Testimony Regarding Tattoos

When I was in high school I really wanted to get a tattoo and a body piercing. So, during high school I got a body piercing (in my bellybutton). Shortly after I graduated from high school I got a tattoo. Neither action was well thought-out, but more of a spur of the moment thing. In fact, I’m grateful that the man who did my tattoo wouldn’t do what I originally wanted. He told me to go home and really think about it until I knew what I wanted and where I wanted it. If he would have done whatever I wanted at that moment, I would be even more regretful at this point. So, I ended up getting something I thought I would want for the rest of my life on my ankle. Now, about five years after I got my tattoo I have a scar where my body piercing was and a tattoo that I wish I didn’t have.

I got a navel piercing and tattoo to be different and cool. After a while of having both, I didn’t care much about showing them off. It really surprised me in a way when people would point to me and ask me about my tattoo. It started to annoy me that when certain people noticed my body piercing or tattoo, I suddenly had become more cool in their eyes. I felt like they liked me more, only after they had found out that I was the type of person who would have a body piercing or tattoo.

Shortly after I got my tattoo, I realized that a lot more people from many different groups of society were getting body piercings and tattoos. The trend of tattoos and body piercings was becoming popular among more and more people regardless of what "group" they were in (i.e. the "rebellious" crowd, as well as the more average straight-laced group of people).

After a few years I got sick of my body piercing because so many other people were doing the same thing. Then it came down to deciding whether I wanted metal or a scar. I chose the scar.

Here’s why:

After I was touched by the Lord I was told by a friend that body piercing and tattoos were wrong because the Bible said so. I was immediately defensive and confused. I wanted to follow the Lord and do what was right in His eyes. So, while I was with my friend one time we decided to look it up in our NIV Bibles for ourselves. We found Leviticus 19:28: "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord."

We couldn’t find anything that directly said you should not pierce your body. In fact, I was surprised to see in certain parts of Scripture that women wore nose rings in the Old Testament. For instance, Abraham’s servant gave Rebekah a nose ring as a gift when he knew he had found the right wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:34-51 NIV). I believe, however, that nose rings were common in their culture, just as common as earrings have been in American culture for a long time. Therefore, there is not the same reasons behind Rebekah wearing a nose ring as someone in America might have today. It would be as simple as her being given earrings today.

I decided to pray about whether it was right for me to have a body piercing and tattoo. During the time I was praying and seeking God about this the Lord led me to Scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

I was also convicted by 1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV: "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple."

I felt that I had harmed my body by tattooing it and piercing it. I passed out when I got my body pierced and came close to passing out when I got my tattoo. Basically, I went through a lot of pain to look cool. I felt that it was wrong for me to have pierced and tattooed my body, especially because of the reasons behind both--vanity and pride. Between vanity and pride and harming my body that the Lord had created I knew that I had sinned. Now I can see that I was not honoring God with my body by piercing it and putting a permanent mark on it. Although I was able to remove my piercing, my tattoo is not something that I can just wash away. It is on my leg to stay.

I know the Lord has forgiven me. His grace and love are so amazing. I was living a sinful, ungodly life and then I found the Lord. Jesus died for us all and God raised Him from the dead so that our sins can be forgiven and that we may be cleansed of our iniquities. Now, we can enter into an amazing love relationship with Him. God did this all through Jesus! The point of this testimony is to share how I was convicted of sin in my life. It doesn’t matter what the sin was. We all need to repent and follow the Lord. If we love Him, we will obey Him.

John 14:15 NIV: "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

1 John 5:3-5 NIV: "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

Contributed by a young Christian girl who asked to remain anonymous.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Russian Cartoon About the Tikhvin Mother of God Icon

This is a beautiful Russian cartoon about the Tikhvin Mother of God Icon. I don't know Russian, though I know many of my readers do, so the only reason I post this is so someone can translate it.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Panegyric to Great Martyr Theodore the Tyro

St. Theodore the Tyro (Feast Day - February 17)

In Praise of Blessed Theodore, the Great Martyr

by Saint Gregory of Nyssa

You, the people who belong to Christ, a holy flock, a royal priesthood which had come from every place, city and the countryside, what is the source of that sign which brought you to this sacred place? Who are you who hasten here and planned this [journey] beforehand? Is it not the season of winter which is untroubled by war, when armed soldiers are not present, sailors set sail over the foamy [waves] and the farmer puts to rest the ox used for plowing in the stall? It is not clear that the holy martyr sounded the trumpet from among the roster of warriors, rouses people from diverse regions to a place of rest, proclaims a home, not in preparation for war but to a sweet and attractive peace for Christians? We believe that in the year when the barbarian invasion stopped and the horrible war against the savage Sythians came to an end we witnessed no frightening, terrible war, no triple crested helmet nor a brandished sword glittering in the sun, but the all-powerful cross of Christ which wards them off, the means by which he obtained glory through his suffering.

Furthermore, I ask you to consider closely those who keep blameless religious observance such as the martyrs who compose an outstanding assembly of the just as well as those deemed worthy of recompense while still in the world. Let me affirm that they are still with us. Their great honor is open for all to see: by recognizing the fruit of piety, you must strive to share in their reverence. Desire the honors which Christ dispenses according to the worthiness of his athletes. But if it pleases him that we may enjoy future benefits which a pure hope offers to the just when the judge of our lives comes to us, we may see the company of the saints which is so magnificent and glorious. For the soul which is ascending is fond of residing in its own inheritance and converses in an incorporeal manner with its own brethren; the body a deserving and immaculate vehicle for that purpose which never allows the harm originating from its own passions to reside with incorruptibility. Enwrapped with much honor and solicitude, it dwells in this holy place as an inestimable treasure reserved for the time of regeneration and shares the uniqueness with regard to other bodies. For this common death which is similar in nature has no comparison. There are other abominable matters, for example, no one should lightly disregard the tomb, but if this person opens himself to persuasion, he is liable to have no share in the repugnance of this present age, thereby avoiding the burden of the human condition.

Should a person come to a place similar to our assembly today where the memory of the just and the rest of the saints is present, first consider this house's great dignity to which souls are lead. God's temple is brightly adorned with magnificence and is embellished with decorations, pictures of animals which masons have fashioned with delicate silver figures. It exhibits images of flowers made in the likeness of the martyr's virtues, his struggles, sufferings, the various savage actions of tyrants, assaults, that fiery furnace, the athlete's blessed consummation and the human form of Christ presiding over all these events. They are like a book skillfully interpreting by means of colors which express the martyr's struggles and glorify the temple with resplendent beauty. The pictures located on the walls are eloquent by their silence and offer significant testimony; the pavement on which people tread is combined with small stones and is significant to mention in itself.

These spectacles strike the senses and delight the eye by drawing us near to [the martyr's] tomb which we believe to be both a sanctification and blessing. If anyone takes dust from the martyr's resting place, it is a gift and a deserving treasure. Should a person have both the good fortune and permission to touch the relics, this experience is a highly valued prize and seems like a dream both to those who were cured and whose wish was fulfilled. The body appears as if it were alive and healthy: the eyes, mouth, ears, as well as the other senses are a cause for pouring out tears of reverence and emotion. In this way one implores the martyr who intercedes on our behalf and is an attendant of God for imparting those favors and blessings which people seek.

From all this, oh devout people, learn that "the death of His holy ones is admirable before the Lord" [Ps 115.6], for all men comprise one and the same body; they share the same substance as one dough and are carried off to death. However, the martyr's suffering bestows grace which is lovable, joyful and undeniable as the text above teaches. Therefore we believe that appearances hold out the promise of future blessings procured from trials endured in the world. Many are those who pursue [pleasures of] the stomach, vainglory and the rubbish of all this world's charms while neglecting that which is to come; rather, such persons believe that death puts an end to all these things [Phil 3.19]. But a thoughtful person will learn about great matters from that which is small and about archetypes from shadows. To whom will the honor of kings go? Who will be remembered among men with regard to that arrogance resulting from visible reality? Which general who has captured fortified cities and has enslaved many peoples is celebrated as this soldier, poor man and conscript, whom Paul has armed [Eph 6.11] and whom the angels have anointed for combat and whom Christ has crowned with victory [2 Tim 4.8]? Since these words unite you to the martyr's trials, follow the saint's uncommon example and forsake any useless pursuit because everyone loves such things.

The fatherland is majestic by reason of beholding the sun. Job is noble because he came from the [land of the] sun's rising and continued to observe those customs with which he was acquainted [Job 1.3]. On the other hand, the martyr possesses the entire earth and every citizen who dwells under the sun. However, a list of armed men is taken from that vicinity when their regiment is transferred to our region where its leaders post them to rest during the winter. But when war suddenly arises not by an incursion of barbarians but by Satan's ordinance and decree which God opposes (for every Christian is put under the ban of a severe prescription and is condemned to death), the thrice blessed [Theodore] reveals his piety and gives witness everywhere to his faith in Christ in addition to being inscribed upon the forehead with a confession. He is no longer a novice nor untried by battle and combat, but has fortified his soul to resist dangers; he is neither afraid nor a coward reluctant to speak. The evil spirits have convened a court along with their leaders and taxiarchs which is reminiscent of Herod and Pilate who condemned the Lord to be crucified by a similar judgment. They said, "What is the source of your courage, you who dare to mock the king's decree? Do you not submit in trembling to those royal decrees? Do you not worship the authorities who are in power?" Maximianus was then king whom these leaders served.

With stern countenance and resolute mind [Theodore] responded to their charges by saying, "I do not know the gods because they are false, whereas you err by honoring and addressing them, having been influenced by demons who have deceived you from [the worship of] God [cf. Jn 3.18]. But as for me, Christ is God, the Only Begotten Son of God. Therefore on behalf of the true religion and by confessing him, let him who inflicts wounds go ahead and cut; let him who strikes thrash; let him who burns lead to the flame, and let him who is grieved by my words cut out my tongue. Each member of the body needs patience bestowed by the Creator." The tyrants were at a loss by these words and could not sustain the first refutation of his integrity because this youth was bursting with passion and sought death as if it were a sweet drink.

For a brief period the [persecutors] were at a loss and took counsel with regard to future action. One of the military leaders with a refined demeanor scorned the martyr by the following response: "Theodore, are you the Son of God? Was he born to suffer as a man? My god was not born for this purpose, but I believe that he is a son and that his birth befits his divinity. But you and your childish, pathetic reasoning should make you blush and hide due to your profession in an effeminate god whom, like a mother, you worship her twelve sons who gave birth to a multitude of demons just like a hare or a sow which effortlessly conceive and give birth!"

The tyrants mocked the saint by this two pronged attack of idolatry and under the guise of clemency said, "Give us a short time to consider such madness. Perhaps by giving him a brief rest he might change his mind for the better." These [despots] called wisdom insanity, reckoned madness and labeled derangement eloquence just like drunks who vehemently berate sober persons. However, this pious man and soldier of Christ made full use of manly behavior in the respite allotted to him.

What did he do? You certainly have enough time to ponder over his tale with joy. The gods' temple erected to their mythical mother was located in the capitol city of Amasea by a river bank where such mislead persons devised their folly. But the noble man remained fearless while his detractors watched for an opportune moment and a occasion because they yearned to accuse him of setting a fire and impatiently expected him to admit it. Once everyone learned of this incident (for a blazing fire started in the midst of the city), [Theodore] did not disclose the deed nor hasten to speak about it. However, it was certainly clear to [his accuser's] arrogance and to the confusion of their great joy that this incident was a source of distress for the temple and its graven image. It was reported to the magistrates that he was responsible for burning the temple and a judgment more fearful than the first resulted due to his provocation.


Once the [judges] took their seats in court, the magistrate eloquently questioned Theodore who stood in their midst and who quickly turned the interrogation into a confession [of faith]. Since they could not accuse him and their fearful threats had no effect, they changed their tactics and benignly attempted to withdraw the accusation by offering him promises. "If you wish to submit to our counsel," they said, "we will at once reinstate your renown from such disgrace, change your ignominy into honor and will swear that you share in the glory which belongs to the office of chief priest." When he heard of this honor, the thrice-blessed [Theodore] said, "I judge the priests of idols as wretched men and pity the attendants of such vain practices. I both greatly feel for and loath the chief priest. He is among the worst and most miserable of men, a fact which is more unimaginable than any unjust circumstance; he is the cruelest of murderers and is more wanton than any dissolute person. Therefore let your devastating actions run their course. Tell me, you who make such depraved promises, by choosing a life of piety and righteousness with respect to God, it is better to be a outcast in God's house than to dwell in the tents of the wicked [Ps 83.11]? I pity the kingdom's subjects to whom you continuously read the iniquitous law because its authority is considerable. They can keep the title of chief priest for themselves, cloth themselves with dark purple in imitation of evil chief priests and wrap their melancholy with bright dignity. When approaching the impure altar, [M.745] they sacrifice butchered birds before kings, examine the entails of wretched cattle, sell meat stained with blood and defile their clothing."

After the just man had uttered these words, the leaders no longer feigned goodwill but accused him as being most disrespectful of the gods, contemptuous of kings and a blasphemer. First they tortured him by tearing his body which they had suspended upon a tree. While the executioners were vigorously at work, he remained steadfast, constant and sang about his torments from the Psalm, "I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise ever in my mouth" [Ps 33.2]. Those torments of the flesh diminished while he sang and were as though another man were being mistreated. In this fashion the prison sanctioned his punishment. Another phenomenon occurred with regard to the saint: at night he heard a multitude singing, and those outside saw their radiant splendor in the dead of night. This marvelous visitation troubled the prison guard and a sound emanated from inside the cell; no one was present except the martyr who remained at peace with the other sleeping prisoners.

After many such events, [Theodore] was strengthened by his confession and piety, and they brought a vote of condemnation upon him. He was ordered to be burned and in this way finished his wonderful, blessed journey to God. However, [Theodore] left behind a lesson from his agony: he summoned the people, taught the church, put demons to flight, brought angelic peace, implored benefits from God, healed various illnesses in that place, provided a safe haven for those tossed by afflictions, was a rich treasury for the poor, a quiet inn of rest for travellers and a continuous festal celebration. If we keep the yearly festival, an enthusiastic multitude will always be in attendance; the highway leading there bore them along like ants with some going and others departing.

Therefore, oh blessed anniversary graciously provided by the Creator, we flock to your festival with the martyrs' holy band which worships a common God. By recalling the victory of our many struggles, you return to us, and when you arrive, you provide us with a day of celebration. We beseech you, whether you dwell in the air above or in some celestial circle or angelic chorus, that you assist the Lord or worship him as a faithful servant with the powers and virtues. Come from that place to those who beseech you, invisible friend! You have learned of his death, a means by which you might give double thanks to God who conferred this favor through one passion and one pious confession that you may rejoice in the blood he shed and in the grievous fire he endured. As a result you will have as worthy ministers those who witnessed the spectacle. We lack many benefactors. Intercede on behalf of the people that they may share one kingdom because the martyr's country is one of affliction whose citizens and brethren and kinsmen have died and have been honored. We fear afflictions and expect danger because we are close to the ungodly Sythians who grieve us with war. As a soldier, fight for us; as a martyr, grant courage to your fellow servants. Since you have prevailed over this life yet are familiar with humanity's sufferings and needs, grant peace that the festivals may continue, that the furious, insolent, mad barbarians might not triumph over the temples or altars and that they might not tread the holy place.

We who have been kept safe and unharmed ponder your beneficence and implore protection for the future. Should we experience stress and dishonor, let your people beseech the chorus of your fellow martyrs; the prayers of many just people will exonerate sin. Remember Peter, awaken Paul along with John the theologian and beloved disciple, who are solicitous on behalf of the churches which they have founded and on whose behalf they endured dangers and death. They did not engage in idol worship which was inimical to our Head [Christ] in order that heresy may resemble thorns to pluck out vines, that weeds might not suffocate wheat, that no rock hinder the true, rich dew and that anything without root may show the power of the fertile word [cf. Mt 13.25, 7, 20]. But by the power of your intercession and those with you, oh marvelous and most bright among the martyrs, the young shoot will return to you, the flourishing citizenship of Christians will endure to the end in the splendid, fruitful field of faith in Christ which always bears the fruit of eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord. To him with the Father and Holy Spirit be glory, power and honor now and forever. Amen.

Apolytikion in the Second Tone
Great are the achievements of faith! In the fountain of flame, as by the water of rest, the holy Martyr Theodore rejoiced; for having been made a whole-burnt offering in the fire, he was offered as sweet bread unto the Trinity. By his prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Having received the Faith of Christ in thy heart as a breastplate, thou didst trample upon the enemy hosts, O much-suffering champion; and thou hast been crowned eternally with a heavenly crown, since thou art invincible.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Icon of the Mother of God "Tikhvin" on Mt Athos

The Weeping Tikhvin Icon of Mt. Athos is to be found behind the altar in the Prophet Elias Skete. On February 17, 1877 (Thursday of the Second Week of Lent) seven monks remained in the church after the Hours had been read. They were astonished to see tears flowing from the right eye of the icon, and collecting on the frame. Then a single large tear came from the left eye.

The monks wiped the tears from the icon's face, then left the church and locked the doors behind them. Three hours later, they returned for Vespers and saw traces of tears on the icon, and a single tear in the left eye. Again they wiped the tears from the icon, but they did not reappear.

Regarding this manifestation of tears as a sign of mercy from the Mother of God, the monks established an annual commemoration of the icon on February 17. The weeping Tikhvin Icon of Mt. Athos is not to be confused with the original wonderworking Tikhvin Icon (June 26).

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Fr. John Karastamatis' Murderer Denied Parole

Man Who Killed Santa Cruz Priest Denied Parole for Five Years

By Jennifer Squires
Santa Cruz Sentinel
02/08/2010

VACAVILLE - A former taxicab driver who pleaded no contest to killing the first priest of Santa Cruz's Greek Orthodox church was denied parole Monday, the Santa Cruz District Attorney's Office reported.

Edward Bowman, now 63, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 1988 and Monday's hearing at Solano State Prison was his third chance for release and parole. The Parole Board ruled he will not be eligible again until 2015, according to Jeff Rosell, the assistant district attorney assigned to the case.

Priest John Karastamatis was bludgeoned and stabbed to death outside the office of The Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Santa Cruz on May 19, 1985. He was 47.

Bowman, a parishioner, was arrested in January 1986 as the investigation focused on he and his wife, Anna. She had killed herself during a standoff with Santa Cruz police at the couple's River Street home in December 1985 that started when she fired through the door at detectives, according to Sentinel archives. Investigators said she also would have faced charges, if she had not died.

What led to the brutal slaying hasn't ever been sorted out. Investigators and the District Attorney's Office have said the priest possibly interrupted the Bowman's burglarizing the church, but Bowman has had several alternate explanations.

"Basically, it was self defense was what he said this time," Rosell said, speaking of Bowman's statements to the Parole Board on Monday. "It was absolutely contradictory to the evidence."

The inconsistencies in Bowman's explanation of the crime was one of the reasons the Parole Board cited in denying Bowman's release, according to the District Attorney's Office.

To Bowman's credit, he hasn't been involved in violence during his incarceration, according to the D.A.'s Office.

"He's doing the things inside that an inmate should be doing," Rosell said, such as taking classes.

The hearing drew many of Karastamatis' relatives and lasted the entire afternoon, Rosell said.

"A lot of people spoke at the hearing," he said, adding that, other than Bowman, everyone who commented at the hearing was in favor of keeping the Bowman behind bars.

Karastamatis and his family helped solidify the Greek community in the county in the early 1980s and were instrumental in the construction of the congregation's first church building. His widow, Anastasia, remains active at Prophet Elias.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Myrrh Flows From Icon of St. Evgeny Rodionov

Icon of Soldier Beheaded For Not Taking Off His Cross Gives Myrrh in Penza Church

Penza, 17 February 2010, Interfax – An icon of Evgeny Rodionov has started giving myrrh in the St. Luke Church at the Penza regional oncologic dispenser. The Russian soldier Rodionov was executed in Chechnya in 1996 as he refused to renounce his Orthodox faith.

“Myrrh came out in two spots, in a palm of his hand and where one wears the cross,” the church Rector Alexy Burtsev told journalists.

According to him, it happened during the All-Night Vigil on February 15. Parishioners, who stood behind praying, felt a strange pleasant aroma.

The priest noted that on February 15, 1996, Penza-born Evgeny Rodionov was captured in Chechnya, imprisoned for a hundred days, and when he refused to renounce his Christian faith, militants beheaded him.

See also here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Orthodox Cross to be Planted at Southernmost Point of America

Russian Traveler Fedor Konyukhov to Set Orthodox Cross on the Southernmost Point of American Continent

Bobruisk, 17 February 2010, Interfax – Renowned Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov will set a worship cross at Cape Horn (Chili) to commemorate perished sailors.

The cross was made and consecrated in Bobruisk. Students of Bobruisk Art College №15 gave it as a present to Konyukhov, the local Diocese reports.

Cape Horn is southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego archipelago located off South American mainland. Shipwrecks lie buried here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Global Warming Honcho Finally Fesses Up

The disgraced former head of a U.N. backed climate research center admits

1. No global warming in the last 15 years.

2. It might have been warmer in medieval times than now.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

PNAS: Free Will Into the Dumpster

17 February 2010
Paul Nelson
Uncommondescent.com

The article is open access, so you can choose to download it. Or choose not to download it. Or choose to click over to YouTube, or the Huffington Post, to see what’s doing there.

Whatever happens, “you” — meaning the person reading this right now — won’t be making a decision. Physics and chemistry will. These forces will inform you of their “decision,” so to speak, by the perceptual illusion, constructed in the infinite wisdom of natural selection, which gives you the misleading sense of having made a choice. Otherwise known as free will, which doesn’t exist.

Anthony Cashmore, the author of this Inaugural Article in the PNAS, is a molecular biologist and botanist at the Universtiy of Pennsylvania. I didn’t see a single sentence about botany in the article, but I suppose National Academy members have catholic [small c, please] interests and can range over the intellectual landscape to alight on whatever problems attract them.

What I really didn’t see, however, was any new science. As Cashmore notes, the existence (or not) of free will has been debated since antiquity. It’s a classically philosophical problem. The pages of the PNAS are open to materialistic solutions, as evidenced by the Cashmore article. His Inaugural Article, remember: this is what a botanist most wants to say to his NAS colleagues, by way of introducing himself.

Could a defender of the reality of free will — i.e., of an irreducible person acting from mind, on the basis of reasons, goals, ends or purposes — publish her arguments in the PNAS? After all, that’s the other side of this ancient debate.

Homework assignment: Did the members of the National Academy really elect, as in choose, Cashmore? Or should that be credited to physics too?

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Evolution A Fact?

Just to Recap:

Darwin was wrong.
Missing links still missing.
There is no such thing as junk DNA.
Birds did not descend from Dinosaurs.
Irreducible complexity is still irreducibly complex.
Tiktaalik has been invalidated by an earlier ancestor.
Haeckel’s embryo drawings are still fake (and still in textbooks).

Yet, evolution is a fact?

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Pews vs. Standing: An Orthodox Controversy

Monday February 15, 2010
Rod Dreher
Beliefnet

My family came into Orthodoxy in a parish without pews. St. Seraphim's Cathedral in Dallas observes the traditional Orthodox custom of parishioners standing for the entire two-hour liturgy, though there are chairs lining the sides of the worship space for those who cannot or who don't wish to stand for the service. There is no shame in sitting down; it's just not done by most people. Small children typically sit at their parents' feet for most of the service. When we first started attending St. Seraphim's, this practice was so off-putting; we couldn't imagine standing up for so long! But we did, figuring that something that has been done for so many centuries must have something to teach us. Before long, we came to appreciate standing, and it came to be the most natural thing in the world to us.

Before moving to northward, a number of folks told us that Orthodoxy in this part of the country is different from Orthodoxy in the OCA Diocese of the South. One thing we'd notice is that most Orthodox churches have pews. The Greek Orthodox in America accepted pews some decades ago (indeed, the big Greek parish in the Dallas area has pews today), as an attempt to acculturate its congregations to American standards (more historical info on this here). Today, in both the OCA and Antiochian jurisdictions, you find churches with pews (though the well-known Antiochian parish of the Holy Cross in Maryland does not have them). Let me stipulate here that I do not think that Orthodox Christians who worship in pews are in any way spiritually inferior to those who stand during the liturgy; in fact, at St. Stephen's Cathedral (OCA) in Philadelphia, most of the congregation stands anyway, in front of their pews! But I must say that having worshiped in both styles, I strongly prefer the traditional way. This essay from an Orthodox site explains why this liturgical form is not just empty traditionalism, but trains our way of experiencing God in the liturgy. I'm a bit off-put by the slight sarcasm in the essay, but I do think this point in particular is very true:

1) Pews teach the lay people to stay in their place, which is to passively watch what's going on up front, where the clergy perform the Liturgy on their behalf. Pews preach and teach that religion and spirituality is the job of the priest, to whom we pay a salary to be religious for us, since it is just too much trouble and just too difficult for the rest of us to be spiritual in the real world of modern North America. Pews serve the same purpose as seats in theaters and bleachers in the ball park; we perch on them (even during the Litanies which are the specific prayer of the People) to watch the professionals perform: the clergy and the professionally-trained altar servers, while the professionally-trained choir sings for our entertainment.

Yesterday I mentioned to Julie that I didn't like pews, because they made me feel as if I were part of an audience watching a performance on the altar. Without pews, I felt more like someone gathered around a bonfire. The author of this essay puts it more harshly than I would, but the insight is essentially the same. You wouldn't have convinced me several years ago when I first walked into an Orthodox church that the experience of worshiping without pews would make me feel more integrated into the liturgy (as opposed to merely tired from standing), but having worshiped this way for almost four years, I've experienced the difference, and love it! It makes one feel personally more integrated into the liturgy, I find.

Roman Catholics used to go to mass like this too, but it appears that the Reformation also brought pews into Catholic churches as well (Byzantine Rite Catholics generally still observe the older tradition of standing during mass, though I've attended two Byzantine Rite churches in the US that have pews). It surely must strike most American Christians as interesting, at the very least, to think that pews in Christian churches are a relatively recent innovation in the history of Christianity. For three-quarters of our history, most Christians stood at corporate worship.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Russian Orthodox Church's Growing Power

As connections between Russia's state and dominant church increase, observers worry about religious freedom.

By Miriam Elder
GlobalPost
February 15, 2010

MOSCOW, Russia — Priests serving with military units, religious classes in public schools, even blessings at national hockey games — this is the face of the new Russian Orthodox Church.

Following years of steady post-communism revival, the church saw an explosive growth in its activities and state role last year. Now critics warn that the growth is coming at the expense of religious freedom in the country, with many faiths under attack.

In an annual report on religious freedom released in late January, the Moscow-based Liberty of Conscience Institute said the relationship between the church and the state had become “symbiotic,” violating the constitution and leading to widespread discrimination against religious minorities.

In the latest move, Russia’s top court in December upheld a ruling banning a regional branch of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The group has long faced scrutiny in Russia.

More widespread, the report warned, was discrimination against some of Russia’s larger minorities — Muslims, Jews and Buddhists. With Russian Orthodoxy, these are the country’s four recognized religions.

Last summer, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced an initiative to appoint Orthodox chaplains to all army units. The current school year is the first in which religion classes, for which students ostensibly can study religions other than Orthodoxy and choose a secular option, are offered in public schools. With Orthodoxy being the religion to which the overwhelming majority of Russians belong, critics fear other school options won’t be truly followed. The religious rights report warned that in any case the move could lead to the disintegration of Russia’s proclaimed secularity.

Lacking a state ideology, the Kremlin has had a heavy hand in pushing for the church’s prominence. Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are regularly shown on state-run television attending services. Medvedev’s wife is particularly active in Orthodox circles.

The church, a wealthy institution reveling in its newfound power following the state-mandated atheist years of the Soviet Union, asks its followers to hold not just society, but government, to its standards.

Father Vsevolod Chaplin, the church’s spokesman and head of its department of church-society relations, recently gave a sermon to believers from several former Soviet republics.

“We don’t have to be scared to put the following task before ourselves: If we, the majority in each of our countries — there are people here from Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova — then we have the full right that our moral principles, our vision for the present and the future are determining factors in those spheres of social life and government in which we work,” he said, according to the Interfax-Religion news agency.

In Russia, religion and ethnicity are intertwined — to call oneself Russian is also to call oneself Orthodox (russki). There is a different word to describe Jews and Muslims (rossianie), for example, even if their families have been in Russia for generations. You are not considered truly Russian unless you are Orthodox, whether a practicing believer or not.

The government-backed push to further raise the profile of the Orthodox Church only works to reinforce the growing nationalism that has engulfed the country since the Soviet Union’s fall, critics say.

“Everything that is happening now goes against our secular constitution,” said human rights activist Lev Levinson. “It says no religion can be a state religion, and should guarantee the government’s non-involvement in church affairs.”

The most recent poll on the subject by the Levada Center, an independent pollster, found that in 2007, 66 percent of Russians considered themselves Orthodox, up from 44 percent in 1996. Some 23 percent said they weren’t religious, down from 43 percent in 1996.

Yet church attendance remains low. Just 8 percent of Russians go to church regularly, up from 5 percent in 1996, according to the poll. The majority, 39 percent, said they never go, but that is down from 65 percent in 1996.

The steady rise in religious belief grew under the stewardship of the popular Patriarch Alexei II, who died in February 2009. Under his more conservative successor, Patriarch Kirill, it should continue to grow.

On New Year’s Eve, Kirill assumed personal control over the church’s missionary department, with plans to expand its powers and personnel. The church is also setting its sights abroad.

At the end of the year, it opened its first seminary outside the former Soviet Union, in France. It has opened a new church in Thailand, at a beach resort popular with Russians, and plans to do the same in Germany. The patriarch will travel around Africa this year, where, the church says, Orthodoxy is the fastest growing religion. (It is not the only religion to make that claim.)

Inside Russia, the church’s wealth is growing along with its power. In the 1990s, it won a bizarre, but lucrative, contract to monopolize the trade in alcohol and cigarettes. While that is long gone, the church's wealth comes in large part from its growing property holdings.

In the latest move to solidify the church's power, Putin announced at the New Year that the state would hand over control of Moscow’s famous Novodevischy Convent, which houses a beautiful church, icons and a cemetery where many of its famous writers, poets and politicians lay buried.

Critics denounced the move, worried the church would hide and take poor care of the historical artifacts inside.

Yet criticizing or challenging the church is not a task for all.

Yury Samodurov was found guilty of inciting religious hatred in 2005, after staging an art exhibitat the Sakharov Center called “Caution: Religion!” two years earlier. The exhibit, which featured artwork with Christian symbols mixed with pop culture references, was first vandalized by six members of a religious group.

“For a long time now, the ability to publicly approach the problems of the Church with a critical view has been considered unacceptable and inappropriate," Samodurov said in a telephone interview.

He blames the state as much as the church for his travails. “The government uses the church for its own legitimization. And the church happily gives itself the possibility to be used for this goal because it increases its own political meaningfulness and political role,” he said.

“A politicized church is a rare institution that freezes the political development of society,” he warned.

A year after his conviction, Samodurov put on another controversial exhibit titled “Forbidden Art,” which also came under the Orthodox Church’s ire. He is currently on trial for inciting religious hatred again, and has since left his post as museum curator.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Relations Between Greece and Russia

Greece Nears Economic Collapse

02.17.2010
Pravda.Ru

Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou is in Moscow for a two-day visit. While Greece is on the verge of default, the Moscow talks were devoted to be the issues of economic collaboration. The officials may also discuss the possible abandonment of visa regime between Russia and the EU, the issue mentioned by the Greek Prime Minister prior to his visit.

The Prime Minister stated that lightening of the visa regime is achieved through the instructions given to the heads of Greek diplomatic and consulate services in Russia. He mentioned that the services are instructed to help Russian citizens willing to travel to Greece.

He said that consulates in Moscow and Saint Petersburg have moved to new buildings, and four Russian cities (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk) now had Greek visa centers created to serve Russians more efficiently. The Prime Minister added that the Greeks issued visas in 48 hours, faster than any other country.

Papandreou also said that Greece played an important role in signing the agreement between EU and Russia (enforced on June 1, 2007) that simplified visa issuance to certain categories of citizens, and preserved the price of visa at 35 Euros instead of 60 Euros. The Prime Minister emphasized that Greece supported Russia’s request to abolish visas for Russians entering EU.

Greece is nearly the only country in EU that supports Russia on visa issue. Greek issues minimum visa rejections for Russian citizens, and the country is visited by 250,000 to 300,000 Russian tourists annually. The government of the right winger Costas Karamanlis who resigned in the fall of 2009 also supported this position. It is nice to see that Georgios Papandreou is consistent with this policy.

The policy is based on high-level bilateral relations. There were no major problems between Greece and Russia in the past years. Greece has never criticized Russia for the events in South Ossetia. Greece has never recognized independence of Kosovo. The Greek government supported the idea of the new agreement of European safety and spoke against locating elements of the US missile defense system in Europe.

Economic collaboration between the two countries is also of a high level. For example, one of the branches of the South Stream is to go through Greece, and the construction of the pipeline for the project is nearly completed. Now the countries have to obtain the agreement of neighboring Bulgaria critical for bringing the pipe to Greece from Novorossiysk.

Additionally, Papandreou is to discuss another project with Russia, the Bourgas-Alexandropoulis pipeline which will carry the fuel from the Black to the Aegean Sea. The Greek Prime Minister said prior to his visit that he expected the construction to begin within six months. Again, the only issue here is Bulgaria that stalls the project.

At the moment the issue of Russia’s economic collaboration with Greece is particularly sensitive. Greece is on the verge of default. Although Papandreou said on February 15 that he does not intend to ask for financial aid, it is not ruled out he would have to do it. The country’s national debt is 300 billion Euros (112 % of GDP), and the budget deficit is nearly 13 percent.

Greek media says that by spring the country will require 54 billion Euros. The lion share of this amount was to be given to Greece by the EU that is not pleased with a possibility of a default in one of its countries. However, there is information that Papandreou is going to ask Russia for 10 billion Euros loan.

Media also reports that during his Moscow visit, the Greek PM will try to obtain additional funds for the construction of the Bourgas-Alexandropoulis pipeline. Formally, he would be asking for funds for the ecological needs in order to calm down concerned people. In reality, these funds would be the investment Greece needs so much today.

Another possibility is to take out a loan from Russia to purchase Russian weapons. While Greece is a member of NATO, it is still willing to buy Russian missile complexes С 300, Тор - М 1 and Тор- М -2. Greece is even prepared to increase purchasing in the future. Russia does not mind having another customer; the problem is the customer that is defaulting.

This visit to Russia is Papandreou’s trump card in his relations with EU. Today Ministers of Finance of EU countries will gather in Brussels to discuss aid for Greece. If Papandreou manages to get funds from Russia, his relatively stingy European colleagues will be in awkward position. It would look like Russia found money for Greece, while its partners in united Europe failed to do so.

The above mentioned abolishment of visas has a material component to it. If visas are cancelled, many Russians will be eager to enjoy beautiful Athens, monasteries of the Afon Mountain, and Crete beaches. It is well known that Russian tourists like to throw their money that would come right to the Greek treasury.

Vadim Trukhachev
Pravda.Ru

See more here and here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Bulgarian Orthodox Online TV Launched

Plovdiv Metropolitanate Launches First Bulgarian Orthodox Online TV

Feb 15 2010
The Sophia Echo
by Rene Beekman

Aiming to serve both Bulgarians abroad and to bring the church closer to society, the website of the Plovdiv Metropolitanate launched the first Bulgarian Orthodox online video broadcasts.

"This is the first online television broadcast of our Orthodox Church," Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) quoted the church's manager of new media Archimandrite Arsenyi as saying.

The first broadcasts started on February 11 2010 with a liturgy in the St Haralampi church in the town of Septemvri.

The broadcast was also the unveiling of the new website of the Plovdiv Metropolitanate.

"The online broadcasts are part of the Metropolis' attempt to bring the Church closer to society," Archimandrite Arsenyi was quoted by BNR as saying. "The project started with the arrival of Bishop Nikolay in Plovdiv three years ago," he said.

The project aimed to enable people to witness the everyday spiritual life of God's servants and laymen in the Plovdiv Metropolis, Arsenyi said.

"Maybe it is not by chance that God allowed the channel to be launched at the eve of the Great Lent [which started on February 15]," he said.

The broadcasts would give the church the opportunity to inform a younger audience about the Great Lent.

"The way one should fasten will be explained, as well as the spiritual meaning of abstention," Arsenyi said."Through this new medium we try to attract attention and tell people about the truths of Orthodox religion. We hope this will help religious eduction of young people," Arsenyi said.

The team of the online television currently consisted of 15 people, BNR said, but was expect to expand with the expansion of its programming.

The website of the Plovidv Metropolitanate is currently available in Bulgarian only.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Christ the Artist

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

An artist is one who, from crude and shapeless stone, carves and shapes forms similar to living creatures. An artist is one who weaves a multi-colored blanket from the wool of sheep. An artist is one who builds a magnificent palace out of earthly bricks. But what kind of artist on earth can be compared to Christ the Artist, who from illiterate men creates wise men, who from fishermen creates apostles, who from cowards creates heroes, who from the immoral creates saints?

But all must be given over to the hand of the artist, in order to be fashioned into that which the artist knows and is capable of doing. All things, in truth, must be given over to the hand of the artist. Even men must give themselves over to the hand of Christ, in order for Him to carve, to weave or to build that which only He knows and is capable of. Nineteen past centuries witness to us, that all of them who did not protest [against Him] but rather gave themselves over to Christ the Artist and from the boorish and the ignorant became angel-seeing children of God.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Sermon for the First Wednesday of Great Lent

Catechesis 54: On Fasting and Dispassion

Given on Wednesday of the First Week of Great Lent.

by Saint Theodore the Studite

Brethren and fathers, the season of Lent, when compared to the whole year, may be likened to a storm-free harbour, in which all who are sailing together enjoy a spiritual calm. For the present season is one of salvation not for monks and nuns only, but also for lay people, for great and small, for rulers and ruled, for emperors and priests, for every race and for every age. For cities and villages reduce their hubbub and bustle, while psalmody and hymns, prayers and entreaties take their place, by which our good God is propitiated and so guides our spirits to peace and pardons our offences, if, with a sincere heart, we will only fall down before him with fear and trembling and weep before him, promising improvement for the future. But let the leaders of the churches speak of what is suitable to lay people, for just as those who run in the stadium need the vocal support of their fellow contestants, so fasters need the encouragement of their teachers. But I, since I have been placed at your head, honoured brethren, will also talk to you briefly. Fasting then is a renewal of the soul, for the holy Apostle says, "Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward is being renewed day by day". And if it is being renewed, clearly it is being made beautiful according to its original beauty; made beautiful in itself it is being drawn lovingly to the one who said, "I and the Father will come and make our dwelling with him".

If then such is the grace of fasting, that it makes us into a dwelling place of God, we must welcome it, brethren, gladly, not grieving at the plainness of the diet, for we know that the Lord, though he is able to nourish lavishly, made a banquet for thousands in the wilderness from bread and water. Also because what is unusual, with enthusiasm becomes acceptable and painless. Fasting is not defined by foods alone, but by every abstinence from evil, as our godly fathers have explained. And so, I beg you, let us abstain from despondency, idleness, sluggishness, jealousy, strife, maliciousness, self-indulgence, self-reliance; let us abstain from destructive desire which the many-shaped serpent lays before us when we are fasting. Let us listen to the one who says, "The fruit which slew me was beautiful to behold and fair to eat". And observe: he says beautiful to behold, not beautiful by nature. For just as if someone taking a pomegranate decked out with a scarlet rind should find it rotten, in the same way pleasure feigns untold sweetness, but when it is plucked it is found more bitter than gall, or rather, than a sharpened two-edged sword which devours the soul it has captured. This is what our forefather Adam suffered when he was tricked by the serpent; for when he touched the forbidden food, he found death instead of life. This too is what all they have suffered who from then until now have been similarly deceived by the dragon. For just as he, who is darkness, transforms himself into an angel of light, so he knows how to transform bad into good, bitter into sweet, dark into light, ugly into beautiful, deadly into life-giving; and so the all-evil one does not cease to lead the world astray at every opportunity.

But let us at least, brethren, not be led astray by his manifold deceptions, nor suffer the fate of the birds who greedily approach what seems to be food and fall into the hunter’s trap. Let us rather look on the outer coverings of evil as dung and when with the mind we have looked on evil in its nakedness we shall flee from it at once. In addition let us welcome the times of psalmody, be enthusiastic for hymnody, attentive to the readings, making prostrations according to the given measure at each hour; working with our own hands, because working is good and because one who does not work is not judged worthy of eating. Let us bear one another’s burdens, for one is weak and another strong, making use of food and drink and the other necessities with moderation, so that there is no provoking to jealousy among evil people, but zeal in goodness. In everything be good to one another, compassionate, reasonable, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and thoughts.

And now, may you be found worthy without condemnation to reach the supreme day of the Resurrection, but in the age to come at the resurrection of the dead to gain the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Wood Carved Statue of St. George in Kastoria

One of the most unique churches in Greece dating to Roman times is the Church of St. George in the village of Omorfokklissia, 20 km from Kastoria. The name of the village means "beautiful church".

The church was established after 1292 during the reign of Emperor Andronikos II. The iconography dates to either 1296 or 1297. Some say the church building itself or an earlier one existed from the 11th century. The rocks from which the church is built are not local. It is traditionally held that this church was the katholikon of an old monastery.

The unique feature of this church is a large wood carved statue of St. George, 2.86m in height, that is of unknown origin. Some say the statue was the gift of the Emperor from Constantinople and either brought to Omorfokklissia or carved in the village from local trees. The most popular tradition says that two nuns brought the statue here from Ioannina in the 13th century in a carriage.

During the Turkish occupation the church was heavily damaged. Yet it is said that when the Ottomans went to burn the church, they allowed the locals to remove the wooden statue of St. George, ensuring its preservation.


The faithful claim the statue of St. George is miraculous. A Greek news report was done about the miraculous nature of this statue with many testimonies (see report here). These miracles especially are reported on the feast of the church, which is April 23. Along with miracles, visions of St. George are also said to have occurred in the church. At one point the faithful covered the statue with a glass casing to protect it from humidity and dust, but St. George appeared in the dreams of the faithful in the village to remove it.

An interesting folk belief, not associated with Orthodox belief, has arisen associated with this statue. Upon observation, one will see the statue covered with coins. The locals believe that if you approach the statue with firm faith in St. George, then your coin will stick as if magnets were holding it (this can be observed in the video linked above). Studies have shown however that there is nothing measurably magnetic about this wood carved statue. No one really knows why this occurs, but it is looked upon as something miraculous. And visitors are discouraged from believing that if their coin does not stick, as it often happens, that their faith is not strong enough. They say that St. George has his reasons for it to stick and for it to not stick.


For a picture gallery of the church, see here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Health Benefits of Fasting

Running On Empty: The Pros and Cons of Fasting

Fasting restricts calories and may benefit your body. Is it a safe way to lose weight?

February 02, 2009
Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times

Something about the way Americans eat isn't working -- and hasn't been for a long time.

The number of obese Americans is now greater than the number who are merely overweight, according to government figures released last month. It's as if once we taste food, we can't stop until we've gorged ourselves.

Taking that inclination into account, some people are adopting an unusual solution to overeating. Rather than battling temptation in grocery stores, restaurants and their own kitchens, they simply don't eat. At least not at certain times of the day or specific days of the week.

Called intermittent fasting, this rather stark approach to weight control appears to be supported by science, not to mention various religious and cultural practices around the globe. The practice is a way to become more circumspect about food, its adherents say. But it also seems to yield the benefits of calorie restriction, which may ultimately reduce the risk of some diseases and even extend life. Some fasters, in fact, ultimately switch from regular, if comparatively rare, periods of hunger to permanent deprivation. They limit calories all the time.

"There is something kind of magical about starvation," says Dr. Marc Hellerstein, a professor of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition at UC Berkeley, who studies fasting.

Adds Mark P. Mattson, chief of the laboratory of neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging: "In normal health subjects, moderate fasting -- maybe one day a week or cutting back on calories a couple of days a week -- will have health benefits for most anybody." Mattson is among the leading researchers on the effects of calorie restriction and the brain.

Not all nutrition professionals see the merits of fasting. Some think of it as a recipe for disaster, setting up a person for binge eating and metabolic confusion.

Ruth Frechman, a registered dietitian in Burbank and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Assn., says she frequently sees such extreme strategies backfire. "You're hungry, fatigued, irritable. Fasting is not very comfortable. People try to cut back one day and the next day they're starving and they overeat."

Researchers who study fasting and caloric restriction, however, say the body's hunger cycle ultimately adjusts.

And from a biological standpoint, they say, fasting can be helpful whether someone is overweight or normal weight.

"We're brilliant at this," Hellerstein says, referring to humans' physical reaction to not eating. "We're not good at responding to too many calories, but we're very good at responding to fasting. Fasting, in itself, is not an unhealthy process."

Benefits to body

During fasting, almost every system in the body is "turned down," Hellerstein says. The body changes how it uses fuel. Certain hormone levels fall. Growth stops. Reproduction becomes impossible.

"By the end of three weeks of fasting you are a completely different metabolic creature," he says.

"It affects many, many processes -- but in a somewhat predictable way that takes you toward disease prevention."

Put simply, intermittent fasting appears to offer the same advantages as long-term calorie restriction -- defined as eating at regular times but consuming 25% to 30% fewer calories than what is recommended for that person based on age, size and gender (see accompanying article). People who eat this way tend to do so by filling up on nutrient-dense but low-calorie foods. They get all the protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals the body absolutely needs -- and very little else.

With intermittent fasting, "the idea is that maybe you can trick the system to think it's starving, but not make it starve every day," Hellerstein says.

Researchers aren't sure why the body apparently benefits from a state of mini-starvation. One theory is that the process produces just enough stress in cells to be good. "What our evidence suggests is that nerve cells in animals that are on dietary energy restriction are under mild stress," Mattson says. "It's a mild stress that stimulates the production of proteins that protect the neurons against more severe stress."

What they do know is that occasionally going without food or reducing calories daily makes the body more sensitive to insulin, which helps maintain normal blood sugar levels. And animal studies suggest calorie restriction may reduce the risk of cancer by slowing the growth of abnormal cells.

"We've been finding that putting an animal on a reduced-calorie diet for a couple of weeks dramatically slows cell proliferation rates," Hellerstein says. "This is the case in pretty much every tissue you look at: prostate, skin, colon, liver, lymphocytes."

Intermittent fasting and calorie restriction have also been shown in animals to reduce cognitive decline in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, Mattson says.

Little research yet

Researchers caution that not many studies have examined humans who are practicing intermittent fasting or caloric restriction. But the little evidence that exists is favorable.

A study published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that reducing calories 30% per day increased the memory function of elderly men and women. The study was performed at the Salk Institute in La Jolla.

University of Utah scientists looked at health data from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who have lower rates of heart disease than most Americans. Mormons typically don't smoke or drink alcohol, and some abstain from food on the first Sunday of every month. After controlling for several factors that protect against heart disease, the researchers found that only fasting made a significant difference in lowering the risk of heart disease. Among 448 people surveyed, intermittent fasting was associated with more than a 40% reduction in heart disease risk. Fasting was also linked to a lower incidence of diabetes. The study was published in October in the American Journal of Cardiology.

Another study showed that asthma patients who fasted had fewer symptoms, better airway function and a decrease in the markers of inflammation in the blood than those who didn't fast or restrict calories. The study was conducted because being overweight is known to worsen asthma symptoms. The study was published in 2007 in the journal Free Radical Biology & Medicine.

"They complied with the diet pretty well," Mattson says. "If people know that tomorrow they can eat whatever they want, today they can eat less."

The National Institutes of Health is now supporting calorie-restriction research at three medical centers. At one study site, Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Luigi Fontana is following the largest group to date of people who practice caloric restriction or intermittent fasting. So far his research shows that such people are not malnourished and have excellent cardiovascular health.

"Eating less is important because 65% of the American population is overweight," Fontana says. "But another question is: If you are already lean, should you change your diet to improve your health and possibly extend your life span?"

That ultimately may be the strongest selling point of a reduced-calorie lifestyle.

"It does demand more than some other diets," says Joseph Cordell, a St. Louis lawyer who limits his intake to 1,800 to 1,900 calories a day.

"But surely the payoff is dramatically better than anything else. I feel so much better and have more energy. And there is this prospect of living so much longer than you otherwise would."

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Historical Inaccuracies of the Movie "AGORA"

[On May 17, 2009 I wrote a short piece on the soon to be released movie Agora, which I had not seen and still have not seen. Back then I anticipated the film would not treat this sensitive historical period fairly, and from the review below it seems I was correct. You can read what I wrote and see a trailer for the movie here. - J.S.]

[On July 23, 2010 I finally saw this movie at a local theatre. Historical inaccuracies aside, of which there are more than historical truths, I thought the movie was nothing more or less than an atheistic propaganda piece that uses a dim historical event to promote an atheistic agenda. I was hoping to like it, but can't say I did. Rachel Weisz was pretty good though. The review below still stands as my favorite, though unfortunately it does not get into the atheistic arguments presented in the movie. For this, see the review here and here. - JS]

The Historical Inaccuracies of the Movie AGORA by Alejandro Amenabar

By Irene A. Artemi
(Athens University Graduate of Theology-Literature, Master in Philosophy-Theology of Athens University, Dr. of Theology of the Athens University)

The movie Agora is a study on the life of the Alexandrine philosopher Hypatia, during the turbulent era from the end of the 4th to the beginning of the 5th century A.D., in Alexandria of Egypt. To begin with, it should be noted that the director of the film, Alejandro Amenabar, is an atheist. By his own admission, he was born and raised in a Christian family, then became an agnostic and later on an atheist. This information is being highlighted, so that it will be comprehended why the movie - albeit seemingly not turning against the Christian religion - is in fact portraying the Christians as fundamentalist, obscurantist, ignorant and fanatic, and ending up with an innuendo that a very important Christian saint, the Patriarch of Alexandria Cyril, was nothing more than a fanatic clergyman and the moral instigator of the assassination of Hypatia.

The main historical source for the refuting of this movie's inaccuracies is the work by the historian Socrates the Scholastic, Ecclesiastic History. He had lived in the same era as Cyril of Alexandria. His writings are especially weighty, given that Socrates belonged to the heresy of Novatianism. This heresy was one that Cyril had fought against passionately[1]. At the beginning of the movie, idolaters appear to be verbally provoking the Christians, and thereafter being attacked by them. According to Socrates the Scholastic, Patriarch Theophilos of Alexandria and Cyril's uncle, had taken strict measures against them and had destroyed the Serapeum and the Mithraeum. The reason for this, was that the idolaters were attacking Christians, which is why the former were afraid of the Emperor Theodosius II's wrath[2].

However, in the movie, Hypatia's father and an important mathematician, Theon, is presented as being wounded during the destruction of the Serapeum sanctuary and eventually dying on account of that wound; in reality, the cause of Theon's death is unknown. His death is thought to have taken place around 405 A.D. According to the movie, the underlying cause for so many idolaters seeking to enter the bosom of Christianity was the harsh stance of Patriarch Theophilos; the truth is, however, that a statue that was inside the Serapeum sanctuary bore the symbol of the Cross on its base, and that this was the cause for so many idolaters to believe and be baptized as Christians[3].

Equally false is also the indication that after the death of Theophilos, Cyril appoints himself as his uncle's successor, by donning the deceased's hierarchic vestments and his ring. In the realm of Orthodoxy, Patriarchs do not wear rings as a sign of their hieratic authority. There is no historical mention anywhere that Cyril wore a ring that would make his authority apparent. He succeeded his uncle Theophilos, following a contest with Archdeacon Timothy for the patriarchal throne. Cyril maintained a harsh stance towards the Gentiles, because he regarded them as being responsible for the tendency of several Christians to be involved in sorcery, astrology and not astronomy, and in general for remaining attached to superstitions, biases and paganism. He himself had studied the classical authors of ancient Greece, but also the major philosophers such as Plato, Plotinus, etc., which is especially evident in his work "Against Julian"[4].

In the movie, Ammonius is portrayed as a fanatic "Bath Fraternity" individual (παραβαλανεύς)[5], who, for the sake of impressing the idolaters walked barefoot through fire. However the Christians of that era - and in general - never indulged in miracles for the sake of impressing others, nor to convince those who were negatively disposed towards them. The truth is that Ammonius was a monk from Nitria. In the region of Nitria there were about five hundred monks, who fervently upheld the Christian teaching. Cyril had lived monastically with them for quite a number of years. Perhaps it is to them that the Alexandrian Patriarch's passion to defend the Christian teaching can be attributed. On account of Ammonius' verbal attack on the Eparch Orestes and the stone that he threw at him, he was arrested, tortured, and put to death. Cyril called him a martyr and buried him with honors, but in the movie, Cyril is presented as proclaiming him a saint. In Orthodoxy, saints are proclaimed by God as saints, and not by people.

In the movie, the Eparch Orestes is presented as a Christian striving to maintain delicate balances between the Judean, Gentile and Christian inhabitants of Alexandria. Orestes had most probably acceded to Christianity out of political interest, which is made evident in the movie also, when a question was posed by Synesius, the Bishop of Cyrene. The latter asked Orestes if he truly believed in the God of the Christians, or if he became a Christian out of interest. Socrates the Scholastic mentions that by many Christians of Alexandria, Orestes was referred to as "Sacrificer and Hellene", implying that he was an idolater on account of his unjust behaviour towards Christians. The same historian further mentions the hatred that Orestes felt towards Christian bishops[6]. There is also no mention anywhere in the movie of the tortures that Orestes had imposed on Hierax, a confidant of Cyril[7].

As for the episode with the Judeans at the theatre, according to historical sources the Christians had not stoned the Judeans in the theatre on the Sabbath. On the contrary, they were accused publicly that instead of listening (as their religion demands) to the word of God in their Synagogues, they were at the theatre[8]. The Hebrews point out to the Christians that Christ was also a Hebrew and that without them, the latter would not have existed. This argument cannot hold water, simply because the Judeans had not acknowledged Christ as the Messiah and the Son of God, but only as a false prophet.

Ηypatia is portrayed in the movie as a young and beautiful woman, and a friend of Orestes. We have no indications from historical sources if she was a beautiful woman; but she was certainly an extremely well educated one. She could not have been at a young age, given that if she was born in 365 A.D., at the time that Cyril became Patriarch, she would have been nearing the age of fifty. This was quite an advanced age, both for men and women during that time; subsequently, the myth of a young and appealing woman, which had acquired flesh and blood thanks to certain pseudo-historians of Mediaeval times, is debunked. Furthermore, it was a well known fact to all the inhabitants of Alexandria during that time that she was the main reason that Orestes could not achieve excellent relations with Cyril[9].

Nowhere is it mentioned historically that Cyril regarded women as being inferior, the way it is presented in the movie. In the specific scene, as Cyril was reciting Paul's second Epistle to Timothy, he is shown as preaching that the woman is inferior to a man. Cyril could never preach anything like this, because in his works, he had stressed that a woman's place was elevated, in the person of the Theotokos, the Mother of Christ, the new Eve. Besides, this would have gone contrary to the teaching of Christ Himself, Who had elevated woman and made her equal in honour with the man.

The same is also stressed by Paul, in his Epistle to Ephesians, and chiefly in the excerpt that is recited during the Marriage Sacrament. According to Socrates' reference, Cyril had judged Orestes for his various incongruities, based on the Holy Bible. To refute Cyril's accusations as well as the other Christians', the Eparch stressed that he himself was also a Christian, who had been baptized by Atticus of Constantinople.

There is no mention whatsoever in historical sources of that time that Cyril had ever referred to Hypatia as a sorceress; on the contrary, he appeared to have had a great respect for her scientific knowledge.

Historically the Patriarch of Alexandria was not an obscurantist. In fact, he had studied the works of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, etc. He had read or had been taught ancient philosophy and had espoused the scientific theories of their era. It is natural, that all of them would be examining the various scientific views through the prism of Christian teaching. It is worth noting that many Christians were also students of Hypatia - for example Synesios, Bishop of Cyrene[10], his brother Euoptius of Ptolemais, perhaps Isidore of Pelusium, and others.

The movie presents the Christians - chiefly the "Bath Fraternity" members (παραβαλανείς) - not only as obscurantists, but also ignorant. In one of their conversations among themselves they are shown as saying that the earth and the sky resemble a chest and also as rejecting theories pertaining to astronomy. Naturally Christians did not reject the theories of astronomy, nor was punishment on the pyre prevalent for those who espoused them. Besides, major ecclesiastical fathers such as Basil the Great had studied astronomy, mathematics, etc, which they make reference to in their works.

Finally the movie regards Cyril as being the moral perpetrator of Hypatia's death; however, neither Socrates the Scholastic nor any other historical source of that era ascribes such an act to the Patriarch of Alexandria. If there had been even the slightest suspicion that Cyril had indeed participated in the assassination of the philosopher, it would have been exploited by Nestorius of Constantinople in the theological dispute that he had with Cyril. Furthermore, his assorted enemies would have also made references to it. The Patriarch of Alexandria was proclaimed a saint by the Triune God, not only for his life but also for his theology on the incarnation of the second Person of the Holy Trinity, as well as for his defense of the term "Theotokos" for the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, the movie may have beautiful scenery, however the subject that it is dealing with - Hypatia and her death - and the way it is being dealt with, has given rise to neopagans and the adversaries of Orthodoxy to believe that they have found footholds against Christianity. But unfortunately for them, their arguments are spurious once again.

Notes:

[1] Socrates, Ecclesiastic History 7,7 PG 67, 752A.

[2]. Ibid, 5,16-17.

[3]. Ibid, 5,17.26.}

[4]. Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian: In favour of the benevolent religion of the Christians, to Julian of the atheists, Ι - ΧΙΧ, P. Evieux, SC 322 (t. I-II), Paris 1985, pg. 100-318 (PG 76, 504A-1064B).

[5]. The παραβαλανείς (Bath Fraternity members), who comprised a special organization and were involved in works of philanthropy - something that is made evident in the movie - remained close to the church baths, from whence they got their name. And according to Socrates, they were given over to social uprisings. Quite often however, they acted unbeknownst to the Patriarch at the time, and for that reason, they were placed under the jurisdiction of the Eparch, by a law that was issued by the Emperor Theodosius II on September 28, 416.

[6]. Socrates, Ecclesiastic History 7,7 PG 67, 764A.

[7]. Ibid, 7, 13-34. PG 67, 761C-764C.

[8]. Ibid, 7, 13.1. PG 67, 761CD.

[9]. Ibid, 7, 15. PG 67, 768Β. cmp. Nicephoros Kallistus, Ecclesiastic History 14,16, PG 146, 1105C-1108B.

[10].C. Lacombrade, Synesios de Cyrene, hellene et chretien, Paris 1951, p.54-55.

Source: "ORTHODOX PRESS" newspaper (February 12, 2010)

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Poll Results for Most Blasphemous Movie

For about a month or so I posted a poll to see what movie in theatres now is the most blasphemous. See post here. Though some were better than others, I thought they all had some sort of blasphemy in them, which is why I was interested in hearing from my readers. That is not to say I didn't like any of these movies either. In fact, I liked all of them, except not so much Legion and Creation.

The results are here:

- 71 people voted.

- Avatar had 21 votes (29%)
- The Lovely Bones had 7 votes (9%)
- Legion had 37 votes (52%)
- The Book of Eli had 13 votes (18%)
- Sherlock Holmes had 5 votes (7%)
- The White Ribbon had 1 vote (1%)
- Creation had 5 votes (7%)

- The most blasphemous movie award thus go to: Legion

So it appears a bit more than half of the voters agreed with me that Legion is the most blasphemous movie out there. If you havn't seen it, don't waste your time. And I'm not necessarily saying this for its blasphemous content, but it is just a bad movie and horrible story line. But if you want to see the Archangel Michael take the form of an assassin who rebels against God because God is too cruel, and who fights people possessed by angels (not demons) that act like demons, and who has a fight scene against the Archangel Gabriel, and then convinces God that He was wrong about destroying the world, and then has to convince Gabriel that God changed His mind,...well its up to you.

Thanks for voting.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

St. Nikolai Velimirovich on Fasting

With fasting I gladden my hope in You, my Lord, Who are to come again.

Fasting hastens my preparations for Your coming, the sole expectation of my days and nights.

Fasting makes my body thinner, so that what remains can more easily shine with the spirit.

While waiting for You, I wish neither to nourish myself with blood nor to take life--so that the animals may sense the joy of my expectation.

But truly, abstaining from food will not save me. Even if I were to eat only the sand from the lake, You would not come to me, unless the fasting penetrated deeper into my soul.

I have come to know through my prayer, that bodily fasting is more a symbol of true fasting, very beneficial for someone who has only just begun to hope in You, and nevertheless very difficult for someone who merely practices it.

Therefore I have brought fasting into my soul to purge her of many impudent fiances and to prepare her for You like a virgin.

And I have brought fasting into my mind, to expel from it all daydreams about worldly matters and to demolish all the air castles, fabricated from these daydreams.

I have brought fasting into my heart, so that by means of it my heart might quell all passions and worldly selfishness.

I have brought fasting into my heart, so that heavenly peace might ineffably reign over my heart, when Your stormy Spirit encounters it.

I prescribe fasting for my tongue, to break itself of the habit of idle chatter and to speak reservedly only those words that clear the way for You to come.

And I have imposed fasting on my worries so that it may blow them all away before itself like the wind that blows away the mist, lest they stand like dense fog between me and You, and lest they turn my gaze back to the world.

And fasting has brought into my soul tranquility in the face of uncreated and created realms, and humility toward men and creatures. And it has instilled in me courage, the likes of which I never knew when I was armed with every sort of worldly weapon.

What was my hope before I began to fast except merely another story told by others, which passed from mouth to mouth?

The story told by others about salvation through prayer and fasting became my own.

False fasting accompanies false hope, just as no fasting accompanies hopelessness.

But just as a wheel follows behind a wheel, so true fasting follows true hope.

Help me to fast joyfully and to hope joyously, for You, my Most Joyful Feast, are drawing near to me with Your radiant smile.

(From Prayers by The Lake)

Tweet

Share on Tumblr