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Several different Greek Orthodox sects have blocked such rituals, and mock their Gods as "demons". Greece does not recognize Hellenic Polytheism as a religion. Serbia is having "Witch Hunts". Why so much opposition?
The Greek Orthodox are Christians…Hellenic Polytheism is not. Just because Hellenic rituals may have been a part of Greek culture does not mean that Greek Orthodox Christians should condone it. Orthodoxy is separate (or should be separate) from the culture. It is based on Orthodoxy in and of itself. The Orthodox theology crosses all geographic and cultural boundaries…and the Greek Orthodox sects are bound by that theology; otherwise, they would be separating themselves from true Orthodox Christianity.
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January 04 2010 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
I know you can watch Catholic Masses online, but is there anywhere you can watch an Eastern Orthodox Mass online? The closest Orthodox church is an hour away, so I can go in person until I have more time on my hands.
http://www.goarch.org/chapel/live/
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December 24 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I was speaking to some people who visited Israel, and they mentioned the orthodox jews are even more tied up in laws and rituals than the ‘regular’ jews. How do the non-orthodox jews justify not doing the same things as the orthodox jews if they are both meant to be obeying the Law?
To follow on from that, do the orthodox jews believe that the non-orthodox jews are going to hell because they don’t follow the same rules?
Some people are equating less religious to more religious Jews with different sects of Chrisianity. That’s not accurate. It’s different levels on the spectrum of observance but theology is pretty consistent. Christianity, the differences in theology-dogma ARE the point. Not so in Judaism & we remain one religion (this is important to understanding a lot of how Judaism works.)
The difference is Orthodox follow commandments as interpreted in Talmud, very literally. Conservative follow them but with belief that Talmud standards can be reinterpreted to some extent within a modern context. Reform follows that Torah is to be followed, & the Talmud has great wisdom, but isn’t literal in the following of it. Reconstructionist came from Conservative but tries to update more to add more spirituality. (I’m not giving the most crisp explanation here, & others may clarify better. Also each group’s main website states their theology (though I’ve found not always so very accurately either.))
Part of this is that Reform believes the Torah to be inspired by God, but not letter to letter given, while Orthodox believes it to be letter to letter given. HOWEVER, & a big however, these are not required beliefs of either group. You can follow & practice with either one without agreeing with what the over all view is. So in Judiasm, as with everything, the difference is in whether you follow the commandments literally or not… not the theology itself.
There is no hell in Judaism. The idea of "obeying the Law" is a Christian wording & concept. In Judiasm the commandments are given as a guide to how to live life. They are a joy & opportunity, something to connect you better to God & to your better self. Christianity introduces the idea of them as something restrictive & to be "obeyed" like a horror. More religious Jews do believe that very possibly in afterlife you will have a better time connecting to God if you as a Jew have been following the commandments. However, there is no strict afterlife belief (lots of varied ideas) & it’s this world, not what happens next, that’s the focus in Judaism. Less religious Jews believe less, so there is not concern about this aspect either. (There’s the answer to the question.) However, again for Orthodox Jews it is not a question of afterlife & reward… it is a reward to them in this life to follow these…a chance to be connected to holiness through more conscious actions.
=================
Melkah
is merely citing an Orthodox put down of Reform & not enlightening to the question at all. It’s an internal issue that shouldn’t be aired publically anyway & most Orthodox citing it don’t know Reform very well at all.
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December 22 2009 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
What is the view when a Jew commits suicide? (from a Orthodox perspective)
For instance, my family is Jewish and my grandparents who are in their 80s now told me about some of their relatives who were in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII, and these relatives obtained poison capsules and killed themselves with it along with their children when the ghetto was being liquidated because they would have rather done it themselves than be killed by the hands of the Nazis. How would this be viewed?
Where would a prohibition against suicide come from? The most obvious place is the sixth commandment: Lo Tirsach (Do not murder)
(The common statement translating it as "Do not kill" is incorrect- that would be would be "Lo Tirhag")
So the question would be, is suicide murder? The answer is yes- since it is pre-meditated killing of a human. However, it is not as simple as that.
In the Tanach Saul kills himself when he sees that he will be captured by the Phillistines. The perushim (Rabbinical commentaries) state there are two aspects to Saul’s suicide that made it legitimate.
1) on a personal note- he was in despair, he saw no future and thus lost reason due to his despair
2) on a national level he feared being taken alive, and then being used as an object of ridicule to attack Bnei Yisrael or even to try and force concessions from them which could have led to idoltary.
So when it comes to suicide, it appears that there are two criteria to go by to make it legitimate- 1) if you are so depressed as to lose reason and 2) if your staying alive could lead to Jews being ridiculed and forced into idol worship.
The Mechaber (literally the author- Rav Yosef Karo) comments on this in the Shulchan Aruch (a codification of the Jewish law used to help arrive at decisions since it takes into account the Talmud and past Talmudic Rabbinical precedents) that we should always try to declare a suicide to be ill or to be in despair like Saul. In the modern era, the vast majority of Jewish communities follow the ruling first stated by HaRav Moshe Feinstein that suicide is generally a result of a depression, either medically or temporary, that push people into the level of despair felt by Saul; thus we declare most suicides to be as a result of depression or temporary insanity and do not act treat the person any differently to any other deceased.
In the case of the martyrs of the holocaust, there is no question they could have been said to have been at the same level of despair as King Saul. No one can besmirch the memory of those that could not face the degradation, abuse and daily living with the fear that on this day they might well be tortured or killed. The people who died in the holocaust, whether by their own hands or at the hands of the Nazis are all righteous martyrs whose memories will be blessed in the world to come.
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November 25 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
I have a final to complete and I need some good comparisons between hindu and the eastern orthodox religion.
For a start; Eastern Orthodox is a Christian religion.
Why don’t you Google & check Wikipedia or Yahoo!?
2/3 the world population make up the 4 major religions:
1 billion Catholics, 1 billion Protestants, 1 billion muslims, &
1 billion Hindus; which is the oldest living religion.
Eastern Orthodox are a tiny fragment, like Judaism.
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November 23 2009 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
I want to baptise my daughter in March 2010 but this is during lent for easter. Will the greek orthodox church still baptise her?
Dates When Baptisms May Not Be Held:
Baptisms may not be performed on the following days unless it is absolutely necessary and permission is obtained from the Archbishop:
1. December 25 – January 6
2. Holy Week
3. Major Feast Days
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November 17 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
How did the Eastern Orthodox Church play a central role in the daily life of Byzantines?
It was the established church and operated in close contact with the secular part of the government to control every aspect of life.
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November 14 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
(I believe that is the right word for Orthodox Service)
All I know is That during the Divine Liturgy you stand the whole time.
One significant difference is that portion of the Anaphora prayers called the "epiklisis" — the calling upon the Holy Spirit to descend and change the bread and wine in to the body and blood of Christ is *missing* from the Roman mass. In the Roman mass, the change is considered to occur as the priest quotes the words "This is my body… this is my bloood". The Orthodox Divine Liturgy contains those words, but there is an additional prayer:
"Priest (in a low voice): Once again we offer to You this spiritual worship without the shedding of blood, and we ask, pray, and entreat You: send down Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here presented.
Priest: And make this bread the precious Body of Your Christ.
Amen.
Priest: And that which is in this cup the precious Blood of Your Christ.
Amen.
Priest: Changing them by Your Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
"
In some parishes (including ours) the prayers are said aloud, and the various "Amen"s are spoken by the people.
Which is another point. There must be lay persons at an Orthodox Divine Liturgy. It is not allowed to have a liturgy with only clergy present. The people must be there, too, so there are no "private masses" in Orthodoxy.
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November 08 2009 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
i never hear anything about the eastern church, whereas the western church had the renaissance, reformation, counter-reformation, major missionary projects throughout the world. what scandals, problems and reforms did the orthodox church go through in the past thousand years?
The Orthodox Church hasn’t had any such problems because many eastern countries were part of the Ottoman Empire and everyone clung on to it as religion determined their national identity. Also, it’s rather tolerant (this may or may not be true, I’ve never paid attention in church). Now, as to problems, it has always meddled in politics etc., even though until recently everyone thought it was natural, it has tons of money, the Greek Orthodox Church was involved in some scandals recently…
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November 05 2009 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
If Russia had chosen Judaism instead of Greek Orthodox, how might the medieval period have been different in England and France or any other European country?
I have to write a paper about this subject for my history class, and I’m a little lost. Can someone help me please?
This is a very strange question. As things stand, Russia did not interact much with the West in medieval times. The one exception is the Vikings/Varangians who lived in Russia. However, Scandinavian peoples were late to accept Christianity, anyway. The alliance with the Byzantine empire that was helped by Orthodoxy did not really influence Russian military history much. The Northern Crusades by the Teutonic Knights, Mongol invasion, etc. would have pretty much looked the same whether Russians were Orthodox Christian or Jewish.
However, Orthodoxy’s influence on Russian culture was enormous. The alphabet is Greek-derived. The literary language is highly influenced by Old Church Slavonic, which originates in the Balkans (nowadays Bulgaria) and was used in the Orthodox church service; without Old Church Slavonic influence via religion, Russian would look a lot more like Ukrainian or a more "peasant tongue." When Byzantium fell, Russia took on its role as leader of Orthodoxy (the Third Rome) and later all Slavs of Europe. These factors played a big part in the Crimean war and WWI.
However, in the medieval period, as relations were so scarce between Russia and Western Europe, it is doubtful that Russian Judaism vs. Eastern Orthodoxy would have made much of a difference in France or England in medieval times.
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November 03 2009 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
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