Dear Miss Maryam,
The title of your post gives you the answer to your question. If you think you are doing something wrong that is your conscience telling you that you are.
What do you think your parents and his parents would say to you if you ask…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Bishop Serapion and Orthodox 11 have really said all that anyone needs to know about this rather silly book and the rather poor film made from it.
Anyone notice it now? No, I thought not, gone away - another se…
Dear Ophadece,
You are quite right about 'pews'. Western Churches have rows of long seats in which the congregation sit for large portions of the service, usually only standing for the Gospel and for the 'peace'. It is quite amusing to think that a…
Dear Ophadece,
Thank you for sharing that very moving story with us, and for letting us in on your own experience, which was equally valuable; you direct our minds to where they need to be.
There is always a danger in this modern world that we reg…
Vassilios is quite correct, and we should respect Iqbal's wish that we do not write about the faith of others in a derogatory way.
This thread started with a question that should make us all think - namely why some Christians do not show the same l…
Dear Mahraeel,
Good point. Of course, since the Orthodox Church has never added to the Faith once received, it is easier to see other denominations against the standards it sets.
One of the great and distinctive marks of the Coptic Church is its w…
Dear Mike,
What an interesting and educative discussion this has been - and I stand in awe of much of it - not least in regard to Iqbal's ability to get across Orthodox teaching; and I can understand your puzzle at His Holiness' comments, which, if…
Dear PeterPeter,
Who can circumscribe God's love? What earthly being can dare to say who will be saved? Only Our Lord God Himself can answer your question.
Christ died for us all, and yet we can only be saved through believing on Him and His truth…
Dear Κηφᾶς,
Thank you so much for your wise post; I totally agree, and very much like the way you put it. I shall look out for + Youanis' book, which is obviously well worth close study; I am grateful to you for putting me on to it.
Yes, humility …
Dear Iqbal,
You remind us well of one of the things that marks out the Orthodox Church - namely that in it we can find the fulness of the Faith. Those Protestants (and it is not all of them) who talk about the Bible 'alone' miss so much. The Holy B…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
He is Risen indeed!
An interesting discussion here, which jydeacon and LifeinChrist bring us to where we need to be.
Just suppose for a moment that we had a Liturgy as short as the Anglican one; what would you…
Dear Drumaboy,
Why are Orthodox services longer than Roman Catholic ones? Orthodox 11 was right when he said because the RCs have shortened their service; if you go to Greek or Russian Orthodox Churches you will also find a long Liturgy. The Orthod…
Dear Vassilios,
I do indeed; and an excellent point it is.
My answer would be that the phenomenon you describe is exactly what one would expect given our fallen state. There are those Christians who would see salvation as a once-for-all event; in …
Dear Κηφᾶς,
You are very kind. Pondering this topic further I wondered whether we might, if pressed, think that love was the greatest of all virtues? As St. Paul told the Church in Corinth:
1 Corinthians:13
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these…
Dear Vassilios,
You set us a good set of important questions. I would second what you have said elsewhere here, that it would be good if one of our priests tackled these mysteries for us; but whilst we await enlightenment from that best of sources,…
Dear Lover of the Father,
Vassilios offers good counsel. There is a sense in which no one can teach you how to avoid self-righteousness; it is something we always have to be on our guard against.
In his excellent book The Life of repentance and pu…
Dear Κηφᾶς,
I will indeed pray for you. The advice you offer here, and elsewhere is most helpful - as. for example, you advice on how to change the name. I hope Vassilios will be more comfortable with the adaptation. Pope Gregory the Great is suppo…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
When Iqbal wanted to make some alterations to this site he must have had the sort of discussion which has been going on here in mind in terms of where he would have wanted us to go; if I may say so, this is a ve…
Dear Κηφᾶς,
Your comments contain great wisdom, and direct us to the repentance that each of us needs to bring before Our Lord. Of all the virtues, love of God and of our fellow man are what will most likely lead us to this place. He so loved us th…
Dear Vassilios,
Please let us know what Abouna says - if you can.
Your kind comment about me was far more than I deserve - but very kind. When I registered here I had no idea that He would lead me to be part of the Orthodox Church - hence my unser…
Dear Meena,
What Hos Erof and Κηφᾶς write is spot on. Coptic Orthodox show due humility to the great mystery of the Eucharist. We do not claim to know the 'how' of it, just that the elements of the Eucharist are, indeed, the body and blood of our L…
Dear Egy,
Κηφᾶς offers pretty good advice. We must not become like the Pharisees, who prided themselves on keeping to the letter of the law, but in so doing neglected its spirit.
It is easy to become puffed up with pride, thinking that one has kep…
Dear MikeforJesus,
I should say so, with two provisions: one is that you dedicate this work to the Lord with an appropriate prayer, and do it as you would do any work for Him; the second is that you do not neglect your prayers and your religious de…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
A most interesting question. But perhaps the greatest virtue of all is obedience to the Divine Will. It was for her great submission and obedience to His will that Our Lady the Most Holy Theotokos is the most bl…
Dear Coptic Boy, Dear Κηφᾶς
I would tend to agree with you both - whilst trying to keep open the possibility that a priest might, as in the example quoted, have some reason for giving advice which, on the surface, does seem odd.
Adultery, like all…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Some very interesting observations here, and the articles suggested are great; anyone with questions should go there and have them answered.
The discussion is a good one and shows up the limitations of the Prot…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our Fathers will advise us as they see best in our situation; the matters under discussion fall under the heading of pastoral advice rather than being a matter of doctrinal guidance. It might be that in a partic…
Dear EpNomos,
Many thanks for the clarification, and I can see more clearly now what you are aiming at.
The Church has tended to see the model described in the Gospels as an ideal, and one which religious communities adhere to; its suitability for…
Dear Epnomos,
On a surface reading there might appear some similarities, although as the previous posters have pointed out, they are only superficial.
There are enormous differences between modern Communism and Christianity.
The first is that Mar…
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Let us retain a sense of perspective and Christian sense here.
We know about the tomb of Jesus Christ. When Mary Magdalene went there on the third day it was empty; it was empty because He is Risen; and by that…