Nature of Conversion

“The nature of conversion has been much discussed. As I have already noted, a convert is a person who, having formerly held one set of beliefs or values is persuaded to adopt other beliefs or values; these may be radically different from those he held formerly.

Conversion, and especially religious conversion, never occurs, as it were, in a vacuum. Protestant evangelism tends to lay stress on what has been called "crisis conversion". In other words, conversion is a crisis event in the life of the Person concerned. It can be, and often is, a very real and meaningful experience. "Crisis conversions" often occur within the context of "crusades" or other large evangelistic meetings. An "evangelist" who is skilled in this type of work delivers an impassioned address. Usually he is supported by a talented soloist who sings heart-rending "gospel songs". There will be a well-rehearsed choir. The whole purpose of the proceedings is to play upon the emotions of those present. The evangelist's address ends with an "appeal" to those who wish to make a decision for Christ to come to the front. They are then led off to be "counseled."

...In the environment of great evangelistic meetings the appeal to the emotions is powerful and for many, irresistible. It is inevitable that the Orthodox Church views "mass evangelism" with disfavor. True conversion is something far more profound than an emotional response.” + Metropolitan Makarios Tillyrides

Source: http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/mission/makarios_zimbabwe_culture.htm

Also read: http://glory2godforallthings.com/2012/06/24/evangelism-and-the-ego/

John X's Vision for the Patriarchate of Antioch

Very inspiring and encouraging how Patriarch John X mentions Liturgy, proper encounter in our missiology, Orthodox Unity, service to family and the poor, and also ecology. May all Orthodox Churches be inspired by the vision that His Holiness Patriarch John X has for the See of Antioch. Je nai nan. Lord Have Mercy on us all.

John X's Vision for the Patriarchate of Antioch

http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.com/2013/02/john-xs-vision-for-patriarchate-of.html

This is the official translation of Patriarch John X's pastoral letter dated February 17, 2013. In it, he puts forward his vision for his patriarchate and for the Church of Antioch.

On God's Will

SubDeacon Vincent points out some things concerning reductionism, the second storey and the desire to package God:

I was recently discussing this topic with a preist friend of mine, and he noted that such an expectation (discerning “God’s will” and the like) is futile, due to the fact that God does not have a gnomic will. The distinction between a “natural” and “gnomic” will is something for which the Church owes a debt of gratitude to Maximos the Confessor, whose theological ruminations became the foundation for the decrees of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (AD 681). The natural will is that which is in concert with the Logos or the telos of one’s being. The gnomic will, on the other hand, is the will of one’s “intentions” or “free choice,” and is a product of the fall; the gnomic will either guides a person into decisions that are sinful and determined by the “passions,” or into decisions that are in union with the Divine energies of God. As such, Jesus Christ (in the incarnation, becoming fully man) has no gnomic will, being omniscient. In other words, there was never a time in which the Lord Jesus Christ was “ignorant” of what he should be doing; he never had a “crisis” of choice, guided by sinful passions.

When it comes to “making choices,” one is engaged in a spiritual struggle between one’s passions and between the Logos. Will we make decisions that are determined by sin, or by faith? By succumbing to the passions, or by succumbing to the “will” of God as revealed in Christ? After all, if one wants to know the Father, one must look no further than the Son (St John 14:9). 

Sayings of Gerontisa Gavriellia

Gerontisa Gavriellia

http://synaxisstudy.blogspot.com/2013/02/selections-from-apophthegmata-of.html

The Gerontissa Gabrielia was born in Constantinople a hundred years ago on October 2/15, 1897. She grew up in the City until her family moved to Thessalonika in 1923. She went to England in 1938 and stayed there throughout the Second World War. She trained as a chiropodist and physiotherapist. In 1945 she returned to Greece where she worked with the Friends Refugee Mission and the American Farm School in Thessalonika in early post-war years. Later she opened her own therapy office in Athens until 1954. In March of that year her mother died and the office was closed. Sister Lila left Greece and traveled overland to India where she worked with the poorest of the poor, even the lepers, for five years.

Fasting With Love

Once two brothers went to visit an old man. It was not the old man's habit, however, to eat every day. When he saw the brothers, he welcomed them with joy, and said: "Fasting has its own reward, but if you eat for the sake of love, you satisfy two commandments, for you give up your own will and also fulfill the commandment to refresh others.

Love: The Deepest Thirst for Truth

"...love is the deepest thirst for the truth, the very voice of a being." 

+ Paul Evodokimov, The Sacrament of Love, p31

Lent and Fasting

As we prepare for the Fast of Nineveh and the Great Lent approaches, thought this article/podcast might be of benefit. An interesting observation of Fr Andrew is that one of the side effects [or perhaps even the presuppostion] of a theology that rejects a theology of Theosis, is a focus on pietism and/or moralism.

“Giving Up Something” for Lent
http://roadsfromemmaus.org/2012/02/24/giving-up-something-for-lent/
http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/orthodoxyheterodoxy/giving_up_something_for_lent

World as Gift

"Only if all men are united can they transform the world and respond to the call to treat the world as a gift, as the means of mutual exchange. When we share in the material goods of the universe we must be conscious that we are moving in the sphere of Christ, and that it is by making use of these material things as gifts for the benefit of one another that we progress in our union with Christ and with our neighbour. We must also be aware that when the material world becomes the means whereby we communicate in love, then we are communicating in Christ. Thus the universe is called to become the eschatological paradise through the agency of fraternal love. It is our duty to free the universe from the vanity of the blind and selfish use we make of it as sinners, and to see that it shares in the glory of the sons of God (Rom 8: 21), the glory which is an inseparable part of our union as brothers."

+ Fr Dumitru Stăniloae

St Dioscorus of Alexandria Re-examined

Was Dioscorus of Alexandria an Eutychian heretic?

http://pearlofgp.blogspot.com/2013/02/was-dioscorus-of-alexandria-eutychian.html

True Unity

TRUE UNITY WILL BE AN INSPIRATION TO THE WORLD
Fr. Matta el-Meskeen (Father Matthew the Poor) 1988

I. No Violation of Doctrine

Doctrine with regard to a church means the very existence of that church. For example since a Coptic Orthodox doctrine exists, the Coptic Orthodox Church also thus exists. Moreover, since this doctrine still exists unchanged, the Coptic Church exists unchanged as well. Doctrine is not simply lists of clauses, pronouncements, or church canons; rather it is above all spiritual worship and living faith, both of which are endowed with clear, distinctive features and characteristics. These distinctive features and characteristics are what give a doctrine its character. To the extent that the church adheres to this character, it will live and endure, otherwise its features will change, even its name may change, and perhaps it will pass out of existence.

The survival of these distinctive features through the ages has not been by means of rote memorization, faithful record keeping, apologetics, or even legal defence, so much as by means of love and ardor, living practice, exposition, clarification, contemplation, extensive description and definitions, as well as a profound exploration of the truth hidden within the doctrine itself. All of this together becomes a precious living heritage as it is handed down from generation to generation, first as an oral tradition and then recorded. Thus has the Church survived, and with it her doctrine. Throughout the generations doctrine has been compiled comprehensively in such a way that the most precise explanations, definitions, and codifications are included in its contents so that the history of any church has become the history of its doctrine; also the history of a church’s leaders and prominent teachers has in fact become the history of the extent of their adhering to or their forsaking of its doctrine. Thus, doctrine in the church has assumed a canonical framework which it cannot possibly neglect or budge from because such a framework constitutes the church’s very being, as mentioned above, and expresses its existence, history, love and spirit.

And thus has Christianity, or rather Christ, settled among all peoples, assuming their appearances and distinctive features, and giving in return his life. For in Africa Christ appears as if he were black, in northern nations as if he were fair, in India he is brownskinned, and among the Eskimo he is very short—but among all of them Christ is one and the same: Christ of Calvary, the grave, the resurrection, Christ of the whole world.