Ethiopian/Eastern reunion essay idea.

[EkhristosAnesti]

To all those who are blinded to truth and reality, and who hence continue to falsely employ the "monophysite" misnomer, I have this to say:

I may not consider you Chalcedonians Orthodox, but I at least consider you to be Christians. It is a basic Christian principle, grounded in the Holy Scriptures, that one is not to bear false witness against one's neighbour. Everytime you accuse the (Oriental) Orthodox Church of being monophysite, you lie and blaspheme. Unless any of you can draw the Greek expression "mono physis" to the primary work of any key Oriental Orthodox Father, then there is nothing honest about this accusation.

If false polemics is so central to your faith, such that you cannot abandon it, even if the abundant God-preserved evidence compels you to, then this means your faith is weak; it means there is something seriously wrong with your faith.

[EkhristosAnesti]

Priest Silouan,

Also if you look at the services of the Non-Chalcedonians you will see clearly that they have certain Monophysite nature

I await you to prove this. Here is the entire Liturgical service of the Coptic Orthodox Church, according to St. Basil the Great:

www.coptic.net/prayers/StBasilLiturgy.html

Show me these monphysitic elements, please. To do this, you will have to either a) show me the explicit employment of the term "mono physis", or b) if you would like to prove that it is implied, then you will have to define what the term monophysite means to you. I'd like to see you define this term in a manner precise enough so as not to condemn the great Pillar of Orthodox Christology St Cyril of Alexandria. In other words, proposing an ambiguous definition like "a monophysite is one who confesses One Nature of Christ" is to condemn St. Cyril who used a "One Nature" formula numerous times (compared to his zero usage of "in two natures"). You will thus have to be very clear and precise in your explanation.

Let's hope you can back-up your claims. Like I said earlier, I still regard my Chalcedonian brethren as Christians, even if they be outside of the Church, so at least prove to me that you can demonstrate a little Christian honesty here.

[EkhristosAnesti]

P.S. I voted "No" to the poll.

[germanus]

I have opened up a real can 'o' worms here! There are those on both sides who have voted no. I am surprised that there is not a consensus for the yes vote. I truly appreciate all your votes and rhetoric. Maybe I have been misunderstood...My idea was to keep up the talk between East and Oriental Orthodox so as to unify our faith. I am a firm believer that our church has been divided by the evil one who's main focus is to divide and conquer. I do not see the Ethiopian Church as heretical and many in the west agree with me. I have spoken with three fathers in different jurisdictions who also agree that this misunderstanding in calling the Ethiopian church monophysite can be repared. However, before one calls them monophysite, one must truly do his homework and not just buy into what is popular to believe. Research is key. May we all remember that it is not our job to judge our brothers but to love them and continually strive to heal our differences. If they are not against us, they are for us! God bless you all on this our last days of the Holy Fast. Lord have mercy. a sinner + Germanus

[germanus]

to answer your question as to if I personally am singling out the Ethiopian church, I only have a personal love for the ethiopian church because I was brought to the faith by the teachings of H.I.M. Haille Sellassie. I was a foolish Rasta who happened first upon an Eastern Orthodox church by God's grace, not knowing about the division at the time of my conversion. This is where God put me. But, I have a deep love for all Coptic, Greek, Oriental, Russian, Armenian, Syrian, Russian, American, And etc. ...Orthodox churches. Please accept my apologies if I have offended you. I am a lowly sinner who does not always speak with clarity.

[joselauro]

Reunion? What Reunion? In my country they say they are exactly of the same church of us.

[germanus]

I don't know what church you are from, jose but in the states and other parts of the world, There is an acknowledged division between Eastern and Oriental Orthodox.