Orthodox Steve

Sin and Virtue

2011-11-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

In the previous blogs, I wrote about the Seven Deadly Sins. These are the chief sins from which all other sins spawn. This number and list came from St. Gregory Dialogos, a sixth century Roman Pope. There are others who say that there are Eight Deadly Sins. St. John of the Ladder, St. Evagrios the Solitary, and St. John Cassian said that there are eight, but their lists of sins are not completely identical with each other. In this blog, I will talk more about sin and virtue.

Sin is the absence of good. It is the absence of virtue. There are three Theological Virtues and four Cardinal Virtues. The absence of any one of these is sin.

The three Theological Virtues are mentioned in the thirteenth chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. They are faith, hope, and love. (I Cor. 13:13)

The four Cardinal Virtues are in the eighth chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon. They are self-control, prudence, justice, and courage. (Wisdom 8:7)

The virtue faith (Greek, pistis) includes belief and trust as well as faithfulness. To have pistis in someone is to believe that person, trust that person, and stay faithful to that person. That is what it means to "believe in Christ." Anyone who truly believes in Christ will believe what Christ taught, trust Christ to do what He said He would do, and faithfully keep His commandments and serve Him.

Faith is always accompanied by hope and love. The absence of either of these other virtues would indicate the absence of the theological virtue of faith. St. Paul said that "faith worketh by love." (Gal. 5:6, KJV) He also said that faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1, KJV)

A faith that does not produce works done out of love is a dead faith. St. James said, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" (James 2:14, KJV) The answer to these questions is that such a man does not have a genuine faith, but a dead one. No, such a faith as this cannot save him. (James 2:17,26)

So, faith and faithfulness are always accompanied by the virtues of love and hope.

In the Wisdom of Solomon, love (Greek, agape) is defined as "the keeping of her laws," that is, the laws of Wisdom — an Old Testament name for the Second Person of the Godhead. (Wisdom 6:18; see also I Cor. 1:24.) St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, likewise, defined love as "the fulfilling of the Law." (Rom. 13:10) Love is obedience to God.

St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians describes love. He says:

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (I Cor. 13:4-8, NKJV)

From this text, we see that patience (makrothumia), kindness (chrestotes), humility, courteousness, unselfishness, purity of thought, joy in truth, faith (pistis), and hope (elpis) are characteristics of love (agape). Love "bears all thing" and "endures all things" because it is assured that God is in control and governs everything well. That is what Clement of Alexandria said.

Although visited with ignominy and exile, and confiscation, and above all, death, he will never be wrenched from his freedom, and signal love to God. “The charity which bears all things, endures all things” (I Cor. 13:7), is assured that Divine Providence orders all things well. (The Stromata, Book IV, chapter 7, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 418, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

St. Jerome wrote:

Charity is the mother of all virtues, and the apostle’s words about faith hope and charity (I Cor. 13:13) are like that threefold cord which is not quickly broken. (Eccl. 4:12) We believe, we hope, and through our faith and hope we are joined together in the bond of charity. (Col. 3:14) (Letter LXXXII, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 175, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Wherever there is love (agape), there will also be the other two theological virtues: faith (pistis) and hope (elpis). Faith and hope produce love. When the apostle says love "believes all things," he was not saying that we should believe anything at all whether it be true or false. Blessed Augustine explains this text this way:

Since faith, then, is in our power, inasmuch as every one believes when he likes, and, when he believes, believes voluntarily; our next inquiry, which we must conduct with care, is, What faith it is which the apostle commends with so much earnestness? For indiscriminate faith is not good. Accordingly we find this caution: “Brethren, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” (I John 4:1) Nor must the clause in commendation of love, that it “believeth all things” (I Cor. 13:7), be so understood as if we should detract from the love of any one, if he refuses to believe at once what he hears. For the same love admonishes us that we ought not readily to believe anything evil about a brother; and when anything of the kind is said of him, does it not judge it to be more suitable to its character not to believe? Lastly, the same love, “which believeth all things,” does not believe every spirit. Accordingly, charity believes all things no doubt, but it believes in God. Observe, it is not said, Believes in all things. It cannot therefore be doubted that the faith which is commended by the apostle is the faith whereby we believe in God. (Rom. 4:3) (On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter 55, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.), vol. 5, p. 107, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

When St. Paul said that love "hopes all things," he was saying that we should hope for the good things to come in the age to come and hope for the best for everyone. St. John Cassian wrote:

As then Christ is our head, we ought always in all temptations and persecutions to protect it with the hope of future good things to come, and especially to keep faith in Him whole and undefiled. (The Conferences, Part I, Conference VII: The First Conference of Abbot Serenus, chapter 5, by St. John Cassian, 360-436 A.D., vol. 11, p. 364, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The sins of impatience, meanness, envy, pride, arrogance, disbelief, distrust, despair, selfishness, joy in sin, joy in falsehood and error, and lack of endurance in hardship and trials indicate the absence of love.

Hope consists of desire and expectation. When we hope for immortality, we desire to be resurrected with our bodies changed into immortal, youthful, healthy, incorruptible ones and we expect that that will actually happen one day if we continue to persevere on the path of salvation. When we hope to live in a renewed universe where there is no sin or evil, we desire it and we expect it to be ours one day. We look at the stars believing and knowing that we will one day be able to see other worlds that orbit those stars. Immortals have plenty of time to do many things.

Hope moves us on to obedience to God. Love, as we have already seen, is the keeping of God's commandments. So, hope produces love.

People who have their hearts set on temporal pleasures and sensual delights have a difficult time keeping God's commandments. To them, God's commandments are burdensome and an impediment to their experience of joy in iniquity. Sin is more pleasurable to them because they are short-sighted and unable to see beyond this life to the glorious joys of the next.

To those who have hope in better things to be revealed to them after Christ's Second Coming, God's commandments are not burdensome. They are the means to obtaining the likeness of God and becoming whole human beings. They are the means to acquiring eternal wealth and a joy that will last forever.

The Christian should remember that God is paying him to keep His commandments. Even though he will be an "unprofitable and unworthy servant" if he keeps them all (St. Luke 17:10), he will still receive his reward at the end of this present age.

The absence of the cardinal virtue of self-control (sophrosune) is lack of self-control. The person who lacks self-control is one who is incapable of saying no to oneself.

The absence of the cardinal virtue of prudence (phronusis) is imprudence. Such persons who lack this virtue do not think ahead. They do not consider what will be the outcome of their actions. In Proverbs, it says, "Do all things with counsel." (Prov. 26:3, LXX) In Ecclesiasticus, it says:

Do nothing without advice, and when thou hast once done, repent not. (Ecclus. 32:19, KJV)

One needs wisdom before one acts. One needs to find out from the Bible, holy books and writings, and from godly people what to do, before doing something significant.

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. (Eph. 5:15, NKJV)

The cardinal virtue of justice is in Greek dikaiosune. This word is also translated righteousness. One becomes righteous by first being forgiven and then by practicing God's commandments. Sin is the absence of righteousness. Injustice is the absence of justice. Being fair with others and not abusing them or showing partiality is how justice is exhibited.

The cardinal virtue of courage is in Greek andria. This word is derived from the Greek word for man, aner or andros. To have courage means to be manly. God placed man at the top of his creation but a little lower than the angels. (Gen. 1:26; Heb. 2:7) To behave without fear, but to behave righteously is what andria means. Jesus said:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (St. Matt. 10:28, NKJV)

St. John said:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (I John 4:18, NKJV)

Fear is the absence of courage. It is also the absence of love. Courage is, therefore, a characteristic of love.

Love is the mother of all virtues, as St. Jerome said. Practice love for God and love for others and you will practice all of the other virtues as well. (St. Matt. 22:37-40) However, the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 5:5) Love comes from God. Therefore, all the virtues, which are all derived from love, come from God, too. Jesus said:

Without Me you can do nothing. (St. John 15:5, NKJV)

We need to be united to Christ in order to do any spiritual good. This union with Jesus Christ occurs sacramentally. (Rom. 6:3-8; Gal. 3:27; St. John 6:56) So, the unregenerate person has a difficult time doing any spiritual good because he has not been united to Christ and is devoid of God's Spirit.

Pelagius, an ancient heretic, taught that it is possible for someone to keep all of God's commandments without having received any of the Sacraments in the Church. He falsely taught that the Sacraments are unimportant. He taught salvation without grace.

We still need God's grace. We still need the Sacraments. We are all spiritual cripples and need spiritual crutches in order to walk aright.

In conclusion, there are three Theological Virtues and four Cardinal Virtues. One cannot have any one of the three Theological Virtues without having the other two. Love is the mother of all virtues. Anyone who has love has the four Cardinal Virtues as well. We need to receive the Sacraments in the Church so that we can more easily keep God's commandments. Love is obedience to God. If we refuse to obey God, then we refuse to love Him. Sin is the absence of virtue.

Steve

Bibliography

Working Away Sloth

2011-08-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

The next sin I wish to deal with is sloth. Sloth is the absence of diligence. It is the absence of attentiveness, effort, and industry. There is spiritual sloth and there is physical sloth. Both are sins.

For attribute click here.

The man who works hard, but never has time for God or church is slothful in his spiritual life. He is lazy, but in a different way from the man who refuses to work. A man can be one who prays, but makes excuses for why he should not work. He might say that he needs to devote himself to spiritual things, which, of course, is true. Such a man is simply trying to justify his slothfulness and is also failing spiritually.

God created man to work. In Genesis, after God had created everything but man, it says regarding the Garden of Eden:

There was not a man to cultivate it. (Gen. 2:5, LXX)

After God created man, He put man in the garden "to cultivate and keep it." (Gen. 2:15, LXX) In Isaiah, there is a prophecy of the afterlife — life in God's kingdom after the general resurrection from the dead. In this prophecy, it says:

They shall build houses, and themselves shall dwell in them; and they shall plant vineyards, and themselves shall eat the fruit thereof. (Isaiah 65:21, LXX)

Further on, it says:

They shall by no means build, and others inhabit; and they shall by no means plant, and others eat: for as the days of the Tree of Life shall be the days of My people, they shall long enjoy the fruits of their labours. (Isaiah 65:22, LXX)

There is this connection between man and the ground. According to Genesis, God created man from the dust of the earth. Man, therefore, must till the soil and grow things. This connection between man and the earth will continue on into the afterlife according to the prophecy in Isaiah. Man will plant vineyards. I think that man will plant other things besides grapes, too.

There is also this connection between man and building construction. Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, was the stepson of a carpenter. (I Cor. 15:45; St. Matt. 13:55) He built houses. According to the prophecy in Isaiah, man will continue to build houses and live in them.

So, man was created for physical work and will continue to work physically after his body has been resurrected from the ground in which it was buried.

St. Evagrios the Solitary said that we are supposed to do physical work for two reasons: to not be a burden to others and to have something so that we can give to those in need. He wrote:

Provide yourself with such work for your hands as can be done, if possible, both during the day and at night, so that you are not a burden to anyone, and indeed can give to others, as Paul the Apostle advises. ("Outline Teaching on Asceticism and Stillness in the Solitary Life," by St. Evagrios the Solitary, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 35)

St. Paul wrote:

For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. (I Thess. 2:9, NKJV)

He said that we should follow his example as he followed Christ's example.

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (I Cor. 11:1, NKJV)

So, one reason for working is to not be a burden to anyone as St. Paul taught in this passage from I Thessalonians. If we obey the apostle's command to imitate him, we will do the same. In his second letter to the Thessalonian Christians, he told them:

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. (II Thess. 3:7-10, NKJV)

St. Paul also wrote:

Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Eph. 4:28, NKJV)

This is the other reason the apostle gives for working: "to have something to give him who has need." He also said in this verse, "working with his hands what is good." So, we are to be employed doing honest work.

Man was also created for spiritual work, too. In Isaiah it says that God created man for His glory. (Isaiah 43:7) In the 49th Psalm, it says:

The sacrifice of praise will glorify Me. (Psalm 49:23, LXX; Psalm 50:23, Hebrew)

Worship is one way to glorify God and one of the reasons for which God created man. We must pray and we must worship our Creator. God created man for Himself. (Col. 1:16)

There are other spiritual activities that we should be practicing. Some of them are fasting, reading the Bible, and obeying the teachings of the Bible. We need to seek to understand how the Church interprets the Bible, too. The Church is "the pillar and ground of the truth." (I Tim. 3:15)

Sometimes, laziness or sloth is caused by malnutrition. People might feel lethargic due to insufficient amounts of B vitamins and protein in their diets. From what I have read, vitamin B-12 is the energy vitamin.

Also, vegetarians need to be careful that they get enough protein from the foods they eat. Plants have incomplete proteins. Anyone who abstains from meat needs to be eating beans and grains, such as wheat, corn, and oats. Beans have part of the protein and the grains have the other part. From what I have read, rice has a lesser degree of protein than wheat, corn, and oats. That is to say, the proteins in rice are more incomplete than those in the other grains mentioned. Nuts also have incomplete proteins. They also need to be supplemented with beans and grains so that one can get complete proteins in one's diet.

To work away sloth, we need to work. We need to work so that we are not a burden to others and so that we can have something to give to those in need. God created us to do physical work and spiritual work. We need to pray, worship God, fast, read the Bible, seek to understand how the Church interprets the Bible, and obey the teachings of the Bible. We need to make sure that we eat foods with sufficient amounts of the nutrients our bodies need. Otherwise, we will feel lethargic.

Steve

Bibliography

The Philokalia, volumes 1-4, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware, Faber and Faber, London, UK, copyright 1979 The Eling Trust

Deliverance from Envy

2011-05-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

The next vice I wish to discuss is that of envy. Envy is also called jealousy. This vice is, according to St. John of the Ladder, engendered by pride and greed. People who seek status among others and seek to amass more wealth and material possessions have a tendency to develop the sin of envy. They become envious of those who have more status and more wealth than they do.

The way to rid oneself of envy, therefore, is to rid oneself of pride and greed. To do this one must practice the remembrance of death. One must become more aware of one's massive debt to God and how small one really is in God's presence. One needs to reflect on his past sins and failings, not because those sins were not forgiven but because they indicate how much dependence one needs on God in order to remain forgiven and how inferior one is to God's standard of absolute perfection and holiness. One needs to learn the virtue of detachment. God has already promised everything to His faithful children. It is not necessary for any of them to become so desirous of more wealth and possessions. Jesus said, "One's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (St. Luke 12:15, NKJV) St. Paul told the Corinthian Christians, "All things are yours." (I Cor. 3:21, NKJV) St. John in the Book of Revelation wrote, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things." (Rev. 21:7, NKJV)

Some people because envious of others who possess more knowledge than they do. Anyone who is planning on living a life of immortality in the Kingdom of God should know that he has an entire eternity to spend learning something new. There is no need to envy someone who knows more than you do.

Some people become envious of another who has a better spouse. One should realize that marriage is a temporary phenomenon for this age only. Marriage is for mortals. Jesus told the Sadducees, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain to that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." (St. Luke 20:34-36, NKJV) St. Paul told the Corinthian Christians, "The time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none." (I Cor. 7:29, NKJV) This teaching on the absence of marriage in the afterlife should be counterbalanced with what the other passages of Scripture say about man, woman, and procreation. St. Paul said that God created woman for man (I Cor. 11:9) and God said in the beginning, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Gen. 2:18, SAAS) It is logical to assume, then, that although the institution of marriage will cease to exist, the existence of heterosexual unions will not. So, regardless how much better one person's spouse is to another's, it really does not matter to those who have their hopes set on the blessings of the age to come. No man in the Kingdom of God will ever be without a gorgeous, godly gal and no woman will be without a handsome, holy hunk. As for procreation, God was never against it in the beginning, why should anyone think that He will be against it in the end? (See Gen. 1:28; Isaiah 11:8,9, LXX; Isaiah 65:17-25, LXX; Wisdom 3:13; Eph. 3:21, NKJV, Heb. 6:12-18.) I believe that some other system will replace marriage. Whatever that system is we can only speculate about it now. There is really no need, therefore, for anyone who is seeking the Kingdom of God to become jealous over another person's spouse. Just "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (St. Matt. 6:33)

The remembrance of death, the pursuit of humility, and setting one's hope on future blessings are some ways to battle envy. St. Maximos the Confessor told about another way of doing it. He wrote:

As for your own envy, you will be able to check it if you rejoice with the man whom you envy whenever he rejoices, and grieve whenever he grieves, thus fulfilling St. Paul's words, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." (Rom. 12:15) ("The Third Century on Love," section 91, by St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 98)

Learn to become happy for those whom you envy when things turn out good for them. Rejoice when they rejoice. When circumstances turn out unfavorable for them, weep when they weep. St. Maximos also said that one can rid oneself of envy by practicing love. He wrote:

It is natural for spiritual knowledge to produce conceit and envy, especially in the early stages. Conceit comes only from within, but envy comes both from within and from without — from within when we feel envious of those who have knowledge, from without when those who love knowledge feel envious of us. Love destroys all three of these failings: conceit, because love is not puffed up; envy from within, because love is not jealous; and envy from without because love is "longsuffering and kind." (I Cor. 13:4) ("The Fourth Century on Love," section 61, by St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 107)

I have briefly touched on this subject of overcoming the sin of envy in this blog. I have mentioned various things one should practice in order to gain the ultimate victory over this vice. Since pride and greed breed envy, it is wise to work on ridding oneself of those other two vices using those methods I have mentioned in previous blogs. God has already promised His children immense wealth and happiness in the afterlife. There is no need, therefore, for anyone to become jealous of another in this life. Just keep on seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness. Desiring the happiness of those whom we envy is another way to check envy. "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." (Rom. 12:15) Loving those whom we envy is another way. Once one has learned to love those of whom he is envious, he dispels all envy from his heart. Love is not jealous. (I Cor. 13:4)

I hope that this blog helps someone who suffers from this horrible vice of envy.

Steve

Bibliography

The Philokalia, volumes 1 and 2, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware, Faber and Faber, London, UK, copyright 1979 The Eling Trust

The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell, Paulist Press, New York, copyright 1982 by the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle

Eating Less

2011-02-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

The next sin I want to discuss is that of gluttony. Gluttony is a sin which pertains to the appetitive aspect of the soul like lust. Being mortal we all need food to survive. Without food we would die. Gluttony is overeating. The glutton does with food what the alcoholic does with beer and wine.

In our modern American culture, gluttony is not viewed as being quite the same thing as alcoholism. Nevertheless, in order to look more attractive to others, there is a tendency in our culture to encourage obese people to lose weight. There are various campaigns against obesity, just as there are campaigns against alcoholism.

Sometimes, people who become conscious about their weight lose so much weight that they develop another eating disorder, anorexia. They do not eat enough. Eating disorders like these may result in death. Obesity can result in death, too. Obese people may develop high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart conditions. In Sirach (also called Eccesiasticus), it says:

Healthy sleep depends on moderate eating; he rises early, and feels fit. The distress of sleeplessness and of nausea and colic are with the glutton. (Sirach 31:20, RSV)

It is important that we eat neither too much, nor too less to maintain good health.

Eating too much is a sin according to Biblical standards of morality. St. Paul talked about those whose "god is their belly" (Phil. 3:19) and those who serve their own bellies instead of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 16:18) This sin of gluttony may fuel other sins such as anger and lust. Gluttons may become angry with others more frequently. They might also have a more difficult time controlling their sexual desires since this sin affects the appetitive aspect of the soul.

The practice of fasting is essential to learn to conquer the sin of gluttony as well as other sins. St. Jerome taught that fasting is a tool for preventing the commission of sexual sins.

You will tell me, perhaps, that, high-born as you are, reared in luxury and used to lie softly, you cannot do without wine and dainties, and would find a stricter rule of life unendurable. If so, I can only say: “Live, then, by your own rule, since God’s rule is too hard for you.” Not that the Creator and Lord of all takes pleasure in a rumbling and empty stomach, or in fevered lungs; but that these are indispensable as means to the preservation of chastity. Job was dear to God, perfect and upright before Him (Job 2:3); yet hear what he says of the devil: “His strength is in the loins, and his force is in the navel.” (Job 40:16)

The terms are chosen for decency’s sake, but the reproductive organs of the two sexes are meant. (Letter XXII, section 11, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 26, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

And yet after the Saviour had fasted forty days, it was through food that the old enemy laid a snare for Him, saying, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” (St. Matt. 4:3) Under the Law, in the seventh month after the blowing of trumpets and on the tenth day of the month, a fast was proclaimed for the whole Jewish people, and that soul was cut off from among his people which on that day preferred self-indulgence to self-denial. (Lev. 23:27-29) In Job it is written of behemoth that “his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.” (Job 40:16) Our foe uses the heat of youthful passion to tempt young men and maidens and “sets on fire the wheel of our birth.” (James 3:6, RSV margin) He thus fulfils the words of Hosea, “they are all adulterers, their heart is like an oven” (Hosea 7:4, Vulgate); an oven which only God’s mercy and severe fasting can extinguish. (Letter CXXX, section 10, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, pp. 266-267, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

St. John of the Ladder called gluttony "the prince of the passions." He said that when one sits down to eat, he should think about death and the last judgment.

The fallen Lucifer is the prince of demons, and gluttony is the prince of the passions. So when you sit at a well-laden table, remember death and remember judgment, and even then you will manage to restrain yourself a little. ("Step 14: On Gluttony," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 169)

Like St. Jerome, St. John of the Ladder encouraged the use of fasting as a tool for overcoming lust.

To fast is to do violence to nature. It is to do away what whatever pleases the palate. Fasting ends lust, roots out bad thoughts, frees one from evil dreams. ("Step 14: On Gluttony," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 169)

Overeating leads to lust which, in turn, leads to other sexual sins, such as fornication and adultery. St. Maximos the Confessor called gluttony "the mother and nurse of unchastity."

I think that greed in this case means gluttony, because this is the mother and nurse of unchastity. ("First Century on Love," section 84, by St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 63)

Overeating also engenders the sin of pride. St. John of the Ladder said:

Begrudge the stomach and your heart will be humbled; please the stomach and your mind will turn proud. ("Step 14: On Gluttony," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 168)

The remembrance of death is one way to fight against the sin of gluttony. In Ecclesiasticus (also called Sirach), it says:

Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end, and thou shalt never do amiss. (Ecclesiasticus 7:36)

This verse of Scripture is often quoted by the Church Fathers and the spiritual Fathers of the Church in connection with the practice of remembering death, that is, living every day as if it might be the last day of your life. Jesus the Son of Sirach mentions the remembrance of death in other places in his book, too.

Remember that death will not be long in coming, and that the covenant of the grave is not shewed unto thee. (Ecclesiasticus 14:12)

Remember thy end, and let enmity cease; [remember] corruption and death, and abide in the commandments. (Ecclesiasticus 28:6)

No one, except some terminally ill individuals, actually knows the day of his death. Death often comes to people unexpectedly. Since gluttony is a sin that produces other sins, one should eat his meals in moderation remembering that any day could be the last day of his life. St. John of the Ladder wrote:

Gluttony says: "...The thought of death is my enemy always, but nothing can really wipe me out." ("Step 14: On Gluttony," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 170)

Thinking of one's past sins is a tool for fighting against pride and also against gluttony.

Gluttony says: "...The thought of past failings is an obstacle to me, but hardly overcomes me." ("Step 14: On Gluttony," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 170)

St. John of the Ladder says that praying to the Holy Spirit against the sin of gluttony is also an aid in conquering this sin.

Gluttony says: "...He who has received the Paraclete prays to Him against me; and the Paraclete, when entreated, does not allow me to act passionately. But those who have never tasted Him inevitably seek pleasure in my sweetness." ("Step 14: On Gluttony," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 170)

St. Paul spoke of the Holy Spirit's assistance in "putting to death the deeds of the body."

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Rom. 8:13, NKJV)

So, St. John of the Ladder is right in saying that we need the Holy Spirit's assistance to fight against gluttony.

Spiritual knowledge and obedience to God are also weapons against gluttony. St. Maximos the Confessor wrote:

The passion of gluttony kills all the divine offspring of the virtues. But that passion itself is killed through the spiritual knowledge acquired by the grace of faith and obedience to the divine commandments. ("Fifth Century on Various Texts," section 58, by St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 274)

We can obtain spiritual knowledge and wisdom through reading and studying the Bible and the Church Fathers. We can also obtain spiritual wisdom from obedience to God and through prayer.

And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (II Tim. 3:15)

If thou desire wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord shall give her unto thee. (Ecclesiasticus 1:26)

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (James 1:5,6)

Although we must seek to overcome the sin of gluttony by various means, we still need to be careful that we do not develop spiritual pride while doing so. Spiritual success, although desirable, is also a possible door to spiritual pride. St. Thalassios wrote:

In cutting out gluttony, beware lest you seek the esteem of others, making a display of the pallor of your face. ("Fourth Century," section 30, by St. Thalassios, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 327)

So, whenever we fast to root out the sin of gluttony, we must do so in a way that appears inconspicuous to others and practice humility. Remember your past sins and failings, remember the immense debt that you owed God, remember that there is always someone else in this world who is better than you, think of yourself as the chief of sinners, and esteem others to be better than yourself. Do these things while you fast and even after you have rooted out the sin of gluttony.

So, to sum up, gluttony leads to other sins. It leads to the sins of lust and sexual immorality. It leads to the sins of pride and anger. St. John of the Ladder called gluttony "the prince of the passions." It is important that we root out the sin of gluttony and learn to eat in moderation. Fasting, the remembrance of death, the remembrance of past failings, spiritual knowledge, obedience to God's commandments, and prayer to the Holy Spirit against this sin are weapons to be used to fight against gluttony. One must also be careful that one does not develop spiritual pride after gaining some measure of success in one's warfare against this sin. So, the continued practice of humility is essential in the ongoing struggle toward God-likeness.

Steve

Bibliography

Overcoming Anger

2010-12-26T17:05:00.000-08:00

The next deadly sin I want to discuss is anger. Anger pertains to the incensive aspect of the soul. Anger can be good when it is directed appropriately and it can be sinful whenever it is misdirected. Misdirected anger is the deadly sin that I will deal with in this blog.

The spiritual Fathers of the Church taught that anger is useful when it is directed toward our sinful thoughts, our sinful passions, and the demons. St. Isaiah the Solitary said that we cannot attain purity without anger.

There is among the passions an anger of the intellect, and this anger is in accordance with nature. Without anger a man cannot attain purity: he has to feel angry with all that is sown within him by the enemy. ("On Guarding the Intellect: Twenty-Seven Texts," section 1, by St. Isaiah the Solitary, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 22)

St. John of the Ladder said that anger was given to us so that we can turn it against "the serpent," that is, Satan.

God neither caused nor created evil and, therefore, those that assert that certain passions come naturally to the soul are quite wrong. What they fail to realize is that we have taken natural attributes of our own and turned them into passions... Nature has provided us with anger as something to be turned against the serpent, but we have used it against our neighbor. ("Step 26: On Discernment," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 251)

St. Isaiah the Solitary said that we develop the anger according to nature when we first acquire the virtue of detachment. This type of anger is the type that "flares up against all the tricks of the enemy," that is, Satan.

The first virtue is detachment, that is, death in relation to every person or thing. This produces the desire for God, and this in turn gives rise to anger that is in accordance with nature, and that flares up against all the tricks of the enemy. Then the fear of God will establish itself within us, and through this fear love will be made manifest. ("On Guarding the Intellect: Twenty-Seven Texts," section 25, by St. Isaiah the Solitary, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 27)

St. John Cassian said that we should direct our anger at our own passions and malicious thoughts.

Our incensive power can be used in a way that is according to nature only when turned against our own impassioned or self-indulgent thoughts. This is what the prophet teaches us when he says: "Be angry, and do not sin" (Psalm 4:4, LXX) — that is, be angry with your own passions and with your malicious thoughts, and do not sin by carrying out their suggestions. What follows clearly confirms this interpretation: "As you lie in bed, repent of what you say in your heart" (Psalm 4:4, LXX) — that is, when malicious thoughts enter your heart, expel them with anger, and then turn to compunction and repentance as if your soul were resting in a bed of stillness. ("On Anger," "On the Eight Vices," by St. John Cassian, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 83)

So then, anger when properly directed toward Satan, the demons, our sinful thoughts, and our sinful passions is appropriate and acceptable.

Anger directed toward other people is not. St. James the Brother of our Lord said:

For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:20, NKJV)

The Lord said that anger without a cause will drag one into Hell.

But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Raca!" shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, "You fool!" shall be in danger of hell fire. (St. Matt. 5:22, NKJV)

Anger produces spiritual blindness. St. John Cassian wrote:

No matter what provokes it, anger blinds the souls eyes, preventing it from seeing the Sun of righteousness. Leaves, whether of gold or lead, placed over the eyes, obstruct the sight equally, for the value of the gold does not affect the blindness it produces. Similarly, anger, whether reasonable or unreasonable, obstructs our spiritual vision. ("On Anger," "On the Eight Vices," by St. John Cassian, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 83)

Anger leads to hatred and those who hate others will not inherit eternal life. They are spiritually dead.

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (I John 3:15, NKJV)

Misdirected anger — anger toward other people — needs to be conquered and eliminated. It needs to be redirected toward our sinful thoughts, sinful passions, and the demons.

There is justifiable anger, though. St. John Chrysostom explained that anger without a cause is anger over some wrong done to oneself. He said that it is acceptable to help those who are wronged by others and to even become angry when one sees that they have been wronged. He gave the examples of Moses and King David.

Let us not be worse than the dogs, which, even when whipped and throttled, do not desert their master: but if the stranger also feed them, even so they do hurt. There are times when anger is useful; but this is when it barks against strangers. What means it, “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause?” (Matt. 5:22) It means, Stand not up in thine own quarrel, neither avenge thyself: if thou see another suffering deadly wrong, stretch out thy hand to help him. This is no longer passion, when thou art clear of all feeling for thyself alone. David had gotten Saul into his power, and was not moved by passion, did not thrust the spear into him, the enemy he had in his power; but took his revenge upon the Devil. (1 Sam. 26:5-25) Moses, when he saw a stranger doing an injury, even slew him (Exod. 2:11,12): but when one of his own people, he did not so: them that were brethren he would have reconciled; the others not so. That “most meek” Moses (Num. 12:3), as Scripture witnesseth of him, see how he was roused! (Homilies on the Acts of the Holy Apostles, Homily XVII, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 11, p. 111, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

However, I think that even justifiable anger should be directed toward the demons who influence the evil-doers to do evil and not the evil people who wrong others. Helping someone else who is oppressed or is being wronged is undoubtedly taught in the Scriptures.

Rescue the needy, and deliver the poor out of the hand of the sinner. (Psalm 81:4, LXX; Psalm 82:4, Hebrew)

Deliver them that are led away to death, and redeem them that are appointed to be slain; spare not thy help. (Prov. 24:11, LXX)

Deliver him that suffereth wrong from the hand of the oppressor; and be not fainthearted when thou sittest in judgment. (Ecclesiasticus 4:9)

Anger should not accompany our prayers. (I Tim. 2:8)

People become angry for many reasons. Whenever someone perceives that someone else has treated him unfairly, he usually becomes angry. Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. (St. Matt. 5:38-41, NKJV)

and:

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (St. Matt. 5:44,45, NKJV)

King Solomon said:

If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee with good. (Prov. 27:21,22, LXX; Prov. 25:21,22, Hebrew)

Instead of repaying an evil-doer with evil, we should repay him with goodness and kindness. St. Paul said:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse... Repay no one evil for evil... Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:14,17,19-21, NKJV)

We become overcome by evil whenever we become angry at someone who reviles us or mistreats us. We overcome evil by being good to those who abuse us. We should let God deal out justice and not avenge ourselves. In the preceding passage of Scripture, St. Paul quoted from Deuteronomy. Vengeance belongs to God. King David said:

The Lord performeth deeds of mercy, and executeth judgment for all them that are wronged. (Psalm 102:6, LXX, The Psalter according to the Seventy)

King Solomon said:

Say not, I will avenge myself on my enemy; but wait on the Lord, that He may help thee. (Prov. 20:22, LXX)

There is justice and there will be justice in the end regardless of whether or not we see justice in this life or not. When we are wronged, we must trust that God is just. In the Ninth Psalm, King David said:

The heathen are caught in the destruction which they planned: in the very snare which they hid is their foot taken. The Lord is known as executing judgments: the sinner is taken in the works of his hands. (Psalm 9:15,16, LXX)

In the Thirty-Sixth Psalm, he said:

The sinner will watch for the righteous, and gnash his teeth upon him. But the Lord shall laugh at him: for He foresees that his day will come. (Psalm 36:12,13, LXX; Psalm 37:12,13, Hebrew)

St. Solomone after six of her seven sons had been martyred. (II Macc. 7:1-29)

The fifth Maccabean martyr told King Antiochus Epiphanes:

Thou hast power over men, thou art corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt; yet think not that our nation is forsaken of God; but abide a while, and behold His great power, how He will torment thee and thy seed. (II Macc. 7:16,17, KJV)

The sixth Maccabean martyr told him:

Be not deceived without cause: for we suffer these things for ourselves, having sinned against our God: therefore marvellous things are done unto us. But think not thou, that takest in hand to strive against God, that thou shalt escape unpunished. (II Macc. 7:18,19, KJV)

Remember that whatever evil one does to a Christian, one does to Christ. (St. Matt. 25:40,45; Acts 9:1-5) There will be justice in the end for oppressed and mistreated Christians whether they see justice in this life or not.

The wicked King Antiochus finally meets his fate. (II Macc. 9:1-9)

St. Evagrios the Solitary gave this prescription for taming the incensive aspect of the soul.

Man cannot drive away impassioned thoughts unless he watches over his desire and incensive power. He destroys desire through fasting, vigils, and sleeping on the ground, and he tames his incensive power through long-suffering, forbearance, forgiveness and acts of compassion. ("Texts on Discrimination in respect of Passions and Thoughts," by St. Evagrios the Solitary, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 39)

We conquer anger with meekness and humility.

St. John of the Ladder defined meekness this way:

Meekness is a permanent condition of that soul which remains unaffected by whether or not it is spoken well of, whether or not it is honored or praised. ("Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 146)

and:

Meekness is a mind consistent amid honor or dishonor. Meekness prays quietly and sincerely for a neighbor however troublesome he may be. Meekness is a rock looking out over a sea of anger which breaks the waves which come crashing on it and stays entirely unmoved. Meekness is the bulwark of patience, the door, indeed the mother of love, and the foundation of discernment. For it is said: "The Lord will teach His ways to the meek" (Ps. 24:9). And it is meekness that earns pardon for our sins, gives confidence to our prayers and makes a place for the Holy Spirit. "To whom shall I look if not the meek and the peaceful?" (Is. 66:2) ("Step 24: On Meekness, Simplicity, Guilelessness, and Wickedness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 214)

Instead of cursing those who mistreat us, we should bless them and pray for them. We should pray for their salvation. If they leave Satan's fold to become sheep who follow Christ, then they will eventually stop mistreating us. It is difficult to hate someone you are praying for. So, praying for someone who is abusive and obnoxious helps to keep our hearts free from hatred.

St. Peter said:

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” ...For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (I Pet. 3:13,14,17, NKJV)

We should continue to do good even when others treat us badly. This is difficult because we all have a tendency to want to retaliate when we suffer wrong. Remember that God sees everything and vengeance belongs to Him. He "executeth judgment for all them that are wronged." (Psalm 102:6, LXX, The Psalter according to the Seventy) If there is to be any retaliation, let God do it, but continue to pray for the evil-doer's salvation.

In order for us Christians to remain forgiven and continue to experience God's forgiveness, we must forgive those who wrong us. Christ said:

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. (St. Mark 11:25,26, NKJV)

The ways of those that remember injuries lead to death. (Prov. 12:28, LXX)

Whenever we are wronged, we should view the wrongs done to us as opportunities to forgive and as opportunities to gain more heavenly treasure. St. Symeon the New Theologian wrote:

But do we not put up with the mockings and afflictions which come to us with thanksgiving and without rancour? Once again, here, too, we benefit ourselves and not someone else. Listen to the Lord: "If you do not forgive men their trespasses from your hearts, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses" [Mt. 6:15]. So behold, if we should suffer insults, and slaps, and buffetings, and jokes, and spittings, and whatever else, and put up with them gladly, and sympathize from our souls with those who inflict them on us, we benefit ourselves by receiving forgiveness for the sins which we have committed against God. ("Seventh Ethical Discourse," by St. Symeon the New Theologian, On the Mystical Life: The Ethical Discourses, vol. 2: On Virtue and the Christian Life, p. 89)

We need humility in order to combat anger. Pride is the first sin. Humility is the virtue that is absent when we are proud. St. Diadochos said:

For glory befits God because of His majesty, while lowliness befits man because it unites us with God. ("On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination: One Hundred Texts," section 12, by St. Diadochos of Photiki, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 256)

St. John of the Ladder said:

A proud monk needs no demon. He has turned into one, an enemy to himself. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 210)

Proud people tend to argue with others. Humble people shun arguments. Arguing produces strife and anger.

A proud monk argues bitterly with others. The humble monk is loath to contradict them. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 208)

Just as birds fear the sight of a hawk, those who practice humility fear the sound of an argument. ("Step 25: On Humility," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 226)

Proud people have a difficult time accepting criticism, even when the criticism is beneficial and true. St. John of the Ladder said:

To reject criticism is to show pride, while to accept it is to show oneself free of this fetter. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 208)

There are several ways to develop humility. Remembering our sins is one way to develop humility.

Pride makes us forget our sins, for the remembrance of them leads to humility. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 209)

St. Basil the Great recommended that we keep a daily reckoning of our actions at the end of the day. We should think about what we have done wrong and what we have done right.

St. Basil the Great, the mouthpiece of Christ and the pillar of the Church, says that a great help towards not sinning and not committing daily the same faults is for us to review in our conscience at the end of each day what we have done wrong and what we have done right. Job did this with regard both to himself and to his children (cf. Job 1:5). The daily reckonings illumine a man's hour by hour behaviour. ("On Watchfulness and Holiness," section 65, by St. Hesychios the Priest, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 174)

Thinking of our past sins and weaknesses helps us to become humble.

Some drive out empty pride by thinking to the end of their lives of their past misdeeds, for which they were forgiven and which now serve as a spur to humility. ("Step 25: On Humility," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 224)

We can acquire humility by also reflecting on our indebtedness to God.

Others, remembering the passion of Christ, think of themselves as eternally in debt. Others hold themselves in contempt when they think of their daily lapses. Others come to this mother of graces by way of their continuous temptations, weaknesses, and sins. There are some — and I cannot say if they are to be found nowadays — who humble themselves in proportion to the gifts they receive from God and live with a sense of their unworthiness to have such wealth bestowed on them, so that each day they think of themselves as sinking further into debt. That is real humility, real beatitude, a real reward! ("Step 25: On Humility," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 224)

In the Parable of the Merciful King, the servant who refused to forgive his fellow servant owed the king far more than his fellow servant owed him. (St. Matt. 18:21-35) Each of us, likewise, owes God far more than any one individual owes any of us. It is easier to be forgiving when we reflect on how much we owe God. Reflecting on our indebtedness to God helps to produce humility and humility helps us acquire freedom from anger.

Humility is an essential virtue in helping one become free from anger.

Remember that the first angel that fell from God's grace fell because of pride. Humility restores us to the condition man had before the fall into sin.

If pride turned some of the angels into demons, then humility can doubtless make angels out of demons. So take heart, all you sinners. ("Step 25: On Humility," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 227)

In The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John of the Ladder told a story about three monks who received the same kind of injury.

I once saw three monks receive the same type of injury at the same time. The first felt it keenly, but did not speak; the second was delighted at the reward the injury would bring him and he felt compassion for the wrongdoer; the third wept fervently at the thought of the harm his offending neighbor was suffering. At work, then, were fear, the sense of reward due, and love. ("Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 150)

It is the meek who will inherit the earth at Christ's return. (St. Matt. 5:5) Those who are not meek will be dispossessed by the meek. Those who repay evil for evil, therefore, should fear God's judgment because they refuse to obey God's commandment to "turn the other cheek" and do good to the evil-doer. (St. Matt. 7:21; 5:39,45) So then, like the first monk, we should out of fear of losing our own souls refrain from retaliation when someone wrongs us.

St. Paul said:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (II Cor. 4:17,18, NKJV)

Whenever we suffer wrong patiently and do not retaliate, then there is a reward for us in the afterlife. Like the second monk, we should remember the reward for enduring the ill-treatment. St. Mark the Ascetic wrote:

He who suffers wrong and does not demand any reparation from the man who wronged him, trusts in Christ to make good the loss; and he is rewarded a hundredfold in this world and inherits eternal life. (cf. Mark 10:30) ("On Those Who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works: Two Hundred and Twenty-Six Texts," section 130, by St. Mark the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 136)

St. Symeon the New Theologian, like St. Mark the Ascetic, also taught that we should look at our afflictions as opportunities to gain eternal wealth and heavenly treasures.

Therefore, my brother, if you wish to attain that which you strive for and long after, that is, the good things of God, and from among men become an angel on earth, you must love bodily affliction and embrace suffering. As for trials, love them as the means of obtaining every blessing. Tell me, what is more beautiful than a soul undergoing tribulation, which knows that by enduring it will inherit joy in all things? ("To Christ through the Beatitudes," "Section 2: Renouncing Everything in order to Find Christ," by St. Symeon the New Theologian, The Discourses, p. 48)

and:

Whenever tribulations and curses and dishonours and gibes come down on the man who knows how to deal well with the present time, he seizes them as one who knows these things and is aware of the benefits to be derived from them, and he takes them on his shoulders and goes his way rejoicing. He puts down patience alone instead of gold as payment, and thus in a single instant he redeems the time which others are unable to find, or seize, or gain through many years of fasting, keeping vigil, sleeping on the ground, and working hard at home. The man who does not, however, know how to do business in this way loses the time of his salvation. But, if you like, let us continue with still another illustration. Two people are forcefully encouraged by someone to transgress God's commandment. If one of them, out of timidity and fear of the punishments and torments which will come upon him in future, takes refuge in flight and runs away and hides himself, while the other is brave and suffers many tortures for the sake of God's commandment, or even undergoes death itself, which of these two has redeemed the time? The one who hid and fled from tribulations, or the one who suffered and endured much, and perhaps even died? It is clearly obvious that the man who endured the tribulations and did not refuse death is the one who has redeemed the time, while the other lost both the time and his soul's salvation. ("Twelfth Ethical Discourse," by St. Symeon the New Theologian, On the Mystical Life: The Ethical Discourses, vol. 2: On Virtue and the Christian Life, pp. 158-159)

We should not rejoice in the downfall of our enemies. King Solomon said:

If thine enemy should fall, rejoice not over him, neither be elated at his overthrow. For the Lord will see it, and it will not please Him, and He will turn away His wrath from him. (Prov. 24:17,18, LXX)

Instead of rejoicing over our enemies when they fall, we should, like the third monk, be weeping and praying for them. People who practice evil are on the road to Gehenna — the final destination for the damned. (Rom. 2:8,9; I Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 6:7,8; III John 11) They are under the influence of demons and "walk in darkness" following the Prince of Darkness, Satan himself. (St. John 3:19,20; I John 1:6; 3:10)

We must remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against Satan and his army of demons who influence people to do evil. (Eph. 6:12; I John 5:19; II Tim. 2:26; I Pet. 5:8) The wrong-doers need to be delivered from the "power of darkness." (Col. 1:13) If you are going to be angry after having suffered wrong, be angry at the demons who have influenced him who has wronged you. Pray for the salvation of the wrong-doer.

Some evil-doers may think of themselves as being Christians and believe that they are eternally saved. They might think that God has given them blanket permission to sin because they are "saved by grace." Their heretical belief system has corrupted their understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. They do evil to others thinking that the blessedness of heaven still awaits them after they die. Satan is the "father of lies" and they are under the influence of him and his demons. (St. John 8:44; II Thess. 2:11,12; II Tim. 3:13) These people need prayer since they are walking in darkness and believing heresies.

Other evil-doers might occasionally pay lip service to God, but live as if God does not really exist. Others might think that God observes our actions, but is indifferent to what we do. Others might think that they can go to heaven on someone else's coattails without ever engaging in any personal ascetical struggle toward holiness. Others might think that God is pleased when they do harm to those who do not believe as they do. There are many false teachings in the world and many false notions of God, salvation, and religion. People who have heretical beliefs and practices need prayer. They need repentance. They need to be enlightened with truth. They need to become true followers of Jesus Christ and have an ongoing, ever-deepening relationship with the Holy Trinity. We should pray for their salvation and show them compassion since they walk in spiritual darkness and have been blinded by the "god of this world," that is, Satan. (II Cor. 4:4)

God, our avenger and helper, is far greater than all of the demons and those influenced by them.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (I John 4:4, NKJV)

But I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. (Rom. 16:19,20, NKJV)

Who has measured the water in His hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth in a handful? Who has weighed the mountains in scales, and the forests in a balance? Who has known the mind of the Lord? And who has been His counsellor to instruct Him? Or with whom has He taken counsel, and he has instructed Him? Or who has taught Him judgment, or who has taught Him the way of understanding; since all the nations are counted as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle? (Isaiah 40:12-15, LXX)

Trust in the power and justice of God whenever you are wronged by someone and pray for the salvation of the evil-doer.

People also become angry when some mishap occurs to them. One might become angry because he hit something in the road with his car and got a flat tire. One might become angry because it rained when he wanted sunshine. Instead of becoming angry when such mishaps occur, we should be grateful to God that He has given us an opportunity to practice patience and endure the mishap. St. James, the Brother of Christ, said:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4, NKJV)

St. Paul said:

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (Phil. 4:4, NKJV)

Remember that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (II Cor. 4:17, NKJV)

There is a story I once read about a monk who was walking from his home in the desert to a water hole. As he was walking, he noticed that someone was following him and counting his steps. The monk continued to walk toward the water hole during the heat of the day. He was thirsty. Then, he found out that the man who was following him was an angel. The angel was counting the monk's footsteps toward the water hole so that he could determine the monk's reward in the afterlife. The monk moved further away from the water hole. Inconveniences are opportunities for gaining eternal wealth. St. Mark the Ascetic said:

Accept present afflictions for the sake of future blessings; then you will never weaken in your struggle. ("On the Spiritual Law: Two Hundred Texts," section 156, by St. Mark the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 121)

When we view them in this light, it becomes more easy for us to rejoice when we experience them. Instead of becoming angry when some mishap occurs, rejoice in the Lord (Phil. 4:4) and thank God for an opportunity to endure this inconvenience with patience and joy. Thank God for the opportunity to gain more eternal wealth.

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thess. 5:18, NKJV)

Remember that Jesus said:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (St. Matt. 6:19,20, NKJV)

Enduring adversity patiently whether it comes from people or from unfortunate circumstances is a way to gain heavenly wealth. Do you want a bigger mansion in a more beautiful location? Endure adversity with patience. Do you want some special spiritual pleasure that most will not get to experience? Then, endure adversity. Do you want a vision of God that is reserved for a select few? Then, endure adversity with patience. Whatever the rewards truly are, we can only speculate, but we should be confident in knowing that we will be eternally happy after having received them.

St. Mark the Ascetic said:

If you wish to remember God unceasingly, do not reject as undeserved what happens to you, but patiently accept it as your due. For patient acceptance of whatever happens kindles the remembrance of God, whereas refusal to accept weakens the spiritual purpose of the heart and so makes it forgetful. ("On Those Who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works: Two Hundred and Twenty-Six Texts," section 134, by St. Mark the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 136)

and:

The mercy of God is hidden in sufferings not of our choice; and if we accept such sufferings patiently, they bring us to repentance and deliver us from everlasting punishment. ("On Those Who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works: Two Hundred and Twenty-Six Texts," section 139, by St. Mark the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 136)

The unexpected inconveniences and problems of life should be viewed as aids in our spiritual development and as helps in assisting us toward our eventual ultimate salvation. St. Hesychios the Priest said:

Unexpected trials are sent by God to teach us to practice the ascetic life. ("On Watchfulness and Holiness," section 82, by St. Hesychios the Priest, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 176)

Athletes who lift weights to build up their muscles say, "No pain, no gain." The same is true in the spiritual life. "No pain, no gain."

I think that it is just a good idea for people who want to obey the Gospel and follow Christ to accept the fact that this life is imperfect. It is a vapor, a brief moment, a dot, compared to the vast limitlessness of eternity. Looking toward the reward in God's kingdom after the Last Judgment should motivate us to accept adversity with patience and stop setting our hearts on making a heaven out this brief, mortal existence. There is no need for one to become angry when things do not go according to one's plans. This life is going to be imperfect and full of disappointments anyway. Just learn to expect them.

My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation. Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and make not haste in time of trouble. Cleave unto Him, and depart not away, that thou mayest be increased at thy last end. Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Believe in Him, and He will help thee; order thy way aright, and trust in Him. (Ecclesiasticus 2:1-6)

We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22, NKJV)

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. (II Tim. 3:12, NKJV)

The practice of meekness, patience, and love help to destroy anger.

So, then, anger the oppressor must be restrained by the chains of meekness, beaten by patience, hauled away by blessed love. ("Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 150)

The sin of gluttony leads to other sins, such as unchastity and greed. It can also cause anger. St. Neilos the Ascetic said:

Avarice, anger, and dejection are all offshoots of gluttony. For the glutton needs money first of all, so as to satisfy his ever-present desire — even though it never can be satisfied. His anger is inevitably aroused against those who obstruct his acquisition of money, and in turn gives place to dejection when he proves too weak to get his way. He is like the snake that goes "on its breast and belly" (Gen. 3:14, LXX). For when he possesses the material means for pleasure, he goes on his belly; but when he lacks these he goes on his breast, since this is where the incensive power has its seat. For those who love pleasure, when deprived of it, grow angry and embittered. ("Ascetic Discourse," by St. Neilos the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 238)

Fasting is a means of gaining control over the incensive aspect of the soul.

Oath-swearing can lead to anger, especially when one sees that he will be unable to keep his oath. In such instances, the oath-swearer often becomes frustrated and mad. St. John Chrysostom said that an oath is "as the wind to wrath."

Not a little does the habit of not swearing contribute to this end: I mean to the not giving way to wrath: and by not giving way to wrath, we shall not have an enemy either. Lop off the oaths of a man, and you have clipt the wings of his anger, you have smothered all his passion. Swearing, it is said, is as the wind to wrath. Lower the sails; no need of sails, when there is no wind. If then we do not clamor, and do not swear, we have cut the sinews of passion. And if you doubt this, just put it to experiment. Impose it as a law upon the passionate man that he shall never swear, and you will have no necessity of preaching moderation to him. So the whole business is finished. For even though you do not forswear yourselves [yet], by swearing at all, do you not know in what absurd consequences you involve yourselves — binding yourselves to an absolute necessity and as with a cord, and putting yourselves to all manner of shifts, as men studying how to rescue their soul from an evil which there is no escaping, or, failing of that, obliged [by that self-imposed necessity] to spend your life thenceforth in vexation, in quarrels, and to curse your wrath? (Homilies on the Acts of the Holy Apostles, Homily IX, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 11, pp. 60-61, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

"Swearing, it is said, is as the wind to wrath. Lower the sails; no need of sails, when there is no wind." — St. John Chrysostom. For attribute click here.

Abstaining from the swearing of oaths is one way to prevent anger. Jesus told us to swear no oaths at all.

But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No." For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. (St. Matt. 5:34-37, NKJV)

Swearing oaths "is from the evil one," that is, the devil.

There are some things that one can do to soften one's anger or even appease it altogether. St. John of the Ladder said that singing can help one to soothe his temper when he is mad.

Singing, in moderation, can occasionally ease bad temper. ("Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 148)

Jesus told us to tell fellow Christians who have wronged us their faults and seek reconciliation.

Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. (St. Matt. 18:15-17, NKJV)

When a fellow Christian repents, we must forgive him. Repentance, of course, means a change in behavior and an attempt to make right the wrong. (St. Matt. 21:28-32; St. Luke 3:7-14; 19:5-10) Church discipline imposed by a priest or a bishop is the last resort for an aggrieved Christian who has been wronged by a fellow Christian. However, even when one has reached the point of last resort, remember St. Paul's admonishment:

But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! (I Cor. 6:6-8, NKJV)

Christians who have wronged other Christians should seek reconciliation with those whom they have wronged.

Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (St. Matt. 5:23,24, NKJV)

But on what grounds will he endure either to admit the rancour of vexation in himself or for it to remain in another, if his firm decision is that there cannot be any good ground for anger, as it is dangerous and wrong, and that when his broker is angry with him he cannot pray, in just the same way as when he himself is angry with his brother, as he ever keeps in an humble heart these words of our Lord and Saviour: “If thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remember that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift at the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (St. Matt. 5:23,24) For it will be of no use for you to declare that you are not angry, and to believe that you are fulfilling the command which says: “Let not the sun go down upon thy wrath” (Eph. 4:26); and: “Whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment” St. Matt. 5:22), if you are with obstinate heart disregarding the vexation of another which you could smooth down by kindness on your part. For in the same way you will be punished for violating the Lord’s command. For He who said that you should not be angry with another, said also that you should not disregard the vexations of another, for it makes no difference in the sight of God, “Who willeth all men to be saved” (I Tim. 2:4), whether you destroy yourself or someone else. Since the death of any one is equally a loss to God, and at the same time it is equally a gain to him to whom all destruction is delightful, whether it is acquired by your death or by the death of your brother. (The Conferences of John Cassian, Part II, The First Conference of Abbot Joseph, chapter 6, by St. John Cassian, 360-436 A.D., vol. 11, p. 452, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Christians are called to live their lives in accordance with a higher moral standard than that which one frequently sees in our secular society. Christians should even live their lives in accordance with a higher moral standard than that found in the Old Testament Law.

The Christian ought in all things to become superior to the righteousness existing under the law (St. Matt. 5:20), and neither swear nor lie. (St. Matt. 5:34-37; Eph. 4:15; Col. 3:0) He ought not to speak evil (Titus 3:2); to do violence; to fight (II Tim. 2:24); to avenge himself (Rom. 12:19); to return evil for evil (Rom. 12:17); to be angry. (St. Matt. 5:22) The Christian ought to be patient (James 5:8), whatever he have to suffer, and to convict the wrong-doer in season (Titus 2:15; II Tim. 4:2), not with the desire of his own vindication, but of his brother’s reformation (St. Matt. 18:15), according to the commandment of the Lord. (Letter XXII, by St. Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D., vol. 8, p. 128, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

To sum up, anger can be useful when it is directed toward the demons, our sinful thoughts, and our sinful passions. Anger directed toward others is sin. Humility, patience, meekness, forgiveness, and compassion root out anger. We should overcome evil by doing good and not seek to retaliate. We should also pray for those who wrong us. Evil-doers are often influenced by demons. Remember that there is a reward in the afterlife for those who patiently endure wrongs from others. God will also reward us for enduring inconveniences or mishaps as they occur in our daily lives. Remember that God avenges all who have been wronged. So, there is no need for anyone to seek vengeance in this life. God is far greater than all of the demons and those who are under their influence. Trust in the power and justice of God whenever you are wronged by someone. Periodic fasting should be practiced since the sin of gluttony leads to the sin of anger. Swearing oaths should be avoided since as St. John Chrysostom said, "An oath is as the wind to wrath." Singing in moderation and confronting fellow Christians who have wronged us are two other ways to combat anger.

Steve

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Philokalia, volumes 1 and 2, compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware, Faber and Faber, London, UK, copyright 1979 The Eling Trust

The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell, Paulist Press, New York, copyright 1982 by the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle

On the Mystical Life, volumes 1-3, by St. Symeon the New Theologian, tranlated by Alexander Golitzin, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York 10707, copyright 1995

The Discourses, by St. Symeon the New Theologian, translated by C.J. deCatanzaro, published by Paulist Press, 997 Macarthur Boulevard, Mahwah, New Jersey 07430, copyright 1980 by the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in the State of New York

The Psalter According to the Seventy, translated from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Boston, Massachusetts, Copyright 1974 by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, Massachusetts 02146

Transforming Lust into Love and Chastity

2010-11-08T09:57:00.000-08:00

The next deadly sin I want to discuss is lust. Lust is the absence of love and chastity. It is selfish and concerned with sexual self-gratification. It is interested in using others for sexual pleasure. Lust is a sin that is practiced by both men and women. It is common to both sexes.

There are three aspects of the soul: the intellect, the incensive aspect, and the appetitive aspect. The intellect is that part of the soul that receives divine revelation from God. With the intellect, one is able to perceive spiritual truth. The incensive aspect of the soul is that which generates vehement feeling, such as anger or ire. The appetitive aspect of the soul is that which desires food, sex, drink, pleasure, sleep, and things.

When we deal with the sin of lust, we become concerned with the appetitive aspect of the soul.

Before I discourse any further on this sin and its remedies, I will first say what lust is not. Lust is not looking at nude bodies. It is true that one may commit the sin of lust while looking at a naked person, but that does not always have to be the case. There are professional people, such as, doctors and nurses, who look at genitals and breasts on a daily basis without lusting after their patients. There are people who look at their children when they are nude without lusting after them. A man might look at his naked wife without committing the sin of lust. A woman might look at her naked husband without lusting after him.

However, I am not condoning pornography when I say this. People often develop an addiction to looking at pictures of nude people when they look at porn, but that does not always have to be the case. A law enforcement officer might look at child pornography without lusting after the children depicted in the pictures and become irate that someone would produce such filth. He would keep the pornographic pictures so that they could be used in court to prosecute the people responsible for using children in pornographic material.

Elderly people usually lose interest in sex because they have low levels of sex hormones. There are products on the market which are supposed to help them regain their sexual desire. An elderly man or woman who has low levels of a sex hormone might be able to look at a nude person or a picture of a nude person without having any significant reaction to it. They might be able to look without lusting. I think that this sin of lust is partially caused by a biochemical reaction produced by sex hormones.

It is possible to advance so far enough spiritually that one does not lust when one sees a nude person. St. John of the Ladder mentioned someone in his book who had advanced to that degree.

I was once told about an astonishing level of chastity attained by someone. "There was a man who, having looked on a body of great beauty, at once gave praise to its Creator and after one look was stirred to love God and weep copiously, so that it was marvelous how something that could have brought low one person managed to be the cause of a heavenly crown for another. And if such a man feels and behaves in similar fashion on similar occasions, then he has already risen to immortality before the general resurrection." ("Step 15: On Chastity," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 179)

So then, looking at nude people is not necessarily lusting after nude people, but looking at them might lead to the sin of lust.

Righteous Job the Longsuffering

In the Book of Job, Job says:

I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin. (Job 31:1, LXX)

Although looking at a nude person may not be sinful, it may very well lead to this sin. Therefore, it is a good idea to refrain from doing so. Looking at pornography can lead to an addiction to porn. Looking at naked people can lead to some unhealthy form of voyeurism. Like Job, we should make a covenant with our eyes not to look, unless we have jobs like those in the medical profession that require us to look. Solomon said:

Let not the desire of beauty overcome thee, neither be thou caught by thine eyes, neither be captivated with her eyelids. (Prov. 6:25, LXX)

Jesus the Son of Sirach said:

Turn away thine eye from a beautiful woman, and look not upon another’s beauty; for many have been deceived by the beauty of a woman; for herewith love is kindled as a fire. (Ecclesiasticus 9:8, LXX)

and:

Stumble not at the beauty of a woman, and desire her not for pleasure. (Ecclesiasticus 25:21, LXX)

The sin of lust begins in the mind. Jesus said:

Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. (St. Matt. 15:17-20, NKJV)

Lust is the thought and desire of committing a sexual sin, such as fornication or adultery. Fornication is premarital sex. Adultery is sex with someone else's spouse. Lust leads to sins such as these. This is why it is important that it be conquered.

There are several things that one can do to prevent the commission of sexual sins. One of them I have already mentioned. Avoid looking at nude people and pictures of nude people. Another thing to do is to avoid places where people dress immodestly. This can be difficult to do, especially during the summer months. So many women and girls walk around in shorts and halter tops on hot days. Waitresses in some restaurants wear tight fitting short dresses. The beaches and the pools are populated with people who are wearing bathing suits. One must be aware that going to such places might result in one committing the sin of lust. Another thing that one can do is to pray whenever the thought of committing a sexual sin enters the mind. The Jesus Prayer is a good prayer to pray during such moments. "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Making the sign of the Cross is also good thing to do during such times. The sign of the Cross is a physical act of prayer that the demons do not like to see us make.

A woman who allows men to have intimate contact with her is not highly respected by the men who do so and by others.

A shameless woman shall be counted as a dog; but she that is shamefaced will fear the Lord. (Ecclesiasticus 26:25)

A woman who dresses immodestly is also ill-esteemed by others. Modest women command more respect than immodest women. So, a woman should not do anything to inflame the sexual passions of men. She should dress modestly and limit any contact with her body to a bare minimum. Intimate contact should be reserved for marriage.

Since lust pertains to the appetitive aspect of the soul, sins such as gluttony and greed help to fuel it. Periodic fasting can help one gain victory over this sin of lust. Fast from certain types of food for a period of time and focus your thoughts on God and spiritual things during the fast. Fasting is good for helping one to break a sexual addiction. Married people can purify their sex by practicing marital fasting. Marital fasting is the practice of abstaining from sex by mutual consent of both partners. (I Cor. 7:5)

Although we usually think of lust as being a sin common to single people, even married couples can lust for one another. Lust can even exist within a marriage. In the Book of Tobit, Tobias prayed:

And now, O Lord, I take not this my sister for lust but uprightly. (Tobit 8:7)

He realized that one can marry out of lust. A man can marry a woman out of lust and spend the marriage desiring to have sex with her so that he can selfishly satisfy his sexual appetite. She can become to him nothing more than an object of sexual desire. A woman can likewise do the same with a man that she marries. He can become to her nothing more than her "hunk" who keeps her happy in bed. Lust is not love. It is selfish. Love "does not seek its own." (I Cor. 13:5, NKJV) It is unselfish.

Sex does not have to be selfish. That, I think, is one of the lessons to be learned from the Book of Tobit. Tobias married Sarah uprightly and not for lust. (Tobit 8:7) He made love to her. They had children. (Tobit 14:3,12) Lust was not a part of their lovemaking.

I have recently read an article on sex on Orthodox Wiki on the internet. (http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Main_Page) This is a very good article. In this article, it says that one of the reasons for having sex is to achieve spiritual union. A couple should strive to become one soul with one another and not just one flesh with each other when they make love. So, sex can be a spiritual exercise between a man and his wife. It is possible to have sex unselfishly, thinking about the other person while doing so and not preoccupying oneself with egoistic desires and self-gratification.

Blessed Augustine wrote about what would have happened if Adam and Eve had never sinned. They would have made love to each other and had children. They would have had sex without experiencing any lust for one another.* Lust does not have to be a part of the sexual act. God never intended it to be so when He created sex. As Ashley Reynolds says, "Sex was God's idea."

Another reason for having sex is to express intimate affection toward one's spouse.** Sex is an intimate act that should be practiced by a man and his wife. The unmarried should abstain from sex. One Orthodox priest wrote that sex is a language. I think that this passage in Proverbs teaches that sex is for expressing intimate affection toward one's spouse:

Let thy fountain of water be truly thine own; and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let thy loving hart and thy graceful colt company with thee, and let her be considered thine own, and be with thee at all times; for ravished with her love thou shalt be greatly increased. (Prov. 5:18,19, LXX)

Procreation is also a reason for having sex, but making babies is not the only reason for making love. There are other reasons which are just as honorable as that of procreation.

One of the ancient heresies that the Church Fathers opposed and refuted is that of the Encratites. They taught that God created evil when God created sex. They taught that sex is intrinsically evil. Sex is not evil, but the abuse and misuse of it is. Selfish sex is evil. Sex with someone who is not one's spouse is evil. Unselfish sex in the context of marriage with one's spouse is not.***

Another thing that one can do to transfigure lust is to seek for Someone more beautiful than one is in the habit of lusting after. Longing for God who is the epitome of beauty itself and the epitome of perfection is what I am talking about. In the Wisdom literature of the Bible, Wisdom is personified as a woman who is a superior alternative to the immoral woman who leads young men into Hell.

Say that wisdom is thy sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for thyself; that she may keep thee from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail thee with flattering words. (Prov. 7:4,5, LXX)

Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things. I loved her, and sought her out from my youth, I desired to make her my spouse, and I was a lover of her beauty. (Wisdom 8:1,2)

In the Old Testament, Wisdom often refers to the Second Person of the Trinity. St. Paul called Christ the Wisdom of God. (I Cor. 1:24) So, for a man who is struggling with lust, he can spend time with God, seek Wisdom and become a "lover of her beauty." For a woman who is struggling with lust, she can do the same. She can seek God and let Jesus be her husband. We are supposed to love God with all of our being. (Deut. 6:4,5) We are supposed to love Christ more than anyone else. (St. Matt. 10:37; St. Luke 14:26) We are supposed to love others because we love God. Prayer, Bible reading, and spending time gazing at Christ before His holy icon can help one gain victory over lust. If a man needs a female icon of God, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos will do. She is not God, but she is a woman who bears the image and likeness of God more than anyone else who has ever lived. So, her icon is an icon of a female icon of God. If a man needs a woman's company, spend time with her. Pray Akathist prayers to her.

St. John of the Ladder said:

A chaste man is someone who has driven out bodily love by means of divine love, who has used heavenly fire to quench the desires of the flesh. ("Step 15: On Chastity," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 171)

St. Maximos the Confessor said:

He who has been granted knowledge of God, and fully enjoys the pleasure that comes from it, despises all the pleasures that come from the soul's desiring power. ("Third Century on Love," section 63, by St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 93)

and:

God is said to be the originator and begetter of love and the erotic force. For He externalized them from within Himself, that is, He brought them forth into the world of created things. This is why Scripture says 'God is love' (I John 4:16), and elsewhere that He is 'sweetness and desire' (cf. Song of Songs 5:16, LXX), which signifies the erotic force. ("Fifth Century of Various Texts," section 87, by St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 281)

St. Theodoros the Great Ascetic said that when we long for God enough we start to fear losing Him.

Fear also comes into the argument. For the greater our longing for God the greater grows our fear; and the more we hope to attain God, the more we fear Him. If we are wounded by divine love, the sting of fear exceeds that of a thousand threats of punishment. For as nothing is more blessed than to attain God, so nothing is more terrible than this great fear of losing Him. ("Theoretikon," by St. Theodoros the Great Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 2, p. 43)

Loving God results in loving others. A man who says he loves God, but hates others is a liar. (I John 4:20) When we love others, we do not lust after them. A man who loves a woman will not view her as a sex object or seek to demean her in any way. A woman who loves a man will not view him as a sex object either. She will not be trying to seduce him and drag him into bed with her.

A man can love another man's wife without sinning against God. The way he does this is by praying that she remain faithful to her husband and praying that her marriage to him will last. A woman can love another woman's husband in the same way and not be sinning against God. Remember, I said that love is unselfish. There is an element of self-denial in love. Love gives. It does not get.

"Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up." (I Cor. 13:4, LXX) Love is humble and meek. Those who love are willing to be last and let someone else have what is best. "Love does not envy." (I Cor. 13:4, NKJV) They do not try to break up marriages or steady dating relationships.

St. Thomais of Alexandria

There are two other remedies for lust. One is marriage. Someone who has difficulty controlling his passions is better off to marry than to live a life of fornication. This is the advice of St. Paul. (I Cor. 7:2) However, even in marriage, as I have said before, there can be lust. That is why married couples should live ascetically by fasting from food and sex periodically. They need to purify their sex through such asceticism. The other remedy is the intercession of the Saints. It helps to get the Saints and the Mother of God to help us in our ascetic struggles toward holiness through their prayers. There is one Saint who is well-known for helping men deal with lust. That is St. Thomais of Alexandria. Her prayers have helped many men gain victory over lust. St. Mary of Egypt is a former prostitute. She can help women who struggle with lust. Ask for the prayers of the Saints and the Mother of God.

St. Mary of Egypt receiving communion from St. Zosimas.

So, I have provided here some advice on how to deal with lust. I have mentioned fasting, marital fasting, the Jesus Prayer, making the sign of the Cross, longing for God, and the intercession of the Saints as aids in conquering lust. I have also said that we should avoid looking at nude people and pictures of nude people unless we have jobs that require that we do so. We should avoid intimate contact with those of the opposite sex that we are not married to. Men and women should dress modestly. We should develop love for others and not lust after them. Love is unselfish. Lust is selfish. May God help us all to become chaste, holy, righteous, and loving people.

Steve

* But he who says that there should have been neither copulation nor generation but for sin, virtually says that man’s sin was necessary to complete the number of the saints. For if these two by not sinning should have continued to live alone, because, as is supposed, they could not have begotten children had they not sinned, then certainly sin was necessary in order that there might be not only two but many righteous men. And if this cannot be maintained without absurdity, we must rather believe that the number of the saints fit to complete this most blessed city would have been as great though no one had sinned, as it is now that the grace of God gathers its citizens out of the multitude of sinners, so long as the children of this world generate and are generated. (St. Luke 20:34)

And therefore that marriage, worthy of the happiness of Paradise, should have had desirable fruit without the shame of lust, had there been no sin. But how that could be, there is now no example to teach us. Nevertheless, it ought not to seem incredible that one member might serve the will without lust then, since so many serve it now. Do we now move our feet and hands when we will to do the things we would by means of these members? do we meet with no resistance in them, but perceive that they are ready servants of the will, both in our own case and in that of others, and especially of artisans employed in mechanical operations, by which the weakness and clumsiness of nature become, through industrious exercise, wonderfully dexterous? and shall we not believe that, like as all those members obediently serve the will, so also should the members have discharged the function of generation, though lust, the award of disobedience, had been a wanting.? (The City of God, Book XIV, chapter 23, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 2, p. 279, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

** He shows also, by the mention of the creature (the hind), the purity of that pleasure; and by the roe he intimates the quick responsive affection of the wife. And whereas he knows many things to excite, he secures them against these, and puts upon them the indissoluble bond of affection, setting constancy before them. And as for the rest, wisdom, figuratively speaking, like a stag, can repel and crush the snaky doctrines of the heterodox. Let her therefore, says he, be with thee, like a roe, to keep all virtue fresh. (Prov. 5:19) And whereas a wife and wisdom are not in this respect the same, let her rather lead thee; for thus thou shalt conceive good thoughts. (The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus, "On Proverbs," by St. Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, p. 173, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

*** An husband, therefore, and a wife, when they company together in lawful marriage, and rise from one another, may pray without any observations, and without washing are clean. But whosoever corrupts and defiles another man’s wife, or is defiled with an harlot, when he arises up from her, though he should wash himself in the entire ocean and all the rivers, cannot be clean. (The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book VI, section 5, chapter 29, vol. 7, p. 463, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Bibliography

Losing Greed

2010-10-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

The next deadly sin I want to discuss is greed or covetousness. This sin can take many forms and be exhibited in many ways. Greed is the absence of detachment, contentment, and liberality.
Christ told us:

Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. (St. Luke 12:15, NKJV)

He also said:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (St. Matt. 6:19-21, NKJV)

He warned us that we cannot serve God and money. (St. Matt. 6:24) He also told us that a man's soul is worth more than all of the wealth in the entire world and even the whole world itself.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (St. Mark 8: 36,37, NKJV)

So then, having things is not what is most important in life. Retaining one's soul is far more important than becoming wealthy. What we focus our hearts on becomes our treasure for which we hope to one day have. If we focus our hearts on having temporal wealth, then temporal wealth is our treasure. If we focus our hearts on having the eternal riches God has promised us in the age to come, then those eternal riches become our treasure. We cannot live our lives seeking to please God and spend them trying to become wealthy at the same time. Greed and single-hearted devotion to God do not mix. One can lose one's soul seeking wealth for one's own sake. St. Paul said:

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Eph. 5:5, NKJV)

The apostle also warned us about desiring wealth in his First Epistle to Timothy.

And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (I Tim. 6:8-10, NKJV)

So, one can lose his soul while loving money.

The hog is the symbol of greed. For attribute click here.

Sometimes people become wealthy unexpectedly or out of some good fortune of providence that sends wealth their way. The Bible warns us:

If wealth should flow in, set not your heart upon it. (Psalm 61:10, LXX; Psalm 62:10, Hebrew)

St. Paul told St. Timothy to tell the wealthy Christians of his day "not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy." (I Tim. 6:17, NKJV) As the Psalmist says:

I have delighted in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. (Psalm 118:14, LXX; Psalm 119:14, Hebrew)

This should be the attitude of Christians. Christians should seek eternal wealth by practicing righteousness and doing as much good as possible. (I Cor. 15:58; Gal. 6:9; Heb. 6:10) They should be just as content to be poor as to live in affluence.

A little is better to the righteous than abundant wealth of sinners. (Psalm 36:16, LXX; Psalm 37:16, Hebrew)

St. Paul said:

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:11-13, NKJV)

The last verse of this passage, Phil. 4:13, has often been quoted by those who preach the prosperity gospel to mean that we can become wealthy and famous through Jesus Christ. In the context of this passage, however, St. Paul was talking about excelling spiritually through Christ and not in gaining worldly wealth or social status. He was saying that he had learned to be content in whatever state he is in, whether he has a little or a lot, whether he is hungry or full. He said that He could accomplish this spiritual feat of contentment through Christ who strengthens Him. He told St. Timothy:

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. (I Tim. 6:6, NKJV)

Becoming wealthy and famous was not one of St. Paul's lifelong ambitions.

St. John of the Ladder wrote:

If you truly love God and long to reach the kingdom that is to come, if you are truly pained by your failings and are mindful of punishment and of the eternal judgment, if you are truly afraid to die, then it will not be possible to have an attachment, or anxiety, or concern for money, for possessions, for family relationships, for worldly glory, for love and brotherhood, indeed for anything on earth. All worry about one's condition, even for one's body, will be pushed aside as hateful. Stripped of all thought of these, caring nothing about them, one will turn freely to Christ. ("Step 2: On Detachment," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 81)

The patriarchs of the Old Testament lived their lives in this world as if they were strangers and sojourners.

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Heb. 11:9,10, NKJV)

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Heb. 11:13-16, NKJV)

Christians, likewise, are to think of themselves as being sojourners and strangers in this world. The Psalmist said:

My soul has long been a sojourner. (Psalm 119:6, LXX; Psalm 120:6, Hebrew)

King David governed Israel, but told God in the 38th Psalm:

For I am a sojourner in the land, and a stranger, as all my fathers were. (Psalm 38:12, LXX; Psalm 39:12, Hebrew)

St. Peter said that we Christians are "sojourners and pilgrims." (I Pet. 2:11)

St. Paul said:

For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. (Heb. 13:14, NKJV)

Christ promised the entire world to the meek.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (St. Matt. 5:5, NKJV)

King David, who thought of himself as "a sojourner in the land" (Psalm 38:12, LXX), said that the righteous will inherit the earth and dwell upon it forever.

But the righteous shall inherit the earth, and dwell upon it for ever. (Psalm 36:29, LXX; Psalm 37:29, Hebrew)

St. Paul said that one of the promises that we Christians can hope to inherit along with Abraham is the whole world.

For the promise that he would be the heir of the world [Greek, kosmos, universe] was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Rom. 4:13, NKJV)

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise [of inheriting the entire universe] might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (Rom. 4:16, NKJV)

Actually, the word translated "world" from the Greek in Rom. 4:13 is kosmos and means universe. God has promised His children the entire universe. In the Book of Revelation, it says:

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. (Rev. 21:7, NKJV)

St. Paul told the Corinthian Christians, "All things are yours." (I Cor. 3:21)

So, Christians should live their lives not concerned about amassing worldly wealth and fame. They should live as if everything has already been promised to them by God, but they just do not get to enjoy the fulfillment of this promise yet. They should look at the world as presently belonging to those who do not know God and follow Christ, but will one day, after Christ returns to judge the world, become the sole property of Christians. Christians should view themselves as being "strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. 11:13) and dwelling "in the land of promise as in a foreign country." (Heb. 11:9)

Loving the world and befriending it makes us enemies of God.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (I John 2:15, NKJV)

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4, NKJV)

We are friends of God when we practice keeping His commandments. (St. John 15:14) We should pursue the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first. (St. Matt. 6:33) Then, God will provide us with what we need.

Like Moses, we should regard afflictions as opportunities to gain eternal wealth.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. (Heb. 11:24-26, NKJV)

St. Paul said:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (II Cor. 4:17,18, NKJV)

For the Christian, this life is the life of tribulation and trouble, not the life of eternal peace and blissfulness. Jesus said:

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. (St. John 16:33, NKJV)

St. Paul said:

We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22, NKJV)

St. James, the Lord's brother, told us:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4, NKJV)

St. Peter said:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. (I Pet. 1:3-8, NKJV)

St. Paul said that we "rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Rom. 5:2, NKJV) The trials and afflictions of this life are opportunities to gain the virtue of patience. God will reward us in the age to come for our perseverance and patience in the midst of trials and tribulations.

We should be careful in case it should happen to us that while talking of journeying along the narrow and hard road we may actually wander along the broad and wide highway.

Mortification of the appetite, nightlong toil, a ration of water, a short measure of bread, the bitter cup of dishonor — these will show you the narrow way. Derided, mocked, jeered, you must accept the denial of your will. You must patiently endure opposition, suffer neglect without complaint, put up with violent arrogance. You must be ready for injustice, and not grieve when you are slandered; you must not be angered by contempt and you must show humility when you have been condemned. Happy are those who follow this road and avoid other highways. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ("Step 2: On Detachment," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 83)

St. Paul said that God blesses us with worldly wealth so that we can use it to help others.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (II Cor. 9:8, NKJV)

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. (II Cor. 9:10,11, NKJV)

The apostle told St. Timothy to tell the wealthy Christians to "do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." (I Tim. 6:18,19, NKJV)

The Lord said:

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. (St. Luke 6:38, NKJV)

St. John of the Ladder said:

The man of charity spreads his money about him, but the man who claims to possess both charity and money is a self-deceived fool. ("Step 16: On Avarice," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John of the Ladder, p. 187)

Greed does not have to necessarily deal with money. A man can become greedy for women or for a particular woman. A woman, likewise, can become greedy for men or a particular man. The Lord said:

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (St. Matt. 5:28, NKJV)

The Greek word translated "lust" in this verse is the same Greek word used in the Septuagint version of this Old Testament commandment and is translated there as "covet."

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any of his cattle, nor whatever belongs to thy neighbour. (Exodus 20:17, LXX)

The Greek word translated "woman" can also mean "wife." So, these words of our Lord can be translated:

But I say to you that whoever looks at a wife to covet her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (St. Matt. 5:28, my modified translation)

King David had already committed adultery in his heart with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, when he desired to have her for himself. (II Sam. 11:2,3) They had not even had sex with each other and he had already done it with her in his heart.

A man can likewise commit the same sin of covetousness by desiring another man's girlfriend or fiancée. A woman can commit the sin of covetousness by desiring another woman's boyfriend, fiancé, or husband.

I think that compatibility is an important part in choosing a spouse for oneself, but married couples need to find contentment in having each other and not be looking for someone "better." "Godliness with contentment is great gain." (I Tim. 6:6)

I remember a friend of mine once told me, "You will always find someone better than you." He was talking about playing chess, but this applies to anything else. There will always be someone who is more spiritual than I am. There will always be someone who has more money than I do. There will always be someone who is better looking than I am. There will always be someone who is smarter than I am.

Now, married people should apply this same principle to one's spouse. There will always be someone who is better than the one you married in some respect. Just be content to have the one you have already gotten and do not look for someone "better."

Likewise, people who are not likely to marry in this present age and are single should be content to remain single. They should look forward to living in the age to come where there the angelic state will replace marriage as being far more satisfying than any earthly nuptial union. (St. Matt. 22:30; Isaiah 65:17-25, LXX; Eph. 3:21, NKJV) They should not covet someone's else's fiancé(e) or spouse. They should not try to break up a relationship with a boyfriend and his girlfriend so that they can have a steady dating partner.

One can commit the sin of covetousness by desiring anything else that belongs to someone else. We are supposed to be content with what we have.

One can become greedy for other people's possessions. Some people want what others have so much that they will go to any lengths to possess it. Christians need to learn contentment. God has already promised us everything in the end anyway. So, there is no need to regret not having the same things that others have. We must believe God's promises.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (II Cor. 5:7, NKJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb. 11:1, NKJV)

Although we do not see the vast blissfulness promised us in the age to come, we must believe that it is ours as long as we continue to seek God and strive to do His will.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6, NKJV)

I think that one of the pitfalls that many fall into is the pitfall of trying to create a heaven for oneself in this life. Some modern preachers are actually preaching that God wants to bless us with a heaven in this life as well as in the next. This is not the traditional Christian teaching on this subject, however. The traditional Christian teaching is that a faithful follower of Christ may expect difficulties and imperfections now and perfection and blissfulness in the age to come. (See II Tim. 3:12.) People who become greedy and look for a heaven now in this present time may find themselves missing the true heaven later on the day of judgment.

In conclusion, remember the Parable of the Rich Fool.

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (St. Luke 12:16-21, NKJV)

Let us strive to be rich toward God.

Steve

Bibliography

From Pride to Humility and Meekness

2010-09-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

The first sin to have ever been committed is pride. This is the sin that resulted in the downfall of the archangel Lucifer. (Isaiah 14:12-15) Pride ruined him and turned him into the prince of demons. (Rev. 12:9; Eph. 2:2) Pride can also destroy each of us. We need to learn humility and meekness. Pride is the absence of humility and meekness.

In Ecclesiasticus, it says:

For pride is the beginning of sin, and he that hath it shall pour out abomination. (Ecclesiasticus 10:13)

And in Proverbs, it says:

Wherever pride enters, there will be also disgrace. (Prov. 11:2, LXX)

Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. (Prov. 16:18, LXX)

Pride brings a man low. (Prov. 31:23, LXX)

So, pride leads to further sin since it is the beginning of sin. Proud people ultimately end up being disgraced and ruined. They are brought low.

St. John Cassian says that pride corrupts the whole soul.

Just as a deadly plague destroys not just one member of the body, but the whole of it, so pride corrupts the whole soul, not just part of it. (On the Eight Vices, "On Pride," by St. John Cassian, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 92)

Furthermore, God resists the proud. (James 4:6) To be proud is to set oneself up against God.

"Pride was not made for men." (Ecclesiasticus 10:18) To be proud is to be less than human. God never intended for anyone to be proud, nor does He wish for anyone to be so. Pride does not come from God. It comes from the world set against God. (I John 2:16) It is a sin that entered the world created for God. (Rom. 5:12; Col. 1:16)

Pride is a denial of God, an invention of the devil, contempt for men. It is the mother of condemnation, the offspring of praise, a sign of barrenness. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, p. 207)

Pride is alien to every virtue. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, p. 211)

Pride is an impediment to faith in God. Jesus told the Jews, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?" (St. John 5:44, NKJV)

We must do what Jesus the Son of Sirach admonished us to do:

Humble thy soul greatly: for the vengeance of the ungodly is fire and worms. (Ecclesiasticus 7:17)

Humility takes time and effort to master. The man who claims to be humble is not humble at all. St. John of the Ladder told about a man who claimed to be humble. A wise and very spiritual old man told him that he was not.

An old man, very experienced in these matters, once spiritually admonished a proud brother who said in his blindness: "Forgive me, Father, but I am not proud." "My son," said the wise old man, "what better proof of your pride could you have given than to claim that you were not proud?" ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, p. 208)

Humble people are not conscious of their humility.

It is God's will that we give thanks (I Thess. 5:18), but often pride draws its strength from the giving of thanks. Like the Pharisee in St. Luke's Gospel (St. Luke 18:11), it is easy to develop pride when one starts comparing oneself with others who are "less fortunate" or "less pious" and saying things like, "Oh God, I thank you that I am not like that thief. I thank you that I am not like that harlot. I thank you that I have a better home to live in than those poor people on the other side of town." St. John of the Ladder said, "I have seen people who speak aloud their thanks to God but who in their hearts are glorifying themselves, something demonstrated by that Pharisee with his 'Oh God, I thank you.'" ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, p. 207)

Like the publican (St. Luke 18:13), we need to humble ourselves before God and acknowledge our sins and imperfections. Repentance gives birth to humility. Jesus told the unbelieving Jews:

If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, "We see." Therefore your sin remains. (St. John 9:41, NKJV)

Failure to acknowledge one's spiritual blindness to God can hinder one from seeing one's sins. Failure to acknowledge one's sins can prevent one from acquiring humility.

Humility is important. Without humility, we cannot obtain victory over any sin. This is what St. John Cassian taught.

Humility of soul helps more than everything else, however, and without it no one can overcome unchastity or any other sin. (On the Eight Vices, "On the Demon of Unchastity and the Desire of the Flesh," by St. John Cassian, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 75)

Humility needs to become a way of life with us. Jesus said:

When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, "Give place to this man," and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, "Friend, go up higher." Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (St. Luke 14:8-11, NKJV)

Letting others have that which is best and taking that which others do not want. That is one way to practice humility. St. Paul said:

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. (Rom. 12:10, NKJV)

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phil. 2:3,4, NKJV)

We should give preference to others and not esteem them as better than we are. Humility can be practiced in small ways, such as, standing at the end of a long line or letting someone else exit a door before you. It can be practiced in even bigger ways by deferring a job promotion to someone else or helping someone else achieve something more significant than you yourself would have achieved. Jesus told His disciples:

If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. (St. Mark 9:35, NKJV)

Proud as a peacock. Pride is a secular virtue and a Christian vice. For attribute click here.

To practice humility is to live one's life contrary to the status-seeking ways of the world. It means to go against the grain of secular society and be different. Jesus told His disciples:

You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. (St. Mark 10:42-44, NKJV)

The more exalted we become in the eyes of others, the more humble should we be. In Ecclesiasticus, Jesus the Son of Sirach said:

The greater thou art, the more humble thyself, and thou shalt find favour before the Lord. (Ecclesiasticus 3:18)

It is a good practice to credit God with one's accomplishments rather than to credit oneself with them. Jesus said, "Without Me you can do nothing." (St. John 15:5, NKJV) St. John of the Ladder said:

While it is disgraceful to be puffed up over the adornments of others, it is sheer lunacy to imagine that one has deserved the gifts of God. You may be proud only of the achievements you had before the time of your birth. But anything after that, indeed the birth itself, is a gift from God. You may claim only those virtues in you that are there independently of your mind, for your mind was bestowed on you by God. And you may claim only those victories you achieved independently of the body, for the body too is not yours but a work of God. ("Step 23: On Pride," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, pp. 208-209)

Banishing avarice, or greed, from one's soul is another task that must be undertaken in order to rid oneself of pride.

Nor will one escape pride, the first offspring of the devil, unless one has banished avarice, the root of all evil, since poverty makes a man humble, according to Solomon (cf. Prov. 10:4, LXX). ("Texts on Discrimination in respect of Passions and Thoughts," by St. Evagrios the Solitary, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 38)

It is foolish to love money and material things and spend one's life trying to acquire great wealth when God has already promised His children everything in the afterlife. (Rev. 21:7; I Cor. 3:21,22) Jesus taught, "One's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (St. Luke 12:15, NKJV) Even when we have everything, we will still see that we can only be truly satisfied in our souls with God.

Learning to live with less even though one can have more is one way to rid oneself of pride and restore one's soul to its humble state.

People who seek material prosperity have a difficult time practicing humility because they gloat too much over their possessions and feel that having more and better things than others makes them better people than those with less.

Jesus is our supreme example of humility. He humbled Himself to the point of death on the Cross. (Phil. 2:5-8)

With humility and meekness, comes knowledge of spiritual mysteries. Jesus the Son of Sirach said, "Mysteries are revealed unto the meek." (Ecclesiasticus 3:19) St. Symeon the Theologian said:

When he has spent time in contrition, in weeping, in prostrations, and in humbling himself, he begins little by little to know the things of God, and it is when he has reached this point that he learns "His will which is holy and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12:2) (On the Mystical Life: The Ethical Discourses, Vol. 2: On Virtue and Christian Life, by St. Symeon the New Theologian, pp. 54-55)

Meekness can be learned from Christ who is "meek and lowly in heart." (St. Matt. 11:29) "When He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously." (I Pet. 2:23, NKJV) He is our supreme example of meekness.

St. John of the Ladder defined meekness in this way.

Meekness is a permanent condition of that soul which remains unaffected by whether or not it is spoken well of, whether or not it is honored or praised. ("Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, p. 146)

To be a person who is not offended by the negative remarks of others is to be meek. A meek person will hear insults and not be affected. He will view himself as being less than others. So, praise as well as insult will not disturb him. St. John of the Ladder also says:

A sign of utter meekness is to have a heart peacefully and lovingly disposed toward someone who has been offensive, and a sure proof of a hot temper is that a man, even when he is alone, should with word and gesture continue to rage and fulminate against some absent person who has given offense. ("Step 8: On Placidity and Meekness," The Ladder of Divine Ascent, by St. John Climacus, p. 147)

Jesus said that it is the meek who shall inherit the earth. (St. Matt. 5:5) Inheriting the earth along with the rest of the renovated universe is one of the promises God has made to His children. [Rom. 4:13 — "World" in this verse is the Greek word, kosmos, which means universe. See also II Pet. 3:13 and Rev. 21:7.] It is important, therefore, that we learn to be meek.

Pride is the first sin — the sin that caused the archangel Lucifer to fall from Heaven. It produces disgrace and ruin. It corrupts the whole soul. It is the absence of humility and meekness. It hinders one from having faith in God. Gratitude is good, but it is possible to develop pride while thanking God. Humble people are unaware of their humility. Without humility we cannot overcome any sin. Pride must be overcome by banishing from ourselves the sin of avarice. We need to credit God with our achievements and not bask in the praises of others in order to become humble people. We need to develop a servant heart and esteem others better than ourselves. We need to reflect on our sins and weaknesses and repent in order to develop humility. We need to develop meekness and learn to be unaffected by praise or insult. Humble people acquire knowledge of spiritual mysteries.

Steve

Bibliography

The Seven Deadly Sins

2010-07-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

There are seven sins that are commonly referred to as the seven deadly sins. All sin, however, is deadly and tends toward the dehumanization of a person. Sin, in the Orthodox Christian view, is not an addition to one's humanity. Instead, it is a subtraction from it. Sin is not natural. It is unnatural. To sin is to be less than human.

The seven sins that are called the Seven Deadly Sins are: pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. Each of these sins is the absence of a particular virtue or a set of virtues. Pride is the absence of humility. Greed is the absence of contentment and/or liberality. Lust is the absence of authentic love, self-control, and/or chastity. Anger is the absence of mercy, patience, and/or kindness. Gluttony is the absence of self-control or temperance. Envy is the absence of contentment, love, and/or humility. Sloth is the absence of diligence, perseverance, and/or self-control.

Since these sins are the absence of virtues, we can eradicate them by practicing virtue. Certain ascetical disciplines need to be practiced in order to gain the victory over these sins. Such ascetical disciplines include prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and the remembrance of death.

Receiving the Sacraments is also important in this spiritual warfare to gain virtue and eradicate sin. Jesus said:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (St. John 15:5, NKJV)

and:

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (St. John 6:56, NKJV)

We need to abide in Christ in order to bear the spiritual fruit of virtue. One of the things that we must be doing in order to be abiding in Him is to eat His flesh and drink His blood. We receive Christ's flesh and blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In this Sacrament, our Lord disguises Himself as bread and wine and makes it possible for us to partake of Him. He imparts to us divine energy in this Sacrament to aid us in our spiritual battles. We also receive mercy from God in this Sacrament.

In some future blogs, I will talk more about these deadly sins and how to gain the victory over them.

Steve

Temptation

2010-05-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

This life is a journey into eternity. During the journey of this life, those who seek eternal life and immortality must engage themselves in a spiritual battle to insure the safety of their souls. The spiritual battle involves encountering temptations to sin and achieving victory over such temptations.

We all have freedom of choice. We can choose to do good or to do evil. When we do good, we move ourselves closer to our ultimate salvation. (Rom. 2:7; 6:16,22) It is true that eternal life is a gift (Rom. 6:23), but we still must become servants of righteousness in order to obtain eternal life. (Rom. 6:22) When we do evil, we sin. Temptation precedes sin. Our regular and daily response to temptation determines the fate of our souls.

St. Mark the Ascetic said:

What repayment for all these blessings can you possibly make to Him who has called your soul to eternal life? It is only right, then, that you should live no longer for yourself, but for Christ, who died for your sake and rose again. In your struggle to acquire every virtue and to fulfil every commandment, always seek "the good, acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2), endeavouring with all your strength to pursue it. (Letter to Nicolas the Solitary, by St. Mark the Ascetic, The Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 153)

The spiritual tradition of the Church teaches that there are six stages of temptation: provocation, momentary disturbance of the intellect, coupling, assent, prepossession, and passion.

Provocation occurs when one receives the initial suggestion to sin. This is the first stage of temptation. This suggestion to sin may come from people or from demons. In The Shepherd, an angel tells St. Hermas that everyone has two angels assigned to him or her. One angel encourages one to do good and the other one encourages one to sin. (The Shepherd, Commandment VI) One can avoid the other stages of temptation by rejecting sin immediately after one receives the initial suggestion to sin.

If one is continually assaulted with the suggestion to sin, one should start making the sign of the Cross. This is a physical act of prayer that the demons strongly dislike. One can also start praying the Jesus prayer. This is a very simple, short prayer based on the publican's prayer in St. Luke's Gospel. (St. Luke 18:13) It is: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The continual repetition of this prayer and the sign of the Cross will drive the demons away.

If the temptation is coming from people, then one must know how to respond to those who want to lure one into sin. The Jesus prayer, the sign of the Cross, and calling on the assistance of the Mother of God and the Saints might be necessary depending on how one is being tempted by others to sin. Openly confessing one's allegiance to Christ may also be necessary and might discourage others from trying to get one to sin. Jesus said, "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in Heaven." (St. Matt. 10:32,33) In such a situation one is confronted with two choices: to openly confess one's allegiance to Christ or to deny Christ and participate in the sins others seek to involve one in. One choice is a step towards eternal life and the other is a step towards eternal damnation. (St. John 5:29) If one fears God, one will, of course, make the right choice.

In the Bible, there are several admonitions to abstain from the company of people who want to drag one into sin. (Prov. 1:10-19; II Cor. 6:14-18) We must associate with all kinds of people in this world, but it is not necessary that we adopt the interests and lifestyles of everyone. If someone wants you to go to a place where sinful activity is going on, all you have to say is no. If they ask why, you can start talking about your relationship with God and your quest for eternal life in His Kingdom.

The next stage of temptation is momentary disturbance of the intellect. At this stage, one has a thought to sin. The concept of sin is in one's mind. If one continues to dwell on this idea of committing sin, then one advances to the next stage of temptation, coupling. If one replaces the thought of sin with holy thoughts, then one avoids advancing to the next stage of temptation.

Prayer, fasting, and other ascetical labors are necessary to combat temptations when they have advanced beyond the first stage.

Coupling is the third stage of temptation. When one reaches this stage of temptation, one has already committed sin in one's heart. Coupling involves playing with the idea of committing sin, thinking about doing it and even thinking about how one will do it and possibly even avoid being caught doing it.

The fourth stage of temptation is assent. At this stage, one makes a mental decision to commit a sin.

The fifth stage is prepossession. One arrives at this stage when one has repeatedly committed a particular sin over and over again in the past. The sin becomes a habit.

One must exercise much effort to resist such sins when one has reached the fifth stage of temptation. Fasting, prayer, reading the Bible and other holy books, practicing the remembrance of death, and other ascetical practices are necessary to defeat a prepossession.

If one does not fight vigorously against a prepossession, then one will advance to the sixth stage of temptation, passion. At this stage, a particular sin dominates one's life to such an extent that one not only commits a sin by habit, but is overly preoccupied with the practice of that sin.

It is very difficult to defeat a passion. One must fast, pray, and try to continually weaken the tendency to commit such sins that have become passions. It takes a lot of help from God and a lot of asceticism in order to gain the victory in such cases.

Steve

Bibliography

The Philokalia, volumes 1-4, compiled by St. Nikodemus of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, translated from the Greek and edited by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware, published by Faber and Faber, Ltd., London, copyright 1979 by The Eling Trust

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Devil and His Demons

2010-04-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

In the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed, it says, "I believe one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible." We Orthodox Christians believe in the existence of invisible things as well as visible things. Some of the invisible things are the angels.

Among the angels, there are holy angels who live in obedience to God and unholy ones who disobey Him. The angels consist of nine choirs: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, powers, dominions, authorities, principalities, archangels, and angels. There may be other choirs of angels, but these are the only ones that we know of and that are mentioned in the Bible.

The unholy angels are called demons. Their leader is Satan. There are different ranks among the unholy angels, just as there are among the holy ones.

Sometime before the creation of man, Satan led a rebellion against God in Heaven and got one third of the angels to follow him. (Rev. 12:3,4) Pride was the first sin. (Isaiah 14:12-15) Jesus the Son of Sirach said that "pride is the beginning of sin." (Ecclus. 10:13) It was the sin of pride that evolved into the sin of rebellion and sparked the Satanic revolt in Heaven.

After the creation of man, Satan developed the sin of envy. He envied man and wanted to cause his downfall. (Wisdom 2:24) He encouraged man to sin by lying to him and thus caused his death. (Gen. 3) The sin of envy produced the sins of deceit and murder. Jesus said that Satan is "a liar" and was "a murderer from the beginning." (St. John 8:44) He said that he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (St. John 10:10)

Later, after the creation of man, some angels of the lowest order fell into the sin of lust. They saw the female offspring of man and desired to mate with them. (Gen. 6:1-4) These fallen angels, according to some ancient writers, are the ones who introduced man to the occult arts of astrology and witchcraft.* In the Hebrew text of Isaiah, the name of a female demon is mentioned. Her name is Lilith. (Isaiah 34:14, NRSV) According to a Jewish myth, she seduced Adam and became his first wife.** According to Babylonian mythology, she seduces men in desert places. In the Book of Tobit, the name of another demon is mentioned. His name is Asmodeus. He lusted after a young Hebrew woman named Sara and killed her first seven husbands before they could consummate their marriages with her. (Tobit 3:7,8; 6:12-17) So, there are male and female demons who lust after humans and even try to encourage them to lust. In demonology, these demons are called incubi and succubi. An incubus is a male demon who lusts after human women. A succubus is a female demon who lusts after human men.

St. Paul told the Ephesian Christians that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual hosts of wickedness, that is, the demons. (Eph. 6:12) The demons are still working to cause the downfall of man. They oppose any of attempts of man to acquire the likeness of God and participate in the divine energies. They inspire people to do evil, encourage hate, and try to put man against man. They promote greed, covetousness, lust, sexual immorality, and sexual perversions. They try to undermine any work of God. They encourage the spread of heresies. Many of the modern heresies are just ancient ones taught by modern people.

We are supposed to abstain from every form of evil. (I Thess. 5:22) We need to shun sin in all of its forms. In the process of trying to abstain from evil, however, we often encounter attempts by the demons to pull us into evil. There is an ongoing warfare going on for the souls of humans.

Steve

* When, therefore, the number of men had begun to increase, God in His forethought, lest the devil, to whom from the beginning He had given power over the earth, should by his subtilty either corrupt or destroy men, as he had done at first, sent angels for the protection and improvement of the human race; and inasmuch as He had given these a free will, He enjoined them above all things not to defile themselves with contamination from the earth, and thus lose the dignity of their heavenly nature. He plainly prohibited them from doing that which He knew that they would do, that they might entertain no hope of pardon. Therefore, while they abode among men, that most deceitful ruler of the earth (II Cor. 4:4), by his very association, gradually enticed them to vices, and polluted them by intercourse with women. Then, not being admitted into heaven on account of the sins into which they had plunged themselves, they fell to the earth. Thus from angels the devil makes them to become his satellites and attendants. (The Divine Institutes, Book II, chapter XV, by Lactantius, 260-330 A.D., vol. 7, p. 64, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

These [the angels who had intercourse with human women] were the inventors of astrology, and soothsaying, and divination, and those productions which are called oracles, and necromancy, and the art of magic, and whatever evil practices besides these men exercise, either openly or in secret. (The Divine Institutes, Book II, chapter XVII, by Lactantius, 260-330 A.D., vol. 7, p. 65, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

** The New Revised Standard Version of Isaiah says:

Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-demons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest. (Isaiah 34:14, NRSV)

Lilith, according to ancient Jews and Babylonians, was a female demon. A Jewish myth said that she was Adam's first wife and that Adam had intercourse with her before having intercourse with Eve. Maybe some of this myth is true and some of it is false. Maybe she seduced Adam, but was not his first wife. Maybe she seduced him after he had some children with Eve. 99.99% of Adam's biography is missing from the Bible. We do not have a full, detailed account of Adam's 930 years of mortal existence.

Bibliography

Forty

2010-02-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

The ancient mathematicians thought more about the symbolism of numbers than many of us do today. They examined numbers to see what other numbers made up them. The number forty is the one I will deal with in this blog.

Forty occurs many times in the Sacred Scriptures. Both Moses and Elijah fasted for forty days. (Ex. 34:28; I Kings 19:8) During the times of Noah, it rained forty days and forty nights. (Gen. 7:4,12) Our Lord fasted for forty days, too. (St. Matt. 4:2) The ancient Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness before reaching the promised land. (Nehemiah 9:21) After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus walked on the Earth for forty days before ascending up into Heaven. (Acts 1:3-11)

Forty also occurs frequently on the Church calendar. There are forty days of Great Lent. There are forty days from Pascha (Orthodox Easter) to the Feast of the Ascension. There are forty days from the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6) to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14). There are forty days of Advent (November 15 to December 24). There are forty days from Christmas (December 25) to the Feast of the Meeting of our Lord (February 2).

Ancient mathematicians were particularly interested in the shapes of numbers. They arranged dots or objects into patterns to see what shape each number had. Three, for example, is a triangular number. Three dots can be arranged into the shape of a triangle. The triangle is, of course, a symbol of the Holy Trinity. Four is a square number because four dots can be arranged to form a square. Eight is a cubic number. Eight dots can be arranged to form a cube. Then, there are the spherical numbers. Twenty-five is spherical. Multiply five by itself and you get twenty-five. Twenty-five ends in five — the same number that is its multiple. Thirty-six is also spherical. Six times six is thirty-six and the last digit of thirty-six is six.

Forty is 4 times 10. There are four corners of the earth and four seasons. Ten is made up of 7 and 3. Seven represents the seven days of the week. It, therefore, represents time. Seven also represents perfection. Three is the number of the Trinity. Ten is a temporal and spiritual number. There are ten commandments. The first three pertain to God. (Ex. 20:1-7) The last seven pertain to man. (Exodus 20:8-17) The fourth commandment is about the Sabbath. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. (St. Mark 2:27) It is really a commandment that pertains to man. Forty represents the journey of this life toward the eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God because it consists of the multiples 4 and 10. Blessed Augustine wrote about the number forty in one of his letters.

As to the reason why this life of toil and self-control is symbolized by the number 40, it seems to me that the number ten (in which is the perfection of our blessedness, as in the number eight, because it returns to the unit) has a like place in this number [as the unit has in giving its significance to eight]; and therefore I regard the number forty as a fit symbol for this life, because in it the creature (of which the symbolical number is seven) cleaves to the Creator, in whom is revealed that unity of the Trinity which is to be published while time lasts throughout this whole world, — a world swept by four winds, constituted of four elements, and experiencing the changes of four seasons in the year. Now four times ten [seven added to three] are forty; but the number forty reckoned in along with [one of] its parts adds the number ten, [as seven reckoned in along with one of its parts adds the unit,] and the total is fifty, — the symbol, as it were, of the reward of the toil and self-control. For it is not without reason that the Lord Himself continued for forty days on this earth and in this life in fellowship with His disciples after His resurrection, and, when He ascended into heaven, sent the promised Holy Spirit, after an interval of ten days more, when the day of Pentecost was fully come. This fiftieth day, moreover, has wrapped up in it another holy mystery: for 7 times 7 days are 49. And when we return to the beginning of another seven, and add the eighth, which is also the first day of the week, we have the 50 days complete; which period of fifty days we celebrate after the Lord’s resurrection, as representing not toil, but rest and gladness. For this reason we do not fast in them; and in praying we stand upright, which is an emblem of resurrection. Hence, also, every Lord’s day during the fifty days, this usage is observed at the altar, and the Alleluia is sung, which signifies that our future exercise shall consist wholly in praising God, as it is written: “Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord: they will be still (i.e. eternally) praising Thee.” (Psalm 83:5, LXX; Psalm 84:5, Hebrew) (Letter LV, chapter XV, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 1, pp. 312-313, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Another interesting feature of forty is that it is made up of the multiples of 8 and 5. Jesus arose from the dead on the eighth day, the day after the Sabbath. The eighth day in Christian symbolism is the day with no sunset. It is the eternal day that we all hope one day to see. Blessed Augustine also wrote about the eighth day.

The Lord’s day, however, has been made known not to the Jews, but to Christians, by the resurrection of the Lord, and from Him it began to have the festive character which is proper to it. For the souls of the pious dead are, indeed, in a state of repose before the resurrection of the body, but they are not engaged in the same active exercises as shall engage the strength of their bodies when restored. Now, of this condition of active exercise the eighth day (which is also the first of the week) is a type, because it does not put an end to that repose, but glorifies it. For with the reunion of the body no hindrance of the soul’s rest returns, because in the restored body there is no corruption: for “this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (I Cor. 15:53) Wherefore, although the sacramental import of the 8th number, as signifying the resurrection, was by no means concealed from the holy men of old who were filled with the spirit of prophecy (for in the title of Psalms* we find the words “for the eighth,” and infants were circumcised on the eighth day; and in Ecclesiastes it is said, with allusion to the two covenants, “Give a portion to seven, and also to eight”) (Eccl. 11:2); nevertheless before the resurrection of the Lord, it was reserved and hidden, and the Sabbath alone was appointed to be observed, because before that event there was indeed the, repose of the dead (of which the Sabbath rest was a type), but there was not any instance of the resurrection of one who, rising from the dead, was no more to die, and over whom death should no longer have dominion; this being done in order that, from the time when such a resurrection did take place in the Lord’s own body (the Head of the Church being the first to experience that which His body, the Church, expects at the end of time), the day upon which He rose, the eighth day namely (which is the same with the first of the week), should begin to be observed as the Lord’s day. The same reason enables us to understand why, in regard to the day of keeping the Passover, on which the Jews were commanded to kill and eat a lamb, which was most clearly a foreshadowing of the Lord’s Passion, there was no injunction given to them that they should take the day of the week into account, waiting until the Sabbath was past, and making the beginning of the third week of the moon coincide with the beginning of the third week of the first month; the reason being, that the Lord might rather in His own Passion declare the significance of that day, as He had come also to declare the mystery of the day now known as the Lord’s day, the eighth namely, which is also the first of the week. (Letter LV, chapter XIII, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 1, p. 310, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Eight when multiplied by itself five times, that is, eight to the fifth power, is 32,768. 32,768 is a spherical number because the last digit is 8, its multiple. Eight times five is forty.

As for the number five, we have five senses. There are five books of Moses. There are five books of Solomon.** Christ fed five thousand people using five loaves and two fish. In the Russian tradition, the priest uses five loaves of prosphora bread to do the proskomedia before the Divine Liturgy. Five is the number that makes up the Cross.

The very form of the Cross, too, has five extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails. (Against Heresies, Book II, chapter 24, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 395, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Each of us must bear his or her own cross in the hope of one day enjoying eternal life in that eighth day, the day with no sunset.

And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it. (St. Luke 9:23,24)

Forty, as Blessed Augustine says, symbolizes this life of toil and self-control.

Steve

* In the titles of Psalms 6 and 11 in the Septuagint.

** Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the Wisdom of Solomon, and the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus). The last two books were not actually written by Solomon but are grouped with his three books due to a certain resemblance of style.

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Benefits of Chrismation

2010-01-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

One may wonder why should one be chrismated. Is not baptism enough? Are there any benefits derived from the Sacrament of Chrismation? The answer to these questions can be found in the writings of the Church Fathers.

In his 21st Catechetical Lecture, St. Cyril of Jerusalem says that we are made christs when we are chrismated. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit after He was baptized. We are anointed with the Holy Chrism which represents the Holy Spirit after we are baptized.

Having been baptized into Christ, and put on Christ (Gal. 3:27), ye have been made comformable to the Son of God; for God having foreordained us unto adoption as sons (Eph. 1:5), made us to be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory. (Phil. 3:21) Having therefore become partakers of Christ (Heb. 3:14), ye are properly called Christs, and of you God said, "Touch not My Christs" (Psalm 104:15, LXX; Psalm 105:15, Hebrew), or anointed. Now ye have been made Christs, by receiving the antitype of the Holy Ghost; and all things have been wrought in you by imitation, because ye are images of Christ. He washed in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance of His Godhead to the waters, He came up from them; and the Holy Ghost in the fulness of His being lighted on Him, like resting upon like. And to you in like manner, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, there was given an Unction, the anti-type of that wherewith Christ was anointed; and this is the Holy Ghost; of whom also the blessed Esaias, in his prophecy respecting Him, said in the person of the Lord, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to preach glad tidings to the poor." (Isaiah 61:1) (The Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XXI, paragraph 1, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 149, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The ointment used in chrismation should not be regarded as common ointment. It represents the Holy Spirit, but when applied to various parts of a person's body in the Sacrament of Chrismation, the Holy Spirit sanctifies a person's soul.

But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist. after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ’s gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature. Which ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses; and while thy body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit. (The Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XXI, paragraph 3, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 150, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

When one is chrismated, one becomes armed with the Holy Spirit to fight against the devil.

For as Christ after His Baptism, and the visitation of the Holy Ghost, went forth and vanquished the adversary, so likewise ye, after Holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the whole armour of the Holy Ghost, are to stand against the power of the adversary, and vanquish it, saying, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil. 4:13) (The Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XXI, paragraph 4, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 150, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

St. Ephraim the Syrian said that when we are anointed with the Holy Chrism, Christ invisibly marks us as His sheep.

Christ and chrism are conjoined; the secret with the visible is mingled: the chrism anoints visibly, — Christ seals secretly, the lambs newborn and spiritual, the prize of His twofold victory; for He engendered it of the chrism, and He gave it birth of the water. (Fifteen Hymns for the Feast of Epiphany, Hymn 3, verse 1, by St. Ephraim the Syrian, 306-378 A.D., vol. 13, p. 268, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Since then she, that sinner, stood in need of forgiveness, the anointing was for her an offering, and by it her love reconciled her Lord. But you who are the flock, among the profane and unbelievers, the Truth by the chrism is your seal, to separate you from the strayed. (Fifteen Hymns for the Feast of Epiphany, Hymn 3, verse 3, by St. Ephraim the Syrian, 306-378 A.D., vol. 13, p. 268, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The chrism of the meek and lowly One, changes the stubborn to be like its Lord. The Gentiles were wolves and feared, the severe rod of Moses. Lo! The chrism seals them and makes, a flock of sheep out of the wolves! And the wolves that had fled from the rod, lo! They have taken refuge in the Cross! (Fifteen Hymns for the Feast of Epiphany, Hymn 3, verse 7, by St. Ephraim the Syrian, 306-378 A.D., vol. 13, p. 268, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

We are called Christians because we are anointed with the Holy Chrism.

And about your laughing at me and calling me “Christian,” you know not what you are saying. First, because that which is anointed (christos) is sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible. For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy, unless it be first caulked [anointed]? Or what castle or house is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he enters into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished? Then the air and all that is under heaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit; and are you unwilling to be anointed (christos) with the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed (christos) with the oil of God. (To Autolycus, Book II, chapter 12, by St. Theophilus of Antioch, 115-181 A.D., vol. 2, p. 92, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Having been counted worthy of this Holy Chrism, ye are called Christians, verifying the name also by your new birth. For before you were deemed worthy of this grace, ye had properly no right to this title, but were advancing on your way towards being Christians. (The Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XXI, paragraph 5, by St. Cyril of Jerusalem 318-386 A.D., vol. 7, p. 150, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

So then, there are spiritual benefits derived from having received the Sacrament of Chrismation. When someone is chrismated, he or she is marked as one of Christ's sheep and his or her soul is sanctified by the Holy Spirit. People are made "christs" when they are chrismated. They are armed with the Holy Spirit to fight the devil after the priest chrismates them. The name, Christian, is derived from the practice of chrismation.

Steve

Bibliography

How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit

2010-01-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

There is a popular teaching circulating among some people today about some sort of second work of grace called the filling of the Holy Spirit. These people say that after one "gets saved," he needs to be "filled with the Holy Spirit." The verse they use to support this doctrine is found in Ephesians 5:18 where St. Paul says:

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. (Eph. 5:18)

They say that one must yield one's life to God and pray a prayer asking God to fill him or her with His Holy Spirit. The people who teach this doctrine seem to think that there is a special class of Christians who are Spirit-filled Christians and another class of Christians who are not filled with the Holy Spirit.

Of course, we should yield our lives to God. We need to be doing this on a day by day, moment by moment basis, but there is no second work of grace called the filling of the Holy Spirit.

As for praying to be filled with the Holy Spirit, there is a prayer that Orthodox pray when they are beginning their prayers. It is:

O Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who art in all places and fillest all things, the Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Every Christian who prays this prayer in faith is being filled with the Holy Spirit as he or she prays.

The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. For attribute click here.

One of the things that I oppose in the teaching of this novel doctrine about being filled with the Holy Spirit is the idea that there are Christians walking around without some special filling of the Holy Spirit and there are Christians who have this special filling of the Holy Spirit after having made a decision to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

There are many fillings of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible. King Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit when he prophesied. (I Sam. 10:9-13) St. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he spoke to the Jewish religious leaders about Christ. (Acts 4:5-12) St. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit when he spoke to Elymas the Sorcerer and told him he would become blind for a while. (Acts 13:8-11) St. John Chrysostom said that we are filled with the Holy Spirit when we are baptized.

See how even among the seven one was preëminent, and won the first prize. For though the ordination was common to him and them, yet he drew upon himself greater grace. And observe, how he wrought no (signs and wonders) before this time, but only when he became publicly known; to show that grace alone is not sufficient, but there must be ordination also; so that there was a further access of the Spirit. For if they were full of the Spirit, it was of that which is from the Laver of Baptism. (Homilies on the Acts of the Holy Apostles, Homily XV, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 11, p. 94, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

He also said that we are filled with the Holy Spirit when we sing psalms to God.

“But be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God even the Father; subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.” (Eph. 5:18-21)

Dost thou wish, he says, to be cheerful, dost thou wish to employ the day? I give thee spiritual drink; for drunkenness even cuts off the articulate sound of our tongue; it makes us lisp and stammer, and distorts the eyes, and the whole frame together. Learn to sing psalms, and thou shall see the delightfulness of the employment. For they who sing psalms are filled with the Holy Spirit, as they who sing satanic songs are filled with an unclean spirit.

What is meant by “with your hearts to the Lord”? It means, with close attention and understanding. For they who do not attend closely, merely sing, uttering the words, whilst their heart is roaming elsewhere. (Homilies on St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, Homily XIX, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 13, p. 138, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

That is what St. Paul was talking about when he told the Ephesian Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 5:18) He meant to do that by singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord. (Eph. 5:19) He was not telling them they need some special second work of grace that would make them better than the average Christian.

Some of these people who teach this doctrine say that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit after having made a decision to do so, we immediately acquire the "fruit of the Spirit" mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23.

It is true that those qualities mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23 are the work of the Holy Spirit, but we ourselves often have to work with God at acquiring those qualities. We have to cooperate with God to obtain love, joy, peace, faithfulness, meekness, and all of those other qualities. They do not just come to us after we say one prayer. St. Gregory Dialogos said that those who are full of the Holy Spirit will exhibit both zeal and meekness.

Those, therefore, are to be admonished to fly what is close beside themselves, these to take heed to what is in themselves; those to discern what they have not, these what they have. Let the meek embrace solicitude; let the passionate ban perturbation, The meek are to be admonished that they study to have also the zeal of righteousness: the passionate are to be admonished that to the zeal which they think they have they add meekness. For on this account the Holy Spirit has been manifested to us in a dove and in fire; because, to wit, all whom He fills He causes to shew themselves as meek with the simplicity of the dove, and burning with the fire of zeal.

He then is in no wise full of the Holy Spirit, who either in the calm of meekness forsakes the fervour of zeal, or again in the ardour of zeal loses the virtue of meekness. (The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part III, chapter 16, by St. Gregory Dialogos, 540-604 A.D., vol. 12, part 2, p. 40, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

So then, there are actually many ways that one can be filled with the Holy Spirit. One can be filled with the Holy Spirit when he or she is baptized. One can become filled with the Holy Spirit by striving to acquire virtue. One can be filled with the Holy Spirit while singing hymns and songs of praise to God.

Yes, we do need to yield our lives to God, but that is something every Christian should be doing anyway. Jesus said:

And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? (St. Luke 6:46)

and:

If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed. (St John 8:31)

Striving to live a life pleasing to God is the job of every Christian. Any Christian who is doing that is filled with the Holy Spirit. Worshipping God is something every Christian should do regularly. Any Christian who sings hymns to God is filled with the Holy Spirit when he or she is doing so. There are many times during the life of a Christian when he or she will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who gives himself over to overindulging in carnal pleasure, however, becomes a servant of carnal pleasure. St. Paul said:

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom. 8:8)

Such people are not filled with the Holy Spirit. In the next verse, the apostle says:

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. (Rom. 8:9)

Everyone who has been baptized and chrismated has the Holy Spirit. We are filled with the Holy Spirit from the very moment that we issue from the baptismal font. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit after being chrismated.

The apostle further adds:

Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. (Rom. 8:9)

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, is not a Christian. Anyone who is a Christian has the Holy Spirit. There is no special class of Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit and another class that is not.

Remember from previous blogs that I have said that the Holy Spirit is God. No one can have God without having the Holy Spirit. No one can the Holy Spirit without having God. It is impossible to have one Person of the Holy Trinity without having the other Two. All Three Persons are one God and share the same essence.

Now, it is possible for the Holy Spirit to depart from a Christian. Actually, it is the sinning Christian who departs from the Holy Spirit and not the other way around although we often speak of the Holy Spirit departing from a person. The Holy Spirit, being God, is in all places at all times. So, a Christian can lapse and depart from God.

There are many examples of someone losing his relationship with the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The Holy Spirit departed from King Saul because of his disobedience. (I Sam. 16:14) King David prayed that the Holy Spirit would not leave him after he committed adultery with Bathsheba. (Psalm 50:11, LXX; Psalm 51:11, Hebrew) When a Christian returns to a life of sin, the Holy Spirit departs from him. (Wisd. 1:4,5; II Chron. 15:2; Rom. 8:13, 14)

So then, there are many fillings of the Holy Spirit. All Christians have the Holy Spirit and any Christian who returns to a life of sin, has put his soul in jeopardy and lost his relationship with God. Lapsed Christians, like non-Christians, do not have the Holy Spirit. They must repent in order to regain their relationship with God.

Steve

Bibliography

What is Regeneration?

2009-12-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

In my blogs on baptism, I have frequently mentioned that people are regenerated when they are baptized. The question, then, may arise as to what exactly is regeneration. The answer to the question can be found in the Holy Scriptures, in the writings of the Church Fathers, and in those of other ancient Christian writers.

In St. John's Gospel, we read that our Lord told Nicodemus:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. (St. John 3:3)

We can see here that "being born again" or regenerated is essential to a person's eternal salvation. Without a new birth, one will not be able to enjoy eternal life in the Kingdom of God. This is what our Lord was telling Nicodemus.

Nicodemus asked our Lord:

How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? (St. John 3:4)

Nicodemus was asking Jesus how to be born again.

Jesus told him how. He said:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (St. John 3:5-8)

The Lord told Nicodemus that we are born again when we are born of water and of the Holy Spirit. He was talking about baptism. When we are baptized, we are "born again." This is the teaching of the Church Fathers and ancient Christian writers.

For Christ, being the first-born of every creature, became again the chief of another race regenerated by Himself through water, and faith, and wood, containing the mystery of the Cross; even as Noah was saved by wood when he rode over the waters with his household. (The Dialogue of Justin with Trypho the Jew, Chapter CXXXVIII, by St. Justin the Martyr, 110-165 A.D., vol. 1, p. 268, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

“And dipped himself,” says [the Scripture], “seven times in Jordan.” (II Kings 5:14) It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (St. John 3:5) (Fragments of the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, Fragment XXXIV, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 543, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Moreover, the things proceeding from the waters were blessed by God, that this also might be a sign of men’s being destined to receive repentance and remission of sins, through the water and laver of regeneration, — as many as come to the truth, and are born again, and receive blessing from God. (To Autolycus, Book II, chapter 16, by St. Theophilus of Antioch, 115-181 A.D., vol. 2, p. 101, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

The view I take is, that He Himself formed man of the dust, and regenerated him by water; and made him grow by His Spirit; and trained him by His word to adoption and salvation, directing him by sacred precepts; in order that, transforming earth-born man into a holy and heavenly being by His advent, He might fulfil to the utmost that divine utterance, “Let Us make man in Our own image and likeness.” (Gen. 1:26) (The Instructor, Book I, chapter 12, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 234, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

But what a thing it is, to assert and contend that they who are not born in the Church can be the sons of God! For the blessed apostle sets forth and proves that baptism is that wherein the old man dies and the new man is born, saying, “He saved us by the washing of regeneration.” (Titus 3:5) (Epistle LXXIII, paragraph 6, by St. Cyprian of Carthage, 200-258 A.D., vol. 5, p. 388, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

These verily are they who are entrusted with the pangs of spiritual travail and the birth which comes through baptism: by their means we put on Christ, and are buried with the Son of God, and become members of that blessed Head. (A Treatise on the Priesthood, Book III, paragraph 6, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 9, p. 47, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

People who are from religious traditions that do not teach baptismal regeneration may think of this as being odd. They may wonder how can the water of baptism bring about the new birth. It is not the water. It is the Holy Spirit in the water. The Holy Spirit regenerates us in the waters of baptism. The water is supposed to be consecrated by prayer before performing a baptism. This is Holy Tradition. St. Basil the Great wrote about this apostolic tradition in his book, On the Holy Spirit.

Moreover we bless the water of baptism and the oil of the chrism, and besides this the catechumen who is being baptized. On what written authority do we do this? Is not our authority silent and mystical tradition? (On the Holy Spirit, chapter 27, by St. Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D., vol. 8, p. 41, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The prescription to do this is not found anywhere in the Bible.

Regeneration is spiritual. It happens to our souls. Jesus said:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (St. John 3:6)

Clement of Alexandria wrote:

And as the regeneration was conformably spiritual, so also was the nutriment of man spiritual. (The Instructor, Book I, chapter 6, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 221, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

When God regenerates someone's soul, it happens invisibly. No one can see the work of the Holy Spirit taking place in the waters of baptism. We know by faith that it does occur, because this is the true teaching of the Church. Jesus said:

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (St. John 3:7,8)

When we are regenerated, we become children of God and we put away our former manner of life. We embrace a new life, living in obedience to God.

Truly, then, are we the children of God, who have put aside the old man, and stripped off the garment of wickedness, and put on the immortality of Christ; that we may become a new, holy people by regeneration, and may keep the man undefiled. (The Instructor, Book I, chapter 6, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 217, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Therefore, when the soul embraces the faith, being renewed in its second birth by water and the power from above, then the veil of its former corruption being taken away, it beholds the light in all its brightness. It is also taken up (in its second birth) by the Holy Spirit, just as in its first birth it is embraced by the unholy spirit. The flesh follows the soul now wedded to the Spirit, as a part of the bridal portion — no longer the servant of the soul, but of the Spirit. (A Treatise on the Soul, Chapter XLI, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 221, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, “Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." (St. John 3:3) (The First Apology, Chapter LXI, by St. Justin the Martyr, 110-165 A.D., vol. 1, p. 183, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Regeneration is not repentance and it is not faith. St. Peter told the Jews who witnessed the first Christians speaking in foreign languages that they had never studied:

Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)

The Jews to whom St. Peter spoke had to repent before being baptized. When they were baptized, they were regenerated.

For an adult or teenager converting to Christ, repentance comes first along with faith in Christ. Then, baptism follows. It is in baptism that one experiences the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

The Ethiopian eunuch in the Book of Acts had faith in Christ before he was baptized by St. Philip the Deacon.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. (Acts 8:34-38)

So, it is possible to have faith in Christ and not be regenerate.

The children of Orthodox Christians are baptized shortly after they have been born. The 110th Canon of the Council of Carthage (419 A.D.) says:

Likewise it seemed good that whosoever denies that infants newly from their mother’s wombs should be baptized, or says that baptism is for remission of sins, but that they derive from Adam no original sin, which needs to be removed by the laver of regeneration, from whence the conclusion follows, that in them the form of baptism for the remission of sins, is to be understood as false and not true, let him be anathema.

For no otherwise can be understood what the Apostle says, “By one man sin is come into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed upon all men in that all have “sinned” (Rom. 5:12), than the Catholic Church everywhere diffused has always understood it. For on account of this rule of faith (regulam fidei) even infants, who could have committed as yet no sin themselves, therefore are truly baptized for the remission of sins, in order that what in them is the result of generation may be cleansed by regeneration. (Canon CX, Council of Carthage, 419 A.D., vol. 14, p. 496, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

As little babies, they are incapable of repentance and faith. They are not incapable of being regenerated, however.

So, repentance is not regeneration. Faith in Christ is not regeneration either. Repentance and faith in Christ are necessary for a person's salvation. The baptized children of Orthodox Christians need to be instructed in the Orthodox faith and they need to understand what sin is and repent when they sin. People outside the Church need to repent and have faith in Christ before they can be baptized. Regeneration, however, happens in the consecrated waters of baptism.

The Orthodox Church does not view the Fall of Man as being a total and complete fall, leaving man totally incapable of doing any good at all. Unregenerate men and women can still do good. Tertullian wrote:

Just as no soul is without sin, so neither is any soul without seeds of good. (A Treatise on the Soul, Chapter XLI, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 221, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

However, unregenerate people cannot climb to the heights of spiritual sanctity that the Saints have reached. Regeneration makes one a child of God and enables one to advance further up the ladder of spiritual perfection. Jesus said:

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. (St. Matt. 5:20)

and:

Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven. (St. Matt. 7:21)

We must advance spiritually in order to gain admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Without regeneration, one can only advance to a certain level of goodness and go no higher.

The Pharisees were capable of doing good, but they were unregenerate. Jesus said:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. (St. Matt. 23:25,26)

It is possible to be outwardly good and inwardly evil. It is also possible to be good and have no relationship with Christ. St. Lydia of Thyatira worshiped God and was a good woman, but she was unregenerate. After she heard the Gospel preached by St. Paul, she believed in Christ and was baptized. She was unregenerate until she had been baptized.

And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. (Acts 16:13-15)

St. Paul taught that we are regenerated when we are baptized.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. (Eph. 5:25,26)

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. (Titus 3:4,5)

Baptism is not a work, by the way. It is a gift. St. John Chrysostom wrote the following text about baptism:

But, if you will, let us discourse about the name which this mystic cleansing bears: for its name is not one, but very many and various. For this purification is called the laver of regeneration. “He saved us,” he saith, “through the laver of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5) It is called also illumination, and this St. Paul again has called it, “For call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great conflict of sufferings” (Heb. 10:32); and again, “For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and then fell away, to renew them again unto repentance.” (Heb. 6:4) It is called also, baptism: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27) It is called also burial: “For we were buried” saith he, “with Him, through baptism, into death.” (Rom. 6:4) It is called circumcision: “In whom ye were also circumcised, with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh.” (Col. 2:11) It is called a cross: “Our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away.” (Rom. 6:6) It is also possible to speak of other names besides these, but in order that we should not spend our whole time over the names of this free gift, come, return to the first name, and let us finish our discourse by declaring its meaning; but in the meantime, let us extend our teaching a little further. (Instruction to Catechumens, First Instruction, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 9, pp. 160-161, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Notice that he called baptism a "free gift."

Regeneration of the soul is essential to our salvation. Tertullian wrote:

Every soul, then, by reason of its birth, has its nature in Adam until it is born again in Christ; moreover, it is unclean all the while that it remains without this regeneration (Rom. 6:4); and because unclean, it is actively sinful, and suffuses even the flesh (by reason of their conjunction) with its own shame. (A Treatise on the Soul, Chapter XL, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 22o, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

When we are regenerated, our souls are renewed and cleansed. They are enabled to live the kind of life that God wants us to live and to reach greater heights of holiness and righteousness in life.

There is another regeneration — regeneration of the flesh. Baptism also is an aid in the regeneration of the flesh which will take place at the general resurrection of the dead when Jesus Christ returns to judge the world. In the writings of Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian this connection between baptism and the regeneration of the flesh is made.

And the wretched creatures are not ashamed at having bestowed the greatest pains about this little oyster, when they might adorn themselves with the sacred jewel, the Word of God, whom the Scripture has somewhere called a pearl, the pure and pellucid Jesus, the eye that watches in the flesh, — the transparent Word, by whom the flesh, regenerated by water, becomes precious. (The Instructor, Book II, chapter 13, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 267, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Now it would not at all have been consistent that any rule of holiness and righteousness should be especially enjoined for the flesh, if the reward of such a discipline were not also within its reach; nor could even baptism be properly ordered for the flesh, if by its regeneration a course were not inaugurated tending to its restitution; the apostle himself suggesting this idea: “Know ye not, that so many of us as are baptized into Jesus Christ, are baptized into His death? We are therefore buried with Him by baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3,4) And that you may not suppose that this is said merely of that life which we have to walk in the newness of, through baptism, by faith, the apostle with superlative forethought adds: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of Christ’s death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” (Rom. 6:5) (On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Chapter XLVII, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 580, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

The use of the word, regeneration, in reference to the resurrection of the dead can be found in the New Testament. Jesus used the word, "regeneration," in reference to the resurrection of the dead when speaking to His apostles. He said:

Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (St. Matt. 19:28)

Whence also the resurrection is actually spoken of as regeneration, according to the words of the Lord: “Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (St. Matt. 19:28) (Seven Books on the Incarnation of the Lord against Nestorius, Book V, chapter 7, by St. John Cassian, 360-436 A.D., vol. 11, p. 585, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Illumination accompanies regeneration. When one is illumined, one is able to know God.

Straightway, on our regeneration, we attained that perfection after which we aspired. For we were illuminated, which is to know God. (The Instructor, Book I, chapter 6, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 215, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

And inasmuch as man, with respect to that formation which, was after Adam, having fallen into transgression, needed the laver of regeneration, [the Lord] said to him [upon whom He had conferred sight], after He had smeared his eyes with the clay, “Go to Siloam, and wash” (St. John 9:7); thus restoring to him both [his perfect] confirmation, and that regeneration which takes place by means of the laver. And for this reason when he was washed he came seeing, that he might both know Him who had fashioned him, and that man might learn [to know] Him who has conferred upon him life. (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 15, paragraph 3, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 543, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

To sum up, spiritual regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit that occurs in baptism. It is not repentance and it is not faith in Christ. It is possible to be a good person and be unregenerate. We need to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit in order to advance spiritually to the heights of holiness and righteousness that God call us to.

Steve

Bibliography

Two Other Baptisms

2009-11-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

In the third chapter of St. John's Gospel, our Lord speaks about the baptism with water when He tells Nicodemus: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." (St. John 3:5) Whenever one speaks of baptism, one usually thinks of this type of baptism. There are two other baptisms in addition to this one: the baptism with blood and the baptism with tears.

The baptism with blood is a far nobler form of baptism than the baptism with water. It is the baptism that martyrs receive from their persecutors. Tertullian spoke of this type of baptism in his work, On Baptism.

We have indeed, likewise, a second font, (itself withal one with the former,) of blood, to wit; concerning which the Lord said, “I have to be baptized with a baptism” (St. Luke 12:50), when He had been baptized already. For He had come “by means of water and blood” (I John 5:6), just as John has written; that He might be baptized by the water, glorified by the blood; to make us, in like manner, called by water, chosen by blood. (St. Matt. 20:16; Rev. 17:14) (On Baptism, chapter 16, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 677, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Tertullian was talking about martyrdom. Martyrs are baptized in their own blood. Tertullian wrote about some catechumens who had never finished their catechetical instruction, but were martyred before they could be baptized. These catechumens were from Carthage in North Africa. They were Saturus, Revocatus, Saturninus, Secundulus, and Felicitas. St. Perpetua was also martyred along with them. Felicitas was pregnant when she was martyred. So, her unborn child received the baptism with blood along with her. Tertullian tells about their martyrdoms in The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas.

The second type of baptism is one that is experienced after one has received water baptism. It is called the baptism with tears. We all sin even after we have been baptized. We need to continue to experience God's forgiveness and His mercy. The way we do this is by repentance. True repentance brings not only pardon from the guilt of our sins, but also a change of heart and a change of life. When we repent we stop committing the sins we have repented of or at the very least, we start making a determined effort using various ascetical disciplines to stop committing those sins. St. John of Damascus defined repentance in these terms.

Repentance is the returning from the unnatural into the natural state, from the devil to God, through discipline and effort. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, chapter 30, by St. John of Damascus, 645-750 A.D., vol. 9, part 2, p. 43, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

The one who says to God, "Forgive me," but has no desire to change really has not repented. The one who says to God, "Forgive me," makes an effort to change, but then returns to his old sins is not much better. He is like the one who receives the Word of God on the rocky soil.

They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. (St. Luke 8:13)

He believes he needs to change the way he lives and asks God to forgive him, but he stops believing the Word and falls back into his old sins. His faith in God or rather his faithfulness to God is shallow and has no root.

The Greek word translated "faith" in the New Testament is pistis. Pistis also means "faithfulness." To believe in Jesus Christ means not to merely believe certain things about Him to be true, but also to trust Him and be faithful to Him. We exhibit our faith in Him and our faithfulness to Him by how we live our lives.

The goal in repentance is to be healed of sin, not to merely obtain pardon from God. Getting God to pardon us of our sins is the easy part of salvation. God loves us and wants to forgive us. Becoming healed of our sins is usually the more difficult part of salvation. It often requires discipline and effort.

St. Paul told the Philippian Christians: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil. 2:12) Repentance is just one of the many things we must do to work out our salvation. When we repent we are baptized with our tears.

So, there are these two other baptisms in addition to water baptism: one received by martyrs and one received by baptized Christians when they repent.

Steve

Bibliography

Circumcision, Baptism, and Chrismation

2009-11-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament, there was a practice among the Hebrews called circumcision. The practice was to cut off the foreskins of the male sex organs of men and male children. Circumcision was first practiced by Abraham in obedience to God's commandment. It was a sign of the covenant that God had made with Abraham and his seed.

And God said to Abraam, Thou also shalt fully keep My covenant, thou and thy seed after thee for their generations. And this is the covenant which thou shalt fully keep between Me and you, and between thy seed after thee for their generations; every male of you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you. And the child of eight days old shall be circumcised by you, every male throughout your generations, and the servant born in the house and he that is bought with money, of every son of a stranger, who is not of thy seed. (Gen. 17:9-12, LXX)

In the New Testament, there is a parallel between circumcision and baptism. St. Paul calls baptism "the circumcision of Christ."

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. (Col. 1:11,12)

After being baptized, people were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Originally, people received the seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of the hands of an apostle or a successor of an apostle (that is, a bishop). In Acts, it says that the deacon Philip baptized the new converts in Samaria, but he did not lay hands on any of them so that they could receive the Holy Spirit. He waited for the apostles John and Peter to do that.

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. (Acts 8:12-17)

In the next chapter of Acts, we can read about someone else laying hands on someone so that he could receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Ananias laid hands on Saul after he became a convert to Christ.

And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. (Acts 9:17, 18)

According to St. Hippolytus, Ananias was the first bishop of Damascus and one of the Seventy Apostles.

Ananias, who baptized Paul, and was bishop of Damascus. (The Same Hippolytus on the Seventy Apostles, by St. Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, p. 255, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

St. Paul laid hands on the Ephesians converts after baptizing them.

Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. (Acts 19:4-7)

He was an apostle. (Acts 14:14) Barnabas and he were ordained apostles in Antioch.

Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:1-3)

Sometime in the first century, the practice of chrismation replaced the practice of the laying on of hands. One had to be an apostle or a bishop to lay hands on someone so that he or she could be sealed with the Holy Spirit. After chrismation was instituted, presbyters (that is, priests) were allowed to chrismate the newly baptized with chrism made of myrrh oil and hallowed by a bishop.

There is evidence in the New Testament that chrismation was practiced in the first century. In St. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, it says:

Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (II Cor. 1:21,22)

The Greek word translated "anointed" in this passage is chrisas.

In the First Epistle of John, it says:

But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (I John 2:20)

The Greek word translated "unction" in this verse is chrisma.

Later in the same chapter of this epistle, it says:

But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. (I John 2:27)

The Greek word translated "anointing" in both places in this verse is also chrisma.

In the Book of Revelation, it talks about the servants of God being sealed in their foreheads.

And I saw another angel ascending from the East, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the Earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the Earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Rev. 7:2,3)

In this book, those who received this seal are protected from God's wrath that will be poured out upon the Earth.

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the Earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (Rev. 9:4)

These passages in Revelation are references to the practice of chrismation. Also, in the Book of Revelation it says that Jesus Christ has made His followers kings and priests unto God.

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:6)

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the Earth. (Rev. 5:10)

St. Peter calls Christians "a holy priesthood" and "a royal priesthood" in his First Epistle.

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (I Pet. 2:4,5)

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. (I Pet. 2:9)

In the Old Testament, priests and kings were anointed with oil. Moses anointed Aaron and his sons with oil when he ordained them as priests.

And thou shalt put them on Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, and thou shalt anoint them and fill their hands: and thou shalt sanctify them, that they may minister to Me in the priest’s office. (Ex. 28:37, LXX)

And having taken the garments, thou shalt put on Aaron thy brother both the full-length robe and the ephod and the oracle; and thou shalt join for him the oracle to the ephod. And thou shalt put the mitre on his head; and thou shalt put the plate, even the Holiness, on the mitre. And thou shalt take of the anointing oil, and thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt anoint him. (Ex. 29:5-7, LXX)

And thou shalt take of the blood from the altar, and of the anointing oil; and thou shalt sprinkle it upon Aaron and on his garments, and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; and he shall be sanctified and his apparel, and his sons and his sons’ apparel with him: but the blood of the ram thou shalt pour round about upon the altar. (Ex. 29:21, LXX)

And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them that they may minister to Me as priests. (Ex. 30:30, LXX)

And thou shalt put on Aaron the holy garments, and thou shalt anoint him, and thou shalt sanctify him, and he shall minister to Me as priest. And thou shalt bring up his sons, and shalt put garments on them. And thou shalt anoint them as thou didst anoint their father, and they shall minister to Me as priests; and it shall be that they shall have an everlasting anointing of priesthood, throughout their generations. (Ex. 40:13-15 LXX)

And Moses poured of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron; and he anointed him and sanctified him. (Lev. 8:12, LXX)

And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood that was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, and on his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him. And he sanctified Aaron and his garments, and his sons, and the garments of his sons with him. (Lev. 8:29, 30, LXX)

The prophet Samuel anointed Saul to be King of Israel.

And all the people went to Galgala, and Samuel anointed Saul there to be king before the Lord in Galgala, and there he offered meat-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord: and Samuel and all Israel rejoiced exceedingly. (I Sam. 11:15, LXX)

Later, Samuel anointed David to be King of Israel.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Arise, and anoint David, for he is good. And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel arose, and departed to Armathaim. (I Sam. 16:12, 13, LXX)

Sadoc the priest anointed Solomon to be King of Israel.

And Sadoc the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon, and blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Let king Solomon live. (II Kings 1:39, LXX)

Tertullian said that the practice of chrismation is based on this principle of anointing kings and priests.

After this, when we have issued from the font, we are thoroughly anointed with a blessed unction, — (a practice derived) from the old discipline, wherein on entering the priesthood, men were wont to be anointed with oil from a horn, ever since Aaron was anointed by Moses. (Ex. 29:7; Lev. 8:12; Psalm 132:2, LXX) Whence Aaron is called “Christ” (Lev. 4:5,16, LXX), from the “chrism,” which is “the unction; ”which, when made spiritual, furnished an appropriate name to the Lord, because He was “anointed” with the Spirit by God the Father; as written in the Acts: “For truly they were gathered together in this city against Thy Holy Son whom Thou hast anointed.” (Acts 4:27) Thus, too, in our case, the unction runs carnally, (i.e. on the body, ) but profits spiritually; in the same way as the act of baptism itself too is carnal, in that we are plunged in water, but the effect spiritual, in that we are freed from sins. (On Baptism, chapter 7, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 672, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Blessed Augustine wrote about chrismation in his writings. He also understood that chrism was used in this Sacrament to make people priests and kings to God.

To the words, “In them the second death hath no power,” are added the words, “but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6); and this refers not to the bishops alone, and presbyters, who are now specially called priests in the Church; but as we call all believers Christians on account of the Mystical Chrism, so we call all priests because they are members of the one Priest. Of them the Apostle Peter says, “A holy people, a royal priesthood.” (I Pet. 2:9) (The City of God, Book XX, chapter 10, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D., vol. 2, p. 432, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

St. Theophilus of Antioch spoke of chrismation in his writings. He lived in the second century. He said that it is because we are anointed with the oil of God that we are called Christians.

Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God. (To Autolycus, Book I, chapter 12, by St. Theophilus of Antioch, 115-181 A.D., vol. 2, p. 92, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

According to the Church Canons, the chrism used in chrismation can only be hallowed by a canonical Orthodox bishop. Presbyters are forbidden to hallow chrism.

And all the bishops replied: Neither the making of the chrism, nor the consecration of virgins, is to be done by presbyters, nor is it permitted to a presbyter to reconcile anyone in the public mass (in publica missa), this is the pleasure of all of us. (Canon VI, The Council of Carthage, 419 A.D., vol. 14, p. 446, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)*

In his Seventieth Epistle, St. Cyprian of Carthage said what the other bishops in his jurisdiction and he had decided in council regarding the validity of chrismations done by heretics.

Anointed also must he of necessity be, who is baptized, that having received the chrism — that is, unction, he may be the anointed of God, and have within him the grace of Christ. Moreover, it is the Eucharist through which the baptized are anointed, the oil sanctified on the altar. But he cannot sanctify the creature of oil, who has neither altar nor church. Whence neither can the spiritual unction be with heretics, since it is acknowledged that the oil cannot be sanctified nor the Eucharist celebrated among them. But we ought to know and remember that it is written, “Let not the oil of a sinner anoint my head” (Psalm 140:5, LXX); which the Holy Ghost forewarned in the Psalms, lest any, quitting the track, and wandering out of the path of truth, be anointed by heretics and adversaries of Christ. Moreover, when baptized, what kind of prayer can a profane priest and a sinner offer? In that it is written, “God heareth not a sinner; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth.” (St. John 9:31) (Epistle LXX, by St. Cyprian of Carthage, 200-258 A.D., vol. 14, p. 518, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

This Council of Carthage is one of the councils whose canons were adopted by the Quinisext Council in 692 A.D.*

Just as only an apostle or a successor of an apostle were the only ones who could lay hands on a person after he or she was baptized (Acts 8:12-17), so only a legitimate successor of the apostles can hallow chrism. The legitimacy to do this is passed on by legitimate ordination. In order for a bishop to be a valid bishop, he must have been ordained by two or three bishops who are legitimate bishops.

Let a bishop be ordained by two or three bishops. (Canon I, Canons of the Holy Apostles, vol. 14, p. 594, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)*

No one can ordain himself a bishop. No one but a legitimate bishop can legitimately ordain a presbyter (that is, a priest).

Let a presbyter, deacon, and the rest of the clergy, be ordained by one bishop. (Canon II, Canons of the Holy Apostles, vol. 14, p. 594, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)*

For this reason, the Orthodox Church does not recognize Protestant ministers as having valid Holy Orders. The Protestant Churches were started by men who were not legitimate Orthodox bishops and who were not in communion with the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Martin Luther, for example, was a German priest in the Roman Catholic Church. He was not even a bishop, but he started up his own Church that had bishops in it. A priest does not have the authority to ordain a bishop. John Calvin started up the Reformed Churches. He was not even a priest. He had no authority whatsoever to ordain anyone. The Baptist Churches came out of the Anabaptist movement. None of the men who started up these churches were legitimately ordained bishops. The Methodist Churches came from followers of John Wesley's teachings. John Wesley was an Anglican priest. He was not even a bishop in the Church of England.

So then, even if a Protestant minister were to perform a chrismation the exact same way that we do it, we Orthodox would not recognize it as being valid.

I do not mean to disparage the Protestants by saying these things. Although according to the Church Canons of the ancient Church Councils it is true that their ministers do not possess valid Holy Orders, there are, nevertheless, many fine people in the Protestant Churches and there are many godly ministers in their churches. They often teach and practice heresy unfortunately. I think that they do so in ignorance, not knowing anything about traditional Christianity and never having read any of the Church Fathers. I, myself, have spent much of my life as a Protestant and I can say that there were things that I used to think were "sound Biblical doctrines," but later I found out from reading the Church Fathers that I had some heretical beliefs.

Baptism replaced circumcision under the New Covenant in that a person's heart is circumcised in the Sacrament of Baptism through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Several of the Church Fathers taught this.

And we, who have approached God through Him, have received not carnal, but spiritual circumcision, which Enoch and those like him observed. And we have received it through baptism, since we were sinners, by God’s mercy; and all men may equally obtain it. (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, chapter XLIII, by St. Justin the Martyr, 110-165 A.D., vol. 1, p. 216, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

For in respect of the observance of the eighth day in the Jewish circumcision of the flesh, a Sacrament was given beforehand in shadow and in usage; but when Christ came, it was fulfilled in truth. For because the eighth day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, was to be that on which the Lord should rise again, and should quicken us, and give us circumcision of the spirit, the eighth day, that is, the first day after the Sabbath, and the Lord’s day, went before in the figure; which figure ceased when by and by the truth came, and spiritual circumcision was given to us.

For which reason we think that no one is to be hindered from obtaining grace by that law which was already ordained, and that spiritual circumcision ought not to be hindered by carnal circumcision, but that absolutely every man is to be admitted to the grace of Christ, since Peter also in the Acts of the Apostles speaks, and says, “The Lord hath said to me that I should call no man common or unclean.” (Acts 10:28) But if anything could hinder men from obtaining grace, their more heinous sins might rather hinder those who are mature and grown up and older. But again, if even to the greatest sinners, and to those who had sinned much against God, when they subsequently believed, remission of sins is granted — and nobody is hindered from baptism and from grace — how much rather ought we to shrink from hindering an infant, who, being lately born, has not sinned, except in that, being born after the flesh according to Adam, he has contracted the contagion of the ancient death at its earliest birth, who approaches the more easily on this very account to the reception of the forgiveness of sins — that to him are remitted, not his own sins, but the sins of another.

And therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council,* that by us no one ought to he hindered from baptism and from the grace of God, who is merciful and kind and loving to all. Which, since it is to be observed and maintained in respect of all, we think is to be even more observed in respect of infants and newly-born persons, who on this very account deserve more from our help and from the divine mercy, that immediately, on the very beginning of their birth, lamenting and weeping, they do nothing else but entreat. We bid you, dearest brother, ever heartily farewell. (Epistle LVIII, paragraphs 4-6, by St. Cyprian of Carthage, 200-258 A.D., vol. 5, p. 354, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

“In whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ.” (Col. 2:11)

See how near he is come to the thing. He saith, “In the putting” quite away, not putting off merely. “The body of sins.” He means, “the old life.” He is continually adverting to this in different ways, as he said above, “Who delivered us out of the power of darkness," and "reconciled us who were alienated,” that we should be “holy and without blemish.” (Col. 1:13,21) No longer, he saith, is the circumcision with the knife, but in Christ Himself; for no hand imparts this circumcision, as is the case there, but the Spirit. It circumciseth not a part, but the whole man. It is the body both in the one and the other case, but in the one it is carnally, in the other it is spiritually circumcised; but not as the Jews, for ye have not put off flesh, but sins. When and where? In Baptism. (Homilies on St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, Homily VI, by St. John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D., vol. 13, p. 285, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)

Chrismation replaced circumcision as the seal under the New Covenant. St. Paul called circumcision a seal.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised. (Rom. 4:11)

He spoke of people being sealed with the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Chrismation.

Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (II Cor. 1:21,22)

St. Gregory the Theologian said in his writings that chrismation is a seal.

But if you would fortify yourself beforehand with the Seal, and secure yourself for the future with the best and strongest of all aids, being signed both in body and in soul with the unction, as Israel was of old with that blood and unction of the firstborn at night that guarded him (Ex. 12:22), what then can happen to you, and what has been wrought out for you? (Oration XL: On Holy Baptism, paragraph 15, by St. Gregory the Theologian, 325-391 A.D., vol. 7, p. 364, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Since baptism and chrismation replace circumcision under the New Covenant and circumcision was administered to infants when they were eight days old (Gen. 17:12), the Orthodox Church practices infant baptism and infant chrismation. The children of Orthodox Christian parents are baptized and chrismated when they are at least eight days old. Unlike circumcision, however, baptism and chrismation are administered to both sexes and not to only the male sex as circumcision was.

Steve

* The canons of this regional Church council and the Canons of the Holy Apostles were adopted by the Quinisext Council in 692 A.D. The Quinisext Council is an extension of the Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils.

It has also seemed good to this holy Council, that the eighty-five canons, received and ratified by the holy and blessed Fathers before us, and also handed down to us in the name of the holy and glorious Apostles should from this time forth remain firm and unshaken for the cure of souls and the healing of disorders. And in these canons we are bidden to receive the Constitutions of the Holy Apostles [written] by Clement. But formerly through the agency of those who erred from the faith certain adulterous matter was introduced, clean contrary to piety, for the polluting of the Church, which obscures the elegance and beauty of the divine decrees in their present form. We therefore reject these Constitutions so as the better to make sure of the edification and security of the most Christian flock; by no means admitting the offspring of heretical error, and cleaving to the pure and perfect doctrine of the Apostles. But we set our seal likewise upon all the other holy canons set forth by our holy and blessed Fathers, that is, by the 318 holy God-bearing Fathers assembled at Nice, and those at Ancyra, further those at Neocaesarea and likewise those at Gangra, and besides, those at Antioch in Syria: those too at Laodicea in Phrygia: and likewise the 150 who assembled in this heaven-protected royal city: and the 200 who assembled the first time in the metropolis of the Ephesians, and the 630 holy and blessed Fathers at Chalcedon. In like manner those of Sardica, and those of Carthage: those also who again assembled in this heaven-protected royal city under its bishop Nectarius and Theophilus Archbishop of Alexandria. Likewise too the Canons [i.e. the decretal letters] of Dionysius, formerly Archbishop of the great city of Alexandria; and of Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria and Martyr; of Gregory the Wonder-worker, Bishop of Neocaesarea; of Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria; of Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa; of Gregory Theologus; of Amphilochius of Iconium; of Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria; of Theophilus, Archbishop of the same great city of Alexandria; of Cyril, Archbishop of the same Alexandria; of Gennadius, Patriarch of this heaven-protected royal city. Moreover the Canon set forth by Cyprian, Archbishop of the country of the Africans and Martyr, and by the Synod under him, which has been kept only in the country of the aforesaid Bishops, according to the custom delivered down to them. And that no one be allowed to transgress or disregard the aforesaid canons, or to receive others beside them, supposititiously set forth by certain who have attempted to make a traffic of the truth. But should any one be convicted of innovating upon, or attempting to overturn, any of the afore-mentioned canons, he shall be subject to receive the penalty which that canon imposes, and to be cured by it of his transgression. (Canon II, Quinisext Council, 692 A.D., vol. 14, p. 361, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Bibliography

Becoming a Christian

2009-10-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

People in modern times often join churches more easily than they did in ancient times. Usually what happens in many cases is that a non-Christian goes to a church and listens to a sermon. Then, he makes a decision at the end of the sermon to become a Christian. He goes forward during the altar call, talks to the pastor, reads some Bible verses with him, repents, and then is admitted as a member of the church. Sometime later, the pastor baptizes him.

In ancient times, it was more difficult for a non-Christian to become a Christian. He had to become a catechumen and then spend some time receiving instruction in the Christian faith. His religious instruction might last three years. There is evidence in the writings of the ancient Church Fathers that this was the practice. St. Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian lived in the second century. Both of them mentioned the existence of catechumens in the Church in their writings.

For when the Greeks, having arrested the slaves of Christian catechumens, then used force against them, in order to learn from them some secret thing [practised] among Christians, these slaves, having nothing to say that would meet the wishes of their tormentors, except that they had heard from their masters that the divine communion was the body and blood of Christ, and imagining that it was actually flesh and blood, gave their inquisitors answer to that effect. Then these latter, assuming such to be the case with regard to the practices of Christians, gave information regarding it to other Greeks, and sought to compel the martyrs Sanctus and Blandina to confess, under the influence of torture, [that the allegation was correct]. To these men Blandina replied very admirably in these words: “How should those persons endure such [accusations], who, for the sake of the practice [of piety], did not avail themselves even of the flesh that was permitted [them to eat]? ” (Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, Fragment XIII, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 570, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

But he who culls what is useful for the advantage of the catechumens, and especially when they are Greeks [and the Earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof (I Cor. 10:26)], must not abstain from erudition, like irrational animals; but he must collect as many aids as possible for his hearers. But he must by no means linger over these studies, except solely for the advantage accruing from them; so that, on grasping and obtaining this, he may be able to take his departure home to the true philosophy, which is a strong cable for the soul, providing security from everything. (The Stromata, Book VI, chapter 11, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 500, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

I affirm that not one of the Faithful has ever a crown upon his head, except at a time of trial. That is the case with all, from catechumens to confessors and martyrs, or (as the case may be) deniers. (The Chaplet, chapter 2, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 93, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Then Perpetua was received by a certain one who was still a catechumen, Rusticus by name, who kept close to her; and she, as if aroused from sleep, so deeply had she been in the Spirit and in an ecstasy, began to look round her, and to say to the amazement of all, “I cannot tell when we are to be led out to that cow.” And when she had heard what had already happened, she did not believe it until she had perceived certain signs of injury in her body and in her dress, and had recognised the catechumen. Afterwards causing that catechumen and the brother to approach, she addressed them, saying, “Stand fast in the faith, and love one another, all of you, and be not offended at my sufferings.” (The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas, chapter 6, by Tertullian, 145-220 A.D., vol. 3, p. 705, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

To many, nowadays, that may seem absurd to require someone to receive religious instruction for such a long period of time before being baptized. However, it really is not absurd. Think about what happens after one is baptized. After baptism, one is supposed to receive the Sacrament of Chrismation and be sealed with the Holy Spirit.* Many pastors do not do this today though. Afterwards, they receive Communion for the first time. According to the teaching of the Church Fathers, the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.**

St. Paul says:

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (I Cor. 11:27-30)

If someone were to partake of the Eucharist without realizing that it is Jesus Christ's Body and Blood under the appearance and form of Bread and Wine and without having properly prepared himself to receive Communion by prayer, fasting, and repentance, then he might eat and drink damnation to himself.

So, people need to learn about the Sacraments before receiving the Sacraments. That is one reason for have a period of religious instruction before baptism.

People also need to understand some things about God. I have met people who are members of various churches, but have some really strange and non-Christian views of God. I have met people who think of God as being everything. They confuse God's creation with God Himself. I have met people who do not even know that Jesus Christ is God, but they are members of a church that teaches that He is. I have even met preachers of certain churches who teach the people in their churches certain ancient heresies, not knowing that what they are teaching is heretical and not in the least bit Christian. For example, I have met some preachers who do not believe in the Virgin birth of Christ or the resurrection of the body when Christ returns to judge the world. These are very basic Christian doctrines that are found in the writings of the Church Fathers and even in some Protestant creedal statements, like the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and the New Hampshire Baptist Confession of 1833.*** This is another good reason for catechism — to make sure that people understand certain basic Orthodox Christian doctrines.

Actually, catechism classes were done by Protestant Churches after the Protestant Reformation. People had to become catechumens in a Protestant church before they were permitted to join the church. With the emergence of modern evangelical movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, catechism classes were largely done away with by many Protestant Churches.

The Orthodox Church still adheres to the ancient practice of catechism before receiving the Sacraments. For most people wanting to join an Orthodox church today, the catechumenate lasts anywhere from six months to a year. It may last longer, however. That is up to the discretion of the priest and bishop. The children of Orthodox Christian parents, however, are permitted to receive the Sacraments, but they must receive proper Orthodox religious instruction while they are growing up. I will talk about infant baptism in a later blog.

Steve

* They who are baptized must after Baptism be anointed with the heavenly chrism, and be partakers of the Kingdom of Christ. (Canon XLVIII, Council of Laodicea, met between 343 and 381 A.D., vol. 14, p. 154, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

Thereupon, they are first sealed or anointed with the holy oil upon the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears; and when we seal them, we say, “The Seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Canon VII, First Council of Constantinople, 381 A.D., vol. 14, p. 185, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)

** They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. (Epistle to the Smynaeans, chapter VII, by St. Ignatius of Antioch, died in 107 or 110 A.D., vol. 1, p. 89, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. (The First Apology of Justin, chapter LXVI, by St. Justin the Martyr, 110-165 A.D., vol. 1, p. 185, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

Then, again, how can they say that the flesh, which is nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood, goes to corruption, and does not partake of life? Let them, therefore, either alter their opinion, or cease from offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion is in accordance with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity. (Against Heresies, Book IV, chapter 18, paragraph 5, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 486, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him? — even as the blessed Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that “we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” (Eph. 5:30) He does not speak these words of some spiritual and invisible man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh (St. Luke 24:39); but [he refers to] that dispensation [by which the Lord became] an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones, — that [flesh] which is nourished by the cup which is His blood, and receives increase from the bread which is His body. And just as a cutting from the vine planted in the ground fructifies in its season, or as a corn of wheat falling into the earth and becoming decomposed, rises with manifold increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves for the use of men, and having received the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ; so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption (I Cor. 15:53), because the strength of God is made perfect in weakness (II Cor. 12:9), in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, and exalted against God, our minds becoming ungrateful; but learning by experience that we possess eternal duration from the excelling power of this Being, not from our own nature, we may neither undervalue that glory which surrounds God as He is, nor be ignorant of our own nature, but that we may know what God can effect, and what benefits man receives, and thus never wander from the true comprehension of things as they are, that is, both with regard to God and with regard to man. And might it not be the case, perhaps, as I have already observed, that for this purpose God permitted our resolution into the common dust of mortality, that we, being instructed by every mode, may be accurate in all things for the future, being ignorant neither of God nor of ourselves? (Against Heresies, Book V, chapter 2, paragraph 3, by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 120-202 A.D., vol. 1, p. 528, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

*** There is much still in those particular Protestant creedal documents that the Orthodox Church would disagree with, but some very basic doctrines, such as those of the Holy Trinity, the Virgin birth of Christ, and the resurrection of the body, are found in them.

Bibliography

Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts

The Typology in the Story of Susanna

2009-10-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

In the Septuagint version of Daniel there is a story about a righteous and God-fearing woman named Susanna. Some wicked elders among the Jews falsely accused her of having committed adultery with a young man in her garden. The prophet Daniel defended her of these charges and she was acquitted. This story contains some prophetic imagery that pertains to Christ, the Church, and the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation.

I have decided to let St. Hippolytus explain the typology in the story about Susanna.

What is narrated here, happened at a later time, although it is placed before the first book (at the beginning of the book). For it was a custom with the writers to narrate many things in an inverted order in their writings. For we find also in the prophets some visions recorded among the first and fulfilled among the last; and again, on the other hand, some recorded among the last and fulfilled first. And this was done by the disposition of the Spirit, that the devil might not understand the things spoken in parables by the prophets, and might not a second time lay his snares and ruin man.

“Called Joacim.”* (Dan. 1:1, LXX) This Joacim, being a stranger in Babylon, obtains Susannah in marriage. And she was the daughter of Chelcias the priest (II Kings 22:8, LXX), who found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, when Josiah the king commanded him to purify the holy of holies. His brother was Jeremiah the prophet, who was carried, with the remnant that was left after the deportation of the people to Babylon, into Egypt, and dwelt in Taphnae (Jer. 1:1; 43:8); and, while prophesying there, he was stoned to death by the people.

“A very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord,” etc. (Dan. 1:2, LXX) For by the fruit produced, the tree also is easily known. For men who are pious and zealous for the law, bring into the world children worthy of God; such as he was who became a prophet and witness of Christ, and she who was found chaste and faithful in Babylon, whose honour and chastity were the occasion of the manifestation of the blessed Daniel as a prophet.

“Now Joacim was a great rich man,” etc. (Dan. 1:4, LXX) We must therefore seek the explanation of this. For how could those who were captives, and had been made subject to the Babylonians, meet together in the same place, as if they were their own masters? In this matter, therefore, we should observe that Nebuchadnezzar, after their deportation, treated them kindly, and permitted them to meet together, and do all things according to the law.

“And at noon Susannah went into (her husband’s garden).” (Dan. 1:7, LXX) Susannah prefigured the Church; and Joacim, her husband, Christ; and the garden, the calling of the saints, who are planted like fruitful trees in the Church. And Babylon is the world; and the two elders are set forth as a figure of the two peoples that plot against the Church—the one, namely, of the circumcision, and the other of the Gentiles. For the words, “were appointed rulers of the people and judges,” (mean) that in this world they exercise authority and rule, judging the righteous unrighteously.

“And the two elders saw her.” (Dan. 1:8, LXX) These things the rulers of the Jews wish now to expunge from the book, and assert that these things did not happen in Babylon, because they are ashamed of what was done then by the elders.

“And they perverted their own mind.” (Dan. 1:9, LXX) For how, indeed, can those who have been the enemies and corruptors of the Church judge righteously, or look up to heaven with pure heart, when they have become the slaves of the prince of this world?

“And they were both wounded with her (love).” (Dan. 1:10, LXX) This word is to be taken in truth; for always the two peoples, being wounded (instigated) by Satan working in them, strive to raise persecutions and afflictions against the Church, and seek how they may corrupt her, though they do not agree with each other.

“And they watched diligently.” (Dan. 1:12, LXX) And this, too, is to be noted. For up to the present time both the Gentiles and the Jews of the circumcision watch and busy themselves with the dealings of the Church, desiring to suborn false witnesses against us, as the apostle says: “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 2:4)

It is a kind of sin to be anxious to give the mind to women.

“And when they were gone out, they parted the one from the other.” (Dan. 1:14, LXX) As to their parting the one from the other at the hour of dinner (luncheon), this signifies that in the matter of earthly meats the Jews and the Gentiles are not at one; but in their views, and in all worldly matters, they are of one mind, and can meet each other.

“And asking one another, they acknowledged their lust.” (Dan. 1:14, LXX) Thus, in revealing themselves to each other, they foreshadow the time when they shall be proved by their thoughts, and shall have to give account to God for all the sin which they have done, as Solomon says: “And scrutiny shall destroy the ungodly.” (Prov. 1:32, LXX) For these are convicted by the scrutiny.

“As they watched a fit time.” (Dan. 1:15, LXX) What fit time but that of the passover, at which the layer is prepared in the garden for those who burn, and Susannah washes herself, and is presented as a pure bride to God?

“With two maids only.” (Dan. 1:15, LXX) For when the Church desires to take the laver according to use, she must of necessity have two handmaids to accompany her. For it is by faith on Christ and love to God that the Church confesses and receives the laver.

“And she said to her maids, Bring me oil.” (Dan. 1:17, LXX) For faith and love prepare oil and unguents to those who are washed. But what were these unguents, but the commandments of the holy Word? And what was the oil, but the power of the Holy Spirit, with which believers are anointed as with ointment after the laver of washing?** All these things were figuratively represented in the blessed Susannah, for our sakes, that we who now believe on God might not regard the things that are done now in the Church as strange, but believe them all to have been set forth in figure by the patriarchs of old, as the apostle also says: “Now these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the world are come.” (I Cor. 10:11)

“And they went out at privy doors” (Dan. 1:18, LXX); showing thus by anticipation, that he who desires to partake of the water in the garden must renounce the broad gate, and enter by the strait and narrow. (St. Matt. 7:13,14)

“And they saw not the elders.” (Dan. 1:18, LXX) For as of old the devil was concealed in the serpent in the garden, so now too, concealed in the elders. he fired them with his own lust, that he might again a second time corrupt Eve.

“Behold, the garden doors are shut.” (Dan. 1:20, LXX) wicked rulers, and filled with the workings of the devil, did Moses deliver these things to you? And while ye read the law yourselves, do ye teach others thus? Thou that sayest, “Thou shalt not kill,” dost thou kill? Thou that sayest, “Thou shall not covet,” dost thou desire to corrupt the wife of thy neighbour?

“And we are in love with thee.” (Dan. 1:20, LXX) Why, ye lawless, do ye strive to gain over a chaste anti guileless soul by deceitful words, in order to satisfy your own lust?

“If thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee.” (Dan. 1:21, LXX) This wicked audacity with which you begin, comes of the deceitfulness that lurks in you from the beginning And there was in reality a young man with her, that one of yours; one from heaven, not to have intercourse with her, but to bear witness to her truth.

“And Susannah sighed.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) The blessed Susannah, then, when she heard these words, was troubled in her heart, and set a watch upon her mouth, not wishing to be defiled by the wicked elders. Now it is in our power also to apprehend the real meaning of all that befell Susannah. For you may find this also fulfilled in the present condition of the Church. For when the two peoples conspire to destroy any of the saints, they watch for a fit time, and enter the house of God while all there are praying and praising God, and seize some of them, and carry them off, and keep hold of them, saying, Come, consent with us, and worship our Gods; and if not, we will bear witness against you. And when they refuse, they drag them before the court and accuse them of acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, and condemn them to death.

“I am straitened on every side.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) Behold the words of a chaste woman, and one dear to God: “I am straitened on every side.” For the Church is afflicted and straitened, not only by the Jews, but also by the Gentiles, and by those who are called Christians, but are not such in reality. For they, observing her chaste and happy life, strive to ruin her.

“For if I do this thing, it is death to me.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) For to be disobedient to God, and obedient to men, works eternal death and punishment.

“And if I do it not, I cannot escape your hands.” (Dan. 1:22, LXX) And this indeed is said with truth. For they who are brought into judgment for the sake of God’s name, if they do what is commanded them by men, die to God, and shall live in the world. But if they refuse to do what is commanded them by men, they escape not the hands of their judges, but are condemned by them.

“It is better for me not to do it.” (Dan. 1:23, LXX) For it is better to die by the hand of wicked men and live with God, than, by consenting to them, to be delivered from them and fall into the hands of God.

“And Susannah cried with a loud voice.” (Dan. 1:24, LXX) And to whom did Susannah cry but to God? as Isaiah says: “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He shall say, Lo, here I am.” (Isaiah 58:9)

“And the two elders cried out against her.” For the wicked never cease to cry out against us, and to say: Away with such from off the earth, for it is not fit that they should live. In an evangelical sense, Susannah despised them who kill the body, in order that she might save her soul from death. Now sin is the death of the soul, and especially (the sin of) adultery. For when the soul that is united with Christ forsakes its faith, it is given over to perpetual death, viz., eternal punishment. And in confirmation of this, in the case of the transgression and violation of marriage unions in the flesh, the law has decreed the penalty of death.

“Then ran the one and opened the gates” (Dan. 1:25, LXX); pointing to the broad and spacious way on which they who follow such persons perish.

“Now Susannah was a very delicate woman.” (Dan. 1:31, LXX) Not that she had meretricious adornments about her person, as Jezebel had, or eyes painted with divers colours; but that she had the adornment of faith, and chastity, and sanctity.

St. Susanna

“And laid their hands upon her head” (Dan. 1:34, LXX); that at least by touching her they might satisfy their lust.

“And she was weeping.” (Dan. 1:35, LXX) For by her tears she attracted the (regard of) the Word from heaven, who was with tears to raise the dead Lazarus.

“Then the assembly believed them.” (Dan. 1:41, LXX) It becomes us, then, to be stedfast in every duty, and to give no heed to lies, and to yield no obsequious obedience to the persons of rulers, knowing that we have to give account to God; but if we follow the truth, and aim at the exact rule of faith, we shall be well-pleasing to God.

“And the Lord heard her voice.” (Dan. 1:44, LXX) For those who call upon Him from a pure heart, God heareth. But from those who (call upon Him) in deceit and hypocrisy, God turneth away His face.

“O thou that art waxen old in wickedness.” (Dan. 1:52, LXX) Now, since at the outset, in the introduction, we explained that the two elders are to be taken as a type of the two peoples, that of the circumcision and that of the Gentiles, which are always enemies of the Church; let us mark the words of Daniel. and learn that the Scripture deals falsely with us in nothing. For, addressing the first elder, he censures him as one instructed in the law; while he addresses the other as a Gentile, calling him “the seed of Chanaan” (Dan. 1:56, LXX), although he was then among the circumcision.

“For even now the angel of God.” (Dan. 1:55, LXX) He shows also, that when Susannah prayed to God, and was heard, the angel was sent then to help her, just as was the case in the instance of Tobias and Sara. (Tobit 3:17) For when they prayed, the supplication of both of them was heard in the same day and the same hour, and the angel Raphael was sent to heal them both.

“And they arose against the two elders” (Dan. 1:61, LXX); that the saying might be fulfilled, “Whoso diggeth a pit for his neighhour, shall fall therein.” (Prov. 26:27)

To all these things, therefore, we ought to give heed, beloved, fearing lest any one be overtaken in any transgression, and risk the loss of his soul, knowing as we do that God is the Judge of all; and the Word Himself is the Eye which nothing that is done in the world escapes. Therefore, always watchful in heart and pure in life, let us imitate Susannah. (Fragments from Commentaries, "On Susannah," by St. Hippolytus of Rome, 170-236 A.D., vol. 5, pp. 191-194, Ante-Nicene Fathers)

The Jews and the Protestants unfortunately placed this story about Susanna in the Apocrypha. It is in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles though. It is a very good story and it is full of practical wisdom as well as prophetic material that point to Christ and the Church.

Steve

* Our Lord's grandfather's name is Joachim. He is the Virgin Mary's father.

** A reference to the Sacrament of Chrismation.

Bibliography

Is There Salvation Outside the Church?

2009-10-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

One lesson that we learn from the story of Noah's ark is that there is safety in the Church. Only eight people were saved from the waters of the Flood. Everyone who was not in the ark perished. The ark typifies the Church. Just as there was no salvation outside the ark, so there is no salvation outside the Church.

In explaining this concept, I need to first talk about salvation — what it is and what are we saved from. Then, I will explain the path to salvation. Finally, I will explain what exactly is the Church.

For many people, salvation is nothing more than having one's sins forgiven. The concern with many people is whether or not God accepts them. Forgiveness is part of the salvation package, but it is not the only part of the package. Freedom from the enslaving power of sin is also part of that salvation package. When we sin repeatedly, we become enslaved to sin. (St. John 8:34; Rom. 6:16,17; II Pet. 2:19) As servants of sin, we need to be set free from our sins. We need to become servants of righteousness and not sin. (Rom. 6:18-22) This is a lifelong process. It is not something that happens instantaneously after saying a short prayer. It requires work and discipline. So, becoming a holy and righteous person in one's life is also part of the salvation package. Another problem that we have is that we die. Our bodies are mortal, but are souls are immortal. Actually, we all have started dying from the very moment that we were born. Our bodies need to be saved from death. They need to be made immortal. The deliverance of our bodies from corruption and mortality is also part of the salvation package.

I will deal with the first part of the salvation package now. We all sin and we do need God to forgive us. God has already sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins. (Heb. 10:12; I John 4:14) Jesus died on the Cross and bore our sins in His body. (I Pet. 2:24) He carried them to the Father and the Father forgave us. (Col. 1:14) Jesus and the Holy Spirit forgave us, too. (Col. 3:13; II Cor. 5:19; 13:14) There is, therefore, forgiveness for those who sin. However, under the New Covenant, God forgives people's past sins at their baptisms. (Acts 2:38; 22:16) Baptism is a Sacrament of the Church. One cannot receive baptism unless one first goes to church. So, the Church is important in receiving forgiveness of sins.

Baptism is also important in helping us live the life that God wants us to live. When we are baptized, our fallen natures are regenerated so that we can more easily obey God's commandments.

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. (St. John 3:5)

After one is baptized, one must be chrismated. Chrismation is the Sacrament of the Church that is given to those who have been newly baptized. It is important that one be chrismated so that one can be sealed with the Holy Spirit. (II Cor. 1:21,22; Eph. 4:30) This sealing of the Holy Spirit helps one to effectively fight the spiritual battle against the devil, the world, and fleshly desires. An unchrismated person is ill-equipped to fight the ongoing spiritual battle over his or her soul. One can only receive chrismation in the Church.

Another thing the Holy Spirit does is give life to our mortal bodies. (Rom. 8:11) We need the Holy Spirit so that our bodies can become immortal in the general resurrection of the dead at Christ's return.

Then, there is the Eucharist. After one receives baptism and chrismation, one receives the immortal, resurrected Body and Blood of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is for the healing of soul and body. When we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ becomes part of our bodies. By becoming part of our bodies, we become part of our Lord's body. St. Paul said:

For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. (Eph. 5:30)

and:

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? (I Cor. 6:15)

Just as He was resurrected, so then all those who are united to Him in the Eucharist will be resurrected after they die. One receives not just part of Jesus in the Eucharist. One receives all of Him. We receive His soul, His body, His humanity, His divinity — all of Him. So, He heals not only our bodies when we receive Him, but also our souls. In order to receive the Eucharist, one needs to go to church.

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (St. John 6:53,54)

As we live our lives, we are faced with temptations. We commit sins and we need forgiveness of these sins. We may even become enslaved to new sins after our baptisms. To fight these spiritual battles and gain victory over temptations and habitual sins, we must do what the Church prescribes for us to do — fasting, prayer, Bible reading, Confession, Eucharist, obedience.

Fasting is something that Jesus and the apostles did. (St. Matt. 4:1-11; Acts 13:2; II Cor. 6:1-5) We fast in order to be able to win our battles against Satan, his demons, and our own fleshly desires.

Prayer is talking with God. We need to pray daily. There are different types of prayer. There is liturgical prayer, that is, praying the prayers in an Orthodox prayer book. This is a spiritual discipline. By practicing liturgical prayer, we exercise our souls. We do a spiritual work-out, just like an athlete does a physical work-out when he does physical exercises. There is also spontaneous prayer. This is praying off of the tops of our hearts. It is a free form of prayer. Our spontaneous prayers are greatly improved when we practice liturgical prayer. So, we should not only pray spontaneously, but also liturgically. Then, there is the Jesus Prayer: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner." This is a prayer that we should pray as we go through the day. If we pray the prayer enough times, it will become a background prayer in our subconscious minds.

Then, there are the prayers to the Saints, angels, and the Mother of God. We need to remember that they know what we are doing and want to help us. (Heb. 12:1,2,22,23; St. Luke 15:10) They help us by praying for us. Talking to the Saints and the angels in prayer is actually quite Scriptural. In the Book of Daniel, the three holy children say to some of the Old Testament Saints:

O ye spirits and souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt Him above all for ever. (Dan. 4:87, LXX; Song of the Three Holy Children 64, Protestant Apocrypha)

In the Psalms, the Psalmists Aggaeus and Zacharias say to the angels:

Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts. (Psalm 148:2, LXX)

Having séances to raise the dead is, of course, forbidden.

There shall not be found in thee one who purges his son or his daughter with fire, one who uses divination, who deals with omens, and augury, a sorcerer employing incantation, one who has in him a divining spirit, and observer of signs, questioning the dead. (Deut. 18:10,11, LXX)

I once read a story about a young Russian girl who had ventured out into the woods by herself. She met a man in the woods who tried to rape her. He was unsuccessful, though. As the young girl struggled against her attacker, she continued to pray a prayer to the Mother of God. She prayed the Kontakion of the Feast of the Annunciation — a prayer that is also prayed in Orthodox evening prayers.

"To thee, O Mother of God, victorious leader of the triumphant hosts, we, thy servants, delivered from evil, sing our grateful thanks: but since thou possessest invincible might, set us free from every calamity, that we may cry unto thee: Hail, O Bride Unwedded. Most glorious ever-virgin Mother of Christ our God, bring our prayer to thy Son and our God, that by thee He might save our souls. All my hope I lay upon thee, Divine Mother, preserve me beneath thy protection. O Virgin Mother of God, despise me not, a sinner, who seek thy help and thine intercession; for in thee hath my soul hoped; have mercy upon me," the young girl prayed repeatedly.

As she continued to pray, a woman appeared and shook her finger at the man who was trying to rape her. The man became frightened and left the young girl alone.

Later, the man who tried to rape this young Russian girl went to her house. When he walked in, he saw an icon of the Mother of God on a table in her home. He pointed to the icon and said to the girl, "There she is. She is the one I saw when I tried to hurt you."

The lesson from this story is plain. We do need heavenly help. We need help from God. That is true, but God often provides us help through His Saints, angels, and the Most Holy Theotokos.

We need to make friends in high places and talk to them as well as to God. They are part of the Church. So then, even when we are not in church, even when we are alone by ourselves, the Church is still present with us through the Saints and angels. We need the Church.

Reading the Bible is also important. In the Bible we see what is God's will for our lives. We see how He wants us to live our lives. We see what kind of people we must strive to be if we want the second part of the salvation package — holiness and righteousness of life. However, we still need the Church. The Church is the "pillar and ground of the truth." (I Tim. 3:15) The Church helps us understand the Bible rightly. If we read the Bible without the Church's guidance, we might get the wrong interpretation and start believing things that are not true.

The Sacrament of Repentance is also important. We can ask God to forgive our sins in our personal prayers at home. Many of the prayers in the prayer book contain petitions to God to remit our sins. Even the Lord's Prayer is like this. In it, we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (St. Matt. 6:12) However, we need accountability to someone. Otherwise, we might have a tendency to continue committing the same sins over and over again. We need a priest to hear our confessions. In the Sacrament of Repentance, we receive absolution. Our sins are remitted. (St. John 20:23) We also receive spiritual guidance. Confession is good for the soul. Once again, we need the Church.

I have already mentioned the Eucharist and how important it is for our salvation. Obedience is the next thing we need to practice. After all, those who want salvation are trying to become obedient to God. Jesus said:

He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him. (St. John 14:21)

To understand how important obedience is, think about this example. There is a man who commits fornication with women. He is a "Romeo" kind of guy — one who has no trouble seducing a woman. He becomes a Christian and is baptized. All of his sins are forgiven. However, he goes back to being what he was. He continues to seduce women. He continues to commit fornication. Every time he does it, he says, "God forgive me." He feels guilty one day and confides in someone about his sins. His confidant tells him that he is "saved by grace." This person explains to him that "God sees him through the blood of Jesus." The man continues to think that he is "saved," but he still fornicates with women. He is enslaved to the sin of fornication. One day, the man dies in a car accident. Is he really saved?

Forgiven, but not being made holy. He has part of the salvation package, but not the rest of it; and actually, the part of the package he thought he had — the forgiveness part, he did not have at all. St. Paul said that fornicators are excluded from the Kingdom of God and that they are under God's judgment.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. (I Cor. 6:9,10)

But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. (Heb. 13:4)

He said that people who sow to the flesh, like the fornicator was doing when he was indulging in his carnal desires, reap corruption and not everlasting life. They will be in the resurrection of the unrighteous and not in the resurrection of the just when Christ returns.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Gal. 6:7,8)

As for the forgiveness part of the salvation package, all of the fornicator's past sins are now remembered by God on account of him returning to his old sinful way of living. God now rewards him for none of his righteous deeds that he did after his baptism.

But when the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, according to all the transgressions which the transgressor has wrought, none of his righteousness which he has wrought shall be at all remembered: in his trespass wherein he has trespassed, and in his sins wherein he has sinned, in them shall he die. (Ezek. 18:24, LXX)

Now, I will deal with the question: What is the Church? The Church is not made up of just one individual. It is made up of many. So, the so-called "stay-at-home" Christian is not a church by himself.

Each member of the Church is a Christian. Christians acknowledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. So, Jews are not part of the Church. They do not believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Christians worship the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So then, Unitarians and Muslims are also not part of the Church.

In the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed it says that there is "one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church." The Church is holy. It is the Bride of Christ. (II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9; 22:17) So, she is special to Him. The Church is catholic. Catholic means universal. It also means complete. The Church is made up of people from many different ethnic backgrounds. It is not confined to just one particular nation. There are Russians, Greeks, Arabs, Serbs, Americans, British, French, Irish, Mexicans, and all sorts of other people who make up the Church. The Church is complete in the sense that it has everything we need for our salvation: the Sacraments, the assistance of the Saints and angels, the Divine Liturgy and the other liturgical services, the clergy, and many other things. The Church is apostolic. It has bishops that can trace their lineage of ordination all the way back to the apostles. The Church did not begin in the 16th century, nor did it originate in the 19th century. It began in the first century after Jesus ascended into Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples. The Church is also apostolic in the sense that it continues to teach the apostolic faith. It is possible to verify that it is doing so by comparing its teachings with those of the majority of the Church Fathers and all of the Ecumenical Church Councils.

The question may, then, arise as to the salvation of those outside the Church. There is salvation in the Church. That is definitely true. The Orthodox Church, however, does not have an official statement on the subject of whether or not anyone outside the visible Church can be saved as far as I know. I have asked a priest about this once and he told me that some say that only the faithful Orthodox will be saved, others say that everyone but the Orthodox will be saved (That I think is a statement made in humility.), and others say that the faithful Orthodox will be saved along with some others who have an invisible connection to the Church known only to God.

There are two Bible verses that are often used by Orthodox when talking about the possible salvation of those outside of the visible Church.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. (St. Matt. 7:1)

and:

But them that are without God judgeth. (I Cor. 5:13)

We say in response to such a question, "We do not judge them. God judges them."

We have to remember that God loves everyone (Wisd. 11:24; St. John 3:16) and desires that everyone be saved. (I Tim. 2:4; II Pet. 3:9) So, maybe God does have some way of saving those outside of the visible Church. However, we do not know for a fact that He does. Out of love for our fellow man, we Orthodox should, of course, still desire everyone's salvation, but no, it is not all right for someone to pursue his or her salvation outside of the one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We should still point them in our direction. We should try to lead them to the Orthodox Christian faith. The Church is the Ark of Salvation and there is safety in the Ark.

Steve