Catholicity
A View of the Importance of Catholic Doctrine
and Why We Should Not Tolerate Heresy (False Teachings)
Within the Body of Christ in His Universal (Catholic) Ecclesia (Church)
St. Gregory Palamas has said, "Those who belong to the Church of Christ are those who are with the truth. Those who are not with the truth do not belong to the Church." This quotation from St. Gregory, who is famed as being the Miracle Worker, the light of Christian Orthodoxy, the invincible defender of theologians, the pride of Thessalonica, and preacher of grace, instructs us as to the importance of standing firm with the truth if we wish to remain in the state of belonging to the Church of Christ. We ask him to intercede forever that our souls may be saved.
St. Basil the Great, who is that great Hierarch, whose sound has gone out into all the earth, receiving his word, because he taught divine doctrine, and who made clear the nature of existence, revealer of heavenly things, and who ordered the habits of men, known also to be an unshakable foundation of the church, had this to say, "Those who pretend to confess the Orthodox Faith but maintain Eucharistic communion with the heterodox, if after being admonished they do not cease to have communion with them, not only must you not have Eucharistic communion with them but you must not even call them brethren." The True Ecclesia (Church) has the property of lovingkindness towards its members. The True Ecclesia teaches the Truth and that Truth shall set us free. So, why do we fall in among wolves, sly foxes, who teach untruths, condemnable doctrines which are foreign to the Gospel of Christ? Shall we repent from that sin and unite ourselves to the True Catholic (Universal) Ecclesia of Christ Jesus, which is One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic? And the people of God say, "Amen."
No matter what the size of the Ecclesia of Christ is, we must adhere to Truthful Catholic doctrine (given to us by Christ Jesus Himself). "Even if very few remain united to the Truth and to Orthodoxy, they constitute the Church and the Body of Christ.": a quotation from St. Theodore the Studite (a fiery teacher of the Church: in following sacred doctrines he was a light of true profession, his life was radiant with his ascetical struggles, thus did he become a companion of the Angels). St. Mark of Ephesus warns us that no matter how official looking an excommunicant is appearing to us, we should flee from them into the receiving arms of a loving Hierarch of the Ecclesia of Christ Jesus: "It is good to be peaceful with all, but at the same time to agree on those things which concern the upright faith. You should flee ecclesiastical communion with those who are excommunicated nor should you commemorate them, because they are false apostles, evil workers who simply dress as Apostles of Christ." Next, we hear from the Golden-Tongued Orator, St. John Chrysostom: "Do not accept any heretical dogma on the pretext of love." In plain english, St. John Chrysostom warns us from accepting any "official" false teaching on the pretext of agape (love).
By their fruits, you shall know them.
If our fruit is true and unwavering, full of agape, then, as St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain says: "If however the situation is concerning the Faith and the Traditions of our Church, then even he who is peaceful and quiet must war on their behalf." The monk Nicodemos was entrusted by Metropolitan Makarios of Corinth with the task of preparing for publication the Philokalia found by the Metropolitan in the year 1777 A.D. at the Batopedeia monastery. St. Nicodemos prepared a preface to the Philokalia and authored short summaries of the lives of ascetics. From his ascetic guidances, he also wrote a well known book, named, "Unseen Warfare", which was translated to the Russian language by St. Theophan the Recluse. St. Nicodemos was famed for his abilities to command a remarkable mental ability: he knew the Holy Scripture by heart, remembering even the chapter, verse and page, and by memory he could even recite much from the works of the holy fathers. With this in mind, we can trust these words given to us above by the Monk St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain.
On the reverse side of the coin, we also know the maxim: If our fruit is not true, but evil, woe be unto us, for we will not obtain eternal life. The Ecumenical Councils have provided us with many examples of situations in which various forms of heresy were condemned. So, we should beware of coming under the various anathemas of these Councils, but instead defend the Faith against the wolves who seek to tear it assunder.
Some of the most well known of the Heresies are Arianism, Nestorianism, Chiliasm, Iconoclasm, etc. Thus, in accordance with the teachings of St. Gregory Palamas, St. Basil the Great, St. Theodore the Studite, St. Mark of Ephesus, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain, we are not permitted to be in communion with an Arian, because Arianism is a heresy, and unless the Arian repents of Arianism and desires to be united with the Holy Catholic Church of Christ Jesus, he/she cannot be a part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Thus, it is the same with all of heresies. We are not permitted to be in communion with a heretic or any heretical group, no matter how "official" and "standard" they appear to be, falsely.
Some heretics are sly and slip in without detection. These heretics put on the dress of the Apostles of Christ, but they are evil workers and false apostles because their doctrines lead to great evil and destruction. Such are the persecutors of true Christians, and these persecutors are drunk with the Blood of the Saints whom they murdered. But, by their fruit we know them: These heretics exhibit pride of great proportions, and make the novice believe that they hold the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, when in fact they hold the keys to a well known place of sorrow, torture, and punishment inflicted eternally upon its occupants. None of us want to go there! These heretics appeal to lovers of darkness, because they retain their filth and confess their sins without repentance. It is the religion of the world, and its master is the Anti-Christ.
On the flip side of this group of heresies, we find a group of other religions which purport to preach the pure Gospel of Christ, but they are false and are poison fruits of the sly heretics who slip in without detection. These groups often adopt those heresies already condemned by the Seven Universal Councils, for example Iconoclasm, Nestorianism, Chiliasm, and Nicolaitanism, just to name a few... They have no rudder, no checks and balances, and blindly follow a leader of their brand of "theologies"; many of these heretical movements are less than 100 years old, some others of these group of heretics date back to the 16th century, when this particular branch of heresies all came into being (Protestantism).
This all leads to the mother of all heresies: Ecumenism
What exactly is Ecumenism?
Ecumenism, which is of Protestant inspiration, is a syncretistic movement of the 20th century which promotes the consolidation of all types of “Christian” heresies (Monophysites, Latins, Anglicans, Protestants etc,) through their cooperation at dialogues and meetings of the World Council of Churches, thus creating the pan-religion of the New Age, within the framework of globalization which prepares the arrival of antichrist. In order to achieve this they changed the calendar for the common celebration of all (1924). They lifted the anathemas and excommunication against the heretics of the West and have forged a secret union with them (Pope Paul IV & Patriarch Athenagoras 1965). They recognized the “mysteries” of the Western Papal pseudo-church as valid (Balamand 1993) considering it as a “Sister Church” and the second lung of the Church of Christ (perhaps with the Monophysites as the third lung?) Finally, they equated the One Only Church of Christ, the Orthodox Church with all of the degenerate pseudo-Churches which men created at the advice of the devil. (Porto Alegre – 2006 & Ravenna – 2007). Thus, today the Patriarchates of Antioch and Alexandria have full communion with the Monophysites who have been condemned by the Fourth Ecumenical Council; the Phanariotes commune Roman Catholics and the Pope is commemorated by the deacon in the Patriarchal church of Constantinople as the canonical bishop of Rome.
Ecumenists believe, falsely, that the Church of Christ is not only the Holy Orthodox Catholic Church but it has been broken up into various “Christian” confessions and it must be recreated with the union of all (Orthodox, Catholic & Protestant) so that the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church may be once again as we confess in the Symbol of Faith. They deny and in other words they abolish the fundamental principal that the Holy Orthodox Church is the One holding the Truth of the Faith which guides us unto salvation. However, this is the truth: "And just as Christ is One, so His Church is One as the body of Christ." For this reason there can never be division in the Church of Christ.
Ecumenists are self-condemned as St. Paul teaches, and they have, consequently, by their sin, ceased to be true shepherds since the Holy Fathers forbid communion and joint-prayer in any way with heterodox and heretics and impose serious penances on those who do such things. Ironically, if St Paul lived today, the “enlightened” ecumenist “theologians” of the modern age would condemn him as a fanatic, regressive, fundamentalist “Old-Calendarist” because the Holy Apostles were not Ecumenists themselves: instead, they effectively preached the Truth. They did not try to bridge the chasm between Truth and falsehood with compromised truths and outright falsehoods. They did not preach another type of false christ.
For more than 80 years now, "orthodox" ecumenists carry on dialogues with unrepentant heretics. St. Paul says “A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject”. Let the modern-day Patriarchs and leaders of Ecumenism hear this. How many “admonishments” have they heard given to them? Hundreds of meetings and endless contacts, discussions upon discussions, symposia, conferences, workshops and even cruises for “on board” discussions invented by today’s New Calendarist Patriarchs and Archbishops. And what have they accomplished? Today the heretics are much worse than they were before they started the dialogues. Not only have they failed to bring the heretics closer to Orthodoxy but the exact opposite has happened. The New Calendarists have drawn closer to the heretics and have become similar to them on many levels: the change of the calendar, the shortening of the services and mysteries, the adoption of sprinkling – or rather a foot-bath – in the Mystery of Baptism instead of triple immersion, degradation and utter disregard of fasting, modernization of the traditional dress and appearance of the clergy. The worst of all is the distortion of the Orthodox Church’s doctrines by adopting compromising theological phrases and ambiguous formulations. And what is the result? confusion, indifference and a complete relaxation of the Orthodox religious feeling of the faithful people who in earlier times were the guardian of the Faith. What is the consequence of all this? the loss of the soul’s salvation.
Why we ought to follow the Old Calendar Orthodox Church
1. She is One, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic and She, the Bride of Christ, is undivided and is the genuine Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Her Head is Jesus Christ. Her Rudder is the Holy Spirit. Her Foundation is the Agape of God the Father.
2. The change from the usage of the old calendar to the usage of the new calendar was prepared and imposed upon the Greek people by the certified Freemasons Chrysostom Papadopoulos (Metropolitan of Athens), and Meletios Metaxakis (Patriarch of Constantinople) in cooperation with the military coup of Plastiras-Gonatas; without the assent of the other Orthodox Churches.
3. It was stealthily suggested in the Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in 1920, that the acceptance of a common calendar would aid the common celebration of all Churches. What it conceived of as “Churches” were all the heretical parasynagogues (Monophysites, Latins, Anglicans, Protestants and the rest of the kakodox (bad glory givers), who, based on this encyclical are considered branches of the common body of the “divided Church”, thus paving the road for today’s syncretistic pan-heresy of Ecumenism.
4. The Gregorian (Papal) Calendar has been condemned by three Pan-Orthodox Councils under Patriarch Jeremiah Tranos (1583, 1587, 1589) and through the Synodal Patriarchal Encyclicals in 1593, Patriarchs Jeremiah of Constantinople, Sophronios of Alexandria, and then, in 1848, Patriarchs Anthimos of Constantinople, Hierotheos of Alexandria, Methodios of Antioch and Cyril of Jerusalem placed under serious penances whomever accepts the reform of the Orthodox Ecclesiastical Calendar.
5. She, the True Undivided Ecclesia of Christ, follows no heresies, promotes no teachers who espouse heresies, and resolves all discord of the Faith through Church-wide councils.
The Theological Dissonances Caused by Heresy Can Only Be Resolved by Repentance and An Unswerving Orthodox Faith by Former Heretics
Where heresy abounds, there is nothing but discord and confusion brought about by "convincing" falsehoods. Many heretics, who are unaware of being a heretic, are unfamiliar with the decisions and Holy Canons of the Ecumenical Councils; and thus, fail to realize the vast importance of remaining strictly obedient to these wise councils (they are the work of the Holy Spirit of God). So, the question arises how these dissonances may be resolved. The answer is quite clearly to stop all remaining debate or contention regarding the efficacy of the important work of these Ecumenical Councils, and to obey them with Holy Obedience and Peacefully so. By this fundamental action, we may achieve repentance from the sins that incur automatically the various anathemas of these Holy Councils. Through this repentant behaviour, former heretics may adopt an unswerving Orthodox Faith, be joined in with the rest of Orthodox Life, and be in full communion with the Holy Orthodox Church of Christ (Body of Christ).
Call to Action
The various "confessions" of Faith that are widely disseminated among heretics must be modified to conform with the decisions and Holy Canons of the Ecumenical Councils. It all may begin with reciting the Holy Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed as composed by the 1st and 2nd Ecumenical Councils. Then, careful attention should be given to all the anathemas pronounced by the Seven Ecumenical Councils to establish a fence around the Holy Truth that may guard us from error. Using agape as our guide, obedience to the Holy Canons is thus automatic. Orthodox teachers, and missionaries are charged with the responsibility of bringing these truths to all professing "christians" who are not in accordance with Holy Tradition and come under one or more anathemas of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.
The Blessed State of Christendom without Heresies in the World
Although we can do much to eradicate heresies from our sight and from among our flock, we must never forget the sly way that falsehoods enter into our midst. Therefore, we must not fool ourselves into the false assurance that all heresies will be quelled while the Satanic force of newly hatched heresies would plague us even more. It is vitally important, therefore, that we always are on the lookout for new wrinkles to old falsehoods, or an attempted restatement of a heresy into a more "attractive" package, etc. Our work, therefore, is never done until the coming of our Lord in Glory and until that day when Satan and his demons are committed to their final judgment place. At that time, we will have the joy of experiencing the Blessed State of Christendom without heresies in the world.
Grace and Peace be with all who read this text and act on it. Amen.
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