peterfarrington
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I've visited Egypt, but I don't see much point in living there, apart from in a monastery for a while. I am not trying to become a rural Egyptian priest. It seems to me that from comments here and elsewhere the priest's views are generally ignored …
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I am not sure what you mean? To discourage something is not the same as forbidding it. If you have a particular issue in mind you should discuss it with your spiritual father.
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Muslims aren't monophysites. Monophysites (i.e us) were accused of believing that Christ was not truly human as well as Divine. They claimed that we taught that His humanity was swallowed up by His Divinity. Father Peter
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In the ancient times the laity themselves would commune themselves at home from reserved sacrament, and the deacon could lead the congregation in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts which was composed by St Severus, and the laity received the bod…
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epchois, There are quite a few references to Flavian being alive many months after the council closed, but a particularly useful resouce is Chadwicks paper on the subject. I have a copy somewhere and will scan it for you. God bless Father Peter
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Bishops ordain priests. The Pope is essentially one bishop among many others in the Holy Synod, of course he is the president of the Synod, and the Bishop of Alexandria, which gives him a seniority. But he may not ordain priests in another bishops s…
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Flavian was not killed at Ephesus. He was still sending letters to people months after the council. The very famous and scholarly Church historian Henry Chadwick believes that Flavian was eventually kept in the Imperial palace and that Marcian and P…
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He means that there is a Greek Orthodox Patriarch and a Coptic Orthodox one.
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I don't think you can say that our Lord never used the normal personal pronoun 'I'. Sometimes he says 'I AM' but there is no reason why he should not just use 'I'. I think you are possibly trying to make more of things than is required. Our Lord i…
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Because the Church has not understood this to mean that God's mercy is limited. Otherwise we must say that the new born child who dies unbaptised must go to hell. The Church has never taught this. And the Scripture provides enough evidence for us …
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If you wish to lay up treasure in heaven then do not lay up treasure on earth. Seek first the kingdom of God. Keep the spiritual traditions of the Church. Fast seriously, pray earnestly, love sacrificially.
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Only God knows. No Muslim can depend on Islam to get them anywhere.
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In a real sense no-one 'goes to heaven', as if we get a guarantee by simply doing something. Orthodox Christians spend their lives seeking a transforming union with God so that the experience of heaven is partially enjoyed even now. Yet even such a …
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Because that is the way we identify ourselves in English. It is I. Why do you think this doesn't make sense?
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Dear Joseph I would be very interested in hearing more about the role of the deacon in the EO, and the differences with the role in the OO? God bless Father Peter
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Generally I agree with all of the points you have made JG. It is better and safer to have studied the commentaries and homilies of the Fathers and say, 'St X says that the Holy Spirit is like'. Words do matter very much. All metaphors simplify even…
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I think that intention does matter in so far as it is a measure known only to God of how a person is responding to the call of God in their own heart and life. As one who was a Protestant I believe that by the grace of God I was responding to this c…
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I would avoid the wild goose because it is a compromised metaphor. But the use of metaphor in passing during a sermon is acceptable I believe. But what I do not think is acceptable, and this is the case with the wild goose, is to build a complex s…
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The metaphor of the wild goose is not frivolous, and I do not think it was meant to be. But in the West it cannot be easily separated from a false history of early Orthodox-Catholic Christianity in the British Isles, nor with the Protestant agenda t…
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I am not sure that it is a rule that loan words in any language should be pronounced as in the original language. In English none of the Greek loan words are pronounced as the Greek, except by accident when that happens. Kyrie, Alleluia, Theotokos…
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The use of the term 'wild goose' to describe the Holy Spirit is not historical. It goes back no further than George MacLeod, the liberal Protestant socialist minister who formed the Iona Community in Scotland in the 1930's. Therefore to use it, an…
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I think that there is a difference between announcing that we are fasting to direct attention to ourselves - which is what the Pharisees did - and just saying that we are not eating during lunch because it is a time of fasting in our Orthodox Church…
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These are all interesting posts. I meant that not all miracles are obvious and unchallengeable. Some are not like a cancer disappearing but are the constant and private miracles of daily life in Christ. These are rather hidden. They are mysteries of…
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The sense of 'mystery' in regard to Christian sacraments and theology is that there is some great spiritual reality which is hidden and which is only made known to those illuminated by the Holy Spirit. So the Eucharist is just outwardly bread and w…
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There used to be ... but I think it closed down.
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Lol! I'd like such a problem. It could still be put in the bulletin. I would imagine that there must be communication structures in place. And after a period of notice the change would take place. There are always lots of issues and problems, but …
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Despite my coming from an evangelical background, or maybe because of it, I have never felt happy with any announcements in the Liturgy at all, and as a priest I have never given any announcements. It would seem to me that they should be reserved …
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I would provide plenty of notice of a change, with a written explanation distributed to all from the priest so that it is clear WHY the change is happening, and that it is not a matter of taste or personal preference but of accuracy in the use of th…
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It is not wrong to get your priest involved as long as he is not used to support various sides or parties in the congregation. But he should certainly be able to say, 'This is how we will act in the Church', and be obeyed when there is a situation …
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I just noticed your question Joseph. It was St Basil who said that a fast without love was the fast of demons. Blessed are those who both engage in the fast with rigour and seriousness and seek always to gain spiritual benefit rather than the pra…