I can't find it on the net - but it can be ordered here for $4.00
http://www.copticorthodoxliterature.com/cgi-bin/Bookstore.pl
Hope that helps.
In Christ,
John
Dear Mike,
Hizz_child is correct in saying we must read the Bible as a whole; we must also understand it in the light provided by the Church that produced it. Where Protestants tend to treat the Bible as a sacred text apart from the Church, we are …
Dear Κηφᾶς,
Thank you for your kindness.
Your formulation cannot be bettered; it would have been better had I written about my respect for individual Muslims. You are quite correct in what you write. We should always, as you do, differentiate betw…
Dear Vassilios,
Interesting question.
Can I start with Matthew 5: 43-48?
5:43 You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to thos…
Can I just thank you all for giving me so much to smile at when reading these posts :)
I don't know what it says that Kerestina is the only woman to post recently on this - and that she's more than holding her own. Perhaps, as my wife says occasion…
Dear Mina, Dear Vassilios,
There can only be one Church, as you both say.
The problem is in establishing the limits, since there is a paradox here: God's love is Infinite, His salvation is for all, but there is one Church; how to explain that?
Ar…
Dear Κηφᾶς, Dear Mina,
Thank you both for your kind words; I think Kerestina has grasped what I meant by 'respect'. It might have been better had I used a word with less scope for misunderstanding!
He calls us to love our enemies; how hard that is…
I see the point being made - but dealing, as I do, with evaluation forms, I can tell you that unless anonymity is guaranteed, they aren't worth the paper they use up.
In Christ,
Anglian
This may be a difficult one for some.
Islam deserves our respect, even though it is wrong.
It attempts to bring a monotheistic belief where once there was paganism; it brings faith and worship where once there were idols and pagan sacrifices. At i…
Indeed, where is Iqbal when we have such need of him?
The answer must be yes.
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.
…
Dear Vassilios,
This is a difficult one, as the recent thread on the nature of the Church suggested.
We know who is not in the Church, but its limits are not always clear - and, of course, we can, none of us, set limits to God's Grace and His merc…
This is a difficult one.
Our ecclesiology (doctrine of the Church) says there is only one Church - and we are it. The Eastern Orthodox we regard, I think, as in separation from us, but as inheriting the Apostolic faith; the unity talks have reveale…
Dear Vassilios,
I checked up on what I had been told - and it might have been better to do it first, but sometimes you just accept things. It is, apparently, 'limbo' that they have decided not to believe in; yes, I know, go figure!
In Christ,
Joh…
Fr. Markos R. Hanna has written a brilliant study, Theological and Dogmatic differences between Orthodox and Catholics (2002), which your priest might be able to help you get hold of, or which might be available on the inter net.
It is a very good …
Ah, I see; I did wonder if that was what was going on.
It sounds as though your teacher belongs to the 'modernist' school of Catholic thought; Pope Benedict XVI would not be amused.
Essentially what the modernists believe is that scholarship has '…
Again, the sort answer it that it is our tradition. Indeed, it was not until the 11th century that the Roman Catholics stopped allowing priests to marry.
I think there are restrictions on whether a priest can re marry should his wife die, but would…
Dear Vassilios,
You do, indeed, express some of the frustrations that led towards Protestantism.
Some Protestants, such as the Anglicans (many of whom would deny that they are Protestants) took the view that they were trying to 'clean up' the Cath…
Dear Gregory, Dear Orthodox11,
As I wrote before, I was making no comment on which was the 'best' method - simply saying that we stuck to what St. Cyril wrote, not taking any view at all about it - other than that that is what he said and that is w…
Dear Kristina 123,
Orthodox11 has it correctly. Anno Domini is 'in the year of Our Lord', and so applies to any date after His birth in the flesh. Things aren't helped by the fact that the original attempt to date when that was was out by about 4 y…
Dear Jydeacon,
Indeed there is. This might also be the place to say that the old Protestant allegation that if you added all the pieces of the Cross that still exist together you'd have something the size of a ship, is quite unwarranted. I have see…
Dear Orthodox11,
You raise an interesting point. As you can see from my quotation, St. Cyril was aware of the problem, but still wrote as he did. At what point did others decide to disregard his express words?
Can I stress that I am not arguing a…
Dear Gregory,
In The Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem lecture 23, the Holy and God-inspired Saint tells us:
21. In approaching therefore, come not with thy wrists extended, or thy fingers spread; but make thy left hand a throne for t…
Dear Mike,
We know that God is not limited. His reasons for making His Word Incarnate when He did are part of the Economy of Our Salvation. Before that, however, He gave the people of Israel plenty of opportunity to know His will through the Law an…
According to tradition the Emperor Constantine caused excavations to be made (about A.D. 327, it is believed) in order to ascertain the location of the site of the crucifixion. That of Calvary was identified, as well as that of the Holy Sepulchre; i…
We are all made in God's image. By the 'least' he means the least worthy, the poorest, the smallest, the one we notice least - in other words the poor, the hungry, the unloved, the neglected. Can you imagine Our Lord not showing compassion and mercy…
It is sad that just at the time when western Europe was beginning to question some of the things added to the Faith by the Roman Catholics, Orthodoxy was out of reach because of the fall of Constantinople in 1453; this meant that the Protestants had…
Dear JYdeacon,
No, you are not mistaken.
There is a real difference between our tradition in the Coptic Church and what is taught elsewhere. We do indeed identify Mark with the 'young man' in Mark 14, and we do indeed believe that since Our Lord c…
Dear Vassilios,
Not at all too kind; I really do think that what you say here is very profound and very true. The problem comes from misunderstanding the terms being used. We all submit in obedience to the Lord - that does not make us some kind of …
If you look at something like Sub-deacon Hanna's Doctrinal Theology you'll get some good answers to some of your questions. There's a good website at http://www.geocities.com/petepettingell/gospelwriters1.html
Holy Tradition teaches us that the Bib…