Welcome to St Johns Apostolic Syriac Church

We welcome you to St Johns blog. We are a small home mission in the state of Colorado. We are a liturgical church and we worship in the Syriac Orthodox Tradition. Our liturgy is known as the Holy Qurbana or offering/sacrifice. We also are sacramental church believing in the 7 sacraments handed down by our Lord. The Sacrements being 1. Baptism 2. Chrismation 3. Holy Communion (Eucharist) 4. Confession 5. Marriage 6. Holy Orders (Ordination) 7. Holy Oil (Unction). We are Trinitarian and hold to the Christological view of Him being both man and God the two being united without separation, confusion and alteration. We hold to the first 3 councils. What you will notice in our worship is the beautiful chant of the Qurbana in English, the Icons or windows to heaven, the sweet smell of the incense of our prayer being lifted to the throne of God, the bells and the candles or the light of Christ being the light to the world. If you desire to worship with us you can email us at elisha.quintana@hotmail.com and we will notify you of worship times and dates. We bid you grace and peace in the love of Jesus Christ.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Holy Bible and Syriac Orthodox Church (Part I)

Holy Bible and Syriac Orthodox Church (Part I)


Syriac Orthodox Church, one of the most ancient churches, considers Bible as the most authoritative source of doctrines. Our church has the utmost respect for the Bible.
While the Syriac Orthodox Church and other ancient churches treat the Holy Bible with great reverence, using it in all their prayers, ministry and sacraments, they also hold the apostolic traditions equally important. The Church has no doctrine that could not be proven by the Bible. The Bible is not to be degraded by independent interpretation by anyone according to their will and pleasure.
[In the Syriac Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Churches every ministry is done, as taught and done by the apostles. The church was not created out of a vacuum. Each generation learned from the previous generation, from the time of the apostles to the present. The Syriac Orthodox Church still uses Aramaic (Syriac) as its official language, the language used by Jesus Christ and the apostles]. Syriac Orthodox Church Fathers labored in translating the Holy Scriptures into Syriac since the very dawn of Christianity. These Syriac translations of the Bible are the oldest and most ancient in any language. Further, the Syriac New Testament is quite unique for it presents the teachings of our Lord in an Aramaic dialect (Syriac) which is akin and would have been mutually comprehensible with the Palestinian dialect of Aramaic in which Christ taught (see an example given in Holy Bible and Syriac Orthodox Church Part II later). Since the translation of the Bible into Syriac started as early as the first century (even though the New Testament was not codified at that time into a Book), the Syriac version preserves the very ancient renditions of the original texts. In fact,
the Syriac Church Fathers produced a number of translations of the Bible and revisions of these translations from the original languages of the Bible.

Translations of Bible and Differences
Below is a list of some of the variations in different translations. The list is from some popular versions. This encouraged many new interpretations and caused heresy. See below how two translations differ. Of all the Protestant English translations, King James Version has the least errors.

CHAPTER AND GOOD NEWS BIBLE KING JAMES

VERSE (1927) VERSION
1 Acts 1:14 Brothers brethren
2 Acts 1:20 place of service bishopric
3 Acts 1:22 must join us must be ordained
4 Acts 2:42 learning from Apostles Apostle’s Doctrine
5 Acts 2:47 to their group to the church
6 Acts 2:47 fellowship meals breaking of bread
7 Acts 2:27 Servant Holy one
8 Acts 2:38 God’s Gift Gift of Holy Spirit
9 Acts 2:48 who were being saved such as should be saved
10 Acts 3:13 Servant Son
11 Acts 4:30 Servant Holy Child
12 Acts 6:6 Helpers Deacons
13 Acts 14:23 appointed Ordained
14 Acts 19:18 publicly admitted confessed
15 Acts 20:7 Saturday evening 1 St. day of the week ( Sunday)
16 Acts 20:7 Fellowship meal breaking bread
17 Acts 20:28 flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of church of God which he made his own through the death of his son Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood
18 Acts 22:14 Servant The just one
19 Acts 22:16 Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him Arise and be  baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord
20 Rom 15:16 Like a priest- Minister Of Jesus Christ         
21 Rom 16:21 My fellow Jews My Kinsmen - relatives
22 1 Cori 1:18 Who are being saved Who are saved
23 1 Cori 4:1 Servant Ministers
24 1 Cori 5:13 As the scripture says these words are not found
25 1 Cori 7:5 For Prayer For fasting and prayer
26 Acts 7:17 I teach I command
27 Acts 10:16 The cup we use in the The cup of blessing Lord’s and which we give thanks to God when we
drink from it we are sharing in the blood of Christ which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of the Christ?
28 Acts 11:2 Teachings ordinances I delivered
29 Acts 11:3 God is superior over Christ note: In Living N.T. - they use “ Christ is responsible to God” The Head of Christ is God
30 2 Cori 2:17 We are not like many others who handle God’s message as if it were cheap merchandise but because God has sent us, we speak as servants of Christ We are not…… which corrupt the word of God….. we speak in Christ
31 2 Cori 5:20 We are speaking for Christ… we pleaded on Christ’s behalf let God change you from enemies to his friends We are the ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray in Christ’s stead you e reconciled to God
32 Gala 4:19 Until Christ’s nature is formed in you. I wish that people who are upsetting you ..let them go and castrate themselves Until Christ is formed in you .. I wish they were even cut off which trouble you (St. Paul did not say to castrate)
33 Eph 1:7 by the death of Christ we are set free that is our sins are forgiven In whom we have redemption through his blood for the forgiveness of sins
34 Phili 1:1 Church leaders and helpers Bishops and Deacons
35 Phili 3:3 We do not put any trust in external ceremonies We have no confidence in the flesh
36 Colo 1:2 By his son’s death on the cross the blood of his cross
37 Colo 1:25 Servant of the Church Ministers of the Church
38 2 Tess 2:15 those truths The traditions which have been taught
39 1 Tim 3:1 A Church leader Bishop
40 1 Tim 4; 6 Good teaching Good Doctrine
41 1 Tim 4:11 Give them these instructions Command them
42 Tim 1:5 to appoint to ordain
43 Heb 2:12 meeting Church
44 Hew 13:7 former leaders The rule over you
45 James 5:16 Confess your sins Confess your faults
46 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins to God If we confess our sins
47 I John 2:20 But you had the Holy Spirit poured out on you by Christ You have an unction from Holy One
Note: Unction - an anointing ointment that which is used for anointing. more details later
48 1 John 5:7 Three witness the Spirit, the water and blood There are there that bear record in Heaven - the
Father , the Word, and the Holy Spirit
This proves the point that translators have made their own changes from the original version!
To answer why there was such a difference in translations, we have to analyze two points. 1) Who codified the Bible and when was it codified? 2) Who made the changes, when, and why?

Ever since the Bible was codified, the ancient church (At that time there was only one church with three Patriarchs in full communion to each other) owned it;because the ancient church codified it in the Council of Carthage in AD 397. And thus the ancient Church was its custodian. This is why St. Augustine said, “Since the Church owns the Bible, I believe it. Its interpretation also belonged to the church.”

During those days the Church stood as a mighty pillar of the true faith, the body of Christ and as one against which the gates of Hell could not prevail. Later reformist groups began to make changes to the Holy Bible. Thus people like Luther, Calvin, Single, Matthew etc. brought different versions and different interpretations of the Bible into the English and other languages.
Even Luther who started the reformation, became uneasy about this trend [painfully heartbroken to see God’s words modified, twisted and changed] and wrote “Now there are so many sections as there are heads. Some do not need Baptism, some reject Sacraments, some others teach that there is a third world life for a person between this world and the end of the world. Some says Christ is not God. One person says it in one way and another person another way. It has come to this situation that if one sees a dream or one feels so, he decides that it was a revelation to him by the Holy Spirit and declares himself as a prophet.” (Rebuilding the Lost Faith - Pg. 386 Griser, Luther IV).

The Bibles by Wycliffe (AD1382), Tyndale (1535) came out and many copies of the early editions were burned by order of Cuthbert Tunstall, the Bishop of London who was offended by Tyndale’s translations of various ecclesiastical terms, such as Congregations for Church and Senior for priest or Elder.

Then came the Coverdale Bible, (1535) and Matthew’s Bible (1537) versions.
This was the first Bible that was printed with the Royal permission.
Some of the other translations are:

• Travaners Bible (1539)
• The Great Bible (1539)
• Wittim Graham (1557) - This bible was the first one, which formatted the Bible into separate sentences.
• Ganeva Bible (1569) - became popular among the Puritan Party.
• Bishops Bible (1568)
• Raim’s New Testament (1582)
• Authorized Version (1611)
• Revised Version (1881, 1885). This had the most significant changes, compared to the prior ones. “Mistranslation again have been corrected where ever necessary ”[Helps to study of the Bible]

It is obvious that from the 16th century, many translations came and each translator made considerable changes during the process. Those responsible for the Authorized Version Translation submitted a request to
King James which was “We shall be maligned by self conceited Brethren, who run their own ways and give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves and hammered on their anvil.” This proves that so many translators did their works as they pleased.

Even the early Protestant scholars were of the opinion that the early translations were full of mistakes. Dixon says, unless one is a fanatic Protestant, one will agree to the fact that early translations were full of serious errors. Ward in his book
“Errata” proves that these errors were not accidental, but purposely introduced. Bishop Eikot in his book says that the translated versions have many additions which were not found in the original Bible. Blunt, another Biblical scholar, in his book says that “The personality of the translators were such that, it was easy for them to get the respect of the public.” (Keys to the knowledge and use of the Bible)

Robert Gell, who was a member of the revising committee and who was a chaplain to Arch Bishop Abbot tells - as many times the truth has taken a back seat to the interest of many sections and voted out (truth), as required by different sections of people. So, there are differences between translations and most of the
translations did not do justice to the original. This lesson is to be continued as Holy Bible and Syriac Orthodox Church Part II.

To learn more about why there was differences in translation and what impact did it had on the faith of the church and why is it so important to learn the translational mistakes, please read the Holy Bible and Syriac Orthodox Church Part II.

Questions to test your knowledge

1. How Syriac Orthodox Church does consider Bible?

2. What does the Syriac Orthodox Church considers as important as Bible?

3. How does the ministry in Syriac Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox Church done?

4. What is the official language of the Syriac Orthodox Church?

5. When and where the Bible codified?

6. Who codified the Bible and who was the custodian of the Bible?

7. Among the all translations of Bibles available which translation is the oldest and

most ancient?

8. Why Syriac Translation is unique?

9. Why the Bibles by Tyndale (1535) were burned by Bishop of London?

10. Name at least 10 different translations of Bible?

11. Give one proof that different Bible was translated and framed by the translators

in their please or in their own interpretation?

12. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Acts 20:7?

13. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Acts 1:14?

14. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Acts 1:22?

15. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Phili 1:1?

16. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Tim 1:5?

17. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in 1 Cori 1:18?

18. What are the differences in translation (give two) in King James Version and

Good News Bible version in Acts 2:47?

19. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Acts 19:18?

20. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in 1 Cori 7:5?

21. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Acts 7:17?

22. What is the difference in translation in King James Version and Good News

Bible version in Acts 11:2?

Please copy and paste the questions to word or e mail text box and answer under each

question. Please limit the answer to each question to a maximum of 50 words.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Apostolic Tradition and Apostolic Succession: Lesson 2

Apostolic Tradition and Apostolic Succession


We have found that the religious doctrines are based on the Bible and apostolic traditions. But how do we interpret Matthew 15:3 “Why do you also transgress the command of your God, because of your tradition?” Since Christ said this, it is obvious that He was not referring to something after His crucifixion and
resurrection. He was referring to the Jewish traditions prevalent at that time. During this time there were many Jewish rules, which were created and enforced by the Pharisees. After Babel, the Jews created an administrative body called The Great Synagogue, whose responsibility was to maintain the faith and to interpret. This body existed for almost 150 years and became extinct in BC 291. They made a total of 613
rules. Christ referred to these as burdens or elder’s traditions. St. Paul also criticizes tradition (Colo. 2:8) Yes, this is true. What he says is “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.” It is obvious that he is referring to philosophy and not the apostolic tradition. “You are not redeemed from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” Then why hold on to tradition? (1 Pet. 1:18) Here also he does not refer to apostolic traditions, but discusses the traditions mentioned in the previous question.

Can we justify tradition from the New Testament? Yes. The reasons are
discussed below:

• We have seen earlier what apostolic traditions are and how important they are.

• In Luke 1:1-4, Luke says that his writings are based on apostolic teachings (traditions) and not based on any written documents. He tells us that he accepted traditions, and compared and wrote them. Paul converted Luke, a physician and an artist, to Christianity. He later drew a picture of St. Mary and
this picture is still kept in the house of Mark (which is a monastery). (Ref Biblical Encyclopedia pages 624, and 684)

• In 2 Thess. 2:14-15, “To which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Yes, our gospels are not written). "Therefore brethren stand fast and hold the traditions, which you were, taught weather by word or our epistle." (All gospels were not written!).

• In 2 Tim 1:13 “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” and in 2 Timothy 2:2 “And things that you have heard from me among many witness commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others too.” (These ‘sound words’ of St.
Paul are not written).

• In Matthew 28:20, “…teaching them (the baptized people), to observe all I have commanded you”

• “Whoever listens to you (the apostles), listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me”. (Luke 10:16).

• In Luke 10:16, “He who hears you hears me, he who rejects you rejects me and he who rejects me rejects Him who sent me”. Therefore if one does not consider what the apostles taught by saying that "it is not written or not in the Bible”, then their position is as in the above sentence.

• In Acts 20:20 Paul says, “… but proclaimed to you (i.e. people of Ephesus) and taught you publicly and from house to house “(He taught orally!)

• In 1 Thess. 5:12, “We beseech you, my brethren to respect those who labor among you and admonish you in our Lord and teach you”

• 1 Tim 5:17, “Let elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.”

• “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles (doctrines) and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to prayers” (Acts 2:42) These words that the believers listened to and heard from the apostles are called traditions.

Is tradition acceptable?

Certainly, it should be accepted because it came from the apostles. It is a poor argument to say that one should not believe in anything not written in the Bible. We believe in world history not because it is written in the Bible, but because the historians have recorded it. Jesus predicted that the Jerusalem temple would not be remaining (Later Titus destroyed it). The Jewish historian Josephus recorded this.

[Josephus has recorded that even the foundation stones were ploughed, thinking that there would be hidden gold under the foundation!] If we can believe him, we should also believe the works of prominent disciples of the 1st and 2nd century. St. Ignatius, and Polycarp, who learned from St. John, had written epistles. Shouldn’t we respect them? Shouldn’t we obey them?

Isn’t it fair that we refer to their teachings to understand what the church did during, and immediately after the apostolic times? Isn’t it childish to argue that those teachings (and practices) were irrelevant and to argue that teachings and interpretations by the people of the18th or 19th centuries are acceptable? (Remember that modern Christian communities do just that; for they reject traditions, and do not accept early teachings, but follow modern era teachings and interpretations!)

The teachings written by these early church fathers are called traditions.

The church has its own history. The book of Acts contains the initial history of the church, but history is not limited to the book of Acts. Many church leaders and advocates immediately after the apostles had recorded facts about the church. We should also accept this as history of the church.

“The Bible is only a part of the Holy Traditions of the church (2 Tess. 2:15). We must not fall a prey to those who want proof i.e. texts for all of the teachings of the church. Again remember, theology is based on the Bible, but not limited by the Bible. The Bible and Traditions together are the primary sources of Theology (Gala 1:8, Colo. 4:16, Heb 2:1). “The Bible is to teach, and the church is to interpret". “Tradition
is the continuing stream of the mind of the Church.”

“On many fundamental questions of faith, the Bible used by itself without the knowledge of the Traditions of the Church can lead to heresy. All of the early heretics used the Bible in one form or the other. The tradition of the Christian truth can be found in its fullness only in the church. How important were the church, the
priesthood, and the sacraments for the disciples of the Apostles. The denial of these realities and the dependence on the Bible alone can be a great error. The truth is experienced and known only by membership in the church, which has a responsible and proper apostolic ministry and a high tradition of the Christian Mysteries". (Faith of Our Fathers --16)

St. Irenaeus: “As I said before, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although she is disseminated throughout the world, yet guards it. As if she is occupied in one house. She likewise believes these things just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart; and harmoniously proclaims them and
teaches them and hands down, as if she possessed but one mouth. Even though the languages of the world are diverse and nevertheless the authority of the tradition is one and the same." (192).

“Every church throughout this whole world received this tradition from the
apostles” (page 198)

“It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known throughout the whole world…. For surely they (apostles) wished all those and their successors to be perfect and without reproach, to whom they handed on their authority” (209)

“All Churches agree that… it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition.”(211) “The true gnosis is the doctrine of apostles, and the ancient organization of the
Church throughout the whole world, and the manifestation of the body of Christ according to the succession of the bishops.” (243)
 Tertullian: “...all doctrine which agrees with apostolic Churches…. be regarded as truth.”(293) “Whenever it shall be clear that the truth of the Christian discipline and faith are present, there also will be found of the Scriptures and of their explanation and of all the Christian traditions.” (291)

So what are these traditions? Tertullian describes some of them below:

• Before baptism “in the church and under the Bishop we solemnly profess that we renounce the devil and his pomp’s and his angels.”

• Then we are baptized and from that day on for a whole week we abstain from the daily bath. (367)

• "The god-father takes the candidate into his protection for the purification of the soul"

• "After coming from baptism, we are thoroughly anointed with blessed unction, from the ancient discipline by which in the priesthood they were accustomed to be anointed with a horn of oil". (304)

• "We offer sacrifices for the dead on their birthday anniversaries. We regard it as unlawful to fast or to worship on our knees on the Lord’s Day. We rejoice in the same privilege from the Paschal day to Pentecost. At every forward step and movement, when coming in and going out, when putting on our clothes, when putting on our shoes, when bathing, when at table, when lighting lamps,
when reclining, when sitting, in all ordinary occupations of our lives, we furrow the forehead with sign of the cross.” (367)

St. Polycrates (AD196) “So also do I, Polycrates, the least of all among you, in accord with the tradition of my kindred, some of whom I have followed closely.” (190a) St. Hilary: The church, instituted by the Lord and confirmed by the apostles, is one for all men; but the frantic folly of diverse impious sects has cut them off from her. It cannot be denied that this tearing asunder of the faith has arisen from the defect of
poor intelligence, which twists what is read to conform the opinion, instead of adjusting the opinion to the meaning of what is read.” (865)

St. Augustine: “Each heretic says that the gospels are the basis and that he adheres to it. But they follow their own faults. They do not deny the gospels but do not understand the meaning.”

Now let us think if it is necessary to look at Christian History and if it’s enough to live according to what is said in the Bible alone. We have seen that the faith of the Church is based on apostolic doctrines and the Bible. The Church for its own use codified the Bible. We have also seen that the Bible supports the teachings of the Church. Some argue the other way because of the fact that they cannot show lineage from the apostles and Jesus Christ. It is like sneaking a copy of a family’s deed by a non-family member and after a long time the descendents of the duplicate deed holder abuses, insults, and teases the real deed holder’s descendants! Every country, society, or even organizations of people, have history. History is used to know how a community started and what they did and believed in. Jesus is a historical figure and what we see in the gospels is a narration of His life and teachings. The book of Acts is the history of the Church and we have seen in it how the apostles delegated authority to successors (in the epistles to Timothy and Titus). Every society has history. So why is history being denied for the Church? Some people deny it because they have no relation to the Church. By denying early Church history, they hope to blur the practices of the early church.

Apostolic Succession

We have already seen that Christ founded the church and that the Church is His. Ee commanded the apostles to go all over the world, preach, and baptize those who believed and to receive them to the Church. He gave power to the apostles to govern the Church, and commanded many important things the members of the Church should obey and observe. He taught them things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures (Luke 24:45). He established the Eucharist after the Last Supper. He blessed the bread and wine and said, ‘this bread is My body and this wine is My blood, being shed for the remission of sins and for eternal life to all who eat and drink’. One should believe that:

(a) Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is God.

(b) He came to this world to offer salvation to humanity.

(c) He suffered on the cross, died, and ascended to heaven.

(d) He will come again for the final judgment, and therefore on should:

1) Be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and

2) Participate in Eucharist after confession of sins and eat with firm belief that it
is the ‘body and blood of Jesus Christ’.

After the Last Supper, He gave His body and blood to the apostle and commanded them to perform this till the end of the world (for coming generations). The apostles also received from Christ the power to bind and loose (power to forgive or not to forgive sins). Some new church groups argue that those who believe in Christ, become disciples and that there is no distinction between the believers and apostles. This is wrong. If this was true every one is capable of forgiving sins (Jesus told the apostles that they could forgive sins). If this was the case, whose sins should they forgive, their own sins? (In that case, any one who sins can declare themselves as forgiven!) Is this what Christ meant? If each one can perform the Eucharist (breaking of the bread) to whom should he give it to?

Jesus Christ blessed the bread and wine and gave to the apostles and commanded them to do as he did and gave them the right to do. The apostles (or who ever appointed by them) themselves have to perform this and give it to the believers till the end of the world. So the above argument doesn’t make any sense. More over, after the resurrection, He gave them all power to do everything (John 20: 20-23). He also sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles after ascending to heaven. The apostles knew their special status. This is why St. Paul said, “We are the ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us” (2 Cori. 5:20). “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cori. 3: 9). The following powers were given to the apostles alone:

(1) To preach and baptize

(2) To forgive sins (Mat 16:19)

(3) To Offer Eucharist

So the apostles are the representatives or ambassadors of the Church (2 Cori. 5-20)

• They are fathers (1 Cori. 4;17)

• Stewards of God’s Mysteries (1 Cori 4;1)

• They have the power to punish ( 1 Cori 4;21)

• Command in the name of Lord (1 Cori 7:10, 14:37) “I give this instruction

(not I, but the Lord)”

• Make laws (Acts 15:1, 1 Cori 7;17)

• They are authorities (2 Cori 10:8)

• Christ speaks through them (2 Cori 13:3)

• Chosen and anointed (2 Cori 1:21-22)

• The mystery of God was revealed to them (1 Tess 2:7)

• Make rules for the church (1 Cori 11:34)

• Make rules for prayers (1 Cori 11:6)

• They are given the authority by the Lord (1 Tim 1:20, 2:8, 6:13, Titus 2:15, 2

Peter 1:3, 1 John 2;7)

• Key to kingdom of heaven is given to the apostles. (Mat 16;19)

• They are chosen and anointed (2 Cori 1:21-22)

The apostles were blessed at the time of ascension and received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. All powers are vested in them and are to be exercised till the end of the world. But the apostles cannot live till that time; it is only logical that they appoint their successors to perform their duties. This is seen in the epistles to Timothy and Titus (1:5). This transfer of power from the apostles to their successors is called
apostolic succession.
During the apostolic time itself we can see that pastors or presbyters of the church were appointed. The apostles were the authority of the church and elders received their authority and power from the apostles (Acts 5:13, 8:16). St. Clement (AD 96) has documented that the apostles appointed successors before their death. St. Ignatius has written that “there is no church without three grades of priesthood, i.e. bishop, priest and deacon’

Therefore the true church of Christ should have a continuous chain of succession from the apostles. It should have the apostolic faith and observances, which is in the book of Acts, Epistles, and in the writings of the immediate successors of the Apostles like St. Clement, St. Ignatius, and others (Refer to the Faith of early church fathers). Tertullian has written that believers should know if they are going to a true church - each church should have a bishop who should show a continuous chain from the apostles and should believe everything as taught by the apostles.

Merely making a building and calling it a 'church', fellowship, or an assembly and attending there will not make it a church that the Lord Jesus Christ had established!

 Questions to test your knowledge


1. What was the tradition mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 15:3?


2. What was Luke before accepting Christianity?


3. Who converted Luke to Christianity?


4. Give two examples for the existence of apostolic tradition from New


Testament?


5. What type of Bible interpretations can probably lead to heresy?


6. Who is authorized to forgive sins after Jesus Christ?


7. Who was authorized to perform Eucharist?


8. Whom did the mystery of God revealed to by Jesus?


9. Who were the chosen and anointed people of Jesus?


10. Who had the power to preach and baptize?


11. Who had the power to forgive sins?


12. When did the Apostles receive Holy Spirit?


13. What is Apostolic Succession?


14. How should a true Church of Christ be?


15. Who has the power to command in the name of Lord?

Saturday, January 16, 2010

HISTORY OF THE SYRIAC ORTHODOX CHURCH Lesson 1

History


Few Christian denominations can claim the antiquity of the Syriac Orthodox Church of
Antioch, whose foundations can be traced back to the very dawn of Christianity. The
Church justifiably prides itself as being one of the earliest established apostolic
churches. It was in Antioch, after all, that the followers of Jesus were called Christians
as we are told in the New Testament, “The disciples were first called Christians in
Antioch.” (Acts 11:26).

According to ecclesiastical tradition, the Church of Antioch is the second established
church in Christendom after Jerusalem, and the prominence of its Apostolic See is well
documented. Church believes that Jesus Christ founded his church on earth. In his
Chronicon (I, 2), the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea tells us that St. Peter the
Apostle established a bishopric in Antioch and became its first bishop. He also tells us
that St. Peter was succeeded by Evodius. In another historical work, Historia
Ecclesiastica, Eusebius tells us that Ignatius the Illuminator, “a name of note to most
men, [was] the second after Peter to the bishopric of Antioch” (III, 36). The present
Patriarch, .H.H. Ignatius Zakha Iwas I is the 122nd Patriarch to the throne of Antioch
and is celebrating the silver jubilee of his enthronement on September 14th, 2005.

Antioch, the third most important city after Rome and Alexandria, in the Roman
Empire, was made one of the church's first three Patriarchates, along with Rome and
Alexandria at the Council of Nicea, regarded as the first ecumenical council, in AD
325. Other than the importance of the cities in the order of Rome being the first,
Alexandria being the second and Antioch being the third in the Roman Empire, there
was no supremacy given to any of these Patriarchates. They were all regarded as equal
and remained in full communion with each other. The Patriarch of Antioch ruled over
the entire East including Asia and part of the modern Middle East. Where as Rome
ruled over the entire West and Alexandria ruled over the entire Africa.

The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch used to be known by his own name;
however, since 1293 the patriarchs of Antioch adopted the name Ignatius, after the
Illuminator. The See of Antioch continues to flourish till our day, with His Holiness
Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I, being the 122nd in the line of legitimate patriarchs.
The patriarchate was forced to move from Antioch in A.D. 518, after a period of
turbulent history, to various locations in the Near East until it settled in the monastery
Dayro d-Mor Hananya (also known as Kurkmo Dayro, Deir az-Za'faran--Syriac and
Arabic respectively for Saffron Monastery) in Mardin, Turkey, during the 13th
century. After another period of heinous violence during and after World War I, which
took the lives of a quarter million Syriac Orthodox faithful, the patriarchate was
transferred to Homs, Syria, in 1933, and later to Damascus, Syria in 1957 and it
continues there till to date.

The Syriac Orthodox Church is quite unique for many reasons. Firstly, it presents a
form of Christianity, which is Semitic in nature, with a culture not far from the one
Christ himself experienced. Secondly, it employs in its liturgy the Syriac language, an
Aramaic dialect akin to the Aramaic spoken by Christ and the Apostles. Thirdly, its
liturgy is one of the most ancient, and has been handed from one generation to another.

Fourthly, and most importantly, it demonstrates the unity of the body of Christ by the
multiethnic nature of its faithful: A visit to your local Syriac Orthodox Church in
Europe or the Americas would demonstrate, for example, the blend of Near Eastern
and Indian cultures in the motifs and vestments of clergy. The Syriac Orthodox faithful
today live primarily in Middle Eastern countries and the Indian State of Kerala, with
many communities in the diaspora.

The Syriac Orthodox Church has been a member of the World Council of Churches
since 1960, and is one of the founding members of the Middle East Council of
Churches. The Church takes part in ecumenical and theological dialogues with other
churches. As a result of these dialogues, the Church has issued two joint declarations
with the Roman Catholic Church and another with the Eastern Orthodox churches.

In Syriac, the proper name of the Church is `idto suryoyto treeysath shubho. In the
past, the name of the Church had been translated to English as “Syrian Orthodox
Church”. The Holy Synod of the Church approved the translation “Syriac Orthodox
Church” in its session of March 28-April 3, 2000.

Throughout Syria and Mesopotamia, Aramaic, in its many dialectical forms, was the
language of the land, and Syriac, originally the Aramaic dialect of Edessa in Northern
Mesopotamia, must have been the most influential literary form of Aramaic. When we
speak of Syriac Christianity, we refer to Christians whose native tongue was Syriac
and those who employed Syriac as their liturgical language.

Syriac Christianity was not centered just in Antioch, the Roman capital of Syria. In
fact, Syriac Christianity can be traced further East in Mesopotamia. As local tradition
tells us, Christianity was received in Edessa during the time of the Apostles. This is
reported in a number of documents including Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History.

Historical literary sources tell us that by the second half of the second century there
was an established church in Edessa, though probably most of the inhabitants remained
pagan. The Chronicle of Edessa tells us that in the year 201, a disastrous flood
destroyed the church of the Christians in the city. However, it took only about a
century until most of the city was under the umbrella of Christianity. Edessa, home of
the Syriac form of Aramaic, indeed prides itself as the first kingdom that officially
accepted the new faith.

Syriac Christianity has had a long history in India. According to tradition, Christianity
in India was established by St. Thomas who arrived in Malankara (Kerala) from
Edessa in A.D. 52. The close ties between the Church in Malankara and the Near East
go back to at least the fourth century when a certain Joseph of Edessa traveled to India
and met Christians there. The church in Malankara today is an integral part of the
Syriac Orthodox Church with the Patriarch of Antioch as its supreme spiritual head.

The local head of the church in Malankara is the Catholicos of the East, consecrated by
and accountable to the Patriarch of Antioch.
Syriac Christianity spread rapidly in the East. The Bible was translated into Syriac to
serve as the main source of teaching as early as the second century. Till our day, the
antiquity of the Syriac biblical versions is upheld with high esteem by modern
scholars. In the words of Dr. Arthur Vööbus, “In our search for the oldest translation of
the Greek original [of the New Testament] we must go back to the Syriac idiom”
(Studies in the History of the Gospel Text in Syriac, p. 1). The Syriac Church Fathers
made no less than six translations and revisions of the New Testament and at least two
of the Old Testament. Their scholarship in this domain has no equal in Church history.

The Church of Antioch was thriving under the Byzantine Empire until the fifth century
when Christological controversies split the Church. After the Council of Chalcedon in
A.D. 451, two camps of the one Church emerged: The Greek Church of Byzantium
and the Latin Church of Rome accepted Chalcedon, but the Syriac and Coptic (later
Armenian as well) Churches rejected the council. The former group professed that
Christ is in two natures, human and divine, whilst the latter adopted the doctrine that
Christ has one incarnate nature from two natures. It is worth noting that the drafts of
the Council were according to the position of the Syriac and Coptic Churches. The
final resolution, however, was according to the doctrine of the Western Churches and
was rejected by the Syriac Church. This schism had sad consequences on the Syriac
Church during the next few centuries.

As the Emperor supported the Chalcedonian camp, the Syriac Church came under
much persecution. Many bishops were sent to exile, most notably Patriarch Mor
Severius, who was later given the epithet togho d-suryoye, ‘Crown of the Syriacs’. Mor
Severius died in exile in 538. By the year 544, the Syriac Church was in an abysmal
situation with only three bishops remaining. It was at this time that Mor Yacqub
Burd`ono (Jacob Baradeus) emerged to rejuvenate the Church. Mor Yacqub traveled to
Constantinople for an audience with Empress Theodora, the daughter of a Syriac
Orthodox priest from Mabbug according to Syriac Orthodox sources, and wife of
Emperor Justinian. Theodora used her influence to get Jacob ordained as bishop in
544. Later, Mor Yacqub would travel across the entire land reviving the Church. He
managed to consecrate 27 bishops and hundreds of priests and deacons. For this, the
Syriac Orthodox Church honors this saint on July 30 of every year, the day of his death
in 578. A few centuries later, adversaries labeled the Syriac Orthodox Church
‘Jacobite’ after St. Jacob. The Syriac Orthodox Church rejects this belittling label
which wrongly suggests that the Church was founded by Mor Yacqub. However, the
Syriac Orthodox Church in India is still known as Jacobite Church and the name was
whole heartedly accepted by the church, even though the name was given originally by
the Chalcedonians with sarcasm in the early 6th century.

Aside from their ecclesiastical role, Syriac Churchmen have contributed to world
civilization. As early as the fourth century, academies and schools were set up in
monasteries throughout Syria and Mesopotamia. Monks and scholars where busy
studying the sciences of the Greeks, commenting on and adding to them. It is no
surprise that when the Arabs, who conquered the Near East at the end of the seventh
century, wanted to acquire Greek knowledge, they turned to Syriac scholars and
churchmen. Arab caliphs commissioned Syriac scholars to translate the sciences of the
Greeks into Arabic. In his film Forgotten Christians, Christopher Wenner describes
the impact of Syriac scholars and Churchmen when he describes the school at Deir az-
Za'faran monastery, “It was through the monks here that the Arabs received Greek
learning, and it was the Arabs of course who passed it back to Europe. Had it not been
for the Syriac monks, we in Europe might never have had a renaissance.”

The Syriac Orthodox Church survived under the dominion of many empires in the
centuries that followed. Under the Arabs, Mongols, Crusades, Mamluks and Ottomans,
the Syriac Orthodox Church continued its survival. Neither intimidation nor oppression
could suppress the faithful, but the Church diminished in size to a fraction of what it
was.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Syriac Orthodox Christianity was confined
mostly to mountainous rural areas, such as Tur Abdin, and various towns in the
Ottoman Empire. The worst of the persecutions was yet to come. During World War I
massacres and ethnic cleansing befell the Syriac Orthodox Christians at the hands of
the Ottoman Turks and the neighboring Kurds. The year 1915 is known in Syriac by
sayfo, or ‘[the year of the] sword’. It is estimated that a quarter of a million perished;
villages were emptied; monasteries and Churches were destroyed. This resulted in
what the Syriacs call (in Turkish) sefer berlik ‘the collective exodus’, a migration to
the newly established countries of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. Some left the
Middle East all-together, forming new communities in the Americas.

As a result of further immigration that ensued, the Syriac Orthodox Church today has
faithful not only in the Middle East and India, but in Europe, the Americas and
Australia as well.

Quiz to test your knowledge

1. According to the ecclesiastical tradition, which Church was the first established

church in whole Christendom?

2. According to the ecclesiastical tradition, which Church was the second established

church in whole Christendom?

3. Which is the city were disciples were first called ‘Christians’?

4. Who founded Syriac Orthodox Church?

5. Who was the first bishop (Patriarch) of the Syriac Orthodox Church?

6. Who was the second bishop (Patriarch) of Antioch?

7. When was the bishop of Antioch named as Patriarch?

8. Which were the three Patriarchates established in A.D. 325?

9. Which Patriarchate was in charge of ruling the entire East?

10. Which Patriarchate was superior to other Patriarchates?

11. What is the name of the Patriarch of Antioch adopted in the 13th century?

12. Who is the canonical Patriarch of Antioch at present?

13. Where is the head office of the Patriarchate of the Syriac Orthodox Church at

present?

14. Provide at least four unique characters of SOC in your opinion?

15. What is meant by Syriac Christians?

16. What language was Jesus spoke?

17. Which city had the Syriac dialect of Aramaic?

18. Which city was rich in Syriac Christians in 2nd century AD?

19. Who preached Christianity in India for the first time?

20. According to History when was the Christians in India came into contact with

Antioch?

21. When the SOC was closed ties with the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox

Church?

22. What was the reason for the persecution experienced from the Byzantine Empire in

the fifth century?

23. Who rejuvenated the SOC and Coptic Church during the Byzantine persecution?

24. Why are SOC and Coptic Church some times called Jacobites?

25. Name at least a four different regimes/dominion under which SOC was persecuted

further?

26. Name an ancient school of Syriac and monastery under SOC?

27. What forced massive immigration of the SOC members to other countries?

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Papal Message of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III For The Feast of Nativity

The Papal Message of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III For The Feast of Nativity:

My beloved children in the lands of Immigration, both clergy and laity,
I send to you my sincere love to each one of you, wishing you a joyous life in the lands of immigration. May the Lord keep you without fault, loving one another with true love, that each you be careful to edify his brother, without offence.
I would like to congratulate you all with the start of the New Year, and the Glorious Feast of Nativity. May it be a blessed and happy year, carrying to you what the birth of the Lord carries from inspirations to the soul and also deep spiritual memories.

The Lord Christ came as a Savior to the world, as the angel said to the shepherds: "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11) And the Lord has said concerning Himself that He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

In addition to all of this, He had an important message in teaching, and in leading the people to the knowledge of God, having said to the Father: " And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3). He also said to Him: "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26)
Did all of these people not know God, till Christ came to tell them about Him? Of course not, for without doubt they knew His Hebrew name: Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai, that is, the One who is and is to be, God and Lord. But this mere knowledge of the mind is not enough.

They knew that the One God is the Creator of heaven and earth and the only One who works wonders. But they did not have a relationship of the heart with Him, even in their prayers! Therefore God said concerning them: " ...these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me." (Isaiah 29:13)
They had an outward worship only, without spirit! Prayer without a connection!! For this reason God rejected their prayer. He said to these people: "When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1:15)

God desired the pure heart that is full of love towards God and people. Thus the Lord Christ said to God the Father: "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26)
The Lord Christ came teaching people about love, through His life and words; so that they will know that God is Love (1 John 4:16); and that every virtue void of love is not accepted before God... Thus He said to His disciples: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13:34) He also said to them: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35) It was said about Him that He "loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end." (John 13:1)

He taught them to love everyone, even the enemies, saying: "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44) He explained this by saying: "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Matthew 5:46)

As long as God is Love, then anyone who is far from love is far from God...

With this we understand the meaning of prayer. It is not merely talking with God, or merely a duty that we perform, instead, prayer is a desire for God, as the psalmist says in the Psalm: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God." (Psalm 42:1)

The prayer that is distinguished by the love from the heart to God is a spiritual enjoyment, during which the heart enjoys the company of God. The sign of this is that when a person starts prayer, they do not want to finish it, desiring to continue in the enjoyment of talking with God. The ending of the prayer to this person is like snatching the suckling infant from his mothers' breast...

The Lord Christ offered God to people with a lovely name of heavenly Father. He taught us to call Him saying: "Our Father Who art in heaven..." He is the Father who is full of beauty and compassion, and He is the source of all goodness...

We love God Who gives to us without us asking, and above what we ask. We love Him for He is the Good Shepherd, who makes us lie in green pastures and leads us beside the still waters (Psalm 23). He is the true Shepherd who said about Himself: "I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down ... I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick..." (Ezekiel 34:15,16) With all of this the Lord Christ came as a Good Shepherd, giving Himself for the sheep (John 10:11, 15). He gives His sheep eternal life, and they will not perish forever (John 10:28).

Blessed is the Lord in His incarnation, in His love to us, in His care which is sacrificial and redeeming. We thank Him for all of this, and glorify His Name from now and forevermore, Amen.
A blessed season to you all.
Shenouda

Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark

January 2010

Message of His Holiness Karekin II on the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ

Message of His Holiness Karekin II on the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ
Message of His Holiness Karekin II
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
On the Feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, January 6, 2010¡¡
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¨C John 3:16

Dearly beloved faithful,

Our souls rejoice today with the tidings of the Holy Nativity and are filled with songs of praise, to accept the babe, born in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. It is the Son of God who became incarnate. It is the promised Savior who has come to the world. He came to save us from sin, to liberate us from the reign of evil, to defeat death itself.

Our joy is endless, for the Savior our Lord has granted us a renewed soul, a reborn life, to walk toward God, toward the Creator of all life, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Today the sacred mystery of God¡¯s love and mercy hovers over the world, above the temporary vanities and above time. Everything is humbled before this limitless love, according to the prophetic words from Isaiah, the valleys are lifted up, mountains and hills are made low, the uneven ground made level, the rough places become fields and the grace of salvation reigns ¨C the grace that entered the world with the Newborn Jesus.
That same true love with which Christ entered the world, gathered his people together so that they become children of God, sons and daughters of the kingdom. His family ¨C the Holy Church ¨C Christ established on the commandment of love, on that miraculous power whereby men are not strangers to one another, rather they are kin. "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35. He who has love within him is a follower of God; he performs the saving will of God.

It is love for God and for each other that will bring peace and harmony to this world troubled by countless crises. It is love that will eliminate the trampling of the rights of men and nations, the destruction of their holy shrines and spiritual treasures. It is this kind of love whereby poverty, disease, casualties and strife from natural disasters will be defeated. It is with the light of this love that the world shall be renewed, the earth shall become heaven, and God be glorified by the life of mankind.
Dearly pious faithful,
Today, Jesus Christ comes to live in our hearts and in our families with His divine love, so that the graces of salvation be dispersed from familial homes, be transformed to life and grant manifold fruits of goodness. Faith, hope and love are nurtured and strengthened in the family, through which, in the free, warm and familiar environment of the family, the individual grows and develops toward the good and the perfect. God formed and blessed the family, so that it remain established, grow and multiply in love and reflect the glory of God, the presence of God and God¡¯s care for His creation and all mankind. The family is called upon to continue God¡¯s creation and protect the divine image of the soul of man. The family is holy due to this very calling, it is the nourisher, the bearer and conveyor of the divinely-establishe d commandments, on which are founded the God-granted life and on which are built the relationships with neighbors, with man and with God. The values that are cultivated in families are those that are expressed and find their place within life. That which is given importance in the family, that which is either directly or indirectly learned¡­ honesty or falsehood, jealousy or good will, hatred or compassion, malice and ignorance or sympathy and philanthropy, all of this will be expressed also in the life of society. "The people, if (they are) progressing, take their first steps from the familial home¡­" writes the Pontiff of the Armenians Khrimian Hayrik¡­ "If they are illuminated, their light is from the familial lantern; if they are united, their spirit and connection is the family; if they grow strong, their power and might is the family; if they are enriched, their treasury and treasurer are the family; if their home and table are filled with goodness and plentiful, the fertile field is the family."

In today¡¯s contemporary world of progress, developments and achievements, unfortunately the problems facing families also continue to increase. Not only do financial difficulties remain a concern, but also domestic violence and arguments; the sacredness of the family, and the preservation of its tranquility and harmony. Today we see penetrating into life, and at times even affirmed by legislation, a distorted concept of the family. The divinely established order of a holy union between a man and a woman, and the honor of being blessed by the birth of a child through the love granted by God are being corrupted. We cannot accept or remain indifferent toward realities that deny God, regardless of how they are cloaked in modernity or exhibited under the banners of democratic values and human rights. Today it is essential for the family, as well as mankind, to be valued and appreciated by its God-granted calling and image, to be and remain the true witness of the love that God has for man.

Dear faithful Armenians in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora,

We too are members of God¡¯s family, the children of the Armenian people bearing the seal of Etchmiadzin. Throughout the centuries, in the face of our history¡¯s deadly storms and abysses, we have remained steadfast with the faith of the Armenian family. The Armenian family is our small home turned into a church, through whose prayers are strengthened the mortar of our spiritual and national life, and its foundation, our state. The Armenian family is the first school and the first nourisher of spiritually- molded values. The Armenian family is a miniature homeland, where the memories of ancestors live and the native heritage is preserved intact, where the Armenian soul is joyful and endures. Let us keep our families strong with faith, bountiful in hope and reinforced with love, so that the united life of our great spiritual family ¨C the Armenian Church - be renewed and bright with the grace of our Lord¡¯s salvation; so that abundant in blessings, the aspirations and desires of our great home ¨C the Armenian homeland ¨C become reality. The homeland is the anchor of our hopes; the guarantor of our free, secure, prosperous life and future; the God-granted shelter which gathers together the entire nation. In the home, love is spontaneous, harmony is the rule, the desire to help one another reigns; and it is natural to be saddened by each other¡¯s sadness and be delighted by each other¡¯s happiness. This is the blessed path, dear ones, by which we shall create our prosperous life in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora, to face both internal and external challenges, to defend the right of self-determination for Artsakh, to defend our just Cause resulting from genocide, to together build relationships with all countries and all peoples through positive means, and to bring our contribution to the building of a better world. This is the blessed path, by which we shall become worthy to reach our heavenly home, to be near our Father, by the grace of the Only Begotten Son and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us remain in faith, hope and love, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

On this soul-renewing feast of the Holy Nativity and Theophany of our Lord and Savior we extend our brotherly greetings of Christ-bequeathed love and appeal for the manifold graces of the Holy Spirit for the leaders and heads of our Sister Churches; to the incumbents of the hierarchal sees of our Apostolic Holy Church, His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia; His Beatitude Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem; and His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. We convey our pontifical love and blessings to the oath-bound ranks of clergy of our Church and to all our sons and daughters dispersed throughout the world.

With the tidings of the Holy Nativity and an appeal for the assistance of the Almighty, we greet President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsian, President of the Republic of Nagorno Karabagh Bako Sahakian, all state officials of the Armenians, and leaders and representatives of all diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia.
On this day of glad tidings and bounteous grace, dear faithful sons and daughters, let us pray for the inextinguishable heavenly lighthouse of the star of Bethlehem to illuminate our path and overcome the darkness. May our Lord Jesus Christ at all times guide and bless the entire world, our lives and all our efforts, for the sake of our country, our people dispersed throughout the world and our Holy Apostolic Church.¡¡

CHRIST IS BORN AND REVEALED

GREAT TIDINGS TO US ALL

Friday, January 1, 2010

Orthodox Spirituality

I thought that this is an excellent article written on Orthodox Spirituality. It covers many aspects of the spritual life of the Orthodox believer. It is written by Fr. Dr. M. John Panicker, Orthodox Seminary, Kottayam. So I hope that you find this a benefit to your learning and studies. Grace and peace to you all.



Introduction


Spirituality may be defined as the life in and with the Holy Spirit. It is an ascetic and pious struggle against sin through repentance, prayer, fasting and participation in the sacramental life of the Church. St. Paul Says: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish…. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like…… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And those who have are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16-25). Orthodoxy has preferred always to use the terms ‘life in Christ’, ‘life in Spirit’, ‘the spiritual life’, and the ‘life in God’ to describe the life of the Christian in union with God, regardless of the level of this life. See Galatians 3:28; 3:20; 2 Corinthians 4: 11; 1 Corinthians 7: 8; Romans 8: 15; Ephesians 3: 16-17; Colossians 3:3; John 14: 23; 1 John 3:24 etc.



What is Orthodox Spirituality and what is it Goal?


Orthodox Spirituality presents the process of a Christian’s progress on the road to perfection in Christ, by the cleansing of passions and the winning of the virtues, a process which takes place in a certain order. Spirituality describes the manner in which the Christians can go forward from the cleansing of one passion, to the cleansing of another, and the same to the acquiring of the different virtues. Thus a certain level of perfection is reached and culminates in love. This is a state that represents the cleansing of all passions and the winning of all the virtues. As man/woman climbs toward this peak, he/she simultaneously moves toward union with Christ and the knowledge of Him by experience, which also means his/her deification.



The goal of Orthodox Spirituality is the perfection of the believer by his/her union with God in Christ. But as God is unending, the goal of our union with Him, or our perfection, has no point from which we can no longer progress. So all the Eastern Fathers say that perfection is unlimited. Thus our perfection is not only the goal but also an unending process. In this process two great steps can be distinguished: first, the moving ahead toward perfection through purification from the passions and the acquiring of the virtues and secondly a life progressively moving ahead in the union with God. At this point, man’s work is replaced by God’s. Man contributes by opening himself up receptively to an ever-greater filling with the life of God.



In short, we may narrate the following features of Orthodox Spirituality:

The culminating state of the spiritual life is a union of the soul with God, lived or experienced.



This union is realized by the working of the Holy Spirit, but until it is reached, man is involved in a prolonged effort of purification It takes place when man reaches the ‘likeness of God’. It is at the same time knowledge and love.






Among other things, the effect of this union consists of a considerable intensification of spiritual energies in man, accompanied by all kinds of charisma.



The Orthodox uses the word ‘deification’ or participation in the divinity to characterize the union with God. It, however, does not mean that here there is a pantheistic identification of man with God. But it asserts with courage the possibility of a ‘union’ of man with God, of a direct ‘vision’ of Him, of a ‘participation’ in Him, through grace.
Orthodox Spirituality and this world


It is very important to note that Orthodox Spirituality does not call for an indifference to life, for a withdrawal from its affairs and for a pre-mature eschatology. The Church Fathers have demonstrated the movement of God’s creation (universe) and the need for every person to participate in it, if he/she wants to reach the perfection represented by the mystical union with God. There should be a synergia (co-operation) of human will and the divine grace (human will and divine grace are two unequal but equally needed forces in the movement to attain perfection. The Church denies any kind of teaching that deny either the divine grace or the human will in the process of attaining perfection). This movement is intended in general to elevate a person to the level of the highest good and to perfection.



The road to Christian perfection does not exclude this world and the works in it, but it does require that it contribute to the winning of virtues. No one should imagine that the work he/she does is an end in itself; it has the role of beautifying his nature, with the virtues of patience, of self-control, of love for his neighbor, of faith in God, and in turn of opening his eyes to the wise principles placed by God in all things. The ultimate purpose of work and the taking part in the life of this world is not so much the development of nature as it is the normal development of the dormant possibilities in man and in his neighbours. Even in the enduring of troubles, which is one of the most important means of Christian striving, we don’t have to run away from the life of the world, but persistence in it. The care for one’s own formation and that of our neighbours, by beautifying ourselves with virtues, does not mean a non-participation in the life of the world.



The one who has reached the peaks of spiritual living is no longer pre-occupied with external activity, but contemplation. Even so, he/she exerts an influence on the development of the world, by an attraction and a power which touch his neighbours, that they might become as he/she is, by the same fulfillment of the commandments, by the same virtous works. The person who has reached the peak of perfection exerts an influence and an attraction on his/her neighbours, which makes them strive to reach the ideal goal. Because the very highest of the virtues, which the spiritual man struggles for, is love. In love there is knowledge too and the love of God cannot be separated from the love of the people.



Holy Trinity is the basis and Love is the Hallmark of Orthodox Spirituality


The very basis of Christian life is in the mystery of Holy Trinity and Incarnation. Orthodox spirituality has as a basic conviction on the existence of a personal God, who is incarnated and who is the supreme source of radiating love. God prizes man and does not want to confuse him/her with Himself, but maintains and raises him to an eternal dialogue of love.



But the personal God, the supreme source of love, can’t be conceived of as a single person, but as a community of persons in a perfect unity. The God of the New Testament and of the holy Fathers is living and irreducibly three in one the Holy Trinity.



We may describe the Trinitarian basis of our spirituality in the following lines: Only a perfect community of supreme persons (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) can nourish, with its unending and perfect love, our thirst for love in relation to it and between ourselves. The Father wants to extend love in its paternal form. So after the creation of man, He wanted His Son to become man so that His love for His Son, made man, would be a love which is directed toward any human face, like that of His son. In the Son made flesh we are all adopted by the Father. The Father loves all of us in His Son, because the Son was made our brother. God the Son, too, thus shows His love as a supreme brother. But the Son’s love for us is not separated from the Father’s love for us, but in His love as a brother He makes the Father’s love and also His love for the Father, engulf us. In us the Father welcomes other loving and loved sons because His Son was made our beloved brother. However, this paternal love is poured out on us in the form of the Holy Spirit flooding the Son. By the Incarnate Son the Holy Spirit radiates within humanity and the world, as the love of God for us and of ours for God. The Holy Spirit brings into creation inter-Trinitarian life and love. He raises us to the level of deification. The invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Qurbana (epiclesis) hasn’t only the purpose of changing the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, but of brining divine life into the creation. This is why the Church invokes the Holy Spirit in all her sanctifying services. We are raised up by the Holy Spirit to the divine world or in the other way the divine world penetrates us. This is what really the meaning and goal of our spirituality or spiritual life.



The Soul of Orthodox spirituality


The soul of Orthodox spirituality consists in the practice of virtues and especially in the gift of prayer. There is no spiritual life without prayer and there is no labour greater than praying to God. The Church has got canonical prayer of hours (seven times a day) and the unceasing prayers that can be recited privately even in the time of doing some jobs. Through prayer a faithful will be illumined and prayer is the measuring rode of a person’s spiritual life. St. Dionysious the Areopagite divides the spiritual life into three stages: Purification, illumination and deification (union). We may compare these stages with the stages of the practice of virtues, the contemplation of nature and the contemplation of God Himself. Practice of virtues begins with repentance. The baptised Christian struggles with God’s help to escape from enslavement to passionate impulses. By fulfilling the commandments, gradually he/she attains purity of heart and it is this that constitutes the ultimate aim of the first stage. At the second stage, the contemplation of nature, the Christians sharpens his/her perception of the being of the created things, and discovers the Creator present in everything and thus it leads him/her to respect and give honour to fellow creations. This leads him/her to the third stage, the direct vision of God, who is not only in everything but above and beyond everything. The full vision of the divine glory is reserved for the age to come, yet even in the present life, the saints enjoy sure pledge and first fruits of the coming harvest.



The first stage is called ‘active life’ while the second and third jointly designated the ‘contemplative life’. It is to be noted that not only the social worker or family member or the missionary who is following the active life, the hermit or the recluse is likewise doing so, in as much as he/she is still struggling to overcome the passions and to grow in virtue. In the same way the contemplative life is not restricted to the desert or the solitude, but a miner, a clerk, a typist or a house wife may also possess inward silence and prayer of the heart, a may therefore be in the true sense a ‘contemplative’.



Three Presuppositions


i) The Orthodox tradition is intensely conscious of the ecclesial character Christianity. It is of course true that there are many who reject Christ and His Church, or who have never heard of him; Whether they will be saved or not cannot be answered properly by us and let God will do as His will. But, as Church members, we believe that even a solitary in the solitary in the desert is as much a churchmen as the artisan in the city. The ascetic and mystical path is at the same time social and communal. The Christian is the one who has brothers and sisters. He/she belongs to a family and that family is the Church.



ii) Spiritual life is not only a life in the Church but also life in the sacraments. It is the sacraments that constitute our life in Christ. Our path is the path of corporate worship, centred around the sacraments and especially the sacrament of Eucharist. That is to say that it is in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ that the Christian life is based and moved towards perfection.



iii) The spiritual life is also evangelical. At each step upon the path, we turn for guidance to the voice of God speaking to us through the Bible. After being inspired by what is written in the Bible, we lead ourselves to be the real witnesses of our Lord to our neighbours. We are asked to preach the Gospel and witness our Lord by practising the virtues of prayer, fasting and alms giving. Prayer unites us to God; fasting sanctifies us and alms giving (Charity) is really an extension of the divine Grace in us to our fellow beings and the rest of the creation.


These presuppositions obviously show the Trinitarian Christological, Pneumatological, Sacramental and ecclesiastical character of Orthodox spirituality.



Conclusion:


Orthodox spirituality gives enough and equal space for family life and monastic life. That means it gives equal value to those who follow family life and monastic life and no clear marked distinction is given to their goal although their style of life is different. The practice of virtues is highly extolled in both ways of life in the manner that is befitting to each of them.


Orthodox spirituality is not an ecstatic movement like some contemporary so-called spiritual movements. It gives us a lesson for the perpetual and continuing bliss that one can really experience in the Eucharistic worship of the Church. Flight from division, ascetic silence and hospitality are highly extolled in Orthodox spirituality. For the Church Fathers, ‘to flee from the world’ means to flee from every thing that divides. Also, the spirituality must ultimately be understood in terms of paschal mystery. It is an affirmation of the Cross-as the path of resurrection. The ability to bear the cross comes from the joy of being saved. Joy in our Lord is our strength. The aim of the exercise that at times is found painful is a purified love of God, of neighbours, and of the whole creation. But that also means an increase of joy.



Fr. Dr. M. John Panicker, Orthodox Seminary, Kottayam



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