenical Patriarchate can speak to internal challenges of Faith in the Local Churches. This mistaken ecclesiology is itself born out of an experience of the Church heavily influenced by philetism, where the Church of Christ amounts to the Church existing in the boundaries of the Ethnos (i.e. Greek, Russian, Serbian Orthodoxy). In the second instance, they suffer from an indifference to Dogma and the Truth of the Faith since they are senseless to the direct connection of Faith and Life, of that which we confess and believe and that which we live and experience. This senselessness often times is a result of these clergymen’s association with the heterodox and with the religions of the world. They have, in turn, made the Church and Revelation into Religion, reverting to a pre-Incarnational state of mind, undoing the implications and continuation of the Incarnation in the life of the people.

The following words of Saint Basil the Great apply to all of us, but especially to the clergy in our midst who are indifferent to matters of Faith, to the struggle for the Faith “once delivered.” Saint Basil was writing to men who were far less deluded by the spirits of this world, but who nonetheless exhibited indifference to the fate of the churches abroad. May we all take the Saint’s words to heart and lend a helping hand to all of our brethren who are outside of our diocese or local church but in urgent need of our support and encouragement.

“We stand in the arena to fight for our common heritage, for the treasure of the sound faith, derived from our Fathers. Grieve with us, all you who love the brethren, at the shutting of the mouths of our men of true faith, and at the opening of the bold and blasphemous lips of all who utter unrighteousness against God. The pillars and foundation of the truth are scattered abroad. We, whose insignificance has allowed of our being overlooked, are deprived of our right and free speech. Enter into the struggle for the people’s sake. Do not think only of your being yourselves moored in a safe haven, where the grace of God gives you shelter from the tempest of the winds of wickedness. Reach out a helping hand to the churches that are being buffeted by the storm, lest if they are abandoned, they suffer complete shipwreck of the faith. Lament for us, in that the Only-Begotten is being blasphemed, and there is none to offer contradiction.” --- Letter CCXLIII to the Bishops of Italy and Gaul

Today, there is hardly a church which is not being buffeted by the spirit of secularization and ecumenism, that is to say, the spirit of antichrist. The Ecumenical Patriarch and his small band of deacon-bishops live in the mouth of this dragon, so given over to the methodology of this worldly spirit as to be one with it. The Moscow Patriarch and his circle of leaders, emerged in the working and ways of the Soviet dictatorship for their entire life, follow, together with the E.P., a more papist model of governance, ignoring for all practical purposes the conciliarity of the Church. The Church of Greece, especially since the ascent of the present Archbishop, suffers under the same papalization of the hierarchy, such that conciliarity has ceased to exist - especially on matters of Faith. The Church of Finland has become so emersed in the Western way of living and thinking that the Metropolitan of Helsinki and several of his clergy can speak openly in favor of homosexual marriage and the ordination of women to the priesthood for several years without fearing in the least ecclesiastical discipline. Indeed, those who speak out against these perversions are in fear and stand ready to seek refuge elsewhere. . . The faithful of the churches everywhere are being abandoned by thieves (John 10:1) to the wolves of this world and are in need of a helping hand, lest they suffer “complete shipwreck.” The Son of God and His Body are being blasphemed, so let us all “offer contradiction.” —Fr. PAH

Posted on 04/21/07| Filed under: Ecclesia • Ecclesiology: The Church and Ecumenism • The Contemporary World • Before the Face of Antichrist: How Shall we then Live? • Email This Entry

Dear Mr. Weigel,

George Weigel

Today I read your views on the stance taken by Mount Athos with regard to Pope Benedict’s visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch in November. You wrote in an edition of The Tidings (http://www.the-tidings.com/2007/041307/difference.htm):

“...this Athonite intransigence reflects a hard truth about Catholic-Orthodox relations after a millennium of division: namely, that, for many Orthodox Christians, the statement “I am not in communion with the Bishop of Rome” has become an integral part of the statement, ‘I am an Orthodox Christian.’”

Your reasoning reflects a mindset that is decidedly Rome-centered and reminds me of the knee-jerk reactions of devout Roman Catholic friends of mine to nearly every critique leveled against contemporary Roman Catholicism: “that is just anti-catholicism” or “they are anti-catholics” or “they are “Rome-bashing.” This response, like your own understanding of the Athonite stance, reveals an egotism and pride unfortunately quite characteristic of Roman Catholic apologists and zealots of the papacy.

Orthodox Christians do not define themselves against anyone; they do not see themselves as existing in opposition to anyone. They do not say I am ... not this or that. Like Christ and the Church, Orthodox Christians live in the enternal now and knowing their Redeemer they in turn know what it means to be alienated from Him.

Orthodox Christians, and especially those who live the Faith to fullest, such as the Fathers on Athos, believe and confess The “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” This is “the Faith of the Fathers, the Faith of the Orthodox”, as the Synodicon of the 7th Oecumenical Council states. Consequently, it is quite obvious to them that the Pope of Rome, who has for hundreds and hundreds of years confessed another faith, who has confessed the Orthodox Church to be schismatic, heretical, etc., and who has confessed Saints like Gregory Palamas (who has now been “rehabilitated” by Roman Catholic scholars) to be heretics, has become alienated from the life and faith of the Orthodox and cannot be the canonical Bishop of Rome.

But here, in particular, is where you get it wrong: Stating, as the Fathers did, that the Patriarch wrongly accepted the Pope as the canonical Bishop Rome has less to do with the Pope than it does with the Patriarch, insomuch as the issue at hand is the Patriarch’s confession of faith in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, for by accepting the Pope as a bishop he likewise accepts the Roman Catholic church as a church - as either a Local church of the Church of Christ, which would mean there is heresy within the Church, which is impossible, or as the Church of Christ, which would deny the Orthodox Church as the Una Sancta. Orthodoxy rejects both the branch theory of the Protestants and the “Theory of the Primordial Unity of a common baptism” of the Papacy.

All of this is to say that the Orthodox still believe and confess as of old, as once did Roman Catholics. The Orthodox have not “graduated” into the age of ecumenism or bought into the (mainly) Post-Vatican II nuances (for us they are yet more distortions) which divide jurisdictional (administrative) authority from the mysteries or accept baptism and other mysteries outside of the Church (the canonical, that is, right believing and living Church). As Bishop Kallistos Ware has said many times: the Orthodox again and again are saying to the West, and to Roman Catholics in particular, “we are your past”, that is, we hold the faith you once held, to which you must return.

Your comments once again point out the obsession of those who are adherents of the papacy: everything revolves around Rome. But your comments also point out not only the ignorance of Roman Catholics vis-a-vis the Orthodox Church or the Patriarchate of Constantinople (which, by the way, is decidedly not an eastern version of the papacy toned-down), but of your own ignorance, as well. You are far, far away from understanding the Orthodox, let alone the Garden of the All-Holy One, that is, the Holy Mountain of Athos.

Sincerely,

Fr. Peter Alban Heers
Thessaloniki, Greece

Posted on 04/13/07| Filed under: Email This Entry

The Proceedings of a Pan-Orthodox Conference (Thessaloniki, Greece)

Available Winter 2007

For nearly 100 years the contemporary movement for the unification of Christianity has enjoyed the involvement of the Orthodox. Yet, despite the objections of many Orthodox Christians, the divisions among them which have developed on account of this participation, and the apparent lack of real progress toward the desired goal, there has never been a critical Pan-Orthodox examination of the phenomenon and Orthodox participation in it. This historic conference, sponsored by the School of Pastoral Theology of the University of Thessaloniki and the Society of Orthodox Studies, promises to fill this gap.

Speakers at the conference included: Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos (Greece), Metropolitan Nathaniel of Nevrokop (Bulgaria), Metropolitan John of Velesson (Patriarchate of Serbia), Bishop Artemy of Raska and Prizren (Kossovo, Serbia), Bishop Panteleimon of Ghana (Patriarchate of Alexandria), Archimandrite Joseph of Xeropotamou Monastery (Mount Athos), Archpriest George Metallinos (Athens), Archpriest Valentin Asmus (Moscow Theological School), Archpriest Zourab Antadze (Church of George), Archimandrite Christophoros Tsiakkas (Church of Cyprus), Archimandrite Demetrios Vasiliadis (Patriarchate of Jerusalem), Archpriest Theodore Zisis (Thessaloniki), Archpriest George Dragas (Boston), Geron Moses (Mount Athos), Professor Jean-Claude Larchet (France), Demetrios Tselengidis (Thessaloniki), among the nearly 60 speakers in all. 

Posted on 04/10/07| Filed under: New Releases • Email This Entry

The Timeless Wisdom of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain for Children and Adults!
Mersine Vigopoulou

128 pages; hard cover; full-color illustrations throughout - $19.00
ISBN 960-86778-6-6

From I-ville to You-ville, the well-known, best selling Orthodox Christian children’s book of Greece, presently in its seventh printing, is now available in English. The unique and wise counsels of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain are presented in a way that is perfect for children and adults alike. In every turn and twist of this adventure the author masterfully weaves the wisdom of the elder into the fabric of the story, constructing a seamless garment of beauty, charm and enlightenment.

Be one of the first to read and impart the life-giving lessons of You-ville to your children!

I-ville - a Kingdom where pride and selfishness dwell, and where people live by the motto “Me first!” You-ville - a Kingdom where humility and kindness have their home, and where people put the good of others before their own.
This is the story of a young boy named Stubborn, as he strives to become the first person of I-ville to make the difficult journey to the beautiful, joy-filled Kingdom of You-ville, and to become a citizen there.
As we join Stubborn in his adventures, we learn, along with him, profound lessons in how to struggle against bad thoughts and feelings. The journey of young Stubborn is one that all of us - old and young - must take, and which all of us can accomplish - if only we shrink our “I” and put “You” first!
The author, Mersine Vigopoulou resides in Souroti (Thessaloniki, Greece). She is also the author of several of other acclaimed children’s books, including the forthcoming Lady Tradition and Orthodoxy.

Posted on 04/03/07| Filed under: New Releases • Email This Entry

“The Commadment of the Lord is not to remain silent in times when the faith is in danger. ‘Speak, he said, and do not remain silent.’” And, “if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38).  And, “if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Lk. 19:40). Thus, when it is a matter of faith, one should not say: ‘Who am I, a priest or a leader of the people?’ In no case should one remain silent.”

-- St. Theodore the Studite

Posted on 02/13/07| Filed under: The Contemporary World • The Prophetic Role of the Church in the World • Email This Entry

by Fr. John Romanides

This is an excerpt from the upcoming book Patristic Theology, The University Lectures of Father John Romanides, by Uncut Mountain Press.

Saint John of DamascusMany are of the opinion that Orthodoxy is just one religion among many and that its chief concern is to prepare the members of the Church for life after death, securing a place in paradise for every Orthodox Christian. Orthodox doctrine is presumed to offer some additional guarantee, because it is Orthodox, and not believing in Orthodox dogma is seen as yet another reason for someone to go to Hell, besides his personal sins that would otherwise send him there. Those Orthodox Christians who believe that this describes Orthodoxy have associated Orthodoxy exclusively with the afterlife. But in this life such people do not accomplish very much. They just wait to die, believing that they will go to paradise for the simple reason that while they were alive they were Orthodox Christians.

Another section of the Orthodox is involved with and active in the Church, interested not in the next life, but chiefly in this life, here and now. What interests them is how Orthodoxy can help them to have a good life in the present. These Orthodox Christians pray to God, have priests say prayers for them, have their homes blessed with holy water, have services of supplication sung, are anointed with oil, and so forth, all so that God will help them to enjoy life in the present: so that they do not get sick, so that their children find their place in society, so that their daughters are ensured a good dowry and a good groom, so that their boys find good girls to marry with good dowries, so that their work goes well, so that their businesses go well, even so that the stock market goes well, or the industry they work in, and so on. So we see that these Christians are not so very different from other people who follow other religions, for those people do the very same things.(1)

From what we have said, we can clearly see that Orthodoxy has two points in common with all other religions. First, it prepares believers for life after death, so that they will go to paradise, whatever they imagine that to be. Second, Orthodoxy protects them in this life so that they will not have to experience sorrow, difficulties, disaster, sickness, war, and the like – in other words, so that God will take care of all their needs and desires. Thus, for this second type of Orthodox Christian, religion plays a major role in the present life and on a daily basis at that.

But among all these Christians we have just discussed, who cares deep down whether God exists or not? Who really yearns for Him and seeks Him out? The question of God’s existence does not even come up, since it is clearly better for God to exist, so that we can appeal to Him and ask Him to satisfy our needs, in order for our work to go well and for us to have some happiness in this life. As we can see, human beings have an extremely strong predisposition to want God to exist and to believe that God exists, because we have a need for God to exist in order to ensure everything we have mentioned. Since we need God to exist, therefore, God exists. If people were not in need of a God and could take measures to ensure sufficiency for the necessities of life by some other means, then who knows how many would still believe in God. This is what happens in Greece as a rule.

So we see that many people who were previously indifferent to religion become religious towards the end of their lives, perhaps after some event that has frightened them. This happens because they feel that they cannot live any longer without appealing to some god for help – that is, it is the result of superstitious beliefs. For these reasons, human nature encourages man to be religious. This holds true not only for Orthodox Christians, but also for adherents to all religions. Human nature is the same everywhere. Since as a result of the Fall the human soul is now darkened, people are by nature inclined toward superstition.

Now the next question is this: Where does superstition stop and real belief begin?

The Fathers’ views and teachings on these matters are clear. Consider first someone who follows, or rather thinks that he follows the teachings of Christ, simply by going to Church every Sunday, communing at regular intervals, and having the priest bless him with water, anoint him with oil and so on, without examining these things very closely.(2) Does this person who remains at the letter of the law, but does not enter into the spirit of the law, stand to gain anything of any account from Orthodoxy? Now consider someone who prays exclusively for the future life, for himself and for others, but is completely indifferent towards this life. Again, what particular benefit does such a person stand to gain from Orthodoxy? The former tendency can be seen in parish priests and those who flock around them with the attitude described above. The latter tendency can be seen in some elders in monasteries, usually retired archimandrites waiting to die, and the few monks who follow them. (3)

Since purification and illumination are not their main focus or concern, both these tendencies, from the viewpoint of the Fathers, have set the wrong goals for themselves. But insofar as purification and illumination become their focus and the Orthodox asceticism of the Fathers is practiced with a view towards attaining noetic prayer, then and only then can everything else be placed on a firm foundation. These two tendencies are exaggerations that reflect two extremes and share no common core. But there is a common core, a structure that runs throughout Orthodoxy and holds it together. When we take into account this one core, this unique structure, then every subject that concerns Orthodoxy finds its proper place on a firm foundation. And this core is purification, illumination, and theosis.

What will happen to man after death was not an overriding concern for the Fathers. Their primary concern was what will man become in this life. After death, his nous cannot be treated. The treatment must begin in this life, because “in hades there is no repentance.”(4) This is why Orthodox theology is not outside of this world, futuristic, or eschatological, but is clearly grounded in this world, because Orthodoxy’s focus is man in this world and in this life, not after death.

Now why do we need purification and illumination? Is it so that we can go to Heaven and escape Hell? Is that why they are necessary? What are purification and illumination and why do Orthodox Christians want to attain them? In order to find the reason for this and to answer these questions, you need to have what Orthodox theology considers the basic key to these issues.

Posted on 02/13/07| Filed under: Ecclesia • Asceticism, Theology and an Orthodox Worldview • Email This Entry