Birth of Christ; Son is born in Israel, it is a cause of joy!

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

I

n a few days we will celebrate the birth of Christ. A birth, which was the reason to be happy the people, where - finally - is opened again the way for meeting of people with God, which was closed by the sin of Adam.

But we must not forget that for our salvation, Christ chose to be born as a man in the country of Israel. So it is worth at this point to ask ourselves. What it meant to the Israelites the birth of a child, and what manners and customs were following this birth, which were applied to the infant Jesus?

In a Jewish family when a child is born, it was a great pleasure for parents, but also for their relatives and family friends. The village or the neighborhood was learning immediately the joyful event and knew that soon - according to the old custom – they would call their relatives, friends and neighbors to have fun...

The daily life in Israel in the time of Christ, based on the testimonies of the New Testament

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

I

n Israel, the inhabitants were mainly engaged in agricultural work, in animal husbandry and fishing, those who lived on the coast. The working hours were not specific and defined and often the needs imposed a hard and continuous work throughout the daytime and sometimes at night. In this case is characteristic the response of Peter to Jesus when he motivates them to throw their nets to catch fishes: «Master, we have labored all night without anything to catch ...» Luke 5:5. The shepherds because of the heatwave that prevailed on the day were touring their flocks in the grassland during the evening hours when it had cooled...

THE ANCIENT TRANSLATIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

T

he New Testament contains texts of the Agreement that Christ did with all people, for their exemption from evil and death. This collection of texts became with the passage of time a closed list of 27 books that in the theological language is called "norm". And these 27 books of the New Testament were written in the "international" language of that era, which was no other than the ancient Greek. Only a collection of words of Christ, known as "Words", which formed the original core of Matthew's Gospel, written originally in Aramaic - a dialect of Syrian language - as we are informed by the tradition of our Church and in particular from Papias , bishop of Hierapolis. But then were translated in Greek and incorporated in the Gospel of Matthew: “On Matthew tells them: while although then Matthew drew up words in the Hebrew dialect, they interpreted him as anyone could be”, Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III 39, 16. Indeed, the modern Greeks feel shocked when they think that God chose as “utensil” of enunciation of speech, his Greek language, evolution of which is the Greek language who speaks today. But this must not see racist and elitist, for the simple reason that - instead he was born in Greece - could have been born in another country...

The "infallibility" of the Pope: What is it, and when was enacted

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

           

Pope Pius I, who adopted the infallible

T

he bishop of Rome, known today as Pope (= father) always enjoyed special appreciation to the Church because he was bishop of the capital of the Roman Empire, but also because - according to tradition - there martyred the two top apostles, Peter and Paul. Indeed, was destined to acquire of great importance and value, since it was the sole support for the residents of the West, when the barbarian tribes of the Vandals, in 476 AD, catalyzed the Western Roman Empire, spreading the terror and panic...

WHY THE JEWISH PEOPLE WERE NOT ROUSED TO DETER THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST?

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

If

 anyone bears in his mind the narratives of the gospels which describing the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem and almost his delirious reception from the enthusiastic crowd, and the subsequent derisory and humiliating course to the painful death of the Cross, it is reasonable to put the big question: The negative attitude of the Jewish ruling class and especially of his omnipotent priesthood was also the attitude of whole the people? In simple words, all compatriots of Jesus knew his divine mission, the new message of love that brought to the enemy, by proclaiming himself as the Messiah, in short, they was able to distinguish what it was that who made ​​him a controversial point?

THE FOUNDERS OF THE RELIGIONS

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

Τ

he religions, not only the oldest but also the newer, we separate them in polytheistic and monotheistic, i.e. to those who accept the existence of many gods and to those who accept the existence one God. Apart from the above distinction, the religions are divided - regardless if they are polytheistic or monotheistic - in those who they owe their existence to a founder and in those that there were traditionally without having been founded by someone. We will deal with religions that have a founder. We would mention the founders of religions, not in turn of their appearance, but in alphabetical order to assist the readers.

THE SACRED BOOKS OF RELIGIONS

Translated from the original by Costas Balomenos

 Picture 1: Bagkavantgkita and Avesta

The latest decades, Greece - probably due to its geographical location - became the place where many immigrants from different countries, with different cultures and most importantly a different religion, which due to ignorance and brings in a difficult position and surprise many of the native Greeks. So to help the understanding of different cultures and religiosity of immigrants, many of them already are our neighbors, and the following are articles published, dealing with the sacred books of other religions, so that the reader can get a taste of what about each religion professes. Wishing our article is to be found complete we quote at the end "the Book of the Dead", which does not belong to a particular religion, but many. Religions have them in alphabetical order, like textbooks, so the reader by clicking on any religion wants, immediately led to it.

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: ....