LIVING
HOLY ORTHODOXY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD
AND
IN THE PRESENCE OF ISLAM
ST.
SOPHIA IN CONSTANTINOPLE
Dear People,
I
would like to share with you some articles that are written by a monastic here
in the United States who is named Abbot Tryphon. He has a take on the Orthodox Faith that is
uniquely directed to the pluralistic society in which we live here in
America. I find that we Orthodox
Christians in America find it very convenient sometimes to water down what we
have been gifted by our Orthodox Christian forebears. We do this by comparing ourselves with
Christian expressions that have made Christianity a very easy thing to live
with. But this is not the way the
Orthodox Christian Tradition has been bequeathed to us. Living our Orthodox Christian Faith in a
multi-cultural society is not an easy thing to do if we are serious about
living and practicing the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith.
Listen to what the Abbot has to say to us
about living the Orthodox Faith in a very secular society. He says: “Orthodoxy by its very nature is a
demanding religion, one that requires her faithful to fully embrace a lifestyle
that is in opposition to the world around us.
The many periods of fasting and the practice of standing for long
periods of time for our services are just two things that set Orthodoxy apart
in our world. In an age when so many
embrace religions that require little or no standard of belief, Orthodoxy is a
faith that holds to ancient dogmas and ways of worship that are virtually
unchanged in two thousand years.
Our
multi-cultural societies have radically changed the face of many countries
throughout the western world, with immigration introducing many foreign
religions into societies that were previously monolithic in religious
tradition. Many countries in Western
Europe and North America are now seeing the spread of Orthodox Christianity as
never before, along with the introduction of Islam. This, together with the spread of secularism
and atheism, has changed the religious map of many countries.
These
changes make the practice of our faith more difficult since western societies
no longer culturally support the open practice of Christianity. No longer do we see the expression of
Christianity in the public forum, with the exception of Orthodox countries,
prominently being a part of the societal fabric. Many people are even
experiencing pressure to keep their faith a private affair, so as not to offend
others by being too religious. With
pluralism dominant in the work place and social settings, any display of our
faith can be frowned upon.
This
may work for some, but for a serious Orthodox Christian this is
problematic. How do we live Orthodoxy as
our faith demands if we live it in a vacuum, shutting it off as a private fare
practiced only on Sundays? If we are
truly to put on Christ and be transformed by the healing resources that are
available by living a committed Orthodox faith, we cannot allow ourselves to
live a superficial Orthodox Christian lifestyle.
Orthodoxy
cries out to be lived, experienced, and practiced! If we call ourselves Orthodox Christians
while rarely attending Church services, ignoring the fasting regulations,
hiding our one icon in a bedroom, never making the sign of the Cross in public,
praying a blessing over our meal only when alone or with family, we are not
practicing Orthodox Christians.
We
must be bold in our faith. As a monk who
wears my monastic garb everywhere, I can tell you it has a powerful impact on
people. Even when sitting among friends
who are not religious, I always bless my food.
If I see a police car, fire truck or aid car pass by in downtown
Seattle, I raise my hand to bless them, for I want God to keep them safe, and I
want whoever is in need of their help to receive it. I wear a Cross around my neck not only
because I am a priest, but because I am a Believer. I am not afraid to be public about my faith
in Jesus Christ, for my faith demands it of me.
Christ told His disciples that if they denied Him before men, so too
would He deny them before the Father in heaven.
Orthodox Christianity cries out to be lived publicly. Our very salvation demands it.”
Abbot
Tryphon continues by telling us why it is important for us to live our Orthodox
Christian Faith with pride and determination.
“According to St. Gregory of Nyssa, heaven and hell are not about
location, but about relationships. God
is everywhere in His creation and He did not create a heaven for some and a
hell for others. If we love God, the
fire of His divinity will be comforting warmth to us, but if we choose not to
have a relationship with Him, being in the presence of His divine fire will
feel like hell to us. We choose how we
will experience the presence of God in the afterlife, and since God cannot be
absent from anywhere, those who have chosen to ignore Him, will, nevertheless,
be in His presence for all of eternity.
St.
Gregory said that Paradise and Hell do not exist from God’s point of view, but
from man’s point of view. It is all
about man’s choice and condition.
According to him, heaven and hell are not two different locations. They are simply two different experiences of
the same place.
Everyone
will spend eternity in God’s presence, but how we experience the Divine
Presence will depend upon the condition of our souls. Those who have been transformed by the action
and work of the Holy Spirit will experience God as light and bliss. Those who have rejected God’s love will
experience it as pain and suffering. For
the unbeliever and the unrepentant, their sins will not allow them to enjoy the
Presence of God.”
Abbot
Tryhon now tells us how it is possible for us to always be in the presence of
God even now when we are alive here on the earth. He tells us: “The Orthodox Church believes
that the Eucharist is a sacrifice in which Christ Himself performs the act of
offering, and is both priest and victim.
This sacrifice is offered to God the Trinity, and not just to the
Father, but also to the Holy Spirit and to Christ Himself. It is Christ who is offered and to Christ the
offering is made.
Our
Orthodox Christian theology also teaches that the Eucharist is a sacrifice offered on behalf of both the
living and the dead, and is not a mere figure or symbol but a true sacrifice. It is not the bread that is sacrificed, but
the very Body of Christ. And, the Lamb
of God was sacrificed only once, for all time.
This sacrifice at the Eucharist consists, not in the real and bloody sacrifice
of the Lamb, but in the transformation of the bread into the sacrificed Lamb.
All
the events of Christ’s sacrifice, the Incarnation, the Last Supper, the
Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension are not repeated in the
Eucharist, but they are made present in the here and now. The Eucharist is both symbolic and mystical,
and is understood to be the genuine Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, precisely
because the bread and the wine are the mysteries and symbols of God’s true and
genuine presence and His manifestation to us in Christ. It is a mystery precisely because the
Eucharist defies analysis and explanation in purely rational and logical
terms. For the Eucharist, as Christ
Himself, is a mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven which as Jesus has told us is
not of this world. The Eucharist,
because it belongs to God’s Kingdom, is truly free from the earth-born logic of
fallen humanity.
St.
John of Damascus tells us, ‘if you enquire how this happens, it is enough for
you to learn that it is through the Holy Spirit, we know nothing more than
this, that the Word of God is true, active, and omnipotent, but in its manner
of operation unsearchable.”
Abbot Tryphon
ISLAM
IN OUR MIDST
Moderate
Muslims cannot save us because they do not have a theological leg to stand
on. These moderate Muslims provide cover
for the active Muslims. They do not hold rallies against jihad, Islamic
Jew-hatred, creed apartheid, gender apartheid and holy war. On the contrary, their silence speaks
volumes.
They
decry people who express fear of Islam but say nothing about jihad or sharia
law. Certain American cities like Minneapolis-St.
Paul have become ground zero for the recruitment of young people for ISIS and
other jihad groups. Why aren’t moderate
Muslims protesting that and instituting programs in the mosques to fight
against Islamic hatred and slaughter?
Perhaps because their mosques would throw these people out of the mosque
much like they threw out moderate Muslim Dr. Zuhdi Jasser.
Dr.
Bill Warner, a Muslim scholar, tells us more about the moderate Muslim in our
midst. He says: “It is frequently said
that moderate Muslims can solve the problem of jihad and terror. Everyone has met nice Muslims, some of whom
are willing to admit that Islam has problems and may even say that the Islamic
State is bad. Moderate Muslims are nice
people who come to interfaith events, interviews and talks at schools and
Churches. Moderate Muslims even tell us
that they are the real victims of Muslim terrorism, not the non-Muslims.
Here
is the problem—Islam cannot be changed by anybody, moderate or not. Islam is the doctrine about civilization that
is found in the Koran, in the Sura and in the Hadith. Nobody can change the teaching of the
Koran. The words of the Koran are
eternal, perfect and universal. Nobody
can change Islam. It is fixed and frozen
by its unalterable doctrine.
What
we call moderation is simply ignoring the violence and hate of Islam. But the jihad cannot be removed. It can only be denied by ignoring it. A moderate Muslim has the same Allah and
Mohammed that a jihadist has.
Moderate
Islam is practiced by Muslims who basically ignore the teachings of Islam. They
are non-practicing Muslims. Islam
changes Muslims; Muslims can only choose not to practice the dark side of
Islam, but they cannot change it or get rid of it. Islamic doctrine is fixed, eternal, unchangeable
and forever.”
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