Counsel for Youth from Elder Daniel Katounakiotis

Blessed Elder Daniel Katounakiotis (Reposed on September 21, 1929)

To the beloved brothers Constantine and John, I pray from my soul.

With great joy, I recently received your two letters, which I read with great zeal and diligence. It is my duty that I answer and guide you accordingly. I will, however, address my response to both of you, since the two of you are God-loving brothers, and both of you have equal need of spiritual guidance and education. You are therefore obligated not only to ask, but to listen to what the Fathers have said.

It is true that I was distressed, reading in your letter that you have been negligent in your obligations and have fallen away into many childish foolishnesses. I was also overjoyed that you have come to repentance and desire that I instruct you in which road of repentance to take, in order that you may receive the mercy of Our Benevolent God, Whom you have, by your childish misbehavior, seriously grieved.

To offend God and to stray from the straight path of His commandments is not unusual; all human nature easily slips and quite often falls into sin. However, to remain in evil is a grievous mistake, and we must be very careful, for woe unto us if we are found unrepentant at the time of our departure.

Among many of the methods which the devil -- the enemy and destroyer of our souls -- uses to deceive those who correctly practice Orthodox Christianity, particularly youth, is to present another trap, by which he has been able to deceive many young men and completely lead them to perdition.

The evil one first presents this trap under a guise which appears to be good and sympathetic, making it appear as an enticement to youth, and urging them to freedom, laughter, joking and gesticulations, outspokenness, and finally to the use and misuse of alcohol, all of which do not appear disastrous to the world, but which are characterized as a means of “freedom”, by use of political and clever auspices. Thus, getting used to bad habits, youth become filled with passions and are then mocked by demons and men alike. The trap is covered with a heavy shadow and with abstract justifications, making it appear that all these are very small sins and after the passing of this age all of these will be averted; and after all, these are things only hermits and monastics in the mountains should avoid.

If only they could fathom what great slipping away is brought about by these claims, they would want to depart from these pretexts and applicable excuses as from a deadly snake. It is the aim of the baiting Satan to first instill in a youth all these small sins, and thus paralyze his senses, inciting him to joking, indecent pictures, facetiousness and drunkenness, which gives birth to all the passions.

I beg you to ask, with much supervision, a passionate friend, lewd and unrepentant, to tell you how he was driven to such abominable passions. In answer you will learn from him that the main reason and beginning of passions were a result of his first beginnings in carelessness and indifference to the above causes. Just as the carnal passions come from negligence in small things, so also in the spiritual: from childish foolishness a person comes to the level of unrepentance and despair.

It is true that Our Lord Jesus Christ, seeing the slipping away of human nature, receives with open arms the returned sinner. At the same time, however, He says: “Watch and pray, for ye know not the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh.” He thereby motivates us to be always prepared and to have in our vessels the oil of repentance and every other virtue, so as not to be excluded from the bridal chamber like the foolish virgins. True, there exists repentance, and when a young man is pure and avoids bad company and drunkenness, but deviates slightly, then repentance quickly wipes out the young sins. When, however, through bad habits the body becomes a slave to sin, it becomes very difficult, and out of many, only a few will be able to be liberated from the [enemy’s] sophisticated snares.

Knowing these things, my beloved Constantine and John, from henceforth do not, for God’s sake, surrender yourselves to the paralyzing laxity of your senses, not to flirtations and joking, nor drunkenness and bad companions, from which the fear of God is lost and you are captivated by the demon of self-love and profligacy. But choose rather the virtuous life according to God, imitating your spiritual father in everything. He is the only one who will educate you in the state according to God and will show you forth as heavenly citizens.

In order to travel firmly the path of God you must:

1. Show great obedience, trust and acceptance towards your Superior (spiritual father), always telling him the truth.

2. Stop entirely talkativeness and joking, because, as we have said, where there is talkativeness (outspokenness) the fear of God departs.

3. Have a specific time each evening for prayer, which your Superior will assign.

4. When you are in church, be entirely concentrated on listening to the Divine Liturgy, so that the grace of the Holy Spirit will enter your heart.

5. Keep without fail all the prescribed fasts of the Church, and do not imitate the ruinous ways of today’s generation.

6. Whenever possible, avoid wine and particularly alcoholic drinks which arouse the carnal passions.

7. When you have free time, spend it by reading Patristic books.

8. Be careful of some spiritual fathers and teachers, who pretend to teach you virtues and repentance but introduce voluptuousness, by doing away with the fasts and discouraging youth from asceticism, temperance and from reading Patristic texts, and also speak against the monastic life. What harm this brings to pious young men is useless to mention, for I have seen many, who were enticed by these deceptive exhortations, become unwitting victims.

9. Have great reverence especially for Our Lady Theotokos, who will always guide you on the path to your salvation.

In closing, I reverently kiss you,

Monk Daniel Katounakiotis

Katounakia, Holy Mountain

June 19, 1902

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Prophet Jonah in the Writings of the Church Fathers

Jonah the Prophet (Feast Day - September 21)

St. Methodius

The history of Jonah contains a great mystery. For it seems that the fish signifies Time, ‎which never stands still, but is always going on, and consumes the things which are made by long ‎and shorter intervals.

‎But Jonah, who fled from the presence of God, is himself the first man who, having ‎transgressed the law, fled from being seen naked of immortality, having lost through sin his ‎confidence in the Deity.

‎The ship in which he embarked, and which was tempest-tossed, is this brief and hard life ‎in the present time. Just as though we had turned and removed from that blessed and secure life, ‎to that which was most tempestuous and unstable, as from solid land to a ship. For what a ship is ‎to the land, that our present life is to eternal life.

‎The storm and the tempests which beat against us are the temptations of this life, ‎which in the world, as in a tempestuous sea, do not permit us to have a fair voyage free from ‎pain, in a calm sea, and one which is free from evils. ‎

The casting of Jonah from the ship into the sea, signifies the fall of the first man from ‎life to death, who received that sentence because, through having sinned, he fell from ‎righteousness: “You are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

‎His being swallowed by the whale signifies our inevitable removal by time. For the belly ‎in which Jonah, when he was swallowed, was concealed, is the all-receiving earth, which ‎receives all things which are consumed by time.

‎As Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the fish and was delivered up ‎sound again, all of us who have passed through the three stages of our present life on earth—the ‎beginning, middle, and end— rise again. For our present time consists of three intervals: the past, ‎the future, and the present. Thus, the Lord spent three days in the earth as a symbol to teach us ‎clearly that our resurrection shall take place after these intervals of time have been fulfilled. Our ‎resurrection shall be the beginning of the future age and the end of this. In that age, there is ‎neither past nor future, but only the present.

‎Moreover, Jonah having spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, was ‎not destroyed by his flesh being dissolved, as is the case with that natural decomposition which ‎takes place in the belly, in the case of those meats which enter into it, on account of the greater ‎heat in the liquids, that it might be shown that these bodies of ours may remain undestroyed. For ‎consider that God had images of Himself made as of gold, that is of a purer spiritual substance, ‎as the angels; and others of clay or brass, as ourselves. He united the soul which was made in ‎the image of God to that which was earthy. As, then, we must here honor all the images of a king, ‎on account of the form which is in them, so also it is incredible that we who are the images of God ‎should be altogether destroyed as being without honor. Whence also the Word descended into ‎our world, and was incarnate of our body, in order that, having fashioned it to a more divine ‎image, He might raise it incorrupt, although it had been dissolved by time. And, indeed, when we ‎trace out the dispensation which was figuratively set forth by the prophet, we shall find the whole ‎discourse visibly extending to this.‎

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

And when we examine the story of Jonah, great is the force of the resemblance. Jesus was sent to ‎preach repentance; Jonah also was sent: but whereas the one fled, not knowing what should come to pass; ‎the other came willingly, to give repentance unto salvation. Jonah was asleep in the ship, and snoring ‎amidst the stormy sea; while Jesus also slept, the sea, according to God’s providence, began to rise, to show ‎in the sequel the might of Him who slept. To the one they said, “Why are you sleeping? Arise, call ‎your God, that God may save us;” but in the other case they say unto the Master, “Lord, save us.” Then ‎they said, "Call upon thy God"; here they say, "save Thou". But the one says, "Take me, and cast me into the ‎sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you"; the other, Himself rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a ‎great calm. The one was cast into a whale’s belly: but the other of His own accord went down, where the ‎invisible whale of death is. And He went down of His own accord, that death might cast up those whom he ‎had devoured, according to that which is written, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; and from ‎the hand of death I will redeem them".

St. Jerome

For a complete commentary on the Book of Jonah by St. Jerome, see here.


St. Gregory the Theologian

Jonah was fleeing from the face of God, or rather, thought that he was fleeing: but ‎he was overtaken by the sea, and the storm, and the lot, and the whale’s belly, and the ‎three days’ entombment, the type of a greater mystery. He fled from having to announce ‎the dread and awful message to the Ninevites, and from being subsequently, if the city ‎was saved by repentance, convicted of falsehood: not that he was displeased at the ‎salvation of the wicked, but he was ashamed of being made an instrument of falsehood, ‎and exceedingly zealous for the credit of prophecy, which was in danger of being ‎destroyed in his person, since most men are unable to penetrate the depth of the Divine ‎dispensation in such cases.‎

But, as I have learned from a man skilled in these subjects, and able to grasp the ‎depth of the prophet, by means of a reasonable explanation of what seems unreasonable ‎in the history, it was not this which caused Jonah to flee, and carried him to Joppa and ‎again from Joppa to Tarshish, when he entrusted his stolen self to the sea: for it was not ‎likely that such a prophet should be ignorant of the design of God, viz., to bring about, by ‎means of the threat, the escape of the Ninevites from the threatened doom, according to ‎His great wisdom, and unsearchable judgments, and according to His ways which are ‎beyond our tracing and finding out; nor that, if he knew this he would refuse to cooperate with God in the use of the means which He designed for their salvation. Besides, ‎to imagine that Jonah hoped to hide himself at sea, and escape by his flight the great eye ‎of God, is surely utterly absurd and stupid, and unworthy of credit, not only in the case of ‎a prophet, but even in the case of any sensible man, who has only a slight perception of ‎God, Whose power is over all.

On the contrary, as my instructor said, and as I am myself convinced, Jonah ‎knew better than anyone the purpose of his message to the Ninevites, and that, in ‎planning his flight, although he changed his place, he did not escape from God. Nor is ‎this possible for any one else, either by concealing himself in the bosom of the earth, or ‎in the depths of the sea, or by soaring on wings, if there be any means of doing so, and ‎rising into the air, or by abiding in the lowest depths of hell, or by enveloping himself in a ‎thick cloud, or by any other of the many devices for ensuring escape. For God alone of all ‎things cannot be escaped from or contended with; if He wills to seize and bring them ‎under His hand, He outstrips the swift, He outwits the wise, He overthrows the strong, He ‎abases the lofty, He subdues rashness, He represses power.

Jonah then was not ignorant of the mighty hand of God, with which he threatened ‎other men, nor did he imagine that he could utterly escape the Divine power; this we are ‎not to believe: but when he saw the falling away of Israel, and perceived the passing over ‎of the grace of prophecy to the Gentiles — this was the cause of his retirement from ‎preaching and of his delay in fulfilling the command; accordingly he left the watchtower ‎of joy, for this is the meaning of Joppa in Hebrew, I mean his former dignity and ‎reputation, and flung himself into the deep of sorrow: and hence he is tempest-tossed, and ‎falls asleep, and is wrecked, and aroused from sleep, and taken by lot, and confesses his ‎flight, and is cast into sea, and swallowed, but not destroyed, by the whale; but there he ‎calls upon God, and, marvelous as it is, on the third day he, like Christ, is delivered: but ‎my treatment of this topic must stand over, and shall shortly, if God permit, be more ‎deliberately worked out....‎

St. John Chrysostom

For Jonah was a servant, but I am the Master; and he came forth from the great fish, but I rose from death. He proclaimed destruction, but I am come preaching the good tidings of the kingdom. The Ninevites indeed believed without a sign, but I have exhibited many signs. They heard nothing more than those words, but I have made it impossible to deny the truth. The Ninevites came to be ministered to, but I, the very Master and Lord of all, have come not threatening, not demanding an account, but bringing pardon. They were barbarians, but these - the faithful - have conversed with unnumbered prophets. And of Jonah nothing had been prophesied in advance, but of me everything was foretold, and all the facts have agreed with their words. And Jonah indeed, when he was to go forth, instead ran away that he might not be ridiculed. But I, knowing that I am both to be crucified and mocked, have come nonetheless. While Jonah did not endure so much as to be reproached for those who were saved, I underwent even death, and that the most shameful death, and after this I sent others again. And Jonah was a strange sort of person and an alien to the Ninevites, and unknown; but I a kinsman after the flesh and of the same forefathers.

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

HYMN OF PRAISE: The Holy Prophet Jonah

Nineveh! Nineveh resounds with sin,
And God sends Jonah to heal Nineveh.
Jonah does not want to, and flees from God!
Oh, where will you go, Jonah, to hide from the Most High?
Jonah sleeps; he sleeps and the tempest rises.
God moves slowly, but He will find you in time.
Hurled into the waves, swallowed by the whale,
"From whom did I flee?'' Jonah asks himself.
"I fled from Him, from Whom one cannot hide!''
God chastises Jonah and yet delivers him,
And, by His providence, glorifies him forever.
Jonah, you do not want to speak to the Ninevites,
But through your punishment you will prophesy the immortal Christ.
You do not want to by words? Then you must, by deeds,
Prophesy Christ and the death and resurrection of the body!
Your deeds, Jonah, will not fade away,
And Christ the Lord will speak of you to men,
That, through you, the mercy of the Living God might be revealed,
By which you will be saved, as well as Nineveh.
Through you, the power of repentance shall be revealed-
The power of repentance and God's forgiveness.
You pitied the gourd, and God pitied men.
Help us to repent, O God, and save us from condemnation.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone
To the Ninevites, thou wast a trumpet, blaring fearful threats of Heaven's judgments, at the which they repented with all their hearts; and from the sea-monster's belly didst thou foreshow the Lord's divine Resurrection to all the world. Hence, entreat Him to bring out of corruption all of us, who honour thee, O Jonas, as a friend of God.

Kontakion in the Third Tone
Thou didst pass three days and nights within the sea-monster's entrails, showing forth the Lord's descent into the belly of Hades; for when He had freely suffered His saving Passion, He arose out of the sepulchre on the third day. Hence, we honour thee, O Prophet, who wast deemed worthy to be a figure of Christ.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Abkhazian Orthodox Seek Independence from Georgia

Territorial Row between Russian, Abkhazian and Georgian Orthodox

By Ecumenical News International
21 Sept. 2009

The leader of Orthodox Christians in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, has declared that his diocese is breaking with the Patriarchate of Georgia in defiance of the Moscow Patriarchate - writes Sophia Kishkovsky.

The announcement of last week is the latest echo of conflict in the volatile Caucasus region since Russia's war with Georgia over South Ossetia in August 2008. That followed a string of armed conflicts leading back to the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The decision was made at a meeting of diocesan clergy in Sukhumi, capital of Abkhazia.

"Seventeen years ago Georgia committed, not only a military and political, but also spiritual aggression against Abkhazia," said the Rev Vissarion Apliaa, who has been the de facto leader of the Orthodox church in Abkhazia since the Georgian bishop could not safely attend meetings.

He was speaking on Abkhazian television on 16 September, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. "Abkhazia in no way can be an integral part of Georgia, and the Sukhum-Abkhazian Diocese that was within the Georgian Catholicosate ceased to exist," said Apliaa.

He stated that the church would be known as the Abkhazian Orthodox Church, and he told the RIA Novosti news agency he would seek the assistance of the Moscow Patriachate. But in statements on 16 September, officials of the Moscow Patriarchate said the Russian church supports the canonical borders of the Georgian church.

The Rev Nikolai Balashov, deputy chairperson of the Moscow Patriarchate's external church relations department, told RIA Novosti the Russsian Orthodox Church had yet to receive official information on the issue.

"At the same time, we remain convinced that the complex question of the pastoral care of Orthodox believers in Abkhazia must be resolved in a process of fraternal consultations between representatives of the Russian and Georgian Orthodox churches," said Balashov.

After President Dmitri Medvedev announced in August that Russia was recognising the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Moscow Patriarchate stressed that canonical borders cannot be dictated by changes in political borders.

To date only Nicaragua and Venezuela have recognised the political independence of Georgia's breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The Georgian Orthodox Church said on 16 September that the world's canonical Orthodox churches would not recognise the independence of the Abkhazian church.

Patriarch Ilia of the Georgian Orthodox Church told reporters in Tbilisi that the Abkhazian decision could not be taken seriously. "We should not take it into consideration," he said, according to the GeoHotNews agency. "Nobody has a right to declare independence without the Mother Church."

During the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, both the late Patriarch Aleksei II and Patriarch Ilia lamented the bloodshed and called for peace, stressing a common Orthodox Christian heritage. Patriarch Kirill I, Aleksei's successor, has carried on the line of reconciliation.

Metropolitan Nikoloz said, "It is impossible to divide our peoples, it is impossible to divide our churches."

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

New Athos Monastery in Abkhazia

In 1874 Russian monks from the overcrowded Rossikon (Saint Panteleimon) Monastery on Mount Athos arrived to the Caucasus in order to find a place for possible resettlement. They feared that the Ottoman Empire would oust the Russians from Athos after the outbreak of the impending Russo-Turkish War. They selected Psyrtskha, and the Neo-Byzantine New Athos Monastery, dedicated to St. Simon the Canaanite, and was constructed there in the 1880's with funds provided by Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Eventually Russian monks were permitted to stay in the "old" Athos, and the New Athos monastery had much less occupancy than anticipated.

In 1924, during the Soviet persecution of religion, the monastery was closed. It was later used as a storage facility, tourist base, hospital and museum. Its return to the Orthodox Church began in 1994, after the end of the war. The scenic setting of the New Athos monastery by the sea has made it a popular destination with Russian tourists visiting Abkhazia.

This grandiose and majestic construction took 15 years to be erected and today is one of the most famous shrines of Orthodox Christianity. The monastery is located 75 meters above sea level at the foot of Mount Iberia near the ancient St. Simon Canaanite Church. From the distance the monastery looks like a fairy tale city from Russian folklore, with majestic domes with crosses and golden cupolas of churches. Four monastic buildings (with cells and household premises) form a closed square inside in which there is a huge territory.

The big churches are the three-domed Church of the Ascension, Andrew the First-Called Church and Athos Saints Church. Next to them there is a wide multi-colored road leading to the high arched gate. In the centre of the western building stands the 50 m bell tower with a clock. Under the bell tower there is the monastic refectory which frescos painted walls just like in the small churches. But the most grandiose construction of the monastery is St. Panteleimon Cathedral. It is impressive not only by its size: length – 53.3 m, width – 33.7 m, but also the beauty and architecture of the interior. The cathedral is crowned with five domes. The central one is 40 m high. The interior walls were richly painted in 1911-1914. The frescos vary in the combination of blue, brown and golden tones. The cathedral is the largest cult structure of Abkhazia. More than three thousand people can be present there simultaneously.

Saint Simon the Canaanite Church


Simon the Canaanite – one of Jesus Christ's Apostles – came with the first Christian missions there in the first century AD. According to the tradition the angry local residents killed the righteous person with stones where New Athos Monastery is located. Long before the monks came there from Mount Athos a temple was built on the site of Simon's burial. This temple is one of the oldest active ones in New Athos. It stands on the left bank of the Psyrtskhi River. The temple over the tomb of the Apostle was constructed during the period from the 11th to 13th centuries. The last reconstruction was completed in 1882. Later it became the Tskhum Cathedral.

The church building also served the place of burial for clergymen of the Tskhum diocese. One of the stones in the altar wall has the inscription in Greek about the burial procedure related to the Greek period of Anakopia. The church was richly decorated by wall paintings. Today you can see the fragments of the restored ancient frescos. Every year thousands of pilgrims gather in the church to honor the memory of St. Simon the Canaanite on May 23rd.

Saint Simon the Canaanite Cave

Next to St. Simon the Canaanite Church there is a cave where he lived and prayed during his last years. The cave is a natural recession in the rock (Psyrtskhi Gorge). The cave walls are decorated with ancient mosaics, crosses, inscriptions, icons, lamps. In 1884 the cave was sanctified. Since then the icons of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. Simon the Canaanite has been kept there. The believers leave notes there with requests for health and peace of souls.

The cave is located not far from the St. Simon's place of martyrdom. One of the stones there bears his footprint.


This is a news report from 2008 which depicts New Athos Monastery. Monks from the New Athos Monastery were performing services for both Georgians and Abkhazians in the hope of uniting them through their common Faith.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

A LETTER OF CONSOLATION TO THE BEREAVED

Rachel weeping for her children

A LETTER OF CONSOLATION TO THE BEREAVED

“The Jews of the Old Testament wept for Jacob and for Moses for forty days. Today, however, during the funeral of the faithful, the Church raises hymns and prayers and psalms. We glorify and thank God, because ‘He crowned the departing,’ because ‘He relieved the pains,’ because ‘He expelled the fear,’ and has the deceased believer near Him. This is why the hymns and psalms reveal that in the event of death there is pleasure and joy following the glorious Resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ. For the psalms and hymns are symbols of joy. According to the Apostolic word: ‘Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises’ (James 5:13). This is why we sing psalms over the dead—psalms which move us to have courage and not to despair over the death of our brother.” -St. John Chrysostom


My Beloved,

Today, a member of your family has departed from this transitory and imperfect world. Your loved one was with you for many years. You had unforgettable days together, days of joy and days of sorrow. You would have wanted to be together longer, but even if you had been together for a thousand years, it would not have been long enough. Time passes quickly and death comes, it cannot be avoided. Who lives and will not face death? So death came and your beloved one has been taken from your loving embrace. There is a new grave in your family’s burial ground and you now mourn at the graveside. Your beloved one no longer exists.

What did I say? No longer exists? NO! That is not true! Your beloved one whose funeral was conducted, and who was buried today with the prayers of the Church, does indeed exist! You ask, how? An ancient Greek philosopher – indeed the greatest philosopher of all - Socrates, spoke with his followers shortly before his death. He told them not to grieve over his forthcoming death and not to be overly concerned with where and how they would bury him, because that which will be buried is not Socrates, but only his body. “Socrates,” he told them, “is a spirit which will never die. At the time of death the immortal soul will depart, just as the imprisoned bird flies away when the door to the cage opens. The Socrates over whom you would weep will, at that time, be experiencing great joy. He will have left this world of injustice and will have gone to another world where righteousness prevails. The justice which has been denied him here on earth, he will find in the heavens…”

These were the words spoken by the philosopher moments before he died. Socrates, even though he lived four hundred years before Christ, believed in the immortality of the soul. He faced death with courage and offered comfort to his followers.

And we who live after Christ, if we do not believe that the soul is immortal and that there is another life beyond the grave, we are totally self-condemned by our faithlessness. For it wasn’t a philosopher, who being human can be in error, but God Himself who become man – our Lord Jesus Christ the God-Man, the Fountain of Truth, the essence of Truth itself – who assured us concerning these things. He preached in the most explicit manner that we have an immortal soul. “For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? For what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). And not only did Christ preach immortality of the soul, he verified this fundamental truth with miracles, by raising the dead. He resurrected the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow from Nain, and Lazarus. The resurrection of Lazarus is described in detail in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John. As soon as you return home from the funeral of your dearly departed, open your Gospel and study this chapter. Read it, not only once but several times. There are no more comforting words than those in the Gospel. What happened to Lazarus will happen to everyone. The Lord who raised Lazarus will resurrect all the dead. The Lord’s command, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ – this almighty command which caused his soul to return to the dead body and Lazarus to emerge from his tomb – this same command will be heard by all who have died. In every tomb the voice will be heard, ‘O dead, come out of your tombs!’ Their souls will return and everyone will appear again, not with the bodies they have today, bodies subject to sickness, death and decay, but with bodies that are incorrupt. We are not capable of imagining what we will be like when we raise from the dead.

But the greatest proof that we will be resurrected and that we who believe and live in accordance with the will of God will not simply be resurrected, but will live a life of unimaginable beauty and gladness – the greatest proof of the resurrection of the dead and the life to come is the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes! Let the faithless materialistic ones say what they will. It is true, it is an historic event, the greatest even in the history of the world, that Christ conquered death. He rose from the dead! And as the greatest of the Apostles proclaimed, “Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:20). And just as Christ arose, so shall all the dead arise. This is our faith, the very foundation of our faith.

When people believe, death is not a calamity that plunges them into an extended sadness, melancholy or despair. Believers weep, certainly, at the death of a loved one, but it is not the same as the wailing of pagans, idolaters and disbelievers. The death of a Christian who had lived and witnessed Christ used to be celebrated like a birthday. For it was recognized that we are born twice – once when we emerge from the darkness of our mother’s womb to face the sweet light of the sun, and again when we leave the darkness of the present life, which is like a mother’s womb, to face the blessed light of eternity. The person who emerges from the mother’s womb is not harmed, for a new life is gained, far better than that within the womb.

Similarly, the person who by death leaves this world is not harmed, for a new life is gained, infinitely superior to the present one. According to Christian belief, death is gain, not a loss or calamity (Philippians 1:21). That is what the Christians of the first centuries believed, when the death of a believer was celebrated as a birthday. They sang hymns of the Resurrection and said to the ‘traveler,’ “Blessed is the way on which you go today, for a place of rest has been prepared for you.” But where is the faith today? Alas, today, faithlessness reigns. Today the people – most people - do not believe in the Lord who was crucified and raised for us, who ascended into heaven, and who will come again to judge the living and the dead. They do not believe in the immortality of the soul. They live without faith, and they die without faith. And so death terrorizes them. They weep and they wail over relatives who have died as though they no longer exist. Then, when someone speaks to them about the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the dead and the life to come, they laugh and mock his seriousness. In order to believe, they say they want proofs, they want miracles.

They want miracles and proofs! Well, miracles and proofs concerning the resurrection exist not only in Holy Scripture, but also in another book written by our All-wise and Almighty God. This book was written so that it can be read by, and so that it can provide lessons to, even the most unschooled. And this book is nature. In this book we find beautiful images of the Resurrection.

Consider the sun. Someone seeing the sun set for the first time, seeing it disappear over the horizon, seeing the darkness of night spread across the earth, would lament and cry: ‘The sun has died!’ Assurances that the sun will rise again would not be believed. But even though the sun appears to be extinguished every evening, it isn’t so. It is rising in another part of the world and it is continuing to spread its sweet light. The rising and the setting of the sun are a single icon of life and death. As the poet says, ‘What we see as the setting of the sun has the sweetness of dawn ahead; and instead of night without sunrise, the day dawns which will have no sunset.’

Consider another image from the book of nature. When it is wintertime the trees are bare, the mountains are covered with snow, and the birds have gone far away. Nature seems to be dead. But spring comes, the snows melt, trees blossom, seeds planted in the mud come to life, they sprout, fields turn green, gardens become fragrant and the nightingales sing. Spring! God’s joy! Resurrection! God, who provides the energy that enables a dead nature to emerge in new life at springtime, God, the All-wise and powerful, will use His unlimited power to resurrect all dead bodies to a new life, as He has assured us. “The dead shall rise, and those in the tombs shall rise, and those on earth shall be joyous,” said the Prophet Isaiah (26:19). Yes, the dead will rise, ‘For with God nothing is impossible’ (Luke 1:37). Why then do you not believe? Do you need another example? Are you a father or a mother? When you see your beloved child fall asleep, in bed or in your arms, you don’t start crying, you don’t say your child is dead. You know that in a few hours the child will awaken, and then be more lively and happier than before falling asleep. Similarly, the person over whom you are mourning is not dead, only sleeping. Yes, sleeping. Because according to the teaching of Scripture, death is sleep, a prolonged sleep which will eventually end, and then the bodies of the dead will reawaken as they are reunited with their immortal souls. Saint Paul refers to the dead as ‘Those who have fallen asleep,’ and tells us that Christians must not grieve at the death of their beloved ones as unbelievers and idolaters. Listen to his words: “I do not want you to be ignorant brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (I Thessalonians 4:13-14). Saint Cosmas Aitolos, consoling those grieving over the deaths of their loved ones, said, “Do we not clearly see the resurrection? When we fall asleep, are we not like the dead? What is sleep, but a small death; and what is death, but a great sleep. And as the grain of wheat which falls to the ground will not grow if there is no rain to decay it and make it pulpy, so we who die and are buried would not receive the water of eternal life and resurrection if Christ had not first been buried in his tomb. Don’t you clearly see how God raises the plants from the soil each year?”

In accordance with what has been written above, in accordance with the words of the true philosophy, in accordance with the examples and images of nature and above all, in accordance with the testimony of Holy Scripture and the unchallengeable Logos of God in which we must have absolute confidence, your love one has not disappeared, is not lost, has not become zero. Don’t say that! It is blasphemy. And don’t mourn disconsolately. That is a sin. We ask you, do you mourn and cry without comfort when a relative leaves for Australia or America? Of course not. You know that there your relative will have a happier life and you hope to meet again. Similarly, your love one, whom death has today taken from your side, lives, although in another world. Never doubt that this other world exists! As surely as Australia and America exist, you can be certain, you can be ever more certain, that there is other life, eternal life.

If a voice could be raised from that other world where your beloved now is, what would you hear? “My dear ones, don’t weep for me. I live. I am here in another world which is beyond your imagination. It is as terrible place only for those who did not believe during their life on earth, who did not live according to the will of God. For those who believed in Christ and lived in accordance with His Gospel it is a world far more beautiful than you can envision. Its beauty is beyond description. And so please hear me. Do not listen to the unbelievers; close your ears to their words. There is Paradise. There is eternal life. Believe in Jesus Christ, study His Gospel, carry out His holy commandments, repent and weep only for your sins, for in Hades there is no repentance.”

Death does not break the connection between those living on earth with those who have passed on to the other world. Preserve these bonds. Commemorate those who have gone to the world of eternity. Maintain the sacred memorial services in which they are remembered. And do not celebrate them idolatrously, but as Christians, as we have advised you. Above all, remember that the greatest offering that you can make for the souls of those who have fallen asleep is your almsgiving, your charity to the poor and the suffering.

Dear friends, as your bishop, I share your sorrow on the death of your beloved one. I would have preferred to visit you in your home, to personally express my condolences, and try to comfort you with the immortal teaching of the Gospel, but since this is not manageable, I am sending you this letter through your parish priest. I ask that you neither ignore it, nor destroy it. Please read it attentively and keep it as a remembrance, bound with the memory of your beloved, who this day has departed for Heaven. ‘A blessed reunion,’ shouts the soul of your beloved from beyond, where it has gone from the present vain life. ‘Let us all have a blessed reunion, my brothers and sisters, in eternity.’

Through the intercessions of our most holy Theotokos and all the Saints who have pleased God throughout the centuries, may the end of our lives be Christian, without suffering, unashamed, and may we have a good account to present of ourselves at the awesome judgment seat of our Lord Jesus, when he comes to judge the living and the dead.

+ BISHOP AUGOUSTINOS
Metropolitan of Florina, Greece

* This letter is also reproduced as a pamphlet and available for sale through Mystagogy Bookstore (#30).

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Great Martyr Eustathios Plakidas With His Wife and Children

Saint Eustathios and his family (Feast Day - September 20)

It is significant that this feast is celebrated on the day before the Apodosis of the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, since it was the Cross of Christ, in a miraculous manner, which inspired the conversion of the great early 2nd century martyr St. Eustathios from paganism. This is reflected in the hymn of St. Nikolai Velimirovich which I posted toward the end. May we all have their prayers and blessings.

The Holy Great Martyr Eustathios was named Plakidas before his Baptism. He was a military commander under the emperors Titus (79-81) and Trajan (98-117). Even before he came to know Christ, Plakidas performed acts of charity, helping the poor and destitute. Therefore, the Lord did not leave the virtuous pagan to remain in the darkness of idolatry.

Once while hunting in a forest, he saw a stag which would stop now and then to look him right in the eye. Plakidas pursued it on horseback, but could not catch up. The stag leaped over a chasm and stood on the other side facing him. Plakidas suddenly saw a radiant Cross between its antlers. In surprise the military commander heard a voice coming from the Cross saying, "Why do you pursue Me, Plakidas?"

"Who are You, Master?" asked Plakidas. The voice replied, "I am Jesus Christ, whom you do not know, yet you honor Me by your good deeds. I have appeared here on this creature for your sake, to capture you in the net of My love for mankind. It is not fitting that one as righteous as you should worship idols and not know the truth. It was to save mankind that I came into the world."

Plakidas cried out, "Lord, I believe that You are the God of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things. Master, teach me what I should do." Again the Lord replied, "Go to the bishop of your country and receive baptism from him, and he will instruct you."

Plakidas returned home and joyfully recounted everything to his wife Tatiana. She in turn told him how the evening before, in a mysterious dream, she had been told, "Tomorrow you, your husband and your sons shall come to Me and know that I am the true God." The spouses then proceeded to do as they had been bidden.

They hastened to the Christian bishop, who baptized all their family, and communed them with the Holy Mysteries. Plakidas was renamed Eustathios, his wife was called Theopiste, and their children, Agapios and Theopistos.

On the following day, St Eustathios set out to the place of his miraculous conversion and in fervent prayer he offered up thanks to the Lord for having called him onto the path of salvation.

Again St. Eustathios received a miraculous revelation. The Lord Himself foretold his impending tribulations: "Eustathios, you shall suffer many misfortunes, as did Job, but in the end you will conquer the devil."

Soon St. Eustathios was plunged into misfortune: all his servants died of the plague and his cattle perished. Brought to ruin, but not despairing in spirit, St. Eustathios and his family secretly abandoned their home, to live unknown, humble and in poverty.

They went to Egypt to board a ship sailing for Jerusalem. During the voyage a new woe beset the saint. The ship owner, enchanted by Theopiste's beauty, cruelly set Eustathios and his children ashore, keeping the wife for himself.

In great sorrow the saint continued on his way, and new woe beset him. Coming to a tempestuous river, he went to carry his two sons across in turn. When he had brought one across, the other was seized by a lion and carried off into the wilderness. As he turned back towards the other, a wolf dragged that child into the forest.

Having lost everything, St. Eustathios wept bitterly, but he realized that Divine Providence had sent him these misfortunes to test his endurance and devotion to God. In his inconsolable grief, St. Eustathios went on farther, prepared for new tribulations.

In the village of Badessos he found work and spent five years in unremitting toil. St. Eustathios did not know then that through the mercy of God, shepherds and farmers had saved his sons, and they lived right near him. He also did not know that the impudent shipowner had been struck down with a terrible disease and died, leaving St. Theopiste untouched. She lived in peace and freedom at the place where the ship landed.

During this time it had become difficult for the emperor Trajan to raise an army for Rome to deal with a rebellion, for the soldiers would not go into battle without their commander Plakidas. They advised Trajan to send men out to all the cities to look for him.

Antiochus and Acacius, friends of Plakidas, sought him in various places. Finally, they arrived in the village where St. Eustathios lived. The soldiers found Eustathios, but they did not recognize him and they began to tell him of the one whom they sought, asking his help and promising a large reward. St. Eustathios, immediately recognized his friends, but did not reveal his identity to them.

He borrowed money from one of his friends and fed the visitors. As they looked at him, the travellers noted that he resembled their former commander. When they saw a scar on his shoulder from a deep sword-wound, they realized that it was their friend there before them. They embraced him with tears and told him why they were seeking him.

St. Eustathios returned to Rome with them and again became a general. Many new recruits were drafted into the army from all over the empire. He did not know that two young soldiers who served him, and whom he loved for their skill and daring, were actually his own sons. They did not know that they were serving under the command of their own father, nor that they were brothers by birth.

While on campaign, the army led by Eustathios halted at a certain settlement. The soldier-brothers were talking in their tent. The elder one spoke about his life, how he had lost his mother and brother, and how in a terrifying way he had been parted from his father. The younger brother then realized that before him was his very own brother, and told him how he had been rescued from the wolf.

A woman overheard the soldiers' conversation, since their tent was pitched right next to her house, and this woman realized that these were her sons. Still not identifying herself to them, but not wanting to be separated from them, she went to their commander, St. Eustathios, to ask him to take her to Rome with him. She said she had been a prisoner, and wanted to go home. Then she came to recognize the commander as her husband, and with tears she told him about herself and about the two soldiers who were actually their sons. Thus, through the great mercy of the Lord, the whole family was happily reunited.

Soon thereafter the rebellion was crushed, and St. Eustathios returned to Rome with honor and glory. The emperor Trajan had since died, and his successor Hadrian (117-138) wanted to celebrate the event of victory with a solemn offering of sacrifice to the gods. To the astonishment of everyone, St. Eustathios did not show up at the pagan temple. By order of the emperor they searched frantically for him.

"Why don't you want to worship the gods?" the emperor inquired. "You, above all others, ought to offer thanks to them. They not only preserved you in war and granted you victory, but also they helped you find your wife and children." St. Eustathios replied: "I am a Christian and I glorify and give thanks to Him, and I offer sacrifice to Him. I owe my life to Him. I do not know or believe in any other god than Him."

In a rage, the emperor ordered him to take off his military belt and brought him and his family before him. They did not succeed in persuading the steadfast confessors of Christ to offer sacrifice to idols. The whole family of St. Eustathios was sentenced to be torn apart by wild beasts, but the beasts would not touch the holy martyrs.

Then the cruel emperor gave orders to throw them all alive into a red-hot brass bull, and St. Eustathios, his wife Theopiste, and their sons Agapios and Theopistos endured a martyr's death. Before being placed in the bull, St. Eustathios prayed, "Grant, O Lord, Thy grace to our relics, and grant to those who call upon us a place in Thy Kingdom. Though they call upon us when they are in danger on a river or on the sea, we entreat Thee to come to their aid."

Three days later, they opened the brass bull, and the bodies of the holy martyrs were found unscathed. Not one hair on their heads was singed, and their faces shone with an unearthly beauty. Many seeing this miracle came to believe in Christ. Christians then buried the bodies of the Saints.


HYMN OF PRAISE: The Holy Great-Martyr Eustathios

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Eustathios, a wonder among generals,
Gave his life for the Living Lord.
Authority and glory and royal honor
He discarded as refuse and chaff,
For the sake of Christ, the Immortal King,
For the sake of true eternal life.
When the voice of Jesus greeted him,
He was infused with ardent love
For Christ the All-glorious God,
The All-glorious Lover of Mankind.
That voice remained deep in his soul,
And the world could not drown it out;
And the radiant Cross which the general saw,
Never left his soul.
The Cross gave him wondrous fearlessness.
The Cross saved him from the enemy's power,
And saved his spouse, faithful as a rock,
And his children, heroic and virtuous.
Eustathios gave his body over to the fire,
And his blessed spirit to the Lord.
O Eustathios, glorious martyr,
Invincible soldier of Christ,
Help and strengthen the Church of God
That the malicious demon not slander it.
Let the Church shine as a star,
And glorify her Sun, Christ.

(To listen to the hymns of the Service for the feast of St. Eustathios, a recording was done by Mylopotamos, which is the largest dependency on Mount Athos of the Great Lavra Monastery that is dedicated to St. Eustathios. Listen here for the hymns. For more on Mylopotamos, see here and here. The text of the Service in Greek is here.)

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
O blest one, since thou didst emulate Christ's sufferings and drankest His cup with eagerness, thou didst become a partaker and joint-heir of His glory, O wise Eustathios; and since He is God of all things, He gave thee divine power from Heaven's heights.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Ecumenical Patriarch's Message for the End of Ramadan

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
For the End of Ramadan
September 2009

***

It is with feelings of love and respect that we convey to all Muslims around the world our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes upon the occasion of the end of Ramadan.

After this extended period of fasting, which has also been a time of reflection, prayer and almsgiving, the time has come for each to celebrate their labor and receive their just reward from above.

In the spirit of peace, love and understanding we wish you once again a blessed celebration, praying that God Almighty grant you every spiritual blessing from above in the hopes that the world may live as one.

At the Ecumenical Patriarchate, 17th of September 2009

Your fervent supplicant before God,


+ BARTHOLOMEW
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Fr, Moses Berry and the Film "God's Garden"

Greeting from Fr. Moses

On the Best Church

On His Family and Slavery

On Judging

The Image of God

"God's Garden" promo

To donate towards the film "God's Garden", visit this website: http://godsgardenthefilm.com/

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Beautiful Serbian Orthodox Songs

The last video is a Paschal song performed by the musical orchestra ''Stupovi'' and various Serbian singers and celebrities, is dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ, and made as a part of an action to raising funds for reconstruction of the medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery ''Pillars of Saint George''. Beow are the lyrics taken from Saint Nikolai Velimirovich:

Ljudi likujte, narodi čujte:
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Zvezde igrajte, gore pevajte,
Hristos voskrese, radost donese!
Šume šumite, vetri brujite,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Mora gudite, zveri ričite,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Pčele se rojte, a ptice pojte
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!

Anđeli stojte, pesmu utrojte,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Nebo se snizi, zemlju uzvisi,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Zvona zvonite, svima javite,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Slava ti Bože, sve ti se može,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Anđeli stojte, pesmu utrojte,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Nebo se snizi, zemlju uzvisi,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Zvona zvonite, svima javite,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!
Slava ti Bože, sve ti se može,
Hristos voskrse, radost donese!

________________________________________

People rejoice, all nations listen:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!
Dance all ye stars and sing all ye mountains:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Whisper ye woods and blow all ye winds:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!
O seas proclaim and roar all ye beasts:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Buzz all ye bees and sing all ye birds:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!
O little lambs rejoice and be merry:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Nightengales joyous, lending your song:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!
Ring, O ye bells, let everyone hear:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

All angels join us, singing this song:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!
Come down ye heavens, draw near the earth:
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Glory to Thee, God Almighty!
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!
Glory to Thee, God Almighty!
Christ God is risen! Let us rejoice!

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

New Book on the Christology of Fr. John Romanides to be Published

A new volume is soon to appear from Romanity Press titled A REALISM OF GLORY: LECTURES ON CHRISTOLOGY IN THE WORKS OF PROTOPRESBYTER JOHN ROMANIDES, VOLUME ONE (1955-1960) by James L. Kelley. This book will be available soon at the authors website www.orthodoxpatristics.com. Here is an excerpt from the book:

As Fr. John here suggests, outside of Christ — the only true Word or Image of God the Father — there is no place for theology to begin. He is the Second Adam[1] who through his incarnation remade and reconstituted fallen humanity, thereby ending the first Adam’s bondage to death and the devil and clearing the way for his uncreated glory to abide in the purified heart of man. Of course, man must accept actively the glory of God, “stand[ing] before God with the nous in the heart” and continuing “unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.”[2]

Each Father of the Orthodox Church speaks in one way or another about this illuminative path, according to which the heart of man is purified from fantasia (passion-tinged thoughts) through a lifelong ascesis[3] aimed at a greater and greater participation in the Taboric[4] glory of the Lord. Fr. John follows the Orthodox teaching that the first Adam, having been made “in the image of the Image,” was created for nothing less than union with the God-man. Worldly philosophy with its secular anthropology, being unable to deliver man from fantasies, fails to make good on its promise to put man in touch with reality. The glory of secular learning is worldly, and though it can yield a relative good, when asked to bear the weight of salvation, it falls short.

Ever-leery of the Augustinian West’s[5] religio-philosophical preoccupations, Fr. John grounds his Christology in the reality (or “realism”) of theosis, or glorification. This realism of glory, as we have termed it, should not be confused with the many varieties of philosophical realism presented in Western philosophy.[6] Aside from deification-based Orthodox realism there are countless varieties of religio-philosophical “realism” which present man as an abstract, static being whose existence is bound by unchanging laws of nature, and who may or may not be a poor copy of a Platonic universal. For those in the pseudo-realist camp who choose to believe in them, these Platonic forms actually dwell in the mind of God and are somehow more “real” than anything in the material world by virtue of their immutability and their rationality.

The Orthodox realism of glory, by contrast, is based on the biblical and patristic truth that man, having his origin in change (creatio ex nihilo), is not subject to natural laws but instead exists, along with the entire cosmos, as a being-in-motion. Moreover, for the Orthodox, reality does not inhere in concepts or in any Augustino-Platonic beatitude. Rather, for those who believe in the Orthodox realism of glory, reality is not a thing that exists as a given essence or concept, but instead reality is the uncreated glory of God, which is not an intermediary, but is divinity itself. Man attains to greater and greater measures of reality as he ascends more and more into divine glory. Contrariwise, non-existence or unreality is gauged according to man’s movement away from divine glory. This ontological movement of man is either toward the Image/Word by means of His glory, or away from glorification by means of the world’s glory (“the power of the enemy”[7]) into an illusory ontological autonomy.

----------------------------------

[1] The biblical/patristic theme of Christ as the Second Adam began with St. Paul: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Cor. 15:22 King James Version). Met. Hierotheos (Vlachos) in his study of Orthodox Christology, The Feasts of the Lord (Levadia, Greece 2003), explains the significance of Christ as the Second or New Adam: “It says repeatedly in Holy Scripture that Christ is the new Adam, who became man in order to correct the error of the ancestral Adam. The first Adam in Paradise, although he was still inexperienced, was in a state of illumination of his nous because that in him which was in the image was pure and received the rays of the divine light. But after his sin, he was darkened, he lost the likeness, but did not lose the image entirely. In the patristic tradition it says that the image in Adam was obscured, darkened, without being entirely lost. Through the incarnation of Christ and the deification of human nature Adam came back to his former glory, and indeed rose still higher” (p. 154).

[2] St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-94): “The principal thing is to stand before God with the mind in the heart, and to go on standing before him unceasingly day and night, until the end of life.” In Igumen Chariton, The Art of Prayer, trans. E. Kadloubovsky and E.M. Palmer (London 1966) 63.

[3] Ascesis comes from the Greek word "askein", which means "to exercise", and in the context of Orthodox spiritual life it refers to the prayers, sacraments, services, and spiritual guidance designed to purify man’s inner life. In his short but moving piece Spiritual Life (Etna, CA 1997), Constantine Cavarnos offers a lucid description of Orthodox ascesis/athlesis: “Askesis, the practice of the virtues, is a term taken over by the Greek Church Fathers from classical Greek philosophy. We find it in the writings of Plato and Aristotle. It means ‘training.’ The derivative word asketes, ‘ascetic,’ means one who trains himself, preparing for victory in a contest. The Apostle Paul uses as a synonym for askesis the term "athlesis" (Hebrews 10:32). Athlesis means for him struggle, such as that in which an athlete engages in preparing himself for a contest” (5). Of course, Orthodox ascesis is by no means mechanical or magical since it is man’s cooperation with God’s prevenient grace or glory, which calls man to participate more and more in Him, but which does not coerce man or in any way curtail his freedom. Fr. Michael Azkoul has shown through his discussion of Pope St. Gregory the Great’s (540-604) writings that there was an Orthodox prevenient grace and an Orthodox predestination in the Latin West which seems to have been formulated as a self-conscious corrective to St. Augustine’s heterodox opinions (see M. Azkoul, The Influence of Augustine of Hippo On the Orthodox Church [Lewiston 1990] 94-95).

[4] “Taboric” here refers to Mount Tabor, traditionally held to be the site of the Holy Transfiguration. For an overview of the Orthodox Fathers’ interpretation of the Transfiguration, see P.A. Chamberas, “Transfiguration of Christ: A Study in the Patristic Exegesis of Scripture,” St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 14.1 (1970) 48-65.

[5] “Augustinian West” refers to the non-Orthodox theology of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, as is outlined in detail below, ch. 5-9. Also included under the broad designation “Augustinian West” is the secular philosophy that has developed in Europe and North America associated with Hegel, Marx, Kant, and countless others.

[6] For a brief summary of the different types of “realism” found in Western philosophy, see C. Rohmann, A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers (New York 1999) 336-337. On the nominalist/realist debate see M.M. Adams, “Is To Will It as Bad as To Do It? The Fourteenth Century Debate,” Fransiscan Studies 41 (1981) 5-60; R. Cross, “Nominalism and the Christology of William of Ockham,” Recherches de theologie Ancienne et Medievale 58 (1991) 126-156; A.E. McGrath, The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation (Oxford 1993); P.V. Spade, “Ockham’s Nominalist Metaphysics: Some Main Themes,” in Spade 100-117; and E. Stump, “The Mechanisms of Cognition: Ockham on Mediating Species,” in Spade 168-203.

[7] Orthodox Christian Prayerbook: A Manual of Daily Prayers of the Ancient Christian Faith (Hollywood, CA 1998) 62.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Ariadne of Phrygia

Holy Martyr Ariadne of Phrygia (Feast Day - September 18)

Ariadne, the holy martyr, lived during the reigns of Emperor Hadrian (117-138) and Antoninus Pius (138-161). Ariadne was a slave girl of Tertullus, the chief ruler of the city of Prymenseos in Phrygia.* Her master became indignant when she refused to accompany him to the temple of the idols on the occasion of his son's birthday. After he punished Ariadne by severely flogging her, scraping her with an iron claw and starving her in a dungeon, he dismissed her and sent her away.

However, he persecuted Ariadne, even after he discharged her, when he dispatched his men to trail her. As her pursuers approached, Ariadne was nearby a large rock. The ever-memorable prayed that it open and conceal her from those tracking her. Straightway, by a divine wonder, the rock opened and received her. There, within the safe confines of the rock, she surrendered her spirit into the hands of Christ.

When the persecutors arrived they were utterly confused and started a fight among each other and killed one another. Other accounts say that fearful angels of the Lord appeared sitting on horseback and bearing spears, striking Ariadnes persecutors.

HYMN OF PRAISE: The Holy Martyr Ariadna

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The fair maiden Ariadna,
Served her master honorably,
But served God more than man.
A slave in body but not in soul,
She did not desire spiritual slavery
And would not worship idols.
She would bow before God the Creator,
She would bow before Christ the Savior,
But she would not bow before the idols.
She was tortured for her Lord,
And accepted torture with great joy,
With joy and thanksgiving.
Merciful God, with His All-seeing eye,
Saw St. Ariadna's holy suffering,
And commanded the lifeless rock
To hide His suffering virgin,
As had once happened with Thecla and John.
Ariadna, all-blessed virgin,
Help us by your prayers
Before the throne of the merciful God;
And, in the company of the Holy Mother of God,
Help us by your prayers.

Ἀπολυτίκιον Ἦχος δ'. Ὁ ὑψωθεῖς ἐν τῷ Σταυρῷ.
Τὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κυβερνωμένη παλάμη, οὐκ ἐδουλώθης τὴν ψυχὴν Ἀριάδνη, ἀλλὰ ἐλευθέρα γνώμη ἠνδραγάθησας, πᾶσαν γὰρ ἐπίνοιαν, τοῦ ἐχθροῦ καθελοῦσα, στέφος χαριτόπλοκον, ἐκ Θεοῦ ἐκομίσω, ὃν ἐκδυσώπει Μάρτυς ἐκτενῶς, ἐλεηθήναι, τοὺς σὲ μακαρίζοντας.

* Phrygia was a mountainous region of Asia Minor between the Aegean plains and the central plateau west of the Halys and the interior desert.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Frank Schaeffer Takes On the Religious Right

This video is a must see. Frank Schaeffer pulls out all the punches against, what he calls, Republican Fundamentalists. This interview was in response to a New Jersey poll in which 35% of NJ Conservatives believe that President Obama may be the Antichrist (18% were sure of it) and 61% of McCaine voters in NJ aren't sure if Obama was born in the U.S.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Recent Perspectives on the Reliability of the Gospels

by Gary R. Habermas

SYNOPSIS

The usual attempts to defend the historical reliability of the New Testament are often fairly general in nature. These arguments are typically based on the quantity, quality, and early date of the available New Testament manuscripts; the traditional authorship of the books; extrabiblical confirmation; and a few archaeological discoveries. This evidence for the trustworthiness of the New Testament is often contrasted with ancient classical Greek and Roman writings, which do not exhibit the same wealth of data.

Lesser known among conservative scholars, however, are several, more recent and specific approaches that critical scholars apply to the Gospel texts. One of these approaches involves applying certain critical criteria of authenticity to particular texts, namely, to events and sayings that are reported in the four gospels. These contemporary techniques have mined many gems that indicate the historical richness of the Gospel accounts, while illuminating many aspects of Jesus’ life.

The historical reliability of the New Testament has long been a mainstay in Christian apologetics. For decades, believers have used avenues such as manuscript evidence, authorship, extrabiblical sources, and archaeology to show that the thousands of existing copies of the New Testament accurately preserve the original texts, as well as correctly report what actually occurred. The purpose of these approaches is primarily to argue that we have essentially what the biblical authors wrote and that these works are trustworthy historical accounts.1 This has been especially important in demonstrating that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ teachings and actions are accurate.

In recent years, however, critical scholars2 have developed other tools that have uncovered additional grounds for recognizing certain Gospel accounts as historical reports. Most of the scholars who utilize these methods are not theologically conservative; nevertheless, often they have provided means by which to ascertain the historicity of separate sayings or incidents in the life of Jesus.

In this article, I will initially provide some brief comments regarding the older, more familiar paths taken by scholars who have sought to show that the Gospel accounts are reliable. I will then explain just one of the more recent avenues that uncovers some exciting new developments, namely, certain criteria that indicate when a specific text most likely includes a historical report.

TRADITIONAL PATHS

Older strategies that support the historical reliability of the New Testament often begin by pointing out that the New Testament documents enjoy superior manuscript evidence. Indications are that the New Testament is supported by more than 5,500 copies and partial copies in Greek and other languages, while most ancient classical Greek and Roman texts have fewer than 10 each. There is, moreover, comparatively little significant variation between these New Testament manuscripts, even those that belong to different textual “families” (groups or branches of texts that have “descended” from the originals).

This extraordinary quantity and quality of the available texts does not tell us if the New Testament writings are historically reliable; however, most scholars think that the large number of manuscripts and portions does indicate that we have essentially what the authors originally wrote. This is obviously a crucial starting point.

The New Testament copies also are much earlier—that is, closer to their original writings—than the classical texts. Most of the New Testament is available from copies that date from only 100–150 years after its completion, while a copy of the entire New Testament dates from about another 100 years after that. In contrast, copies of the classical texts generally date from 700–1,400 years after their original compositions. This enormous difference indicates that the copies of the New Testament are likely more reliable than the copies of any of its counterparts.3

Generally speaking, critical scholars readily admit these initial two points of manuscript number and date. John A. T. Robinson, for example, agrees that “the wealth of manuscripts, and above all the narrow interval of time between the writing and the earliest extant copies, make it by far the best attested text of any ancient writing in the world.”4 Even the skeptical Helmut Koester attests, “Classical authors are often represented by but one surviving manuscript….But there are nearly five thousand manuscripts of the NT in Greek.…the manuscript tradition of the NT begins as early as the end of II CE [the second century AD]….Thus it seems that NT textual criticism possesses a base which is far more advantageous than that for the textual criticism of classical authors.”5

These are excellent indicators that we have essentially what the various authors originally wrote. New Testament scholar John Wenham thinks that the overall biblical text is 99.99 percent pure, without any of the differences affecting doctrine.6

Other areas of research take the next step by showing that the texts also reliably report the historical facts. Arguments that favor the traditionally accepted authors as being either the original writers or the chief sources behind certain New Testament books supply a strong move in this direction. The best example of this reliability that has been uncovered in recent years is the evidence that Paul was the author of at least the major works that bear his name.7

Additionally, approximately one-and-a-half dozen non-Christian, extrabiblical sources confirm many details from Jesus’ life and teachings as found in the Gospels.8 Early Christians such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp provide even more confirmation, writing just 10 years or less after the completion of the New Testament.9 Archaeological sources do not contribute as much corroboration in New Testament studies as they do in Old Testament studies, but there are a number of indications that, when the details can be checked, the New Testament is often confirmed.10

There are a number of pieces of evidence that, especially when taken together, confirm the traditional picture regarding the life and teachings of Jesus. This is not to say that all the pertinent questions have been answered;11 but the available evidence from a variety of angles confirms the strong foundation on which we can base the general reliability of the New Testament reports of the historical Jesus.

RECENT PATHS

Conservative scholars still gravitate to the traditional paths to show that the New Testament texts are reliable and many worthwhile insights emerge from the findings of these approaches. The quantity and quality of the texts bring us very close to the original wording. Authorship, source, and various kinds of historical confirmation all contribute data that support the accuracy of the New Testament reports.

Recent critical scholars, however, tend to approach the subject from other angles; and although they recognize a number of the traditional insights, they are not as interested in the overall trustworthiness of the New Testament. Their work is largely based on the twin assumptions that the various New Testament writings differ in value, and that, even within each composition, there is a mixture of worthwhile and questionable material; therefore, they avoid arguments for the reliability of the whole and concentrate on individual insights.

Among the strategies that critical scholars prefer, there are, nevertheless, many gems to be explored and mined. These treasures, though different, can strengthen the case for the historical reliability of various portions of the New Testament. Some of these prizes can add a more specific component to the general approach preferred by many Christian apologists. We will only be able to pursue one of the avenues to the reliability of various Gospel reports that might be explored here,12 namely, the criteria of authenticity.

As I noted above, recent critical scholars seldom address the question of New Testament reliability in a wholesale manner; rather, they tend to apply various analytical principles to the text in order to ascertain individual passages that present the highest likelihood of providing legitimate insights, historical or otherwise. This approach tends to isolate portions of the text, providing individual snippets.

It should be noted here that the methods or principles that contemporary biblical scholars use to analyze texts are actually borrowed from the approach that secular historians regularly apply to ancient texts. One seldom finds a complete list of these principles, perhaps due in part to each scholar’s preference for some of them over others. Eight of these rules that are regularly applied to the Gospel material, along with examples of each, are listed below.

Eight Criteria of Authenticity

The first two principles are not usually listed as part of the criteria of authenticity, but they are well recognized by scholars. (1) Early evidence is strongly preferred above later contributions. The difference of even a decade or two can be crucial. Regarding the historical Jesus, any material from between AD 30 and 50 would be exemplary, a time period highly preferred by scholars such as those in the Jesus Seminar.13

Reports from such an early date would actually predate the written gospels. A famous example is the list of Jesus’ resurrection appearances that Paul supplies in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8. Most critical scholars think that Paul’s reception of at least the material on which this early creedal statement is based is dated to the AD 30s.14 Other examples are supplied by the brief creedal statements that many scholars find embedded within the book of Acts, which Gerald O’Collins dates to the AD 30s.15 Another instance is the statement of high christology found in Matthew 11:27 and Luke 10:22, which some scholars date to the AD 50s.16 Paul’s earliest epistles also date from the AD 50s.

(2) One of the strongest evidences possible for reliability is when early sources are derived from eyewitnesses who actually participated in some of the events. Historian David Hackett Fischer dubs this “the rule of immediacy” and terms it “the best relevant evidence.”17 Ancient sources that are both very early and based on eyewitness testimony are a combination that is very difficult to dismiss.

One reason critical scholars take Paul’s testimony so seriously is that his writings provide a very early date as well as eyewitness testimony to what Paul believed was a resurrection appearance of Jesus. This is conceded even by atheist scholar Michael Martin.18 Other crucial instances would concern any eyewitness testimony that can be located in the Gospel accounts.

(3) Independent attestation or confirmation of a report by more than one source19 is another chief indication that a particular claim may be factual. Historian Paul L. Maier asserts, “Many facts from antiquity rest on just one ancient source, while two or three sources in agreement generally render the fact unimpeachable.”20 The skeptical Jesus Seminar emphasizes items “attested in two or more independent sources.”21

Several important examples might be provided. Jesus’ miracles are reported in all five of the sources often recognized in the Gospel accounts,22 with some specific occurrences reported in more than one.23 Jesus’ crucial “Son of Man” sayings are also attested in all five sources,24 and the empty tomb is reported in at least three, if not four, of them.25 This helps to explain why these items are taken so seriously by recent critical scholars.

(4) A rather skeptical criterion of authenticity is termed dissimilarity or discontinuity. It is frequently criticized, yet it continues to be a very popular tool for determining the historicity of some of Jesus’ teachings. Here it is thought that a particular saying can be attributed to someone only if it cannot be plausibly accounted for as the words or teaching of other contemporary sources. For Jesus, it must be determined if one of the Gospel teachings can be attributed to either Jewish thought or to the exhortations of the early church. Historian Michael Grant calls this the “principal valid method of research.”26

I have already mentioned that Jesus’ “Son of Man” sayings are attested to by multiple sources. It can also be shown that, by the principle of dissimilarity, they are unaccounted for by either Jewish or early Christian teachings. Some Jews did have a “Son of Man” concept (as indicated by texts like 1 Enoch 46:2; 48:2–5, 10; 52:4; 62:5–9; 69:28–29; and 4 Ezra 13:3ff.), but, of course, they did not apply this to Jesus. Furthermore, even though “Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite self-designation in the Gospels, none of the New Testament epistles attribute this title to Jesus even a single time. The conclusion is that, in all likelihood, Jesus must have used this designation for Himself.27

(5) Another criterion applied to the study of the Gospels is the presence of Aramaic words, substrata (underlying layers), environment, or other indications of a Palestinian origin. Perhaps when these conditions appear in the Gospels, we are looking through a window into the actual teachings of Jesus.

One major study of an Aramaic term is provided by Joachim Jeremias’s well-known and influential research on whether Jesus utilized the word abba as a reference to God (Mark 14:36).28 Jeremias’s positive conclusions have been qualified, yet the case remains that this is an instance where Jesus probably employed an unusual term that Jews very rarely applied to God.29 This word as used by Jesus is therefore best understood as a familiar, personal, and even intimate reference for His Father.

(6) Coherence is a more general criterion. If a purported event or teaching fits well with what is already known concerning other surrounding occurrences and teachings of Jesus, it may be said to have a basis in history.30 Perhaps the proposed event or saying does even more by illuminating other known incidents and rendering them more intelligible.

Meier thinks that coherence is one of the best indicators of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus’ comment in Mark 12:18–27 concerning the resurrection of the dead, for example, coheres well with a saying of Jesus on the same subject of the afterlife reported in Matthew 8:11–12 and Luke 13:28–29, as well as other teachings of Jesus.31 Meier concludes that another instance in the Gospels is the teaching that Jesus’ family had rejected Him, which coheres well with Jesus’ repeated teaching that believers will be called to leave their own families for the sake of Himself and His kingdom (e.g., Mark 10:29–31).32

In addition to these major criteria, other details from Jesus’ life are enhanced by additional considerations. (7) The principle of embarrassment, negative report, or surprise is indicated by the presence of disparaging remarks made by the author about him- or herself, another individual, or event, concerning which the author is friendly and has a vested interest.33 The point is that, in normal circumstances, most people need a sufficient reason to report negative things about something that they deem valuable, or someone they love dearly. This would appear to be the case especially where the purpose of the writing was to instruct the readers in holy living.

Many examples of the principle of embarrassment can be found in the Gospels. The strong unbelief of James, Jesus’ own brother, prior to the crucifixion (Mark 3:20–25; John 7:5), for instance, begs an adequate cause for exposing such a report about this apostle and pious leader in the early church. This is why the majority of recent critical scholars believe that these are authentic reports.34 Another example is Jesus’ saying in Mark 13:32, where in the very same context in which He indicates that He is the Son of the Father, He also declares that He does not know the time of His coming. The report does not explain why the Son of God would not know something about the future.35

The fact that all four gospels report that the first ones to discover Jesus’ empty tomb were women is also quite embarrassing. It was not customary for women even to testify in court, especially when it came to crucial matters, which indicates that the early church would not have desired to make them their chief witnesses unless they actually were.36 Lastly, the repeated unbelief and other negative reactions reported about the disciples, both when Jesus told them about His resurrection before it occurred (Mark 8:31–33; 9:31–32; 10:32–34; 14:27–31), as well as after Jesus had risen from the dead (Matt. 28:17; Luke 24:36–38; John 20:19, 24–25), are further indications, again, that they really did react this way. Why else would the Gospel writers place the disciples, the leaders of the early church, in such a negative light?37

(8) The criterion of enemy attestation is satisfied when an antagonistic source expresses agreement regarding a person or event when it is contrary to their best interests to do so. Maier holds that “such positive evidence within a hostile source is the strongest kind of evidence…If Cicero, who despised Catiline, admitted that the fellow had one good quality—courage—among a host of bad ones then the historian correctly concludes that Catiline was at least courageous.”38

One example of enemy attestation in the Gospels is the repeated testimony that those who opposed Jesus either witnessed His miracles and failed to challenge them (Mark 3:1–6) or attributed them to Satan (Mark 3:22–27), thus acknowledging these events. Marcus Borg of the Jesus Seminar points out that this is one of the reasons that make it “virtually indisputable that Jesus was a healer and exorcist.”39 In another instance, the Jewish priests are said to have paid the guards at Jesus’ tomb in order to have them report that the disciples stole Jesus’ body (Matt. 28:11–15), thereby agreeing that Jesus’ tomb had indeed been discovered to be empty.

Critical criteria such as these are very helpful in establishing especially the historicity of separate Gospel accounts. Viewing the texts from various angles helps indicate that many of Jesus’ stories and sayings are historically grounded.

THE MINIMAL FACTS METHOD

A final consideration concerns the overall methodology employed when arguing for the reliability of the New Testament. One of the strongest indications of historicity occurs when a saying or event can be constructed from data that are admittedly well established, even across a wide range of otherwise diverse historical opinions. Historian Christopher Blake speaks of such scholarly agreement as the “very considerable part of history which is acceptable to the community of professional historians.”40

Along these lines, I have frequently proposed what I have termed the minimal facts historical method, in which I employ only those data that satisfy at least two major standards. Each event or saying must be (1) exceptionally well attested on multiple grounds, which might be indicated, for example, by authenticity criteria such as those listed above. The event or saying must also be (2) recognized as historical by the vast majority of scholars who address this subject, especially when they oppose the conclusion that they think is nonetheless warranted.

The first of these two standards is clearly the most significant. Strong confirmation of events and sayings, each for multiple reasons, places the emphasis directly on the factual claims themselves. The second standard—recognition by a strong majority of critical scholars—is still very helpful, but this can easily change over time, sometimes without reference to the data itself. This approach, as a chief method of investigation, allows the New Testament’s best historical data to be showcased in order to make the strongest case available.41

A FAMILIAR CONCLUSION

Traditional apologetic paths still generate several strong reasons for believing in the overall reliability of the New Testament. The various criteria of authenticity discussed above, however, have more specific applications within the Gospel accounts and presently are often the decisive tests employed in the study of the historical Jesus. Christian apologists would do well to investigate these new paths that support a familiar conclusion.

_______________________________________

1. For the purposes of this article, we are not differentiating between the terms reliability and trustworthiness.

2. A “critical” scholar, as used here, is one who applies (or interacts with) contemporary methods of examining the biblical text.

3. See F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), 16–18; Josh McDowell, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), esp. chap. 3.

4. John A. T. Robinson, Can We Trust the New Testament? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 36.

5. Helmut Koester, History and Literature of Early Christianity, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982), 2:16–17.

6. John W. Wenham, Christ and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 186–87.

7. Numerous details and perspectives on Paul’s writings are found in Ben Witherington III, The Paul Quest: The Renewed Search for the Jew of Tarsus (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998). See also Paul Barnett, Is the New Testament Reliable? A Look at the Historical Evidence (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986), esp. chaps. 5–8, 11–12.

8. See Gary R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1996), chap. 9; F. F. Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974).

9. See J. B. Lightfoot, trans. and ed., The Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1891, 1956); cf. Habermas, chap. 10.

10. See R. T. France, The Evidence for Jesus, The Jesus Library, ed. Michael Green (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986), chap. 4; Bruce, New Testament Documents, chap. 8.

11. For a general consideration of many important issues, see Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1987).

12. For a brief listing of these criteria, plus an outline of several other critical approaches, see Gary R. Habermas, “Why I Believe the New Testament is Historically Reliable,” in Why I am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe, Norman L. Geisler and Paul K. Hoffman, eds. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001), chap. 9.

13. This is the first of “The Rules of Oral Evidence,” as emphasized by Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (New York: Macmillan, 1993), 25–26.

14. Walter Kasper even argues that this material may have been in use in AD 30! Walter Kasper, Jesus the Christ, trans. V. Green. (Mahweh, NJ: Paulist Press, 1974), 125; cf. Funk and Hoover, 24, 128.

15. Gerald O’Collins, Interpreting Jesus (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1983), 109.

16. The Jesus Seminar dates the so-called “Q” tradition that they believe was the source of these passages to the AD 50s (Funk and Hoover, 18, 128).

17. David Hackett Fischer, Historian’s Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper and Row, 1970), 62. Fischer includes the archaeological “remains” of an occurrence and treats these as more primary than “direct observations.” For eyewitness reporting in ancient Greek writing, see Ernst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 38–39. For some concerns by one of the few ancient historians to address metahistorical issues, see Lucian of Samosata, How to Write History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), esp. 7–15.

18. Michael Martin, The Case Against Christianity (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991), 81.

19. Some scholars have also proposed multiple attestation of literary forms or patterns.

20. Paul L. Maier, In the Fullness of Time: A Historian Looks at Christmas, Easter, and the Early Church (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991), 197.

21. Funk and Hoover, 26.

22. These five sources are (1) Mark; (2) the material found in Matthew (M) alone; (3) the material found in Luke (L) alone; (4) the “Q” sayings, which many scholars think are the source of the common material in Matthew and Luke; and (5) John.

23. Marcus Borg acknowledges that the attestation of Jesus’ miracles in the Gospels is “widespread.” Marcus Borg, Jesus: A New Vision; Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1987), 61. See also the in-depth study on this topic, including the multiple attestation of Jesus’ miracles, in John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vol. 2, Mentor, Message, and Miracles (New York: Doubleday, 1994), esp. 967–70.

24. Gary Habermas, The Risen Jesus and Future Hope (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), 102.

25. Ibid., 23.

26. Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels (1977; New York: Macmillan, Collier Books Edition, 1992), 202.

27. Meier spends considerable time on another example of discontinuity between the distinctives of Jesus’ message and those of the Dead Sea community. See John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vol. 3, Companions and Competitors (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 489–532, 633–36.

28. Joachim Jeremias, The Central Message of the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1965), 9–30; Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, 2nd rev. ed., trans. S. H. Hooke (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1972), 100–114.

29. Even Norman Perrin views this term as one a Jewish child might use of his father, and thinks that Jesus used it to refer to God. Perrin also thinks it fulfills the criterion of dissimilarity. Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus (New York: Harper and Row, 1967), 37–41.

30. Cf. W. B. Gallie, “Explanations in History and the Genetic Sciences,” in Patrick Gardiner, ed., Theories of History: Readings from Classical and Contemporary Sources (New York: Macmillan, 1959), 397–98; the idea in critical New Testament research is pursued in Perrin, 43–45.

31. Meier, Companions and Competitors, esp. 437–44.

32. Ibid., 69, 72.

33. Grant, 202–3; cf. Funk and Hoover, 23.

34. See, e.g., the listing of scholars in Habermas, The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, 21–22.

35. Donald Guthrie speaks for many when he states that this comment is simply too embarrassing to have been invented, so its authenticity should not be questioned. New Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1981), 794n14.

36. Habermas, The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, 23–24.

37. For a single example of the many relevant comments here, see Ben F. Meyer, The Aims of Jesus (London: SCM Press, 1979), 60.

38. Maier, 198–99.

39. Borg, 61.

40. Christopher Blake, “Can History be Objective?” in Gardiner, 331.

41. I have utilized this twofold methodology in my publications on Jesus’ death and resurrection. For examples, see The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, chap. 1, esp. 8–10, 26–31, and The Historical Jesus, 158–67. For an application to the deity of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation, see The Risen Jesus and Future Hope, chaps. 3–6. On how this approach might be applied to the doctrine of inspiration, see Gary R. Habermas, “Jesus and the Inspiration of Scripture,” Areopagus Journal 2 (2002): esp. 14–15.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr