9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
— Nehemiah 8:9-12, English Standard Version
Today is Easter for our Orthodox brethren – so, in that spirit:
Христос Воскресе!
Воистину Воскресе!Χριστός Ανέστη!
πραγματικά Ανέστη!Christ is Risen!
Indeed He is Risen!
And here is a most excellent dose of wisdom from an Orthodox priest for our afflicted modern times:
I do not agree with the Orthodox churches – all of them – for largely the same reasons as I do not agree with the Catholic Church. Specifically, the Orthodox (and Catholic) churches equate tradition with Scripture, yet Scripture very plainly contradicts their tradition. And Jesus came down to Earth precisely because the Israelites fell into the trap of valuing tradition over truth.
In fact, the Scripture I quoted above, from Nehemiah, ties into a broader story of how the Israelites lost the Law of Moses, went astray with traditions that they inherited, and realised to their great horror how far they had gone astray, only after they rediscovered the Book of the Law.
Nonetheless, I greatly respect the Orthodox churches – especially the Russian Orthodox Church – because they have stood firm in their faith and their teachings, refusing to bend or bow to the pressures of the world. In this respect, they are far superior to many of the Protestant denominations – especially the Anglicans – and even the Catholic Church could learn a thing or ten from them. They remain a bulwark of sense and sanity in a world plainly gone mad.
1 Comment
Didact
because they have stood firm in their faith and their teachings, refusing to bend or bow to the pressures of the world. In this respect
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happened to catch a bit of Orthodox theology on the radio around Chicago years back. an Ortho priest was explaining the significance of the bride and groom crowning each other during the wedding ceremony. according to the priest’s explanation ( i’ve heard plenty of RCC priests say goofy crap that isn’t endorsed by the RCC church, i not going to demand much better from the Ortho church ), the reason why this is part of the Ortho wedding is because centuries back a tsar had demanded that the Ortho church be responsible for tracking all marriages, both civil and religious. and that the crowns are to designate actual Ortho parishioners engaging in an actual religious marriage. shrugs
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regardless of how “orthodox” it might be for the church to be registering non-religious, civil weddings they have been more resistant to the last 3 decades of globo-homo advance than most of the Western churches have been.
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they were on the wrong side of the Donatism debate though, as they were part of the ‘Great Church’ along with the RCC back prior to 500AD.