Epistle of the Synod of Bishops of the ROCOR

George · Post by **George** » Thu 18 November 2004 3:41 pm

Well said Joasia.
To my mind there is nothing Orthodox about arguing on the internet ad nauseum among ourselves who is Orthodox and who isn't.
George

gphadraig · Post by **gphadraig** » Thu 18 November 2004 7:12 pm

Sad, isn't it, all these seeming divisions. And if you are not in one particular corner you seemingly must not comment on what happens in another? Really. Are we not all one? Are we not all the people of God? Does love demand we keep silent, not because it is the spiritually 'right' thing to do but because we under another bishop. Whence came this 'novel' doctrine into Orthodoxy, or is my education missing something?

Love sometimes demands we speak. Sometimes jurisdictions who are estranged nevertheless engage in common purpose, examples recently include the recognition of the Sanctity of certain Righteous Ones.

Going right back to the first Christians did not one local Church write to another, reproving error or upbraiding sloth? And did not this continue thereafter, even up to the present day?

The hallmark must be that any such intervention must be born out of love, Christian love and not some other 'destructive' motive.

Sean · Post by **Sean** » Sat 20 November 2004 2:07 pm

Well said Padraig! When people resort to argumentum ad hominem (addressing the medium instead of the content), it means that they no longer wish to be confused with too many facts.
To question someone's Christian charity, when they rightly criticize and condemn heresy is a PLOY, and one only serves the self-interests of career clergymen when doing so.

Code: Select all

    Forgive me if I have offended any of you. I bear no malice for my Church's clergy (ROCOR), but I feel very let down that Russian romanticism and phyletism is more important to many than purity in the confession of the Orthodox Faith.

--Sean

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Sat 20 November 2004 2:40 pm

I feel the same way Sean. I'm with ROCOR too.

I'm starting to think that our generation of the 20th and 21st century is an accumulation of spiritual sickness passed down from the beginning of disturbances of the 1st century. It's like a cancer that has spread ALL OVER. We've inherited it, spiritually. We are all in a great spiritual struggle. We need each other to keep our focus. And THAT is what I hope this cafe will do. No more arguements, no more nasty words, just unity of like minds against the common ememy we have..the deceiver, the liar. He laughs at us when we argue with each other. Laughs? I should say, rejoices. Let's not give him the satisfaction. If we all put our hearts into prayer to battle the true enemy, then many can be saved.

We know that God will win, it's written in Revelations, but what we SHOULD be concerned about is making sure that the evil one will not take another soul. We are going to face more turbulant times, in the future. It will not be pleasant. But, we must stand strong with our faith.

Never let go. There is nothing more important than our faith, in life.

Schultz · Post by **Schultz** » Mon 22 November 2004 11:08 am

If we all put our hearts into prayer to battle the true enemy, then many can be saved.

For once, I happen to agree with you.

I was reading the Gospels this past weekend and one verse jumped out at me:

"It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him impure; it is what comes out of his mouth." (Mathew 15: 11)

The "true enemy" lies within all of us, I think. If everyone truly watched what came out of his or her mouth, words and especially tones, Christians, especially of the traditionalist bent, would be a shining example of the Light of Christ.