Small Orthodox corner

[basics]

A most blessed dormition feast to each and every one.

Sir Adrian,

Where in the Bible does it say that you have to have a feast for the dead Mary? The Gospel of salvation is totally about Jesus Christ and His obedience to His Father furthered by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost into the heart of any regenerate person and nothing else. Jesus Christ is the centre of any praise or worship and nothing else for He is the Gospel in entirety. That is all a born again Christian needs to know and follow.

[Sir Adrian]

Where does it say that something has to be written in the Bible? She prays for you constantly and ceaselessly. The least you could do is show some gratitude.

[Cookiegod]

basics we've been over this already. You're clearly not one to preach to us. If you want to tell us that we're not following the gospel, start by following the gospel yourself.

[alhoon]

A most blessed dormition feast to each and every one.

Thank you, I saw this late but I hope you also had a most blessed dormition feast.

That is all a born again Christian needs to know and follow.

We're Orthodox Christians and not Born-Again Christians.

[Prodromos]

Mary, having spent her life after Pentecost supporting and serving the nascent Church, was living in the house of the Apostle John, in Jerusalem, when the Archangel Gabriel revealed to her that her death would occur three days later.[18] The apostles, scattered throughout the world, are said to have been miraculously transported to be at her side when she died. The sole exception was Thomas, who was preaching in India. He is said to have arrived in a cloud above her tomb exactly three days after her death, and to have seen her body leaving to heaven. He asked her "Where are you going, O Holy One?", at which she took off her girdle and gave it to him saying "Receive this my friend", after which she disappeared.[19] Thomas was taken to his fellow apostles, whom he asked to see her grave, so that he could bid her goodbye. Mary had been buried in Gethsemane, according to her request. When they arrived at the grave, her body was gone, leaving a sweet fragrance. An apparition is said to have confirmed that Christ had taken her body to heaven after three days to be reunited with her soul. Orthodox theology teaches that the Theotokos has already undergone the bodily resurrection, which all will experience at the second coming, and stands in heaven in that glorified state which the other righteous ones will only enjoy after the Last Judgment.[20]

I like Mary but this strains credulity. The Dormition would have happened around AD 50, before most of the New Testament was written. This is supposed to be a miracle of supreme theological significance, so it's curious that the apostles didn't see fit to mention it anywhere in the Scriptures.

[basics]

alhoon,

Jesus said, " A man must be born again if he is to enter heaven...." Born again of and by the Spirit of God meaning the old heart filled with sin being replaced by a new heart filled with the knowledge that Jesus Christ washed their sin away from the eyes of a wrathful God at Golgotha's cross. Mary does not and cannot play any part in salvation for if she did as Prodromos says it would be in God's word, the Bible. It's not in the Bible.

[Sir Adrian]

Born again means to do God's will and to become dead for this world. It does not mean to become a presbyterian (especially since presbyterians go against the will of Christ by not having bishops)

[basics]

Born again means to do God's will and to become dead for this world. It does not mean to become a presbyterian (especially since presbyterians go against the will of Christ by not having bishops)

Sir Adrian,

Being born again means haveing a sinful heart replaced by one that is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit to emulate Jesus and of course to do God's will. Quote, " What's the difference between Elders,
Bishops and Pastors?

The term Elder was originally used to denote the older men of a Jewish community which governed and made the major decisions. In the New Testament, the term evolved into a description of a mature believer charged with spiritual supervision and ministry within the church, detached from the relationship with age. The terms elder, bishop and pastor are generally used interchangeably in the New Testament, although "elder" primarily refers to the person, while "bishop or pastor" deals with their office. "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine" (1 Tim. 5:17).

A bishop means "an overseer," originally the principal officer or pastor of a local church, but later evolved into a position of supervision over multiple churches. "This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work" (1 Tim. 3:1).

In today's society, a Pastor is generally a minister and spiritual overseer of a church congregation — the same as an elder or bishop. Pastor was probably not intended to be as much a title, as it was an adjective to describe what he does. A pastor literally means "shepherd," a metaphoric description of one who cares for and leads a flock of God's sheep. One of five office gifts described in Ephesians 4:11. " Unquote.

Many denominations don't have bishops rather the Pastor, elders and deacons because they see it that their Head is the Lord Jesus Christ alone. If memory serves me correct Peter had the role of bishop which he personally denounced as being the waiter of tables which he didn't want to do, rather to be out there evangelising the Gospel which he did. So, since an elder or deacon can do what a bishop was meant to do is that against God's will? In my church which is Baptist there is only the Pastor, the elders and the deacons who serve the congregation. Again if my memory serves me correct, Paul when establishing the running of the churches he covered he usually had two bishops in each one so rather than being " the " bishop of such and such a place, facts tell he would only be " a " bishop of such and such a place. The same can be said that in Scripture there is never any church " of " anything rather the church " at " some place.

[Sir Adrian]

No. And you know why I say no? Because modern day pastors do not have what we call charisma, the gift that Holy spirit gave at Pentecost and which was passed uninterrupted from the apostles to their successors and from those successors through the priestly line until today.

Most if not all of the pastoral lines of the various protestant churches started out through self-appointment, regular people with no gift, now wisdom from the Holy Spirit and usually not very pious either preaching and speaking in the name of God. This is not just bad, this is soul imperiling.

Moreover you cannot compare a pastor to a bishop (at least an eastern orthodox or oriental orthodox bishop). Why? Because a bishop if first and foremost a monk. He is supposed to lead and ascetic life of poverty, prayer, celibacy and fasting. They are enlightened by the Holy Spirit through ceaseless prayer and privation of the flesh in the name of God.

A pastor is just a regular dude who went to a 3 year school and tada, he can now lead a church. When an orthodox bishop finishes a service he goes to his cell to pray, hear confession or do administrative work. When a pastor finishes a service he gets in his 100k mercedes and goes home to a nice steak dinner and sex with his wife.

You will never see a proper bishop wear a gold rolex or a 5000 pound suit. You will never see a pastor not do that if he is able.

Simply put, anybody on TWC could easily become a pastor but 99.99% of people here could never progress through the hard years of monasticism required to become a bishop.

[Cookiegod]

It's literally just 3 months back that we had basics proven to deliberately and purposefully lie about Jesus Christ and the bible, on pretty much this exact topic, and he could not give us a satisfactory answer as to why he did it or how it's justifiable despite being repeatedly asked about it.

[basics]

No. And you know why I say no? Because modern day pastors do not have what we call charisma, the gift that Holy spirit gave at Pentecost and which was passed uninterrupted from the apostles to their successors and from those successors through the priestly line until today.

Most if not all of the pastoral lines of the various protestant churches started out through self-appointment, regular people with no gift, now wisdom from the Holy Spirit and usually not very pious either preaching and speaking in the name of God. This is not just bad, this is soul imperiling.

Moreover you cannot compare a pastor to a bishop (at least an eastern orthodox or oriental orthodox bishop). Why? Because a bishop if first and foremost a monk. He is supposed to lead and ascetic life of poverty, prayer, celibacy and fasting. They are enlightened by the Holy Spirit through ceaseless prayer and privation of the flesh in the name of God.

A pastor is just a regular dude who went to a 3 year school and tada, he can now lead a church. When an orthodox bishop finishes a service he goes to his cell to pray, hear confession or do administrative work. When a pastor finishes a service he gets in his 100k mercedes and goes home to a nice steak dinner and sex with his wife.

You will never see a proper bishop wear a gold rolex or a 5000 pound suit. You will never see a pastor not do that if he is able.

Simply put, anybody on TWC could easily become a pastor but 99.99% of people here could never progress through the hard years of monasticism required to become a bishop.

Sir Adrian,

Where does it say in the Bible this process you claim?

Self appointment eh? No my friend, ministers are interviewed by the elders and deacons to find the right man for the job particularly men who preach Christ the Gospel.

Well if a bishop is foremost a monk why does Paul insist that a bishop have one wife. 1 Timothy 3;2-12.

I wish you could tell our Pastor where he can get these riches. He's a PhD in Theology and gets paid less than other ministers around him, why? Because our church couldn't afford to pay the going rate and so seeing the Gospel more important than money he took us on. Thankfully his wife, a mother to two lovely children, is a language teacher at a school so that helps out immeasurably.

And, you'll never see a pastor who is a guenuine Christian do that either.

Simply put anyone who has the gift of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and accepted by the elders and deacons of that particular church can do so as long as they are Biblically sound. In other words they preach the innerrant Word of God.

Every single person who is born again receives gifts, some small, some large, according to the Giver so that their Christian journey has purpose. To some the power to preach, teach, speak foreign languages, give testimony, lay on hands and of course powerful praying and they don't need to be a bishop to do that. In fact it is written that anyone who is born again of the Spirit of God is now one with Christ and is a priest in themselves. See 1 Peter 2: 4-5.

[Sir Adrian]

[basics]

Sir Adrian,

The elect of God have already been judged for their sins and no man can take them out of God's hands now or forever. Now love is a very important factor to the one who is born again and now called part of the elect of God, why? Because it denotes that they are in Christ and Christ in them, their names being written in the book of Life long before the worlds were made. The elect of God, the church of God, will be the first to be judged when Jesus comes back for His own so that He can separate the elect from the interlopers who are not part of it, this being described by them who know His voice and those whom He never knew. So, love is very important but it is not what saves anyone, rather the blood of Christ being poured out on that fateful day when He took my place on that cross to pay for my sin and then being brought to regeneration by God. Him then in me and me in Him makes it possible for me to love my neighbour as myself, to forgive and love my enemies, which I could never do before.

[Sir Adrian]

[AnthoniusII]

Love , charity and compation will be the measure of the finall judgment.
To unsderstand that we need to go back in two things.
The 1st is the Gospel of Matthew 31-46 .
The original text.

Εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ δόξῃ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, τότε καθίσει ἐπὶ θρόνου δόξης αὐτοῦ· καὶ συναχθήσονται ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἀφορίσει αὐτοὺς ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων, ὥσπερ ὁ ποιμὴν ἀφορίζει τὰ πρόβατα ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρίφων,καὶ στήσει τὰ μὲν πρόβατα ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ τὰ δὲ ἐρίφια ἐξ εὐωνύμων. Τότε ἐρεῖ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου·ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με, ξένος ἤμην καὶ συνηγάγετέ με,γυμνὸς καὶ περιεβάλετέ με, ἠσθένησα καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με, ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην καὶ ἤλθατε πρός με. Τότε ἀποκριθήσονται αὐτῷ οἱ δίκαιοι λέγοντες, Κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα καὶ ἐθρέψαμεν, ἢ διψῶντα καὶ ἐποτίσαμεν;πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ξένον καὶ συνηγάγομεν, ἢ γυμνὸν καὶ περιεβάλομεν; πότε δέ σε εἴδομεν ἀσθενοῦντα ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ ἤλθομεν πρός σε; καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐρεῖ αὐτοῖς, ᾽Αμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Τότε ἐρεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἐξ εὐωνύμων, Πορεύεσθε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ οἱ κατηραμένοι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ·ἐπείνασα γὰρ καὶ οὐκ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατέ με,ξένος ἤμην καὶ οὐ συνηγάγετέ με, γυμνὸς καὶ οὐ περιεβάλετέ με, ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ οὐκ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με. Τότε ἀποκριθήσονται καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγοντες, Κύριε, πότε σε εἴδομεν πεινῶντα ἢ διψῶντα ἢ ξένον ἢ γυμνὸν ἢ ἀσθενῆ ἢ ἐν φυλακῇ καὶ οὐ διηκονήσαμέν σοι;τότε ἀποκριθήσεται αὐτοῖς λέγων, ᾽Αμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐφ᾽ ὅσον οὐκ ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, οὐδὲ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Καὶ ἀπελεύσονται οὗτοι εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον, οἱ δὲ δίκαιοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

Transllation:
And the Lord said: When The Son Of Man comes with His full glory and with all of His Angels , He will sit on His Throne and before Him all nations will be presented and he will separate them some from others like the sheperd separates his sheep from the kids and He will place the sheep on his right and the kids on his left. Then The King will call those in his right "Go blessed From My Father. you inherit the prepaired for you Kingdom since the days of time. Because i was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me water, I was stranger and you hospitaled Me, I was naked and you gave me cloths , i was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you visited Me. Then the righteous answered "My Lord when we saw you hungry and we gave you food?, when we saw you thirsty and we gave you water, when we saw you stranger and we gave you our hospitality?, when we saw you sick or in prison and we visited You? And the King sawing them answered Amen I say to you because you did all these to my brothers you did THEM TO ME. Then he turned to those in his left. Go away from Me cursed in the eternal fire prepared by the Devil and his angels because I was hungry and you did not gave me food, I was thirsty and you did not give me water , I was stranger and you did not had relations with me, I was naked and you did not give me cloths, I was sick and I was in prison and you never visited me. Then those answered "My Lord when we saw you hungry or thirtsy or naked or sick or in prison and we did not took care of You? The He answered to them saying "Amen i say to you because yoiu did not did those to my brothers then you did not did those to Me either".

In this point we must ficus in key word "nations".
In teh 1st Ecoumenical Council that gave the foundations of the Christian Faith we read " All Humans are made by fase and by essense Of The God". The sentence does NOT separate humans according to their race, faith, color etc. In the Orthodox Dogma the Mother Of God is primarily His MOTHER not a high rank LADY. That has a special meaning. When we meet a mother with a baby child asking for charity THINK TWICE before you deny it because They MayBE The Mother of God and Jesus.
In modern days we forget that major principal of the Christian Faith.

[basics]

It's literally just 3 months back that we had basics proven to deliberately and purposefully lie about Jesus Christ and the bible, on pretty much this exact topic, and he could not give us a satisfactory answer as to why he did it or how it's justifiable despite being repeatedly asked about it.

Cookiegod,

What did I say about Jesus that was a purposeful and deliberate lie?

[Sir Adrian]

Matthew 23:9 and you claimed that all men are priests according to Peter.

[basics]

Matthew 23:9 and you claimed that all men are priests according to Peter.

Sir Adrian,

Look at 1Peter 2:4-5 about the priesthood of all believers and Mathew is referring to people who are born again not to call anyone father except your Father which is in heaven. So where is the deliberate lie there?

[AnthoniusII]

Sir Adrian,

Look at 1Peter 2:4-5 about the priesthood of all believers and Mathew is referring to people who are born again not to call anyone father except your Father which is in heaven. So where is the deliberate lie there?

My friend you seam that you are confusing the phrase "born again" that refers to Baptism as action...For Christianity Babtism is a new birth . You confuse that phrase with the USA movement of "New Borned Christians". Those "christians" give an entire false meaning of teh Faith. A Christian tio re-born again has to Confess His sins. After that he is a "new re-borned" person. But Fromm Catholicism and later Protetantism and Aglicism thousands of herecies borned trying to "read" the FAITH as they please and not as they should. In my previus post i mentioned the 1st Ecoumenical Council .Biut after 1054 Christianity torned apart in two , later 4 and today hundreds of branches. One and more powerfull is in the USA the herecy of Eugelists (rom the Greek word Euaggelion = Gospel). They are about 50 milions .Those beleive TV Prophets and they were the first that used the tern re-borned when US President Bush Junior was baptised in their dogma to have their votes!
Those "Christians" believe that God have chosen them to enheritage Earth and they must start a nuclear war against Israel and Arabs that will leave only them alive in world wide!
ORTHO-DOXY as term was used for 1st time against Arianism. Catholic (is the english version of the word Catholiki which means ENTIRE)and officialy Christianity from the 1st Ecoumenical Council to 1054 was united.
Today Ortho-doxy mean the brach of Christianity that has never changed since the 1st Ecoumenical Council at all. Listen what one American and one German monk say about that.

Also years ago:

The same aythor 3 years ago in a TV panel accused Euaggelists (new borned Chistians) a threat to world's peace and Christian Faith.

[basics]

AnthoniusII,

Well to begin, Jesus said to the ruler who came to Him in the night. Jesus answered, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." John 3. So , no matter whatever denomination one is, no-one who is not born again can enter heaven. The Baptist affirmed this when he taught that he baptised only with water but that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Ghost. Therefore a person being made regenerate receives that baptism securing his or her rebirth. This is totally a work of God in His Three Persons, for the Father draws the sinner to Jesus, Whose blood has washed them clean and the Holy Spirit in convicting them brings them to the need of a Saviour so that regeneration can take place. That is how Christians are made.

Evangelism is about proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, why? Because it is His Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation. Note that, the power of God, unto salvation, not man, not priests, not monks and certainly not popes.