Luke retweeted
In 1066 the French invaded Orthodox England.
In 1793 their blasphemous revolutionaries defiled Christian altars.
Unless the nations repent, & turn back to God, we see the cost of abandoning Christ.
Luke retweeted
ROCOR calls for prayers as GOARCH church plans to honor President Zelensky
orthochristian.com/180307.ht…
The planned award has drawn pan-Orthodox opposition, including a petition addressed to the church’s Board of Trustees calling on it to rescind the honor and choose a different recipient.
Luke retweeted
The sacred heart devotion is clearly demonically inspired.
Does anyone sincerely think Jesus would encourage someone to carve His name into their chest?
Luke retweeted
We shall never accept the heresies promulgated at Florence.
Our pious ancestors preferred death and earthly slavery under the heathen to betrayal of the pure Apostolic faith we have received and will preserve to the end of world.
May we be worthy of their legacy!
#OrthodoxChurch #OrthodoxChristian #Christianity #RomanCatholic #PopeLeo
Luke retweeted
@WesleyLHuff the office of “episkopos” and the office of “presbuteros” are NOT interchangeable!
This structure of a council of elders (a presbyterion or gerousia) with a presiding officer (a prostates or episkopos) was an extremely common institutional pattern in the ancient Mediterranean and was integrated into Jewish communities long before the Apostles.
The Sanhedrine was structured this way. The Jewish diaspora structured themselves this way. Professional associations and trade guilds structured themselves this way. It was ubiquitous throughout Ancient Greek and Roman life!
The Biblical narrative is exactly in line with the cultural context of the day. The Apostles went city to city appointing presbyters, building up a presbyterion in each town. Each presbyterion was governed by the Apostles. The Apostles picked certain head presbyters to stand in their place and oversee the presbyterion. Those lead presbyters became known as episkopos, or “overseer/bishop.”
The episkopos are the successors to the Apostles, as St Clement points out in Ch. 44 of his letter to the Corinthians. You see this also when Paul commands Timothy to remain in Ephesus or for Titus to remain in Crete. The roles did NOT emerge, they’re right there in the Bible—in Acts, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus!
Now the language took a VERY short time to become standardized—as early as St Ignatius (and it seems in St Clement’s letter, too), the term “episkopos” is standardized to mean that one lead presbyter who was a successor to the Apostles.
What you see is that the ROLES were there from the very beginning and the LANGUAGE was standardized almost immediately!
Btw, it’s very ironic to see Protestants complaining about “development” of language in the 100s AD, when you affirm the Doctrine of the Right to Private Judgment—which no Christian believed or taught for 1500 years!
Biblically, a “pastor,” “elder,” and “bishop” are 3 words for the same thing.
In the New Testament, the terms “elder,” (πρεσβύτερος), “bishop,” and “overseer” (ἐπίσκοπος) are essentially interchangeable, referring to the same leadership role in the early church. “Elder” stems from the Jewish context and “bishop” from the Greek term, both essentially meaning an overseer. The slight nuance is that qualifications for an “elder” stipulate standards of character, emphasizing a wise, mature leader who is respected, while “overseer” and “pastor” describe the functional aspects of leading and shepherding. The word “pastor” originates from the Old French “pastour” meaning “herdsman or shepherd”, a derivative of virtually the same word in Latin.
The three-tiered ecclesiastical system that eventually separated bishops, elders, and pastoral roles only emerged in the 2nd century, specifically in the writings of Ignatius, who first distinguished the overseer as the sole head of the city-church. Earlier writings like 1 Clement and the Didache still used the terms interchangeably.
Luke retweeted
As an orthodox Christian, it would be tragic to have original thoughts and arguments. We place our trust in the teachings of the church and offer them from that standpoint.
I remember once while giving a catechism class to my parish, an older man who had disagreed with some church teachings was present and stated that I was just brainwashed and just repeating what the Church told me. I could not have received a better compliment.
Luke retweeted
Indeed, there is NO COMPARISON in this regard between Orthodoxy and either the heterodox in the west or the east.
They all have fallen into some form of ecumenist ecclesiology or acceptance of “apostolic churches” (even those they previously rejected in council).
The Saints of the Orthodox Church in the 20th and 21st centuries are unanimous in their rejection of the pan-heresy of ecumenism.
They agree, as St. Ephraim of Katounakia said, ecumenism possesses a "spirit of wickedness" and is "dominated by unclean spirits".
Luke retweeted
"Glory to God for all the sorrows which confront us! The person to whom sorrow is given is remembered by God in His Kingdom." - St Ignatius Brianchaninov
Luke retweeted
If you encounter someone who holds nothing sacred, be certain they will find what you hold sacred and pervert it.
Luke retweeted
St Basil was a bishop who taught laypeople to obey the councils of the church, which James White doesn’t do.
White is the archetypal “sovereign citizen” Christian.
“I read the Bible MY way!”
“Nicaea 2 isn’t binding on me!”
“Well in MY reading of the Bible…”
Blah blah blah
A few quotes from Basil:
The hearers taught in the Scriptures ought to test what is said by teachers and accept that which agrees with the Scriptures but reject that which is foreign. (Basil, Moralia, 72:1)
If custom is to be taken in proof of what is right, then it is certainly competent for me to put forward on my side the custom which obtains here. If they reject this, we are clearly not bound to follow them. Therefore let God-inspired Scripture decide between us; and on whichever side be found doctrines in harmony with the word of God, in favor of that side will be cast the vote of truth. (Basil, Ep. ad Eustathius, NPNF II, 8:229)
We ought carefully to examine whether the doctrine offered us is conformable to Scripture, and if not, to reject it. Nothing must be added to the inspired words of God; all that is outside Scripture is not of faith, but is sin. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series: Prolegomena, 2. Work, 3. Ascetic (iii).)
Be careful when you see counter citations, such as Basil, Epistle 51.2, where he writes, "To refuse to follow the Fathers, not holding their declaration of more authority than one's own opinion, is conduct worthy of blame, as being brimful of self-sufficiency." The context were individuals who were uncomfortable using the term homoousios. This was written in 370, so the memory of Ariminum and Sirmium was still fresh. All that Basil said must be taken into account to represent him fairly. Fair Protestants can allow him to be the product of his time. RCs and EOs will be forced to make him speak as they speak.
