What We Believe
The Creed
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Who We Are
An Explanation of Who We Are
For North Americans
The following was added to our church's Web Site in order to explain to people who are totally unfamiliar with the Orthodox Church, who we are and how we fit into the historical picture of Christianity.
If you are only familiar with the forms of Christianity which prevail in North America, namely Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, this is meant to explain to you who we are.
In order to understand this you need to understand two separate events in the history of Christianity namely The Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation.
The Great Schism
Early Christianity was lead by five patriarchs. They were the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Rome. (Due to the fact that Constantinople and Antioch are located in modern day Turkey which has its own names for them you will find them listed on a map as Istanbul and Antakya respectively.) More Patriarchs, such as the Patriarch of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, have come into existence since the original five. These Patriarchs are all equal. Over time, however, the Patriarch of Rome asserted primacy over the other patriarchs, an assertion the remaining patriarchs did not accept. This came to a head in 1054 A.D. when a controversy over a doctrine called "filioque" lead the Patriarch of Rome to split with the other Patriarchs. This is the Great Schism (schism is simply a fancy word for split). Those who followed the Patriarch of Rome in his split with the other patriarchs evolved into what is today called the Roman Catholic Church. That church calls the Patriarch of Rome The Pope.
The churches that did not follow the Patriarch of Rome but remained true to the original concepts of Christianity are today collectively called the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church best known in North America is the Greek Orthodox Church but there are actually several Orthodox Churches which are one in our beliefs but administratively independent of each other.
The Protestant Reformation
This is sometimes confused with the Great Schism but they were quite separate events. The Protestant Reformation took place in1517 AD, 463 years after the Great Schism. It was started by Martin Luther and was a revolt against the Roman Catholic Church. The Orthodox Church was not involved. Today there are many Protestant denominations such as Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist and of course, Lutheran.
Who We Are
Saint Anthony Orthodox Church is under the Patriarch of Antioch, one of the Patriarchs that did not follow the Patriarch of Rome at the time of the Great Schism. It is therefore properly called an Antiochian Orthodox Church. Within North America we are part of The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America which has recently been granted autonomy by our Patriarch. This means that although he remains our spiritual head, we run our own affairs within the United States and Canada.
Saint Anthony Orthodox church was founded in 1956 as an English speaking Orthodox Church.
Who we are not:
We are not Muslims.
Despite the fact that our roots are in the Middle East we are not Muslims. We trace our roots directly back to Jesus Christ the Son of God and the founder of our church. Islam, whose believers call themselves Muslims, was founded by Muhammad in 622 A.D. Since we are not Muslims we cannot speak authoritatively about their beliefs but it is our understanding that Islam recognizes Jesus Christ as a prophet, but not as the Son of God.
We are not Jews
Confusion sometimes results from the fact that we, like one branch of Judaism, call ourselves Orthodox. We call ourselves Orthodox Christians because we carry forward the beliefs and practices of Christianity unmodified from the time of Christ. Likewise Orthodox Jews carry on beliefs and practices unmodified, but the beliefs and practices of Judaism, not Christianity.
We are not Protestants or Roman Catholics
As mentioned earlier we and the Roman Catholic Church split in 1054 A.D. Protestants, under the leadership of Martin Luther, split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1517 A.D., 463 years later.
Confession As A Tool
The Sacrament of Confession as a Tool
By Father Joseph Allen
When I was asked to share some thoughts on the Sacrament of Confession, one short phrase was added at the end of the assignment. That short phrase was indeed an important one, because it offered some orientation regarding what to emphasize in these thoughts. Remembering our limitation on length, I was asked to write about confession solely "as a tool."
Now, what does that mean, a "tool"? And how does that word give us guidance and direction? Well, we all know what confession is, i.e., we all know the form which is used in the Orthodox Church. But how is that form, a Veritable "tool?"
To answer the question, we must first remember that the form carries the meaning, and the terms speak of the content.
There are two terms in the classic literature which describe Confession: The first is exomologesis which means "to make full acknowledgement" i.e., to disclose oneself fully; the second term is metanoia which literally means to turn oneself around, to change one's deepest mind, to "convert" from one's old ways to a new way blessed by God. But these two words, exomologesis and metanoia, are only the first step in understanding how Confession is a "tool." In the first term, when we "speak out" our sins, our faults - our failures - in trust to our Father Confessor or Spiritual Director, confession becomes a tool to bring light into the darkest recesses of our life. In the second term, metanoia, when we fully "realize" what we have indeed "spoken out" with this trusted spiritual guide, we then "make a decision," and then, "with" that decision, confession becomes a tool for us to bring about a real change in our life. So then, in these terms, confession becomes a tool to speak out in trust and hope, and then a possibility to bring about a change in our minds and hearts.
But this same literature also tells us that this is a Sacrament, a Mystery, - in truth, the "Mystery of Repentance" which is the best title for this spiritual action. We have been promised by Our Lord Himself, that if we "repent" with our whole being, we will find the Kingdom of God. But how can that be? Where is this kingdom? And how does Confession as a Sacrament become a "tool" for finding that kingdom?
Brothers and Sisters: When we enter into oneness, into a unity with God - in other terms, when we enter communion with God, which we do in various ways in our life - we have tasted the presence of God. That is what happens in the Sacraments: we pass over to God, and He to us. We do not have to wait until we die to taste this presence, this Kingdom. Where God is, there is the Kingdom, the realm of the Trinitarian God. He invites us into that kingdom: "Come, taste and see how good the Lord is".
But then, where is the connection, the linkage with this sacrament being a tool? Well, it goes like this: we all sin, we all fall short. As the Great Apostle Paul, quoting various Old Testament Prophets, said in the Epistle to the Romans: "There is no one, no, not one, who sins not!" But when this happens to us - and remember, we sin "knowingly and unknowingly" as we say in our pre Communion Prayer - when we do sin, we break with God, we fall short, we "miss the mark." And we need a way to get back, to re-enter that oneness; in short, we need a way to be re-initiated, in a sense fire-baptized, into God's Kingdom once again. And there precisely is where we can say Confession is a "tool." It is - and always has been - used as a way of re-entrance. In fact, it has variously been expressed as the "Baptism of Tears," "The Fount of Forgiveness, it a new esodos - an entrance into Christ! in which our tears wash clean our interior life.
The question, then, for all of us is this: do we use this tool? Or even more, do we use this tool correctly? Has this become a mere "juridical" requirement, a way to merely claim membership in a parish?
Although in the history of our Church, it has at times been used as a legal device - in Tsarist Russia, one could not vote or hold political office, unless he "went to confession" - still this is an aberration of the sacrament. Confession should not be associated with any legal terms. Indeed, the Father Confessor is not a "judge," one who puts you in a booth while he sits in another booth. Look again at the form: He stands beside you, and you both face an Icon or Cross. This means that he is more of a "witness" to your confession to God, the only One "who lives and sins not," and therefore the only One who can truly "forgive." We must all of us, remember that God is the only Pure One; the rest of us need to be "renewed." The late Father Alexander Schmemmann used to say that, from our point of view, the sacraments are more about "renewal" than about "purity," and that we humans seek to be renewed in that purity which God Himself possesses. A critical "tool" for that renewal is precisely the Sacrament of Confession.
Of course, this same form - both standing together, before an Icon, most often in a rather open and public place in the Church again speaks a truth: Confession was "public" in the early Church. "Confess your sins one to another." Although this was the earliest practice, the sacramental life of the Church evolved and the need to find a more personal and intimate relationship with a Spiritual Director became the practice. The fact that we do participate in the Sacrament rather publicly, however, continues to remind us that when we sin against God, we sin against each other; there are no private sins; we all publicly sin against each other as well as against God.
Finally, though, if Confession is a veritable tool in these cases, we must all know that there are certain parameters as to how to use that tool. I mentioned already the need for an intimate and trustworthy relationship with one's Father Confessor. That relationship is indeed critical, as we are constantly reminded in the ascetic literature which focuses on all these matters relative to repentance. Confession is not a "show" as it was for the Pharisee in the Parable of Pharisee and Publican. The world will see, will judge, will render an opinion, and the Pharisee counted on it. But who went down to his home "justified," "renewed," "healed?" It was the one who God knew truly confessed, who thought himself not worthy to lift up his head, i.e., the Publican, what that world and society called the "filthy tax-collector." For us, this means that we are to obey our Father Confessor, our Spiritual Director, to whom God gives the ministry to guide us, to judge us, to forgive us. And this we are to do regardless of how it appears to our world and society, for while in this world, as Jesus taught us, we will have tribulation, but in the Sacrament of Confession with a true "soul-friend," we will have healing and hope.
And so, these are but a few ways for us to understand just how Confession, the Sacrament of Repentance, becomes a "tool" to all those who search to find that communion which the Almighty God is always seeking to grant us.
Saint Anthony, Our Patron Saint
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Saint Anthony Our Patron Saint By the year 500 A.D., Anthony, the hermit from Egypt, who lived between 251-356 A.D., was considered a saint by all the members of the early church. Saint Anthony is known as the Father of Monasticism because of his work in training many Christian men to become monks. Monks are men who live away from the world, in order to achieve closeness with God through prayer and fasting. At the age of 18, after his parents died, Anthony provided for his younger sister and gave away all his worldly goods to the poor and the hungry. He faithfully studied the word of God through much reading, praying, and studying with the kind priests in his Church. With God’s help, Saint Anthony and his brother Monks saved the lives of many Christians who were being killed for their belief in Jesus Christ. Anthony worked very hard for Christ, as he witnessed for Him in the things he did each day. Saint Anthony put God on the top of his list, ahead of all his worldly possessions. He always said "yes" when God called. Anthony died on January 17, 356 A.D. at the age of one hundred five. |
Fasting During Lent
REFLECTIONS ON THE ISSUE OF FASTING IN GREAT LENT
By Father Joseph Allen
There always seems to be requests that some guidelines be given for Fasting during the season of Great Lent. This is especially needed since in a Pan-Orthodox parish like ours, each of the ethnic groups seem to have a different way of Fasting.
It must first be said that few of us really "fast." We may name it "fasting," but what we do is ABSTAIN from certain foods since "Fasting" with reference to food, really means not to eat at all! Fasting has always been practiced in the Scripture and in the Church. However, it is never isolated from other aspects of our Christian living, e.g., attending the services, our prayer life, our works of charity , etc. Also, Fasting is never an end unto itself: it is always a MEANS to an end, namely FREEDOM, i.e., to be free FROM and free FOR. It is to make a statement (spiritually and physically) that we are free FROM the "things" of this world in order to be free FOR communion for God. In a sense, it means that we are not held in bondage to anything of this world. And that is why MORE than "food" and "recipes" are involved! Indeed, this is why St. John Chrysostom reminds us that Fasting has more to do with what comes OUT of the mouth, as what we eat. Thus, in the Eastern Christian spirituality, Fasting is much more a Christian "attitude" then a set of laws. We USE food in Fasting because food is the "medium," the "vehicle," through which we may touch all the other realities of this life; we cannot live without it. Therefore, in making a statement through food, we make a statement about this life.
If this is clear in our minds, then, how CAN we make this "statement" through this medium of food? What practical guidelines DO we have? The answer during Lent is CHANGE! After all, Great Lent is a time for "change and increase." First, there is absolutely nothing wrong with children doing it by relinquishing their favorite sweets; it's THEIR way of making this statement. Second, as history has shown, every family in every culture has always found a different way to express this; there has never been only one way! In the Middle East it was done one way, in Greece another, in the Slavic lands another, in Rome still another. But, wherever it was practiced, the point always remained: if Lent represents a "change," (and parents: it will BE a change only if we MAKE it a change in our families!) then our Fasting should show it. If your custom has been to fast from meat on Wednesdays and Fridays during the rest of the year, (which has been the Apostolic practice), add Mondays during Lent. Others do not eat meat all during Lent, and still others eat meat only on week-ends. But the REAL issue is that your family should AGREE that this way represents the "change" needed to make a statement that we are in that season which leads us to Holy Week and the glorious Resurrection!
It is critical that we not allow Great Lent to pass us by as if it is no different than any other time of the year!
Articles About Our Orthodox Faith
A Communion of Generations
A COMMUNION OF GENERATIONS NICHOLAS A. NAGORNY If you watch a travel video about an Orthodox country such as Russia or a TV news story that cites Eastern European culture, there is likely to be a shot of an elderly women praying. This ubiquitous image of a cherub-faced, rotund old woman crossing herself, with candles softly glowing in the background, gives the impression that Eastern Orthodoxy is a religious community of pensioners. Our English language now has the word "babushka" to describe a somewhat lovable, but frumpy, character. It is neither a negative nor a false image. These video clips do make a connection between the elderly and a communal piety. Orthodox worship is more than an individual relationship with a saving Lord; it is the communal and spiritual binding power that gives solace to the soul. That is something that is needed today, especially when you see the elderly at home or in a senior citizen center spending hours and hours glued to that new community binder, the TV. After a lifetime of work and raising a family, what becomes the center of life? Is it some sustained timeout from the daily grind of errands, squabbles, and schedules? Is it having an active lifestyle at a mature community we notice in the Sunday real estate section? I was once in an Orthodox church that had an adjoining old-age home. This parish maintained something valuable about the dimension of Christian communal living. Elder care should not just be a special ministry or part of an annual outreach program, but a oneness that binds tykes, teenagers, and the elderly and the infirm. St. Paul, in the Epistle to the Colossians, uses the vision of the close-knit Christian community living in Christ: "The whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with growth that is from God." There are powerful cultural forces in our society that estrange us from the elderly by idolization of youthfulness. We see examples of this idolization in thirst for anti-aging drugs and plastic surgery for the elderly. An Orthodox response to elder care would include pilgrimages, meditation, and storytelling. One of the major activities of Christians for centuries was making pilgrimages. My father, who is now in his 80s, went to Jerusalem several times after his retirement. I saw how it revitalized him. Religious pilgrimages also have a spiritually preparatory function. Life is a movement to that final station in our lives, living with the angels in heaven. The experience of life as journey, as a transition to another life, is a crucial lesson. Our homeland is found elsewhere, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says: "We seek the city which is to come." It is too easy to fear extremes for the elderly: the demented social director at a senior citizen center who imposes daily jumping-jack exercises, or a shut-in staring out the window. We Americans are masterful at knowing how to maintain a healthy body through good nutrition and proper exercise. What Eastern Orthodoxy can offer is the Christian tradition that for more than a millennium has stressed the value of meditation. I notice how my mother, who also is in her 80s, would walk in a botanical garden and wonder at God's handiwork. Fill the time with reading and reflecting on Psalms. Orthodoxy directs us to enrich our souls and to heal our bodies from ailments. You need to work on both. Orthodox tradition in a basic, earthly way is the handing on of the story of the God working in our lives. The storyteller, the story, and the listener are all needed. If the Internet, TV, or magazines become our portals to the past, then we have become impoverished. Orthodoxy would claim that being elderly is an occasion to mature one's soul and arrange for the next life. In the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, there are two petitions that have been prayed for centuries that summarize the Orthodox vision of old age: "That we may pass the remaining time of our life in peace and penitence, let us ask of the Lord...A Christian ending to our life, painless, blameless, peaceful; and good defense before the dread Judgment Seat of Christ, let us ask of the Lord." Nicholas A. Nagorny is a catechist at Saint Anthony's Orthodox Church,Bergenfield. Copyright 2000 Bergen Record Corp.
Does Theocracy Have A Place In Our World?
REV. JOSEPH ALLEN The Orthodox tradition in the Christian East has always held the concept of theocracy as a fundamental principle by which governmental policy is motivated. Theokratia, or Theokratos, meant "ruled or headed by God." In Byzantium and imperial Russia, as the patriarch and czar interacted, theocratic governance was believed to be the basis of all the good that was realized for the people. However, peace and cooperation did not always prevail between those two forces, and sometimes "good" was not realized. Nevertheless, the question must be asked: Despite the fact that in the pure sense of the word this theocracy in history did not always work practically, personalities were involved, could one still see its value as a moral and spiritual guide for our present age? Or is it naive to suppose that there is a place today for this principle? To begin, the main thrust of theocracy is rooted in scripture: "There is no authority except from God; the authorities that exist are appointed by God." (Romans 13:1). The very foundation of the political liberty that has so marked America's treasured governance is taken directly from the Scripture, and, of all things, it is inscribed on the Liberty Bell: "Proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants thereof. "(Leviticus 25:10) Some, of course, will claim this is naive. But they are not looking deeply enough into the question. We begin by realizing that God has not done, and will not do, everything that needs doing in this world; he has left plenty for us to do. Regarding governance, after the usual political apparatus has completed its electoral process, he or she who arrives at the position of leadership and authority should have to address the question: What should I now do to "cooperate" with God? In a theocratic form the principle of synergeia, or cooperation, with God will dominate a leader's endeavors. But the theocratic principle for those in the Eastern Christian tradition means even more. As we do "cooperate" with God, our function is not merely to keep American culture running smoothly. Rather it is to produce a people who are, in their daily lives and work, a sign and a witness that God has not left the world to its own devices. In this sense, those who would follow the ways of theocracy will at times be counter cultural citizens. While greed, deceit, violence, falsehood, etc. come quite naturally in our world, obedience to God's ways, rather than the world's, fosters tension that does not allow us to merely settle. Thus the life of a person of faith is at once a gracious reminder of who we are and an abrasive prod to be who we ought to be. Theocracy teaches this lesson, and it teaches it especially to those in leadership positions of government. But all of this is certainly not new; it is part of America's foundation. Of the 55 men who attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, none was motivated by less than theocratic principles. Even Benjamin Franklin, a questionable deist, asserted in 1787 what Our Lord himself in St. Matthew 10:29 verified: "If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can be built without his aid? We have been assured in the sacred writings that except the Lord builds the house, they who build it labor in vain." But what about separation of church and state? Thomas Jefferson, among others, is credited with this phrase, and at first it appears to militate against the principles of theocracy in America. However, few understand that Jefferson's intent, directed to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, was to assure them that the government would not interfere by establishing a state religion that would persecute them. No American could disagree with this. However, this certainly did not mean that Jefferson believed less in the principles of theocracy, and the proof of it is in the Declaration of Independence, in the term "self-evident." With the use of this term, Jefferson is invoking the teaching of the great Apostle Paul, which, incidentally, was at the root of some great monastic debates in the 14th century: There is an intuition of the basic truths of life, and they are planted in the human heart and mind by God. These are the moral, unalterable laws of God to which St. Paul points in his Epistle to the Romans: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it to them."(1:19) The original Greek for "manifest in them" is phaneron estin en autes, and for Jefferson (who knew Greek very well) it meant precisely "self-evident". In short, Jefferson knew the forces of God on a person's life; they were "self-evident." Like Franklin and Jefferson, the many American leaders of that age assumed the presence of God in their understanding of theocratic principles. All this, of course, puts American citizens in the Eastern Orthodox faith in a rather awkward position. Often "counter cultural" and yet having to live in this society, they sometimes feel like alien citizens. But, paradoxically, that may be good, and it may carry a message to all people of faith in God. They need to affirm their responsibility for the politics of the earthly city, but at the same time realize their true polis is the City of God. Loyalty to the earthly city, according to this theocratic form, is joined to an allegiance that others who do not share that allegiance may not easily understand. But without the tension between these two "cities," the entire process of governance will remain unquestioned; everything will be acceptable, always. But not everything is acceptable, always.
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Allen is pastor of St. Anthony's Orthodox Church in Bergenfield and director of theological and pastoral education for the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Englewood.
Copyright 2000 Bergen Record Corp. October 26, 2000
Questions Loom For A Faith of Old
QUESTIONS LOOM FOR A FAITH OF OLD Nicholas Nagorny During the new millennium, Orthodox Christians face issues that will either force us to recede into opposing enclaves, or be united in witnessing to a faith that renewed minds and souls for two millennia. I believe there are four crucial questions facing all Orthodox Christians in America as we face the year 2000 A.D. Will Orthodox Christians unite at the local level? I attend Saint Anthony's parish in Bergenfield, where for almost five decades it has been clear that one's ethnic heritage is not a barrier to parish unity. Our parish includes Arabs, Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, and Romanians. In the local Yellow Pages, one can find a list of disparate Orthodox churches. There are Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, and Serbian Orthodox parishes listed. Yet the faith that unites these sundry churches is the same. Many Orthodox parishes now have families that have been in the United States at least two generations. This, in addition to intermarriage, has made Orthodox Christianity less "Eastern." However, administrative unity has been a frustratingly elusive goal. This is important for Orthodoxy, because its understanding of Church organization is based on a hierarchical principle of "one bishop for one city." It is not that the Orthodox want a single address for church bureaucrats to squirrel away tithed funds. Rather, the effect of multiple Orthodox jurisdictions has been to undermine efforts to educate, publish, witness, and minister. Today the Orthodox are more willing to discuss the pressing need for a united, self-governing Orthodox Church of America. Will Orthodox Christians in America foster healthy monasteries or rigid fundamentalism? Orthodoxy in America today is basically a parish phenomenon. Most Orthodox, in fact, would be clueless if they were to stumble into an Orthodox monastery. This is a dangerous trend. Historically, the monastery or convent was a separate celibate community, but still remained integral to the Orthodox Church. However, the sporadic development of Orthodox monasticism in America has made it more difficult to direct the zeal of recent converts. We cannot afford the reduction of zeal to shrill bombast. Neither can we afford to have our parishes become complacent assemblies of guilt-free, worry-free, and sacrifice-free spirituality. There is a growing risk that zealous converts could turn toward a new "fundamentalism, "estranged from the laity and hierarchy, and thus become a self-appointed vanguard of pure faith-holders. Traditionally, the Eastern Orthodox have come from countries where the artisan was Orthodox. The Orthodox Church considers images a matter of dogma. We can depict what we believe.Will the Orthodox speak to new technologies? For over the past millennium throughout Europe, the architect, the painter, the writer, and the musician expressed creativity within a Christian understanding of beauty: that the world and the heavens were the handiwork of a divine and loving artisan; that understanding was a canonical vision of the beautiful and also of the evil. But as we enter the new millennium, we see that the arts in America are triumphant in the secular cult of free creativity. Some of this artistic creativity, in fact, is just hatred against Christianity. If there is a long-term ministry for Orthodox Christians, I believe it is the reconciliation of the Church and the arts. The Orthodox vision of life is not just personal enrichment or a charming backdrop to a marriage ceremony. It is something that saves the doctor who heals with a new wonder drug, but also judges when he experiments. The ecology movement, for example, taught us that there were hidden and long-term consequences in unbounded technological progress. For Orthodox Christians, there are spiritual and eternal impacts upon this earth that God's Word and Spirit started as a garden. We will have to continue to preach God's eternal word as we are tested by these challenges. Nick Nagorny is the catechist and librarian at St. Anthony's Orthodox Church in Bergenfield. December 23, 1999 Copyright 1999 Bergen Record Corp.
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
Should Orthodox Christians in America foster culture?
The Orthodox View of God
THE ORTHODOX VIEW OF GOD REV. JOSEPH ALLEN The first thing Orthodox Christian theology would say regarding "the concept of God" is that God is never only a "concept." God is a being. God is not a human being, but a definite being, one who has revealed himself in various ways from the beginning of creation. He reveals himself in the Old Testament and the New Testament. He also reveals himself outside the boundaries of the Scripture, that is, in the various cosmic dimensions. The only reason he has revealed himself is because he is love, and all that he does is an attempt to evoke a response of love and communion from those he created in his own image and likeness, human beings. All true Christians, the Orthodox contend, believe that God reveals himself in the form of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each shares in the same essence, which is an essence that no human can share. What we humans can share, however, is God's energy, his grace, hope, courage, etc., which is always being poured out, always made available to us. Thus for the Orthodox it is important to distinguish between God's essence (ousia), which we do not share, and God's energy, (energeia) which we do. But even though we should acquire as much of God's energy as is humanly possible, and therefore continue to grow toward him, nevertheless God can never be exhausted by us; there will always be more to acquire. God is always hyper, a Greek term that means "beyond." In short, there is no summa point in Orthodox theology in which one's acquisition of God's Spirit is culminated. Each point of spiritual growth is merely the beginning of more growth toward him. This is whatnovelist Nikos Kazantzakis meant when he said, "There is no summit; there is only height." Through our faith and good works, both of which are expressions of communion, we can aspire to become "like God", which the Orthodox call Theosis, even though we remain totally human. The goal of all human life, therefore, is Theosis.
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Allen is pastor of St. Anthony's Orthodox Church in Bergenfield and director of theological and pastoral education for the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Englewood. February 8, 2001 Copyright 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc. The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
Orthodoxy and Other Faiths
ORTHODOXY AND OTHER FAITHS Nicholas A. Nagorny Another assumption about Orthodoxy Christianity and other faiths is one that judges' religious differences are intrinsically wrong. Religious wars, religious bigotry, and religious strife were caused that demonic marriage of "politics" and religion. Divorce religion and politics and you will have a civil society with religious groups surprised by their underlying commonness of values and vision, so the thinking goes. A religion that is apolitical has no wherewithal to witness to a society concerning poverty, war and morality. It is a poor reading of history to assume that the reality of religious differences is the combined aftershock of czars and clerics exploiting religious passions. There are differences that are relics of civil unrest, and there are differences that relate to Orthodoxy's ultimate concern, our life with God. To know the difference requires extraordinary patience and wisdom. On a positive note those closest to Orthodox Christianity would be those Oriental Christians knows as the Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, Indian and Armenian Orthodox. Although the separation with these Oriental Christians spans more than fifteen centuries there is substantial commonness in the tradition of worship and spirituality to conclude that the doctrinal issues can be bridged. In the last thirty years there have been official meetings bridging this chasm. Orthodox would look at Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations as a connected whole comprising the other half of Christendom, Western Christianity. Seemingly this does not make sense. Are Charismatic Catholics and the traditionalist Lutherans spiritual kinsmen? To a point it is simplistic, but the Eastern Orthodox would see a powerful binding force that links Methodists to the Dominican monks and the Presbyterians to the Jesuits. The binder of these disparate Western Christian is Saint Augustine. We live in an allegedly postmodern world and Augustinian influences should be marginal and waning into oblivion. The way Protestants and Roman Catholics discuss even today issues like the Trinity, original sin, free will and indissolubility of marriage are based on an Augustinian framework. It is intellectually for Orthodox Christians living in the west the most important issue to creatively respond to the legacy of Augustinian thought. Saint Augustine was not a flawed Christian thinker. Orthodoxy would link the Protestant faith and Islamic faith in their rejection of religious imagery. For Orthodox Christianity religious imagery is on the same level as scripture. Orthodoxy is a visual religion. Tradition for Orthodox Christians is includes written word, the spoken word (oral tradition) and art. It is a principal tenet of the Protestant reformation and the Muslim faith that the divine is not shown through imagery. This is not a difference explained away by cultural conditioning. Today Orthodox Christians would be hesitant to ascribe commonness with Judaism. The reason for this is that there are many Orthodox Christians in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria that have been in conflict with a the state of Israel. The trouble in the Middle East will mar Orthodox perceptions of Judaism. In a tentative way one would say the Jewish experience of worship and sacred time is many ways close to Orthodoxy. The piety of the Psalter, and the passion of the prophets are key spiritual pillars in worshiping God. Where the difference begins is Orthodox absolute insistence that God is mysteriously one and yet three persons. God is a Trinity of persons is fundamental given not an afterthought concocted by Greek pagan converts to Christianity. The Trinity has engaged the best minds in the history of Christianity and it is most difficult to explain, but it is crucial to the integrity of Christian life and teaching. Religious differences are real, should not be the wellspring for ill will and ignorance.
Nicholas A. Nagorny, Catechist at Saint Anthony's Orthodox Church, Bergenfield, NJ
Holy Week
Holy Week
In the Orthodox Church, Holy Week is the week before Easter when we relive Christ's suffering and death.
The services of Holy Week are the most moving of the year. We experience Christ's journey to the Cross and His death. And then His triumph over death with His resurrection. Christ conquered sin and death on the cross, and His triumph is ours as well as His. For it is through our uniting with Christ, we find that death has no power over us.
Click on the button below if you would like to read The Jerusalem Times. This newspaper was researched and written by the 1996-1997 fourth grade Church School students at Saint Anthony Orthodox Church. The newspaper will report all the events of the week. This connection is not working as of yet.
From Pascha to Pentecost
From Pascha to Pentecost
The period of time from Easter to Pentecost is fifty days. During these fifty days, Christ rose from the dead, prepared his disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and ascended into heaven.
The 1997-1998 Church School fourth grade students at Saint Anthony Orthodox Church researched and wrote our second edition of The Jerusalem Times detailing the events of these fifty days.
Click on this button if you would like to read about the events of this period of time.