Friday, December 18, 2009
St. Justin the Philosopher
St. Justin the Philosopher, also known as Justin Martyr, was born in about AD 100 in modern-day Palestine. He described himself as a Samaritan because of his mother's ancestry, but his father was either Greek or Roman and, as a result, he was raised as a pagan.
During his early years, Justin explored the many Greek and Roman pagan philosophies current in his day. Eventually, though, he converted to Christianity, convinced that he had found the True Philosophy. He would continue until his death to wear the robe traditionally worn by philosophers in Roman culture.
He later moved to Rome, teaching Christianity there and penning several powerful apologetic works, addressing both Jews and pagans.
After winning a debate against a pagan philosopher, he was exposed by his opponent as a Christian to the Roman authorities, by whom he was tortured and martyred along with several of his students in AD 165.
The Church celebrates the feast day of the Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher and those martyred with him on June 1.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Sola Scriptura's Logical Incoherency
In this short post, I am going to handle only the logical shortcomings in the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura; I will handle the historical and Scriptural shortcomings in separate articles at a later time.
Sola Scriptura, a foundational belief of all Protestants of any denomination, is one of the most strikingly illogical doctrines ever put forward. If we look at deeper than surface-level, we suddenly see rampant self-contradiction and just plain bad thinking.
First, Sola Scriptura is illogical because it is self-refuting; here's why:
The assumption here is that everything the Apostles had to say they wrote down; the question that follows, though, is who ever wrote down everything they had to say?
A third way in which Sola Scriptura is illogical is that it is based on the false assumption that we are able to approach anything tabula rasa (that is, as blank slates). It's a simple fact of human nature that this is impossible; wherever we go we bring with us the baggage of culture, language, and upbringing.
Imagine reading Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and attempting to interpret it without having any knowledge about the Civil War or even American history in general. It's impossible; everything has to be interpreted within a context. And, as the Scriptures themselves as well as the writings of early Christians make clear, the context of Scripture is the Church. Outside of this context, it is impossible to rightly interpret Scripture.
Sola Scriptura, a foundational belief of all Protestants of any denomination, is one of the most strikingly illogical doctrines ever put forward. If we look at deeper than surface-level, we suddenly see rampant self-contradiction and just plain bad thinking.
First, Sola Scriptura is illogical because it is self-refuting; here's why:
- Sola Scriptura asserts that all revealed knowledge is to be found in the inspired Scriptures.
- The Protestant version of the Scriptures consists of 66 books, compiled after a very long process within the Church.
- These 66 books, then, are what is referred to when Protestants say "inspired Scriptures."
- Nowhere in any of these 66 books are we told that these 66 books specifically are the entirety of "inspired Scriptures."
- Since the books of Scripture nowhere provide a table of contents telling us what books belong to Scripture, we must conclude that said table of contents is an addition to Scripture.
- It follows from this that the 66 books of the Protestant Scriptures cannot be a revealed truth.
- The 66 books of the Protestant Scriptures cannot be deduced either from human reason or from nature, the only other possible sources of knowledge.
- Since the 66 books of Protestant Scripture cannot be deduced from divine revelation, human reason, nor nature, it cannot be known which books Scripture consists of, thereby making Sola Scriptura an impossibility.
The assumption here is that everything the Apostles had to say they wrote down; the question that follows, though, is who ever wrote down everything they had to say?
A third way in which Sola Scriptura is illogical is that it is based on the false assumption that we are able to approach anything tabula rasa (that is, as blank slates). It's a simple fact of human nature that this is impossible; wherever we go we bring with us the baggage of culture, language, and upbringing.
Imagine reading Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and attempting to interpret it without having any knowledge about the Civil War or even American history in general. It's impossible; everything has to be interpreted within a context. And, as the Scriptures themselves as well as the writings of early Christians make clear, the context of Scripture is the Church. Outside of this context, it is impossible to rightly interpret Scripture.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Yes, Eastern Orthodoxy is Christian!
This is a rejoinder to Robert Morey's book "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian?"
Sidenote: These are my own personal oppionions, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Church. Any error in this post must be pointed at me, and not Mother Church. However, any truth in this post must be pointed at Mother Church, and not me.
Robert Morey wrote a book about something he knows very little about.
In Chapter one of "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian?",
He says on Page 15 that Eastern Orthodoxy started out well. He speculates from what happened in Acts chapter 2:10 that many Jewish converts went back to their homelands and converted other Jews into the Christian Faith. He then fantasizes about how glorious and wonderful the Church and it’s pastors were. However, he has no documentation for this. He just declares it and expects us to take his word for it.
He goes on to talk about how hostile the early Egyptian Church was to Pagan philosophy.
He quotes Dr. Frend, the professor of Church history at the University of Glasgow to support his argument that the early Egyptian Church was against pagan philosophy. However, neither the New Testament nor the Apostolic Fathers that he quotes say anything about Christianity in Egypt. And the context of the "heretics" in his quote of Frend is most likely in reference to Valentinus, Basilides , The Heretic Cerinthus, Simon Magus, and maybe Marcion....and all of their followers.
The evidence we do have about Jews in Egypt is that some of them did make use of Hellenistic philosophy. Philo was such an Egyptian Jew. Also Morey is either ignoring or just doesn’t know the stronghold that Hellenism had on "Egyptian Jews". Not to mention Palestian Jews.
As seen from the Jewish Encyclopedia
Quote:
"At Alexandria.
It was, however, in Alexandria that Jewish Hellenism reached its greatest development. Here, freed from the national bonds which held it firmlyto tradition in Palestine, Hellenistic Judaism became more Hellenistic than Jewish (see Alexandria). It is not true to say with Güdemann ("Monatsschrift," xlvii. 248) that Hellenism had no appreciable influence upon the development of Judaism; its influence was appreciable for many centuries; but it was driven out of the Jewish camp by the national sentiment aroused in the Maccabean and Bar Kokba revolts, and in forming the bridge between Judaism and Christianity it lost whatever permanent influence it might have possessed. Since that time, even in Egypt, the classical home of Hellenism, rabbinical Jewish communities have flourished that have borne no perceptible trace of the movement which made Alexandria great."
Also there is some evidence that even Palestinian Jews were influenced by Hellenistic culture. As Seen here, here, and here.
The Jewish Encyclopedia says:
Quote:
"It was especially in eastern Palestine that Hellenism took a firm hold, and the cities of the Decapolis (which seems also to have included Damascus) were the centers of Greek influence. This influence extended in later times over the whole of the district east of the Jordan and of the Sea of Gennesaret, especially inTrachonitis, Batanæa, and Auranitis. The cities in western Palestine were not excepted. Samaria and Panias were at an early time settled by Macedonian colonists. The names of places were Hellenized: "Rabbath-Ammon" to "Philadelphia"; "Armoab" to "Ariopolis"; "Akko" to "Ptolemais." The same occurred with personal names: "Ḥoni" became "Menelaus"; "Joshua" became "Jason" or "Jesus." The Hellenic influence pervaded everything, and even in the very strongholds of Judaism it modified the organization of the state, the laws, and public affairs, art, science, and industry, affecting even the ordinary things of life and the common associations of the people."
So according to the evidence we have, it seems as if the Jews in Egypt were already Hellenized way before the first advent of Christ. We also know that the Jews in Palestine were not immune to the spread of Hellenism either.
The name "Nicodemus" is a greek name.
NKJV
John 19:39
"He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds."
Alot of the cities in Palestine had greek names.
He talks about how 1st Clement never quoted any Stoic writer to supprt his convictions about the Stability of the Universe, but clement wasn’t in Egypt. He was in the West. And just because someone makes use of Pagan philosophy, that doesn’t mean they agree with everything the philosopher said. A prime example of this is Saint Paul in Acts Chapter 17 when he quotes Aratus.
NKJV
Acts 17:28
'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
He mentions Polycarp who was the Bishop of Smynia not Egypt, and his pupil Irenaeus moved to Gaul(modern day France). Non of this tells us about early Egyptian Christianity.
On page 16 Morey continues with the idea that the Egyptian Jewish Church eventually attracted gentile converts. Eventhough he is talking about early Eastern Orthodoxy he makes it seem as if the "churches" were like some sort of Reformed Baptist egalitarian congregational gathering with the repetitive use of words like “the pastor” or “the Jewish pastors”. You didn't have an "egalitarian congregationalism in the mid second century". Well wait, you did among some of the Gnostics.
He mentions how the Jewish pastors were thrilled to have gentile converts. I wonder where Morey got this from? Did he invent this from thin air? How does he know they were happy at first? Also the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy are broad. You can't just focus on Alexandria as if that's the only origin of Orthodoxy. The Origin is Jerusalem, and with the Apostles going all over the place our secondary Origins spread to different regions.......Alexandria is only one of them. Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch were the early key centers of early Christianity. Later, both Constantinople, and Jerusalem joined that list.
But whatever the case, this is where his conspiracy theory begins. He develops the plot of gentiles taking over the leadership of the Church and kicking Jewish Christians out. He says the Gentile Egyptian Church persecuted the Jewish wing as a sect. I really don't see how that can be if the Jews in Egypt were Hellenistic.
He quotes Dr. Frend again to prove this point. However, the quote he gives is ambiguous. Frend mentions how in the 2nd century there were many Christians who were nonconformist Jews. In this quote he shows the enmity between Orthodox(nonbelieving) Jews and christian Jews. He mentions the essenes, but it is unclear what he is trying to say. The quote ends with the mention of an active Jewish Christianity by the year 190 A.D. that has been reduced to a sect.
Is he talking about the second Jewish rebellion? We all know they were nonconformist, but we also know that they were anti-christian as well. I don't think Morey wants to align himself with Bar Kokhba,
But From my recollection, the Ebionites were the Jewish community that were called a sect by Early Chistians. And I doubt if Morey wants to be associated with them. One can learn more about the Ebionites here and Here.
Also, around this time, Christians were bizzy converting Jews to Christianity, yet Morey says we were kicking Jews out. According to Eusebius the Third Bishop of Jerusalem, who was Jewish by the way, became a christian and helped others of the circumcision sect come back to the Faith.
as seen here "Justus, the third bishop of Jerusalem".
It would seem more likely that Hellenistic Jewish Christianity merged with it’s Hellenistic gentile counterpart. Jewish believers and Gentile believers eventually intermarried. If one looks at how Orthodox(nonbelieving) Jews worship in the synagogue with how Orthodox Christians worship in the churches. Then one will see a strong continuity of thought, ritual, and custom. Morey tries to use Dr. Frend to support his theory of the fall of Jewish Christianity in Egypt, but from the look of his quotes I doubt if Frend was talking about Egypt at all.
Any student of Church history will know that most sects and heretical groups lived side by side with the Orthodox Church. And Sometimes they were both killed and persecuted by the Pagan Roman State. During and slightly after Constantine, people were put in exile, but most of the persecution happened during and after Emperor Julian the Apostate's reign. So most heretical groups were persecuted after 360 A.D., and for the most part it wasn’t done by the Church. It was done mainly by the State.
On page 17 he asserts that the political rule of the Church was total. That’s not accurate.
He exaggerates the political arm of the state over the Church. It was the Church that eventually made the state close down the gladiatorial games. It was the laity of the Church that eventually made the state stop destroying Icons. There were times of peace as well as times of friction between the Church And State.
On page 18, Morey pretends to play God by judging the hearts and minds of early christian Egyptian clergy.
Later on the page he says:
This dude keeps jumping around. On page 17 he starts out talking about the mid second century only to jump to the 4th and 5th centuries at the end of page 17, only to jump back again to the mid second century on page 18.
What Emperor in the mid second century claimed to be a christian? What Emperor in the mid 3rd century claimed to be a christian?
Who were the clergy in 2nd century Egypt that took over the Orthodox Church with the assistance of politicians? Morey is worst than Dan Brown & Jack chick with his conspiracy theories.
Also on pages 18 through 21 he totally ignores the fact that Egyptian Jews were Hellenistic. This one fact alone collapses everything he said. It makes the whole book pointless. He seemed too bizzy painting a work of fiction to even notice.
Also Morey seems ignorant of the Icons in the Holy of Holies in the once Jewish temple.(Ex 25:18-22),
Ex 25:17-22
"Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites."
The Jews bowed down in front of the footstool in the Temple(Psalm 99:1-5)
Psalm99:1-5
"The LORD reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved! The LORD is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy. The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy."
He also seems ignorant of the fact that the Priest’s garment had pictures of pomegranates( Ex 28:31-35).
Ex 28:31-35
""Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die."
The curtains had the image of cherubim (Exodus 26:1-6)
Ex 26:1-6
"Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman. 2 All the curtains are to be the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. 3 Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five. 4 Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. 5 Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 6 Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit."
And through archaeology we see that the artifacts of the 2nd temple were highly decorated:
Relics of the 2nd Temple
A bowl used in the 2nd Temple:
An up close look at some of it's Icons:
About a century or two after the 2nd Temple, we still see Jews making use of Icons in a Synagogue in Damascus Syria: (Dura Europos)
A closer look:
A podcast interview with a conservative Jewish Rabbi:
The Illuminedheart by kevin Allen who is speaking with a Rabbi about judaism and christianity
We don't worship icons, we venerate them. There is a difference between the two. The Jews venerate the Torah as well as a few other things in the Synagogue ......not to mention the wailing wall.
Icons are not new to Jews and in Christianity we see an outgrowth from mostly Icons of signs and symbols with few human image icons, to mostly human image Icons centuries later. Eventhough christians always had Icons (depicted symbols of the Faith both in human and nonhuman form), it took centuries before the Church finally decided on the issue. Before then, you will find christians arguing with eachother or just taking a stance one way or the other. The issue of the Incarnation is what finally ended the dispute with the 7nth Ecumenical council. And so, to deny Icons is to deny the Incarnation.
"Icons and the Incarnation: 7th Christian Council" by Judith Irene Matta
"Icons ... not Idols" a talk by Paul Finley
This is from the podcast Our Life in Christ by Steven Robinson and Bill Gould.
Icons Part 1 (49:50 minutes) as seen from the website:
"This is the first of a six part series on "ICONS" from our KPXQ live radio program archives from 2004. In this program we introduce icons and what you will see in an Orthodox Church and look at the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, that seem to prohibit the making of "graven images". Are all images "idols", and are ALL images and representations of the material world prohibited by God?"
Play Audio
Direct Link
Icons Part 2 (50:32 minutes) as seen from the website:
"In part two of "Icons" we continue to discuss the Scriptures and the post-Reformation emphasis on the "intellectual" apprehension of the rational message of the Gospel as written in the Bible. But we will see that icons are a fulfillment of the Gospel and more specifically are a logical ramification of the Incarnation of God."
Play Audio
Direct Link
To listen to the other 4 podcasts in the series, please visit the Our Life in Christ webpage.
Now lets look at what really happened in Egypt.
According to Eusebius:
After Annianus was Avilius
Credon was the third bishop of Alexandria
Next in line was Primus
After Primus was Justus
We are mainly talking about all the Egyptian Christians from the reign of the Emperor TIBERIUS (about 33 A.D.) to the Emperor Severus (about 211 A.D.) To find out more about Early Egyptian Christianity, please visit this Link. And to know more about the time line in question, please visit Notes on Church History by R. Grant Jones.
Also buy this book "Wade In The River" by Fr. Paisius Altschul.
Other books to get:
Jews and Christians the parting of ways 70 A.D. to 135 A.D.
History-Eastern-Christianity by Aziz-Atiya
- The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey, by Ronald G Roberson
- Timeline of Eastern Church History, by Kathryn Tsai
- The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East, by Kenneth Cragg
- A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500 by Samuel Hugh Moffett
- Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study, by Robert B. Betts
Other books that are similar in topic are:
- A History of the Christian Church by Walker
- The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy by Aristeides Papadakis & John Meyendorff
- The Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
- The Orthodox Church by Sergius Bulgakov
- The Orthodox Church by John Meyendorff
- Imperial Unity And Christian Divisions by John Meyendorff
Morey thinks the Egyptian Christian "Babylonian Captivity" happened around this time. Christians were still being persecuted in this era. Most of what he says in this chapter is pure nonsense. He ignores the real historical evidence in favor of his mythical reconstruction.
Yes, Eastern Orthodoxy is Christian! Chapter 2 - A (chapter 2)
JNORM888
[1] page 18, by Robert Morey, in the book "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian" christian scholars press 2007
[2] page 50, [3] page 62, [4] page 82, [5] page 85, [6] 109, [7] page 110 by Eusebius in the book "Ecclesiastical History" translated by C.F. Cruse, Hendrickson Publishers 1998
Sidenote: These are my own personal oppionions, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Church. Any error in this post must be pointed at me, and not Mother Church. However, any truth in this post must be pointed at Mother Church, and not me.
Robert Morey wrote a book about something he knows very little about.
In Chapter one of "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian?",
He says on Page 15 that Eastern Orthodoxy started out well. He speculates from what happened in Acts chapter 2:10 that many Jewish converts went back to their homelands and converted other Jews into the Christian Faith. He then fantasizes about how glorious and wonderful the Church and it’s pastors were. However, he has no documentation for this. He just declares it and expects us to take his word for it.
He goes on to talk about how hostile the early Egyptian Church was to Pagan philosophy.
He quotes Dr. Frend, the professor of Church history at the University of Glasgow to support his argument that the early Egyptian Church was against pagan philosophy. However, neither the New Testament nor the Apostolic Fathers that he quotes say anything about Christianity in Egypt. And the context of the "heretics" in his quote of Frend is most likely in reference to Valentinus, Basilides , The Heretic Cerinthus, Simon Magus, and maybe Marcion....and all of their followers.
The evidence we do have about Jews in Egypt is that some of them did make use of Hellenistic philosophy. Philo was such an Egyptian Jew. Also Morey is either ignoring or just doesn’t know the stronghold that Hellenism had on "Egyptian Jews". Not to mention Palestian Jews.
As seen from the Jewish Encyclopedia
Quote:
"At Alexandria.
It was, however, in Alexandria that Jewish Hellenism reached its greatest development. Here, freed from the national bonds which held it firmlyto tradition in Palestine, Hellenistic Judaism became more Hellenistic than Jewish (see Alexandria). It is not true to say with Güdemann ("Monatsschrift," xlvii. 248) that Hellenism had no appreciable influence upon the development of Judaism; its influence was appreciable for many centuries; but it was driven out of the Jewish camp by the national sentiment aroused in the Maccabean and Bar Kokba revolts, and in forming the bridge between Judaism and Christianity it lost whatever permanent influence it might have possessed. Since that time, even in Egypt, the classical home of Hellenism, rabbinical Jewish communities have flourished that have borne no perceptible trace of the movement which made Alexandria great."
Also there is some evidence that even Palestinian Jews were influenced by Hellenistic culture. As Seen here, here, and here.
The Jewish Encyclopedia says:
Quote:
"It was especially in eastern Palestine that Hellenism took a firm hold, and the cities of the Decapolis (which seems also to have included Damascus) were the centers of Greek influence. This influence extended in later times over the whole of the district east of the Jordan and of the Sea of Gennesaret, especially inTrachonitis, Batanæa, and Auranitis. The cities in western Palestine were not excepted. Samaria and Panias were at an early time settled by Macedonian colonists. The names of places were Hellenized: "Rabbath-Ammon" to "Philadelphia"; "Armoab" to "Ariopolis"; "Akko" to "Ptolemais." The same occurred with personal names: "Ḥoni" became "Menelaus"; "Joshua" became "Jason" or "Jesus." The Hellenic influence pervaded everything, and even in the very strongholds of Judaism it modified the organization of the state, the laws, and public affairs, art, science, and industry, affecting even the ordinary things of life and the common associations of the people."
So according to the evidence we have, it seems as if the Jews in Egypt were already Hellenized way before the first advent of Christ. We also know that the Jews in Palestine were not immune to the spread of Hellenism either.
The name "Nicodemus" is a greek name.
NKJV
John 19:39
"He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds."
Alot of the cities in Palestine had greek names.
He talks about how 1st Clement never quoted any Stoic writer to supprt his convictions about the Stability of the Universe, but clement wasn’t in Egypt. He was in the West. And just because someone makes use of Pagan philosophy, that doesn’t mean they agree with everything the philosopher said. A prime example of this is Saint Paul in Acts Chapter 17 when he quotes Aratus.
NKJV
Acts 17:28
'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
He mentions Polycarp who was the Bishop of Smynia not Egypt, and his pupil Irenaeus moved to Gaul(modern day France). Non of this tells us about early Egyptian Christianity.
On page 16 Morey continues with the idea that the Egyptian Jewish Church eventually attracted gentile converts. Eventhough he is talking about early Eastern Orthodoxy he makes it seem as if the "churches" were like some sort of Reformed Baptist egalitarian congregational gathering with the repetitive use of words like “the pastor” or “the Jewish pastors”. You didn't have an "egalitarian congregationalism in the mid second century". Well wait, you did among some of the Gnostics.
He mentions how the Jewish pastors were thrilled to have gentile converts. I wonder where Morey got this from? Did he invent this from thin air? How does he know they were happy at first? Also the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy are broad. You can't just focus on Alexandria as if that's the only origin of Orthodoxy. The Origin is Jerusalem, and with the Apostles going all over the place our secondary Origins spread to different regions.......Alexandria is only one of them. Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch were the early key centers of early Christianity. Later, both Constantinople, and Jerusalem joined that list.
But whatever the case, this is where his conspiracy theory begins. He develops the plot of gentiles taking over the leadership of the Church and kicking Jewish Christians out. He says the Gentile Egyptian Church persecuted the Jewish wing as a sect. I really don't see how that can be if the Jews in Egypt were Hellenistic.
He quotes Dr. Frend again to prove this point. However, the quote he gives is ambiguous. Frend mentions how in the 2nd century there were many Christians who were nonconformist Jews. In this quote he shows the enmity between Orthodox(nonbelieving) Jews and christian Jews. He mentions the essenes, but it is unclear what he is trying to say. The quote ends with the mention of an active Jewish Christianity by the year 190 A.D. that has been reduced to a sect.
Is he talking about the second Jewish rebellion? We all know they were nonconformist, but we also know that they were anti-christian as well. I don't think Morey wants to align himself with Bar Kokhba,
But From my recollection, the Ebionites were the Jewish community that were called a sect by Early Chistians. And I doubt if Morey wants to be associated with them. One can learn more about the Ebionites here and Here.
Also, around this time, Christians were bizzy converting Jews to Christianity, yet Morey says we were kicking Jews out. According to Eusebius the Third Bishop of Jerusalem, who was Jewish by the way, became a christian and helped others of the circumcision sect come back to the Faith.
as seen here "Justus, the third bishop of Jerusalem".
It would seem more likely that Hellenistic Jewish Christianity merged with it’s Hellenistic gentile counterpart. Jewish believers and Gentile believers eventually intermarried. If one looks at how Orthodox(nonbelieving) Jews worship in the synagogue with how Orthodox Christians worship in the churches. Then one will see a strong continuity of thought, ritual, and custom. Morey tries to use Dr. Frend to support his theory of the fall of Jewish Christianity in Egypt, but from the look of his quotes I doubt if Frend was talking about Egypt at all.
Any student of Church history will know that most sects and heretical groups lived side by side with the Orthodox Church. And Sometimes they were both killed and persecuted by the Pagan Roman State. During and slightly after Constantine, people were put in exile, but most of the persecution happened during and after Emperor Julian the Apostate's reign. So most heretical groups were persecuted after 360 A.D., and for the most part it wasn’t done by the Church. It was done mainly by the State.
On page 17 he asserts that the political rule of the Church was total. That’s not accurate.
He exaggerates the political arm of the state over the Church. It was the Church that eventually made the state close down the gladiatorial games. It was the laity of the Church that eventually made the state stop destroying Icons. There were times of peace as well as times of friction between the Church And State.
On page 18, Morey pretends to play God by judging the hearts and minds of early christian Egyptian clergy.
Later on the page he says:
Quote:
"With the assistance of the politicians, they took over
the Orthodox Church and their pagan doctrines, rituals, attire, icons, and art
became the "holy traditions" of Eastern Christianity.
Under the leadership of the emperor and his pagan
priests, Eastern Christianity adopted the core beliefs and rituals of the
paganism around them. This made it even more popular.
The "Babylonian Captivity" of Eastern Christianity took
place between A.D. 130 and A.D. 200. It climaxed with the rise of the "Christian
Apologists." Frend comments," [1]
This dude keeps jumping around. On page 17 he starts out talking about the mid second century only to jump to the 4th and 5th centuries at the end of page 17, only to jump back again to the mid second century on page 18.
What Emperor in the mid second century claimed to be a christian? What Emperor in the mid 3rd century claimed to be a christian?
Who were the clergy in 2nd century Egypt that took over the Orthodox Church with the assistance of politicians? Morey is worst than Dan Brown & Jack chick with his conspiracy theories.
Also on pages 18 through 21 he totally ignores the fact that Egyptian Jews were Hellenistic. This one fact alone collapses everything he said. It makes the whole book pointless. He seemed too bizzy painting a work of fiction to even notice.
Also Morey seems ignorant of the Icons in the Holy of Holies in the once Jewish temple.(Ex 25:18-22),
Ex 25:17-22
"Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites."
The Jews bowed down in front of the footstool in the Temple(Psalm 99:1-5)
Psalm99:1-5
"The LORD reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved! The LORD is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy. The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His footstool— He is holy."
He also seems ignorant of the fact that the Priest’s garment had pictures of pomegranates( Ex 28:31-35).
Ex 28:31-35
""Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them. The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die."
The curtains had the image of cherubim (Exodus 26:1-6)
Ex 26:1-6
"Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman. 2 All the curtains are to be the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. 3 Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five. 4 Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. 5 Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 6 Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit."
And through archaeology we see that the artifacts of the 2nd temple were highly decorated:
Relics of the 2nd Temple
A bowl used in the 2nd Temple:
An up close look at some of it's Icons:
About a century or two after the 2nd Temple, we still see Jews making use of Icons in a Synagogue in Damascus Syria: (Dura Europos)
A closer look:
A podcast interview with a conservative Jewish Rabbi:
The Illuminedheart by kevin Allen who is speaking with a Rabbi about judaism and christianity
We don't worship icons, we venerate them. There is a difference between the two. The Jews venerate the Torah as well as a few other things in the Synagogue ......not to mention the wailing wall.
Icons are not new to Jews and in Christianity we see an outgrowth from mostly Icons of signs and symbols with few human image icons, to mostly human image Icons centuries later. Eventhough christians always had Icons (depicted symbols of the Faith both in human and nonhuman form), it took centuries before the Church finally decided on the issue. Before then, you will find christians arguing with eachother or just taking a stance one way or the other. The issue of the Incarnation is what finally ended the dispute with the 7nth Ecumenical council. And so, to deny Icons is to deny the Incarnation.
"Icons and the Incarnation: 7th Christian Council" by Judith Irene Matta
"Icons ... not Idols" a talk by Paul Finley
This is from the podcast Our Life in Christ by Steven Robinson and Bill Gould.
Icons Part 1 (49:50 minutes) as seen from the website:
"This is the first of a six part series on "ICONS" from our KPXQ live radio program archives from 2004. In this program we introduce icons and what you will see in an Orthodox Church and look at the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, that seem to prohibit the making of "graven images". Are all images "idols", and are ALL images and representations of the material world prohibited by God?"
Play Audio
Direct Link
Icons Part 2 (50:32 minutes) as seen from the website:
"In part two of "Icons" we continue to discuss the Scriptures and the post-Reformation emphasis on the "intellectual" apprehension of the rational message of the Gospel as written in the Bible. But we will see that icons are a fulfillment of the Gospel and more specifically are a logical ramification of the Incarnation of God."
Play Audio
Direct Link
To listen to the other 4 podcasts in the series, please visit the Our Life in Christ webpage.
Now lets look at what really happened in Egypt.
According to Eusebius:
Quote:
"Mark first proclaimed Christianity to the inhabitants of Egypt.
(1) The same Mark, they also say, being the first sent
to Egypt, proclaimed the gospel there which he written and first established
churches at the city of Alexandria. (2) So great a multitude of believers, both
of men and women, were collected there at the very outset, that in consequence
of their extreme philosophical discipline and austerity, Philo considered their
pursuits, their assemblies, and entertainment, and in short their whole manner
of life, as deserving a place in his descriptions." [2]
To learn more about Saint Mark, go here: "Saint Mark"
It was the Apostle Mark that was the first sent to Egypt to proclaim the Gospel there. Also, according to Eusebius, "Annianus was appointed the first bishop of Alexandria after Mark.
Quote:
"(1) Nero was now in the eighth year of his reign when
Annianus suceeded the apostle and evangelist Mark in the administration of the
church of Alexandria. He was a man distinguished for his piety and admirable in
every respect." [3]
After Annianus was Avilius
Quote:
"(1) In the fourth year of Domitian Annianus, who was
the first bishop of Alexandria, died after having filled the office twenty
years. He was succeeded by Avilius, who was the second bishop of that
city." [4]
Credon was the third bishop of Alexandria
Quote:
"(1) After Nerva had reigned a little more than a year,
he was succeeded by Trajan. It was in the first year of his reign that Cerdon
succeeded Avilius in the church of Alexandria, after the latter had governed it
thirteen years. He was the third who held the episcopate there since Annianus.
During this time, Clement was yet bishop of the Romans, who was also the third
who held the Episcopate there after Paul and Peter, Linus being the first and
Anencletus next in order." [5]
Next in line was Primus
Quote:
"(1) About the Twelfth year of the reign of Trajon, the
bishop of the church of Alexandria, who was mentioned by us a little before,
departed this life. Primus was the fourth from the apostles to whom the
functions of the office were there allotted. At the same time, after Euarestus
had completed the eighth year as bishop of Rome, he was succeeded in the
episcopal office by Alexander, the fifth in succession from Peter and
Paul." [6]
After Primus was Justus
Quote:
"(1) In the third year of the same reign, Alexandria,
bishop of Rome, died , having completed the tenth year of his ministrations.
Xystus was his successor; and about the same time Primus, dying in the twelfth
year of the episcopate, was succeeded by Justus." [7]
We are mainly talking about all the Egyptian Christians from the reign of the Emperor TIBERIUS (about 33 A.D.) to the Emperor Severus (about 211 A.D.) To find out more about Early Egyptian Christianity, please visit this Link. And to know more about the time line in question, please visit Notes on Church History by R. Grant Jones.
Also buy this book "Wade In The River" by Fr. Paisius Altschul.
Other books to get:
Jews and Christians the parting of ways 70 A.D. to 135 A.D.
History-Eastern-Christianity by Aziz-Atiya
- The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey, by Ronald G Roberson
- Timeline of Eastern Church History, by Kathryn Tsai
- The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East, by Kenneth Cragg
- A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500 by Samuel Hugh Moffett
- Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study, by Robert B. Betts
Other books that are similar in topic are:
- A History of the Christian Church by Walker
- The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy by Aristeides Papadakis & John Meyendorff
- The Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
- The Orthodox Church by Sergius Bulgakov
- The Orthodox Church by John Meyendorff
- Imperial Unity And Christian Divisions by John Meyendorff
Morey thinks the Egyptian Christian "Babylonian Captivity" happened around this time. Christians were still being persecuted in this era. Most of what he says in this chapter is pure nonsense. He ignores the real historical evidence in favor of his mythical reconstruction.
Yes, Eastern Orthodoxy is Christian! Chapter 2 - A (chapter 2)
JNORM888
[1] page 18, by Robert Morey, in the book "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian" christian scholars press 2007
[2] page 50, [3] page 62, [4] page 82, [5] page 85, [6] 109, [7] page 110 by Eusebius in the book "Ecclesiastical History" translated by C.F. Cruse, Hendrickson Publishers 1998
The Invincible Trophy
The Jehovah's Witnesses organization feature an article on their website entitled "Did Jesus Really Die on a Cross?" I would like to take this opportunity to respond to that question, emphatically and unequivocally: YES!
The article opens its arguments with the statement that the Babylonians used a "cross" in the worship of the pagan deity Tammuz. All of my searches and reference-checks for this assertion led me back to one man: Alexander Hislop. Many of the articles I came across cited him as a "historian" or "expert in [pick your poison]." He was neither; he was, instead, a minister in the Free Church of Scotland, a Calvinist organization of the 19th century. He also seems to have dedicated a significant portion of his writing career to attacking the Roman Catholic Church, and his comments about Tammuz and the cross are part of these attacks. If the statements about Tammuz and the cross were true, you'd think its proponents could find a better source than a 19th century Calvinist minister with a serious case of Romophobia. I'm not saying it's not possible that he was right in this assertion, but I have my doubts until I see it from a much less biased source.
That said, I will freely and readily admit that symbols with close similarities to the cross were in use well before Christianity, including the swastika, the "plus sign," and the ankh. But my question in reponse to this is: so what? I don't mean that rudely or dismissively, but in all seriousness. First of all, it's a logical fallacy to assert that similarity implies causality.
And, more importantly, the pre-Christian existence of the cross actually supports the pro-cross position. We don't claim that Christians somehow invented the cross or that the use of a cross was unique to Christ's crucifixion; we claim that it was a symbol of death, the very instrument of execution used by the Romans, which Christ, through accomplishing the redemption of mankind via death on a cross, transformed into a symbol of eternal life. Clearly, it would have to have had a long history of use for this assertion to be true.
The article then goes on to cite a book called The Non-Christian Cross by someone named "J.D. Parsons," quoting thus:
Now that we know who J.D. Parsons was, let's look at his statement as quoted by this article. His claim is that "there is not a single sentence" in the entire New Testament which, even indirectly, supports the belief that the word "stauros," when used to refer to the instrument of Christ's death in the New Testament, means a cross. He's wrong; I can think of a few:
This piece of ancient "artwork" (I use that word very loosely in this case) is called the "Alexamenos graffito." It was carved on a plaster wall in Rome some time in the late first century. The figures depicted are a donkey-headed man attached to a cross (not a "torture stake") and a man in front of the crucified figure with arms raised in worship. The wording reads "Alexamenos worships [his] God." Most scholars agree that the purpose of this carving was to mock Christians (specifically poor Alexamenos) and our God, Jesus Christ. Even the pagans knew of the cross of Christ, in their own twisted way.
The Jehovah's Witnesses' article concludes with a few paragraphs on whether the instrument of Christ's death, whether a cross or a "torture stake," should be used in worship. They posit the question: if you a had a friend who was murdered, would you adore the instrument of his murder by venerating it, making jewelry fashioned after it, and adorning your home with pictures of it? This is a false comparison, though, because Christ's death is not simply a meaningless murder -- it is the redemption of all mankind, "trampling down death by death," as one of the Paschal hymns of the Orthodox Church says.
The cross is described time and again by early Christian authors as our "trophy," and this is why we reverence the cross. In ancient Greek and Roman culture, a trophy was a monument which a conquering army set up to commemorate the defeat of their enemies. Typically, the trophy took the form of a tree upon which was hung the weapons which the defeated enemy had used. It was a symbol of victory over one's foes. And this is what the cross is for Christians. The cross, which formerly had been the weapon of death and the devil, has become the Holy Cross of Christ, a trophy of Christ's victory over death and the devil. In the Orthodox Church, on the Feast of the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, we sing this hymn:
The article opens its arguments with the statement that the Babylonians used a "cross" in the worship of the pagan deity Tammuz. All of my searches and reference-checks for this assertion led me back to one man: Alexander Hislop. Many of the articles I came across cited him as a "historian" or "expert in [pick your poison]." He was neither; he was, instead, a minister in the Free Church of Scotland, a Calvinist organization of the 19th century. He also seems to have dedicated a significant portion of his writing career to attacking the Roman Catholic Church, and his comments about Tammuz and the cross are part of these attacks. If the statements about Tammuz and the cross were true, you'd think its proponents could find a better source than a 19th century Calvinist minister with a serious case of Romophobia. I'm not saying it's not possible that he was right in this assertion, but I have my doubts until I see it from a much less biased source.
That said, I will freely and readily admit that symbols with close similarities to the cross were in use well before Christianity, including the swastika, the "plus sign," and the ankh. But my question in reponse to this is: so what? I don't mean that rudely or dismissively, but in all seriousness. First of all, it's a logical fallacy to assert that similarity implies causality.
And, more importantly, the pre-Christian existence of the cross actually supports the pro-cross position. We don't claim that Christians somehow invented the cross or that the use of a cross was unique to Christ's crucifixion; we claim that it was a symbol of death, the very instrument of execution used by the Romans, which Christ, through accomplishing the redemption of mankind via death on a cross, transformed into a symbol of eternal life. Clearly, it would have to have had a long history of use for this assertion to be true.
The article then goes on to cite a book called The Non-Christian Cross by someone named "J.D. Parsons," quoting thus:
There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross.I'll get back to the quote in a moment; first, let's find out who was "J.D. Parsons." Or, perhaps more important, who he was not, namely: a historian, an expert in Greek language, a theologian, or, to sum it all up at once, anybody worth quoting as an authority! No, he was John Denham Parsons, a writer on many topics he didn't know much about, a denier of the historicity of Christ, a 19th century neo-pagan, and a member of a group called the "Society for Physical Research," which Society's stated purposes were to understand "events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal by promoting and supporting important research in this area" and to "examine allegedly paranormal phenomena in a scientific and unbiased way." Right... I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but where does the Watch Tower dig these guys up from?
Now that we know who J.D. Parsons was, let's look at his statement as quoted by this article. His claim is that "there is not a single sentence" in the entire New Testament which, even indirectly, supports the belief that the word "stauros," when used to refer to the instrument of Christ's death in the New Testament, means a cross. He's wrong; I can think of a few:
- "And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha," - John 19:17. The stipes, the upright pole of the cross, was generally fixed in a certain spot used for executions. It was too large and heavy to carry, plus the Roman soldiers didn't want to have to replant the post every time they were crucifying someone -- anyone who has ever driven fence stakes or put up a mailbox can tell you why; it's a pain. The patibulum, the cross-beam, though, generally only weighed about 100 pounds -- heavy, but carriable; and it was often a part of the punishment of the condemned man to have to carry the patibulum to the execution site. There is, however, not a single piece of art or writing from the ancient world which depicts or speaks of a condemned man carrying his own stipes.
- "The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' So he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'" - John 20:25. Notice that St. Thomas here says "nails" -- plural. More than one nail would only need to be used if Christ's hands were separated, as on a cross. What need would there be to have more than one nail if Christ's hands were overlapping one another on a "torture stake" as in illustrations of the crucifixion used by Jehovah's Witnesses, such as this one. Notice that there's only one nail being used to hold the crucified man's hands there?
- "And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." - Matthew 27:37. If Christ's hands were nailed above his head on a "torture stake" why does St. Matthew here say that this sign was attached to the cross "over His head." If Christ's hands are over his head, shouldn't the sign be over his hands? Perhaps his hands are somewhere else -- like stretched out across the patibulum?
I could give more examples of evidence from Scripture, but I'll stop there and move on to the rest of the Jehovah's Witnesses' article. They next claim that St. Peter's use of the word "tree" in Acts 5:30 to refer to the instrument of Christ's crucifixion somehow supports their claim that said instrument was an upright stake alone. This is eisegesis at its very worst and, for that reason, not worth responding to. That said, trees don't look much like straight, upright stakes to me.
We move next to a very interesting claim, which I'll quote from the article:
It was not until about 300 years after Jesus’ death that some professed Christians promoted the idea that Jesus was put to death on a two-beamed cross.So, assuming that Christ was crucified in AD 33, this article is claiming that the belief in "a two-beamed cross" didn't come about until about AD 333. Well, let's see:
- "For the scripture saith; 'And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred.' What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith 'the eighteen' first, and then after an interval 'three hundred.' In the eighteen 'I' stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also 'three hundred.' So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the remaining one the cross." - Letter of St. Barnabas, 9, 7 (ca. AD 80). St. Barnabas' argument here is based on gematria, an ancient Jewish practice of interpreting the meaning of words based on the numerical values of the letters (in Hebrew and Greek, letters also act as numbers). What's important to our argument here from Barnabas' argument is that he says the "three hundred" represents the cross ("strauros" in the original Greek of the letter) of Christ. The letter used to represent 300 in Greek is the Tau -- which looks like the English letter "T" -- a cross.
- "For the [Passover] lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb." - St. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 40 (ca. AD 150). St. Justin Martyr is here explaining how the Passover of the Jews foreshadowed the redemptive sacrifice of Christ on the cross. I think this quote speaks for itself.
- "For it is right to mount upon the cross of Christ, who is the word stretched out, the one and only, of whom the spirit saith: For what else is Christ, but the word, the sound of God? So that the word is the upright beam whereon I am crucified. And the sound is that which crosseth it, the nature of man. And the nail which holdeth the cross-tree unto the upright in the midst thereof is the conversion and repentance of man." - Acts of Peter, 38 (ca. AD 170. As you can see, this writing specifically mentions both the upright beam and the cross-beam by name, assigning a symbolic reference to each.
- "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." - St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, 2, 24, 4 (ca. AD 180). I believe this is clear enough to speak for itself.
This piece of ancient "artwork" (I use that word very loosely in this case) is called the "Alexamenos graffito." It was carved on a plaster wall in Rome some time in the late first century. The figures depicted are a donkey-headed man attached to a cross (not a "torture stake") and a man in front of the crucified figure with arms raised in worship. The wording reads "Alexamenos worships [his] God." Most scholars agree that the purpose of this carving was to mock Christians (specifically poor Alexamenos) and our God, Jesus Christ. Even the pagans knew of the cross of Christ, in their own twisted way.
The Jehovah's Witnesses' article concludes with a few paragraphs on whether the instrument of Christ's death, whether a cross or a "torture stake," should be used in worship. They posit the question: if you a had a friend who was murdered, would you adore the instrument of his murder by venerating it, making jewelry fashioned after it, and adorning your home with pictures of it? This is a false comparison, though, because Christ's death is not simply a meaningless murder -- it is the redemption of all mankind, "trampling down death by death," as one of the Paschal hymns of the Orthodox Church says.
The cross is described time and again by early Christian authors as our "trophy," and this is why we reverence the cross. In ancient Greek and Roman culture, a trophy was a monument which a conquering army set up to commemorate the defeat of their enemies. Typically, the trophy took the form of a tree upon which was hung the weapons which the defeated enemy had used. It was a symbol of victory over one's foes. And this is what the cross is for Christians. The cross, which formerly had been the weapon of death and the devil, has become the Holy Cross of Christ, a trophy of Christ's victory over death and the devil. In the Orthodox Church, on the Feast of the Procession of the Honorable Wood of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, we sing this hymn:
As You were voluntarily crucified for our sake,
Grant mercy to those who are called by Your name;
Make all Orthodox Christians glad by Your power,
Granting them victories over their adversaries,
By bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Your weapon of peace!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LORD JESUS CHRIST,
SON OF GOD,
HAVE MERCY ON US,
THE SINNERS.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments