ORTHODOX COMMENTS & OPINIONS - CONTRIBUTING ARTICLES FROM MEMBERS OF ST. GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH.
Stewards of St. Gregory the Theologian Church are cordially invited to submit written articles to this webpage for the edification of all our Church members. The only criteria is that the article be written from an Orthodox Perspective and be submitted to Father Michael (via e-mail), for review, prior to addition.
Contents: Five Articles
1. from Father Bird
2. from Lou Demas
3. from Diana Drugas
4. from Joseph Joaquin
5. from Colin Bradford
THE RECEIVING OF HOLY COMMUNION DURING EPIDEMICS, by Father Michael Bird
The recent spread of the FLU virus has provoked much concern throughout the world and for Orthodox Christians as well. The Orthodox address this question on several levels.
First: The Church always looks upon those who are ill with compassion, and prays for healing. We encourage the medical profession to continue seeking for the appropriate medications to heal those and all viruses, epidemics, diseases, etc.
Second: Some have raised the question of possible contamination through the Communion Spoon and the possible change of the method for administering Holy Communion. True, there have been other methods for the administration of the Sacrament in the Church, in the past. In principle, therefore, the method could change again. Nevertheless, several strong reasons would argue against it:
1) Theologically, the Orthodox Church cannot accept that the Sacrament of Holy Communion would be a source of illness, since it teaches that it is a "medicine of immortality"- it is the very Body and Blood of Christ, our God Himself, which is incapable of harboring any infectious.
2) Further, not one single case of the transmission of any illness has been shown empirically as coming from participation in the Sacrament of Holy Communion - this is a tremendous testimony for the Sacrament, since this documentation spans over 2000 years and countless epidemics.
3) In addition, scientific evidence points to another reason for this as well: it appears that saliva inhibits the transmission of all kinds of microbes (Journal of the American Dental Association, May 1988).
It seems that whenever one visits the religious section of various bookstores they are exposed to a multitude of books predicting the "End Times", the rise of the "Antichrist", the coming of the "Rapture" and the "Second Coming of our Lord". Indeed, the Left Behind" series of books has a following of millions in this country alone. Do these books and readings accurately predict what is coming and more importantly, do they reflect the beliefs of the Orthodox Church?
Briefly, at the core of all these readings is the belief that the Antichrist is presently alive and prior to his coming to power, Christian believers will be bodily taken to heaven (raptured out of this world). Seven years following the Antichrist coming to power, the Lord will come back to the earth, destroy the Antichrist, his false prophet their followers and bind Satan in the bottomless pit. This will be followed by 1000 years (Millennial period) of Christ's rule on earth and at the end of this period, Satan will be released for a short period of time to cause havoc on the earth. After this period, Christ will return again and cast Satan into the fires of hell. Additionally, there are many end time writers who argue that the millennial period is literal, an exact 1000 year time frame, and that it might be Pre-millennial (Christ returns before establishing the Millennium) or that it might be Post-millennial (Christ returns after establishing the Millennium).
In the face of all this, what does the Orthodox Church teach and believe regarding this rapture, the number 666, the Millennium, the 1000-year reign of Christ and our Lord's return to earth?
The Book of Revelation and 666
As one reads the book of Revelation, it becomes apparent to the reader that it is a book of visions. However the early Church Fathers understood that those visions were not in chronological order. Fundamentalists take a literal read on the visions and thus they see a chronology, an opinion unknown to the early Fathers. Revelation is the only book of the Bible that is never read during Eastern Orthodox services. Not because it is non-Canonical, which it is, but because unless one is willing to learn the Greek to read it in it's original form and understands the various nuances of the Greek language, misunderstanding will arise. As an example, the famous 666, the "secret" identification of the Antichrist is nothing more then an allegory referencing Nero. St. John plainly says in Revelation, "those with wisdom will understand". What he meant by that is that the number 666 (which is a derivation of Nero's name numerically) can also be assigned as an example of anti-Christ types. What his readers understood ("those with wisdom will understand") was that he was referring to Domitian, the Roman Emperor at that time and an antagonist against the Christians.
The Rapture
Regarding the rapture, Dave Elfering of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Omaha, NE writes, "All Christians up until the 1830's believed in basically the same things about the Second Coming of Christ. During the 1830's Margaret Macdonald, a Scottish member of a sect known as the Irvingites, made the first claim that there would be a trance (or rapture) and the faithful would be gathered to Christ before the period of persecution (The Great Tribulation).
The Protestant leader John Nelson Darby picked up this view and Cyrus Ingerson Scofield embraced Darby's views and placed them in the footnotes of his Scofield Reference Bible. This Bible was widely used in England and America and many who read it readily accepted the idea of rapture". Thus it can be said that prior to 1830, there was no concept of a rapture either in Biblical teaching or Holy tradition. However once it appeared in the Scofield Bible, it rapidly spread among fundamentalist and new Protestant denominations that were appearing during the 1800's.
The Millennium
The Orthodox Church does believe in the Millennium period but not the Pre or post-millennial Protestant fundamentalist or evangelical concepts. The Orthodox view is that the Millennium period is Amillennial, a position that is in concert with Catholic and mainstream Protestant teaching which states that the Millennium exists from His resurrection to the Second Coming.
The early Fathers taught, and the Orthodox Church teaches today, that the Millennium period is here and now. The Fathers taught that the Millennial period began with Christ's Resurrection because this signaled the defeat and binding up of Satan. This is also called the beginning of the Church age. There are many references to Satan being defeated and bound up in order for the Church to flourish such as:
Rev 20:3 his specific purpose to being bound up was that nations should not be deceived for 1000 years (read this as a long time), also see Acts 5:3, 1 Cor 5:5, Eph 6:11, 1 Pet 5:8.
Jude 6 says the angels are bound.
Christ's first advent, He defeats Satan as prophesied in Gen 3:15.
Christ lifted up defeats Satan, John 12:31, 32.
Son of God was manifested for this purpose, 1 John 3:8
Lord disarmed principalities and powers, Col 2:15.
He led captivity captive, Eph 4:8.
Christ destroyed him who had the power of death, Heb 2:14.
Because Satan has been cast down and bound, we now have authority over him through Christ, Matt 28:18.
Kingdom has arrived, Matt 12:28, 29.
A read of the above scriptures indicates he is in chains BUT, as other scripture indicate, he is able to roam 1 Peter 5.8. This shows the chains are figurative and that he is only restricted in his actions having been defeated by Christ. Some Evangelicals & Fundamentalists cite the 1000 years as literal but then go on to say that the chains that hold Satan are figurative. But they cannot have it both ways, either it is literal or, as the early Fathers taught, the 1000 years and the chains are figurative. There are many other references of "thousand(s)" which have been interpreted by the early Church Fathers as meaning a long period of time. This is analogous to our parents when they told us as children, "if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times". The 1000 years, or the Millennium, until 150 years ago always meant a long time, not a definite period of time. As an example, the 70 weeks of Daniel are not a literal 70 weeks.
Thus it can be said on the authority of Christ, the Apostles and the early Church Fathers that Satan has been bound and he has been bound since our Lord's resurrection and that has been for more than 1900 years.
At the end Of the Church age, Satan will be released, "for a little while", the Antichrist will come, the Tribulation will be upon us and the Second Coming of Christ will shorten the days. This Second Coming is the one spoken by Matthew at the end of his Gospel when the Angel said He (Christ) would return as he ascended. And these verses at the end of Matthew also are part of the objections to the rapture issue because the Angel did not say there would be multiple returns by Christ. The early Church Father's understood the Millennial Kingdom as now and to re-enforce that understanding, included "and His Kingdom will have no end" in the Apostolic Creed. And they also understood that when He came back, it would be as the great Judge, i.e., "and He will come in glory to judge the living and the dead", again included in the Apostolic Creed.
It might also be interesting to note what St. Vincent of Lerins said in 434 AD for establishing the orthodoxy of a teaching. "Moreover, in the Church itself, all possible care must be taken that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all". This statement is extremely important because it indicates that the teachings of the 12 primary Apostles and the 70 lesser Apostles (Barnabas, Mark etc., etc) were the same and derived from the same source (Christ), wherever they preached the Good News. Contact with each other was sporadic and time consuming. As the Church began to grow, Disciples of the Apostles passed on the teachings of the Lord as Gospels, Letters and Sacred Tradition. Later followers spread the message throughout the known world and in this time period, there was no teaching regarding a rapture, a post millennial, Pre-millennial or literal 1000-year reign of Christ no matter who the teacher was or where they were in the Empire.
Our Lord's Return
Our Lord will return, but as He stated, only the Father knows the day and the hour of His return. Some of the prophecy guru's who claim to have Revelation completely figured out agree, but then will attempt to predict the month and the year. The real danger here is that some believers will get so engrossed in timetables that they neglect the messages of salvation, love and fellowship that He offers. And in accepting and believing in Him and His message, a believing Orthodox Christian negates any need for a timetable. The believing Orthodox Christian is one who has been saved, is being saved and will be saved by their very ongoing relationship with Christ. It doesn't matter when Christ returns, believers look forward to His return because they inwardly know their final destination. Believers are well aware of the words of our Lord in Matt 24:16, "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect".
There is a second danger as well. Many Orthodox and other Christian scholars have suggested that the entire rapture concept may be one of the greatest lies inspired by the prince of evil. For if one is anticipating a rapture, a rapture that is not biblical nor an event that will even occur, the antichrist, when he does comes, will not be recognized for who he really is. As our Lord told his Disciples in Matt 24:24 "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect". And finally, there are some few Orthodox and other expositors who sense that the antichrist has already come in time past.............but that is another story.
Suggested Reading:
The entire 23rd and 24th chapter of Matthew (Orthodox Study Bible highly recommended).
Ultimate Things by Dennis Englemen (Available from Light & Life Publishing).
A Second Look at the Second Coming by T. L. Frazier, Conciliar Press. ISBN 1-888212-14-4.
Both Mr. Englemen and Mr. Frazier write from an Orthodox perspective
On Sunday, January 25, 2004, we celebrated the name day of our church, St. Gregory the Theologian. Joining Father Michael and the congregation in this celebration, was our beloved Metropolitan, Methodios. Having him with us made the Divine Liturgy even more special.
Following the Liturgy, many parishioners gathered at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield to continue the celebration with a buffet brunch. Our new Parish President, Jack Griffin spoke eloquently about the wonderful programs our
Church offers to all and to the fact that the Stewards of the church make most of them possible. He added his hopes for the future of St. Gregory's, including the completion of the landscaping and the kitchen.
Metropolitan Methodios was most impressed by the children of the parish as they entertained everyone with 2 pieces from the collection called, "Living our Orthodox Faith". The 2 songs were, "Every Hour and Every Day", and "Every Generation shall call Her Blessed". The children were such a big hit with him that he had them sing one of the songs twice. Metropolitan Methodios went on to congratulate the parish and Father Michael and the
organizations of the Church on the wonderful work we do, and all we accomplish.
All in all, it was a wonderful, special day, capping off a wonderful, special year. With the Lord's help, may our church's name day next year, bear the same fruit.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST by Joseph P. Joaquin
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
Teary-eyed and spasmodic throughout the presentation, I left the theater emotionally spent and mercifully numb. Not even the deaths of those I have so devotedly, profoundly, boundlessly loved have so deeply affected me.
I sat in an awed and mournful and monumental silence, feeling: every blow of the fist, the cane, the cat-o-nine tails that ripped with a wrench the flesh from Christ's body; the dragging of His mangled person across the stones and the dirt; the driving of the thorns into His head; the weight and pain of the cross, and the additional raw suffering that He endured each time He fell as He staggered His way to and up to the crown of Golgatha, The Place of the Skull; the thirst; the spikes; the agony of His asphyxiation.
Regarding the above mentioned "Way of the Cross:" As Jim Caviezel portrayed the horribly flayed Christ —with His right eye swollen shut as a result of the beatings by the Romans, and his his teeth bared—hauling the cross toward Golgotha and collapsing again and again, the look on his face expressed a very real agony that took me to the surreal lower depth of what men can do, and—even more—of what a man can feel. And when He arrived at its crown and was subsequently lain on the cross in order that the spikes might be driven, Gibson used a gruesome but haunting low-angle shot that served to consecrate Christ's agony and drive it home.
When He surrendered Himself to the Father, I felt an emptiness that was further enhanced by the firmamental and telescopic view of Golgatha's crown [only the eye of God could see so clearly what was below] and the tear [no storm has ever begun with but a single raindrop hitting the ground] that dropped from above. And I mourned what had been done to Him with all my being—yet painfully incapable of even beginning to imagine or otherwise comprehend the soul-piercing maternal anguish of the Theotokos whose suffering went so far beyond what can be reasonably expected of any human being. As a parent, I was able to bond with her in a way that had heretofore eluded me. Gibson also succeeded—in a big way—in bringing to us the emotional connection between Jesus and Mary (Maia Morgenstern). Strange as it may seem, it was not only deeply affecting, but served as dramatic relief from all the suffering.
Nor could I even begin to comprehend the excruciating, convulsive, penitential anguish that He endured for us without crying out. And He did indeed do it for US. For those of you who have perhaps not pondered the concept in these terms, reflect upon the following: In "Chapter CXXXIV: The Chase—Second Day" of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, there exists a scene in which Starbuck, the First Mate of the "Pequod," attempts to persuade his Captain that the time has come to call off the hunt for the whale that Ahab regards as his nemesis. The old man, however, will have none of it. Rejecting the idea out of hand, he declares: "This whole act's immutably decreed. ‘Twas rehearsed by thee and me a billion years before this ocean rolled." [Italics mine.]
Now, move beyond the idea of immutably decreed fate [i.e. the rejection of free will] postulated here by Ahab and concentrate instead on the significance of Melville's trope: We are dealing here with nothing less than the real meaning of Divine omniscience. A billion years [read this figure as a symbol of the infinite] before God created this world, He knew: not only that He would do it, but precisely when He would do it, and how long it would last. In other words, He knew the narratives of the lives of all who would eventually populate it—all of our choices; all of our sins. That He did indeed die for US can be disputed by no man!
The cinematically and spiritually powerful culminating resurrection scene in which the profiled Jesus silently commanded the rolling back of the stone prior to His walking out of the tomb provided, however, the catharsis and sense of peace that my mind had been crying out for.
The ruthless cruelty and blood lust of the Romans who scourged Him prior to their forcing Him to bear the cross on which He would be crucified was atrociously, detestably, outrageously revolting. And we should remember here that all of this came about because Pontius Pilate (Hristo Shopov) was little more than a despicable poltroon whose only interest was that of saving his own hide: his dithering indecision—which mounts into near-desperation—is nothing less than fascinating to watch. Disgusting as well was the scene in which Satan—played by Rosalinda Celentano with nothing less than an eerie and hypnotic malevolence— was shown slinking along the Via Della Rosa with an infant in arm. And this action served to mock not only the Theotokos and Child but the suffering of The Christ: for when the Evil One dropped the swaddling mantle from the shoulder of the pointy-toothed, milky-eyed, hirsute little imp, we were shown a pattern of growth that appeared weltlike—mirroring the wales on Christ's back.
Mel Gibson's concept of Satan as an androgyny underscores the fact that the devil—who can appear as male or female—has designs on us all. In this regard, we have not yet heard from the feminist and homosexual crowds; but as soon as they figure it out, we most assuredly will.
Mel Gibson might well have been born to visually tell this greatest of all stories, and James Caviezel to play the role of The Christ. I can think of no life-of-Christ film in my lifetime where anyone appeared so deific—projecting the image of what He actually might have been like. An image that was powerfully and indelibly underscored in the above-mentioned resurrection scene.
Having experienced " The Passion" I can now better understand those who decry it. They are in fact the counterparts of Gibson's Satan screaming from the pit. These shrieking secularists—whom we have allowed to remove God not only from every aspect of our public lives but from our governance as well, [if the Bible is for it, they are against it; and if the Bible is against it, they are for it—are more than a little aware of the power of this film; and they are undoubtedly living in fear of the potentiality for and the result of a world-wide revival. The following represent but a few of the many examples of vituperative and mocking review:
Excerpts from A. O. Scott's "The Passion of the Christ: Good and Evil Locked in Violent Showdown" that appeared in The New York Times: "The Passion of the Christ," is so relentlessly focused on the savagery of Jesus' final hours that this film seems to arise less from love than from wrath, and to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than in uplifting it. Mr. Gibson has constructed an unnerving and painful spectacle that is also, in the end, a depressing one. It is disheartening to see a film made with evident and abundant religious conviction that is at the same time so utterly lacking in grace.
His [Mel Gibson's] version of the Gospels is harrowingly violent; the final hour of "The Passion of the Christ," essentially consists of a man being beaten, tortured and killed in graphic and lingering detail. Once he is taken into custody, Jesus (Jim Caviezel) is cuffed and kicked and then, much more systematically, flogged, first with stiff canes and then with leather whips tipped with sharp stones and glass shards. By the time the crown of thorns is pounded onto his head and the cross loaded onto his shoulders, he is all but unrecognizable, a mass of flayed and bloody flesh, barely able to stand, moaning and howling in pain. [Christ "howling in pain"? What version of "The Passion" did he view?]
The audience's desired response to this spectacle is not revulsion, but something like the cowering, quivering awe manifested by Mary (Maia Morgenstern), Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci) and a few sensitive Romans and Jerusalemites as they force themselves to watch. Disgust and awe are not, when you think about it, so far apart, and in Mr. Gibson's vision one is a route to the other. [I saw no crawling, creeping, cringing, fawning, or groveling manifested by either the Theotokos or Mary Magdalene!]
By rubbing our faces in the grisly reality of Jesus's death and fixing our eyes on every welt and gash on his body, this film means to make literal an event that the Gospels often treat with circumspection [Italics mine./?] and that tends to bethought about somewhat abstractly. Look, the movie seems to insist, when we say he died for our sins, this is what we mean.
If you believe Scott to be bad, consider what Todd Mc Carthy of Variety had to say: If an age produces the renditions of classic stories that reflect those times, then "The Passion of the Christ," which is violent, contentious, emotional, extreme, and highly proficient, must be the Jesus movie for this era. It is also gravely intense and the work of a man as deeply committed to his subject as one could hope for, or for that matter, want. . . . One comes away as much with a technical knowledge of how to crucify someone as with an understanding of how this itinerant preacher came to earn the rabid scorn and defilement that he [sic.] receives here. [Italic and bold fonts mine.]
And a number of the Canadian reviewers have served up the same imaginary commentary:
Geoff Pevere of The Toronto Star, called "The Passion" a "lash-by-lash and nail-by-nail re-enactment" of the crucifixion and compared the film to the recently remade Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not being content with that, however, he went on to label it "fundamentalist pornography," writing that "What graphic sex is to the use of the body in hardcore porno, graphic violence is to destruction of the body of Christ in this Passion." And Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail echoed Pevere, saying the film is "is so obsessively and so graphically bloody-minded that it comes perilously close to the pornography of violence."
The second common theme of these secularist critics is that:
Because we are told nothing of the life of Jesus, if one does not know His story he will leave the theater no more enlightened than he was when he entered—having no understanding at all of who He was or what He said or did to cause people to hate Him so. Do these people not comprehend that one of the denotations of title indicates that it is meant to function as a general or descriptive heading for the body or section of a book, musical composition, or other artistic work? "The Passion of the Christ" proclaims His suffering and not His biography.
I am indeed ashamed to admit this, but "The Passion of the Christ" touched me in a way that no amount of preaching ever could. And it will touch others as well. It is indeed a richly and impressively magnificent portrayal of the final and most important hours in the life of The Son on earth.
This is a film in which can be found an exceptional clarity and agility of intellect, an extraordinary creative power, and—despite its violence—Beauty. In this regard, one would do well to reflect upon the concluding words of John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn": Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. They apply here as well.
Kudos to Mel Gibson! And may God bless him for what he has done.
Morning Prayer by Colin Bradford
The following prayer was written by Colin as a member of the class of 2003 at Xaverian High School. It is published on the occasion of Colin's arrival in Kuwait, on March 24, 2006, for duty as a member of the United States Marine Corps.
God
Guide me as I get through this day,
Help me to make the right choices,
Allow me to take advantage of every opportunity,
And not to take anything for granted.
With each choice I make, help me honor my friends, family, and most importantly You.
Every day brings new opportunities.
Enable me to make the most of these.
Enable me to succeed in life and to help others.
And finally, allow me to realize that You have given me everything and have the Right to take everything back.
Colin's Marine Corp Platoon, he is to the extreme right, first row.