00#5: Response to Baptists

Part 5 of this fascinatig ongoing discussion.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Archbishop
• Lazar
• Puhalo
• Orthodox
• Baptist
• Protestant
• Evangelical
• Bible
• Religion
• Theology
• God
• Jesus
• Christ

[allsaintsmonastery]

It is difficult to please everyone with whichever approach one takes. I am discussing the issues, including the propensity of many Protestant "ourreachers" to grossly misrepresent the Orthodox Church, and to use completely false statement about it. Dr Spann actually used falsehood in his "case studies." It is easy enough to forgive anyone, but not so easy to leave the issues and questions unaddressed.

[sprtslvr1973]

Archbishop,

I agree with much of what you say. I had skimmed over Spann's article before throwing it away (I have been there before).

But I must say that you seem quite hostile to this gentleman. Could you try to be a little more forgiving?

[allsaintsmonastery]

En fait, je suis plus irrité avec nos enseignants Orthodoxes que je suis avec Dr. Spann. Il dérive beaucoup de sa mauvaise information des livres et de catechisms "Orthodoxes". Ceci est véritablement tragique

[pedelcosa]

How does French came up, would you kindly respond in english?

[allsaintsmonastery]

This was a reply to another Canadian, who had sent a note to my "inbox". His question was in French, so my reply was in French. We use both languages in Canada.

[cuttlefisch]

Father has just owned the entire Southern Baptist convention!! One Orthodox monk!!

[sthomas68]

His Eminence is not treating Dr. Spann disrespectfully, IMHO. He's merely addressing the issue, which is highly overdue. I spent my whole life in a condemning Baptist church and proud to say I will be chrismated in June 2008 and can put a lot of these false teachings behind me once and for all.

[gambleor]

@pandirasbox but thats the whole point. Christ is the one through whom the Father's grace was bestowed on us. You don't see that as a form of mediation? I was not saying that the Father is an icon either. What i was saying is that the only means through which we can establish a relationship with the Father is through the Son. We are not establishing a relationship with the Father directly.

[YusefAlTahir]

@pandirasbox the subject we were talking about was schism, ROCOR was the one that broke off not the other way around

[pandirasbox]

@YusefAlTahir It is the labels within the church that create the schisms. Your philosophical definitions only bite you all in the butt. You treat Christ as if he were the fleshly body of Jesus. If this were true, he would have to have flown into the sky and then he'd come back as a man and the logos would have one unified nature and the hypostatic union couldn't be true. The Orthodox seem to merge Gnostic ideas with the ideas of the Cerinthian party. It doesn't make any sense.

[pandirasbox]

@gambleor Yes. I am a temple to God as are all believers. Therefore we all have unmediated relationships with the Father by his grace that was delivered by Christ, his son. So, yes. God is a living God, not a dead icon. The same goes for Christ.

[YusefAlTahir]

@pandirasbox yes and ROCOR was in full schism. just because they did not trust the russian patriach they broke off from the entire eastern orthodox communion, Antiochians, greeks, albanio-italians, Crete, Serbia, Carpatho-Rus, Alexandria everyone. Rocor was seriously messed up and the part of ROCOR that did not come back into communion is called ROAC and they are super crazy. They claim to be the only Orthodox people on the planet and their biggest parish is in Indiana and has 15 members. LOL

[gambleor]

@pandirasbox and that would be true if you were a modalist. If youre not a modalist, the Father and the Son are distinct hypostases in the Trinity and therefore a relationship with Christ is only a relationship with the Father by means of mediation through Christ.

[pandirasbox]

@YusefAlTahir Schism is a work of the flesh while heresy is merely an opinion. The very idea that making a choice is heresy is nonsense. It is starting factions that is heresy! Stupid disputes and stupid definitions by animal men.

[pandirasbox]

@gambleor Having a relatonship with Christ= a relationship with the Father directly. Through the gnosis of Christ we have come to know the father in truth. There is no hair splitting needed here. We can have a direct relationship with God. For the veil of the temple was rent in two! The priests no longer control communion with God. You can think what you want. The clear evidence of scripture shows that Levites and the old law are done for. You still worship in temples made by hands.

[pandirasbox]

@YusefAlTahir Schismatics, why listen to them? I'd rather be a simple heretic than a full blown schismatic who leads others out of the church.

[gambleor]

@YusefAlTahir thats correct. Thats what i meant to say.