Waldemar asks, What if Saint Seraphim of Sarov Resurrected?

[Waldemar]

I am assured in as much as I have read the fathers, who have been handed the deposit of Faith. Or if not the Holy Fathers of the Church, then by what criteria would you propose?

OOD, Based on what you have written I would propose more of an apophatic type of criteria, in other words, a criteria that is based on what is not your peculiar and presumptuous take on the writings of the Holy Fathers.

...in as much as I have read the fathers...

My only advice to you (and yes I know that the giving of unsolicited advice is the surest sign of prelest - May God forgive my sinning!) is to read much more of the Fathers and eventually you will come across writings such as these:

Wherefore a man can know nothing about the judgments of God. He alone is the One Who takes account of all and is able to judge the hearts of each one of us, as He alone is our Master. Truly it happens that a man may do a certain thing (which seems to be wrong) out of simplicity, and there may be something about it which makes more amends to God than your whole life; how are you going to sit in judgment and constrict your own soul? And should it happen that he has fallen away, how do you know how much and how well he fought, how much blood he sweated before he did it? Perhaps so little fault can be found in him that God can look on his action as if it were just, for God looks on his labor and all the struggle he had before he did it, and has pity on him. And you know this, and what God has spared him for, are you going to condemn him for, and ruin your own soul? And how do you know what tears he has shed about it before God? You may well know about the sin, but you do not know about the repentance.

Abba Dorotheos of Gaza

'By judging another you condemn yourself' [Rom. 2:1]. But men have given up weeping for their own sins and have taken judgment away from the Son."

St. Maximos the Confessor

I'd imagine that being a moderator of this discussion forum is a hard enough job without taking on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Righteous Judge.

[Waldemar]

It is not right to judge anyone, even if you have seen someone sinning and wallowing in the violations of God’s laws with your own eyes, as is said in the word of God: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Mt. 7:1). "Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand" (Rom. 14:4). It is much better always to bring to memory the words of the apostle: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

Why do we judge our neighbors? Because we are not trying to get to know ourselves. Someone busy trying to understand himself has no time to notice the shortcomings of others. Judge yourself — and you will stop judging others. Judge a poor deed, but do not judge the doer. It is necessary to consider yourself the most sinful of all, and to forgive your neighbor every poor deed. One must hate only the devil, who tempted him. It can happen that someone might appear to be doing something bad to us, but in reality, because of the doer's good intentions, it is a good deed. Besides, the door of penitence is always open, and it is not known who will enter it sooner — you, "the judge," or the one judged by you.

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 [i]St. Seraphim of Sarov[/i][/b]

[Waldemar]

Up to the very "Day of Christ," His Second Coming and the Judgment of the whole world, the struggle of sin with righteousness will continue, individually in each person and collectively in all mankind.

The earthly Church unites all who are reborn through Baptism and who have taken up the Cross of the struggle against sin, and who follow after Christ the contest-master of this struggle. The Divine Eucharist, the offering of the bloodless sacrifice and partaking thereof, sanctifies and strengthens its partakers and makes those who receive of the Body and Blood of Christ true members of His Body, the Church. But only with death is it determined whether a man remained a true member of the Body of Christ to his last breath, or whether sin triumphed in him and drove out the grace binding him to Christ and received by him in the Holy Mysteries.

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 [i][b]St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco[/b][/i]

[Waldemar]

When the devil penetrates into our heart, the soul then becomes unusually constricted and gloomy, everything begins to annoy it and it feels revulsion towards anything good; it sees evil intent in the words or acts of others and therefore feels a murderous hatred towards them, rages and surges towards vengeance. "Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Mat. 7:20).

Do not be merciless judges of those people that labor for God and that sometimes act contrary to the Christian principles of piety, which they endorse and honor. It’s the devil, their evil antagonist that places them in their self-contradictory position. He bites deep into their hearts and compels them to act against their own convictions.

St. John of Kronstadt

There isn’t anywhere that God induces us against our will, but rather offers us a choice for our determination, and it is through the personal will that individuals turn out to be either good or evil. Therefore, it is useless to blame those that live with us or surround us as interfering and impeding our salvation or spiritual improvement. Samuel lived and was brought up by the priest Elias, among his debauched sons, yet preserved himself and was a great prophet. Even in Paradise, Eve violated God’s law. While Judas, living three years in the presence of Christ Himself, did not improve even though he saw so many miracles and continually heard the Scriptural sermons, but became worse and sold his Teacher and the world’s Redeemer, for thirty pieces of silver.

St. Ambrose of Optina

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

Waldemar,

Thank you for your kind instruction. I especially took the one from St. John Kronstadt to heart, how true.

Do you believe it is judging someone against the instruction Christ, to recognize un-orthodox teaching (ie. heresy)?

[Waldemar]

Do you believe it is judging someone against the instruction Christ...

I believe that it is against the instruction of Christ to judge Orthodox Christians about their status within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, especially with a presumptuous "He/She is on the Outs while I'm definitely on the In" attitude.

to recognize un-orthodox teaching (ie. heresy)?

Nothing wrong with recognizing heresy. I had hoped that quotations that I posted from our Saints would cause some on this forum to recognize the glaring heresy that one may make the judgement that belongs to Christ alone. And if it is wrong to judge another brother or sister, how much more wrong to judge another and another and another and another...adding up to millions of Orthodox Christians around the world!

[Waldemar]

The earthly Church unites all who are reborn through Baptism and who have taken up the Cross of the struggle against sin, and who follow after Christ the contest-master of this struggle.

St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco