Serbian Conversations, Part 2

At long last, I present the second interview with Fr. Daniel Sysoyev and Yuri Maximov which they gave in Serbia. “O Lord, open Thou my lips and my mouth shall declare Thy praise” Stanoje Stankovic: The first question: What do you think about missions in the world, that is, in Africa, in Russia, in Serbia, [...]

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Living like the Fathers

It is one of the rules of politeness at such “ecumenical” gatherings that the heterodox are not informed that the first prerequisite for studying the Fathers is to have the same faith as the Fathers of Orthodoxy.Fr. Seraphim (Rose)

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The Ark of salvation

Considering all the hubbub concerning the Pope and the recent “revelation” of the Papal claims I thought it opportune to present the recent (that is, in the Orthodox time frame) encyclicals (1848 and 1895) of the patriarch of Constantinople. May this be education to those outside of the Orthodox Church of her timeless beliefs and [...]

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On "Ecumenical dialogue"

…the cosmological dimension of the event of salvation and its ontological content is an area of little concern for the ‘ecumenical dialogues’ of our times. Christos Yannaras

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The presence of Christ

Only by severely downgrading or eliminating altogether the importance of initiation into the life of the Church can one speak of Orthodox witness to the heterodox in the framework of ecumenical encounter. Ultimately, this translates into denying the existential reality of the Church itself (the life in Christ), and hence, by extension, the very diachronic [...]

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Five year plan x2

I know you’ve all been eagerly awaiting an update on the actions of famed new ecumenical group CCT so I will not disappoint… Having just concluded their “celebration” of formation last week they could not fail to release some “objectives” towards which all “Christians and all people” need to strive. Being not quite as ambitious [...]

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CCT yea you know me

Ecumenical alert! So I read about this group some time ago in a certain publication but had forgotten about it until now. What is a year in Orthotime anyway? The first questionable content of said article is the mention of an “ecumenical officer” – which I ask is exactly what? Maybe they are in charge [...]

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On “dialogue”

For the Saints, the truth was not an object of research. They did not negotiate it; they merely offered it. If the dialogue did not lead the heterodox to the rejection of their mistaken belief and acceptance of Orthodox faith, they did not continue it. Holy Monastery of the Paraclete

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Doctrinal minimalism

…Christian unity is grounded and expressed in the unity of the Apostolic Tradition, and that the divisions among Christians, complicated as they might be by “non-theological” (cultural, historical, socio-psychological, etc.) factors, are ultimately rooted in deviations from the one faith. These divisions cannot be healed by compromise or doctrinal minimalism.SCOBA guide for ecumenical diaogue

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The ‘foundation’ for modern ‘ecumenism’?

Following are excerpts from letters between Patriarch Jeremias II and the Tübingen “theologians” which constituted an introduction to a book review in a certain publication. “We received the letters which your love sent us and the booklet which contains the articles of your faith. We accept your love, and in compliance with your request we [...]

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SCOBA: First Movement

It is the acceptance of God’s revelation as found and lived in the reality of the one historical and visible Church of Christ that delimits the beginning and the end of the ecumenical movement for us.SCOBA guide for ecumenical dialogue

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The "trials" of ecumenism

A great part of our difficulty with ecumenism in general is precisely its preoccupation with the questions and problems of the European mentality, as well as by methods, techniques and structures expressive of western rather than universal considerations. SCOBA guide for ecumenical dialogue

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Malpractice

…from the viewpoint of Protestant needs, the WCC is certainly the best kind of medical treatment possible for the maladies of Protestantism. However, from the viewpoint of Orthodox needs, membership in the current organizational structure of the WCC is an aimless adventure, simply because the maladies of Orthodoxy and Protestantism are not the same. Fr. [...]

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get your priorities straight…..

Which for us is more necessary and important: to strive for ecumenical communion and union with those who think differently and who remain in their different opinion, or to preserve catholic communion of spirit with those teachers of faith, lamps of faith [saints], who by their life and by their death showed faithfulness to Christ [...]

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I love you, you love me, we’re an ecumenical family…..

It may sound strange, but it is a fact that ecumenism today is threatening the “ecumenical nature” of our Church, as it falls more and more to compromising and syncretistic tactics which contradict the basic principles of our Orthodox faith. We must not forget that correct faith is the first and foremost prerequisite for the [...]

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Unity- as one stand together…

Christian unity cannot be realized merely by determining what articles of faith or what creed should be regarded as constituting the basis of unity. In addition to subscribing to certain doctrines of faith, it is necessary to achieve the experience of a common tradition or communis sensus fidelium preserved through common worship within the historic [...]

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