3 plus 1 stories of prayer

Translated from the original by “M.L.”

I have lived in Athens my whole life. I used to spend in the city even the hot, dry summers. I have gathered many pictures from Athens in my mind’s eye, a few of them so intense that I cannot forget them. This blog gave me the opportunity to present 3 plus 1 true stories of people who prayed. I witnessed these events and I was moved to tears, hopefully, not out of cheap sentimentality, but because of the acknowledgment of those individuals’ faith. Of course, this is subjective and some readers may find the stories uninteresting while others may be moved. I am not a professional writer and perhaps my writing style cannot capture the power of the moment. But enough with the excuses, let’s start...

UNKNOWN HERESIES AND HERESIARCHS IN THE YEARS AFTER THE APOSTLES

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

Saint_Irenaeus

As we have already pointed out in other posts, our goal is not limited to facing heresies and exhibiting the Orthodox Faith, but we are also interested in giving information on various issues, so that the faithful have a global and clear picture of what they worship.

Therefore, we dealt with heresies in our post “Heresies in the years of the Apostles” and with the apocryphal books of the Old Testament in our post “Angels and Demons in the apocryphal book of Enoch”.

In our current article we are going to deal with the heresies that existed after the years of the Apostles, spanning the 1^st to the middle of the 3^rd centuries AD...

Whither Calvinism: or Will the Real Platonists Please Stand Up

Arch. Grigorios Konstantinou

PhD in Theology

Plato and Calvin

            The original impetus for this essay was the proposed defense of Orthodoxy against the rather naive and tendentious series of writings which appeared in the Journal Credenda Agenda (Volume 6, Issue 5). The author at the time proposed, along with the other topics being addressed, a kind of survey of the Calvinist agenda. At the time of the proposal there were only very vague notions about what such an article should try to cover — and that had mainly to do with the extreme factionalism of Protestantism. However, subsequent reflection, coupled with a re-reading of the Credenda articles, has suggested that there are some common themes to be addressed about Protestants in general and Calvinists in particular. Furthermore, as will be suggested, these themes have a common root in Platonic thought and philosophical methodology. This should be a matter of considerable interest inasmuch as it is precisely these people who claim to give the definitive answer to the question of Tertullian: “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Nothing! They would answer. Indeed, one of the main thrusts of the Credenda articles was the perceived necessity of getting back to the more original and “Hebraic” Christianity of Jesus and St. Paul. Now since Calvinism and all of Protestantism form a system — actually a series of systems — of thought and theology far too rich and varied to be treated exhaustively in an article of this type, we will treat of a few basic issues which, so far as we can see, as outsiders looking in, are central to the protestant experience and Calvinist thought, and are at the same time the most problematical for both those ‘inside’ and those on the outside looking in. Thus, the following topics will be briefly examined: ....

THE INCURABLE “LOVE” OF A JEHOVA’S WITNESS FOR ORTHODOXY

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

The monastery of Agia Lavra

 When I was born my parents converted to Jehovah’s Witnesses. So I was brought up with the beliefs of the Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, I had always had a gap inside me, a doubt, that’s why I used to read everything I found apart from the writings of the Society.

 When I was 17 we immigrated to the USA. But my parents didn’t live there for long; they moved back to Greece 3 years later, leaving me alone there. After a while I got married to a girl who was a Jehovah’s Witness as well. Nevertheless, the gap and the doubt still remained and I couldn’t explain it. They told me that I had to study more and progress in the Society so that my faith could be stronger. I did it all, I studied day and night...

DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES STAMP ON IMAGES? NO, BUT THEY BURN THEM!

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

As it is known proverbs are the quintessence of the wisdom of peoples. In a simple sentence the wise nation manages to tell you everything, all the essential things that otherwise would probably need whole pages to be expressed.

Well one of the most famous wise proverbs of our nation is the one saying “There’s no smoke without fire”, which denotes that rumors heard about something or someone might probably have some standing in reality.

DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES REFUSE TO TAKE THE ARMS AND TAKE PART IN WARS INDEED?

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

The heresy that is known today as Jehovah’s Witnesses, issues two magazines which mostly contain the doctrine of the heresy. These are the fortnightly “Watchtower” and the monthly “Awake”. Well, in the “Watchtower” of November 1st, 1964, pages 652-653, the Society claims that Jehovah’s Witnesses (the Kingdom ambassadors as they are mentioned in the text) in contrast to the rest of the world refused to take the arms in World War I and for this neutrality they became objects of hatred and persecution:

THE DISTORTED IMAGES OF GOD IN CHRISTIANITY

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

The impression that atheism and unfaithfulness are increasing in our society is widespread among faithful and unfaithful. Of course this is a fact we cannot deny and is partly true.

However, it is time we wonder whether we Christians can actually decline all responsibility or we are partly responsible for that. And perhaps all these atheists and unfaithful may neither be atheists nor unfaithful in essence, but they may actually be looking for a genuine religion and a genuine God! Because as Jean Paul Sartre – the great French philosopher – said “an atheist has an obsession with God and sees his absence everywhere; he can’t even utter a word without pronouncing His name. In short he’s a person with religious beliefs.”

A PROPHET BUT… WHAT “PROPHET”

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

As we all know when Lord was talking to His disciples about His glorious Second Coming, he warned them that false prophets will appear throughout the centuries, who will define the day and the time of His Second Coming. We also know that the Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses “The Watchtower” has proved to be one of the GREATEST FALSE PROPHETS OF ALL ERAS and has additionally turned out to be hilarious with its continuous predictions and contradictions.

So, the Society of “The Watchtower” has said: “Christ will come in…1878, oops… sorry in… 1914 we meant… hm!….. no you didn’t get that right, we said in….. 1925 and of course when we say 1925 we definitely mean in… 1975.”

WORSHIP OF IMAGES – IS IT IDOLATRY OR NOT?

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

We were impelled to writing the following article by the fact that many faithful who happened to have a discussion with followers of several heresies (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecosts, Evangelists, etc) approached us and asked for our help and for clarifications on whether the honors we pay to images, to holy relics, etc. is idolatry or not.

FLYING TOWARDS FREEDOM

Translated from the original by Evdokia Davitidou

This is a great day for the blogspot "Antiairetikos", because we are especially pleased to host a letter from a former Jehovah's Witness, Onisimos Eleftheriadis. In this letter, where he introduces himself, he testifies in a few lines his personal Calvary which he is forced to go through, since he decided to break off all relations with the ruthless - in terms of behaviour against former members - organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, 'Watchtower'. Of course, what dominates the letter of this man, is nothing but fear. That can be easily understood by reading it. Fear, even now.The Church of God, Orthodox Christianity.Welcome back, dear Onisimos. May God keep you safe and strong in this particularly difficult moment of your life, and hopeful in the dark tunnel of "evil" you have to escape from, once and forever.