1. Against the Jews by St John Chrysostom
2. Moral of the talmud by bishop Alexy (Dorodnitsyn)
3. Enlightener by St Joseph Volotsky
To translate the sites into your preferred language use google translator.
Orthodox view of Islam
A collection of sources
1. About Islam by Fr Daniel Sysoev
2. Islam 101 by Gregory Davis
3. Holy Fathers on Islam
To translate the sites into your preferred language use google translator.
True Orthodoxy and the Modern World (Archbishop Averky Taushev)
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“ For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth: and everyone who is of the truth will hear my voice ” ( John 18:37 ).
It is extremely significant and deeply instructive for us that the first week of Great Lent concludes with a feast in honor of Holy Orthodoxy. And it is deeply regrettable that in these difficult times of ours, this glorious feast is often not celebrated with the due solemnity it rightly deserves. The reason for this, one might think, is that many in our time, even among the clergy, not excluding those of the highest rank, do not clearly grasp what Orthodoxy is—why it is so infinitely dear to us, why we should value it so highly and preserve it as our greatest treasure, unmatched by any earthly treasure of this perishable world.
A widespread, “current” opinion these days is that Orthodoxy is just one of many varieties of Christianity, along with others that have every right to exist and are even, to one degree or another, equal in value.
But to think so is either extreme naivety based on ignorance, or a definitely malicious distortion of the truth.
On the Protocols and revolutionary movements (St Seraphim Rose)
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
There is one last document we should look at in this period of the beginning of the twentieth century before the great revolutionaries of our century, which is a rather controversial document. It is called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and, because it presents itself in the form of a Jewish document, it has aroused a great deal of dispute. If you read any history book, of the two world wars especially; in fact, any history book written before the Second World War, you will find there an almost universal statement that “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” are a fabrication deliberately to discredit the Jews, that it is a totally fantastic thing which has no reality to it, and they will point out that either the person who discovered it was himself an agent of somebody and therefore deliberately fabricated them, or else — as at least one source states — that he was fooled by the Tsarist police who simply wanted to invent these in order to make an excuse for eliminating the Jews in the pogroms. There are others who take the document so seriously that they tend to go to the other extreme and they see everywhere a Jewish plot so much so that they can hardly take a step without fainting. We must try to look at this document somewhat objectively to see what is actually in it, how it was found and what is its significance. From the Orthodox point of view, it is most interesting how it was presented to the world for the first time. It was discovered by a lady, we do not know who, who gave it to the person who printed it and it is supposed to have come from the West and to have been written in French and then translated into Russian. But the person to whom this document was given was a man by the name of Sergei Nilus who printed it together with another document which he had recently discovered, The Conversation of Motovilov with St Seraphim. He presented these two documents to the world at the same time in order to show 1) what is the truth of Orthodoxy and the acquirement of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and 2) what is the plot of Satan to overthrow Orthodoxy. It was printed in 1905 (1903?) Nilus himself was a very respected ecclesiastical writer, a popular journalist who went to Optina and even lived there and various other places; and there can be no doubt that he had nothing to do with making up a forgery. He accepted this text as quite legitimate and presented it to the world as a warning. We will see that the text has two new points in it which have not come out in previous revolutionary documents. But apart from these, it is exactly the same as the philosophy of Bakunin, Weishaupt and all these other thinkers. Some people say it is not a very original document — it’s plagiaristic, etc. — and probably so, because all these ideas were circulating and this particular document — in fact, we see that one writer [Webster] compares on one side of the page “The Protocols” and on the other side the text of Weishaupt written in 1785. The philosophy is the same. And so, most likely this is a legitimate document which is some kind of notes taken at a lodge of people who happen to be Jews and they present the philosophy in a very Jewish way, just as earlier there were people who presented the revolution as a triumph of pan-Germania and others presented the idea that the whole world would become some sort of French republic, and this took the form of some Jewish Masons or Illuminati who represent the revolution as their plot. There are some ideas here which are most significant for us. Whether they are actually responsible for the French Revolution as they say, and whether they are so influential, who can say? We have seen that all these secret societies are so small, so split up, so secret, so full of secret signs and handshakes and invisible ink, etc. that who can possibly decipher who is actually responsible for what? Our view is that this is most symptomatic of the philosophy which is going on at this time. And we shall see later on that this particular document had a definite role to play in Germany. The philosophy which is described in this document is one of absolute ruthlessness in bringing about a revolutionary government and in the means used to bring it about, the using of people (like Marx used Bakunin), utter hypocrisy, killing off your enemies, spreading pornography in order to corrupt the youth, causing revolutions, taking first the side of monarchs, then the side of socialists, then the side of liberals, democrats; taking any side in order to push across your point of view and eventually come to power. They talk about the control of the press, the control of money, etc. Here follow a few excerpts to show the spirit of this document: “He who wants to rule must have recourse to cunning and hypocrisy. “We must not stop short before bribery, deceit and treachery, if these are to serve the achievement of our cause.” And this very philosophy can be found in the Talmud which says that anything is possible; you can deceive any non-Jew, a Goi, for your own purposes. “The end justifies the means. In making our plans we must pay attention not so much to what is good and moral, as to what is necessary and profitable. “With the press we will deal in the following manner.... We will harness it and will guide it with firm reins; we will also have to gain control of all other publishing firms...
HERESY OF “NEO-CHILIASM'' (Archbishop Averky Taushev)
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth” ( Rev. 21:1–7 ).
With these words, taken from the Apocalypse, the holy righteous Father John of Kronstadt began his extremely significant final New Year's sermon. In this sermon, which served as a kind of testament to us, since it was delivered shortly before his blessed death, he vividly painted a picture of the terrible moral corruption of the modern world and expressed the opinion that this world is "nearing its end," that "the last times have already come."
In this sermon, as in many other sermons and individual thoughts and sayings in "My Life in Christ," St. John emerges as a powerful denouncer of the terrible heresy of our time, which is fundamentally undermining the Orthodox Christian teaching on salvation. This heresy has become so widespread in our time, yet has so skillfully concealed its destructive heretical nature, that it is now professed even by many within our Orthodox Church, not excluding clergy, some of whom occupy high hierarchical positions.
What kind of heresy is this?
This heresy, in essence, does not represent anything completely new: it is merely a peculiar refraction, or manifestation in modern conditions, in the modern environment of life, of the heresy of the so-called “chiliasm,” or the false teaching about the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ on earth, once condemned by the Second Ecumenical Council.
That is why we call it “neo-chiliasm”.
This is faith in the coming progress of humanity on earth , or in “the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth,” as those who consider themselves to belong to the Church of Christ express it, supposedly called, in their conviction, to realize here on earth for people a heavenly life – complete well-being, peace and prosperity.
The goal and end of asceticism (St John Cassian)
All sciences and arts have their goal (scopon) and their end (telos), in view of which the diligent lover of art willingly endures all labor and expense. Thus, a farmer, enduring now heat, now cold, tirelessly plows and loosens the soil, with the "goal" of clearing it of all foreign debris and making it more fertile; convinced that otherwise he will not achieve the "end ," that is, a bountiful harvest for his own sustenance and the increase of his wealth. So our asceticism has its goal and its end, for the sake of which we tirelessly and with pleasure undertake all labors - for the sake of which the meagerness of fasting food does not burden us, the exhaustion from vigils delights us, the constant reading of Scripture with meditation knows no satiety, and neither incessant labor, nor nakedness from everything and poverty in everything, nor even the horrors of this immeasurable desert frighten us.
What is Fasting? Its Essence and Purpose
In general, the word fast in the biblical understanding, as in the translation from Hebrew "tzum", literally "to tighten the insides" means abstaining from food.
The Latin word for "fast" is "ieiunium," literally meaning "empty intestine." Therefore, fasting is not a division of food into fasting and lean foods, but simply abstaining from food to combat gluttony, so that the spirit can rule over the flesh.
St John of Kronstadt - a shining example of Orthodoxy
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By Archbishop Averky Taushev
"O wondrous, life-giving, divine Orthodoxy! I see your radiant image!" – this is how our great righteous man, prayer-maker, and miracle-worker, the ever-memorable Father John of Kronstadt, loved to exclaim repeatedly .
And this is understandable! After all, he himself constantly sensed within himself the incomparable grace-filled power and spiritual might of wondrous, life-giving, Divine Orthodoxy—that pure, uncorrupted, unadulterated, genuine Christian faith, the one true, one saving faith, undistorted and uncontaminated by any human delusions or inventions. Where does all the greatness and glory of our wondrous, all-Russian righteous man come from, who acquired worldwide renown, was bowed before, and deeply revered as a true shepherd of Christ's Church, even by many foreigners and non-believers who experienced the miraculous power of his prayers and intercession for them before God, and who only heard of him from others? From Holy Orthodoxy.
Life of Saint Ignatius of Antioch (+108)
Saint Ignatius was born in Antioch, the capital of Syria. Tradition says that he was the child whom Jesus Christ received into His most pure arms and to whom, pointing to His disciples, He said, " Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven ." And, " If he receives such a child in My name, he receives Me" ( Matt. 18:2-5 ; Mark 9:37 ). Saint Ignatius is called the God-Bearer because he was carried by the hands of the incarnate God, and even more so because, as he himself explains in his conversation with Emperor Trajan, he always carried God in his heart through his faith and love for Jesus Christ and through the grace of the Holy Spirit with which his heart was filled.
Life of St John of Kronstadt (+1908)
On October 19, 1829, in the far north of Russia, a weak and sickly child, named John (Ioann), was born in the family of Ilia Sergiyev, church reader in the village of Sura in the Archangelsk province. This child was the future luminary of Christ’s Church.
From his earliest years Vanya went with his father to their poor and humble church, served in the altar, loved the service books, became very pious. His favorite book was the Holy Gospel. All of this became a firm religious foundation for the boy in his later long and glorious life in Christ.
Learning came very hard to Vanya in his childhood, which sorrowed him greatly, but also served to spur him on to especially fervent prayers to God for help. And a miracle occurred! Once, during his sojourn in his religious school, after a fervent prayer during the night, the boy experienced a sudden shiver all over his body, and it was as though a curtain fell from his eyes, as though his mental sight opened up, and he experienced lightness and joy in his soul. After that night the boy immediately began reading with great ease, began to comprehend and memorize everything with the greatest facility. He finished his school at the top of his class, graduated from the Archangelsk Seminary in first place, and entered the St. Petersburg Religious Academy.
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