i wanted to clarify when i said "What difference will it make if that suffering is eternal anyway"It certainly is eternal and that is Orthodox Dogma. It certainly makes all the difference.I think i wanted to say "what difference does it make what ki…
I've been seeing a lot of speculation on such topics. Conclusively, beyond the visions that certain saints like tamav irini, makarius or kronstadt have seen, it is impossible to know. Tamav for example experienced 2 walls closing in on her with a fo…
Pope Shenouda never denied Theosis or deification or unity with God. Many are accusing him of that. If people read his arabic writings and not the English translation which did him a great disservice they'll see he taught precisely what the fathers …
I hope our youth can remain unfooled by this new push for unliteral and purely allegorical reading of scripture. The seeds of the antichrist is pushing for the abrogation of scripture to abrogate the faith as a whole. This is a small but dangerous s…
dear OP
V.C Samuel "The council of Chalcedon reexamined"Fr Shenouda Maher "Christology and the council of Chalcedon"
You can purchase these books online or in local churches if they're sold there. There are various articles online on several sites s…
If you read between the lines of many Miaphsite theologians, at least the way I've interpreted them, is that they say "The EO are orthodox despite Chalcedon, not because of it" which would somewhat agree with an above comment in that councils are im…
Dear monfret, while the above part of your comment is easily explainable by the church fathers and that the historicity of scripture isn't sacrificed in order to derive a spiritual allegorical lesson, i will comment on your last part about the antic…
I think as the world is heading towards an irreversible direction, the concern of the churches will be to unite, perhaps, in a different way under one banner, spiritually for survival. I don't think this will be theological or ecclesial unity, but I…
i have heard this accusation hurled at the church as well. But i've noticed it comes down to a more personal thing within the congregants themselves and only some. I don't believe it's church wide problem on an ecclesiastical level. My church for ex…
orthokairos.weebly.comthis site is great. Has hundreds of books from coptic orthodox authors like fr matta el meskeen and pope shenouda, as well as medieval literature, Fr tadros malaty, etc
translation, dissemination, publication, indeed are all issues..I will agree that we OO especially Copts don't take the initiative to learn about our own faith more deeply. Historical remembrance is important. This particularly is what revived Ortho…
I also agree. We as oriental orthodox have a rich history of saints and fathers..sadly many go untranslated especially many of St Shenouda the archmendrite's works..
We believe our God came and took flesh and walked among us. They do not. Therefore, we do not believe in the same God. All these debates going on are becoming ridiculous.
Theologically and spiritually it's all different.
Arabic Christians use Allah …
Rick, you said "Those verses were only for the time". Could you provide a reference from the Quran as to where it says this. Because if it fails to state this clause then I don't see why all the commandments in the quran can't be applied by all beli…
Whenever we ask what the "church's view" is on a particular subject we have to also keep in mind what the church is preserving and not just what it's against. The Church is preserving life and the image of God which is sacred in every human born or …
Perhaps it's time for admins to close this thread, at least temporarily, since it's having a detrimental effect on some here. After all, this is a site and forum attached to a church thus the church should not allow harm or be a vehicle for it, rega…
Hi, davidschanter,
Indeed it's refreshing to see this site above focus on something under-served especially in the digital world. Most literature I come across online tends to be EO which is great but we tend to undervalue our heritage and faith the…
There's this site that's been going around social media and the net for a while. A hidden gem really..
Orthokairos.weebly.com
It's all oriental orthodox literature by authosr and it's being added to daily. It looks like a good initiative since orien…
It seems that in a relative sense, there is no greater human after Christ than her, and so compared to us she is indeed sinless (as we call Enoch and St. Bishoy perfect and the Gospel refers to Zechariah and his wife as blameless along with Job). Th…
What an edifying topic.
In my opinion, it takes away from the Holiness of St Mary to say that she never sinned. If we contemplate about it, it takes away from her hard work & effort in her spiritual life which allowed her to be worthy in carryin…
I never once implied that Adam may or may have not existed. I just told you that reading the Genesis creation account as allegory does not negate Adam's existence. Of course Adam existed if humanity was to start anywhere than it was by him.
Apologi…
Again, this is a misunderstanding of the word allegorical.
Allegory is not synonymous with symbolic. Allegory simply means that a concrete material story which represents a much harder to understand mystical reality. This is not to say that Adam an…
Dear Minasoliman,
I agree with most of your analysis which could've been said in less words. Throwing strawmen and then arguing against them isn't helpful.
I understand your point in what happened with st.Augustine & others & you present it…
Dear Minasoliman,
I agree with most of your analysis which could've been said in less words. Throwing strawmen and then arguing against them isn't helpful.
I understand your point in what happened with st.Augustine & others & you present it…
Ioannes, you've converted to a church that's relatively young in North America, hence the older Arabic speaking generation making up most of the populace because most recently immigrated from Egypt. They were never taught about other cultures and ad…
It is very interesting to see how people view the late Patriarch. Implying in our responses and mannerisms that he had no idea what unity with God is because of his misunderstanding with Abouna Matta el meskeen. This is quite disheartening and I hop…