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Thanks, can you give me a little preview?I know that this thread is a little stale, but there is a book on Amazon called "How Satan Deceives People" from the writings of Elder Cleopa. Read it. Its 17 pages, and will put things in perspective.
Thanks, can you give me a little preview?
Here ya go.
Note: not Elder Cleopas but someone from the same country and same time period: father Dumitru Stăniloae.
I'm a bit confused by that article... It seems at first like it's saying "spiritual fathers are sinful, listen to them anyway" and then it sounds like it's saying "your spiritual father can make mistakes in guidance, don't always listen". (Obviously I'm paraphrasing) Can you explain a bit more?Here ya go.
Note: not Elder Cleopas but someone from the same country and same time period: father Dumitru Stăniloae.
hell is not so much a place to go to as it is a condition of the soul experiencing the fire of God's presence. it's the shed Blood of Christ that makes hell, hell.
I'm a bit confused by that article... It seems at first like it's saying "spiritual fathers are sinful, listen to them anyway"
and then it sounds like it's saying "your spiritual father can make mistakes in guidance, don't always listen". (Obviously I'm paraphrasing)
"Never, ever trust something because a part of it seems good. Never, ever trust a source because that source sometimes says things which seem good.Yes - we listen to them not because they are perfect but because we need „to escape from the hell of my mind’s relativity.” (quote from the article)
Where?
Never, ever trust a source because that source sometimes says things which seem good.
Interesting. Does that mean that a spiritual father is always right in those cases? Like the Catholic "infallibility in matters of doctrine and morals"? Or can he err?AHa! I see.
Of course. When your SF says something about sins & penances then you must obey because then he is not „a source” - then he is an institution. The institution of God.
However, if your confessor says something about politics, computers, photography and many other stuff (except, of course when the sin is involved in these domains) then you should use discrimination.
Interesting. Does that mean that a spiritual father is always right in those cases? Like the Catholic "infallibility in matters of doctrine and morals"? Or can he err?
do you still have to obey?yes, a spiritual father can err. no one is infallible like how Rome views the Pope.
do you still have to obey?
do you still have to obey?
Definitely asking this next question for my own struggles.yep, fear of hell is the most base and the lowest of the paths to heaven, but it does work.
Definitely asking this next question for my own struggles.
Is that enough though? Is fear of damnation really enough to attain heaven (while knowing none of us can ever be sure)? It doesn't seem like that is really what Christ is calling us to do. I certainly understand that the fear of Hell is supposed to push us to live rightly and to seek the narrow path.
This has been nagging at me lately as I continue to fall short.
How does one leverage this fear as a tool for change? Never simple.
Definitely asking this next question for my own struggles.
Is that enough though? Is fear of damnation really enough to attain heaven (while knowing none of us can ever be sure)? It doesn't seem like that is really what Christ is calling us to do. I certainly understand that the fear of Hell is supposed to push us to live rightly and to seek the narrow path.
This has been nagging at me lately as I continue to fall short.
How does one leverage this fear as a tool for change? Never simple.
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