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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Dialogue between Francis and La Repubblica's founder, Eugenio Scalfari

The Pope: how the Church will change

Dialogue between Francis and La Repubblica's founder, Eugenio Scalfari: "Starting from the Second Vatican Council, open to modern culture". The conversation in the Vatican after the Pope's letter to La Repubblica: "Convert you? Proselytism is solemn nonsense. You have to meet people and listen to them."
Lo leggo dopo
Pope Francis (ap)
by EUGENIO SCALFARI

Pope Francis told me: "The most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days are youth unemployment and the loneliness of the old. The old need care and companionship; the young need work and hope but have neither one nor the other, and the problem is they don't even look for them any more. They have been crushed by the present. You tell me: can you live crushed under the weight of the present? Without a memory of the past and without the desire to look ahead to the future by building something, a future, a family? Can you go on like this? This, to me, is the most urgent problem that the Church is facing."

Your Holiness, I say, it is largely a political and economic problem for states, governments, political parties, trade unions.
"Yes, you are right, but it also concerns the Church, in fact, particularly the Church because this situation does not hurt only bodies but also souls. The Church must feel responsible for both souls and bodies."

Your Holiness, you say that the Church must feel responsible. Should I conclude that the Church is not aware of this problem and that you will steer it in this direction?
"To a large extent that awareness is there, but not sufficiently. I want it to be more so. It is not the only problem that we face, but it is the most urgent and the most dramatic."

The meeting with Pope Francis took place last Tuesday at his home in Santa Marta, in a small bare room with a table and five or six chairs and a painting on the wall. It had been preceded by a phone call I will never forget as long as I live.
It was half past two in the afternoon. My phone rings and in a somewhat shaky voice my secretary tells me: "I have the Pope on the line. I'll put him through immediately."

I was still stunned when I heard the voice of His Holiness on the other end of a the line saying, "Hello, this is Pope Francis." "Hello Your Holiness", I say and then, "I am shocked I did not expect you to call me." "Why so surprised? You wrote me a letter asking to meet me in person. I had the same wish, so I'm calling to fix an appointment. Let me look at my diary: I can't do Wednesday, nor Monday, would Tuesday suit you?"
I answer, that's fine.
"The time is a little awkward, three in the afternoon, is that okay? Otherwise it'll have to be another day." Your Holiness, the time is fine. "So we agree: Tuesday 24 at 3 o'clock. At Santa Marta. You have to come into the door at the Sant'Uffizio."

I don't know how to end this call and let myself go, saying: "Can I embrace you by phone?" "Of course, a hug from me too. Then we will do it in person, goodbye."

And here I am. The Pope comes in and shakes my hand, and we sit down. The Pope smiles and says: "Some of my colleagues who know you told me that you will try to convert me."

It's a joke, I tell him. My friends think it is you want to convert me.
He smiles again and replies: "Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us. Sometimes after a meeting I want to arrange another one because new ideas are born and I discover new needs. This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good."

Your Holiness, is there is a single vision of the Good? And who decides what it is?
"Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good."

Your Holiness, you wrote that in your letter to me. The conscience is autonomous, you said, and everyone must obey his conscience. I think that's one of the most courageous steps taken by a Pope.
"And I repeat it here. Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place."

Is the Church doing that?
"Yes, that is the purpose of our mission: to identify the material and immaterial needs of the people and try to meet them as we can. Do you know what agape is?"

Yes, I know.
"It is love of others, as our Lord preached. It is not proselytizing, it is love. Love for one's neighbor, that leavening that serves the common good."

Love your neighbor as yourself.
"Exactly so."

Jesus in his preaching said that agape, love for others, is the only way to love God. Correct me if I'm wrong.
"You're not wrong. The Son of God became incarnate in the souls of men to instill the feeling of brotherhood. All are brothers and all children of God. Abba, as he called the Father. I will show you the way, he said. Follow me and you will find the Father and you will all be his children and he will take delight in you. Agape, the love of each one of us for the other, from the closest to the furthest, is in fact the only way that Jesus has given us to find the way of salvation and of the Beatitudes."

However, as we said, Jesus told us that love for one's neighbor is equal to what we have for ourselves. So what many call narcissism is recognized as valid, positive, to the same extent as the other. We've talked a lot about this aspect.
"I don't like the word narcissism", the Pope said, "it indicates an excessive love for oneself and this is not good, it can produce serious damage not only to the soul of those affected but also in relationship with others, with the society in which one lives. The real trouble is that those most affected by this - which is actually a kind of mental disorder - are people who have a lot of power. Often bosses are narcissists".

Many church leaders have been.
"You know what I think about this? Heads of the Church have often been narcissists, flattered and thrilled by their courtiers. The court is the leprosy of the papacy."

The leprosy of the papacy, those were his exact words. But what is the court? Perhaps he is alluding to the curia?
"No, there are sometimes courtiers in the curia, but the curia as a whole is another thing. It is what in an army is called the quartermaster's office, it manages the services that serve the Holy See. But it has one defect: it is Vatican-centric. It sees and looks after the interests of the Vatican, which are still, for the most part, temporal interests. This Vatican-centric view neglects the world around us. I do not share this view and I'll do everything I can to change it. The Church is or should go back to being a community of God's people, and priests, pastors and bishops who have the care of souls, are at the service of the people of God. The Church is this, a word not surprisingly different from the Holy See, which has its own function, important but at the service of the Church. I would not have been able to have complete faith in God and in his Son if I had not been trained in the Church, and if I had not had the good fortune of being in Argentina, in a community without which I would not have become aware myself and my faith. "

You heard your calling at a young age?
"No, not very young. My family wanted me to have a different profession, to work, earn some money. I went to university. I also had a teacher for whom I had a lot of respect and developed a friendship and who was a fervent communist. She often read Communist Party texts to me and gave them to me to read. So I also got to know that very materialistic conception. I remember that she also gave me the statement from the American Communists in defense of the Rosenbergs, who had been sentenced to death. The woman I'm talking about was later arrested, tortured and killed by the dictatorship then ruling in Argentina."

Where you seduced by Communism?
"Her materialism had no hold over me. But learning about it through a courageous and honest person was helpful. I realized a few things, an aspect of the social, which I then found in the social doctrine of the Church."

Liberation theology, which Pope John Paul II excommunicated, was widespread in Latin America.
"Yes, many of its members were Argentines."

Do you think it was right that the Pope fought against them?
"It certainly gave a political aspect to their theology, but many of them were believers and with a high concept of humanity."

Your Holiness, may I tell you something about my own cultural background? I was raised by a mother who was a strict Catholic. At the age of 12 I won a catechism contest held by all the parishes in Rome and I was given a prize by the Vicariate. I took communion on the first Friday of every month, in other words, I was a practicing Catholic and a true believer. But all that changed when I entered high school. I read, among other philosophical texts that we studied, Descartes' "Discourse on Method" and I was struck by the phrase, which has now become an icon, "I think, therefore I am." The individual thus became the basis of human existence, the seat of free thought.
"Descartes, however, never denied faith in a transcendent God."

That is true, but he laid the foundation for a very different vision and I happened to follow that path, which later, supported by other things I read, let me to a very different place.
"You, however, from what I understand, are a non-believer but not anti-clerical. They are two very different things."

True, I am not anticlerical, but I become so when I meet a clericalist.
He smiles and says, "It also happens to me that when I meet a clericalist, I suddenly become anti-clerical. Clericalism should not have anything to do with Christianity. St. Paul, who was the first to speak to the Gentiles, the pagans, to believers in other religions, was the first to teach us that."

Can I ask you, Your Holiness, which saints you feel closest to in your soul, those who have shaped your religious experience?
"St. Paul is the one who laid down the cornerstones of our religion and our creed. You cannot be a conscious Christian without St. Paul. He translated the teachings of Christ into a doctrinal structure that, even with the additions of a vast number of thinkers, theologians and pastors, has resisted and still exists after two thousand years. Then there are Augustine, Benedict and Thomas and Ignatius. Naturally Francis. Do I need to explain why?"

Francis - I allow myself to call him that because it is the Pope himself who suggests it by the way he speaks, the way he smiles, with his exclamations of surprise and understanding - looks at me as if to encourage me to ask questions that are even more scandalous and embarrassing for those who guide the Church. So I ask him: you explained the importance of Paul and the role he played, but I want to know which of those you named feels closer to your soul?
"You're asking me for a ranking, but classifications are for sports or things like that. I could tell you the name of the best footballers in Argentina. But the saints..."

They say joke with knaves, you know the proverb?
"Exactly. But I'm not trying to avoid your question, because you didn't ask me for ranking of their cultural and religious importance but who is closest to my soul. So I'd say: Augustine and Francis."

Not Ignatius, from whose order you come?
"Ignatius, for understandable reasons, is the saint I know better than any other. He founded our Order. I'd like to remind you that Carlo Maria Martini also came from that order, someone who is very dear to me and also to you. Jesuits were and still are the leavening - not the only one but perhaps the most effective - of Catholicism: culture, teaching, missionary work, loyalty to the Pope. But Ignatius who founded the Society, was also a reformer and a mystic. Especially a mystic."

And you think that mystics have been important for the Church?
"They have been fundamental. A religion without mystics is a philosophy."

Do you have a mystical vocation?
"What do you think?"

I wouldn't think so.
"You're probably right. I love the mystics; Francis also was in many aspects of his life, but I do not think I have the vocation and then we must understand the deep meaning of that word. The mystic manages to strip himself of action, of facts, objectives and even the pastoral mission and rises until he reaches communion with the Beatitudes. Brief moments but which fill an entire life."

Has that ever happened to you?
"Rarely. For example, when the conclave elected me Pope. Before I accepted I asked if I could spend a few minutes in the room next to the one with the balcony overlooking the square. My head was completely empty and I was seized by a great anxiety. To make it go way and relax I closed my eyes and made every thought disappear, even the thought of refusing to accept the position, as the liturgical procedure allows. I closed my eyes and I no longer had any anxiety or emotion. At a certain point I was filled with a great light. It lasted a moment, but to me it seemed very long. Then the light faded, I got up suddenly and walked into the room where the cardinals were waiting and the table on which was the act of acceptance. I signed it, the Cardinal Camerlengo countersigned it and then on the balcony there was the '"Habemus Papam".

We were silent for a moment, then I said: we were talking about the saints that you feel closest to your soul and we were left with Augustine. Will you tell me why you feel very close to him?
"Even for my predecessor Augustine is a reference point. That saint went through many vicissitudes in his life and changed his doctrinal position several times. He also had harsh words for the Jews, which I never shared. He wrote many books and what I think is most revealing of his intellectual and spiritual intimacy are the "Confessions", which also contain some manifestations of mysticism, but he is not, as many would argue, a continuation of Paul. Indeed, he sees the Church and the faith in very different ways than Paul, perhaps four centuries passed between one and the other. "

What is the difference, Your Holiness?
"For me it lies in two substantial aspects. Augustine feels powerless in the face of the immensity of God and the tasks that a Christian and a bishop has to fulfill. In fact he was by no means powerless, but he felt that his soul was always less than he wanted and needed it to be. And then the grace dispensed by the Lord as a basic element of faith. Of life. Of the meaning of life. Someone who is not touched by grace may be a person without blemish and without fear, as they say, but he will never be like a person who has touched grace. This is Augustine's insight."

Do you feel touched by grace?
"No one can know that. Grace is not part of consciousness, it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason. Even you, without knowing it, could be touched by grace."

Without faith? A non-believer?
"Grace regards the soul."

I do not believe in the soul.
"You do not believe in it but you have one."

Your Holiness, you said that you have no intention of trying to convert me and I do not think you would succeed.
"We cannot know that, but I don't have any such intention."

And St. Francis?
"He's great because he is everything. He is a man who wants to do things, wants to build, he founded an order and its rules, he is an itinerant and a missionary, a poet and a prophet, he is mystical. He found evil in himself and rooted it out. He loved nature, animals, the blade of grass on the lawn and the birds flying in the sky. But above all he loved people, children, old people, women. He is the most shining example of that agape we talked about earlier."

Your Holiness is right, the description is perfect. But why did none of your predecessors ever choose that name? And I believe that after you no one else will choose it.
"We do not know that, let's not speculate about the future. True, no one chose it before me. Here we face the problem of problems. Would you like something to drink?"
Thank you, maybe a glass of water.
He gets up, opens the door and asks someone in the entrance to bring two glasses of water. He asks me if I want a coffee, I say no. The water arrives. At the end of our conversation, my glass will be empty, but his will remain full. He clears his throat and begins.
"Francis wanted a mendicant order and an itinerant one. Missionaries who wanted to meet, listen, talk, help, to spread faith and love. Especially love. And he dreamed of a poor Church that would take care of others, receive material aid and use it to support others, with no concern for itself. 800 years have passed since then and times have changed, but the ideal of a missionary, poor Church is still more than valid. This is still the Church that Jesus and his disciples preached about."

You Christians are now a minority. Even in Italy, which is known as the pope's backyard. Practicing Catholics, according to some polls, are between 8 and 15 percent. Those who say they are Catholic but in fact are not very are about 20%. In the world, there are a billion Catholics or more, and with other Christian churches there are over a billion and a half, but the population of the planet is 6 or 7 billion people. There are certainly many of you, especially in Africa and Latin America, but you are a minority.
"We always have been but the issue today is not that. Personally I think that being a minority is actually a strength. We have to be a leavening of life and love and the leavening is infinitely smaller than the mass of fruits, flowers and trees that are born out of it. I believe I have already said that our goal is not to proselytize but to listen to needs, desires and disappointments, despair, hope. We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace. Vatican II, inspired by Pope Paul VI and John, decided to look to the future with a modern spirit and to be open to modern culture. The Council Fathers knew that being open to modern culture meant religious ecumenism and dialogue with non-believers. But afterwards very little was done in that direction. I have the humility and ambition to want to do something."

Also because - I allow myself to add - modern society throughout the world is going through a period of deep crisis, not only economic but also social and spiritual. At the beginning of our meeting you described a generation crushed under the weight of the present. Even we non-believers feel this almost anthropological weight. That is why we want dialogue with believers and those who best represent them.
"I don't know if I'm the best of those who represent them, but providence has placed me at the head of the Church and the Diocese of Peter. I will do what I can to fulfill the mandate that has been entrusted to me."

Jesus, as you pointed out, said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Do you think that this has happened?
"Unfortunately, no. Selfishness has increased and love towards others declined."

So this is the goal that we have in common: at least to equalize the intensity of these two kinds of love. Is your Church ready and equipped to carry out this task?
"What do you think?"

I think love for temporal power is still very strong within the Vatican walls and in the institutional structure of the whole Church. I think that the institution dominates the poor, missionary Church that you would like.
"In fact, that is the way it is, and in this area you cannot perform miracles. Let me remind you that even Francis in his time held long negotiations with the Roman hierarchy and the Pope to have the rules of his order recognized. Eventually he got the approval but with profound changes and compromises."

Will you have to follow the same path?
"I'm not Francis of Assisi and I do not have his strength and his holiness. But I am the Bishop of Rome and Pope of the Catholic world. The first thing I decided was to appoint a group of eight cardinals to be my advisers. Not courtiers but wise people who share my own feelings. This is the beginning of a Church with an organization that is not just top-down but also horizontal. When Cardinal Martini talked about focusing on the councils and synods he knew how long and difficult it would be to go in that direction. Gently, but firmly and tenaciously."

And politics?
"Why do you ask? I have already said that the Church will not deal with politics."

But just a few days ago you appealed to Catholics to engage civilly and politically.
"I was not addressing only Catholics but all men of good will. I say that politics is the most important of the civil activities and has its own field of action, which is not that of religion. Political institutions are secular by definition and operate in independent spheres. All my predecessors have said the same thing, for many years at least, albeit with different accents. I believe that Catholics involved in politics carry the values of their religion within them, but have the mature awareness and expertise to implement them. The Church will never go beyond its task of expressing and disseminating its values, at least as long as I'm here."

But that has not always being the case with the Church.
"It has almost never been the case. Often the Church as an institution has been dominated by temporalism and many members and senior Catholic leaders still feel this way.
But now let me ask you a question: you, a secular non-believer in God, what do you believe in? You are a writer and a man of thought. You believe in something, you must have a dominant value. Don't answer me with words like honesty, seeking, the vision of the common good, all important principles and values but that is not what I am asking. I am asking what you think is the essence of the world, indeed the universe. You must ask yourself, of course, like everyone else, who we are, where we come from, where we are going. Even children ask themselves these questions. And you?"

I am grateful for this question. The answer is this: I believe in Being, that is in the tissue from which forms, bodies arise.
"And I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being. Do you think we are very far apart?"

We are distant in our thinking, but similar as human beings, unconsciously animated by our instincts that turn into impulses, feelings and will, thought and reason. In this we are alike.
"But can you define what you call Being?"

Being is a fabric of energy. Chaotic but indestructible energy and eternal chaos. Forms emerge from that energy when it reaches the point of exploding. The forms have their own laws, their magnetic fields, their chemical elements, which combine randomly, evolve, and are eventually extinguished but their energy is not destroyed. Man is probably the only animal endowed with thought, at least in our planet and solar system. I said that he is driven by instincts and desires but I would add that he also contains within himself a resonance, an echo, a vocation of chaos.
"All right. I did not want you to give me a summary of your philosophy and what you have told me is enough for me. From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us. In the letter I wrote to you, you will remember I said that our species will end but the light of God will not end and at that point it will invade all souls and it will all be in everyone."

Yes, I remember it well. You said, "All the light will be in all souls" which - if I may say so - gives more an image of immanence than of transcendence.
"Transcendence remains because that light, all in everything, transcends the universe and the species it inhabits at that stage. But back to the present. We have made a step forward in our dialogue. We have observed that in society and the world in which we live selfishness has increased more than love for others, and that men of good will must work, each with his own strengths and expertise, to ensure that love for others increases until it is equal and possibly exceeds love for oneself."

Once again, politics comes into the picture.
"Certainly. Personally I think so-called unrestrained liberalism only makes the strong stronger and the weak weaker and excludes the most excluded. We need great freedom, no discrimination, no demagoguery and a lot of love. We need rules of conduct and also, if necessary, direct intervention from the state to correct the more intolerable inequalities."

Your Holiness, you are certainly a person of great faith, touched by grace, animated by the desire to revive a pastoral, missionary church that is renewed and not temporal. But from the way you talk and from what I understand, you are and will be a revolutionary pope. Half Jesuit, half a man of Francis, a combination that perhaps has never been seen before. And then, you like "The Betrothed" by Manzoni, Holderlin, Leopardi and especially Dostoevsky, the film "La Strada" and "Prova d'orchestra" by Fellini, "Open City" by Rossellini and also the film of Aldo Fabrizi .
"I like those because I watched them with my parents when I was a child."

There you are. May I recommend two recently released films? "Viva la libertà" and the films on Fellini by Ettore Scola. I'm sure you'll like them.
Regarding power, I say, you know that when I was 20 I spent a month and a half in a spiritual retreat with the Jesuits? The Nazis were in Rome and I had deserted from military service. That was punishable by the death sentence. The Jesuits hid us on condition that we did spiritual exercises the whole time that they kept us hidden.
"But is it impossible to stand a month and a half of spiritual exercises?" he asks, amazed and amused. I will tell him more next time.

We embrace. We climb the short staircase to the door. I tell the Pope there is no need to accompany me but he waves that aside with a gesture. "We will also discuss the role of women in the Church. Remember that the Church (la chiesa) is feminine."
And if you like, we can also to talk about Pascal. I'd like to know what you think of that great soul.
"Give all your family my blessings and ask them to pray for me. Think of me, think of me often."

We shake hands and he stands with his two fingers raised in a blessing. I wave to him from the window.
This is Pope Francis. If the Church becomes like him and becomes what he wants it to be, it will be an epochal change.

(Translated from Italian to English by Kathryn Wallace)

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Broken Cross - Satanic blasphemy and sorcery

Broken Cross to the right of a protestant who pretends to be a Catholic priest by the name of m.e. morrison. He is a liar and half truth teller, all as a money making dodge.

See Broken Cross in these links:


The Justice of God: The Great Apostasy of Babylon - COME OUT FROM AMONGST HER MY PEOPLE!

The Justice of God: Destruction of Babylon and all that are part of her.

_________________________________________________________________________________



From the web:
Quote
M.E. Morrison was "ordained" in California in a Protestant church (Ebenezer Lutheran Chirch) by Thaddeus Alioto, a married man claiming to be a bishop (because he had been "consecrated" a bishop by Wallace David de Ortega
Maxey).

De Ortega Maxey had been "consecrated" numerous times by various North American Old Catholic bishops (whom even the Old Catholic Churches in Europe deny have valid orders).  De Ortega Maxey also *claimed* to have been consecrated by Antoine Aneed.

Aneed's story is that he was consecrated a bishop by a RC Eastern Rite bishop in Syria and sent to America.  Both the Vatican and the Syrian Patriarchate involved denounced the story as a fabrication.

If you have any doubts over the veracity of my statements as to where Morrison got "ordained," just ask his fellow "independent" priest, Merril Adamson.   He was "ordained" in the same ceremony.  I've a written statement from him confirming the fact.

This is important not because of anything Morrison states on the internet, but because he dresses up his statements as coming from a RC priest.  Even the devil can quote Scripture.

Anyone e-mailing to Morrison's list a request for the facts of his claimed ordination will be dropped.

It never ceases to amaze me how sedevacantists can be so cock-sure JP II is a fraud, yet swallow hook, line and sinker any number of bogus clerics; just because the frauds sing the music sedes like to hear.

It takes more than "right" preaching to make a priest.

[ [deleted] -- [deleted] ]

The alleged Antoine Aneed line:  

ANEED, Antoine Joseph (1881-1970) -- consecrated on 9 October 1911 by: Melece Sawoya,  also on 10 September 1944 by Lowell Paul Wadle and Edgar Ramon Verostek.   On 23 August 1945 Aneed exchanged consecrations with Lowell Paul WadleHenry Joseph KleefischCharles H. Hampton and Wallace David de Ortega Maxey.  So what do we make of the mockery of these various consecrations?

Méléce Sawoya  (1870-1919) was Consecrated on February 5, 1905 as Metropolitan Archbishop of Beirut and Gebeil, Lebanon.  Lineage in the Melkite-Greek Catholic Church of Antioch (Monophysite).  He was consecrated by Cyrillos VIII Jeha of the Melkite-Greek Church.

Where does Thadeus Alioto figure in Morrison's ordination?  ALIOTO, Thaddeus Bernard Joseph was consecrated sub conditione on 22 May 1983 by: Wallace David De Ortega Maxey assisted by: Robert Ronald Ramm.  The sub conditione consecration is not by the Catholic Church by any means, so it is not valid.

Those who have more information should fill in some blanks.  It takes a lot of patience to go through the convoluted, entangled labyrinth of these episcopal consecrations.  What must be remembered is that the Apostolic lineage in the Catholic Church is easily charted and one can be precise in tracing any one who has valid Holy Orders all the way to the Apostles.






Friday, June 14, 2013

Althod


ORTHODOXY OR DEATH!


ECUMENISM -- A PATH TO PERDITION
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ORTHODOXY OR DEATH! [531]

The struggle for Orthodoxy requires selfless courage. This is evident from the centuries long history of the Church. Thanks to the struggles of martyrs and confessors of faith, whole countries at times were saved from invasion of false teachings, heresies, and impiety.

The Holy Mount Athos has always been a "barrier against which the waves of heresies would break" [532]. From ancient times this sublime institution, the domain of the Mother of God, which lived in accordance with Divine principles, has been the stronghold of Orthodoxy. In guarding the faith of the Holy Fathers, Athonites (hagiorites), for centuries, have been an example of piety to all Christians of the world. Having renounced the world and entirely dedicated himself to serving God, "a true monk fears neither the imperial purple, nor the mitre of a patriarch, and is prepared to endure anything joyfully and happily for the love of the Orthodox faith, which is his greatest treasure . ... Monastic hood does not bow before any masters who disdain the Divine Law and the Sacred Tradition, and who subject the Faith to sinful people desirous of worldly things, to people obedient to Satan." [533]

From the time when St. Athanasius founded the Great Lavra in 963, Mt. Athos was protected by Byzantian Emperors and was given into the possession of Orthodox monks who inhabited it. Beginning with the 10th century, Mt. Athos had become the all-Orthodox center of monasticism, the place of ascetic struggle not only for Greeks, but other Orthodox monastics as well -- Russians, Bulgarians, Georgians, Serbs, Rumanians, and others.

In the course of centuries, spiritual and theological authority of Mt. Athos was very remarkable and it rose particularly in the 14th century due to the development of hesychasm, the spiritual essence of which made a deep impression on the culture and character of the peoples of Russia, Balkans, and the Middle East.

During the Turkish occupation Mt. Athos was practically autonomous, and only in 1917 did it fall under the control of Greece. Since that time the Greek government, exercising its power over this new territory, began to pursue a chauvinist policy, trying to make the Holy Mount exclusively Greek, i.e. to get rid of the monastics of other nationalities [534]. However, the realization of this plan was hindered by international agreements which defended the rights of monastics of non-Greek origin [535].

On the other hand, the events following the turmoil of 1920's caused by the calendar reform, which was instigated by one of the most odious personalities of the 20th century -- "Patriarch" Meletius (Metaxakis), served the purpose of this policy, and the Greek government did not fail to take advantage of them. Since that time the government began to rudely interfere in the internal affairs of Mt. Athos and the persecute of the uncompromising ascetics whom it found objectionable. The Patriarchate of Constantinople, to which jurisdiction Mt. Athos belongs, and which at the present time is traditionally comprised, as we have seen, of modernists-masons, has been staunchly supporting civil powers, helping them to undermine Athonite traditions and principles. This apostatic "symphony", which has nothing in common with the Justinian symphony of the Emperor and the clergy, judging by the present situation, directs its efforts to a gradual destruction of the Holy Mt. Athos. This assertion is proved in particular by the sharp decrease in the number of Athonite inhabitants. Thus, the celebration of the millennium of Mt. Athos in 1963 was marred by the announcement of the fact that during about half a century the number of monks was reduced from 7500 in 1903 to 1560 in 1963 [536].

From 1970's Mt. Athos has been gradually populated by ambitious young men agreeable to the government authorities, the so called "New Athonites" [537]. Many of them are university graduates, who, contrary to the age-old hagiorite decrees and under the pressure of civil powers, have been appointed abbots of monasteries. They are precisely the ones who help to implement the policy agreeable to both the civil authorities and the Phanar [538], by destroying monasticism and being accessories to persecution against those who remain faithful to Orthodoxy.

On observing the anti-canonical actions and deviations from the Holy Tradition and Orthodox Ecclesiology of Constantinopolitan hierarchs-renovationists and ecumenists, hagiorites wrote open letters to them on frequent occasions and censured them, openly expressing disagreement with the stand of the Phanar.

The election of Patriarch Athenagoras, a high-ranking member of an American masonic lodge, and an adherent of the "branch theory", has made the difficult situation even worse. It should be noted that Athenagoras' election was dictated by the USA which wanted to ensure the improvement of relationships between Greece and Turkey (the latter is a country to which USA is especially attentive, because of its strategic position). Athenagoras' predecessor, Patriarch Maximos V, who proved to be a much stronger traditionalist than Athenagoras, was deposed without any reason and confined as a mentally ill person in Switzerland, where he was deprived of the right to officiate in divine services or to act in a capacity of a hierarch. Several people, who managed to visit him at the end of the 1950-ies, have testified that he was neither mentally ill, nor of unsound mind [539].

Everyone is familiar with Patriarch Athenagoras' policy: rapprochement with the Vatican and a willful lifting of anathemas from the Papists, accompanied by an active adogmatic ecumenical activity, which has been continued by his successors.

"Much less is known, however, about the wave of profound indignation at the destructive action of Athenagoras, which had surged in all the Orthodox world, particularly in Greece and Mt. Athos. All the monasteries of the Holy Mount had categorically refused to commemorate him during Liturgy. In Northern Greece several bishops, who belonged to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, followed the Athonite example, some expressed a decisive protest. Among them were Metropolitans -- Ambrose of Eleutheropolis, Paul of Paramythie, Polycarp of Sisianos, and also Siatistis and Augustine of Florma. At the same time the persecution against the old-calendarists (adherents of the Church calendar of the Holy Fathers -- L.P.) was redoubled. All these monks, priests, bishops had an absolute right to express their protest; on the one hand according to the Canons of the Orthodox Church, and on the other - according to civil laws which, presumably, permit pluralism." [540]

There were many who protested at that time, perceiving the danger of a new "Florentine disgrace". In the course of time, however, despite the fact that their exhortations had no effect, some monasteries began once again to commemorate the Patriarch. However, there still remained more than half of the Athonite monasteries who suspended communion with Athenagoras and stopped commemorating him at their services.

But during the years 1970-80, in the reign of Patriarch Demetrios, who continued and even expanded the apostatic practice of his predecessor, all monasteries, except the monks-zealots and the monastery of Esphigmenou, re-established their communion with the Patriarch. This happened due to the intrigues of the patriarchal exarchate who managed "to seduce... even the elect" (Mark 13,22). The periodically occurring mysterious "suicides", or disappearances of monks [541], threats, pressure and simply persecution to which the monks who were disobedient to the heretical Constantinople were subjected, have also had their effect.

From time to time, it is true, the Athonite monasteries censured the Patriarch of Constantinople in the appeals which they have sent him. Thus, after the regrettably notorious concelebration of Patriarch Demetrios with Pope John-Paul II, which was an unprecedented act of rapprochement of the Patriarchate of Constantinople with the Papists, the Sacred Council of Mt. Athos sent a letter to Demetrios. "We have no other form of action left to us -- they wrote -- we place this into the hands of God. We now embrace silence, leaving all to Christ our God, and await the solution of this problem from Him. The Sacred Council can no longer tell hagiorites and other faithful about the strictness of Your confession and the steadfastness of Your faith, because You personally are openly professing the opposite. The Holy Mount, inasmuch as it firmly adheres to the precepts of faith and piety, cannot express its respect and devotion to the Ecumenical See" [542].

Nevertheless, the silence embraced by those commemorating the Patriarch-heretic, "not being the silence of hesychasts" [543], has since yielded to enthusiastic welcome with which the Sacred Council of Mt. Athos honored both the late Demetrios and his successor Patriarch Bartholomeos [544]. Since then Phanar has undertaken even more insolent steps and developed unprecedented ecumenical activity when in June of 1993 it concluded the Balamand Agreement with the Vatican, and in November of the same year -- the Chambesy Agreement with the Monophysites.

The open letter concerning the Balamand in which the Kinot (Sacred Council) appealed to Patriarch Bartholomeos [545] expressed in particular the idea that the ecumenical movement has turned into all-embracing syncretism. As an illustration it quoted the blasphemous words of Patriarch Parthenios (Koinidis, died 1996) of Alexandria about Mohammed [546].

The Memorandum of the Sacred Council of Mount Athos regarding the Chambesy Declaration [547] stated that the ecumenist acknowledgment of heretical churches as "sisters" casts doubt on "the continuity of the consciousness of our Church, which is but the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church" [548].

However, both in this Memorandum, as well as in the letter regarding the Balamand Agreement, the impious and decisive role of Patriarch Bartholomeos himself is passed over in diplomatic silence. These two documents, which prove that the monasteries, brotherhoods and monastics of Mt. Athos who did not discontinue their prayerful communion with the Patriarch-Apostate, and have continued to commemorate him as their ruling hierarch, are well aware of his crime against Orthodoxy. "So many ravages has the Holy Mount endured, and still continues to endure! -- comments an Athonite ascetic -- So many monks have left monasteries and refuse to return because of the anti-Orthodox and anti-monastic acts of the Patriarch which have caused division! Today it is not the monks who are in search of a monastery, but the monasteries which are in search of monks; from all sides, monasteries are crying out loud, for they are faced with desolation... The Ecumenical (i.e. Constantinopolitan - L.P.) Patriarchate has brought all these misfortunes upon the Orthodox Church, including division and desolation on Mt. Athos." [549]

Why is it, then, that despite everything those that "commemorate" the Patriarch continue to communicate with the heretic? How can one explain that today the majority of them is silent about one of the most scandalous events in the history of Mt. Athos, reminiscent of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages -- i.e. the expulsion of Russian monks from their Skete of St. Elias on May 20 of 1992, just because they refused to commemorate the Phanar apostate? [550]

The St. Elias Skete, which was built with the donations of pious Russian compatriots and became famous for the ascetic struggle (Russ. podvig) of its great elder Paisius Velichkovsky, had been attracting thousands of Russian pilgrims before the Bolshevik Revolution. In our time, before the eviction of its monks, the Skete belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, the legitimate heir of the historical Russia.

Beginning in 1957, the monks of St. Elias Skete ceased commemorating the Patriarch of Constantinople because of their disagreement with the pro-Catholic policy and ecumenical heresy of the Patriarchate. Their Abbot and Superior of the Skete, Archimandrite Seraphim (Bobich), who over 20 years (since 1970) had been leading the life of an ascetic on Mt. Athos, and the brethren of the Skete had spent a great deal of money and labored heavily in order to re-establish and improve this large sacred abode. From 1985 onwards the Skete was being subjected to all kinds of pressure, in order to force the monks to resume the commemoration of the Patriarch, but they would not yield.

Finally, on May 7/20 of 1992, on the feast-day of Mid-Pentecost, Abbot Seraphim and seven other inhabitants of the Skete were forcibly evicted from Mt. Athos without trial and investigation. This criminal and shameful act was committed by the Commission of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, headed by the patriarchal Exarch, Metropolitan Athanasios of Heliopolis. The eviction was carried out with the help of the representatives of the civil authorities of Mt. Athos and numerous armed police.

The request of the fathers of St. Elias Skete to be granted at least two or three days for preparations, was rejected. "Because they were under escort and strict police supervision, the monks were unable to collect not only the most necessary personal belongings, but documents as well" [551]. These Russian zealots were forcibly ushered into military vehicles and brought to Daphne via Karyes (capital of Mt. Athos). From Daphne a motor-boat delivered them to Uranopolis (outside Mt. Athos) where they were heartlessly abandoned on the pier without money or documents.

But persecution of these Russian monks on the part of the ecclesiastical and civil authorities did not end with this improbable, unchristian treatment: their request to have their passports returned to them was rejected (Archimandrite Seraphim and his fellow monks are American citizens). Moreover they were not even presented with a copy of the decision of either the Sacred Council, or of the civil authorities testifying to their eviction. All this was fabricated later. Immediately following the eviction of the Russian monks this rich Skete was plundered and occupied by the "monks" acceptable to Phanar and to the government [552].

The silence of "commemorating" hagiorites has greatly alarmed the Orthodox faithful who love Mt. Athos and who are historically accustomed to see Christ's warriors in Athonite monks, fearlessly struggling for the Orthodox faith and fearing God above all. The adherents of the Patriarch of Constantinople cannot but be aware that for many years, especially since 1970, "a silent and secret religious persecution has been taking place on the Holy Mount against the monks who remain faithful to Orthodox traditions." [553] Apart from the forcible measures already mentioned, they are not allowed to either tonsure Athonite zealots, or have novices in obedience (this is not permitted even to the eldest zealot monks). They are not allowed to buy cells for themselves and they cannot acquire the most necessary items for their existence [554].

It often happened that many monks-ascetics who had vowed never to leave the Holy Mount until they died were evicted from Athos. This was the fate, for example, of ascetic-hesychast Fr. Theodorite, the author of numerous books on theology and piety, and of monk-zealot Fr. Damian [555]. In other words, the plan of finally eliminating Athonite zealots is being actually carried out, and in such a manner as to make the believers think that no one on Mt. Athos opposes the betrayal of Orthodoxy which is being committed there [556].

Will the Holy Mount Athos, "the garden of the Mother of God," become what the subjects of the prince of this world want it to be -- a tourist spot with hotels, beaches, entertainment centers and... a Museum of Eastern Monasticism ?!

...The sacred Esphigmenou monastery has in all respects become a zealot religious community. Along with the other monks-zealots, the monks of Esphigmenou steadfastly refuse to have any communion with the apostate Patriarch. For more than 20 years the tower of Esphigmenou monastery has displayed the flag with the words: "Orthodoxy or Death". This God-loving monastic community, which is often cut off from the rest of the world [557] and which has been more than once in danger of being seized by force or with the aid of perfidy. However, with the help of God and the protection of the Mother of God, the monastery keeps resisting those who exert every possible pressure upon it. "Its steadfastness bore fruit: police themselves were ashamed of the anti-Christian task which they were forced to perform." [558]

The Esphigmenou community has not only given hope to all the Orthodox world, and become a symbol of resistance to the anti-Christian evil, but has also become an example to be emulated.

The fact that the Esphigmenou monastery is a model of fidelity to Christ the Savior has a profound meaning for Russia, because the father of Russian monasticism, St. Anthony of the Kiev-Caves Lavra (+1073, commemorated July 10) was tonsured and practiced asceticism in that monastery, and brought from there "the rule of faith" and the image of true piety to the Russian land.

Following the example of the Esphigmenou community, all Orthodox Christians and their monasteries should inscribe on the tablets of their hearts the words of love and faithfulness to Christ: "Orthodoxy or Death".



[531] The factual material of this chapter is taken from the works dealing specifically with the problem of persecution of the Orthodox Athonite monks-confessors. Firstly, it is the book: Fr. Maximos, Monk of Great Lavra, "Human Rights on Mount Athos, an appeal to the Civilized World", Stylite Publishing, Welshpool, Powys, 1990. The evidence of Fr. Maximos (Lavriotis), one of the monks evicted from Mt. Athos, is all the more objective because he was not a zealot (zealot is the name given to an adherent of true Orthodoxy) and belonged to those who "commemorated" the Patriarch of Constantinople. In addition to the book of Fr. Maximos, also of great interest is the work of the ever-memorable Pcre Patric, "La persecution des moines du Mont Athos par le Patriarchat de Constantinople", ed. Fraternite Orthodoxe Saint Gregoire Palamas, 30, Boulevard de Sebastopol, 75004 Paris, 1992; and also the collection "Protestations Orthodoxes a la suite de la visite du Patriarche de Constantinople au Pape en Dec. 1987" , ed. Fraternite Orthodoxe Saint Gregoire Palamas, Paris, 1988.

The Greek government and the Patriarchate of Constantinople are at great pains to prevent the spreading of truth about the real state of affairs on Mt. Athos. Publications which contain the protests of zealots and which shed light on the extremely turbulent situation on the Holy Mount, are usually printed in Greek in the form of small brochures, or by insignificant and almost inaccessible newspapers, and thus remain practically unknown.

[532] Athonite monk-zealot Theoklitis Germanos, "Confession of Faith", in the collection Protestations Orthodoxes... , p. 62.

[533] Ibid., p. 63.

[534] In 1913 there were 5 thousand Russian monks living on Mt. Athos.

[535] International agreements, signed in Berlin (1878), Scvres (1913), and Lausanne (1923), made the support of ethnic minorities on Mt. Athos compulsory.

[536] Pere Patric, "La persecution des moines du Mont Athos p. 39.

[537] The name New Athonites is given to those monks who were tonsured without going through a period of obedience on Mt. Athos.

[538] The name of the place near Istanbul in which the residence of the Patriarchs of Constantinople is situated.

[539] See Pere Patric, "Le persecution des moines du Mont Athos p. 24.

[540] Ibid., pp. 24-25.

[541] See the above-mentioned book by Fr. Maximos, Monk of the Great Lavra, "Human Rights on Mount Athos..."

[542] "Letter of the Sacred Council of the Holy Mount Athos to Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios", Church Life, Nos. 3-4, New York, 1988, p. 102.

[543] Expression used by Fr. Patric Ranson.

[544] See "Afonskiia zametki" (Notes from Mt. Athos), Orthodox Russia, No. 1514, 1/14 July, 1994, p. 11.

[545] Orthodox Russia, No. 1524, 1/14 December 1994, pp. 7-11; Orthodox Life, No. 4, 1994.

[546] This ecumenist, who has recently departed to stand before the judgment of God, not only stated that Christians ought to recognize Mohammed as a prophet, but also identified him with Christ. And this man was an "Orthodox" Patriarch! (See Orthodoxos Pnon, v. 7, text 64, Athens, 1994, p. 12).

[547] See Orthodox Russia, No. 1538, pp. 2-4, 15.

[548] Ibid., p. 2, col. 3.

[549] Monk-zealot Theoklitis Germanos, "Confession of Faith", ibid., pp. 61-62.

[550] Fr. Patric Ranson names three main reasons for the eviction of the monks from St. Elias Skete. 1) The desire of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, this new Papacy, to suppress and by all means to do away with any opposition (which has been put up in Greece since 1920) to its policy of aggiornamento. 2) Seizure of control of the administration of Mt. Athos by the New Athonites. The latter now control a certain number of monasteries, mainly those of Stavronicetas, Grigoriu, Simon-Peter, thus being assured of the majority of votes in the Sacred Council. This ecclesiastical council of self-government of Mt. Athos, which traditionally consisted of the representatives (antiprosops) of 20 large monasteries, at the present time, following the illegitimate exclusion of the Esphigmenou monastery, numbers 19 monastery representatives. 3) An old policy of the Patriarchate with regard to Slavs, which aims at making Mt. Athos purely Greek, rather than pan-Orthodox place, as it was throughout its history. Besides, following the changes in the political situation in the former USSR, Phanar and the New Athonites fear the arrival of thousands of Russian monks to Mt. Athos, which could have an impact on the present arrangement of forces. Similar arguments also influenced the Patriarchate of Constantinople following the October Revolution, when it prevented Russian monks to settle on Mt. Athos. Thus, Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) was deprived of a chance to lead the life of an ascetic there (See Pere Patric, "La persecution des moines du Mont Athos...", pp. 18-19.

[551] See the special issue of the Esphigmenou journal Hagios Agathangelos Esphigmenitis, No. 130 A, 30 May (old style) 1992 (in Greek).

[552] It has become known that in the presence of two Metropolitans -- Athanasios of Heliopolis and Meliton of Chalcedon, who took part in the raid on the Russian Skete, a large vestry was opened and many mitres decorated with precious stones, 40 Russian gold-embroidered clerical vestments, and 5 deacons' surplices were taken out of it. "Metropolitan Meliton put aside 5 vestments saying that he is taking them for himself". Later the rest of the property of the old Russian Skete was plundered and illegitimately appropriated by the persecutors. Some inhabitants of Mt. Athos also do not rule out the fact that both the very rich Russian Skete of the Holy Apostle Andrew, which had been mercilessly plundered and taken over by the Vatoped monastery (in 1972), and the Skete of St. Elias attract the attention of Phanar by their large 6-story high town houses with churches on the top floors, which are situated in Constantinople. The Patriarchate of Constantinople obviously intends to appropriate them in time. (See the large article by hieromonk Nicholas, who represents the Russian St. Panteleimon's monastery (MP) in the Sacred Council of Mt. Athos, "About the events on Mt. Athos from May 7 to 8 (old style) 1992", Orthodox Russia, No's. 1489 and 1490, 1993.)

[553] See Hagios Agathangelos Esphigmenitis, No. 130 A, 23 May (old style), 1992.

[554] Ibid.

[555] See Pere Patric, "La persecution des moines du Mont Athos...", pp. 26-27.

[556] See Hagios Agathengelos Esphigmenitis, No. 130 A.

[557] The Esphigmenou monastery has often been surrounded by armed police, the central telephone station of Karyes cut off its telephone, the post office held up its correspondence, all means of communication, by land or sea, were forbidden, and the besieged monks could not even walk out to work in their vegetable garden. (See Pere Patric, ibid., p. 25.)

[558] Pere Patric, ibid.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Traditional Catholic Prayers: التهود (هرطقة): البدع و الهرطقات | St-Takla.org

التهود (هرطقة): البدع و الهرطقات | St-Takla.org





لوجو موقع كنيسة الأنبا تكلا هيمانوت - الإبراهيمية - الإسكندرية - جمهورية مصر العربية | الموقع الرسمي لكنيسة القديس تكلاهيمانوت | بطريركية الأقباط الأرثوذكس

تاريخ الكنيسة القبطية الأرثوذكسية

مذكرات في تاريخ الكنيسة المسيحية - القمص ميخائيل جريس ميخائيل


37- البدع والهرطقات الأولى:
1) التهُّود




يهدف أصحاب هذا الاتجاه إلى ربط أنفسهم بالناموس اليهودي القديم، وإدماج المسيحية باليهودية، بحيث يصبح الإنجيل هو الناموس القديم محسنا ومكملا. أنهم يعتبرون المسيح مجرد نبي، وموسي الثاني. وهم ينكرون ويغفلون طبيعته الإلهية ووظائفه ككاهن وملك. كان هؤلاء المسيحيون المتهودون في حقيقتهم يهود، وفي ظاهرهم مسيحيين بالاسم.. وقد مارسوا وأتموا ناموس موسي الأدبي والطقسي، واعتبروه ملزما لهم، وأنه لازم للخلاص. ولم يفهموا المسيحية على أنها ديانة عامة مسكونية جديدة، متحررة من الناموس القديم..
St-Takla.org Image: Star of David Symbol صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: نجمة داود
St-Takla.org Image: Star of David Symbol
صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: نجمة داود
ومن الناحية المقابلة، قام بعض الأمميين المتنصرين، وحاولوا الانفصال عن الماضي كليه، وقطع أنفسهم عنه، علي عكس المسيحيين المتهودين ومن هنا يمكن تسمية هذا النوع من الهراطقة (الهراطقة المتأممة) والغنوسية واللفظ اليوناني غنوسيس معناه (معرفه)...... والغنوسية هي محاوله فلسفية دينية، رأت أن تطلق على نفسها هذه التسمية، لتعبر عن أنها لا تؤمن الأيمان الأعمى، بل تعتمد على العقل والمعرفة. لقد وضع الغنوسيون العقل فوق الإيمان والفلسفة فوق الدين وجعلوا الفكر الخالص رقيبا على الوحي، يستطيع أن يرفض منه ما لا يقبله العقل. وإن كانت الغنوسية لم تظهر فيالكنيسة تحمل هذا الاسم إلا في القرن الثاني لكن جذورها ومبادئها وتعاليمها وجدت في العصر الرسولي. وهناك إشارات واضحة في رسائل الرسل إليها، وبخاصة رسائلكولوسي وتيموثاوس الاولي وتيطس وبطرس الثانية ويوحنا الأولى ويوحنا الثانيةوسفر الرؤيا في الرسائل الموجهة إلى أساقفة السبع كنائس وتتلخص الغنوسية في أنها محاوله فلسفية لتفسير الشر والخلاص منه مع رفض كتاب العهد القديم.. وهي تمجد العلم أكثر من اللازم، وتقلل من شأن الإيمان. وهكذا حول الإيمان إلى معرفة عقلية لله..... وحاولوا تفسير وجود الشر بالقبول بالاثينية، أي وجود أصلين للكائنات، الروح الأعلى والمادة والخير والشر.... أما خلاص روح الإنسان المحبوسة في المادة (الجسد) فيكون حسب تعليمهم أما بالتزام النسكيات الصارمة والابتعاد عن كل ما هو مادي بقدر الإمكان، وأما الانغماس في كل ما هو شهواني، زاعمين الانتصار على الحس بالانغماس فيه..... (انظر المزيد عن هذا الموضوع هنا في موقع الأنبا تكلا في أقسام المقالات والكتب الأخرى). أما عقيدتهم في المسيح، فهي أنه خيال، منكرين ناسوته (وفكرة إنكار الناسوت ( الجسد) عند الغنوسيين، مصدرها الاعتقاد القديم أن الجسد هو العنصر المادي الذي فسد بالشر. فكيف للمسيح القدوس الذي غلب الشر أن يأتي في جسد؟) والي هذه النقطة بالذات -إنكار ناسوته- أشار يوحنا الرسول في رسالته الأولى. والثانية "كل روح يعترف بيسوع المسيح أنه قد جاء في الجسد فهو من الله. وكل روح لا يعترف بيسوع المسيح أنه قد جاء في الجسد، فليس من الله" (1يو 4: 2، 3).مصدر المقال موقع الأنبا تكلاهيمانوت.
كما وجدت محاولات معاصرة لنشأة الكنيسة المسيحية، لإدماج الديانة اليهودية في الفلسفة الوثنية، وبخاصة فلسفتي فيثاغورس وأفلاطون. وقد قام بهذه المحاولات الفيلسوف اليهودي الإسكندري فيلو في القرن الأول الميلادي وبعض جماعات المتعبدين من الثبرابوت والاسينين وغيرهم، وأخذ هذا الخليط العجيب يظهر في المسيحية بالاسم المسيحي، مكوناً أمة يهودية مختلطة بالوثنية ووثنية متهودة.
ومهما يكن الاختلاف بين الأنواع الثلاثة من الهراطقات، فإنها تكاد تصل في النهاية إلى إنكار واضح للحق الجوهري في الإنجيل، وهو تجسد ابن الله من أجل خلاص العالم. إنها تجعل من المسيح إما مجرد إنسان، وشخصية خيالية فائقة للطبيعة. وهي لا تعترف على أية الحالات بأي اتحاد حقيقي دائم بين اللاهوت والناسوت في شخص المسيح، وهذه هي العلامة التي وضعها يوحنا الرسول لضد المسيح أنها تحاول أن تنقض أساس المسيحية بلا منازع. لأنه إذا لم يكن المسيح هو الله المتأنس والوسيط بين الله والناس، فإن المسيحية تختفي غارقة في الوثنية واليهودية.

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كنيسة الأنبا تكلا هيمانوت - الصفحة الرئيسيةفهرس كتاب مذكرات في التاريخ المسيحى - قسم تاريخ الكنيسة القبطية الارثوذكسية - كنيسة القديس تكلا هيمنوت الاثيوبى - اسكندرية - مصر
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The Ebionite Gnostics aimed at misusing the ancient Jewish law, by proponents of this tendency, to bind themselves by that ancient Jewish law, and the integration of Christianity with Judaism, so that they supposed the Bible was the old law improved and complementary to the New Law of Grace in Christ. They only consider Jesus a prophetand Moses no more than one prophet of many. They deny and ignore Christ's divine nature and functions as a priest and a king. They were heretical Christians in that they were actually still only Jews, and Christians outwardly in name only. They claimed that they had been formed and completed by the moral and ceremonial law of Moses, and regarded that as binding on them, and necessary for salvation; they did not understand that Christianity as a religion is a new age and world, free of the old law.

On the opposite side, some gentile converts tried to break with the past community, and cut themselves off from them, unlike the Christians who would call this heterodox (heretics Almtamma) and named them as Gnostics by the Greek word falsely applied by themselves meaning Gnosis (knowledge).
The Gnostic religious philosophy is an attempt, that calls itself this designation, to reflect that it does not believe in blind faith, but is supposedly based on reason and knowledge. Gnostics have put the mind over faith and philosophy over religion and they made an exception on the pure revelation, that one can refuse to accept what he does not choose to believe with his own perception. But this Gnostic heresy did not appear in the Church with this name only in the second century, but its roots and its principles and teachings are found in the Apostolic Age. There are clear indications in the letters of the Apostles to them, especially epistles Colossians and Timothy and Titus and II Peter and John and John, the second and the Book of Revelation in the letters addressed to the bishops of the seven churches in which are summarized the lies of Gnosticism: in that they attempt by philosophy to explain evil and salvation from that – and with the rejection of the Old Testament revelation of salvation by faith in the promised Messiah Who is Only Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour. It glorifies the symbol too much, and undermines the faith utterly.
Thus, in oppositon to the faith they sought to only know the mentality of God by themselves; and tried to explain the existence of evil in creation, ie, by the presence of two paradigmia (copies) of the objects.One of the Supreme Spirit and the other of the material which they consigned to being good and evil respectively. They suppose that the salvation of the human spirit trapped in the material (the body) is done in their commitment to their knowledge of Gnostic hard rigorous ablutions and to stay away from all that is material to the all extent possible, but at the sasme time in the indulgence in all that is voluptuous, claiming victory over the sense of it by indulging (See more on this subject here in the site of Saint Takla in sections of articles and other books). As to their faith in Christ, it is no faith at all but denying Him, that He is fiction. In this they are deniers of his humanity, His Incarnation and Godhead and the denial of His human nature (the body). That human nature the Gnostics held is the source of evil; by ancient pagan belief, which is that the body is a material element which is irreparably spoiled by evil. How can the Holy Christ be made into part of this system, He who defeated the evil that would come into the body? For His defeat of it on His Holy Cross is our only salvation. And to this very point - the denial of his humanity - the Apostle John replied in his first letter, and the second - "Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, not of God "
Attempts have also been found for the emergence in the contemporary Christian church, for the integration of Judaism into pagan philosophy, especially the philosophies of Pythagoras and Plato. These attempts were made by the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo prior to the first century A.D. and some groups of devotees and others, and this mix appears falsely under the name Christian, but with the Jewish national racist component of the apostate Jews mixed with paganism and idolatry. Whatever the differences between the three types of Heresies, they are almost identical in the end to reach a clear denial of the correct fundamental truth in the Bible, which embodies the Son of God. It makes Christ either a mere human being, and a fictional character in their "theology." It does not recognize in any case any real, lasting union between the supernatural and human natures in the person of Christ, and this is the mark set by the Apostle John as the anti-Christ. They are trying to denounce the Christian basis of undisputed revealed truth Because if he was not Jesus as God made ​​flesh and the only mediator between God and all people, the Christian faith disappears submerged in paganism and Judaism.


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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger Praises Pope Benedict for Outreach to Jews – Forward.com


Khafir kuffār Althod: Mussolini gifted 75 marble pillars to the Dome of the Rock « News that matters

Khafir kuffār Althod: The Vatican is a copy of Old City of Jerusalem « News that matters

Khafir kuffār Althod: Vatican exited: Jewish Chief Rabbi proposed new “UN in Jerusalem” « News that matters

Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger Praises Pope Benedict for Outreach to Jews – Forward.com


Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger Praises Pope Benedict for Outreach to Jews

Says Relations Between Israel and Vatican 'Best Ever'

Never Better: Relations between Israel and the Vatican were the ‘best ever’ under Pope Behedict, Israel’s chief rabbi said.
GETTY IMAGES
Never Better: Relations between Israel and the Vatican were the ‘best ever’ under Pope Behedict, Israel’s chief rabbi said.

By Reuters

Published February 11, 2013.
    Related
Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger on Monday praised Pope Benedict’s inter-religious outreach and said relations between Israel and the Vatican had never been better.
“During his period (as pope) there were the best relations ever between the church and the chief rabbinate and we hope that this trend will continue,” a spokesman quoted Metzger as saying after the pope announced he would resign. “I think he deserves a lot of credit for advancing inter-religious links the world over between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”
Metzger wished the pope “good health and long days”, the spokesman said.
The FCJE, the umbrella organization representing Spanish Jews, said in a statement issued shortly after the announcement that it “respected” the pope’s decision.
“As pope, Benedict XVI acted with great intellectual rigor that undoubtedly contributed to Catholic-Jewish relations,” the statement read. “We wish the pope a long life and encourage him to continue working for peace between the peoples after leaving the post.”


Read more: http://forward.com/articles/170914/israeli-chief-rabbi-yona-metzger-praises-pope-bene/#ixzz2KnsJWgv8

Vatican exited: Jewish Chief Rabbi proposed new “UN in Jerusalem” « News that matters

Vatican exited: Jewish Chief Rabbi proposed new “UN in Jerusalem” « News that matters


Vatican exited: Jewish Chief Rabbi proposed new “UN in Jerusalem”

In 2004, Israel’s Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger proposed to create a new UN of all religions in Jerusalem.

Grand Rabbi of the Ashkenazis, Yona Metzger, and his Sephardic counterpart, Shlomo Amar greets the Pope on January 16th 2004.
Wikileaks have recently released more than 2000 secret cables on Vatican-Israeli relations. Many of them are from the US Embassy in the Vatican.
One of the interesting documents, reveals that the One World Religion is one of the topics, then the Pope meet Muslim and Jewish elders.
Between the 5th and 7th of September of 2004, there was an interfaith conference in The Sant’Egidio Community in Milan in Italy. Over 7.000 leaders from different faiths attended. They came to “promote inter-religious dialogue and understanding
as a means to combat terrorism and build peace”.
This is what the US Embassy in the Vatican recoded in a cable sent to the State Department in Washington:
2004-09-17 13:31

 A U.N. for Religions in Jerusalem?
¶12.  (U) One of the more intriguing ideas to emerge from the conference was a proposal from Israel’s Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger for the establishment of a “United Nations of Religions” — a permanent assembly of religious leaders where representatives of world religions could meet and make common agreed statements on international developments.  
Rabbi Metzger suggested that such an institution could help demonstrate the common values shared 
by different faiths — particularly the sacredness of every human life — and overcome growing perceptions of religious
Sant’Egidio’s Claudio Betti commented to DCM that the proposal was doubly significant as it represented one of the first statements he could recall of a senior Jewish leader discussing the possibility of Jerusalem serving as host to “many religions.”
Source: Wikileaks.
My comment:
Prophetic voices that warns of the emergence of the One World Religion is often ridiculed of silence in Christian fellowships.
This secret cable exposed by Wikileaks is one the best examples that this is the open or hidden agenda of Inter-faith talk.
The only person that will not be consulted is Jesus. That will be fatal. Because out of this wicked new multi-religious movement, comes the access of a man of lawlessness to the World stage.
A new “UN in Jerusalem” is a perfect stage. The last anti-Christ just have to be promoted or elevated to the post of Secretary General.
The man of lawlessness will set up his seat inside the Old City, and the Temple Mount is the preferred place. When all hold hands and praises him who have brought “world peace” at this site, you can be sure of only one thing:
The man will be killed by the splendor of the coming of the Lion of Judah, the Messiah Yeshua. He will return to Jerusalem and spoil the party of people who rejected Him.