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By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos After all that has been reported we must end with a few conclusions, without, of course, having exhausted this great theme. a) Only in Christ is there salvation. Since the saints of the Old Testament saw the unincarnate Word and the saints of the New Testament saw and see the incarnate Word and have close communion with Him, this means that man's salvation takes place only … [Read more...]
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos By his incarnation Christ assumed human nature, and indeed human nature was united with the divine nature immutably, without confusion, inseparably, unchangeably and indivisibly. They are never separated. They remain united forever. Thus the Church will exist also after the Second Coming of Christ and we shall be able to speak of the perfect manifestation of the Church. … [Read more...]
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos With the incarnation of Christ we have the manifestation of the Church. The Church becomes the Body of Christ and acquires its Head, Who is Christ. Let us recall the passage in Clement of Rome which we mentioned before, according to which the Church was "first created spiritual from above, before the sun and moon, and being spiritual, was manifested in the flesh of … [Read more...]
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon The permanence of the soul, its continued life after death, was not in contention among the early Christians. Indeed, thanks in part to Plato, some form of belief in a spiritual afterlife was quite in fashion in the Greco-Roman culture where the Apostles proclaimed the Gospel. The Apostle Paul, for his part, certainly anticipated an afterlife immediately following death. This persuasion prompted him to "desire to … [Read more...]
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos Adam and Eve lived an angelic life in Paradise. They were in the state of illumination of the nous, which is the first degree of the vision of God. They had communion with God. According to the teaching of the holy Fathers, Paradise was tangible and intelligible. This is said by St. Gregory the Theologian and is repeated by St. John of Damascus. The tangible Paradise was a … [Read more...]
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos Many of us have the notion that the Church was created on the day of Pentecost, that is to say, when the Holy Spirit descended into the hearts of the Apostles. And of course we could say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church from the point of view that it was then that the Church became the Body of Christ. It acquired substance. However, the beginning and existence of the Church is … [Read more...]
by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos But before I proceed to elaborate the subject of the "origin and revelation of the Church", I would like us to take a look at the etymology of the word "Ekklesia", because it will help us to understand better what is going to be said further on. The word 'Ekklesia' derives from the verb meaning 'to call out' 'call', 'call together', 'gather together'. Thus 'Church' means a gathering of people, a … [Read more...]
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos Through the centuries there have appeared many heretical teachings which distorted the revealed truth, and which the holy Fathers confronted "with the sling stone of the Spirit", that is to say, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is so because the holy Fathers were the bearers of the pure Tradition of the Church. Among these heresies are those of Arianism, the Pneumatomachs who fought against the … [Read more...]
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon Discussing the earliest theology of the Resurrection, we are restricted mainly to the sermons and discourses in the Acts of the Apostles. The theological horizon is broadened considerably, however, when we turn to the Church's first literary theologian, St. Paul. His epistles, composed over a dozen or so years and addressed to a variety of pastoral circumstances, demonstrate how the power and purpose of the … [Read more...]
by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon A progressive scheme of images is developed through the first three psalms: First, the Man (Psalm 1), then the Messiah (Psalm 2), and finally the Suffering Servant (Psalm 3). Since this triadic pattern of reference runs throughout the Psalter, one may regard these three psalms as the book's proper "introduction." They form the tripod on which the Psalter stands. First, the Man: Psalm 1 is not a prayer in … [Read more...]
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