Orthodoxxy

“Essentially, Protestantism is nothing other than a generally applied papism. For in Protestantism, the fundamental principle of papism is brought to life by each man individually. After the example of the infallible man in Rome, each Protestant is a cloned infallible man, because he pretends to personal infallibility in matters of faith. It can be said: Protestantism is a vulgarized papism, only stripped of mystery (i.e., sacramentality), authority and power.” St. Justin Popović

@adelethelaptop My favorite Catholic bishop name is Bishop Pizzaballa, that one rocks

The fact that Bishop is a position in the Catholic church, a first name, and a last name, means that it's possible for there to be someone called Bishop Bishop Bishop.

@Oluwadaniel_0 There's basically two widely understood models of the Trinity, one from the Latin West, which has been co-opted by Protestants, and the other is the Easter Orthodox model.

I have found that many Trinitarians advance views that are not wholly in agreement with the views of other Trinitarians, even though they might consider each other "orthodox."

@JoshPhillipsPhD Great list. Nice to see the omission of Milton, who is overrated.

If I could only read 10 authors for the rest of my life 1. Homer 2. Virgil 3. Sophocles 4. Shakespeare 5. KJV Bible (I know, not an author. But whatever) 6. Tolstoy 7. Dostoevsky 8. Hemingway 9. Fitzgerald 10. Twain

@NickHintonn Catechism period today is way too short in must cases. The spiritual formation necessary before baptism is replaced with transmission of doctrinal and historical information.

Originally, an Orthodox catechism involved a few years of purification. The catechumen practiced the noetic prayer under the guidance of an illumined elder until their nous was no longer preoccupied with the world. Then, once the elder perceived this, the catechumen was baptized.

“For if the wrath of God were a passion, one might well despair as being unable to quench the flame which he had kindled by so many evil doings; but since the Divine nature is passionless, even if He punishes, even if He takes vengeance, He does this not with wrath but with tender care, and much loving-kindness; wherefore it behooves us to be of much good courage, and to trust in the power of repentance.” Saint John Chrysostom, An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall

"If you live badly, no one will touch you; but if you begin to live well, there will immediately be afflictions & temptations." - St Barsanuphius of Optina

@ericmetaxas I give 5%

NEVER TIP THE CASHIER. Am I the only one stunned to constantly see prompts to tip 20% in order for the cashier to hand me a coffee or whatever? This is socialist madness. DO NOT go along with it. Starbucks et al. must repent!

“The Fathers stress that salvation does not result automatically from Orthodox doctrine alone. Doctrine is not what saves people. it simply opens the pathway for man to reach purification and illumination. Without Orthodox dogma, however, no one can reach… illumination.” Fr John

@LizzieMarbach 22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

@LizzieMarbach Who were Eli's sons sleeping with then?

There was no such thing as “temple virgins” amongst jews. That was a purely pagan practice.

@Oluwadaniel_0 The creed the Orthodox, who are Trinitarian, recite every Sunday: I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth...

When Christians agree that ho theos in John 1:1 is the Father, they mean the Father as the one God, not as the first person of the one God. For the Christians, the "one God" and "the Father" are interchangeable; but this is not true in Trinitarianism.

@AndrewTheCalled Russian Orthodoxy is off the rails on this subject. That is why they appeal to Slav catechisms to defend PSA. Proof of Latin captivity.

I explicitly rejected PSA and Original Sin and vehemently opposed both teachings for awhile and both were part of my reasons as to why Orthodoxy was “unique”, but both of these are basics of the Apostolic Deposit and are TRUE. Willing to be corrected and to engage with anyone.

@NickHintonn You've got to remember the context of Fr. John's observation and not make it a broad brush applied to Orthodox everywhere.

Only 5 out of 300 Orthodox Christians are actually illumined

@Abunajohn Sounds just like the ROC. Lord have mercy.

Unfortunately, this is the state of affairs within the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is a theocracy and has no transparency and is not obligated to be transparent. It is ripe with corruption. If any clergy dare stand against the Patriarchate, they are meet with swift action to remove them from office. The tribunal [synod] always votes the way the Patriarch desires. To dissent means career suicide for any bishop.

Ps 74: LXX: "For the cup in the hand of the Lord is wine undiluted, full to overflowing, and He hath swirled it to and fro, but the dregs thereof did not settle out; all the sinners of the earth shall drink them up."

@ProtPhilosopher One person doesn't and cannot determine the canonical books of the Bible. It belongs to the Church, not an individual.

Catholics say their canon was just received, not added to. But the oldest Christian canon list, Melito (170 AD), tracks the Hebrew canon. No Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, Sirach appear in his list. The longer list appears only in the late 4th century. By their own rule, the accretion runs the other way.

“In our scholastic theology, the focal point of our salvation has been shifted from Bethlehem to Golgotha. This shift in our Russian theology occurred comparatively recently, about 200 years ago, when the Latin theological trend came to Moscow via Catholic Poland and Kyiv, and when various scholastically minded fathers acquired greater authority than the ancient fathers of the Church.” - Saint Hilarion Troitsky, Bible, Church, History: A Theological Examination

@Zalmoxis7534 It's so blatantly obvious that this happened and has affected Russian Orthodox theology. Unfortunately, the Russophiles in America are sucked into it also.

@Kristinartz The Cat From Outer Space at the drive-in.

Age yourself by naming a movie you saw in the theater when you were a kid.