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Please note, we attempt to provide
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Gospel Questions
- 1. In cross cultural and religious
discussion that I have participated in, Matt 4:17 has often been the
point of much debate. While reading this section again for the
study, I was reminded of a particular debate that I had with a
Jewish friend of mine. Matthew 3:2 and Matthew 4:17 depict both John
the Baptist and Jesus Christ as saying "Repent, for the kingdom of
God is near." Correct me if I am wrong, but we believe that John the
Baptist was preparing the way for Christ and his ministry. In this
way, when John says that the Kingdom of God is near, he is referring
to Christ, the son of God. When Christ repeats this command to ready
the people for accepting God and his new message of LOVE, my friend
argued that Christ would not have used the same words. If Christ
truly was of the Trinity and of the Kingdom of God, he argued that
Christ would not have said that the Kingdom is "near". I pointed to
other parts of scripture that indicated that he was in fact the Son
of God, but was unable to convince him that Christians believe that
Christ is the Son of God, the Father, as opposed to simply another
prophet, as my friend viewed him.
Is there a better way for me to explain this to him?
- Orthodox Book Club, Dallas
- OBC
-OBC
-
4. Chemmachans,
In your commentary for this chapter, you urge us to "learn to see
deeper". In what ways do you think we can do this? Often times when
we are caught in temptation it is difficult to force ourselves to
see deeper. I like that you emphasized that "God has given us
control over Satan. He did not give Satan control over us." This is
something that I try to remind myself frequently. As with most
things, once you start learning how to say no to the traps that
Satan leaves for us, continuing in this way becomes easier. The
problem is getting started. Do you have any suggestions for way in
which we can force ourselves to dig deeper into the heart of things?
- OBC
General Questions
- 5. So if the church was one in the
beginning, what caused the split? I thought there was always a Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox group.
- Bincy Yeldo
-
6. In the introduction to the
Orthodox Study Bible, it lists 5 of the basic tenets of Orthodox
Tradition. The first four are things that are referred to commonly
in our church (Holy Scriptures, Liturgies, Councils, and Saints
(Fathers); however, church art was listed as the fifth element. In
this description, it listed iconography, music, and architecture.
Our Syriac Orthodox Churches all have the same architectural style
and similar music, but I do not see the iconography as often in our
churches as I do in the Greek Orthodox Churches. Is there a reason
for this?
- OBC
- god bless you !!
Gospel Answers
-
1. Recall that the "Kingdom of God" is not
the same as "the King." This has absolutely no bearing on the topic
of Jesus' deity. Jesus emptied Himself into the world, and the world
needed and still needs "theosis." Hence, Jesus says that the Kingdom
is near, and not "here." Of course, the Kingdom of God is outside
the sphere of those unrepentant; if Jesus was close to those
unrepentant, then the Kingdom was "near" them.
-Dn.
Zach Varghese
-lijumoolayil
General Answers
-
5.
In the beginning there were no Roman Catholics, Syriac Orthodox,
etc. There was just the one Church. However there were certain
places that became centers of Christianity otherwise called
patriarchates, places such as Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, and
Alexandria. Each patriarchate had a patriarch and each had its own
jurisdiction. However all of the patriarchates were in full
communion with each other and shared the same faith.
As time went on we had Ecumenical Councils to ensure that our faith
stayed the same across the different patriarchates. The first 3
Councils of Nicea, Constantinople, and Ephesus took place and
everything was well and good. However at the Council of Chalcedon
there arose a difference of opinion regarding the nature of Christ.
The Churches of Rome and Constantinople took one side while the
Churches of Antioch and Alexandria took the other. As a result, Rome
and Constantinople accepted this council while Antioch and
Alexandria rejected it. This is where the first major divide in
Christianity occured. Later around 1054 AD the Church of Rome and
the Church of Constantinople split from each other. It is
interesting to note that Antioch and Alexandria continue to be in
full communion with each other to this day.
The Church of Rome eventually came to be known as the Roman Catholic
Church. The Church of Constantinople became the Eastern Orthodox
Church. The Church of Antioch became the Syriac Orthodox Church. The
Church of Alexandria became the Coptic Orthodox Church. Note that
the Eastern Orthodox have their own patriarchs in Antioch and
Alexandria.
That's the extremely simplified version of how the different
churches came to be.
- Maximvs
-
6.
It is true that iconography is not stressed as much in our Church as
in the Eastern Orthodox Church (of which the Greek Orthodox Church
is a part). There is good reason for this. In the 8th and 9th
centuries the Eastern Orthodox were plagued by Iconclasm. Simply put
people were going around destroying icons all over Byzantium because
they equated their veneration to idol worship. However in what the
Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox call the Second Council of
Nicea the veneration of icons was officially approved and Iconoclasm
was declared a heresy. So after this the Eastern Orthodox use of
icons greatly increased. It was sort of like them saying, "In your
face, Iconoclasts!"
Now here's the thing. Iconoclasm was never really a problem in our
Church. You'll notice that throughtout the history of the Church
theological doctrines usually arose when there was a dispute. So the
Eastern Orthodox came up with a whole theology of icons due to there
being a dispute about icons in their Church and therefore a need for
clarification.
We probably would have been involved in the whole Iconoclasm issue
except for the fact that in the 8th and 9th centuries we were no
longer in communion with the Eastern Orthodox so their problem was
(to put it bluntly) not really our concern.
- Maximvs
-
7.
I don't if this is right, but I guess your soul is the real
reflection of you....like what kind of person you are, etc. I think
thats what makes up you as an individual...not outward bodily
appearances. Our physical bodies will die one day, but the soul will
live on forever, (either in heaven or hell). Its kind of like death,
because you can be spiritually dead, where your soul is basically
doomed, or you can be one of the departed ones, where your soul is
saved and alive but your body is dead. Just wondering....is spirit
and soul synonymous?
- Bincy Yeldho
-
7. I think "soul" can be described
as the breath of God which was blown into us by God to make us alive.
-lijumoolayil
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