Is God Mad At You?

"Moreover, the very concept of "anger" in relation to God is conditional and anthropomorphic, as we learn from the teaching of Saint Anthony the Great, who says: "God is good, dispassionate and immutable. Now someone who thinks it reasonable and true to affirm, that God does not change, may well ask how in that case, it is possible to speak of God as rejoicing over those who are good and showing mercy to those who honor Him, while turning away from the wicked and being angry with sinners. To this it must be answered that God neither rejoices nor grows angry, for to rejoice and to be offended are passions; nor is He won over by the gifts of those who honor Him, for that would mean He is swayed by pleasure...He is good, and He only Bestows blessings and never does harm, remaining always the same. We men, on the other hand if we remain good through resembling God, are united to Him; but if we become evil through not resembling God, we are separated from Him. By living in holiness, we cleave to God, we are separated from Him. By living in holiness, we cleave to God; but by becoming wicked we make Him our enemy. It is not that He grows angry with us in an arbitrary way, but it is our own sins that prevent God from shining within us, and expose us to the demons that punish us. And if through prayer and acts of compassion we gain release from our sins, this does not mean that we have won God over and have made Him change, but that through our actions and our turning to God we have cured our wickedness and so once more have enjoyment of God's goodness. Thus to say that God turns away from the wicked is like saying the sun hides itself from the blind" (Philokaloa, Vol 1, Text 150; Engl. tr. by Palmer-Sherrard-Ware, p. 352). (Entire excerpt from Orthodox Dogmatic Theology p. 350, by Father Michael Pomazansky, Transated and Edited by Heirmonk Seraphim Rose)

Does The Church Denounce The Performing Arts?

Excerpt from The Orthodox Pastoral Service by Professor Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) Translated from Russian by Tatiana Pavlova:

The Gospel clearly indicates that the world lies in the evil, that the sin penetrates everywhere, that it is necessary to observe ourselves and to walk “not as foolish, but as wise” and not to become a part of the affairs of darkness. All temptations of the heathen world of “the disorderly cries and drunkenness” must be removed away from Christianity, especially from each pastor. But must we add to this all pleasure, happiness or normal human entertainments? Does the Gospel oppose all merriment? Must we then forbid all happiness, and turn the sermon of salvation thus to a gloomy cloud covering all life? Is it instructive to banish from the whole life or only from priestly habit all entertainment, merriment and searching for the beautiful in life? Must Savonarola be acknowledged as the ideal of the priestly service?

It is hardly necessary to prove that rigorism is not characteristic of the spirit of the Gospel. The example of the Savior, Who attended the suppers of simple people, marriage meals and nowhere denounced merriment, beauty, innocent pleasures of life, — does not justify of the gloomy attitude of the pastors of Savonarola’s type, typical of the Latins, Archimandrite Photius (Spassky) and Constantine Matveevsky.

But if merriment, pleasures, entertainment, and beauty are not forbidden for the simple people, for the flock, then how will a pastor who condemns everything, except piety in the narrow sense, soul saving literature and divine services, be able to understand his flock, how will he not repel it from himself? A priest who values music, theater, exhibitions of pictures and literature only as the evil charms of the devil, will never understand his flock, which lives by these interests. The flock will only stand away and fear such a priest, afraid of his censure and strict scolding at every turn. Such a priest will never be able to understand his flock, or give useful advice about whether one or another phenomenon is good or bad, if they ask him for such advice.

            

The sharpest is the question about the theater. In writings of the fathers, especially in Tertullian and Chrysostom this kind of art meets only irreconcilable and extreme denouncement. How many bitter words Tertullian said to the lovers of theatrical shows! How he condemns all the actors, gladiators, and musicians into eternal fire! Chrysostom is not much softer. But it is necessary to recall what the theater of their times was and whether there exists a certain difference with our operas, dramas and comedies.

If the theater of the second to fourth centuries were, as the folk shows of the Byzantine middle ages, full of rough and sensual details, resembling heathen bacchanalias, this is why the Apostle could speak at that time about “the disorderly cries, yelling and drunkenness” that could not serve to the ennobling of dispositions, and why the church condemned all this and warned the faithful not to fall into this explicit temptation. But theatrical art has something else; if offers medieval mysteries, different religious dramatizations, known in the West and East. These arts came to us through Kiev and Little Russia, but it happened absolutely legally, and the Church was sufficiently opened-minded to tolerate them and even to patronize them. Furthermore, it is necessary to have a look at the historical perspective: the theater of Tertullian’s epoch was full of erotic, immoral elements. The repertoire of our days contains many vulgar and obscene things. However, along with the frivolous repertoire and tempting plays, theatrical literature gave us an enormous number of excellent, purely artistic works. Shakespeare, Racine, Sheller, Pushkin, Chekhov and many others raise the soul above rough feelings, force us to think about something higher, take the spectator away into some other world, distant from banality and prose. It would not occur to sober thinking people to place the opera of our days, the Artistic Theater and serious symphonic concerts with those plays by mimes, gladiators and Bacchanailan dances. If we add to this that the artists themselves very frequently were and are deeply religious persons (Savina, Yermolova, Butova, Sadovskaya, etc.) who served the theater as a form of art, then any generalizations must be made with caution.

Saint Moses Says...

Moses The Black--Moses The Strong--Moses The Ethiopian

"Brethren and Fathers, humility humbles the demons and vainglory exalts them. Whoever deprives himself of esteem and is humble of speech weakens the demon’s power. Whoever is not lowly of mind is mocked by demons. Also, the Lord will not listen, nor receive his petition to whomever prays and does not fix in his mind his own sinfulness. Everyone must keep before his eyes his transgressions and shameless conduct, so as not to judge others in the least, and to fulfill the salvific command of the Redeemer: “Judge not lest you be judged.” Then it is certain that he will be saved in the end."

Give Account For Yourself, Not Others

When will we love people more than we love debating jurisdictional disputes? When will our face to the world look like Christ rather than our chosen jurisdictional logos? When will we pursue the unity of the whole Church over the unity of our own cloistered friends? When will we cease sewing seeds of discord among the brethren?

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

"Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written:

“As I live, says the Lord,

Every knee shall bow to Me,

And every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way."

Do Not Worry

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." + Jesus the Christ +

Should We Treat Schismatic And Non-Orthodox Churches As Enemies?

There is so much vitriolic diatribe in the struggle for the pure orthodox faith. Name calling, accusations, judgement, and slanders abound. Various professing orthodox groups treat one another with suspicion and some orthodox bloggers have as their mission to actively condemn any and all who call for unity. As a blogger, I myself have been called an "enemy of the church". But did not Jesus call for unity? "...so they may be one even as I am one...". Yes, we know that unity/oneness cannot come unless all share in common the orthodox profession, but would not our Lord's desire better be served by all of us striving to bring redemption to the heretics, schismatics and the lost rather than just shouting "Enemy! Enemy"! How can it not be God's will for all of us to have the heart of Saint John of Kronstadt and to share in his prayer?

"Confirm in this faith my own heart and the hearts of all Orthodox Christians: enlighten us to live worthily of this faith and this hope; unite in this faith all the great Christian bodies which have dangerously fallen away from the unity of the Holy Orthodox Catholic Church, which is Thy Body and whose Head art Thou and Savior of the body; subdue the pride and opposition of their teachers and their followers; grant that they may comprehend with their hearts the truth and salutariness of Thy Church and unite with Her without laziness: join also to Thy Holy Church those ailing from schism, breaking their obstinacy and standing up against Thy Truth with the power of Thy Spirit's grace, that they may not perish in their resistance as did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who opposed Moses and Aaron, Thy servants. To this faith attract all the nations which inhabit the earth, so that with one heart and one mouth all nations will glorify Thee, the One God and Provider of all; unite all of us as well in this faith with the Spirit of humility, piety, meekness, simplicity, impassibility, patience, forbearance, mercy, compassion, and the sharing of joyfulness."

The Lord has convicted me of my sin as of late, wherein I have mistaken the fine line between seeking justice and seeking righteousness. I have confessed my sin and made restitution personally to those to whom God has led. I ask the regular JTO readers, and others who may pass this way, to forgive any such sin or attitude I have displayed in any of the hundreds of articles I have posted throughout the years. 

Schismatics and Non-Orthodox are not our enemies. We must love them into the faith. Speak the truth always, and dogmatically if need be, but speak the truth in love.

Are You Asleep In The Light?

Where are the young prophets in the Orthodox Church? Rise up oh men and women of God and shout the clarion call!

Asleep in The Light

Do you see, do you see

All the people sinking down

Don’t you care, don’t you care

Are you gonna let them drown

How can you be do numb

Not to care if they come

You close your eyes

And pretend the job’s done

Oh bless me lore, bless me lord

You know it’s all I ever hear

No one aches, no one hurts

No one even sheds one tear

But he cries, he weeps, he bleeds

And he cares for you needs

And you just lay back

And keep soaking it in

Oh can’t you see it’s such a sin

’cause he brings people to you door

And you turn them away

As you smile and say

God bless you, be at peace

And all heaven just weeps

’cause jesus came to you door

You’ve left him out on the streets

Open up open up

And give yourself away

You see the need, you hear the cries

So how can you delay

God’s calling and you’re the one

But like jonah you run

He’s told you to speak

But you keep holding it in

Of can’t you see it’s such a sin

The world is sleeping in the dark

That the church just can’t fight

’cause it’s asleep in the light

How can you be so dead

When you’ve been so well fed

Jesus rose from the grave

And you, you can’t even get out of bed

Oh, jesus rose from the dead

Come on get out of your bed

How can you be so numb

Not to care if they come

You close your eyes

And pretend the job’s done

You close your eyes

And pretend the job’s done

Don’t close your eyes

Don’t pretend the jobs done

Come away, come away, come away with me my love

Come away, come away, come away with me my love

The Arts and the Artist- The Christian Misconception

Note: This article is to be credited to another. I typed it years ago with a real typewriter, before the days of computers and printers. I was remiss in not recording the author's name. Whoever he or she may be, thank you for knowing my heart and putting into words this poignant prose. Your words still resound with the truth.

In the arts there should be no segregation of secular and religious subject matter. Reality, like God, is one. This is not an unusual idea . . . Augustine saw the cosmos as one unit divinely infused and all mankind as one brotherhood. He saw reality, spiritual and physical, as moving toward an unfolding of God's purposes.  Reality was cumulative advancement of mankind, materially and spiritually, through time, as history taught God's lessons through experience.  Augustine rejoiced in the goodness of the arts and extolled their virtue as part of God's creation.  To him, all of reality was part of the divine unfolding of history.

Christian artists who agonize over what they should create from the point of view of what is allegedly "Christian subject matter" are engaged in an exercise in futility -- an exercise usually motivated by false guilt bred of bad theology that has divided reality into "secular" and "Christian" and that perceives art as only a useful propaganda tool for evangelism.

For the Christian there is no taboo subject matter any more than there are evil or taboo colors.  Though how we portray each subject is important, as is its context, reality, as it is perceived is fit subject for the artist.  To tell the truth is our only artistic, moral imperative.

There are too few people in the church who comprehend the artistic struggle and encourage Christians to succeed in the arts, there are, however, many Christian guilt-mongers who place burdens on others that they themselves do not bear; their attitude is embolden in the what's -Christian-about-that? school of art critics who do not understand the arts or the daily reality of the artist's struggle.

As artists we yearn for sympathetic Christian critics with a knowledge of art and the historical perspective about art movements necessary to make an intelligent contribution to our work.  Such understanding is, unfortunately, rare.  Instead, we are often subjected to moralistic posturing on the part of Christians who ignorance is only matched by their intransigence.

We as Christians need the help, guidance, and advise of other believers.  But we must be careful, as artists, to have realistic expectations about this human advice.  Just because someone is a believing, practicing Christian does not mean he or she will have the wisdom, knowledge, or sympathy to advise us knowledgeably about our artistic work. Just because someone claims that God has laid something on his heart does not mean God has! The pastor, teacher, friend, or family member may or may not know enough about a particular field of endeavor to give good advise.

Better the knowledgeable advice of a non-believing expert than the heavy yolk of false spiritual guilt imposed by an ignorant believer, however well intentioned. Artistic talent is truly a gift and must be protected, especially against the onslaught of misguided saints . . . It is a tragedy that so many Christians who seek to work in the arts and media receive so little knowledgeable encouragement.

Be Abased

I received the counsel of a priest this week. In confession, he told me to BE ABASED. The Lord also told me NOT to seek justice but to seek righteousness. I have repented. I am forgiven. But I must now make amends for my acts of pride.

Here is the standard of God for me and for all who would walk in the Glory of God.

"In all things and at all times be abased

Seek Righteousness not Justice."

Definition of ABASE
1. archaic : to lower physically
2. : to lower in rank, office, prestige, or esteem

                                                                                                                Keirkegaard

Philippians 4:12-13

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The great dichotomy: To be strong you must become weak.

Film Review By Ben Andrus

Pasolini’s Gospel According to Saint Matthew

A Review By Ben Andrus

In Pasolini’s masterpiece, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, we encounter Jesus Christ praying in the morning on his knees with his arms lifted, palms open, ready to encounter his Father’s presence. Similarly, early Christian icons depict prayer in the same manner. Though an Atheist and a Marxist, Pier Paolo Pasolini still emerged from a devoutly Roman Catholic culture, and these ancient depictions would be familiar to him.

In this review we will discuss Pasolini’s much beloved film, demonstrate that it is truly a Christian film while also presenting particular problems and inadequacies as a text.

Can a non-Christian artist produce truly Christian art, or must the artist be a believer to transmit the lore of the Faith purely? Certainly there isn’t enough space to adequately discuss this question in this review, but suffice to say that we will approach the topic of The Gospel from the perspective that it is entirely possible for a nonbeliever to create Christian art. Lloyd Baugh, author ofImagining the Divine takes the opportunity to discuss this more thoroughly in his book. He makes three points that are worth repeating here: first the film must be judged on its own merits as a film (does the film accomplish its “mission”), secondly, and apropos our discussion, if The Gospel According to St. Matthew received official sanction by the Roman Catholic Church, then certainly others can produce films of the same caliber. Thirdly, Baugh makes an important point that the question of belief versus non-belief is a complex one. Baugh states, “ The lines of demarcation between belief and non-belief are sometimes very unclear and often include wide areas of grey. Perhaps…the sincere and coherent searching of the agnostic can be a valid position from which to search, to reflect artistically on the Christ-event by creating a Christ figure.” (111-112) Though Pasolini was unequivocal about his Atheism; we must offer the distinction that he was not necessarily anti-Christian (99).

The story of Pasolini’s decision to make The Gospel is a compelling one. Virtually confined to a house in Assisi awaiting preparations for the visit of Pope John XXIII (to whom his film is dedicated) while a guest of Pro Civitate Christiana, a Catholic cultural organization, Pasolini read the Gospel of Matthew straight through like a novel (95). The specific passage of scripture that riveted him was Matthew 10:34: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Pasolini’s desire was to depict the gospel strictly from the text, a “realist desire to show what lies hidden,” for often this passage glossed over or ignored. In it Pasolini discovered a Jesus who was a revolutionary (Viano 133).

Photographed in stark black and white, the Jesus of The Gospel According to Saint Matthew is a revolutionary. When a Pharisee chides him for healing on the Sabbath, this Christ replies in single-mindedness “ Is it not lawful to do well on the Sabbath.” He gives the Pharisee a scolding look as he (the Pharisee) was an insolent child.  Of course, the aforementioned scripture, the one that first inspired Pasolini to make the film takes prominence. Jesus walks through a city and prepares his disciples for a mission and for a future of martyrdom. The scene culminates with a swelling musical score. Jesus tells his disciples that he has not come to bring peace, but division. The ancient, crumbling city and the rugged hills of southern Italy make up the background.  This film-Jesus is a dynamic energetic figure, less the mystic sage, but ever on the move, and filling the screen space with his intensity. At least one critic has drawn a comparison between the fiery portrayal of Jesus by Enrique Irazoqui and the equally fiery revolutionary Che Guevara (Macnab 62). Truly, Irazoqui is only missing a beret. “Often Pasolini’s camera pictures him from behind, from the point of view of the disciples as they try to keep up with him. Jesus’ words acquire great power because they are spoken as he moves, or as he stops and twists his body to look back at them and us” (Baugh 102). Critic Maurizio Viano conjectures that Pasolini wanted his Jesus to evoke a love/hate relationship with tradition and the Law. “Such a gesture of simultaneous affirmation/negation,” Viano states, “is cleverly emphasized by a recurrent image in Pasolini’s film: Christ’s most often-repeated posture shows him walking decisively ahead, with his back to the camera and his face turned towards it, an image which stresses leadership but also conveys the sense of going ahead while looking back” (141).

Though very intense, this Jesus is not without mercy and compassion and genuine warmth. Jesus smiles happily, obviously full of joy when he is surrounded by the children in the temple. The encounter and healing of the leper—perhaps one of the most poignant, beautiful scenes in the entire film—is compelling. “…There is a marvelous warm exchange of smiles between him and the man.” Jesus also seems to enjoy very much the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and also speaks kindly to his disciples during the Last Supper scene (Baugh 103).

Far from being a complete word for word rendering of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Pasolini’s film is not without its problems. Pasolini completely leaves out the Transfiguration from Matthew 16. Jesus’ mother Mary is also inexplicably present at the Crucifixion whereas in the Gospel she is not. “Here Pasolini is blatantly violating his own rule of absolute faithfulness to Matthew’s text” (101). The disciples, whose presences unfortunately are mostly limited to long camera takes, get short shrift in Pasolini’s film. “The Apostles are not fully developed characters; none of them has a personal story, not even Judas who, as a rule, is the privileged locus of psychological interpretations.” The Pharisees themselves are only shown as virtually faceless, rigid symbols of power (Viano 139).

Though certainly not a Catholic or even a Christian of any stripe, being in fact an Atheist and a dedicated Marxist, Pier Paolo Pasolini dedicated The Gospel According to St. Matthew to Pope John XXIII. Pasolini was convinced that Christianity and Marxism, at there deepest level, were very similar (Baugh 99). Certainly, his film was an attempt to reconcile the two, hence his strong, revolutionary Jesus. Of course if Marxism shows any resemblance to Christianity it is because the religion influenced culture for almost 2,000 years before Marx published his writings. We can affirm that concern for the poor, and speaking truth to power “come with the territory,” when speaking of Christianity. Pasolini’s film, however, remains a beautiful, startling work, both truly representative of the revolutionary figure of Jesus Christ and the revolutionary time it was made.

Works Cited

Baugh, Lloyd. Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ –Figures in Film. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (1997).

Macnab, Geoffrey, Lucy Neville, and Matthew Leyland. “The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Film).” Sight & Sound 12.12 (2002): 62.Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Jan. 2011.

Viano, Maurizio Sanzio. A Certain Realism : Making Use of Pasolini’s Film Theory and Practice. Berkeley: University of California Press (1993).

Ben Andrus is an Orthodox Christian. He is a freelance photographer and is currently studying film in Virginia, USA.

You may watch the entire film on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ewh5k5-gY