Amen, Eliot. Fearsome times indeed.

What is more fearsome is the incipient liberalism of the Greek-speaking churches and the Islamic apologetic that comes out of Antioch and Alexandria’s Orthodox patriarchates and their eparchies in North America.

I believe that these “orthodox” patriarchates embraced super-ecumenism or “the cult of the same God”.

The Monotheistic Religions; Do We Have the Same God That Non-Christians Have?

In order better to explain the matter, we shall limit ourselves to the three religions that have historically followed each other in this order: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. These three religions lay claim, in fact, to a common origin: as worshippers of the God of Abraham. Thus it is a very widespread opinion that since we all lay claim to the posterity of Abraham (the Jews and Moslems according to the flesh and Christians spiritually), we all have as God the God of Abraham and all three of us worship (each in his own way, naturally) the same God! And, this same God constitutes in some fashion our point of unity and of “mutual understanding,” and this invites us to a “fraternal relation,” as the Grand Rabbi Dr. Safran emphasized, paraphrasing the Psalm: “Oh, how good it is to see brethren seated together…”

In this perspective it is evident that Jesus Christ, God and Man, the Son Co-eternal with the Father without beginning, His Incarnation, His Cross His Glorious Resurrection and His Second and Terrible Coming — become secondary details which cannot prevent us from “fraternizing” with those who consider Him as “a simple prophet” (according to the Koran) or as “the son of a prostitute” (according to certain Talmudic traditions)! Thus we would place Jesus of Nazareth and Mohammed on the same level. I do not know what Christian worthy of the name could admit this in his conscience.

From the Anglican perspective, perhaps the most important part of his message is breaking through the pretense that the actions of TEC, ordaining women, etc. pose no problems ecumenically. Hilarion names them for what they are — terrible obstacles to our Lord’s prayer that we all may be one.

He has also modeled clearly the vocation of the Bishop as defender of the faith — sadly lacking in many Anglican bishops,

May God grant Metropolitan Hilarion many years!

Metropolitan Hilarion sees things as they are and in this way he demonstrates great love for those whom him addresses. Unlike the faculty of SVS which chose to honor Rowan Williams and ignore is unhealthy beliefs, +Hilarion confronts these problems with honesty and courage. He is a teacher par excellence and his courage should shame SVS.

Likwise, +Hilarion is not trying to build a phony consenus. He does not lower the bar of Orthodoxy- he raises it for all of us. I also like the fact that the Metropolitan can handle himself in public and in a real dicusssion on real issues. He takes his work very seriously. He is not concerned with how we feel about an issue but what the Church teaches about an issue.

In an age where bishops seem to want to be liked rather than lead. In age where Bishops try to be your buddy and not your father. In an age where bishops treat their flocks like infants, Metropolitan Hilarion is a father and pastor who expects great things not only from himself but from all of us as well.

What can be more refreshing……:)

When one speaks the truth, he speaks “as one having authority”. What I am trying to understand is how people came to ascribe normality to abnormal (aberrant) situations. Here is the answer:

Elder Paisios the New of Mount Athos.

http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/paisios/thoughts.shtml

We ought always to be careful and be in constant hesitation about whether things are really as we think. For when someone is constantly occupied with his thoughts and trusts in them, the devil will manage things in such a way that he will make the man evil, even if by nature he was good.

The ancient fathers did not trust their thoughts at all, but even in the smallest things, when they had to give an answer, they addressed the matter in their prayer, joining to it fasting, in order in some way to ‘force’ Divine Grace to inform them what was the right answer according to God. And when they received the ‘information,’ they gave the answer.