In all these comments, something seems to be left out of the equation. Most people do not realize that Mr. Putin is a very intelligent person, unlike 99% of the U.S. politicians. He looks at the “big picture” and thinks things through, rather than going off half cocked, as American politicians do.

Also, unlike 99% of the American politicians, he is actually trying to make things better for the average Russian and is succeeding in that.

Yvonne, what a pretty name you have!

I very much enjoyed your article. I consider myself a Christian, but not a very good one. I have formerly attended Baptist, Lutheran and Methodist churches but no longer go to church. When it comes to my personal faith, I am very much lacking in that. I “hope” that what I believe is true and if there is a Judgment Day, that God will have mercy on my soul.

I am a 70 year-old retired industrial electrician and the changes that I have seen since first entering the work force in 1969 are absolutely shocking. Likewise, the REAL history of the United States and many of the other countries in the world.

My thoughts on the churches in the United States is that I do not understand why they are all silent on what is REALLY going on in our country and around the world. Personally, I think that God is taking a “hands-off approach” to what is going on and that He is just waiting for mankind to destroy himself. And I am not referring to the so-called “climate change” subject, which I think is nothing but a scam.

Thank you.

I consider myself a Christian but in the area of “faith,” I am sadly lacking. I only “hope” that what I believe about the Trinity is correct and that I am not eternally lost.

My own personal opinion on Christianity, “religion,” and the world events that I have witnessed in my lifetime (I am 70 years old), is that God is taking a “hands off” approach to mankind and his future here on earth.

Also, in my opinion, the only “religious” organizations that I know of who are attempting to enlighten their congregants as to the REAL history of the United States (and that of the so-called “civilized” world) and the world’s relatively recent events, including what looks to be the future of the USA, are Chuck Baldwin’s group in Kalispell, MT and Louis Farrakhan’s Muslim organization. in Chicago. ALL of the mainstream churches in the United States are SILRNT as to what really goes on in the United States, because they obviously do not want to lose their I.R.S. charitable status.

Thank you.

Excellent article.
In every case if Zelensky attack Donbas it is what Russians want. in that case Russians will take All original parts of Ukraine, and they will leave along the part what Stalin added.
Stopping the N2 pipeline is a Godsend to Russia, Because Russia will need all energy for herself.
Russia should stop supplying energy entirely to Europe entirely because it will be needed for domestic use. Let US supply energy to Europe.
(I will explain why later)

These are the same people who think women can make as good soldiers as men.

Now they’re chattering about conscription and reinstating the draft. What to do with all these unemployed youth in the streets – a huge, diverse Woke army! Taught to fear and hate Russians. Paid for with deficit spending.

They do not live in the real world.

I mean, it will be decades before we understand the effects of teaching bad history nearly for a century, but it does not mean there will be no effects of our bad history. In fact, many times countries go to war after believing their own version of bad history to be true.

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”

Our rulers do what they do because they’re evil; they’re devil-worshiping demon-possessed madmen. I’m afraid they must have war, even though it will destroy their evil empire and most likely them along with it.

What do you mean by now? All the history since ww2 and before has been lies and distortions.

It is almost impossible to teach bad mathematics; it is somewhat possible to teach bad physics (phlogiston theory and all) and bad medicine (theory of humours); but it is certainly possible to teach bad economics, and almost impossible NOT to teach bad history. The effects of teaching bad mathematics can be observed that very evening, and that of bad medicine, in a few years. But the effects of teaching bad economics cannot even be detected in decades, and of teaching bad history are impossible to detect even after centuries.

And the world is now bent upon teaching bad history.

A few days ago Ben Hodges, a retired three-star U.S. Army general, said that no Russians soldiers died in WWII, they were all Ukrainians

The hatred towards Russia is more the same hatred against Tzarist Russia and not Lenin’s Russia.

even the militarists in the US are not crazy enough to kill themselves.

Maybe they will hide in their bunkers and let the lowly commoners face the fallout.

You are not wrong. “Faith is the substance of things unseen”.

Great stuff!

If some western powers attack the Nord Stream Pipeline it will be a big mistake. It will divide Nato, more, destroy Nato. Germany would not like it.

It is simply difficult to imagine a war against Russia. What would it be? A little tiny war? A major war would involve nuclear weapons, which is the end of everything … even the militarists in the US are not crazy enough to kill themselves.

the best option is for Russia to defuse the thrust for confrontation by (before things get out of hand) gaining favor with the US public by nuking NSA at Fort Meade and CIA at Langley.

USA —-is cruising for —action. Joe Zhukov forgot more than any USA clown general could perform.

Canadian farces in Ukraine under guise of NATO–could cause trouble for Putin.

Here’s what’s gonna happen:

1. the US gets it’s Ukrainian puppets to attack the Donbass (and Crimea), as well as have the baltoids and poles attack the north stream
2. the Chinese, “suddenly” start rattling around Taiwan
3. At this point the US can either escalate or let go – either way, the only difference is whether or not they’re the one humiliated and destroyed, or just the butthurt belt (and if the poles piss of the germans hard enough, the chances of a final and eternal partition are quite high, as God intended)

In a moment of insanity, much bigger than usual, americans decided to go to war with Russia. However, one of the lunatics, slightly smarter than the rest, said:
– Hey, a lot of people attacked russians in the past, perhaps we should ask them when is the best time for attack.

They asked the french, and the french told them:
– We’ve attacked during the winter, they’ve kicked our asses, then chased us back to Paris. So it’s not a good idea to attack during the winter.

Germans told them:
– We’ve attacked during the summer, they’ve kicked our asses, then chased us back to Berlin. So it’s a bad idea to attack during the summer.

The chinese, however, said: – The best time to attack is right now.

Encouraged, americans continued with their preparations, until the same smart guy decided to ask:
– But why now? Why it’s so important to be right now?

The chinese answered:
– Well, russians are expanding in Siberia, soon they’ll start to develop the Arctics – they’ll need a lot of P.O.W.s for the heavy construction work.

We see where The Narrative is going. A few days ago Ben Hodges, a retired three-star U.S. Army general, said that no Russians soldiers died in WWII, they were all Ukrainians. Hodges is just a redneck from Florida so we know it’s the puppet masters who’re pushing this growing madness.

The antipathy toward Russia is summed up by EMJ:

https://youtu.be/MJ7T9VzwasE?t=1320
Video Link

There’s no need to put scare quotes around ‘Orthodox’. “Orthodox Christian” means something quite specific, it doesn’t merely mean “Christian who (according to them) believes the correct stuff”.

Although I sent Ron a Word file with “tables” for block quotes, this appears to be taken by software from Lew’s site so you can’t see what were my words and what were quotes from the source, which put quotations around Orthodox because their point, if you read the article in full, is that many who identify as Orthodox support the vaccine using in their opinion false scriptural arguments.

To those who want to take the vaccine, the choice, as I ended, is yours to make.

I appreciate Ron posting a position that he does not agree with. I can direct you to this post today by Bill Sardi on Lew’s site that goes further into the subject and check under Sardi as an author on Lew’s for more of his work, including his research disputing the cause of the illness that has a 99.7% survival rate for those without serious pre-existing conditions.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2021/01/no_author/the-covid-19-crime-the-unwary-christian-church/

I’m not getting a vaccine that has an “operating system” or “changes DNA”….I will not comply with being a hybrid human. God gave me my DNA and no one is gonna change it!

mRNA vaccines no more have an “operating system” than live virus vaccines, that’s a metaphor for explaining them for the many more people familiar with computers than biology. I suppose if smallpox hadn’t been eradicated by the use of vaccines, you’d refuse to take the vaccine for it?

They also don’t change your DNA: the fundamental paradigm of molecular genetics is stable storage DNA gets transcribed into messenger RNA which then travels to where it can be transcribed into proteins, in this case a stabilized version of the spike protein. And the mRNA then gets taken apart into individual nucleotides for recycling back to the DNA->RNA step, part of the regulatory system that governs how much of a protein is made at any one time.

Unless these vaccines have the two retrovirus enzymes reverse transcriptase, which as the name implies goes from RNA to DNA, and integrase to then integrate the DNA into your own, they can’t change your DNA. As it is, if the vaccine works, the cells that get hijacked by “active” vaccines like mRNA and live virus ones get targeted for termination by the adaptive immune system.

That’s one reason they’re preferred, they provoke a full range immune system response to perhaps provide better efficacy than protein plus adjuvant, but if you want to wait for that flu style vaccine Novavax might be reporting good news about their’s soon. On the other hand, Sanofi/GSK failed in their first attempt at such a vaccine, was not sufficient for the elderly, so they’re starting again from scratch in a month or three.

There’s no need to put scare quotes around ‘Orthodox’. “Orthodox Christian” means something quite specific, it doesn’t merely mean “Christian who (according to them) believes the correct stuff”.

Yep I can see a huge “forged vaccine passport document” industry coming, or even fake “digital tattoo” industry coming but I think it will be very expensive to partake in this, or get a fake “passport” or “tattoo.” Or maybe, a new “underground railroad” so to speak? Because liberty and the Bill of Rights will never die.

As for religious exemption, aborted fetal parts or not, I’m not getting a vaccine that has an “operating system” or “changes DNA”….I will not comply with being a hybrid human. God gave me my DNA and no one is gonna change it!

Mountain lions’ll be the least of their worries….. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

Now you’re talking.Been saying it for years.
All it has gotten me is Extreme poverty,homelessness
and the disdain of idiots.Oh well,freedom is not free,it’s worth it.

In the case of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, production of the vaccines was believed to have used cells that originated with an abortion.

Citation Needed, because the production of mRNA vaccines as is obvious from what little is in them does not involve human cells. Maybe bacteria to make a lot of DNA to then be transcribed in mRNA using individual RNA nucleotides, then add lipids just so, here’s the best collection of information on their production I know of.

Viral vector vaccines on the other hand should be investigated for this, bacteria don’t need much more than sugar to grow on, viruses need cells, and I recall AZ/Oxford trying to weasel on this issue. I’ll personally be investigating this question if Janssen and/or AZ/Oxford get FDA Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) and their efficacy is high enough to be worth considering taking them. Low efficacy decreases the benefits in risk/benefit calculations.

Unless your theology would have had you pass up a smallpox vaccination back before we eradicated it using vaccines, for individuals it’s a risk/benefit analysis, both getting a “natural” infection from this likely unnatural virus and getting a vaccine have the possibility of maiming or killing you. And there’s a second risk/benefit analysis, if you don’t get vaccinated, what are the moral consequences if you give COVID-19 to someone who then gets maimed or killed by it? There are no safe or morals free answers to these questions.

Will the “fuck you” Exemptions Work Against Forced Vaccination?

I hope so since it’s the one I intend to use.

Food for thought:

“If, as it seems we are, in the process of becoming a totalitarian society in which the state apparatus is all-powerful, the ethics most important for the survival of the true, free, human individual would be: cheat, lie, evade, fake it, be elsewhere, forge documents, build improved electronic gadgets in your garage that’ll outwit the gadgets used by the authorities.” Philip K. Dick.

Regards, onebornfree

California has nixed religious exemptions and medical exemptions are hard to get. With the Democrats plan to make America into California, you can expect the same coming to your state soon. The Covid hysteria will accelerate the process.

There is a God. There is no God. Neither are relevant b/c neither are open to debate — both are matters of “belief”.
Discern what is a “moral life”, do your best to live it. If “God” doesn’t like it, how’s that your fault — if you did the best you could?

Thank you for your reply – you seem like a reasonable person and I hope my saying that doesn’t offend you 🙂

If you want to experience Christianity, it’s not about theory. Locate a monastery, and ask to spend some days with them.

I think I know what you’re saying; I actually spent some time in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand, and I was indeed remarkably content there.

But theory does matter to some degree. For me the appeal of Buddhism is in that rather than saying, “you must accept what we say on faith” it said “examine the evidence – if what you see agrees with what we say, then accept it”. I found it much more in agreement with how my mind works.

I would propose a binary choice of my own: “there are two kinds of people in the world: those who respond to worship and ritual, and those who don’t”.
I’m the latter: I don’t have a worshipful bone in my body and I know that, so I work with that.

Hi,

I noticed you asked some legitimate questions in a correct manner, and got prevarication in return,
coupled with a rating of the hardness of your heart and soul and, perhaps the icing on the cake,
one “I can do nothing more for you”. I am a servant of Christ and I am sorry for that.
I also won’t tell you that certain denominations aren’t Christians, or are “Christians”.
There are Christians and “Christians” at all times and in all areas of the world and denominations,
quite positively, since being Christians means following, and imitating to the best of our
God-assisted abilities, Christ Himself.

He told us to love each other like He loves us, and added that by that people will recognize
His disciples.
Not only we can “engage” with everyone. We also can, and will (to our best ability) love everyone.

You have an intellectual, rational approach to matters of religion, and that’s the right one for a non-believer.
Faith is not religion nor belief. Faith is received knowledge. One day, if your desire is true enough, He lets you see Him. And from that day
when your reasoning doesn’t match with the notion of God, you know your reasoning is flawed or
limited, because God is the fact among all facts and not a notion.

This doesn’t mean of course that all teachings of the Church are right, as they have been formed
by earth-sourced, and earth-orientated, forces, at least in part.
But the essence is true, and is the ultimate answer to all questions: that He is.

The subject of the Virgin Mother’s prayers to the Son bettering our standing in His judgment
is more complex than you, and people with no faith, believe.
Certainly, the answer given by popular Christianity to it isn’t easy to feel comfortable with, I
can see that. It’s also certain that many united in prayer help getting God’s agreement to a wish or hope.

If you want to experience Christianity, it’s not about theory. Locate a monastery, and ask to spend
some days with them. If you find a right one, you will see. And after seeing, you will be freed from
querying. Thomas Merton’s books are also a good starting point, particularly for the English-speaking.
But nothing can be compared with first-person experience.

After all, all our queries aren’t but one: we will realize it no sooner than when we get the
one answer to everything, though.

Best

What about the Horrors of the United States of America? Christians of course!

Well, maybe Protestants were onto something? Also notice I didn’t say “worship” – I said “devotion”, and I did that on purpose because that is the actual term that Catholic Church uses.

All the same, the idea that the all-knowing, all-mighty God will not notice your prayers until Mary gives him a kick in the shin… well, it just doesn’t seem supported by any Biblical text to me.

This whole idea of Saints interceding on our behalf is clearly a response to our very human need. Monotheist God is just not sufficiently relatable for us humans, and we need something to relate to… but Virgin Mary granting us favours is exactly the same as some spirit residing in a local tree doing the same thing for pagans of old.

…but devotion to Virgin Mary is so widely spread there, she is practically a god-like figure.

We don’t worship saints, we ask them to pray to the Lord for us. Mary is the greatest of the saints. You are repeating 500 year old Protestant propaganda.

Fair enough; Buddha certainly was rather evasive on topics that tend to occupy our Western minds, shaped largely by Christian theology. He claimed that he wanted to concentrate on issues directly relevant to resolution of suffering, considering anything else a distraction. But another, down to Earth explanation could well be that at the time he was alive (and there is some uncertainty about when that was, with a window of almost 300 years) the concept of monotheism was not yet fully developed, or at least didn’t reach India yet…

And yes, Buddhism adapted to local conditions as it went along. Especially in Tibet, they’ve really been busy there… But that’s not that unusual for religions – even Christianity did the same thing, incorporating some pagan traditions and even developing some rather strange practices along the way. Take Poland, for example – strongly Catholic country but devotion to Virgin Mary is so widely spread there, she is practically a god-like figure. So much for monotheism 🙂

Buddha never claimed divinity. Buddhism, as with other philosophical schools, says little or nothing about creation or deities or afterlife, other than the general Eastern assumption of multiple lives. (West of the Indus, almost everyone assumes it’s one-and-done.)

Confucianism and Taoism are much the same. That’s why they can overlap with each other and with all sorts of local pagan cults. As well as with secular modernity.

Existentialism was invented by a pious Lutheran pastor and sold to the world by an atheist communist. So it’s a Western example of this.

Sadly, none of my questions were answered by any of the Abrahamic religions, which is why I rejected them. The only religion that made any kind of sense to me is Buddhism, actually. But I consider it, in its pure form at least, more a philosophy than religion.

So are you Jewish? If not, what Christian texts have you read? How do you read.

If you are clearly a seeker of the truth, read these books and then reply; if your heart is so hard that you do not truly ask God to help you to understand, nothing will help. You are fixed on this world, which if you truly read true Christian doctrine, you would understand that all that is important and truly needed comes from God; life here is temporary; this you would agree with.

If you want to understand Scripture, start with this book. It will tell you how to read.

https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/Theophylact-on-the-Gospel-of-Mark-p/mark.htm

And this simple short book:

https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/God-s-Revelation-to-the-Human-Heart-p/grhh.htm

And this, on our times now and what Buddhism is:

https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/product-p/orf.htm

And on the conversion of a great sinner, and his transformation into a better human being, who realized the way of the world is wrong and self destructive:

https://www.rooshv.com/how-i-turned-to-god

https://www.rooshv.com/nihilists-are-spiritually-dead

https://www.rooshv.com/the-world-of-newton-vs-the-world-of-god

https://www.rooshv.com/learning-to-love-god

If you read these and nothing moves your heart and soul, what more can be done? Live and die with your choices. Then you will find out what the truth is.

Pray for humility and understanding. Saving lives through faith in medicine is not nearly as important as fulfilling the purpose God intended for us. Everyone saved by antibiotics will die at some time in the future. America was prosperous once now but at what price and is mostly godless, and even more godless now. Feel free to comment after you read the books. I think no further communication otherwise is fruitful; your perspective is alien to me now, but when I was younger, perhaps I felt as you did, but never was an atheist.

If you change or can change, you may. I can do nothing more for you.

there is no crisis because there are no unusual death tolls . earth ball is rolling on as usual
and nature prospering like before . only human brain is crazy as it happened already in
katholic-protestant medival times, in communist russia + nazigermany + jewish takeover
of USA + BRITAIN . nothing news under the CHEMTRAILS !

The exact middle of the Bible, one might say its “heart,” depends on whether you count by books, verses, words or even letters. One system puts its center at Psalms 118:8 —

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

That’s always been my favorite verse. It distills the whole thing down to 14 words. It truly is the heart of the Bible, of religion, and of life itself.

Get Job. Open to 1 and there it reads “From walking up and down the earth and all that is in it.” and this person is the adversary—if you re-ararnge the letters for Santa you get the entity.

Feel free to expand on that thought – at this point I’m not sure if you are deeply profound or completely off the mark 🙂

The only religion that made any kind of sense to me is Budddism, actually. But I consider it, in its pure form at least, more a philosophy than religion.

Buddhism is essentially nothing but philosophy, draped like a blanket over hundreds, or thousands, of local pagan cults. It’s as if each Greek island with its own gods had elevated Plato or Aristotle to the top spot.

But if your heart is closed, and you lack humility, there is nothing I can do.

Indeed.

Andrew Murray’s Humility: The Beauty of Holiness, which is more relevant today than at any time since he penned it over 100 years ago, finished with these words:

I will here give you an infallible touchstone, that will try all to the truth. It is this: retire from the world and all conversation, only for one month; neither write, nor read, nor debate anything with yourself; stop all the former workings of your heart and mind: and, with all the strength of your heart, stand all this month, as continually as you can, in the following form of prayer to God. Offer it frequently on your knees; but whether sitting, walking, or standing, be always inwardly longing, and earnestly praying this one prayer to God: ‘That of His great goodness He would make known to you, and take from your heart, every kind and form and degree of Pride, whether it be from evil spirits, or your own corrupt nature; and that He would awaken in you the deepest depth and truth of that Humility, which can make you capable of His light and Holy Spirit.’ Reject every thought, but that of waiting and praying in this matter from the bottom of your heart, with such truth and earnestness, as people in torment wish to pray and be delivered from it. …If you can and will give yourself up in truth and sincerity to this spirit of prayer, I will venture to affirm that, if you had twice as many evil spirits in you as Mary Magdalene had, they will all be cast out of you, and you will be forced with her to weep tears of love at the feet of the holy Jesus.

We should all pray daily for God to make pride known to us, to take it from our hearts, and replace it with humility. For until we do, as you correctly say, there is nothing anyone can do for us.

starting from the necessity to “prove” God

I don’t ask you to prove existence of God and I accept that is not possible. What I am asking is for you to prove your factual assertions about this world with facts, rather than hand-waving. While I thank you for your reply, I notice you chose not to engage with any of my specific points, namely that 1) spirituality is far more complex than the binary choice you propose, 2) belief in higher power did not in fact make the world a better place, nor the lack of of said belief made it worse, and 3) whatever slight improvements in our conditions can be detected, they are due solely to our human agency rather than any interventions higher powers.

I could provide an excellent summary of the true war

I have no doubt that you could, but I suspect that would be only testament to your literary ability, not containing much in the way of verifiable information.

All your questions are answered in the Orthodox faith, from Saint Paul to the church fathers.

Sadly, none of my questions were answered by any of the Abrahamic religions, which is why I rejected them. The only religion that made any kind of sense to me is Budddism, actually. But I consider it, in its pure form at least, more a philosophy than religion.

You think this life is the only life, this existence in the temporal, is all that there is. Or perhaps you believe in CIA killing goats by psychic powers, and that’s acceptable “supernatural powers.”

As someone once said, “I’m on the diet so please don’t put words into my mouth!” With all due respect you have no idea what I think, only what I chose to write here. So kindly stick to that and refrain from extrapolation.

It’s not a good idea to engage with someone who is coming from a Western perspective, from whatever spinoff from Latin “Christianity” with its heresies and militarism, starting from the necessity to “prove” God, when science is at best (scientism with COVID-1984) experiment and observation of things seen. I speak of the unseen: love, compassion, mercy, tenderness, that only hand waving can explain from “the survival of the fittest.”

All your questions are answered in the Orthodox faith, from Saint Paul to the church fathers.

The world as you see it now is temporal, separated from God, with “laws of science” a consequence of God’s withdrawal.

I could provide an excellent summary of the true war–I trust you have no trouble believing in UFO and extraterrestrial life–and you have no idea of the current size and scope of the universe at this moment.

If you were to open your mind and heart, you could learn; the sources are out there.

But if your heart is closed, and you lack humility, there is nothing I can do.

You think this life is the only life, this existence in the temporal, is all that there is. Or perhaps you believe in CIA killing goats by psychic powers, and that’s acceptable “supernatural powers.”

But God is the God of Eternal memory; it matters how he remembers you. I do not know your heart. God does.

You can only come to the truth with a loving heart, a spirit of humility, and love for God, and learn that satan implanted the Marvel comic book idea of what gods are; Jesus Christ was meek (polite), loving, and his miracles were not of the thunderbolt but of love.

So, let others understand and for you are free to reject God, because his demands of you are to not to put yourself first, to love Him and your neighbors–those in need. Being selfless and not selfish.

So, I wish you well and good luck in the path you’ve chosen. Change is up to you.

Video Link

“The newest person would conform in spite of what was in front of their eyes!”

Who are you going to believe? Me or your lying eyes?
–Groucho Marx

The Chronological Argument.

Well it was the 2008-09 time frame that I personally detected an uptick of demonic activity in the world. (No, I do not mean to imply that Barack Obama is some sort of demon – although he decidedly did not help matters!). And indeed since that time the Catholic Church has reported a marked uptick in the calls for exorcism, for instance. Demonic forces are on the march.

The experiences of the faithful catalogued here during the calamities of 1917 and following do offer some comfort. Certainly complacency is uncalled for, but nevertheless a measure of comfort is there in the thought that “it could be worse!”

Encouragement is drawn indeed by taking measures of the positive things in life, as TrueRestoration.org has observed. It’s always good policy to take stock and appreciation of friends, of family, of sacraments. And how excellent is the advice to take our spoon-fed news media sparingly and with a grain of salt! Rather isn’t an appropriate time to “See how the flowers of the field grow” and take stock of the miraculous all about you?

Demonic possession or adept phrasing and persuasion along with sheep-like submission to Authority and creeping conformity.

Starting with Solomon Asch who demonstrated how conformist people are with his length of lines experiments. As long as the six people in the room agreed, the newest person would conform thirty to forty percent of the time. The newest person would conform in spite of what was in front of their eyes!

Then Stanley Milgram and his Authority shock experiments. As long as Authority was represented in a white lab coat, the subjects would (in theory) shock to death the screaming subjects in the other room. Two thirds of the people slavishly obeyed Authority.

Dont forget Edward Bernays from WW1, psychological warfare and convincing American women to smoke and also Germans bayonet babies in their spare time.

I would maintain we are massaged daily by language detrimental to our own existence. A language that is consistent with the ideas of the three fellows I mentioned.

I cannot believe that in 2020 there are still people who believe in a god entity!

LOL the “current year” argument. As in: “I cannot believe that in 2020 people are against gay marriage / transgeder freaks / etc”

There should be a name for it. “Argumentum ad annum”?

The Big Questions are the same ones as before, since Plato and Aristotle. Science won’t give us these answers. For more information on why, read Pascal (who was also a great scientist, by the way).

Human beings invent gods and construct religions to flatter themselves. No one has yet concocted a belief system in which that rival tribe of smelly barbarians camped down by the river are the chosen ones, tenderly beloved of the only true god(s). Self worship was the foundations of religious faith and self deception permits its continuance.

An enduring appeal of Christianity is that its doctrines and practices are so contrived as to encourage the faithful to indulge the deadliest of their character defects – cruelty, intolerance, arrogance, among others – while allowing them see themselves as decent, moral human beings as they inflict terrible harm on others.

We who despise this particular delusion are threatening equally to the deceived as to the deceivers. As Mark Twain observed, it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

Science has not “proven” religion false, but it has convincingly demonstrated that the suppositions underlying religious faith are misunderstandings of the natural world and the human place in it. In this generally lousy year there is one cheering statistic, that polls find the religious preference most popular in people under 30 years of age is “none.” Even as fundamentalism is in the ascendant in the three Abrahamic cults, the dark night of faith is passing.

I cannot believe that in 2020 there are still people who believe in a god entity!

If there were such a god thing, do you really think that it would sit back and allow priests in one religious variation to sexually abuse children or allow another to detonate bombs on a regular basis blowing up this god’s people or crippling many for life? Would this god allow so many excess people to be born so that many will be hungry or ill & diseased, condemned to live a life in pain for all their years? Would a caring god allow wars that murder innocent people wantonly, pollute the environment to the determent of all this gods creatures and life, allow natural disasters that kill people, force them out of house and home and destroy their businesses?

If such a god exists, then it must certainly be a sadist.

If I actually run into this god at some future point in time, I will be sure to give it a big kick in the shin!

One can have two approaches to viewing the world

Ah, we begin the article by setting up logical fallacy called “false dichotomy”.

Actually there are possible approaches other than the two author lists: for example one can believe god created universe, but for his own purposes that have nothing to do with us – this thesis is actually well supported by the size of known universe, because if god created all of *that* just to create us, he certainly went about it a very roundabout way. One could even believe in malicious god, and that too would be well supported by the observable evidence.

Or one can believe in universe ruled by the natural law of karma that doesn’t require a creator – that’s the Buddhist view in fact.

… and so on. Anyhow, Let’s carry on:

The consequence in not believing in anything higher than the power of men and their institutions has resulted in great horrors throughout recent history.

Can you demonstrate that horrors of recent history were really greater than horrors of more distant history, once we account for increased population and improved technology?

I would actually argue that the amount of horror in history remains basically constant, and that’s because the human nature is basically constant. Yes, Soviets, Nazis and all that – but what about all horrors committed in the name of god (Allah, in this case) throughout the history, such as Muslim conquest of India, for example – little known but extremely violent period. How about sack of Constantinople, or cruelty of slavery? Turks in Armenia?

As for Christian nations, what about the misery Brits inflicted on Indian subcontinent? King Leopold and genocide in Congo? Pre-Nazi Germans in Namibia?

I would say that belief in “higher power” actually did nothing to temper our worst tendencies. Maybe for some individuals, but not on scale of nations.

And when we stand before the dread throne of Glory, what will we say when we had more hope in the power of antibacterial wipes than we did in the holiness of icons?

I think we could argue that antibiotics saved millions, if not billions of lives, while icons did approximately bugger-all for anyone except perhaps for the Church.

You have gone to the heart of the matter Ms. Lorenzo. While I can quibble about your ideas on Christmas and such, your last paragraph essentially sums up the situation, though I am still waging that battle within me.

My point in writing these words is that for believers we are facing very ugly times indeed; do not discount the power of prayer and good works.

A Crusade would be more useful, methinks.

I’m ready for someone, ANYONE, to get something right about American politics BEFORE another election.

In Aug of 2015 I predicted Trump would win. But not because I worship the Liberal NY Yankee, as is the wont of Drumpfters. But because it is so transparently obvious that he is the jews’ Inside Man and ALWAYS has been.

Are you a jew?

You quoted one in your response to me, so that, in and of itself, is questionable.

Brad Griffin was 100% wrong before the election and I tried many times to explain why. But NOW he changes his tune.

So, when do we get any pundits in America who will question the ENTIRE shitshow created by jews?

Brad Griffin spent almost 2 years writing that Trump was a hero as I tried over and over to explain that he is not.

He wasn’t then and he isn’t now a hero of any sort. He is Chabad’s Main Man. Their Hammer.

Greenwald noted a critical point:

The much bigger point is the way that the information is being disseminated,” he said. “It is a union of journalists who have decided that their only goal is to defend Joe Biden and election him president of the United States working with the FBI, CIA, NSA not to manipulate our adversaries or foreign governments, but to manipulate the American people for their own ends. It’s been going on for four straight years now and there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon.

How is saying that if not were Trump, we wouldn’t have known the scale of lies, deception and incompetence by the Intel community, the press, etc. and that it has been made public not to just a few who read the alternate press, but now via Fox News, that Trump is a great and good man?

Is Lorenzo a Chabad jew? Or just an idiot Drumpfter trying to lead us astray?

This is just an ad hominem attack and unworthy of any self-respecting, intelligent reader.

Brad Griffin spent almost 2 years writing that Trump was a hero as I tried over and over to explain that he is not.

He wasn’t then and he isn’t now a hero of any sort. He is Chabad’s Main Man. Their Hammer.

And this Yvonne Lorenzo is as blind as Brad was 4-5 years ago.

Is Lorenzo a Chabad jew? Or just an idiot Drumpfter trying to lead us astray?

But attacking the CIA is like attacking our troops. They’re our boys in uniform. Or disguise, but whatever. How could you attack our boys over there? They’re our boys. The good guys. The CIA troops need all the support they can get. If you don’t support them, you are a traitor.

This is all very good and neglected information. But I gotta tell ya it’s almost unreadable. Next time would you please write like one sentence at a time? And maybe think about saying one thing in each sentence instead of 18 and a half.

“without Donald Trump, we would have never known how corrupt the “Deep State” and its slaves, the “legacy media” are; that aside from the power of murdering too vocal opponents, they are a feckless, embarrassing lot. While America’s future may not be bright, at least perhaps by accident, thanks to Donald Trump in this time of mandatory mask wearing, the masks of the puppeteers have been removed, and we can see them in all their ignominy, venality and fanatic idiocy.”

And in case there’s any doubt left, this “just” in:

“Because they are all ultimately funded via both direct and indirect theft [taxes], and counterfeiting [central bank monopolies], all governments are essentially, at their very cores, 100% corrupt criminal scams which cannot be “reformed”or “improved”,simply because of their innate criminal nature.” onebornfree

Trump or no Trump, failure to understand this, the true, revealed nature of “the beast”, is ultimately fatal, for both individuals and for the world at large. And Trump, like most, certainly does not understand it. Never has, and [like most], probably never will 😒

Regards, onebornfree

No, discerning readers have known for many years of the incestuous relationship between the state and the media. And even in the time of Trump we are a small minority who haven’t imbibed of the states kool-aid. What we have been enlightened to is the total depravity of the political left & the spinelessness of the political right.

In a recent Unz article, Pepe Escobar conveyed from his sources that Trump has wanted and still wants to do a lot of what his voter base desired

But Donald John Trump is essentially hamstrung, boxed-in, blackmailed by the whole establishment, including many of the people closest around him

Trump is nearly alone, really … He would be JFK’d if he did much beyond what he has. 5 of the last 11 US presidents were attacked in office: 2 were shot, 3 were impeached; they are all under the gun.

‘Blackmailed Trump’ is just as consistent with the facts, as ‘sell-out poseur Trump’, as some say and Griffin suggests … Logically, we all should be able to see that, whatever our instinct about him … It is possible that Trump is a hero fighting against the greatest odds any US leader has ever faced

This is what many USA people feel, too, that the poor guy is trying, against the most vicious odds in the world … Just managing to stay alive and still in office, is a big victory for him … And Trump has the enemies, that give honour to an honest man

Trump has openly stated and legitimised these ideas, to his everlasting credit:
– there is a need to drain the Washington DC swamp
– the news is fake, major media is often lying
– it is okay to oppose globalists
– it is okay to oppose mass migration and preserve your own culture
– it is okay to preserve classic Western traditions
– it is wrong to call white people ‘racist’ just because they are white

The establishment cannot forgive him for that, no matter how much he must and does give in to serving them … Here, the famous ‘Trump as blackmailed hostage’ meme

“Racism” isn’t a sin.

I think it’s proof that monotheletism is inherently divisive. What is falsely called “Orthodoxy” today never quite got away from Heraclius.
The Spirit flows from the Father and from the Son. The failure to understand that leads to Byzantine ideology – to Tsarism. In that model when the Empire has a problem, the Church has a problem. In Catholicism, by contrast, empires and kingdoms can come and go but the Rock of Peter stands firm.

As an aside, I have read the articles which Lorenzo has linked. What we see here is that the Truth is not in “Orthodoxy”. It has no relationship with an objective standard; it is circular at its heart. “Orthodoxy” cannot survive without telling untruths – or, failing that, without dumping long strings of text to disguise those untruths. Look how wrong this particular post got the Renaissance.

The pagan society of pre-Christian times, we see, was for the Eastern Orthodox Christian, for the Byzantine, not a godless society into which the Divine infused itself. It was a society being prepared for the manifestation of God, being molded by Divine forces…

This would have surprised the ancients quite a bit.

They lived in the divine. Socrates, after an enjoyable dialogue with an amiable companion, thanks “Pan and the other spirits of this place” for being there to host their excellence.

Socrates needed no bloody crucifixion for any of this; it was already there by what a later writer, Plotinus, called The One. His point was while The One has no corporeal existence, we live and share in its manifest divinity. This is not “pagan” nor preparation, it was already complete. It was preparing to continue.

The god-man Christ is a wholly European creation. Greek specifically but universally depicted as European, not Middle Eastern. Christ is central to Europeans, and how he was “globalized” remains a mystery. Even illiterate Africans and Polynesians referred to Christ as “the white man’s god” and they were totally correct.

The cleft between East and West Christianity just more proof that monotheism is inherently divisive. At no point did Plotinus’ concept Divine Unity mean one set of beliefs for all the world. Had Rome kept their original patron deities, and Greece theirs, they would have never been a scuffle. Much less one that lasted centuries and divides us as we wreck what’s left of our true heritage.

That’s the nicest thing I have read all day. I appreciate the reply.

But what do you do when the “foreigner” knows that you are duty bound to help him and so he takes advantage of you? In our case, we have an open heart towards others and want to help and then next thing you know throngs and throngs of people show up demanding free healthcare, free education, free housing knowing that if you refuse they can accuse you of not living up to your principles while at the same time showing themselves to be people with no principles at all?

Yes, not only Unz but LewRockwell.com has documented this agenda, but it is not motivated by love but by those in power who are certainly not Christian. I don’t disagree that this is an act motivated by malice, and harmful.

(I introduced Ron to Whitney Webb’s wonderful investigative reporting; of course we can condemn obvious sins but we must not be caught up too much in the evil of others, although truth must be known, but I believe we must ourselves be better in the environment in which we find ourselves)

But also Americans are behaving monstrously not just migrants; see ANTIFA.

I believe the love discussed is how an individual behaves; and we mustn’t hate migrants who are pawns in a greater game.

And I believe America would not have such a poor spiritual “immune system” to resist all the evils befalling us if within more Americans true Christian faith is strong.

I speak in an alien fashion, though not a theologian–as the book which I cited and I recommend more read, the authors state the Orthodox have only three theologians. The second chapter discusses Orthodox theology. Thus, I believe those who participate in evil, in harming others, harm themselves much worse than their victims, who are in God’s care, if you are believer.

http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/i_believe.aspx

I believe also that both the righteous and the sinners who are departed now enjoy a foretaste of their final destiny, but that each man shall receive the entirety of what he deserves only at the Last Judgment. God loves not only those who dwell in Paradise, but also those who are in Hell; in Hell, however, the Divine love constitutes a cause of suffering for the wicked. This is not due to God’s love but to their own wickedness, which resents this love and experiences it as a torment. I believe that, as yet, neither Paradise nor Hell has commenced in a complete and perfect sense.

We must not be too much bound up in the world and ignore our own transgressions and sins; we must make ourselves right before God. And one has to be humble, repentant, and study the Fathers to learn how, I think.

See also:

http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/soul_save.aspx

Thank you for your question.

Masturbation, eh?

Well at least we know we’re you mind is at!

But thankyou for demonstrating my point.

But what do you do when the “foreigner” knows that you are duty bound to help him and so he takes advantage of you? In our case, we have an open heart towards others and want to help and then next thing you know throngs and throngs of people show up demanding free healthcare, free education, free housing knowing that if you refuse they can accuse you of not living up to your principles while at the same time showing themselves to be people with no principles at all?

How does love not lead to sacrifice and then not just sacrifice but the idea that you have to sacrifice everything for people who are really just taking advantage of you?

marylinm you write:

“Love is a product of mutual adoration. Else it does not exist.”

Christ has asked more of us.

See here, explaining scripture and an excerpt from someone with more knowledge than I but I hope this guides you, even if you choose to reject the Teachings:

http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/conduct.aspx

The answer to this question is given by the Lord Himself: Love thy neighbor (Luke 10:27).

The Lord Jesus Christ very categorically demands that we love one another. While giving His last instructions to His disciples before His suffering, He often, and with great force, entrusted them with this love. Namely: This is My commandment, That ye love one another…(John 15:12) These things I command you, that ye love one another (John 15 17). A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another… (John 13:34). This is precisely what all of the apostles oblige us to do. The holy Apostle Peter, together with all the other apostles, commanded us to love. St. Peter writes: …See that ye love one another with a pure hears fervently (1 Peter 1:22). St. John the Theologian writes: Beloved, let us love one another (1 John 4:7). For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (1 John 3:11; John 5). And this His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment (1 John 3:23). St. Paul says: Walk in love (Eph. 5:2)….For ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another (1 Thess. 4:9). The holy Apostle James writes: the royal law according to the Scripture [is], Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself… (James 2:8).

The measure of this love is clearly defined by the Lord Himself. He demands that we all love our neighbor as ourselves, for He said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Luke 10:27)…. Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7:12). This is exactly what all the holy apostles said. Therefore my reader, take note and fulfill the following instructions.

***

8) Our love for ourselves can be and, unfortunately, often is truly misplaced. How many people desire and strive for earthly goods, great honor, respect, prosperity. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ was so pleased to place a specific condition on our love for our neighbor; He commanded that we should love our neighbor as He loved us. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you (John 15:12). Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34). The Lord Jesus Christ so loved us, the faithful, His Church, that He gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify it. .. That He might present it to Himself…not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27). He strove and strives to create in all of us firm faith in God the Father and in Himself (John 3:16), to offer us a true knowledge of God (John 1: 18; 17:3), to inspire us to love Him (John 17:26), to lovingly and zealously fulfill the commandments of God (John 14; 21, 23, 24) and to lead us to eternal life (John 3:16).

Therefore each of us who sincerely loves himself should in every way possible strive to acquire firm faith in the Lord God, true knowledge of Him, heart felt love for Him and the most zealous desire to fulfill His commandments. Thus we should also act in relationship to our neighbor so that he might acquire firm faith in the Lord God, true knowledge of Him, acquire love for Him, zealously striving to fulfill His commandments and thus continually grow towards eternal blessedness. Every one of us should in every way possible inspire our neighbor to care for the salvation of his soul, to support and increase this concern by whatever means possible. None of us should dare say: “What do I have to do with the quality of my neighbor’s life?” Quite the opposite, each of us, when we notice that a Christian is behaving in an improper way, should look for the right time in order to privately and with love bring him to his senses and direct him on the right path of salvation. Now we exhort you (not just ask), brethren, warn them that are unruly (1 Thess. 5:14).

In order to assist our neighbor spiritually we should strive much more earnestly than to help him physically. Physical help must be offered in such a way that it more or less contributes to the spiritual perfection of our neighbor and to his salvation. The spiritual need of our neighbor is incomparably more important than any of his physical needs. And to give spiritual assistance is often much more difficult than to give physical because, as a rule, for to physical assistance people usually respond with gratitude, but to spiritual, almost never, and it is not unusual for them to repay us with hatred and even vengeance.

9) As in offering physical help, in offering spiritual help we must also follow a special rule mainly: before others we should heed the needs of people that God’s Providence has closely bound us with, such as our children, relatives, friends, benefactors, employees. He who strives to instruct, correct and awake the conscience in strangers while his own children or employees run out of control and fall into sins and error, does not fulfill the commandment of love for his neighbor. He is not a friend to his neighbor but an enemy, one who is at times extremely harmful and destructive.

10) If the opportunity arises we should never refuse physical and especially spiritual help to the depraved, to foreigners, non-Orthodox, heretics, atheists, and enemies, for all of them, no matter what their orientation or disposition, are human, all created by the Creator, all with an immortal soul and in the likeness of God. They are all redeemed by the priceless Blood of Jesus Christ and therefore all children of the Heavenly Father, all redeemed by Christ and all co-inheritors of the one, eternal, all blessed Kingdom of God. Therefore we should show love to all people People who are depraved, heretics, and atheists, all are in the greatest need of our spiritual aid, especially our prayers and our example to them Concerning our enemies there is the clear commandment of the Lord: But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). There can be no contradiction here, for the Apostle John makes it clear to us that: Whoever hateth his brother is a murderer (John 3:15)

This is how we should love our neighbor. If we were filled with love for all our neighbors we would be perfectly happy. Then there would not be such unhappiness on earth and our life would become like the life of our ancestors in blissful paradise. Let us zealously fulfill the Lord’s commandments of love for our neighbor, and in every way possible strive to bring our live closer to that of our ancestors in paradise!

From Orthodox Life, Vol. 46, No. 4, July-August 1996, pp. 2-6. It was originally translated from the book A Day of Holy Life, or the Answer to the Question, How Can I Lead a Holy Life.

I hope this clarifies what Christian love means and the obligation and responsibility; even if you don’t believe in Scripture, it clearly tells that Jesus Christ’s love for most of the human beings he interacted wasn’t returned. And he still loved!

I was not addressing you. I doubt very much that the author of this essay needs an advocate.

Masturbation in front of an icon is not Love. Fromm is just one such icon. An ape can be another. Ask Jane Goodall.

But notice, we are talking here about a *theologian*, not a generic metaphysicist. This seems to me to point to a necessary existentialist component in theology. Blaise Pascal somewhat mysteriously sewed the following reminder on the inside of his jacket: “The god of the philosophers is not the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (I personally find it suspicious not to distinguish the god revealed in Jesus of Nazareth from the Old-Testament god; but, Pascal is here being more orthodox than I.) His point seems to be: theology is an exercise in futility if you cannot refer to a personal experience of God’s presence.

You said: “Love is a product of mutual adoration. Else it does not exist.”

There are many forms of love: familial, patriotic, platonic, erotic, agapē and divine.

You’re confusing platonic love and/or erotic love on the one hand, with agapē.

The challenge – if you choose to accept it – is to strive to love the stranger as much we love our own partner/spouse – although expressed in entirely different ways of course.

You would benefit enormously from Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving.

Blessings.

If one is looking for a prime example of tendentious obscurantism, this article will do nicely. After about five paragraphs my eyes started glazing over.

You have defined Love as a unitaleral affect. You are wrong. Uninvited advances always result in eventual crucification of the advancer, because some are perpetually beyond redemption, and much less, repair.

Love is a product of mutual adoration. Else it does not exist.

I don’t think one can blame the Byzantines scientific technological deficiencies on their version of Christianity. Every Empire rises and comes to an end.

Science and technology doesn’t come from religious or any scholars. In those days it was craftsmen who came up with the improvements, not, PHDs in R&D departments.

And you believe this Jewish fairy tale?

The renaissance was as you say, an Italian Catholic upper clergy creation. Conventional history dates the beginning to the mid 1300s when the Vatican sponsored a poetry reading by the scholar and poet Petrarch. He grew up in a cardinal’s household and his father’s job required the family to move to Avignon when that Cardinal became the Avignon Pope.

Pope Borgia encouraged ancient history and revivals in the 149os. He produced fiestas that were not about fasting for sins and on the morbid feast days of tortured to death saints but just fun. He also produced an opera and the popes continued the practice. The opera was based on the Ancient Greek plays that had choruses singing the story.

The Roman church was able to create the renaissance because it didn’t burn and destroy books of ancient history as the caliph of Baghdad did around 900AD. Later Savonarola burned those books because reading anything but prayer books was a sin. The Protestants did because so many of the books were in Latin, language of the satanic. Roman Church did

The church preserved them and established work shops where they were endlessly copied. The books were available when the secular scholars needed them

Science? Don’t forget where the calendar we use today was made; in the Vatican observatory where the greatest astronomers and mathematicians worked.

As a White American, I don’t believe in loving our liberal Whites Jews and non White enemies. They want us dead. They made laws we that can’t earn a living. They took over the government schools and are now teaching the third generation of White children to hate themselves and the White race. They encourage black criminals to murder assault rob and rape us. Love them? Why? So they can do more harm? So you can get to non existent heaven? So that old man up in the sky who doesn’t exist notices you?

Why is it that virtually every non Roman Catholic of every denomination cannot discuss religion without attacking the Roman church in some way?

The renaissance literature and history would not have happened but for the Roman church libraries in Italy. More than half the art was paid for by the Roman church, the rest by wealthy Italians and catholic kings.

100 years later the Protestants came along and destroyed much of the Roman Catholic art in N Europe because the Jews behind the Protestants disapproved, like the Muslims disapprove of pictures of people.

In this century the anti Catholics are burning down historical Catholic Churches , World Heritage catholic cathedrals and the art inside them, Stained glass that can never be replicated was destroyed in the Notre Dame fire.

Hatred and nitpicking against the Catholic Church is everywhere, even in this lady’s article denying the Catholic church’s creation of the renaissance.

Must have gone to public school.

Thank you [507], that is in part what I meant; but on a more visceral level I also worry about an untethered Divinity who exists of pure will (i.e. Allah). I had several comments and I wasn’t organising my thoughts very well toward the end.
I will now read Lorenzo’s response.

I appreciate the distinction between the Cartesian and the a priori approaches to belief/faith. Socrates was said, in the dialogues, to have a kind of mystical acceptance of god that wasn’t like how he would normally force everyone to think through their premises. He just believed and experienced god all around him and would go into trances. But the Cartesian approach of deducing the faith from basic principles seems more Aristotelian. I am surprised the Eastern believers weren’t more Aristotelian since they were heavily influenced by the Greeks. Aquinas rather than Descartes would be a better example of the non-Eastern approach to faith in my opinion. In the olden days everyone lived in an Enchanted Forest of paganism basically, so to say that Eastern believers started with an a priori faith in God seems to be to more a feature of the fact that they were living with a faith that arose from within their own culture, whereas the Western pagans who converted had to have a reason to convert. Hence the polemics and Apologetics being the starting point, which is I think what you mean by calling western believers “Cartesian”.

I grew up in a Fundamentalist Christian environment, which could also be called 1st Century Christian. The only authority comes from the Holy Spirit informing your heart of the truth as you read the gospel. That tradition was very Pauline in that you learned first that the reason you should accept Christ is that you are a sinner who is condemned to eternal punishment. So everyone, even those of us who were raised in the church, had to explicitly declare and accept that Jesus was our savior in the same sort of way that Keirkegaard describes in The Concept of Anxiety. You are taught to have an anxiety about your situation: am I saved? From that anxiety arises faith in God.

I mention all of that because I get where you are coming from with the “God is love” thing but that seems to me to be more of how you would feel about the whole situation if you were born and raised in a community of faith by nice people rather than evangelized into the faith the way we were in my part of America. The evangelist teaches you to have anxiety as a way of getting you to seek God, which you would never do naturally because you are a sinner living in the world of Satanic distractions.

Finally, I appreciated reading about your point of view. Thanks.

I believe that Zimriel’s objection isn’t about the distinction of one type knowledge from another, but that this:

“the Western theologian might begin by assuming God does not exist—or nothing exists—and then proceed in an attempt to establish His existence and the created world, instead the Byzantine scholar worked form the assumption of the existence of God and his creation”

is an example of a well known logical fallacy.

By assuming the conclusion is true the reasoning becomes circular. Any arbitrary statement can be true using this line of reasoning. It’s also known as begging the question.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Constantinople

Thank you, Kali.

I suppose the “loving heart” truly depends on the human being; Orthodox understanding I believe aids that ability but is not the sole option.

I have the good fortune to meet people with “loving hearts” who are Christians, and as in my interview with The Saker noted, we have known those not of Christian faith who are good people, who love.

The irony in this story is that the act of love shown to the person who hated them was truly in the spirit of Jesus Christ, although the people are Jews:

https://journalstar.com/news/local/jewish-couple-in-lincoln-who-took-in-klansman-in-1992-recall-old-message-of-human/article_cf678528-20a5-5274-9a62-88cf13bb2b4e.html

Weisser didn’t ignore Trapp’s calls. Every week, before bar mitzvah classes, he left his own message on Trapp’s answering machine.

He called them love notes.

Why do you hate me? You don’t even know me. Don’t you want people to love you? Don’t you want to be a different person? You’re disabled. Don’t you know the Nazis would have killed you first?

Do you need a ride to the grocery store?

One night, Trapp picked up. He began yelling and cursing, accusing the cantor of harassment.

“He said he’d have me arrested. I said, ‘I just want to talk to you, man.’ And he agreed, not right away, but a week or so later he called me.”

He told Weisser he wanted out, that he wanted to change but he didn’t know how.

Against the advice of their children and friends, Michael and Julie showed up at the Grand Dragon’s apartment door on C Street. Trapp opened it, a shotgun slung over the wheelchair’s back and a loaded semi-automatic pistol in his lap.

They talked for three hours.

“He asked me to take all of his hate material away and that he wanted to change his life,” Weisser said.

They took the white hood and the Nazi flag and the racist literature and moved Trapp into their daughter’s room. Julie quit her job to care for the man with late-stage diabetes.

He renounced his membership in the KKK. He apologized to everyone he had hurt.

This link contains examples of reading, which include the book that is the focus of my article:

http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/readlist.aspx

But one learns by doing. Truly loving is difficult. My prayers are with you as you continue your journey.

Thank you for your comments. Regarding your statement:

And I shudder if this be true:

Unlike those in the West, Orthodox thinkers have never thought in Cartesian terms; while the Western theologian might begin by assuming God does not exist—or nothing exists—and then proceed in an attempt to establish His existence and the created world, instead the Byzantine scholar worked form the assumption of the existence of God and his creation, “basing his intellectual observations on this a priori assumption.”

I direct you to this article, which I hope you read in its entirety, but this passage might answer your question:

http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/infoage.aspx

Further, can we lead a sinful life, engage in illicit relationships, pollute our minds eye with corrupting images, defile our speech with obscene words, fill our mind with vile imaginings, yet honestly hope to be able to discern indispensable knowledge from knowledge void of worth or significance? At every Sunday Liturgy we hear the Beatitude: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. There is only one way to purify one’s heart: that is through repentance, Holy Confession and Holy Communion. Dare we live in this world without frequently turning to these salutary Sacraments?

Clearly then, in order to discern worthy knowledge from vain knowledge we must live a life of spiritual struggle, that is, we must live a life in the Church. This takes time, dedication, concentration, and rejection of vain distractions. It requires that we escape from Informational Sensory Overload which is heaped upon us by the Information age.

A question may arise, especially among the students: does all this mean that secular, worldly knowledge is at best vain and useless, and at worst harmful and in conflict with Divine knowledge? Ivan Michailovich Andreyev, of blessed memory, the professor of Orthodox Apologetic Theology at our Holy Trinity Seminary, gave a good answer to this quandary in his lecture on the relationship between religion and science. Professor Andreyev states:

True religion and true science, marking the limits of the sphere of their competence, can never have contradictions between them. If such contradiction occurs, it means that either religion or science has betrayed its principles and become pseudo-religion or a pseudo-science.

Faith and knowledge in their very essence are inseparable. It is impossible to surmise that a believing person does not think about the object of his faith and does not know what he believes in. It is likewise impossible that a philosopher or scholar, while investigating, does not believe, at least in his own intellect.

Knowledge is as necessary and lawful for religion as faith is for scholarship. Faith can be indispensable where knowledge is inadequate and helpless. Anything learned through faith should not enter into contradiction with genuine knowledge…

The more deeply and thoroughly man studies the sciences and knows the limits of their competence, the more philosophical and theological culture man possesses. Likewise, the more deeply his religious faith is developed, the fewer become the imaginary contradictions between faith and knowledge and between religion and science…

Religion answers the highest and most intricate inquiries of man’s spirit, which science is absolutely helpless in answering. The more highly developed religion is, the more it nurtures a love for knowledge; not of course, vain knowledge, but true knowledge, which is called spiritual wisdom…

St. Basil the Great, who was a scholar, a philosopher and a theologian, said: “In pre-Christian philosophical teaching there was only a shadow of revealed truths, a pre-portrayal of Truth shown in Holy Scripture, a reflection of the light of Christ’s truth, similar to the reflection of the sun in water.” Of the relationship between faith and knowledge, St. Basil the Great also asserted: “In science faith precedes knowledge. This is profoundly true, since everything most fundamental and initial in scientific knowledge is impossible to prove and is accepted as a basic principle by an act of faith.”

If the great Fathers of the Church regarded honest scientific and philosophic knowledge with such deep respect, then in their turn, the greatest genuine scientific scholars of the past regarded religious faith with deep esteem and reverence. They realized that True knowledge is incompatible with pride. Humility is an indispensable condition to the possibility of perceiving Truth. Only a humble scholar, like a humble religious thinker, always remembering the words of the Saviour: Without Me you can do nothing, and I am the way and the truth and the life, is capable of going in the correct way toward perceiving Truth. For God resisteth the proud, but giveth Grace unto the humble.

The thoughts of Professor Andreyev give us hope that there is still knowledge worth pursuing out there in the world of scholarship. Yet, with what caution must one proceed in a world, where words such as Faith in God, humility, reverence, and even Truth have been banished from the lexicon of academe. Like the mushroom picker in Rochester, N.Y., one must be extremely careful in choosing what to consume, lest one be poisoned and risk spiritual death.

This brings us to the next term which we must investigate in our examination of our Age of Information: Truth.

The simple dictionary definition of Truth is: The substance of reality; actuality.

In one of his lectures Professor Andreyev noted that every sensible, normal and critically thinking person, developing spiritually, sooner or later sets before himself a whole line of questions concerning what Truth is: What is the nature, meaning and aim of life, personally for each individual and for the universe as a whole? What is life? What is the origin of all existing things? Is there a God, Creator of all things, or does the world exist without a Creator? If there is a God, can we possibly have communion with Him? Does another world exist besides the visible one? What is matter? What is conscience? What is the Spirit? What is death? Does the soul exist, and does it possess immortality? What is good and evil? Can the absolute Truth be known? How must one live and what must one aspire to?

These are questions which, in one form or another, every normal, thinking human being must ask himself. For if there is no absolute Truth, then life has no meaning and no goal. Yet, these questions take time to form. They do not arise all at once. Time is needed for the process of their formation, contemplation, and resolution. Each individual needs to go through this process, otherwise he does not develop as a human being and is spiritually and psychologically stunted.

The question can validly be asked in our age of hyper-information, where from the youngest age individuals are perpetually subjected to Informational Sensory Overload: is there enough time, is there enough attention capacity left, for these all important questions even to arise in a young person’s heart, let alone for them to be resolved? Perhaps this is why we have become a society of spiritual misfits and that two out of every five Americans are known to be mentally ill.

Of course, before the Fall, when man lived in full communion with God his Creator, the question of God’s existence did not arise. It is only after the Fall, when sin began to geometrically multiply and the majority of the human race started to lose the concept of the One True God, that man begin to ask himself: Is there a God, is there an absolute Truth, and can it be comprehended? Throughout the ages fallen man has dealt with the question of the existence of God and absolute Truth in a variety of flawed ways. Our century, which has been marked with the re-invention of all the heresies of old, has not shied away from embracing the flawed philosophical systems of the past as well.

See this site by a physicist and engineer who is also Christian:

http://extinctionshift.com/

Jerome’s Vulgate is also a Masoretic translation; it only accepted such books from the Greek as Jerome could not (anymore) find in the Hebrew. This is clearest in Jeremiah and Daniel where the differences are greatest.
Some LXX readings from Vetus Latina did creep in, especially if the readings supported Christian dogma, but mostly the Catholic Bible is a Jewish one with additions.

A very enjoyable read.

From a personal perspective, as one brought up by a Christian mother (Church of England), and one who consciously became a Christian due to (what are purported to be) the teachings of Christ, but who left the Church behind many years ago when the hypocrisy and dishonesty of so many “practicing” Christians left me cold, I am very pleased to read that the Orthodox Church seems to view a relationship with God in a very similar way to myself.

Be the teaching of Christ, or even the person of Christ entirely allegorical, or an accurate reflection of a great Teacher who once walked the Earth, the wisdom contained in those teachings is undeniable.

Should there come a resurgence of the Orthodox Church, as you describe that church, then maybe there is hope for Christianity, and in that, maybe there is hope for “christian” world.

Thank you for providing insight into an aspect of Christianity which I previously thought only existed in my own interpretations, – and certainly not in any “organised” religion (Quakers notwithstanding).

With love,
Kali.

That’s one part of the puzzle.

The point of no return appeared when Leo IX became pope by literally forcing the cardinals to pick him

The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches both use slightly different versions of the Septuagint as the Old Testament. It is the Protestant churches that use the Jewish version, following Martin Luther’s excision of Books he disapproved of.

The Roman Catholic Church (Boston Diocese, Richard Cardinal Cushing) had representatives on the committee that prepared the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. This remains the only English translation of all the Books in both the Old and New Testament approved by both Protestants and Catholics. The Orthodox Churches did not participate.

The excellent Orthodox Study Bible, prepared by the St. Athanasius Academy, makes use of the New King James Version as well as some new translations. The Introduction is largely an anti-Catholic diatribe, but nonetheless interesting, but the footnotes throughout the text are well worth the reading.

If militant Christianity is the invention of the Latins how can we explain the rhetoric of George of Pisidia in service of Heraclius’ total war against Iran. How can we explain the myth of the Last Roman Emperor in (for instance) pseudo-Methodius.

The Renaissance can hardly be a revolt against the Church given how eagerly the cardinals and several Popes adopted Renaissance art. Movements for independence (Waldensians) and autonomy (Ghibellines) did happen but these were often fundamentalists who disliked the Renaissance humanism. Savonarola and Luther cannot be understood except as reactions against the “decadence” of contemporary Rome.

I haven’t read Bradford (d. 1986); is he any improvement over Phillips 2004?

And I shudder if this be true:

Unlike those in the West, Orthodox thinkers have never thought in Cartesian terms; while the Western theologian might begin by assuming God does not exist—or nothing exists—and then proceed in an attempt to establish His existence and the created world, instead the Byzantine scholar worked form the assumption of the existence of God and his creation, “basing his intellectual observations on this a priori assumption.”

Because if it is, it explains why Constantinople fell behind the scientific and technical accomplishments of late-Mediaeval Europe, and it implies Orthodoxy has no intellectual defence against Islam.

I think it was necessary for the Popes to become the final authority in the Western Church, in order to stop, or at least slow, the many heresies that were popping up during early Church times. By having a single religious leader whose pronouncements were supreme, the former Western Roman Empire was able to remain somewhat united. It lasted long enough to lay a foundation for future Western achievement and supremacy throughout the world. Of course, within that foundation were also planted the seeds that have led to our present slow decline. We’ll see what happens.

Truly fascinating. Excellent.

MAGNIFIQUE!!! This citadel is breathtaking in scope, architecture and its central meaning.
It’s simply gorgeous!!!

Thank you, President Putin, and the Russian architects/engineers/technicians who constructed such a beautiful monument for ALL Russians who died in The War.

It is certainly intriguing archtitecture. It is very thought provoking and a creative and eerie reminiscence of things that might rather be forgotten, but would be dangerous to be forgotten.

I would say haunting.

A temple of Mars in the name of Christ. How repugnant.

People are simple, between the weak horse and strong horse, they will choose the strong horse.

China and Russia do look like the strong horses right now.