|
"I
posted this on Usenet to answer this question. Catholics, please
don't be offended by the categorization of Byzantine Catholicism as
'Orthodox-like' and 'outside Orthodoxy' because I simply am
repeating the near-consensus among Orthodox groups, writing
originally for a largely Orthodox readership. I hope this overview
is fair.
The
broadest working definition of 'Orthodox' is: those episcopal
(governed by bishops who claim apostolic succession), sacramental,
liturgical Churches that use the Byzantine liturgical rite, canon
law, etc., hold to the seven ecumenical councils from Nicæa in the
300s to Nicæa II in 787 and are not presently in communion with the
Pope of Rome, after a gradual estrangement in the early Middle Ages.
Missing from this definition are the small experimental Western Rite
churches some groups have, mostly made up of former Episcopalians in
the US.
The
stricter, catechetical definition of 'Orthodox' would narrow this to
the Churches recognized by all the other Orthodox Churches as
independent (self-headed or autocephalous, usually headed by a
patriarch) and with whom they are in communion. This communion of
Churches and their dependent (mission) churches makes up the
Orthodox Church. There are splinter groups that fall outside these
strict parameters, like the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of
Russia, an exile group formed after the Russian Revolution, and
various Greek and other groups founded to protest the use of the
Gregorian calendar by their countries' Churches, but few people say
they are not Orthodox. (ROCOR is in the Orthodox communion thanks to
its tie to the Church of Serbia. The groups not in communion with
any Orthodox church are, technically, non-Orthodox.)
As for
Orthodox-like groups outside Orthodoxy, these fall into two
categories:
-
Byzantine Catholics (including the Melkites
and Ukrainian Catholics) and
-
Vagantes.
The
former once were Orthodox but partly on their own and partly due to
Catholic proselytism broke their ties to their mother Churches and
were put under the Pope starting in the 1500s. These Churches once
were convert-making tools used by Catholics to hurt the Orthodox but
that policy, called 'Uniatism', now has been discarded. There is
some confusion among Orthodox and Catholics alike about the status
of the BCs and what exactly they believe in. Are they exactly like
Orthodox only in communion with the Pope? The BCs I know personally
hold this. Or are they now sui generis, something unique that is no
longer Orthodox? Other BCs and a lot of Orthodox hold this. Are they
full Churches like the Orthodox or just appendages of the Roman
Catholic Church? Again, you'll get different answers depending on
who you ask. Do the postschism Roman definitions of dogma apply to
them? If they accept Orthodoxy in full, then the definitions aren't
necessary.
The
second group is the ragtag bunch of tiny churches that exist largely
on paper and on the Web (few real members and practically no
generational members) and on the fringes of the Anglican and Roman
Catholic churches, from whence its people come. They often call
themselves 'Old Catholics' (not to be confused with the actual Old
Catholic sect in Germany and Holland) but recently, adopting some
Eastern trappings piecemeal and liking the decentralized, nonpapal
ecclesiology of the real Orthodox, have taken to passing themselves
off as Orthodox. You often will find a weird mix of liberalism with
a liking for traditional ritual.
And on
close inspection, underneath the vestments and the fancy titles they
affect, you find the real reasons why they broke with their original
church, like active homosexuality, wanting to ordain women, etc.
They make much of their 'lines' of apostolic succession, sometimes
false, and something real Orthodox, who emphasize the communion of
the Church more than lineage, don't do."
Who we
are:
John
Beeler, known in some quarters online as Serge and more recently the
Young Fogey, is the owner and editor of A Conservative Blog For
Peace, has lived in the eastern US for 15 years and keeps an eye on
the war in Iraq and other peace and justice issues (too important to
be left to the liberals), issues of liberty, some British and
Russian doings (he is an amateur Russian speaker) and the church
Catholic in general.
Samer
al-Batal, a born Eastern Christian who belongs to the Melkite Greek
Catholic Church, is originally from Syria and lives in Montreal.
John
Boyden, our traditional Roman Rite member, has known John Beeler in
person for 15 years and lives in Rome and sometimes in London.
(Photo: John, right, gives TV travel-show presenter Rick Steves,
left, a tour of the Vatican.)
Dave
McLaughlin, a Sept. 11 World Trade Center survivor and Irish Gaelic
speaker (Daithí Mac Lochlann) who worships at St Michael's Russian
Catholic Church, lives in New York. In January 2005 Dave stepped out
and started his own blog, The Gaelic Starover.
Lee
Penn, a Russian Catholic after being an Episcopalian for about 20
years, lives in San Francisco.
______________________________________________________________________
Fr.
Neketas S. Palassis, Canonical Churches: What Does It Mean?,
12/2003, Orthodox Christian Witness, Seattle, WA:
"A
new definition has crept into World Orthodoxy in recent years.
World Orthodoxy has begun to recognize Orthodox Churches on the
basis of their being 'canonical.' By this newly accepted definition
[actually, innovation], to be canonical a church must be in full
communion with Constantinople.
"...But how did the understanding of the term 'canonical' change?
Canonical had meant observing the Holy Canons of the Church,
especially those that relate to the beliefs and practices of the
Church.
"Because of wars and political turmoil in the 20th century, the
administrative structure of the Church became disorganized, most
especially in the 'Diaspora.' 'Mother' Churches or ethnic churches
sought to preserve Orthodoxy by preserving its 'canonical'
organization, i.e., the organization described by the Holy Canons
for dioceses and synods. Unfortunately, in the organizational
struggle for external order, the canons relating to the doctrines
[unity in Faith] were overlooked, aided by a syncretistic and
anti-dogmatic spirit prevalent at the time. An external
administrative union was imposed in order to preserve the Church's
unity, with all parishes bonded under one headquarters [recognition
by and communion with Constantinople]. The traditional
understanding of the canons was set aside. The interpretation of
the Holy Canons has thus become a selective response predicted by
the contemporary moral and irreligious scene.
"
What makes one 'canonical'? Is it not the adherence to what has
been taught everywhere, at all times and has been believed by
everyone?
"
Not one canon of the Orthodox Church teaches that one has to be in
communion with Constantinople (or any other 'ancient see') in order
to be canonical or Orthodox."
______________________________________________________________________
Decree
11 of the Synod of Jerusalem: 1672, The Acts and Decrees of
The Synod of Jerusalem, 1899, J.N.W.B. Robertson, Thomas
Baker Publisher, London:
“We believe to be members of the Catholic [Orthodox] Church all the
Faithful, and only the Faithful; who, forsooth, having received the
blameless Faith of the Savior Christ, from Christ Himself, and the
Apostles, and the Holy Ecumenical Synods, adhere to the same without
wavering; although some of them may be guilty of all manner of
sins.”
______________________________________________________________________
The Onion Dome, website:
“You might be Orthodox, if …
…When
you find yourself instinctively drawn into jurisdictional chaos,
your respond: ‘I don’t believe in organized religion, I’m
Orthodox.’”
______________________________________________________________________
Timothy
(Bishop Kallistos) Ware, The Orthodox Church, 1963/67,
Penguin Books, Baltimore, MD:
“...there is room in Orthodoxy for many different cultural patterns,
for many different ways of worship, and even for many different
systems of outward organization.
"Yet there is one field in which diversity cannot be permitted.
Orthodoxy insists upon unity in matters of the faith. ...for
Orthodoxy looks on the faith as a united and organic whole."
______________________________________________________________________
The
Holy Gospel According to Saints Mark 9:37-40 and Luke 9:49-50:
Jesus says: “‘…whosoever shall receive Me, receives not Me,
but Him that sent Me.’ And John answered Him, saying, ‘Master, we
saw one casting out demons in Your Name, and he follows not us; and
we forbade him, because he follows not us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Forbid
him not; for there is no man who shall do a miracle in MY Name, that
can rightly speak evil of Me. For he that is not against us is for
us.’”
______________________________________________________________________
Saint
Ireneaus (130-202 AD.), Prescription Against Heretics,
Vol. III, p.258, Chapter 32:
“…those churches, who, although they derive not their founder from
apostles or apostolic men (as being of much later date, for they are
in fact being founded daily), yet, since they agree in the same
faith, they are accounted as not less apostolic because they are
akin in doctrine.”
______________________________________________________________________
Gleb
Alexandrovitch Rahr/Prisoner R (Russian) 64923, Orthodox Christian
Laity:
“Pascha in 1945 in Dachau Concentration Camp. They did not care
about jurisdictions then!!”
______________________________________________________________________
George
W. Grubb, MA, ThM, The Complete Book of Orthodoxy,
2001, Regina Orthodox Press:
“Apostolic Succession - “the line of order and faith from the
original Apostles to the present-day hierarchy of the Church.
Orthodox teaching states that valid succession is not imparted
through the simple ‘laying-on-of-hands.’ This ‘laying-on-of-hands’
must be accompanied by the maintenance of the Faith. In other words,
succession is valid only when at least two authentic bishops impart
the consecration (lay-on-hands), and the candidate promises to
believe and teach what the Church believes.”
Prof.
Constantine Cavarnos*, On Validity and Canonicity,
Orthodox Tradition, Vol. 5, Orthodox Christian
Information Center (www.orthodoxinfo.com):
“Apostolic Succession is not understood in the Orthodox Church in a
legalistic way. …Apostolic Succession without an adherence to the
Canons and beliefs of Orthodoxy has no meaning.
“…In essence, then, we judge the validity of any Orthodox group by
its possession of Apostolic Succession, its adherence to basic
Canons, and, in the cases of Churches in resistance that are
separated from their Mother Churches (and even condemned by their
Mother Churches), by the Patristic foundation, canonical
justification, and sincerity of their resistance.”
*[Prof.
Constantine Cavarnos: graduate Harvard University,
Fullbright scholar; lecturer to St. Tikhon Orthodox Seminary,
etc.;
President, Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek
Studies; advisor, Center for Traditionalist Orthodox
Studies.]
______________________________________________________________________
Saint
Chrysostom (347-407), Homily 9 on 1 Timothy:
“There is not much separating them [the presbyters] and the
bishops. For they too are elevated for the teaching and protection
of the Church … They [the bishops] surpass them only in the power
of ordination, and in this alone exceed the presbyters.”
Saint
Irenaeus (c.180 AD.):
“…the presbyters who are in the church – those who, as I have shown,
possess the succession from the apostles. For they are those who,
together with the bishops, have received the certain gift of truth,
according to the good pleasure of the Father.”
______________________________________________________________________
REGARDING “SCHISMATICS”…
Canon 1
of the Canons of St. Basil the Great:
“Heresies is the name applied to those who have broken entirely and
have become alienated from the faith itself. Schisms is the name
applied to those who on account of ecclesiastical causes and
remediable questions have developed a quarrel amongst themselves.”
Interpretation of Canon 1 of the Canons of St. Basil the Great, Ss.
Nicodemus and Agapius:
“Schismatics were those who were at variance with the catholic
Church, not on the subject of dogmas of the Faith, but on account of
certain ecclesiastical easily adjustable questions.”
“…some bishops in parts of Asia accepted their baptism, for the
sake of economy and concession (or condescension), and not as a
matter of strictness and rigorousness, on the theory that
schismatics are still members of the Church. …And since we have
accepted also the ordination performed and the bishops thus ordained
by the Encratites, with this acceptance we have actually thereby
made what amounts to a Canon, and have shown that they are not
separated from the catholic Church.”
Fr.
Michael Azkoul, The Orthodox Word, May-June 1970,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North and South
America:
There is a “distinguish[ment] between ‘heresy’ – theological
departure from the Faith – and ‘schism’ – an administrative
departure. Although heretics are not members of the Church,
schismatics retain their membership (Const., Canon 7). Thus,
violation of canon law which may, in some instances, lead to schism
does not necessarily involve apostasy. To break a canon law may be
impious, but in itself it is not heretical.”
Patrick Henry Reardon, A Reply to Fr. John Morris:
Concerning His Review of My Book, The Non-Orthodox, 1999, Regina
Orthodox Press, Salisbury, MA; Orthodox Christian Information
Center,
www.orthodoxinfo.com:
“…it can be discerned in the corpus of Patristic writings, clear
cut. As stated in the aforementioned Decree XI from the Synod of
Jerusalem [1672], as well as in Article 5 from the Patriarchal
Encyclical of 1848 (quoted in my book), those who do not profess the
Orthodox Faith, ‘whoever they be’ (1848), are heretics, outside of
Christ’s Church. Period. This is a position reflecting the
Church’s traditional ecclesiology.
“…Whether the heterodox may be saved is indeed a mystery. …from
Holy Scripture and the writings of various Fathers, …we can rightly
have such hope concerning them. And if various heterodox are
granted life eternal according to the mysterious and all-wise
counsel of God, then no doubt they are made members of the Church
Triumphant. But concerning the Church Militant, the focus of my
book, we cannot answer as did Nicholas Zernov (an Orthodox
representative at an ecumenical discussion who responded, ‘I do not
know,’ when asked by an Anglican, ‘Are we, according to your
opinion, inside or outside the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Church?’”).
*[Patrick Barnes’ received the recommendation of Antiochian
Archdiocese Bishop Basil (Essey) as being “very succinct (and
correct)” in the “Ask Sayidna” column of the 01 May 2001
issue
of Cross & Quill, a publication of the Antiochian
Orthodox Department of Christian Education.]
Saint
Cyril (315-386 AD.) of Jerusalem, Procat., 7:
“None but heretics are re-baptized, because their former ‘baptism’
was no baptism.”
Canon
68 of the 85 Canons of the Holy Apostles:
“If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon accepts a second ordination
from anyone, let him and the one who ordained him be deposed.
Unless it be established that his ordination has been performed by
heretics. For those who have been baptized or ordained by such
persons cannot possibly be either faithful Christians or clergymen.”
Dr.
Alexander Kalomiros*, Against False Union, chapters 28-30:
Orthodox Ecclesiology, 1963 (English edition, St. Nectarios
Press, Seattle, WA, 1990):
“The notion that the interruption of jurisdictional dependence of a
local church from a patriarchate cuts this church off from the
Orthodox Church is not Orthodox but Papal. …the existence of
jurisdictional dependence of churches upon one patriarch is of Papal
inspiration. An Orthodox patriarch is a president, a coordinator of
efforts, an adviser of great importance, but he is not a despot, not
a sovereign.” (Canon 34 of the 85 Canons of the Holy Apostles)
*[Dr. Alexander Kalomiros of Blessed Memory,
renown contemporary
Greek
lay theologian. Against False Union first appeared in Greek
(1963), and was acclaimed for its clarity and sincerity wherever
read. The fathers of the Holy Mountain consider it God-inspired and
recommend it highly. The chapters in ecclesiology and eschatology
are unparalleled -(St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology).
Prologue written by Photios Kontoglou of blessed memory (1895-1965),
who played a major role in the glorious return of traditional
Byzantine iconography to the Greek Orthodox world in the twentieth
century. He was also an accomplished chanter and a spiritual writer
who inspired countless souls to embrace the unadultered traditions
of the Orthodox faith.]
“Schism”? Or, more to truth: “Walled Off” - by larger, older,
desperately competing and politically motivated self-estranged
sister churches?
______________________________________________________________________
Saint
John Chrysostom (347-407 AD.), Homilies on Colossians,
Homily 3:
“…Aaron was not smitten with leprosy. For why, tell me, when both
[he and Miriam] had spoken against Moses did she alone suffer the
punishment? (Numbers 11) Marvel not: for in worldly dignities, even
though ten thousand charges be laid against a man, yet is he not
brought to trial before he has laid down his office, in order that
it may not be dishonored along with him; much more in the case of
spiritual office, be he whosoever he may, the grace of God works in
him, for otherwise everything is lost: but when he hath laid it
down, either after he is departed or even here, then indeed, then he
will suffer a sorer punishment.
“…If the throne of Moses was of such reverence, that for its sake
they were to be heard, much more the throne of Christ. It, we have
received by succession; from it we speak; since the time that Christ
hath vested in us the ministry of reconciliation.”
Saint
John Chrysostom, quoted from The Rudder, 1793, Ss.
Nicodemus and Agapius:
“God does not ordain all men, even though they themselves are
unworthy, in order that the people may be saved” (Homily 2 on 2
Timothy, Vol. 4, p. 337). “Because grace operates through the
unworthy not on their account, but for the sake of those who are
destined to be benefited” (Discourse on 1 Thessalonians, Vol.
4, p. 216). “But now, it must be said, God is wont to operate also
through unworthy persons…” (Discourse 8 on 1 Corinthians, Vol. 3,
p.290). “God’s grace is also operative in an unworthy person, not
for our sake, but for your sake” (Discourse 3 on the Epistle to the
Colossians, Vol. 3, p. 107).
Saint
Symeon (d. 1429) of Thessalonica, Reply 13:
“in regard to ordination grace operates in them, whether they are
prelates or priests, for the salvation of those coming to church;
and all the mysteries they celebrate are in very truth mysteries.
…such men, who, whether they sinned before the ordination or after
the ordination.”
Saint
John Sergiev of Kronstadt, 1829-1908, My Life in Christ,
1994, Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY:
“…in the sacraments everything is accomplished for the sake of the
grace of the priesthood with which the priest is invested, for the
sake of the great High Priest Himself – Christ. Whose image the
priest bears upon himself. Therefore, although some priests are
even unworthy of their office, though, they have weaknesses, though
they may be suspicious, incredulous, or distrusted, nevertheless
God’s Mystery is speedily accomplished, in the twinkling of an eye.”
Interpretation, Canon 9 of the First Ecumenical Council, The
Rudder, 1793, Ss. Nicodemus and Agapius:
“…a catholic and general axiom that all who have been ordained
contrary to the Canons and unworthily, are nevertheless true priests
until they are deposed by a council of synod. Because, as divine
Chrysostom says, ‘God does not ordain all men, but He does act
through all men, even though they themselves are unworthy, in order
that the people may be saved’ (Homily 2 on II Tim., p. 337 of Vol.
IV). And again: ‘Because grace operates through the unworthy not on
their account, but for the sake of those who are destined to be
benefited’ (Discourse 11 on 1 Thess., p. 216 of Vol. IV). And
again: ‘But now, it must be said, God is wont to operate also
through unworthy persons, and the grace of baptism is in no respect
injuriously affected by the life of the priest’ (Discourse 8 on 1
Cor., p. 200 of vol. iii). Moreover, in Discourse 3 on the Ep. To
the Col., p. 107 of vol. iii, he proves this by means of numerous
arguments, among which he says these things too: ‘God’s grace is
also operative in an unworthy person, not for our sake, but for your
sake.’”
______________________________________________________________________
Prof.
Constantine Cavarnos, On Validity and Canonicity,
Orthodox Tradition, Vol. 5, Orthodox Christian
Information Center (www.orthodoxinfo.com):
“Ordinations by uncanonical groups in Apostolic Succession and in
the early Church even the ordinations of some heretics (as in the
Iconoclastic period), are not repeated in the Church. Rather, ‘chierothesia,’
or the imposition of hands is utilized, the acting Bishop or Bishops
asking that whatever it might be that is absent from the ordination
be corrected, or that past misbelief be forgiven.”
______________________________________________________________________
The
Holy Gospel According to Saint John 3:8:
“The
wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you
do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with
everyone who is born of the Spirit.” According to Orthodox
Tradition teaching, it is precisely the Holy Spirit that makes a
person a member of the Church of Christ, a Christian.
Archbishop Elias Zoghby of Baalbeck-Lebanon, We Are All
Schismatics, 1981/1996, Diocese of Newton Educational
Services, West Newton, MA:
“Recall, that just as, in cases where baptism cannot be
administered, ‘baptism of desire’ is a real baptism, and equally
produces salvation, the same may be said for an ecclesiastical
‘communion of desire.’ In cases where the Churches, who share the
same faith substantially, do not want or could not achieve full
communion, this desire is equally a real communion and removes the
schism for the one who wants it.”
______________________________________________________________________
Bishop
Kallistos of Diokleia, Greek Orthodox Church-Constantinople,
Communion and Intercommunion, 1980, Light & Life Publishing,
Minneapolis, MN:
“Unity is to be understood not in juridical … terms. Unity is not
imposed from above by some heirarch or administrative center endowed
with supreme power of jurisdiction.”
______________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Alexander Kalomiros*, Against False Union, chapters 28-30:
Orthodox Ecclesiology, 1963 (English edition, St. Nectarios
Press, Seattle, WA, 1990):
“The meaning of catholicity has nothing to do with a universal
organization the way the Papists and those who are influenced by
the Papist mentality understand it.
“…in order to understand what the catholic Church of Christ is, it
suffices to know well only one local church. And as among men, it
is not submission to a hierarchy which unites them but their common
nature, so the local churches are not united by the Pope and the
Papal hierarchy but by their common nature.
“A
local Orthodox church regardless of her size or the number of the
faithful is by herself alone, independently of all the others,
catholic. And this is so because she lacks nothing of the grace and
gift of God. All the local churches of the whole world together do
not contain anything more in divine grace than that small church
with few members.
“…relations with the other local churches are not relations of legal
and jurisdictional interdependence, but relations of love and
grace. One local church is united with all the other local Orthodox
churches of the world by the bond of identity.
“…communion with and respect for one church on the part of the other
churches remains and continues only as long as that church remains
in the Church, that is, as long as it lives and proceeds in spirit
and truth.”
*[Dr. Alexander Kalomiros of Blessed Memory,
renown contemporary
Greek
lay theologian. Against False Union first appeared in Greek
(1963), and was acclaimed for its clarity and sincerity wherever
read. The fathers of the Holy Mountain consider it God-inspired and
recommend it highly. The chapters in ecclesiology and eschatology
are unparalleled -(St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology].
______________________________________________________________________
The Onion Dome website:
“A
conversation that takes place all across North America, near daily:
Born-Orthodox: ‘So, you converted to Orthodoxy?’
Convert: ‘Yes.’
Born-Orthodox: ‘Why would you do that? I myself was born
Orthodox, and I’ll die Orthodox. I’d never leave my religion.’
Convert: ‘And out of curiosity, how often do you go to
Liturgy,
(etc.)?’
Born-Orthodox: ‘Never.’
The
Holy Gospel According to Saint Matthew 23:24:
“Blind
guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!”
Saint
Ambrose (d. 1891), Spiritual Teachings from the Optina Elders:
“As soon as you condemn someone, say to yourself, ‘Thou hypocrite,
first remove the beam out of thine own eye (St. Matthew 7:5).’ The
beam in the eye is pride. The Pharisee had all the virtues, but he
was proud; but the Publican, however, had humility, and was better.”
______________________________________________________________________
Prof.
Constantine Cavarnos, On Validity and Canonicity,
Orthodox Tradition, Vol. 5, Orthodox Christian
Information Center (www.orthodoxinfo.com):
“…in fact, the SCOBA (Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in
America) is essentially a political organization comprised of
American jurisdictions which have largely the same attitudes towards
ecumenism and modernism in the Church.
“…Thus, if the SCOBA determines who is canonically Orthodox,
political, not actual canonical and ecclesiastical criteria, will
prevail. This is hardly Orthodox. …Moreover, a group of Bishops
which establishes itself as a self-validating agency is subject to a
few questions in and of itself. Neither are we subject to a single
Pope or papacy in the form of a collegial system.
“…On the other hand, some Churches in resistance have set themselves
up as the judges of all other Orthodox, distorting their resistance
to various ills in the Church and setting up a kind of sectarian
mentality. “We are the only Orthodox.” “Only we have
Grace.” …Sectarian claims to ecclesiastical or spiritual primacy
violate the catholicity of Orthodoxy and do little to commend groups
that make such claims to the sober Christian.
“…It is neither in so-called ‘official’ bodies formed by Bishops of
the various national Churches in America, nor in the ranks of those
separated from such bodies in various resistance movements, that we
can find proper criteria for determining Orthodox validity. In
either case, political and personal considerations, not spiritual
ones, are bound to dominate.”
______________________________________________________________________
“Official”
Archbishop Chrysostomos* of Enta, Review of The Price of
Prophecy by Fr. Alexander Webster, Orthodox Tradition,
Vol 14:
“There is no such thing, of course, as ‘canonical’ Orthodox
jurisdiction, despite the fact that this kind of terminology has
crept into our ecclesiastical vocabulary from the West. Nor are
there ‘official’ Orthodox Churches, a category produced by the
contemporary ecumenical movement. Were this so … we would have to
concede that the Cappadocian Fathers, the Studite monks, and the
Palestine Hesychasts were in some way ‘quasi-canonical’ and
‘un-official.’”
*[Archbishop of North America, Orthodox Church of Greece Holy Synod
in Resistance; Fulbright Scholar; Princeton University doctorate
graduate; visiting research appointments at Harvard Divinity School
& Oxford University; adjunct faculty member of Ion Mincu University,
Bucharest; and Senior Scholar at the Center for Traditional Orthodox
Studies.]
______________________________________________________________________
“Union”
and “Unity”
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpaktos, Orthodox Church of
Greece, The Mind of the Orthodox Church, Chapter 2:
“…there are people who speak of the union of the Churches. But this
term is worthless theology. We cannot speak of union, but of a
unity of faith.
“…Some people who speak of union of the Churches use to satiety
Christ’s archpriestly prayer … (John 17:20-22). But if anyone reads
the whole text attentively, he will discover that Christ is not
referring to a union of the Churches which will come about in the
future, but to the union of the Disciples which will come about on
the day of Pentecost, when they will receive the Holy Spirit.”
Rev.
Fr. Seraphim Nassar, 1031 AD., Divine Prayers and Services of
the Catholic Orthodox Church of Christ, 1979, Antiochian
Archdiocese of North America:
“Now since the Church is one, and that oneness consists primarily
and universally in perfect agreement in Orthodox doctrines, it
necessarily follows that all those who do not conform to those
Orthodox doctrines, whether by addition or omission, or by
innovation of their own, thus changing the truth, are outside this
one Holy Church….”
______________________________________________________________________
Saint
John Chrysostom, Commentary on Acts 10:2:
“…if He did not overlook the Magi, nor the Ethiopian, nor the thief,
nor the harlot, much more them that work righteousness, and are
willing, shall He in anywise not overlook.”
______________________________________________________________________
The
Holy Gospel According to Saint John 6:37-38:
“Everyone that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and anyone who
comes to Me I will never drive away; for I have come down from
heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me.”
______________________________________________________________________
Saint
Gregory the Theologian, Funeral Oration on his Father,
373 AD.:
“Even before he was of our fold, he was ours. His character made
him one of us. For, as many of our own are not with us, whose life
alienates them from the common body, so, many of those without are
on our side, whose character anticipates their faith, and need only
the name of that which indeed they possess.”
Prof.
Constantine Cavarnos, On Validity and Canonicity,
Orthodox Tradition, Vol. 5, Orthodox Christian
Information Center (www.orthodoxinfo.com):
“True Christianity demands … We are judged more by our sincere
intentions than by our inadvertent and unintentional errors. This
is as it should be in a religion of love and forgiveness.
“…you are covered by your intentions and by the quality of your
spiritual lives. You are NOT new Orthodox and your five years of
experience in the Church have no doubt taught you much from which
you can draw.
“…matters of the Christian heart and conscience are not subject to
formal pronouncements or canonical interpretation. They belong
solely to the realm of God, ‘Who alone knows the hearts of men.’
“…the faith of a single individual , Orthodox or not – here we must
exercise the greatest possible latitude. Here we must forgo all
judgment. God alone knows who is Orthodox in his heart. God alone
knows his saints. God alone knows who will and who will not be
saved!”
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Hieromonk Cassian, A Scientific Examination of the Orthodox
Church Calendar, 1998, Center for Traditionalist Orthodox
Studies:
“…any Orthodox who thinks that the Faith must be ‘corrected’ proves
that he does not wish to obey his Holy Mother, the Orthodox Church,
but rather that he desires to ‘reform’ Her; that is, he does not
accept Her as she is, protesting instead against Her essence. Such
an individual may be called a ‘reformer,’ a ‘Protestant,’ or
whatever, but he may not be properly called Orthodox. An Orthodox
is one who observes diligently and immutably the teachings of the
Holy Orthodox Church, which long ago sanctified the externals of our
Faith, releasing us from the need to ‘reinvent’ these externals.”
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Very
Rev. Dr. Michael Azkoul, Introduction, Augustine of Hippo: An
Orthodox Christian Perspective, 1991, Edwin Mellen Press/Synaxis
Press, Dewdney, BC, Canada:
“The Orthodox Church is a church which lives by holy Tradition.
This Tradition is ‘the faith once delivered to the saints’
(Jude 3). Christ is the author of that Tradition, saying to His
Apostles, Go, therefore, and teach all nations … teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have taught you. …(Mt. 28:20).”
“…He who seeks to ‘improve’ or ‘extend’ holy Tradition is proud, a
vice which the Orthodox Church has never fostered.”
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2004
Saint
Columcille of Iona
House
of Orthodox Christian Studies
American Orthodox Catholic Church, Inc.
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