A look at Orthodox Monarchy

 

            When choosing a name for something, like a dog or your children, a lot of thought goes into the decision. You may talk with family members, you may seek advice from your priest, you may even pray about the decision. All of these are noble and good, and in the end the name that you give your child especially will be carried with them the rest of their earthly and eternal lives. So too when I took up my keyboard to first write this blog, I took my time in deciding a name for it. As you all know by now if you’re reading this, the name of the blog is The Tsar’s Corner. That’s not by accident, and certainly not a misnomer. When something is laid on your heart, a wellspring of the Holy Spirit pours forth and if you allow it, God can speak through you. I don’t imagine God uses this 29-year-old young man from the spiritually inept regions of the United States to do much good, but I pray that as God guides me on my journey, he might just give me the grace of the Holy Spirit to do a few good things in this life. This article you are about to read is one of those things I pray God blesses with the uttermost blessing. A chance to share with you a passion of mine, as well as something that I have grown to understand is the basis of how God not only rules the universe but has ordained man to govern the earth. It is a foreign concept in our age of enlightenment, in our age of reason, but nonetheless it is the way God has intended. I am of course talking about monarchy. And my friends that is why this blog is called the Tsar’s Corner. Named in honor of St. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia.

            With that said, let’s look at the most recent Orthodox monarchy, that of Russia for our first inspiration. Russia, that bastion of orthodoxy that has in recent years come under so much scrutiny from the west and the United States of America was once the mightiest of the Orthodox lands, the third Rome if you will. Now, I am not going to go into detail over whether it is the Third Rome, that is an entirely different argument, but it is important that it was center for Orthodox thought from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to 1917 when it itself fell to the abominable and morally heinous Soviet Regime. Out of Russia, great saints of the faith rose certainly after this especially during the great periods of persecution and tribulation that was suffered at the hands of the soviets, but so too before this. We witness of course, Seraphim of Sarov, of who’s name I carry. We witness the Optina Elders, Valaam had its greatest period of spiritual growth during the reigns of the Tsars and certainly the people were allowed to worship fully in spirit and in truth during the reigns of the Tsars from St. Vladimir the Great, to the final Romanov monarch St. Tsar Nicholas II. St. Vladimir, influenced by the repentance of his grandmother St. Olga of Kiev, sought the light of Orthodoxy in Constantinople. It was there that his emissaries said, “We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."  The truth of Christianity was brought back to Kievan Rus and there it stayed and has not left since.

            Though Russia was the last bastion of Orthodox Monarchy, it was not the first. We know that from the reign of St. Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helen, that Byzantium and the Eastern Roman Empire was a Christian nation. It was there when the forging of the great Nicene Creed, the ecumenical councils, and when the church fathers began to write. God was the King of the Universe, and the Emperor was God’s chosen vessel to rule. Now this seems eerily familiar with the so called “Vicar of Christ” title the Pope of Rome has assumed, but no, it was different. The Emperor wasn’t chosen by God to rule over the Church and create new teachings and new policies or to rule over the thoughts of men, but rather to bring peace and stability to the people and govern justly and with the heart of Christ.  The Emperor would from time to time be asked to solve disputes within the church, but as an outside adjudicator. The Emperor was after all, not an ordained priest, but a layman, under the guidance of a spiritual father. A confessor. The Emperor was meant to be one of virtue. Now we know that this wasn’t often the case, many were corrupt men, as all men are. We also know that many saints and many of the elders of the church were at one time royalty, surrendering everything they had for the sake of Christ. These men and their spouses were to uphold the commandments for all to follow, to be the shining example of their people. If we compare it to today’s politicians, we see that those men are not examples for us to follow, rather they are laughed at, mocked, and often times are involved in things that as Christians we should and must scorn.

            Finally, we reach the last argument I will make regarding monarchy. Heaven. Yes even heaven is a monarchy. With Jesus as King and Sovereign over the universe, and the angels his ministers, or as the bible more eloquently puts it, “He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” (Psalm 104:4) I am reminded of the Lord of Spirits podcast, of the teachings of Fathers Andrew Damick and Stephen De Young, who as Orthodox priests proclaim the truth that Orthodoxy has maintained, in that Jesus as the King, and the angels his ministers, sit in council together, and final authority rests of the shoulders of God, and thus heaven itself is a monarchy. Though God does take counsel, he being creator of all, and omniscient, knows everything. He makes the decisions for the world that is best for us. He being the good king, like an Aragorn of Lord of the Rings note. Again, don’t take my word for it, rather read Isaiah 37:6 which says, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” Or Psalm 95:3 which says, “For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods,” I might do a future post on God of gods, and the like but now is not the time. Another verse that shows that heaven is a monarchy, is 1 Timothy 1:17 it reads, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  Psalm 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. Even Matthew says in 4:!7, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Revelation 11:15 talks about the victory that Christ won at His Resurrection, and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God when it says, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

            So you have seen the examples of Russia and Byzantium. You have also been given scriptural references that Heaven is a monarchy. So what do we do with this information now that it is presented. There are always two options. The first is to reject it. As often men do when it doesn’t fit their narrative. They reject it and come up with a rational explanation. No, heaven is a monarchy, people should be free to govern themselves, a king would only make matters worse. If we look at the democracies of the world in which this argument has been made, then, it is a lie. Countries of the west, like Britain, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States are all spiritually weak, and feeble minded. We see this with the politicians, and leaders of the countries allowing mob rule and for morality to be thrown aside for comfort and ease. Places like Russia and Ukraine and the Eastern European nations that once held fast to the Tsar are albeit spiritually sound but struggling against the pulls of the devils and their wiles to bring down these nations and destroy them. When power rests in the hands of one person, decisions can be swift, and taking the council of a few chosen who have been learned in the scriptures and writings of the Church can make the actions of the ruler much more informed. What happens when we allow all to make a decision is that no one agrees on anything, and they try to profit off gaining their own interests and power. Sad really. So that is why I pray for the return of an Orthodox Emperor, one who can unite the Commonwealth of Peoples under the Orthodox banner of faith and restore peace and stability to the world. Not in a one world new world order sort of way, but one that will bring honor and glory to God and God alone.

 

Amen.

 

 

 

Restoring America: The Life of Elder Ephraim of Arizona

 

Elder Ephraim of Arizona, the great Elder of American Orthodoxy, was in fact not American himself. This elder perhaps more than any other outside of Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen of America has had more of an impact on my life coming to Orthodoxy.  Elder Ephraim was and is a spiritual stalwart of American Orthodoxy and has many things to teach us in his life and works. We will explore some of those here today and hopefully understand better the man and his life.

            The spiritual son of St. Joseph the Hesychast, Elder Ephraim began to become a shining star of orthodoxy in the 1960s on the Holy Mountain, the garden of the Theotokos, Mount Athos. Elder Ephraim was by all accounts a radiant joy of a human. His face shone with light and a countenance that is not seen by many. Perhaps one of my favorite things about Elder Ephraim was his constant call to draw us to conversation with God, noetic prayer. Of course, what better prayer than to do this with than the Jesus Prayer and the use of a prayer rope. I am sure my love of the prayer rope of which I have gone through many in just my five years of being Orthodox is because of Elder Ephraim’s call to use the Jesus Prayer to be constantly enraptured with the Spirit of God.  He carried with him a slow way of speaking, not hurried, not derived of any earthly time but was focused on his future life, the life beyond this one. He was contrite from my research, especially after Compline, which if anyone has heard me speak, is my favorite service. Elder Ephraim of Arizona was given the sacred hesychia as a spiritual inheritance from his Elder, Joseph, and passed it to his spiritual children of which there are many. But it is the spiritual inheritance of all True Christians, the gift that allows us to unite ourselves with the Divine Spirit of God and to dwell in that otherworldly realm while experiencing life here in the mortal realm. But here in lies the heart of the matter that I want to delve into a little deeper.

            While America maybe considered a realm of Christianity, it is filled with Roman Catholic and Protestant teachings that are at best scholarly and academic approaches to God. Outlining the teachings, one must do to be a Christian and reducing salvation to a basic formula. Orthodoxy, though with its great writers and teachers is not devoid of academic and theological resources and texts is more about experiencing God in His pure form, in having a relationship with God as he intended…face to face. It is not about defining who God is, but just understanding that God is. In Hesychia and noetic prayer we draw ourselves to God into the Heaven Liturgy of which I have spoken about before. We ascend as Paul did into the heavens and fall at the throne of God. We take the bucket of our souls and fill it with the Living Water as St. Photini did at the Well. It is not about knowledge, power, or grandeur. It is about living within Christ. Take away the icons, the gold chalices, the vestments and the building of the church and you would still have Orthodoxy. You would still have the scriptures written on the hearts of all True Christians and life would still go on. Elder Ephraim knew this. Therefore, when he was called away from the Holy Mountain all those years ago, he traveled here, to America to bring the Light of Christ to a darkened world. He brought with him the patristic teachings, the Faith of the apostles, the hope of salvation. 

            I have spoken at length in previous blogs about the spiritual decay that America has experienced whether that be through the charismatic movement of which is not Christian, or the Hindu and Buddhist traditions that call to reject Christ completely. America though largely nominally Christian has lost its center, its perfect balance. While many of the forefathers of America would claim Christianity, America is not a Christian nation. It perhaps was thought of at one time as great Christian nation, one that the West could look to for its scholarly and academic approach to Christianity, but it was not one that ever truly fulfilled this purpose.  It was founded for religious freedom, for the ability to reject God or to accept Him. It never had in its morality the ability to be called Christian. The leaders we have today reflect this, rejecting the sacred writings of the Church, and the teachings of Christ in favor of luxury and ease. We see this with calls for constant war, for the spread of “democracy” and the acceptance of homosexuality and abortion, as basic human rights. Elder Ephraim came to America to call it back home. He left his home, much as Christ did when he came from Heaven to restore man to what it was meant to be. Yes, his way of life is foreign to us here in America where Greek is not the predominant language. Yes, his way of living was foreign to us in America where more stuff, more items, more glory, more prestige is expected from those who are career driven. But it is this call that makes it appealing to me.

            As I have said, hesychia is the goal to unite with God not by letting go as with the Buddhist or Hindu tradition. We are not trying to become devoid of all feelings and earthly thoughts, rather we are trying to instead become what God intended for us. God is love. God wants us to love all people and all things as he loves them. Each person is created in the image of God and should be greeted with such fervor as you would even the Logos. But with the hatred we see today among brothers this is certainly not the case. We are bickering and fighting with each other because we wish to be proven right. Christ himself did not even fight back when accused of crimes he didn’t commit. We are too engrained in scholarly and philosophical debates and try to discover hidden meanings of things. We try to brush our problems on other people, God, and anything but ourselves. We don’t want to confront the reality that God has given us the standard in which we should live and to embrace that standard as the only truth. We have become arrogant in our luxury and arrogant in our ease.

            Before I end this treatise today on Restoring America, I again come to the man who started this. Elder Ephraim. Elder Ephraim though a simple man, who wore the simple schema of a monk was extraordinary. He founded 20 monasteries, bastions of Christian prayer and thought in America. He lived in Arizona, the hot dry desert, where many would consider it to be a wasteland. He taught and lived his life, not for the glory of man, but for the Glory of God. Though the music, speaking, and services were nothing like Americans are used to in their houses of worship today, people flocked to St. Anthony’s to glimpse at the Elder, to seek his counsel. I wish I had been one of them, but I did not get a chance to meet him before his repose. If there is any regret in this life it is that I must wait until the next to greet the Elder and to thank him for his work in trying to bring America hope. May God through Elder Ephraim’s prayers have mercy on us.

 

Amen.

The Religion of the Future Final Part, part 4 (The Spirit of Charlatans)

 

In Part 3, The Revival of Charlatans we discussed the Spirit of God, what it was and how it relates to the Pentecostal movement. Now we are going to expose the Pentecostal movement for what it is…DEMONIC in nature. For that we must use context and discover how the Enemy has infiltrated the hearts and minds of sincere yet deceived people. I must confess that though these people are sincere, and I do believe their experiences are genuine, I do not condone nor believe that we should be practicing such things. After all, as I stated in the previous blog, the church went nearly 2000+ years without this so called speaking in tongues and it does not need it now. The Church is Christ’s body and must act in accordance with Christ not outside of Christ.

From the onset of this section of Orthodoxy and Religion of the Future, Father Seraphim Rose painstakingly conveys the message that the Charismatic, Pentecostal Movement is NOT of the Church.  First let’s find its origins, then we will discuss the actions of these Charlatans and finally we will place in context the true and Orthodox mindset with how to proceed in our thoughts regarding the movement.

First, the origins. As the book states on pages 115-17, it comes from the Protestant Revivalism spirit that began with Martin Luther, but particularly with Charles Parham on December 31, 1900. He was trying to discover “ancient” Christianity. Had Charles Parham been acquainted with the Church Fathers, then he would know ancient Christianity has been kept by the Orthodox Church and the successors of the Apostles for 2000 years. But alas, he was not. Charles Parham and his disciples were trying to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, through the power to speak in tongues as it mentions in Acts. Through the instruction of a young girl, the “gift” was received after he laid hands upon her, and she spoke incoherently. From pages 118-119 we see that this “baptism” and “gift” spread like wildfire culminating in even the Pope of Rome admitting he was a Pentecostal. Thus we see that the movement began outside the established Church of Christ, and is a relatively new phenomenon, not something that the Church has preached for a majority of its existence

On Page 126, Father Seraphim Rose quotes the scriptures of 1 Corinthians Chapter 12-14 where St. Paul discusses the use of speaking tongues, and states that St. Paul was not trying to promote it, rather he was trying to minimalize its importance in the everyday life of the Church. Pentecostals and those who support the speaking in tongues charlatan movement use these chapters to justify their means. This is a simple misinterpretation and without proper guidance, misinterpretation happens quite frequently, even among those of us who profess Orthodoxy. Father Seraphim quotes a person on page 127, who began to use the word la, repeatedly and then began to speak wildly. This person by a psychological nature was conditioning themselves to speaking in tongues, not allowing the Holy Spirit to overcome them. Another grave error. On page 128, Father Seraphim discusses the repentance aspect of the movement and notes that many do not feel a need to ask for forgiveness from their sins after speaking in tongues, because God is inside them. We can see that this is inconsistent even with Protestant doctrine that calls for one to come to a saving grace in Christ and violates Romans 3:23. Father Seraphim even further explains this movement usinh Lutheran pastor Dr. Kurt Koch, who along with Father Seraphim denotes that this movement is psychic in nature and is a form of mediumism or to put it bluntly…sorcery. Father Seraphim also denotes that while many would consider this Christian, the devil does not necessarily take away our “Christianness” when this act is taking place, rather he replaces it with what we want to feel and how we want to act, rather than giving us true and proper experiences in Christ. Meetings of interdenominational charismatics included free-form prayer and dancing, no consensus of piety or respect for God (page 151) From pages 151-156 Father Seraphim discusses the laughter within these meetings and how that this is common among those brought to Orthodox Priests in the old countries who need an exorcism. This laughter is produced by those who speak in tongues and is a disregard for the faith in Christ. While laughter is not a bad thing, lack of respect for Christ is. Father Seraphim also at length discusses preachers like Rodney Howard-Browne who during his “revivals” would witness people “slain in the spirit” falling unconscious and being almost superglued to the floor. Again, signs of possession but not by God. Those who are possessed by God are in their right minds. Howard-Browne on page 214, states, “I’d rather be in a church where the devil and the flesh are manifesting than in a church where nothing is happening…” Brothers and Sisters, if the devil himself is entering a church, then it is not a church…it is pure and simply Satanic worship. 

So, what is the Orthodox, and well to be honest the Christian response? The Christian response is to have nothing to do with it. Leave it to its own devices and do not seek it. Seek only that which is pure and uplifting.  Seek Christ through the saints, the scriptures and leave speaking in tongues alone.  Do not forget to pray for those in spiritual deception, because we could be there just as easily. Seek forgiveness of your sins, pray, and be at peace.

 

Amen.

The Religion of the Future part 3 (Revival of Charlatans)

 

Part 3 of the Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future book review is the most polarizing. For some readers of this blog, the next few paragraphs will be the last they read of this blog.  Christ lost many followers along his way, and I don’t expect to always keep everyone, because sometimes, the truth is too difficult to handle and as the parable says, the weeds grow up and choke the seeds.

Today’s blog will be about the Revival of Charlatans. More specifically the likes of Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyers, Benny Hinn, and others. This blog will be looking at the phenomenon of speaking in tongues and not only giving you the truth as presented by Father Seraphim Rose in his book, but also the truth as it has been handed down to us for 2000 years. Yes, the words will sting for those under the deception. Yes, the words might come as a shock to most people, but I pray that I might not be harsh in my words, but bold. Speaking clearly and distinctively with a conscience that is guided not by man’s interest, but by the Spirit of God.

So, let’s start there actually. The Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is his Holy Spirit and will be capitalized to give no confusion or credence to the other “spirit” that will be discussed in this blog. We have discussed in the previous two parts of the series, about the nature of the pagan gods, and their miracles, the nature of the spirits of our age and how demonic presences can be felt among the UFOs seen by people in the sky, and now we will talk about perhaps the greatest deception taking place in the guise of God’s own people. There are now Christian movements which seek to receive the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” instead of the Baptism of Christ. This is commonly referred to as speaking in tongues. But if we can glean anything from Father Seraphim Rose and others within the text of this book, it is anything but Christian. Those who speak in tongues from their own mouths suggest that they have lost all desire to read the scriptures, to repent of their sins (because God is inside them why do they need to repent of anything), and to in general draw closer to God. Some have even reported faking their experience, because they wanted to fit in with the crowd and to do as others did. Clearly this is not something that we as Orthodox or any true Christian would want to seek, because we want authentic experiences and witnesses of the faith. We want full repentance of our sins because we see that we are sinners before God.

The Spirit of God, not only seeks and draws us to repentance and authentic experiences and witness, but it is also a unifier. There is not a single united Pentecostal Church. If this spirit, that is flowing through these people truly was from God, they would be unified in their front. The movement would be one. But like the Protestant movement in general, differences have risen from the various members of the Pentecostal movement, and have caused division, squabbles, and outright heresies to be spoken. The very interpretation of scripture varies among the different denominations of the Pentecostal movement and even the practices vary. This is not and never has been taught by Orthodoxy. If we contrast this with the Spirit that lives within the Orthodox Church, we see that for 2000 years the Spirit has unified us and kept us free of divisiveness. Like any family, there are disagreements and people will from time to time be corrected for their wrongdoings, but the Church remains intact. To an outsider, when we as Orthodox speak of Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Greek Orthodox, they see that as separate faiths. However, to the Orthodox observer, he knows they are simply jurisdictions placed in the world for the sake of governance and they are united not by a leader like the papists, but by their faith.  The Pentecostal movement does not have that. It never did, and because the spirit is not from God, it never will.

Thirdly, the Spirit of God, like the demons that imitate it, changes with the times. When the church was established, the various surrounding nations and tribes had long been in idolatry and paganism, just like many in the world today. The Spirit of God in those times used the apostles and the first Church Fathers, to speak boldly in the language of foreign tongues, to proclaim that the Gospel would reach all people in all times. As the Spirit of God went forth with the missionaries called to various lands, the gospel became translated among the faith across the world, from Eastern Europe, to Africa, the natives of America and many others. It was no longer necessary for the gift of speaking in tongues to be given to the people. The best example of this is the Egyptian Fathers. While certainly you can find great feats in the spirit, especially among the life of St. Anthony the Great, you don’t find the speaking in tongues. In fact, for the Church’s nearly 2000+ year history, a majority of that time has been spent WITHOUT the gift of speaking in tongues! Do you think that God, in his great providence, would leave His Church, His Body, WITHOUT the most important portion of His Spirit IF it was so necessary for salvation as those of the Pentecostal movement say it is? If you said No, then you’re not under the deception like those who follow this movement are. God is certainly not mocked, and by assuming that God is just now revealing a portion of His Spirit, when He has given the Church his blessing and established it on the Day of Pentecost so that IT and IT ALONE, could dispense of the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon all those who believe. Therefore, this again dear brothers and sisters is grave error and must be avoided by all who call themselves True Christians.

While I could continue to write an entire book on this subject, the information is more concise in Father Seraphim Rose’s book.  We will be continuing this discussion in the next blog and looking exactly at the characteristics of speaking in tongues and while they are opposed to Christianity and Orthodoxy in general. I have for the sake of this blog not included quotes from the book to use them in that discussion.