Questions about your Church!!

[Isaiah 53]

And eyes, too?

Just to be certain we are starting on the same page, I have a few questions.

Do you have any objection to the Orthodox teaching that Christ is our Paschal (Passover) Lamb? If you mean that Christ is the final sacrifice for sin~I have no objection! We (Southern Baptists) do believe that Christ is the passover Lamb.

Are you familiar with Exodus 12 and Leviticus 16? I will bring up Romans and Hebrews later. Yes I am.

Please remember that I am not doubting your faith or questioning your knowledge. I would never think that. And I hope you would never think that of me...

I just want to be sure all of the groundwork is in place. Also, you will have to bear with me and expect that I will not be able to answer all of your questions. I pray that the others here can help and correct me as I need it. I understand!! I appreciate the answer, "I don't know" a whole lot more then making it up as you go along....

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

Here's a Orthodox calendar for this month. http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/calendar.asp

 

[Reader Nilus]

[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Fasting & Fast-Free Seasons of the Church is a good link that gives you the times of year Orthodox Fast and the days we fast. It also has what one fasts from.[/font]
Jeff the Finn

 

[Reader Nilus]

We believe Christ is already enthroned.

It should be pointed out that Orthodox too look for Christ Coming in Glory to Judge the Living and the Dead, that has not happened yet, but in the Liturgy we hear and Remembering the "Second and Glorious Coming" because for Orthodox the Liturgy is the 8th Day, and we are in the Kingdom.
Jeff the Finn

 

[brewmama]

Okay, a little help here...Liturgical year? Are you required to fast on certain days or times? communal an private prayer? And Spiritual father?

Thanks a million for your patience and time!!

PEACE IN CHRIST!!

The litugical year embraces seasons remembered and celebrated in the history of the Church, such as Lent, Advent, Feast days. fast days, Holy days, and days recognizing saints and martyrs. It "sanctifies the time" so to speak, and keeps our minds turned toward God.

Fasting is a spiritual exercise, and although it is a "requirement" it is not legalistic and everyone is enjoined to do fasting appropriate for them, as recommended by their spiritual father. For example, pregnant women, children, and elderly folks may have special dispensations. Fasting tames the body and therefore the passions.

Spiritual fathers are those more experienced and knowledgeable people in the faith, such as monks and priests, that have a relationship with you and offer guidance in your walk to sanctification. The starets of Russia, such as those in Dostoyevsky's books are an example. My spiritual father is my parish priest.

We have a "rule" or times set aside for prayer, and we pray the psalms and other approved Orthodox prayers, although of course we can also pray spontaneous prayer. This is another discipline that cleanses our heart, and even when we don't feel like it, we try to do it anyway, because it is deemed beneficial. There is also set communal prayer in the church, such as morning prayer or "orthros" and evening prayer, or vespers.

 

[Isaiah 53]

The litugical year embraces seasons remembered and celebrated in the history of the Church, such as Lent, Advent, Feast days. fast days, Holy days, and days recognizing saints and martyrs. It "sanctifies the time" so to speak, and keeps our minds turned toward God.

Fasting is a spiritual exercise, and although it is a "requirement" it is not legalistic and everyone is enjoined to do fasting appropriate for them, as recommended by their spiritual father. For example, pregnant women, children, and elderly folks may have special dispensations. Fasting tames the body and therefore the passions.

Spiritual fathers are those more experienced and knowledgeable people in the faith, such as monks and priests, that have a relationship with you and offer guidance in your walk to sanctification. The starets of Russia, such as those in Dostoyevsky's books are an example. My spiritual father is my parish priest.

We have a "rule" or times set aside for prayer, and we pray the psalms and other approved Orthodox prayers, although of course we can also pray spontaneous prayer. This is another discipline that cleanses our heart, and even when we don't feel like it, we try to do it anyway, because it is deemed beneficial. There is also set communal prayer in the church, such as morning prayer or "orthros" and evening prayer, or vespers.

Thank you for the response!!! Just to clarify; one can pray their own prayers to God, correct? And can do it when ever they wish? Are the set prayer times everyday?

PEACE IN CHRIST!!!!!!!!

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

Thank you for the response!!! Just to clarify; one can pray their own prayers to God, correct? And can do it when ever they wish? Are the set prayer times everyday?

PEACE IN CHRIST!!!!!!!!

You can pray any time you want.

 

[Isaiah 53]

And however you want, correct?

PEACE IN CHRIST!!!

 

[Orthodox Andrew]

And however you want, correct?

PEACE IN CHRIST!!!

Correct. Prayer is a very personal act.

 

[Isaiah 53]

Correct. Prayer is a very personal act.

 

[Reader Nilus]

A great book I would recommend on prayer is Beginning to Pray by Met ANTHONY Bloom. In it he talks about spontaneous prayer vs those in books, very full of insights on how to make the prayer of the Church your own personal prayer.
Jeff the Finn

 

[MariaRegina]

Dear Isaiah:

I read in one of your posts somewhere that you don't believe that Jesus Christ is man anymore, that He somehow shed His humanity?

Does your church teach that?

I thought that Baptists believed that Jesus is the God-Man and that is why He is the One Mediator between God and man. Christ ascended into heaven 40 days after His Glorious Resurrection from the dead - His resurrected Body ascended - His alive and glorified Body arose into the heavens.

My parents are Baptists and they sent me a Baptist Hymnal with the Nicene Creed printed on the inside of the front cover. This same Nicene Creed acknowledges Christ's Holy Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. "He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father." Now how can Jesus Christ sit at the right hand of the Father unless Christ has a Body.

Hopefully I greatly misunderstood your post. Please clarify if I have.

Your sister in Christ,
Elizabeth

 

[Seraphim Reeves]

Isaiah53,

And however you want, correct?

Well, yes and no.

"Yes", in the sense that spontaneous, or improvised prayers (as far as what one is actually saying) are obviously allowed.

"No" though, in the sense that how one prays, should be informed by God Himself. This occurs through one's teachers within the Church of Christ (the Orthodox Church), and as we progress on the way towards becoming better attuned to the inspirations of God Himself, this is a process which will be informed perhaps quite directly by the promptings of the Holy Spirit - either way, it is the Holy Spirit Who is teaching men how they "ought" to pray, and what they ought to pray for.

For example, one area which shouldn't be left completly to personal taste (at least from what I can gather from everything I've read or been taught) is the "mindset" with which one approaches God in prayer. While there is certainly a paternal intimacy which God has in regard to His children, it shouldn't be forgotten that this same God is also a King (King of Kings in fact), Lord of all, and is the font of all Holiness. If one has such things in mind, then this will naturally translate into how one prays.

Because of the above considerations (and because our faith is not simply an individual matter, but is something shared in common with the Church, which has in fact been the means by which God has given us spiritual life in the first place, and taught us the Good News), the Church has a great deal to say to us as far as guidelines for prayer go, even if we are simply offering a brief, informal prayer, or simply stopping at the prayer corner in our home to be refreshed (though prayers of course can be said anytime, anywhere!).

Thus, there are certain postures of prayer which the Church teaches (generally, we stand when we pray), and even certain prayers which many prayer rules will recommend we ought to pray often. For example, it is good to always ask God's blessing, particularly in the way the Apostles and all of their spiritual descendents have taught/practiced - to pray and make the "sign of the Cross" upon ourselves, for this sign itself is a prayer, and puts fright into demons who know the Holy Cross is their ruin.

So, obviously impromptu or otherwise informal prayers are valuable, but they should also be informed by an ecclessial consciousness (meaning, that we are praying as part of, or as one desiring to be part of, the Church of Christ.)

Obviously, (subjectively speakin) whether one takes the above advice, in large part will depend on what they think of Orthodox Christianity. Objectively, however, that is the state of things.

Seraphim

 

[Isaiah 53]

Dear Isaiah:

I read in one of your posts somewhere that you don't believe that Jesus Christ is man anymore, that He somehow shed His humanity?

Does your church teach that?

I thought that Baptists believed that Jesus is the God-Man and that is why He is the One Mediator between God and man. Christ ascended into heaven 40 days after His Glorious Resurrection from the dead - His resurrected Body ascended - His alive and glorified Body arose into the heavens.

My parents are Baptists and they sent me a Baptist Hymnal with the Nicene Creed printed on the inside of the front cover. This same Nicene Creed acknowledges Christ's Holy Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. "He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father." Now how can Jesus Christ sit at the right hand of the Father unless Christ has a Body.

Hopefully I greatly misunderstood your post. Please clarify if I have.

Your sister in Christ,
Elizabeth

Yes, I believe you misunderstood my post. I do believe He has His body. That He is the physical representation of God. I think the point I was trying to make was that He is not human in heaven in the sense that we are human in heaven. He is God. We are to worship Him.

Make sense?

PEACE IN CHRIST!!

 

[Isaiah 53]

Isaiah53,

[/size][/font]

Well, yes and no.

"Yes", in the sense that spontaneous, or improvised prayers (as far as what one is actually saying) are obviously allowed.

"No" though, in the sense that how one prays, should be informed by God Himself. This occurs through one's teachers within the Church of Christ (the Orthodox Church), and as we progress on the way towards becoming better attuned to the inspirations of God Himself, this is a process which will be informed perhaps quite directly by the promptings of the Holy Spirit - either way, it is the Holy Spirit Who is teaching men how they "ought" to pray, and what they ought to pray for.

For example, one area which shouldn't be left completly to personal taste (at least from what I can gather from everything I've read or been taught) is the "mindset" with which one approaches God in prayer. While there is certainly a paternal intimacy which God has in regard to His children, it shouldn't be forgotten that this same God is also a King (King of Kings in fact), Lord of all, and is the font of all Holiness. If one has such things in mind, then this will naturally translate into how one prays.

Because of the above considerations (and because our faith is not simply an individual matter, but is something shared in common with the Church, which has in fact been the means by which God has given us spiritual life in the first place, and taught us the Good News), the Church has a great deal to say to us as far as guidelines for prayer go, even if we are simply offering a brief, informal prayer, or simply stopping at the prayer corner in our home to be refreshed (though prayers of course can be said anytime, anywhere!).

Thus, there are certain postures of prayer which the Church teaches (generally, we stand when we pray), and even certain prayers which many prayer rules will recommend we ought to pray often. For example, it is good to always ask God's blessing, particularly in the way the Apostles and all of their spiritual descendents have taught/practiced - to pray and make the "sign of the Cross" upon ourselves, for this sign itself is a prayer, and puts fright into demons who know the Holy Cross is their ruin.

So, obviously impromptu or otherwise informal prayers are valuable, but they should also be informed by an ecclessial consciousness (meaning, that we are praying as part of, or as one desiring to be part of, the Church of Christ.)

Obviously, (subjectively speakin) whether one takes the above advice, in large part will depend on what they think of Orthodox Christianity. Objectively, however, that is the state of things.

Seraphim

Thank you for your response. Yes, I will agree that we need to remember whom it is we are speaking to while in prayer. But I also believe that God knows us better than we know ourselves. That is, He knows the attitudes of our hearts. I often go to Him in prayer in my frustration or anguish. He hears and heals me. I would hate to trade my personal pleas before the Lord for a 'canned' prayer.

I try to remain in prayer constantly by practicing the presence of God.

I have never heard the giving of the sign of the cross after prayer explained that way before. It is very interesting.

PEACE IN CHRIST!!!

 

[Oblio]

A great book I would recommend on prayer is Beginning to Pray by Met ANTHONY Bloom. In it he talks about spontaneous prayer vs those in books, very full of insights on how to make the prayer of the Church your own personal prayer.
Jeff the Finn

bump

 

[MariaRegina]

I try to remain in prayer constantly by practicing the presence of God.

PEACE IN CHRIST!!!

There is another book on prayer which might interest you, Isaiah.

Have you ever heard of The Mountain of Silence by Kyriacos Markides now available from Amazon.com in paperback? It is basically in interview form and has a lot of questions and answers on prayer. Since it is written from a man's point of view, you will find it very interesting. My son and husband also enjoyed Professor Kyriacos' sense of humor.

Hope this helps.

Elizabeth

P.S. When I referred to Christ sitting on the right hand of the Father, I should have mentioned that this refers to Christ's position of authority more than a physical seating arrangement. Christ is truly God and truly Man. He will judge us as such. There is a tendency to either focus on His humanity (by calling Christ our Brother) or to focus on His Divinity exclusively (by calling Christ our God); however, Christ is the God-Man. We are created in that image.

There is also the tendency to call flesh evil and therefore to say that Jesus is only Divine. Our flesh was created by God in Christ's image, and it was created good. Christ accepted our humanity and became man. By Holy Baptism and Chrismation, our body becomes sanctified and illuminated. This is why we Orthodox do not believe in cremating our faithful departed because our body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit.