SSCORRE!
Saint Sophia Cathedral
Online Resources for our Religious Edification
Topic of the Week: Orthodoxy is the True Faith: New Truths Do Not Exist
Saint Porphyrios did not accept the New Age position that all religions simply represent “different paths” which leads to the same God. “We Greeks, here,” he said, “possess one religion: we are Christians… However… Even from us Greek Orthodox Christians, many have become atheists… Only Christ’s religion unites and we all ought to pray that they come back to this faith and thus, the union will occur. This will not come about by believing that we are all the same thing… that all religions are the same. They are not the same… True love is the love of Christ.” Where then are all these proponents of the New Age who claim that we all believe in the same God?
According to the Elder, true religion is only the Orthodox Christian Faith. The very spirit of Orthodoxy is true. All the other spirits are spirits of deceit and their teachings are obscured because they fail to recognize the majesty of the Triadic God and our own destination, which is achieving likeness with Him.
The Elder does not accept that other religions are true. Again, he would say with simplicity: “They call me… from all over the world, so that it might be known that I too am a free spirit and accept all religions? No, I do not accept this! No matter who tells me this, even if it were an angel… No, I will say, you speak lies, you are not a good spirit. You are an evil spirit and say such things. This is what I would say to the angel. I will not believe him. Take the proper measures yourselves.
The Truth has been revealed to us. New truths simply do not exist. “No one can say,” Saint Porphyrios emphasized, “that I am sent from God bearing a new truth, which is quite a common thing in the world today. God’s truths, as they have been revealed from the beginning, are exactly the same; other truths do not exist… new ones, just because the world has progressed and because science and people have gone to the stars…. If someone were to go to the stars and say that there are people also up there, and we see them, my thinking will not change… I will say, Christ is there also, God is there too, He has gone there as well.”
Excerpted from Healing the Soul: Saint Porphyrios as a Model for Our Lives, pp101-102
In only one place is there to be found the fount of true teaching, coming from God Himself, not diminished over the centuries but ever fresh, being one and the same in all those who truly teach it, leading those who follow it to eternal salvation. This place is the Orthodox Church of Christ, the fount is the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, and the true teachers of the Divine doctrine that issues from this fount are the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church.”+ Fr. Seraphim Rose (1934-1982), as printed in the biography Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works by Hieromonk Damascene
A Message from Maria Spanos
I am passionate about our Orthodox Christian faith and seek to help others learn as much as they can about it. My purpose here is to share online resources that help strengthen our relationship with Christ and bind us closer to His Church. I believe they are invaluable in learning about our precious Orthodox Tradition, and are a great aid for teaching family members, friends and others about Orthodoxy. ~Maria
Two of my favorite quotes:
“A true Christian behaves in this life so that it may be a preparation for the future one and not only a life here below. In his actions, he does not think what will be said of him here but of what will be said there in heaven; he represents to himself that he is always in the presence of God, of the angels and all the saints, and remembers that someday they will bear witness of his thoughts, words, and deeds.” — Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Of all the holy works, the education of children is the most holy.”
— St. Theophan the Recluse
