TOO FAR EAST?

I have observed a few things on my Journey to Eastern Orthodoxy that have caused me to ask, “Is it possible to journey too far east?” Of course all would agree that one cannot travel too far when one’s quest is for the authentic Church which preserves the Apostolic truth. The fact remains, however, that east is east and west is west and the two meet on the North American Continent. Truth is the same whether in the east or west, but culture and human nature surround that truth. So when does one travel too far East? One travels too far East when one does not apply methods and means of evangelism relevant to the culture to which it is communicating. One travels too far East when the idea of appropriating the prevalent media outlets and technological means of communication, is seen as a threat to the eastern rhythm or pace. One travels too far East when he thinks those who worship with the Western Rite are somehow not fully Orthodox. One travels too far East when those who control the materials of worship and evangelism resist trusting the distribution or usage of such to the hands of the laity. One travels too far East when materials, prayer books, and such are provided at no cost to new convert Eastern Rite Churches, but new convert Western Rite Churches are, for the most part, left to fin for themselves. One travels too far East when some who have the power to bless and support the laymen and women with vision resist doing so because the vision did not originate with them. One travels too far East when the laity who fulfill their role as the fourth part of the priesthood are considered rebellious and outside the work of the Church. A good indicator that you may have traveled too far East is the fact that those who haven’t traveled too far prefer not to include you in their vision for fear that you will demote rather than promote their vision to effectively reach lost souls in the West. Is it possible to travel too far East? It seems so. Is it a given? May it not be so.

To My Roman Catholic Brothers and Sisters

We pray for the day when the East and the West will be reunified. 1000 years of division is long enough don't you think? In the mean time, some of you have many complaints about your church. I won't list them here. You know what your concerns are. What we all agree on is that we love God and want to live our lives for Him. If it weren't for people this world would be a great place to live. Thus the dilemma. So you have left the Roman Church or at least you call yourself Catholic with gritted teeth. Let me ask you to consider something. Even the Roman Church acknowledges the Orthodox as their brothers. The RCC acknowledges that the Orthodox have true succession. The RCC acknowledges the authenticity of the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church. Rather than wait out the needed changes in the RCC which may or may not happen in your lifetime, at least on the North American Continent, why don't you travel East? Worship with us. Become a part of the Orthodox Church. Though it may be somewhat culturally different, it will still be familiar to you and it is the faith of our fathers. Although you will discover that we too have our issues (there are people in the Orthodox Church also), you will find that we have remained relatively free from a Church-wide moral scandal. You may also be delighted to know that our priests may marry and most are. You will also find that we have not altered or added any doctrines or creeds and our worship will look to you much like pre-Vatican 2 RCC worship. Best of all you will find that the Orthodox ethos is centered around building relationship with the Holy Trinity rather than obeying rules of heavy traditions. Rather than staying outside the community of faith, step back in via the Orthodox Church. You are welcome.

What Orthodox DO NOT and DO Believe-Three Common Misconceptions

Orthodox DO NOT believe that oral tradition and other writings are equal to or have greater inspiration than the Holy Scriptures.
Orthodox DO believe that the scripture can only fully be understood in light of Apostolic Tradition as preserved by the Church.

Orthodox DO NOT believe in nor practice the worship of Mary.
Orthodox DO believe in and practice the veneration (holy respect and recognition) of Mary.

Orthodox DO NOT worship icons.
Orthodox DO venerate (holy respect and recognition) the person or story that the icon depicts.

MORE TO COME...

Ancient Ways ,Youthful Thoughts

A young boy who was selected to be an acolyte in an Orthodox church had a deep interest in iconography. The priest would field many questions from the boy concerning what story was being portrayed and who the saint was in a particular icon. On one such occasion before the Liturgy, the young boy noticed a new icon behind the iconostasis. "Who is that?", the boy asked the priest. "That is the Samaritan woman at the well", said the priest. "Oh I know that one," the boy said thoughtfully, "I think my father has visited that well." "Really", said the priest proud that one of his parishioners would be devoted enough to visit such a holy sight. "Yes", said the boy, "I think he brought something back." Oh? What was it?", asked the priest, thinking the boy's devoted father had returned with a vile of well water or a piece of the well stone for their home altar. "I think it was a gift certificate", said the boy.

A New Man, A New Name, An Old Faith

Journey To Orthodoxy says, "Welcome Home" to Denzil Roland and his family who were chrismated into the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church last night in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Father Joseph Bittle of Holy Trinity in Little Rock, administered the sacrament under the the Bishopry of Bishop Antoun, using the Byzantine Rite. Denzil took the name, John, at his chrismation. The newly chrismated, John, continues to lead his church into the Orthodox faith. The former ICCEC church congregation will be chrismated soon. May the Holy Trinity continue to bless and prosper the work of their hands.

Addendum: The former Father Denny is now Deacon John. He was ordained to the Orthodox deaconate on Sunday.

Mary "Ever Virgin"

In my Protestant years which included being raised in a Baptist Pastor’s home and a BA in Religion from a Baptist University all I knew about Mary, the mother of Jesus, was what I saw in the pages of the Gospels. The mindset of Sola Scriptura, or the “scriptures alone”, did not allow for me to consider the fact that the historic figures who lived when Mary did knew how to write and indeed did so about the one they called “the Mother of God.” We cannot find within pages of the scriptures many historic and cultural factors about Mary that have been preserved by the Church for 2000 years. For instance:

• Did you know that the names of Mary’s parents were Johakim and Anna? 
• Did you know that when Mary was a baby her parents dedicated her to God as a Temple Virgin? 
• Did you know that Temple Virgins were devoted to lifelong chastity and abstained from sexual relations their entire life? 
• Did you know that when Mary was about three years old her parents took her to the Temple to turn her over to the care of the Priests and she bound up the stairs in anticipation of her calling to the traditional servitude of lifelong chastity? 
• Did you know that when she was about 12 or 13 years old Mary could no longer serve as a Temple Virgin because her impending menstral period would prevent her from serving in the Temple and thus became a “Virgin of the Lord.” 
• Did you know that in keeping with tradition, the priests looked for a righteous man who would become her protector and guardian and respect her vow of virginity? 
• Did you know that Joseph was an elderly widower with grown children when he agreed to wed and provide for the 13-17 year old Virgin of the Lord named Mary? 
• Did you know that the Church has always held that Mary was “ever virgin” and that she never had sexual intercourse with Joseph because doing so would have been against the laws and traditions? 
• Did you know that when the scriptures refer to the brethren of Jesus that the word “brethren” is a cultural usage which commonly means relatives, including cousins, step-brothers, uncles? 
• Did you know that even the Protestant Reformers such as Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and John Wesley all held that Mary was “Ever Virgin”? 
• Did you know that the idea that Mary gave birth to other children after Jesus is a Protestant view and a relatively new one? 

Let’s see what the early church fathers have said all along:

The Protoevangelium of James

"And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by [St. Anne], saying, ‘Anne! Anne! The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.’ And Anne said, ‘As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God, and it shall minister to him in the holy things all the days of its life.’ . . . And [from the time she was three] Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there" (Protoevangelium of James 4, 7 [A.D. 120]).

"And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of priests, saying, ‘Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, lest perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord?’ And they said to the high priest, ‘You stand by the altar of the Lord; go in and pray concerning her, and whatever the Lord shall manifest to you, that also will we do.’ . . . [A]nd he prayed concerning her, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him saying, ‘Zechariah! Zechariah! Go out and assemble the widowers of the people and let them bring each his rod, and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be. . . . And Joseph [was chosen]. . . . And the priest said to Joseph, ‘You have been chosen by lot to take into your keeping the Virgin of the Lord.’ But Joseph refused, saying, ‘I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl’" (ibid., 8–9).

"And Annas the scribe came to him [Joseph] . . . and saw that Mary was with child. And he ran away to the priest and said to him, ‘Joseph, whom you did vouch for, has committed a grievous crime.’ And the priest said, ‘How so?’ And he said, ‘He has defiled the virgin whom he received out of the temple of the Lord and has married her by stealth’" (ibid., 15).

"And the priest said, ‘Mary, why have you done this? And why have you brought your soul low and forgotten the Lord your God?’ . . . And she wept bitterly saying, ‘As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before him, and know not man’" (ibid.). (Full Account)

Origen

"The Book [the Protoevangelium] of James [records] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end, so that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word . . . might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Spirit came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony with reason that Jesus was the firstfruit among men of the purity which consists in [perpetual] chastity, and Mary was among women. For it were not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the firstfruit of virginity" (Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]).

Hilary of Poitiers

"If they [the brethren of the Lord] had been Mary’s sons and not those taken from Joseph’s former marriage, she would never have been given over in the moment of the passion [crucifixion] to the apostle John as his mother, the Lord saying to each, ‘Woman, behold your son,’ and to John, ‘Behold your mother’ [John 19:26–27), as he bequeathed filial love to a disciple as a consolation to the one desolate" (Commentary on Matthew 1:4 [A.D. 354]).

Athanasius

"Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary" (Discourses Against the Arians 2:70 [A.D. 360]).

Epiphanius of Salamis

"We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . who for us men and for our salvation came down and took flesh, that is, was born perfectly of the holy ever-virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit" (The Man Well-Anchored 120 [A.D. 374]).

"And to holy Mary, [the title] ‘Virgin’ is invariably added, for that holy woman remains undefiled" (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 78:6 [A.D. 375]).

Jerome

"[Helvidius] produces Tertullian as a witness [to his view] and quotes Victorinus, bishop of Petavium. Of Tertullian, I say no more than that he did not belong to the Church. But as regards Victorinus, I assert what has already been proven from the gospel—that he [Victorinus] spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary but brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in point of kinship, not by nature. [By discussing such things we] are . . . following the tiny streams of opinion. Might I not array against you the whole series of ancient writers? Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and many other apostolic and eloquent men, who against [the heretics] Ebion, Theodotus of Byzantium, and Valentinus, held these same views and wrote volumes replete with wisdom. If you had ever read what they wrote, you would be a wiser man" (Against Helvidius: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary 19 [A.D. 383]).

"We believe that God was born of a virgin, because we read it. We do not believe that Mary was married after she brought forth her Son, because we do not read it. . . . You [Helvidius] say that Mary did not remain a virgin. As for myself, I claim that Joseph himself was a virgin, through Mary, so that a virgin Son might be born of a virginal wedlock" (ibid., 21).

Didymus the Blind

"It helps us to understand the terms ‘first-born’ and ‘only-begotten’ when the Evangelist tells that Mary remained a virgin ‘until she brought forth her first-born son’ [Matt. 1:25]; for neither did Mary, who is to be honored and praised above all others, marry anyone else, nor did she ever become the Mother of anyone else, but even after childbirth she remained always and forever an immaculate virgin" (The Trinity 3:4 [A.D. 386]).

Ambrose of Milan

"Imitate her [Mary], holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of material virtue; for neither have you sweeter children [than Jesus], nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son" (Letters 63:111 [A.D. 388]).

Pope Siricius I

"You had good reason to be horrified at the thought that another birth might issue from the same virginal womb from which Christ was born according to the flesh. For the Lord Jesus would never have chosen to be born of a virgin if he had ever judged that she would be so incontinent as to contaminate with the seed of human intercourse the birthplace of the Lord’s body, that court of the eternal king" (Letter to Bishop Anysius [A.D. 392]).

Augustine

"In being born of a Virgin who chose to remain a Virgin even before she knew who was to be born of her, Christ wanted to approve virginity rather than to impose it. And he wanted virginity to be of free choice even in that woman in whom he took upon himself the form of a slave" (Holy Virginity 4:4 [A.D. 401]).

"It was not the visible sun, but its invisible Creator who consecrated this day for us, when the Virgin Mother, fertile of womb and integral in her virginity, brought him forth, made visible for us, by whom, when he was invisible, she too was created. A Virgin conceiving, a Virgin bearing, a Virgin pregnant, a Virgin bringing forth, a Virgin perpetual. Why do you wonder at this, O man?" (Sermons 186:1 [A.D. 411]).

"Heretics called Antidicomarites are those who contradict the perpetual virginity of Mary and affirm that after Christ was born she was joined as one with her husband" (Heresies 56 [A.D. 428]).

Leporius

"We confess, therefore, that our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, born of the Father before the ages, and in times most recent, made man of the Holy Spirit and the ever-virgin Mary" (Document of Amendment 3 [A.D. 426]).

Cyril of Alexandria

"[T]he Word himself, coming into the Blessed Virgin herself, assumed for himself his own temple from the substance of the Virgin and came forth from her a man in all that could be externally discerned, while interiorly he was true God. Therefore he kept his Mother a virgin even after her childbearing" (Against Those Who Do Not Wish to Confess That the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God 4 [A.D. 430]).

Pope Leo I

"His [Christ’s] origin is different, but his [human] nature is the same. Human usage and custom were lacking, but by divine power a Virgin conceived, a Virgin bore, and Virgin she remained" (Sermons 22:2 [A.D. 450]).

In their own words…

Are Baptists Protestants? (Part Two) "The Mason Connection"

The Baptist's claim that they are not and never were Protestants may become moot as one wonders whether or not their evolution toward Paganism will in the future even merit the term "Christian Body". How is it that Baptist Pastors, Deacons and Laymen defend with all their might that the Baptist Church is the Original New Testament Church, and yet Baptists make up over 37% of the Masonic membership in the United States? Why do 14% of the SBC Pastors and 18% of the SBC Deacons, worship at the altar of a pagan God as Masons and why are they unequally yoked with other religions who make up the Masonic brotherhood and why do they find fellowship in a pagan Masonic Temple? Something is amiss. Could it be that the autonomy of which Baptists are so proud, is actually a result of the rebellion born of the Reformation and has opened wide the door to deception? The Orthodox Church, which is the historically verifiable unbroken Church of the Apostles, does not allow membership in a secret society, especially the Masons. To their credit, many Baptist writers and theologians recognize the nature of the Masonic order as a false religion with oaths, creeds, temples, and secret initiations dating back to the Pagan Babylonian Religions. Though it be cloaked in good deeds, the Masonic order is a type of the biblical wolf in sheep's clothing. It is a lion roaming to and fro seeking whom it may devour. My challenge to Baptists who claim to be the one, true, church of the Apostles, is to go to your own Baptist Bookstore, now called Lifeway, and pick up a good book on the Masonic order. You will find it in the "cult" section. If you are the true church, there is a cancer among you. Every individual Baptist who practices the Masonic Religion should renounce any association with it. Should they refused to do so, they should be driven out from among you, especially the Pastors and Deacons who do "feed the flock".

Notes on The Masonic Order by former Mason Charles Finney

Masonic Oaths Procured by Fraud

"I found that in taking these oaths I had been grossly deceived and imposed upon. I had been led to suppose that there were some very important secrets to be communicated to me; but in this I found myself entirely disappointed. Indeed I came to the deliberate conclusion that my oaths had been procured by fraud and misrepresentations; that the institution was in no respect what I had been informed it was; and as I have had the means of examining it more thoroughly, it has become more and more irresistibly plain to me that Masonry is highly dangerous to the State, and in every way injurious to the Church of Christ."

Features of an Anti-Christ
"Judging from unquestionable evidences, how can we fail to pronounce Freemasonry an unchristian institution? We can see that its morality is unchristian. Its oath-bound secrecy is unchristian. The administration and taking of its oaths are unchristian and a violation of the positive command of Christ. And Masonic oaths pledge its members to some of the most unlawful and unchristian things:

1. To conceal each other's crimes.
2. To deliver each other from difficulty, whether right or wrong.
3. To unduly favor Masonry in political action and in business matters.
4. Its members are sworn to retaliate and persecute unto death the violators of Masonic obligations.
5. Freemasonry knows no mercy, and swears its candidates to avenge violations of Masonic obligations unto death.
6. Its oaths are profane, taking the Name of God in vain.
7. The penalties of these oaths are barbarous, even savage.
8. Its teachings are false and profane.
9. Its designs are partial and selfish.
10. Its ceremonies are a mixture of puerility and profanity.
11. Its religion is false.
12. It professes to save men on other conditions than those revealed in the Gospel of Christ.
13. It is wholly an enormous falsehood.
14. It is a swindle, obtaining money from its members under false pretenses.
15. It refuses all examinations, and veils itself under a mantle of oath-bound secrecy.
16. It is virtual conspiracy against both Church and State."

Don’t think the Masonic Lodge is a church? Read this:

From the
Entered Apprentice Degree of Freemasonry

“The word Lodge is analogous to that of church, referring not so much to the place of meeting as to the persons assembled. A lodge may therefore at this time be defined as a certain number of Free and Accepted Masons, duly assembled, furnished with the Holy Bible, the Square and the Compasses, together with a Charter, or Dispensation, from one Grand Body of competent jurisdiction empowering it to work.”

Based on this ceremonial Masonic Oath, the Lodge is a church which uses the Bible with the Square and Compass and a Charter or Dispensation. It is the Charter and Dispensation that should give every Baptist pause. By whose dispensation do you worship and take oaths? By whose charter do you order your life? Even the seemingly reverential kissing of the Holy Scriptures is done through the Masonic Square and Compass that is lain on top.

I challenge you to research further the truth of what I say. The site below is the best that I have found that lays bare the this pagan society's secrets. Baptists, until you have removed yourself from paganism and removed the paganism from your midst, your claim to be the original church in faith and doctrine will fall on deaf ears.

Finally, lest you are too angered by my diatribe, know that I am a fourth generation Southern Baptist who found out only a few years ago that my own highly respected Baptist Pastor Grandfather was a 33rd Degree Mason. I have earned the right to speak frankly on this matter.


To read further click on: www.Ephesians 5-11.org
For a "Church of Christ" Perspective Click Here

Are Baptist Protestants?

In an attempt to validate their authenticity and their very existence, some Protestant denominations acknowledge the importance of having a historic line to the New Testament Church. Much of their foundation is built around proving that they are that Church. Growing up a Baptist I was well aware that we believed we were the "one true church", the original, and that all others were tainted, but it was not until after I became Orthodox that I heard the words "Baptists are not Protestant." This was especially surprising to me because I first heard it from the mouth of my Baptist Pastor Father. I had attended a Baptist University and had earned a baptist degree in Religion and had not heard it. I knew that the Baptist seminaries didn't teach it. The existence of the belief that Baptists are not Protestant should not have taken me by surprise since there are hundreds of different types of Baptist groups all with varying "baptist" doctrinal views. It follows that there would be differing views as to the history and origins of baptists. The problem lies with the fact that few Baptist pastors are theologians and even fewer are historians. These less than scholarly men are quick, however, to embrace the writings of a fellow pastor whose pamphlet, "The Trail of Blood", written in the 1930's has been elevated to a status, it seems, greater than that of the councils of the church, the church fathers or the great church historians. Their entire premise is based on a belief that Baptists have always existed but at times were persecuted and driven underground, their documents and verifiable proof of their existence destroyed by the Roman Church. They point to several groups who they say were Baptists. Rather than cover territory that has already been thoroughly charted I refer you to the article by Steve Ray. If after reading his article you can still believe that Baptists existed before the 1500's, then your greatest attribute is faith...blind faith.

Praying to the Saints

Okay, yes, it is semantics. The usage of the word "pray" has been altered in today's American vernacular. Keep in mind that Orthodoxy has not been Americanized, thanks be to God, neither has it been culturized. The old English usage may help to understand how we as Orthodox have the audacity to "pray" to anyone other than God. Do you remember the old "pray tell"? It simply means "please do tell". The root usage is to talk to or speak. Praying to the saints is to talk to them. It does not suggest that they have the independent power to answer or move matters on earth or take on any of the attributes of God. Now, what do we talk to them about? We ask them to pray for us. They are not dead. They are the faithful of all the ages who exist around the throne of God. It is these same saints who are present in the Liturgy as the "windows of heaven" open to touch we who are in earthen vessels through the Eucharist. They are worshiping with us and we with them. The most common objection I receive from my Protestant friends is, "Why do I need them to pray for me when I can go to God directly?" My answer has never been misunderstood nor rejected by the questioner, "Do you ever ask anyone to pray for you? Why do you do that if you can go directly to God?" These same questioners go to counselors or ask advise of others. Why do they do this if they can go directly to God? The fact is that we all recognize that we need each other. We bear one another's burdens. We are to "confess our faults to one another". We are to "pray for one another", and the Saints are not dead! They remain that "great cloud of witnesses' to all that occurs in the Kingdom of God, including that which occurs to we who are still in our mortal bodies. Who better to pray for us than those who have "run the good race, and fought the good fight" and who now dwell in their heavenly bodies? So, we who are Orthodox stand before an Icon or picture of a Saint who we know may have endured the same that we are going through and ask them to "pray to God for me". My prayer to my patron Saint is:

"O saint of God, Paul, pray to God for me, for my home and my family. Amen. Pray to God for me, O Saint Paul, well-pleasing to God, for I readily recommend myself to you, who are the speedy helper and intercessor for my soul. Amen."

The Spirit Of Lent

O Lord and Master of my life take from me

the Spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of
power, and idle talk.

But give rather the Spirit of chastity,
humility, patience, and love to thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King grant me to see my
own sins and not to judge my brother; for
Thou art blessed unto the ages of ages.

Amen