Ancient Christian Witness

Quote:
"If, for these and other such rules, you insist
upon having positive Scripture injunction, you will find none. Tradition will be
held forth to you as the originator of them, custom as their strengthener, and
faith as their observer. That reason will support tradition, and custom, and
faith, you will either yourself perceive, or learn from some one who has.
Meanwhile you will believe that there is some reason to which submission is
due."

"For three tumultuous decades — 1907 to 1938 — Fr. Basil
Kerbawy was the dean of St. Nicholas Syrian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn.
Apparently, in 1911, he was having some issues related to his beard, and things
got so bad that he wrote to William Gaynor, the mayor of New York. I can’t
resist reprinting their correspondence. Here is Kerbawy’s original letter, which
got picked up by the newspapers (my copy is from the Columbus Enquirer-Sun of
Georgia, 4/29/1911):
Most Honored Sir — I want to know if it is a crime to
wear a beard? I suppose that this may appear to be a foolish question to you,
but to me it means a great deal. I am the pastor of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox
church on Pacific street, Brooklyn, and my profession calls for the wearing of a
beard. When I got out on the street the boys and young men mistake me for a
Jewish rabbi and insult and assault me.

They often throw decayed
vegetables at me. If I were a rabbi, would that be an excuse for loafers to
assault and insult me? I am a citizen and as such should be protected from
assault.

I have borne the insults and assaults patiently up to last
Saturday night, when an incident occured that made me lose all patience. I was
alighting from a car at Seventy-third street and Thirteenth avenue, Brooklyn,
when a little loafer hit me with a decayed vegetable, which I believe was a more
than ripe tomato. This exhausted my patience. I went for the lad, who, luckily
for him, escaped."

"In this week's Theologically Thinking episode, Fr. Thomas
Hopko presents a message entitled "Why Does the Orthodox Church Have Bishops?" Listen Now (mp3)! or click below to
listen:"

"In a previous post I had mentioned the ill-conceived
accusation that the Nicene Creed was hard to understand, and offered to explain
it to any one who needed help. Recently I went to a special class where my
priest explained the creed in greater detail, and after taking my notes and
doing some additional research in scripture, I thought I would present an
amateur exegesis of the creed myself.

Some who attempt to denounce
Christianity mistakenly believe that after the creed was formed at Nicea (325
AD) those who did not follow it were immediately persecuted. In fact, various
versions of the creed existed across the Roman Empire before the council, hence
the need to formalize it, and the version of the creed we know today was
actually written later at the First Council of Constantinople (381 AD). The
version written at Nicea was much shorter, simpler, and had a lengthy attack
against heresy at the end. Arianism, which had led to the Nicene council in the
first place, still continued afterward and found revival in scattered parts of
the empire, leading to further councils and further efforts by the Church
Fathers. Historically speaking, Nicea was hardly an instance of case closed.

It should be noted this shouldn't be considered the ultimate explanation
of the creed, nor should it be considered "scholarly". It was just done for fun,
and to help those who might be curious about the background of the words.


I believe in one God, Father
Almighty...


It is fitting that the Church Fathers
opened the creed in this manner, because they affirm right at the start that
there is one God. Christianity is neither tritheistic nor polytheistic, for it
believes very firmly that there is one and only one God.

From here we
move into the Trinity, beginning with the Father. The Father is almighty, which
in the original Greek is defined with the word pantocrator. The Father is the
source of all things, and nothing exists without Him. It was only by God's will
that something, visible or invisible, exists (Rev 4:11).


...maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and
invisible.


When God began creation, He made the
heavens (the invisible) first and then the earth (the visible) second, hence why
the heavens are often listed before the earth (Gen 1:1; Isa 42:5). The mention
of "heaven" in Genesis 1:8 is considered by most theologians to mean "the
visible heaven," or rather the sky.

The rebellion of Satan and his
angels, who all became the demons, is believed to have happened between the
creation of the heavens and the creation of the earth. The Church Fathers taught
that the main motive behind Satan's tempting of Adam was, above all things,
jealousy."

"In the next several posts, I want to offer some theoretical
and practical thoughts about group spiritual formation. Maybe the best place to
begin is by asking what I mean by "group spiritual formation"?


All
Christian life then is communal and all of us have been called by God to help,
each in our own unique and personal way, foster this share life in Christ. In
light of this, group formation is simply a practical means of exercising this
shared responsibility given to each of us in our baptism.


Unlike say
group therapy or a support group, group spiritual formation is built on a shared
adherence to tradition. (In the current example, this means the Tradition of the
Orthodox Church, likewise for a Catholic or Protestant group. ) But while there
is a shared commitment to a tradition, the exploration of this tradition as such
is not the goal of a spiritual formation group. The goal rather is to allow that
tradition, as expressed by the insights of the group members, to serve as a
guide for how we live our daily lives.


One touchstone of group
formation then is the tradition of the Church as an objective standard."

"In Chapter "Origins of Coptic Christianity", Aziz S.
Atiya (A History of Eastern Christianity, pp. 25-28) tells of the very detailed
and firm tradition in Egypt among the Coptic churches regarding St. Mark: "St.
Mark brought his Gospel with him to Alexandria; and though the Greek version
could have fulfilled his purpose in that city, the suggestion is made that
another version in the Egyptian language was prepared for the benefit of native
converts who were "Mark's real labor lay in Africa. First, he crossed the
Mediterranean to Cyrenaica-the Pentapolis which had been his parents' residence
in bygone days. This country was colonized by Greeks and many Jews who offered
his zeal a ripe and hopeful harvest. After performing many miracles and sowing
the seeds of his faith, he went to Alexandria by a circuitous route through the
oases and Babylon, or Old Cairo. Alexandria was the Eastern counterpart of Rome,
both in importance and in being a stronghold of paganism, and it was imperative
that Christianity should win the two. The task was as worthy as it was
hazardous. "Here we face the important problem of dates. The History of the
Patriarchs mentions explicitly that the revelation to Peter and Mark, that they
should advance on Rome and Alexandria, came in the fifteenth year after the
Ascension of Christ, that is, 48 A.D. Other sources put his entry into
Alexandria in 55, 58 and 61 A.D. Whatever the right date of Mark's appearence in
the city, the consensus is that he was martyred in 68 A.D. Between those two
dates he was able to fulfill his mission and to win many converts.

"The story runs that on entering the city by the eastern
gate, he broke the strap of his shoe. So he went to a cobbler to mend it. When
the cobbler took an awl to work on it, he accidentally pierced his hand and
cried aloud: 'Heis ho Theos' (God is one). Mark rejoiced at this utterance and,
after miraculously healing the man's wound, took courage and gave the lesson to
the hubgry ears of his first convert. This happened to be Anianus, Mark's
successor as the second patriarch of Alexandria. The spark was fired, and the
cobbler took the Apostle home with him. He and his family were baptized, and
many others followed. So successful was the movement that the word spread that a
Galilean was in the city preparing to overthrow the idols. Popular feeling began
to rise, and men sought him everywhere. Scenting danger, the Apostle ordained
Anianus bishop, with three priests and seven deacons to watch over the
congregation in case anything befell him. Afterwards, he seems to have
undertaken two voyages. First he sallied into Rome where he met Peter and Paul,
and he left the capital only after their martyrdom in 64 A.D. He then stayed at
Aquilea, near Venice, before his return to Alexandria. On finding his flock firm
in the faith, he decided to visit the Pentapolis, where he spent two years
performing miracles, ordaining bishops and priests, and winning more converts.
When at last he reached Alexandria, he was overjoyed to find that the brethren
had so multiplied that they were able to build a considerable church in the
suburban district of Baucalis, where cattle grazed by the seashore.

"Spreading rumers that the Christians threatened to
overthrow the pagan deities infuriated the idolatrous populace. The end was
approaching, and the saint was unremittingly hunted by the enemy. In the year 68
A.D., Easter fell on the same day as the Serapis festival. The furious mob had
gathered in the Serapion and then descended on the Christians while they were
celebrating Easter at Baucalis. St. Mark was seized, dragged with a rope around
his neck in the streets, and then incarcerated for the night. In the following
morning the same ordeal was repeated until he gave up the ghost. His flesh was
torn and bloddy, and it was their intent to cremate his remains. But the wind
blew and the rain fell in torrents, and the populace dispersed. Thus the
Christians stealthily carried off his body and secretly buried it in a grave
which they had carved in the rock under the alter of the church."(A History of
Eastern Christianity, Aziz S. Atiya, pp. 22-28) [1]