Powerful anathemas on Ecumenism

[AndyHolland]

Why can't Orthodox farmers give eggs to the poor themselves? Don't they know any poor people. In Phoenix, the OCA operates its own mission to the homeless under a retired Priest. In times of great catastrophe or where resources simply fail, social cooperation could take place between Orthodox and heterodox, BUT the Orthodox witness must never be forgotten (AS IT IS IN the ecumenical movement of today--DOES THE FARMER KNOW THAT HIS EGGS ARE GIVEN IN HIS CONFESSION OF THE HOLY ORTHODOX FAITH?!). Moreover, would it be legitimate for the Orthodox to say cooperate with the human rights campaign or the neo-nazis for the sake of social work?! No. Morally depraved bodies are best avoided almost always. And the wcc and the ecumenical movement, as has been shown, is morally depraved, and this depravity has affected "Orthodox" (by their standards) participants and led them into lands Christ rejects. I have enough FAITH in the Orthodox Church to be able to reach the poor with alms, for it seemed to be doing fine before this great evil of ecumenism...There is no justification for evil.
R

With a fairly large scale egg operation, you have storage and distribution problems. You need people who are willing to take them and make bread. An Orthodox serves on the board of directors. It is the way things are. God's will be done, including with regard to Church membership.

During the rape of Nanking, there was a Nazis who was part of a group of christian missionaries (about 30 in all) who created an international zone responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of people. Because this guy was a Nazis and wore the party swastika outwardly on his clothing, it is believed the Japanese did not attack that section of the city. The other 300,000+ people in the city perished. The Japanese atrocities were so bad, Japanese soldiers themselves stopped eating and died.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. You work with what the Lord provides. Jesus trampled down death by death on the cross. Love does conquer all.

I certainly can understand someone saying the loving thing to do is leave the wcc. I can also understand someone saying the loving thing to do is remain and make the best of a bad situation.

andy holland
sinner

[CGW]

Moreover, would it be legitimate for the Orthodox to say cooperate with the human rights campaign or the neo-nazis for the sake of social work?!

Ridiculing the WCC is easy, fun, and all too often justified, but essentially equating your fellow Christians (even if they are heretics) with neo-Nazis is moral depravity. Best not to lend your zeal to the devil.

[Kollyvas]

Excusing evil makes it no less evil. Orthodox have the obligation of witness to Truth in their almsgiving--THAT'S THE POINT OF IT. Remaining amongst the morally depraved and iniquitous is DENIAL of TRUE FAITH. Lot was called out of sodom and gammora. Redefining sexuality is moral depravity. Saying the Holy Spirit operates amongst those who deny Him is a spiritual form of moral depravity which is not worthy of the name "Christian." Equating mass murderers with those who wish to stop them as morally equivalent is intellectual debauchery. One need only consider denominations ordaining openly homosexual drug addicts and alcoholics to be their "bishops" to discount their witness. Then, of course, there's the matters of abortion, divorce, cohabitation, etc. No, the wcc in its statements is certainly NOT Christian (perhaps manichee?), but it is morally depraved in a way the Scriptures and Fathers testify leads straight to hell.
R
From +Metropolian Hierotheos Of Nafpaktos:
...A faith is a true faith inasmuch as it has therapeutic benefits. If it is able to cure, then it is a true faith. If it does not cure, it is not a true faith. The same thing can be said about medicine: a true scientist is the doctor who knows how to cure and his method has therapeutic benefits, whereas a charlatan is unable to cure. The same holds true where matters of the soul are concerned. The difference between Orthodoxy and the Latin tradition, as well as the Protestant confessions, is apparent primarily in the method of therapy. This difference is made manifest in the doctrines of each denomination. ...

[AndyHolland]

Moreover, would it be legitimate for the Orthodox to say cooperate with the human rights campaign or the neo-nazis for the sake of social work?!

Ridiculing the WCC is easy, fun, and all too often justified, but essentially equating your fellow Christians (even if they are heretics) with neo-Nazis is moral depravity. Best not to lend your zeal to the devil.

To be fair, the example was not an equivalence with the wcc but rather a point as to the logic of accomodation - at what point does one draw the line?

The same way of thinking goes to the definition of Church. The Orthodox view is that the Church is the body of Christ without equivocation. Those who would possit a branch theory have the problem of dealing with white supremicists for example. They wouldn't get along with Moses for example - or God (Numbers chapter 12) for that matter, nor would they get along with the wcc! At some point the Church has a boundary.

On the other hand, as the Church is universal, who can say where the boundary is apart from God? Without Christ, we can do nothing. Is this why an Anathema is not a condemnation but rather an exclusion from the body of Christ as we know it? As Jesus is humble, the Church is humble and lifts those we do not know about to God. God is their judge; we do not know where they come from.

andy holland
sinner

[Kollyvas]

...On the other hand, as the Church is universal, who can say where the boundary is apart from God? Without Christ, we can do nothing. ...

THE FATHERS, THE CANONS, THE COUNCILS TESTIFY OF THE CHURCH AND ITS BOUNDARIES IN THEIR OBLIGATION GIVEN BY CHRIST TO "BIND & LOOSE." The Church in Christ Jesus is a testament of perfection which accomplishes everything--our SALVATION AND UNION WITH HIM.
R
The Church certainly has no part with those iniquitous whose depraved witness is heard in the ecumenical movement.

[AndyHolland]

....Lot was called out of sodom and gammora. Redefining sexuality is moral depravity....

That is a most curious example! I would suggest a complete reading of the full story, and what the Church Fathers say about righteous Lot - and his daughters!

http://www.comeandseeicons.com/lkg01.htm

As it is righteous Lot who planted the tree of the cross, what does this say about how we are to behave in a depraved world? The Fathers show great mercy toward Lot and his problems. They did not condemn him!

andy holland
sinner

[Kollyvas]

Speaking in contemporary terms, an Orthodox Christian who was called by the Holy Spirit (meaning he had been gifted with discenment) could even be called to visit a homosexual pride parade to exhort the suffering out of great sin, BUT NEVER PARTICIPATE IN IT, just as the Righteous Lot. In the ecumenical movement the Orthodox are not called to witness Christ and the power of the Cross, but rather participate in the debauchery of the homosexual pride parade. The Holy Apostle Paul coomands us to leave the company of heretics after exhorting them thrice...In his letters to the Corinthians he makes it clear how spiritually damaging (even blasphemous) are acts of immorality, and he exhorts us to have no part with it/those reveling in it. No where in the Tradition, ie the LIFE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, is there a doorway for evil, the only way participation in the soul destroying iniquity of ecumenism can be justified. ecumenism leads one straight to hell.
R