A Fascinating Documentary on the Shroud of Turin by the BBC 2008

The site, Dating the Shroud of Turin shows the latest and most
advanced dating technology proves the shroud of Turin dates
from the first century A.D.

The Orthodox View of Salvation

"For God so Loved the World, that He Gave" John 3:16

Judas Betrays Our Lord-Mural in the Church of Panagia Dexia, Thessaloniki, Greece

The Orthodox Christian Faith views all the work of Christ as an outpouring of Grace, and not in legalistic terms. Christ fulfills the law and dies on the cross, as an indictment against Satan and not because God needed to be appeased; "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham" Hebrews 2:14-16. It was not God the Father, who was holding us captive, but the evil one (Death and sin were the instruments of his tyranny). All the manifestations of God in the Old Testament are manifestations of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son. YHVH, Who revealed Himself to Moses as the I AM, is the very same Person as Yeshua, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Saviour exposes the deception of the accuser when He said; "He ( Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it". John 8:44. The so called doctrine of atonement is a western view of the cross, and it is not Orthodox. This western heretical view of the atonement is formulated by Anselm of Canterbury ( 1033-1109) in his Cur Deus Homo. Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in The Hands of An Angry God" is a most grievous slander against the love of the Father. He writes,   

"The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell."

But the tone in the Scriptures is much different, 
"If God is for us, who can be against us?. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom.8:31-32. Christ did not die on the cross to appease an angry God but to destroy the work of our enemy, the devil. Our Lord 'destroyed Death by death'(from the Paschal Canon). The cross is a most eloquent love letter from the One and only God "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" 1st Tim. 2:4.

Read also, "Once Delivered to The Saints" by Fr. Michael Azkoul, ISBN: 0-913026-84-0 p.128 and note 47 , on the bottom of the page. and in page 133,D "His lost honor must be recompensed or punishment must follow, lest he be unjust to Himself". How far removed is this from the Faith once delivered to the saints!

1)St Gregory the Theologian, in Oration 45:22 states; "Now we are to examine another fact and dogma, neglected by most people, but in my judgment well worth inquiring into. To Whom was that Blood offered that was shed for us, and why was It shed? I mean the precious and famous Blood of our God and High priest and Sacrifice. We were detained in bondage by the Evil One, sold under sin, and receiving pleasure in exchange for wickedness. Now, since a ransom belongs only to him who holds in bondage, I ask to whom was this offered, and for what cause? If to the Evil One, fie upon the outrage! If the robber receives ransom, not only from God, but a ransom which consists of God Himself, and has such an illustrious payment for his tyranny, a payment for whose sake it would have been right for him to have left us alone altogether. But if to the Father, I ask first, how? For it was not by Him that we were being oppressed; and next, On what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father, Who would not receive even Isaac, when he was being offered by his Father, but changed the sacrifice, putting a ram in the place of the human victim? Is it not evident that the Father accepts Him, but neither asked for Him nor demanded Him; but on account of the Incarnation, and because Humanity must be sanctified by the Humanity of God, that He might deliver us Himself, and overcome the tyrant, and draw us to Himself by the mediation of His Son, Who also arranged this to the honor of the Father, Whom it is manifest that He obeys in all things? So much we have said of Christ; the greater part of what we might say shall be reverenced with silence. But that brazen serpent [Numbers 21:9] was hung up as a remedy for the biting serpents, not as a type of Him that suffered for us, but as a contrast; and it saved those that looked upon it, not because they believed it to live, but because it was killed, and killed with it the powers that were subject to it, being destroyed as it deserved. And what is the fitting epitaph for it from us? O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? You are overthrown by the Cross; you are slain by Him who is the Giver of life; you are without breath, dead, without motion, even though you keep the form of a serpent lifted up on high on a pole". As quoted by Felix Culpa in ORA ET LABORA here

2) St Nikolai Velimirovich, from the Akathist To Jesus Conqueror of Death, Translated into English from the original Serbian by St Paisius Monastery, Safford Arizona, 2009, Ikos Three p.18 "Dulled by sin, the people supposed that Thou were fighting against them, so they rejoiced when they raised Thee on the cross, rejoicing as victors over their enemy. But Thy battle was not against man, O Lover of mankind, but against the prince of this world and his myriad of legions who hold mankind in their chains, who play a foolish game with every human body, immorally pouring poison into human souls...Thou didst Thyself descend onto the battlefield; to reveal the weakness of the evil spirits Thou didst choose death as a weapon in the battle against them. Having gained the victory over evil spirits Thou didst destroy sin, having destroyed sin Thou didst trample down death, having trampled down death Thou didst dispel fear, and that prison of slaves, the world, Thou has proclaimed to be the home of freedom, O Jesus my Freedom, Jesus my Courage, Jesus my Light, Jesus my Friend, Jesus my Saviour, Jesus my Conqueror, have mercy on me".

3) St. Ireneus, “Against the Heresies,” Book 3, Chp. 23 "For if man, who had been created by God that he might live, after losing life, through being injured by the serpent that had corrupted him, should not any more return to life, but should be utterly [and for ever] abandoned to death, God would [in that case] have been conquered, and the wickedness of the serpent would have prevailed over the will of God. But inasmuch as God is invincible and long-suffering, He did indeed show Himself to be long-suffering in the matter of the correction of man and the probation of all, as I have already observed; and by means of the second man did He bind the strong man, and spoiled his goods, and abolished death, vivifying that man who had been in a state of death. For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan’s) possession, whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously, and under color of immortality entailing death upon him. For, while promising that they should be as gods, which was in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death in them: wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured in his turn by God; but man, who had been led captive, was loosed from the bonds of condemnation". 

4) St John Chrysostom, 6th Homily on Colossians. '…he means that the devil held possession of it, the bond which God made for Adam, saying, "In the day thou eatest of the tree, thou shalt die.” (Genesis 2:17.) This bond then the devil held in his possession. And Christ did not give it to us, but Himself tore it in two, the action of one who remits joyfully'. Source

5) St. Nicholas Cabasilas. Tr. Carmino J. deCatanzaro. The Life in Christ (Crestwood, NY: SVS Press, 1974.) pp.162-4. Against the Western Concept of Atonement: Turning Man who Believed Himself the Object of Hate“Just as human affection, when it abounds, overpowers those who love and causes them to be beside themselves, so God's love for men emptied God (Phil 2:7).... He seeks love in return and does not withdraw when He is treated with disdain. He is not angry over ill treatment, but even when He has been repulsed He sits by the door (cf. Rev 3:20) and does everything to show us that He loves, even enduring suffering and death to prove it....It was necessary, then, that the greatness of His love should not remain hidden, but that He should give the proof of the greatest love and by loving display the utmost measure of love. So He devised this self-emptying and carried it out, and made the instrument [i.e., Christ's human nature] by which He might be able to endure terrible things and to suffer pain. When he had thus proved by the things which He endured that He indeed loves exceedingly, He turned man, who had fled from the Good One because he had believed himself to be the object of hate, towards Himself....What could be equal to that affection? What has a man ever loved so greatly? What mother ever loved so tenderly (Is. 49:15), what father so loved his children? Who has ever been seized by such a mania of love for anything beautiful whatever, so that because of it he not only willingly allows himself to be wounded by the object of his love without swerving from his affection towards the ungrateful one, but even prizes the very wounds above everything?” Source

6) And St Silouan,( He entitles his poem Ádam’s Lament) at the realization of such a wondrous love, weeps with great sadness! :“The desert cannot pleasure me; nor the high mountains, nor meadow nor forest,nor the singing of birds.I have no pleasure in anything.My soul sorrows with great sorrow:I have grieved God.And were the Lord to set me down in Paradise again, there too, I would sorrow and weep-Oh why did I grieve my beloved God?” From St Silouan, The Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony, p.450

7) St Symeon The New Theologian, Hymns of Divine Love, Trans. by George A. Maloney,p 45-46“And being in the middle of my cell, I see Him who is outside of the world as here present,I see Him and I converse with Him and, dare I then to say it!I love Him and He loves me.I eat, I nourish myself with only this contemplation.And being made one with Him, I am transported above the heavens.That this is true and certain I know. I know that He who remains immovable descends.I know that He who is invisible appears to me.I know that He who is separated from all creation takes me within Himself and hides me in His arms.….And I know that I will not die because I am inside of Life,and that I have the entire Life that completely flows out from within me.He is in my heart.."

"Christ's victory over the grave is now, today as the Feast of Pascha ecstatically proclaims. He is already the 'first fruits' of the Age to Come, the first man of the new creation. The last enemy, death, is already destroyed( 1 Cor.15:26). The creation is already offered and accepted by God the Father as a 'sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor' Eph.5:2, meaning that 'the remission of sins' has been achieved, the regenerated creation has been offered to the Father, and the risen Lord, re-presenting mankind, ascends to the Right Hand of Majesty. Finally, the Holy Spirit is sent by Christ to His people. "The Church is the Age to Come,"St. John Chrysostom said. Nothing any longer impedes the koinonia (communion) between the Creator and the creature, save disbelief". From Once Delivered to The Saints" by Michael Azkoul, St Nectarios Press 2000, p.130

And St. John the Apostle , joins the choir of the redeemed saying;

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain [Rev.5:12]
and has redeemed us to God by His blood [Rev.5:9]
To receive power and riches and wisdom
And strength and honor and glory and blessing. [Rev.5:12]

Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto Him,
Who sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb
forever, and ever [Rev.5:13]

..Amen! [Rev.5:14]

The Stylite - A Matter of Faith - A Documentary in the Making

The Stylite website

If you like this project and want to donate to assist in its production,
please go here.


"South of Russia and between the Black and Caspian Seas sits
the mountainous country of Georgia. Located in the Caucasus,
one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions on
earth; Georgia has historically been a crossroads between east
and west.
In central Georgia's Imereti region about 7 miles from the
mining town of Chiatura there is an imposing one hundred
thirty foot rock outcrop called Katskhi Pillar that has been
venerated since ancient times. With the arrival of Christianity
in the 4th century, it became a place of seclusion and asceticism.
Stylites used Katskhi for their devotions until the 15th century.

Father Maxim, a native of Chiatura has wanted to live atop the
Katskhi pillar as a Stylite since childhood. With the help of local
villagers and money from donors throughout Georgia he is
rebuilding the church and hermitage. Once finished, he hopes to
become the first Stylite on the Katskhi rock column in six hundred
years.

The Stylite: a matter of faith is an experimental documentary in
which Father Maxim's story and that of an unknown traveler
compelled to leave the city for the pillar will overlay one another
like an ancient palimpsest. Reality and fiction will entwine to create
a film documenting our often braided interiority. The human
condition: the doubt, the mystery, and the hope will be experienced
through the eyes of the traveler while Father Maxim's act will, much
like it did six hundred years ago, inspire, baffle, and confound."
From the website.

The Philokalia by Dr Constantine Cavarnos

Available from Not of This World Icons

I just read 'The Epistle to Nicholas the Monk' by St Mark the
Ascetic as it appears in volume 2 and I was delighted. The
translation is fluid and readable. I do not feel the heaviness
I feel when I try to read the four volume translation by
Palmer, Sherrard and Ware. The terminology used seems to
be consistent with the terminology used in other works by
Cavarnos and with Patristic terminology as a whole.

In his essay, Orthodox Christian Terminoly Dr. Cavarnos
stresses the importance of standardizing the Orthodox
terminology in English translation. I have read this essay
and it is very timely and instructive. So I  welcome this
two volume translation of selections from the Philokalia
as nothing less than a master's lesson in Orthodox
translation.

I also prefer the binding, font and texture of the Cavarnos'
translation. Overall the reading experience is much more
pleasant and inviting.

Cavarnos' selection of material is precise and brilliant. This
collection includes his translation of writings from the Greek
original of the 5th volume not yet published by Farber &
Farber.

For a more detailed review please read 'The Philokalia
Englished' by Kevin P. Edgecomb which is published
in his blog Biblicalia

Available from Not of This World Icons

Life After Death According to Orthodox Tradition by Dr. Jean-Claude Larchet

This book is available from Amazon

Again Dr. Jean-Claude Larchet, the author of the celebrated 3
volume set Therapy of Spiritual Illnesses, offers us another
masterpiece; Life after Death According to Orthodox Tradition.

Dr Larchet's knowledge of the patristic teaching on death is 
impressive. This work is comprehensive in its scope. It is
written according to very high academic standards but it is
very accessible to the lay reader as well. For example, the
following passage concerning the Roman Catholic innovation
of 'purgatory' is pretty straight forward;

"As we have seen in the preceding chapter, for the Orthodox
Church there are only two conditions in which souls are to be
found while awaiting the Resurrection and the Last Judgement:
paradise and hell. The Orthodox Church rules out any third, 
intermediate condition, as the Roman Catholic Church believes
which designates it under the name Purgatory and which, in its
most precise formulations, see in it an independent place
characterized by the activity of a temporal 'purifying fire'."  

from 'Life After Death According to Orthodox Tradition' p.171,
Jean-Claude Larchet, Translated by G. John Champoux, 
Orthodox Research Institute 2012 ISBN 978-1-933275-62-8
 

Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter One 
      Death: Origin and Spiritual Meaning
Chapter Two
      The Moment of Death
Chapter Three 
      From the First to the Third Day Following Death:
      The Separation of the Soul from the Body
Chapter Four
      From the Third to the Ninth Day: 
      The Traversing of the Aerial Toll-Houses
Chapter Five 
     From the Ninth to the Fortieth Day:
     The Introduction into the Other World
Chapter Six 
     The Fortieth Day: The Particular Judgment
Chapter Seven 
     From the Fortieth Day to the Last Judgment:
     The Intermediate State
Chapter Eight   
     Purgatory
Chapter Nine  
     The Relations Between the Living and the Dead
Chapter Ten 
     The Resurrection and the Last Judgment
Chapter Eleven 
     Eternal Life: The Kingdom of Heaven and Hell
Chapter Twelve 
     Preparing Oneself for Death and Life in the Hereafter

Bibliography

Empirical Dogmatics vol.2 by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos on the Theology of Fr John Romanides

From the Mount Thabor Publishing website.
To purchase this book, please go here.

Empirical Dogmatics
According to the Spoken Teaching of Father John Romanides,

Vol. 2: Holy Trinity-Creation-Fall-Incarnation-Church-
Life After Death

Price: $40.00
Paperback: 456 pages
Publisher: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery (2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 960707081X
ISBN-13: 978-9607070814
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.00 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.25 pounds
MTP Item Number: SB0067

"Volume 2 completes the Empirical Dogmatics of the Orthodox
Catholic Church by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos,
based on the spoken teaching of Fr. John Romanides. It
addresses central dogmatic issues in the light of the
experience of the Apostles and saints. Fr. John’s approach is
unique, lively, and unconventional. Because of his American
background, his wide-ranging academic research and his
participation in ecumenical dialogues, he sees Orthodox dogma
in its wider context. But his words are also illuminated by the
mystery of his own experience, which he does not completely
succeed in concealing.


The Church’s teaching on the Holy Trinity distinguishes between
the dogma of the Holy Trinity, which it is possible to understand,
and the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which defies human
comprehension. The revelation of the Holy Trinity begins in the
Old Testament: “It is Christ Who appears to the Prophets...Christ
is the Angel of the Lord, the Lord of Glory, Yahweh, the Lord
Sabaoth, the Angel of Great Counsel …”


Fr. John reviews the scriptural and patristic teaching on the
Creation of the World from non-being. Discussing the Demons of
Darkness, he states uncompromisingly: “Being a theologian means
first and foremost that someone is an expert in the wiles of the
devil.” God’s personal direction of world is a matter of experience:
 “When someone is in the state of illumination he…sees the
uncreated energy of God within creation.”


Commenting on the Creation of Man, Fr. John declares that we all
possess a noetic faculty (nous) “which is supposed to be in man’s
heart, but it is not in the heart when it is not functioning correctly”.
The illuminated nous returns to the heart and prays: “When man
prays with his rational faculty, that is human prayer...When,
however, his nous prays within the heart, then the Spirit is praying.”


The Fall of Man does not mean “inheriting the guilt of Adam and
Eve. The ancestral sin was not an affront to God, but a sickness
of man.” Fr. John argues against St Augustine’s view that death
is “a punishment from God” and sets out the evidence that it is
an illness.
The Incarnation of the Son and Word of God is not just
a historical event but “a spiritual event that is confirmed by
empirical knowledge”. Analyzing the Transfiguration of Christ,
Fr. John comments: “We also know these things from the
experience of glorification, not simply from reading Holy
Scripture.” Christians must personally experience the Mystery
of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ. “God is not reconciled
with man, but man with God through the mystery of the Cross,
and through this reconciliation man is transformed from an
enemy of God into His friend, and participates in the
Resurrection of Christ.”


The Mystery of Pentecost shows that the experience of Pentecost
is repeated through the centuries. Fr. John stresses the empirical
element of St Paul’s teaching: “For someone to be a temple of the
Holy Spirit is an experience. If one reads the Apostle Paul
carefully, he is not using empty words every time he describes
the Holy Spirit...Who prays in man’s heart...This is the reality.”
He also asks: “Without becoming a temple of the Holy Spirit, how
can anyone become a theologian?”
Fr. John says characteristically:
“What is the purpose of Orthodoxy? It is clear from the calendar
of feasts. We have Easter and we have Pentecost. Baptism in
water takes place at Easter. Baptism in the Holy Spirit takes place
at Pentecost... And what is the outcome? The Sunday of All Saints.In other words, that all Orthodox Christians may be numbered 

among the saints.”


The Spiritual Perfecting of Christians analyses the stages of
purification, illumination and glorification-theosis. Purification is
not just a matter of avoiding sin: “Purification of the heart means
that thoughts leave the heart...so that the heart is left...with one
thought, prayer alone. This...is called prayer of the heart or single
-thought prayer.” Those who reach illumination experience this:
“Noetic prayer is a gift from God and is proof that somebody has
become a temple of the Holy Spirit.” And someone who is glorified
“no longer knows God in prophecies and knowledge and prayers,
but knows Him directly.


Fr. John takes a historical and spiritual approach to the Mysteries
(Sacraments) of the Church, stating: “The Mystery of Chrismation
was intended for those who had already become members of the
Body of Christ, because it was assumed that the Holy Spirit had
already come to them and was praying in their heart.” Heresies
and Councils are seen in a therapeutic perspective: “There is no
therapeutic treatment in heresy...it is dangerous for people. The
Fathers saw heresy as a form of charlatanism...”
Considering Life
after Death, Fr. John stresses that Paradise and Hell exist from
the human point of view, not from God’s perspective. “Someone
who is suitably prepared sees God as glory, and someone else,
who is unprepared, who does not have repentance and does not
have divine vision, also sees God, but sees Him as ‘a consuming
fire’. This is the fire of Hell.”


Metropolitan Hierotheos arranges all this material clearly and
systematically, and links it with his own interpretative and critical
comments. The resulting account of Empirical Dogmatics is
comprehensive and compelling, with many surprises. This book
will appeal not only to theologians but to anyone interested in what
Orthodox Christians believe and why.

For more titles by Metropolitan Hierotheos, click here.

A Prophetic Speech, the Greeting of Archpriest Siarhei Hardun to the General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)

Source

Ecumenical Advisory Delegate, Archpriest Siarhei Hardun 

of the Orthodox Church of Belarus, brings greetings and a

message to the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the 

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

In a prophetic manner and filled with inspiration and 
courage the Orthodox Archpriest reminds us of the 
traditional Christian teaching. And this is what I hear;

If we are truly led by the Spirit of God, we cannot change
Christian morality and doctrine as it has been passed
down through the centuries. 

The adoption of a new morality which does violence to
Christian and biblical teaching and attempts to overturn
the foundations of Orthodox Christian norm and
practice is the work and influence of another spirit and 
could never be sanctioned by "He who is the blessed and
only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who
alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable
light" 1 Tim.6:16 NASB

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce
to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at
all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk
in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if
we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son
cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7 NASB

"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world,
and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their
deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light,
and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light,
so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought
in God.” John 3:19-21 NASB