February 4, 2012

Christ, the Church and Salvation

  
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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...]

The Origin and Revelation of the Church

  
Church

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...]

Salvation According To St. Paul

  
St. Paul

by Fr. John Romanides Our father in the faith, John Romanides (1927 – 2001), was a prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, theologian, and writer. He argued for the existence of a “national, cultural and even linguistic unity between Eastern and Western Romans” that existed until the intrusion and takeover of the West Romans (the Roman Catholics) by the Franks and or Goths (German tribes). To paraphrase St Athanasius … [Read more...]

Don’t Despair of Salvation

  

by St. Symeon the New Theologian If you ignore these things, my beloved one, don’t put yourself in despair, saying: "I have not seen these things, nor can I ever know them; I will never have the power to reach and rise up to the height of this knowledge, contemplation and cleanness." Don’t you say, furthermore: "If someone won’t become like this, that is, to put on Christ and see Him as God in this life, and take Him to dwell in … [Read more...]

The Three-fold Structure of Salvation

  
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by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon Senior Editor of Touchstone Magazine, and archpriest of All Saints Orthodox Church in Chicago, IL, Fr. Patrick is, perhaps, the most erudite writer in the Orthodox Church in North America today. This article, one of his Pastoral Ponderings, was published by Orthodoxtoday.org. The classical and ancient theology of the Christian Church regards as redemptive the entire "event" of Jesus Christ, beginning with His personal … [Read more...]