“A candle shinning in sheer darkness is much brighter than a candle burning in the twilight.”
– Fr. Hans Jacobse
Candle Burning in Sheer Darkness is Brighter
Orthodox Christianity
Time to Exit Eli’s Road
Fr. Basil Biberdorf, a priest in the Orthodox Church in America, has launched “The Orthodox Leader”, a new site designed to address and challenge the evil and corruption that has been tolerated and enabled in Christ’s Church. God bless Fr. Basil for stepping into the public arena to openly challenge the complacent leadership and standing up for truth and righteousness.
The Orthodox Leader | by Fr. Basil Biberdorf | Nov. 30, 2009
We have a problem in Orthodox North America. Worse than matters of theft and malfeasance, we have sexual sin among some of the clergy – fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and, dare I say it, pedophilia – that is all too often being passed over by hierarchs and church administrators. Some priests, deacons, and bishops who should be serving, caring, and interceding for their flocks are instead “making themselves vile,” and, in some cases, ravaging the flock for their own base appetites. It is clear that these offenders will stand, like Hophni and Phineas, before God. But what of our leaders? What of those who should be restraining these men? Are they taking firm action, or are they taking the path of Eli?
America Founded on the Principles of Honoring God
Orthodox Forum | by Pastor Symeon | Nov. 28, 2009
Critics often miss the point by trying to validate or invalidate the American Founding Fathers as Christian. According to Orthodox Tradition this doesn’t matter. In fact according to Tradition it doesn’t matter whether the ruler is Christian or Pagan or some other monotheistic religion, or even atheist. [Read more…]
ClimateGate and the EP: Wagon hitched to the wrong horse?
American Orthodox Institute | by Fr. Johannes Jacobse | Nov. 25, 2009
A scandal in global warming research is unfolding that isn’t going away. Internal correspondence from the Climate Reseach Unit (CRU), the research center and ground zero for global warming advocacy, was released that reveals that the top global warming scientists hid data that proves the earth has been cooling for the last ten years, conspired against colleagues that were global warming skeptics, and cooked the numbers to keep the lucrative grants coming. It is taking time to digest all the facts but you can read some preliminary conclusions here: London Telegraph, Pajamas TV, Fox News, Washington Times, (Google “climategate” for more).
Global warming was of course the centerpiece of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s pastoral message to America during his trip to the United States a few weeks back. The Green Patriarch embraced the Progressive environmentalist agenda, so much so that he lent the full weight of his office to urge the passage of political legislation such as the Copenhagen Protocols that global warming advocates argued was needed to stop imminent environmental catastrophe. [Read more…]
Danger of Christian Persecution in America
Orthodox Forum | by Pastor Symeon | Nov. 24, 2009
On the one hand there are those who find it [the Manhattan Declaration] “shocking” and part of the culture war, etc. These are frightened that the document will be perceived as harsh and unloving, etc.. God forbid that anyone Christian ever stand in public for Truth. And on the other hand those that are relieved to see an Orthodox Pastor with backbone to stand with others and speak truth to error, truth to power, and truth to the politically correct stricture in our society that is choking free speech and seeking to criminalize Truth. – If this much sets you off, don’t bother to read further. [Read more…]
Manhattan Declaration – Religion Takes a Stand
Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.
We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. [Read more…]
The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
American Orthodox Institute | by Fr. Johannes Jacobse | Nov. 22, 2009
On November 22, 2009 group of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant leaders unveiled a document called “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience” that affirms the traditional Christian teaching concerning abortion, homosexual marriage, and religious freedom. The Declaration asserts that these three issues (sanctity of life, the definition of marriage, and freedom of worship) are under assault in western Democracies and call Christians into non-violent resistance against the injustices and, if necessary, non-violent non-compliance with the laws that would require a Christian to violate his conscience. (Read full text.)
The Declaration opens:
We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are (1) the sanctity of human life, (2) the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and (3) the rights of conscience and religious liberty…We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Orthodox Priest Who Converted Muslims Murdered in Russia
RIA Novosti | Nov. 20, 2009
A Russian Orthodox priest, Fr. Daniel Sysoyev, who carried out missionary work among immigrants from ex-Soviet republics, many of them Muslims, received over a dozen death threats before his murder on Thursday, a Russian paper said.
Fr. Daniel of St. Thomas Church in Moscow foresaw his death, writing in his internet diary that he had received telephone threats from Muslims. Fr. Daniel’s evening ‘talks’ for inquirers included several especially designed for Muslims. [Read more…]
Revisionism from the Religious Left
FrontPageMag | by Mark D. Tooley | Nov. 12, 2009
Leftist church elites are fondly remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall as though they could claim some credit for its fall. Conveniently, they forget their own complicity with the former tyrants of East Europe and the Soviet Union.
“Christian hope and perseverance contributed significantly to the fall of the Berlin Wall”, World Council of Churches (WCC) chief Samuel Kobia recently declared. True enough. Millions of Christians and other people of faith, despite persecution and martyrdom, endured for decades under communist rule. But their perseverance owed little to groups like the WCC and other leftist Western church groups, who cheerfully demanded appeasement of the old Soviet Bloc as the price for peaceful coexistence. These church leftists prioritized world “peace” over solidarity with oppressed fellow religionists behind the Iron Curtain, whose suffering was too inconvenient for ecumenical public attention. [Read more…]
The Medium is Not the Message
OrthodoxyToday | by Chris Banescu | Nov. 12, 2009
As a fellow Orthodox Christian and an attorney I find Fr. George’s reflection quite eloquent but unfortunately lacking in the depth and moral clarity that our faith and profession both require. Fr. George’s central thesis is that “the nature of the medium, in this case the internet and blogosphere, is itself the message we get here even more than the content that people purport to communicate and consider.” I don’t believe that’s true, especially with regards to OCANews.org. The medium is only a neutral tool to be used or misused as we see fit. The truth of the message and the reliability of the information this medium conveys and the good it has done, in addition to the wisdom, character, and integrity of the messengers, are much more important and relevant. [Read more…]
