Going Beyond Religious Fanaticism in Light of Orthodox Teaching

By Archimandrite Ephraim,

Abbot of Vatopaidi Monastery

Religious fanaticism is defined as the absolute rule of the holy over the secular, even through violence. Nowadays the term ‘religious fundamentalism’ prevails over the Greek equivalent: ‘religious fanaticism’. Even though religious fanaticism was present from the birth of ancient religions, ‘fundamentalism’ as a term had been established in the beginning of the 20th century and referred to the reaction against the secularization of religion.

Particularly in the middle of the 1860’s two basic principles of fundamentalism were articulated: the expectations of the Adventists and the belief in the divinely-inspired Bible to the letter. The Adventists, mainly English Protestants, advocated that Christ will come again in person to establish His thousand-year rule on earth for the chosen ones. At the same time strong conservative forces were strongly opposing the literary and historical critique of biblical studies and upheld the idea that the Bible was divinely-inspired and was correct to the letter. Eventually ‘fundamentalist’ as a term was established in 1920 and was used to describe ‘those doing battle, loyal to the fundamentals’.

Contemporary Iconoclasts (Archim. George Kapsanis)

By Archimandrite George (Kapsanis),
late Abbot of Gregoriou Monastery

It is a day of joy and glorification of the Triune God for the victory of the correct faith against the accusations of the Iconoclasts and all the heretics. Great was the pain of the Church over the prevalence of the iconoclast heresy for about a hundred years. And this is why today is a day of joy:

"A feast of joy and gladness is revealed to us today, for the teachings of the true faith shine forth in all their glory, and the Church of Christ is bright with splendor, being adorned with the holy icons which have now been restored; and God has granted unity of mind to the faithful" (Matins, Prosomoion of the Praises, Sunday of Orthodoxy).

On Coexisting With People of Other Religions

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

We all want God to give unity of faith to the world. But you are confusing things.

The reconciliation of people is one thing, while the reconciliation of religions is another. Christianity requires all of us to love everyone with all our hearts, whatever faith they may have.

Overcoming Both Fear and Fearlessness

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The terrorist attacks in Paris, in the heart of Europe, created very deep pain for all of us and we commonly condemn the criminal acts, while we have prayed for the victims of these actions. One cannot transfer a covert war amid civilian people, when they have made it a standard program to be carefree from every evil. Whatever arguments they use to support such outrage cannot eliminate the brutality of the event.

However, the aim of this article is not to stress the nonnegotiable good of freedom and respect for others, but to comment on aspects of the subject which can be specifically summarized in the words fear and fearlessness, and how to overcome them.

What Is Religious Fanaticism?

By Fr. Dimitri Dudko

Religious fanaticism is a narrowness of vision, a blind confidence that you're right, an unwillingness to listen to someone else's opinion, impatience with others. If we don't fight religious fanaticism, it will grow into such a defect that it becomes a delusion, and this is a terrible thing. At the base of delusion lies inordinate pride, and (as we know), God opposes those who are proud (Jam. 4:6). Deliverance from delusion requires means which not all people possess. We must fight religious fanaticism, and our battle will be successful only when we depend not only on our own powers, but turn to humility and to the help of God. This will put us on guard against delusion.

Prophets and Prophecy in the Church

The following homily was delivered on October 19, 2014 for the feast of the Prophet Joel in the Cathedral of the Holy Protection in Edessa, at the request of Metropolitan Joel of Edessa.

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

On this occasion [the feast of the Prophet Joel] he [Metropolitan Joel of Edessa] asked me to say a few constructive and supplicatory words, therefore in obedience I wanted to speak on the Prophet Joel and prophecy in the Orthodox Church and in our Orthodox tradition. Essentially I will speak about the theology of prophecy and generally the great value had by the Prophets in both the Old and New Testaments.

The first point is that when one reads, my beloved brethren, the Old Testament, especially the lives of the Prophets, one will find that the Prophets were not just some thinkers, they were not just some theologians, as we now call them, nor were they philosophers. Because there is a huge difference between a Prophet and a philosopher. Philosophers think and attempt to discover God, while Prophets had an experience of God and God revealed Himself to them. Prophets, and this is very important, have encountered the living God, the pre-incarnate Word of the Old Testament, namely the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Yahweh before the incarnation. They saw Him and they communicated with Him. They acquired a participation in the pre-incarnate Word and through Him with God the Holy Trinity. If we read the books of the Prophets, especially the first chapter of each to see how they begin, we will see this reality.

Religion and Life

By Professor Panagiotis Asimakopoulos

In school we learned that the word "and" connects similar things. Wrong!

Usually people use it to reveal dichotomies which they strive to balance.

"You and I," "body and soul," "God and man."

As a child I remember people asking to choose between two things: Religion or life? They would "help" make the choice as follows:

"Do you laugh? Do you go out? Do you wear make-up? Do you listen to music? Do you dress this way? Do you depart from what is acceptable? Then you are not a good Christian. God does not love you. You sadden God. God is angry. Therefore, choose."

It is Easier for a Person to Abandon their Religion Rather than their Ego

By Metropolitan Meletios of Nikopolis

It is a thousand times easier for a person

to say and admit their religion is COMPLETELY WRONG,

rather than to say and admit that their thinking 
and their life is WRONG.

It is much easier for a person to abandon their religion

rather than their EGO,

and they are always looking for a religion 
that does not jeopardize their EGO.

The Resurrection - Exclusive to Christianity

By Archimandrite Arsenios Katerelos

Never and nowhere in any false religion or human philosophy, never has anyone thought, either seriously or jokingly, how it was possible to vanquish the most unwanted intruder into the life of people, our greatest enemy, Death, which is undoubtedly the leading cause of suffering in this present life.

The Resurrection of Christ, which abolished Death, will result in the common resurrection of the dead. This is a truth that is purely Christian. It was not devised by the Disciples of Christ, who were primarily simple fishermen, and apparently were not predisposed for philosophies and theories. The victory over death is not a human invention, but a work and revelation of the Holy Glorious Triune God to fallen man.

Healthy and Pathological Spiritual States

By Heracles Panagiotides, Ph.D

University of Seattle, Department of Neurological Surgery

PIETISM

Virtues have their opposites, but they also have their pseudo-virtue counterparts. Whereas faith or belief on the one hand is one of the most fundamental religious attributes, on the other hand, it is one of the most misunderstood concepts. Faith to most people is equated with a cognitive conviction that is based on acceptance of ideas that are communicated by others. The basis of acceptance is often either an emotional or a cognitive argument. It is an affirmative response to someone's saying "take my word for it". The cognitive mechanism behind this type of persuasion is a topic in itself, so I will not expand on it at this time. There is, however, another epistemological source of persuasion that is based on empirical knowledge.

This last element separates faith that comes from experience and belief that is the product of emotional or rationalistic persuasion. Subsequently, I will be referring to persuasion that is the result of a rationalistic or emotional argument as belief, whereas for empirically based conviction I will be using the term faith. This distinction is important because it represents the two different types of conviction that one finds in religion. In both cases the cognitive understanding might exist, but, while faith is the result of experience, belief comes through emotion or rational sounding arguments. Along this line of thinking, one often observes the phenomenon, where experience can produce knowledge that is beyond understanding and language. This would be the definition of a mystical experience. Another important yet difficult point is that of defining the authenticity and validity of empirical knowledge. This is a rather difficult task that also deserves a special treatment.

Features of a Religious Extremist

By Archimandrite Arsenios Katerelos

God does not ask for advocates, who can raise the value of Christianity with their words. He asks for believers, who will show through their flawless life the power of Christ.

The best defense of Christianity, as well as its worst defamation, is derived from the life and works of those who allege to be believers.

Many speak of Christianity by the meter, but they live it by the centimeter.

Elder Paisios on Religion and Societal Problems

Elder Paisios the Athonite said the following in June of 1985, shortly before the fall of Balkan and Soviet communism:

They were going to abolish religion, because they thought religion creates problems. Now they slowly see that humans, when they don't have a faith, they don't have boundaries and they become beastly; they have nothing to stand on without ideals.

Interview with Patriarch Bartholomew on Religious Fanaticism, the Patriarchal Role, the Athonite Avaton, and the Future of Orthodoxy in Turkey, among other things

An Interview with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
by the Journalistic Team of the School of Bakogiannis 

on November 30, 2014

As part of a humanitarian education and the conveying of principles, values and ideals to young people in difficult times, the journalistic team of the School of Bakogiannis, with the coordination of Mr. Dastafridis Anastasios and members of the student body Theodora Antoniou, Constantine Efthymiadis, Vasilios Papoutsoglou, Helen Tsoutsis, Helen Chalitsiou and Georgia Harmani, it continues its work. In an effort to find answers to religious pursuits it came in contact with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who honoring their work gave the following interview.

The Birth of Christ Celebrates the End of the Sickness of Religion

By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos
of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The feast of the Birth of Christ cannot be confined to a few sentimental situations: festive decorations, an intellectual and rationalistic interpretation of events, a moralistic framework; rather it has a very profound meaning and existential significance. If one remains at an external level, then they are leaving themselves hungry and thirsty, deprived of a life of meaning and existential freedom.

The incarnation of Christ was considered and was celebrated by the Fathers of the Church and the worshipping ecclesiastical community as the abolishing of religion and its transformation into a Church. In fact, the ever-memorable Father John Romanides had said in the most categorical way that Christ became human, in order to free us of the sickness of religion.

Christ Was Born Not to Establish a New Religion

By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos

of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

My beloved brethren,

 

Again the love and mercy of God has made us worthy to celebrate the great feast of Christmas, the Birth of Jesus Christ as man. He who was born as God before the ages from the Father, and was born without seed in time from the Panagia as man. Two births, in eternity and in time, which have become the cause of our own regeneration. This is why the sacred hymnographers of our Church, and also all the Holy Fathers, hymn and glorify the God-man Christ, who regenerated man and renewed all of creation, giving to both man and all of creation another perspective and meaning.

When St. Gabriel the Fool Visited a Synagogue, a Mosque and a Baptist Church

Fr. Gabriel often visited people who had different religious views. He tried to share grace with everyone and lead them to the true faith. He says himself:

"Once, dressed as I was in my monastic schema, I went to the Synagogue. At the entrance hung a large portrait of Moses. I venerated it. The attendees liked this. Moses was a great prophet and I gave him his due respect. I had entered as they were reading from the Bible. Few were there and they looked at me with surprise. I began to preach, and when they heard about Christ they called for their High Priest. He came out but he did not stop me. Afterwards he invited me into his office. He listened with great interest and attention to what I said about Christ. Finally, he thanked me and we bid farewell.

Nationalism in the Conflict Between Muslims and Romans

By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos

of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The relationships and conflicts between religions have been analyzed many times, particularly between Islam and Christianity. Many angles can be examined on this issue, but in this article I would like to focus on the catalytic importance of nationalism in the conflict between Islam and Romiosini.

The Last Interview of Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo

Below is the last known interview His Eminence Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo gave before the civil war in Syria and his kidnapping by Muslim terrorists, when he visited Mount Athos and was staying at Vatopaidi Monastery.

Holy Prophet Elijah (Elias) as a Model for our Lives

Prophet Elias or Elijah (Feast Day - July 20)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Elijah the Prophet lived around 816 B.C. and prophesied for twenty-five years. He came from the tribe of Aaron and from the city of Tishbi, which God gave to the Priests. Through prayer he did many miracles, and he was a zealot. When Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor, he was present with Moses. "And behold, two men conversed with Him, appearing in glory and speaking of His departure, which was about to take place in Jerusalem" (Lk. 9:30-31).

The Erotic Story of Salvation and the Manic Love of Christ

Christianity is the opposite of religion. In the various religions people offer sacrifices to a god. In Christianity the exact opposite happens: God offers a sacrifice to the people, even His Son. God the Father offers His Son as a sacrifice to people to show them that He truly loves them, in order to reconcile them with Himself. The Apostle Paul says this in a wonderful way: "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). What religion can present something like this? This is completely contrary to every religion. God is appealing to us to be reconciled with Him. All this is like an erotic story. Christ comes to earth, He tells everyone "I love you", humanity is indifferent, and Christ in order to "prove" His great love for man...commits suicide! Saint Nicholas Cabasilas likens Christ to a manic lover Who in the end, to prove His erotic love sacrifices His life. This is Christianity. It is something completely different from religions, it is not legalism. True Christianity is a true and lasting revolution, not a religion. The objectives of the revolution of Christianity are so wide, so great, with the result that this revolution will end only with the Second Coming. Whoever views Christianity as something static, as something that lacks movement, does not understand anything.