A poll to get discussion started on this question.
Poll - Are the pious.....
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Chrysostomos
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They are pious because they are pious. It has nothing to do with God loving them, or they loving God. By discipline to a set of behaviors, it is simply a way for a person to create an illusion of closeness and belonging to something. Read some case studies in psychology. It's all in the mind - and an illusion.
If you take a pious Christian and had him brought up in India with no knowledge of Christ, he would simply end up a pious Hindu. It is a crutch.
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GOCPriestMark
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Chrysostomos woke up this morning looking for a fight? 
Seeing Tom's post it appears that there are different ideas of piety. If there is to be discussion on this question then it would seem a definition of piety, Orthodox piety, would be helpful. I don't have a ready made one, what did you have in mind Chrysostomos?
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Priest Mark Smith
British Columbia
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Chrysostomos
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Chrysostomos woke up this morning looking for a fight?
Seeing Tom's post it appears that there are different ideas of piety. If there is to be discussion on this question then it would seem a definition of piety, Orthodox piety, would be helpful. I don't have a ready made one, what did you have in mind Chrysostomos?
Fr. Bless,
Actually, I meant in the context of an Eastern Orthodox pious individual.
The purpose was not to create a situation for a fight, but for the primary purpose of discussion. Yes, it would provide the opportunity to reveal that others have different ideas of piety. I guess I should have been more specific in regards to "who" the "pious" one in question is.
I got the idea from a question that Socrates posed. He used the term "gods", I changed it to God, with the same purpose to promote discussion.
Kissing the hand of Christ,
Rd. Chrysostomos
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Chrysostomos
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They are pious because they are pious. It has nothing to do with God loving them, or they loving God. By discipline to a set of behaviors, it is simply a way for a person to create an illusion of closeness and belonging to something. Read some case studies in psychology. It's all in the mind - and an illusion.
If you take a pious Christian and had him brought up in India with no knowledge of Christ, he would simply end up a pious Hindu. It is a crutch.
Tom,
Let's pursue this discussion. Let's use an Orthodox "pious" Christian as our "subject".
If I understand your viewpoint, a "pious" Orthodox Christian is pious, not due to any grace imparted by God, but due to his affliation with the "Orthodox Faith" in general?
That his actions are part of a self-imposed illusion?
Chrysostomos wrote:If I understand your viewpoint, a "pious" Orthodox Christian is pious, not due to any grace imparted by God, but due to his affliation with the "Orthodox Faith" in general?
That his actions are part of a self-imposed illusion?
Not exactly. I am saying that the results (i.e., closeness to God) that he feels he receives from those actions are an illusion. It is conditioning.
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They say that I am bad news. They say "Stay Away."
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Chrysostomos
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Not exactly. I am saying that the results (i.e., closeness to God) that he feels he receives from those actions are an illusion. It is conditioning.
So an action, such as fasting (which is what a pious person would be expected to do), with the resulting feeling of a closeness to God is an illusion?
Second question: Why then does a "pious" Orthodox Christian fast? What is the benefit?