EP calls different Paschal dates a "scandal"
( Orthodox Times ) - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew extended in his homily his heartfelt wishes to all the non-Orthodox Christians who celebrated the Holy Easter on Sunday, March 31, after presiding over the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Theodore of the Community of Vlanga. “On this day, the timeless message of the Resurrection resonates more profoundly than ever, as our non-Orthodox Christian brethren and sisters commemorate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, celebrating Holy Easter. We have already sent our representatives to all the Christian Communities of the confessions here, to extend our heartfelt wishes of the Holy Great Church of Christ and our Patriarchal congratulations. But also from this position we extend a heartfelt greeting of love to all Christians around the world who celebrate Holy Easter today. We beseech the Lord of Glory that the forthcoming Easter celebration next year will not merely be a fortuitous occurrence, but rather the beginning...
This could be profound if only it had an actual context to give it significance. The fact that this is a Romanian icon sheds some light on the iconographer's possible intention, but I am not sure all or even most of Fr Seraphim's views ought to be regarded as canonical (in the informal sense of "normative") among Orthodox Christians. That said, I do not doubt the man's sanctity - I have been to venerate his tomb myself. My parish is very close to the monastery.
ReplyDeleteFr. Seraphim (Rose), outside of the ROCOR posturing, held to patristic views normative of the Holy Mountain and Russian Orthodoxy. His views are Orthodox.
DeleteFr. Seraphim (Rose), outside of the ROCOR posturing, held to patristic views normative of the Holy Mountain and Russian Orthodoxy. His views are Orthodox.
DeleteIt has enough context to give it significance. St. Paisios of Mount Athos:
ReplyDelete"Christ was born of a human being, the Panagia. Are we to believe that His ancestors were apes? What blasphemy! And those who support this theory don't realize that they are blaspheming. They throw a stone and do not check to see how many heads they have cracked."
I don't know what is more humiliating: to be formed from mindless dirt or to come from a long line of irrational primates.
Deletemindless dirt?? what about the Divine Spirit breathed into the mindless dirt?......
DeleteFr. Seraphim Rose was wrong about evolution; St. Paisios is wrong about evolution. Since the human genome has been sequenced, doubting human evolution is like doubting that the sun is at the center of our solar system (though I am sure there are still some poor souls out there who have such doubts).
ReplyDeleteWhen evolution reconciled with Newtonian physics and the second and third laws of thermodynamics we will talk. My religion is not empiricism or evolution. Science is a tool, not an ideological weapon.
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DeleteEvolution is theologically impossible. It is to admit that death preceded Adam. But what then is the significance of Christ conquering death as the second Adam (as St. Paul says in scripture) if it was not Adam himself who brought mortality, death, frailty and sin into the world? Evolution then becomes a non-sequitur if you give priority to theology. As in, if you put God first.
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