Before one can find out who God is, one must already assume that there is a God. Before one can assume there is a God, one must want to know God. Before one can want to know God, one must suffer a little.
It is useless to argue whether there is a God, or whether that God is the triune God of Judeo-Christianity. It is also useless to argue, whether or not God is personal or impersonal, with unbelievers. So I will not. What is paramount for a Christian is to realize whether they have done all they can with the knowledge they have acquired in life about God, for we may be asked this very question by our Creator when we meet Him.
Luke 14:27 “And whosoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Mark 13:35 – 37 “Watch Therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: “Watch!”
This book is not for those who need proof that there is a God, nor is it for those who need to know if Christianity is the way to God. This book is for those who have found Christianity (at least in some form) or are already Orthodox Christians, and believe it is the way but have yet to find out why and how they can believe more strongly…
If one were to search as I had for True Christianity, the unfiltered (through history) version. One does not have to search very far. One can see it throughout the world and I do not mean only in the churches, but in the people. A true Christian is not simply one who has been baptized, chrismated and confesses that they are a Christian, but one who actively participates in the wholeness of a Christian life and reveals it through their actions and words. (Let me state though, these are essential to a Christian life, but there is much, much more to it.) In all the Earth, you will not find a perfect Christian. For what a Christian is is a Human being struggling on His way through constant contradictions of actions, words, and thoughts towards the knowledge of God and His will. He/She is a walking contradiction, for what is a Christian but someone who notices that they are less than Human, and has found the path back to becoming fully Human; struggling constantly toward a moment when God and Soul are united in Body. They remain on their own personal journey of struggles, letting go of layers of their own will, when confronted with the question of what they will do next. For this is exactly what any circumstance in life, any arousal of thought, and any active participation in anything at all requires. It is a question, a voluntary test. Being a Christian is allowing one’s self to be placed on a quest to resolve the dilemma’s of life through a series of trials in which case, he is asked at every turn, what will you do now? Being a Christian is a process of becoming aware of our conscience, and realizing our pride and repenting of it, and asking for assistance from our Creator and Lord Jesus Christ (the God-Man) to help us become more like we ought to be – Fully Man, through Life in Christ.
Your nearest Library may have copies of the writings of what are known commonly as the ” Early Church Fathers”. Tertullian, Justin, Iranaeus, Jerome, Cyprian and later Augustine are all great sources for understanding the foundation of the first few centuries of Christendom. And these are all a good start. Also, looking into an Orthodox Church near you can provide some information of what it is to worship and live as an Orthodox Christian. In fact, within the full year of the Orthodox Calendar of Services, one can understand completely the teachings of Orthodox Christianity, provided one were able to attempt such a feat as to go to church every day. Since I had no knowledge of these, at first, I found my way to this Church through a different source.
First, a Case for God-Incarnate
When I was in my later-twenties, I came to the conclusion that I needed to change many things about my life. I also found that I had not the strength to make these changes. This transition was at my core. Who I was as a person was not whom I had wanted to become . But I knew, that if I was to make these changes, I would have to begin somewhere. It was with a simple verse from the Bible, a promise from God within it, that I moved toward a new life. “Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. Seek and ye shall find it.”
So I began my inner journey with a few books and much prayer. This was not out of the ordinary for me as I loved to read and began to love to pray. I had read sacred texts from every major religion and had my fill of Occult writings as well. I always found the theory in common between religions, that we are made to be something else, a “God” or “Like-God” on one level or another. Where my place was along this scale, was in question but at least I saw that I was not living up to any sort of Holiness. But there are men and women throughout history who believed that they were in the presence of this holiness. I had read the writings of people who pointed toward Christian faith, watered-down New Age authors who believed they had found the path through mingling Eastern Trancendental Meditation. I had no ideas of my own, on how to achieve the connection with Godliness which I saught. After practicing many attempts at meditation, fasting and drug-state hypnosis, I came to another conclusion. At the depths of my soul, past my thoughts, emotions and interior dialogue; far beyond the place where I sat and what may have been going on in my house, there was a dark emptiness. The Bhuddist would call this a discovery, a first step on the journey to self-realization. I found it unnerving. If all that is within me is dark void, if my essence is a great emptiness, than I am Nothing. If I am nothing, than what is there to seek except the present, to be filled with whatever whim and instance of the moment and embrace whatever comes so that I may be filled. I had to be wrong. I felt that if I am filled with this Darkness, then I must need to be filled. But what thing in life would fill me so completely that I would no longer seek? “My cup runneth over…”, the apostle said. His experience was so different from mine. He was filled by something much greater than what I could have experienced. So I kept seeking. Meditation would not give me a “peace that surpasses all understanding”. What it did give me was a well informed audit of the state of my soul. Empty and waiting to be filled.
I had heard of a non-biased author, a historian from the time of the first century, who had seen the disciples of Christ – Josephus the Jew. He wrote of Jesus Christ in a way which was non-biased, a Jew, and so not of the Christian flock. It seemed safe to read his writings since he remained a Jew and did not convert as far as anyone knows. With this book, I could see for myself if Christ had worked miracles, been the “Messiah” which the Jews had prophesied and awaited, and actually fulfilled these prophecies. To my un-belief, I had found that Josephus is very careful to not deny the God-hood of Jesus. He writes with uncertainty about the teachings and circumstances revolving around Jesus’ life, saying “…if he is only a man or much more, I do not know.”
So now that I had read these writings, skipping through the historical recordings of most of the story of the Maccabees and other previous or post-Jesus history, I had to look to another source.
Second, Much-to-do about African Kings
Acts 8:27 “…And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship..”
In the History of Ethiopia, we find a long geniological line of their kings. The Kebra Negast or “Glory of Kings” was a book I was familiar with. It is the Oral-to-Written history of the bloodline of African Kings which dates all the way back to King Solomon. Yes they can trace their bloodline to the Davidic Royalty through their ancient Queen Sheba, written about in the very Songs of Solomon of the Torah. Within the first story, Sheba gives birth to Menelek, the illegitimate son of King Solomon. He comes, in his later youth to Jerusalem to claim his birthright and bring back sovereign kingship to Ethiopia and become the first King of Ethiopia. Prior to this, Africa had been ruled by queens.
Now this book is not some fairy tale. It is the history of Ethiopia as taught by the schools there. They believe it as fact. On top of all this the story continues that Menelek brought back with him the very Ark of the Covenant. If one compares this with the story of the Torah, Solomon lost his way and was deceived by the religions of his many wives and Jerusalem soon fell into peril because of it. Warring tribes of Israel fought for a long time thereafter and Israel never recovered their Kingdom’s past glory.
Although, If one were to look at what happened to Ethiopia after this time, one finds that the Kingdom of Ethiopia became a bountiful place. The land became fertile and a major Eastern trading route was made which in turn made the people very wealthy. Later the Kingdom of Axum was created which reached far north into Egypt, east into Saudi Arabia and south into Kenya. Axum was the African equivalent of Byzantium. Romans and Greeks traded heavily with the Kings for a long time. Ethiopian Kings followed the Judaic traditions until the time of Jesus and His disciples, at which time, within a few years, the King and Queen fully accepted the story of the Risen Christ and Ethiopia became the second largest Christian Kingdom in the world. This tradition was passed on to modern kings until the time of Haile Selassie I (the Power of the Holy Trinity – a rightful title for their kings) who asked the Metropolitan Arch-Bishop of Alexandria (Egypt) to assist in establishing an autocephalic Orthodox Church of Ethiopia. Christianity in Ethiopia was, until that time, under the guidance of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. This Ethiopian Church still holds claim to hiding the Ark to this very day.
This historic tale is full of much more information regarding His Majesty’s personal life, the struggles of a Christian Nation against the Italian tyrant Mussolini and unanswered pleas for help from the League of Nations, but I will not get into this now.
Rastafari, the counterpart to Oriental Orthodoxy which I had found, was a pool in which to swim for me to lose my pride and find a way to redemption. In a way, it was my first real steps toward Christ. “I saught the Lord and he heard me. He delivered me from all my tribulations.”
As confused as I had become, I began to see a purpose in my path. There were reasons I was attracted to Rastafarian reason. Rasta taught of the natural law of things. Homosexuality, promescuity, pride, vanity and gluttony and more, were sins of fallen man. Sin was a corruption of Natural Law, God’s Law. Rasta spoke of redemption and praise and equality for mankind. To the Rasta in general there was a sense of God’s kingdom in nature and in Man’s actions, a sense of right and wrong. The Reggae songs I was most attracted to spoke of the corruption of the world. The way out of this corruption was through repentance and a casting off of worldly cares, in hopes of His Majesty seeing our righteousness and love for His creation and His people.
I am always amazed at the strength of a man’s will. Some men can fight temptations and will themselves to change, almost overnight. He can be so dramatically changed that he now has a daily rule of prayer and reading of Holy Scripture, a strict diet and a mental focus on Holy things. But what about the Weak Man? What of the ones who can not change no matter how many times they have tried. What of this man who can want so badly to be a better person, a Holy Man? Is he left in the mire of his pitifulness? I am much closer to this man in spirit. I am humbled by my own failed attempts to live a godly life. In my misery, I wondered if I was but a vessel, made to be dashed apon the Potter’s ground. Never to taste the lifegiving waters of true repentance, nor to be made into something worth keeping. Rastafari could give me no answers to this. There was no hope for my soul except the life on Earth to be lived in a blissful state of praise, with no hope for the future. Their was no hope for those who could not lift themselves above the undertow of Sin and be raised to a righteous state, to believe in their own redemption and salvation. His Holiness, in the eyes of the Rasta, had come again (through His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie). Christ had returned already and shown the world His Glory, only to be cast out and leaving His children until Kingdom Come.
Through reading the teachings of His Majesty, I found a small narrow door hidden with mystery like hanging kudzu. The doorknob had been worn to reveal a gleeming brass underneath the tarnish of the ages. Emperor Selassie spoke in riddles to me. His words, though plainly written as a record of his life, came through to me as if I was attempting to listen through a wall of water. One mention of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and I was swept into the tide. I found myself wanting, beyond anything else, to know those words’ meaning. What was it? Where do they worship? It did not sound like the “Church Universal” which I had heard of in the Baptist church of my youth. There was no ethereal connotations to the sound of it. I would not rest.
Third, So What Was the First Christian Church Like?
Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
In the churches of America one finds a sea of the so-called “invisible Body of Christ” or “Universal Church”. Within it swims versions of Christianity called denominations, like Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Quakers, Amish, Episcopalians, Evangelicals, Baptists, “Non-Denominationals” and the list goes on and on to what seems like infinity. They all have varying degrees of commonalities and differences within their doctrine and philosophy. With all of these doctrinal differences, and only few commonalities, we find discord and dissent throughout the past which caused splits, schisms, and separations. Questions like Who is right? and Where is the fullness of the Original Faith? arise in the mind of a seeker. How can all these churches disagree on such important subjects of their own faith? Was the Original church this way? No. Although we find St. Paul admonishing different churches in his time about the problems which arose, there was a common belief of faith among the consensus on any important subject. What was believed by all Christians everywhere as a whole became the confession of faith in it’s fullness. St. Paul upheld this confession and when the church had problems with “False Teachings” later in history we find that they dealt with it in much the same way yet on a grander scale.
Established under Emperor Constantine, the Ecumenical Councils were developed to refute these false teachings and to uphold the concepts of Christianity. “What was believed by every one at every time”, became the subject of these councils. Bishops, Priests, Deacons and many of the faithful traveled to the Councils to show support and end these schisms by confessing their belief. The very Theology of the Church was recorded within these Councils. Where ever a question arose that caused a problem of dissent among believers, these Ecumenical Councils could sort it out by discussion and votes of Consensus. The scriptures of the Bible were in fact brought together at these same councils. The faithful trusted that God would guide them in Spirit to remain true to the Faith.
Unfortunately for modern seekers of the Faith, problems which we deal with today are less black and white. As I have said, there are many more disagreements which are not necessarily of a Doctrinal nature. Still valid though is the way we can decipher what is “Orthodox” from what is not. If we look at what is believed everywhere, at all times throughout History, we can see that there remains a constant arrow pointing us in the direction of Truth.
It is of Paramount, that seekers of Truth continue to seek and leave all opinions at the door-step. We can not seek Truth if we are not willing to change our opinions, if we find that the Truth is contrary to our beliefs.
What we find in History is that the Orthodox Church, Herself, decided what was true and false of the many parchments, oral traditions and documents, when encountering the Fullness of Her Faith. It was the very Traditions and Liturgical Services which held these decisions constant while examining them. The Scriptures did not make the Church after all, but the Church and Her Tradition which made the Scriptures and the Liturgical Life. So therefore, Tradition was regarded as highly important when encountering the questions of ”What We Believe”, and “How are we to live”.
How do we know what the First Christian Church was like? Unfortunately, we will not find it in some Americanized denomination of Christianity. We must look to the East, to the Ancient Historians such as Eusebius, Tertullian, Iranaeus, Clement… to the Traditions of the Past, and to Orthodoxy. Within Her is the fullness of the Faith.
Fourth, How Do We Know That Eastern Orthodoxy Has Not Changed?
“Apon this Rock, I will build my Church, and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”
One of the most obvious ways to discover this is through the Confession of Faith by the Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy has held the Nicene Creed as a testimony of Doctrine for nearly 2000 yrs. Simply reading about the History of the Church, one can come to the conclusion that this is the same fundamental teaching as most of Modern Christianity.
Let us look closely at what took place to lead us so far off course from actually being one church, and where the Church remains untouched…
The first 1000 yrs. we find a Church which had its problems yet, at least held core fundamentals and a communion within itself, no matter how far it stretched across the Earth. They did this through the Ecumenical Councils.
Yet around 1050 a.d. we find a problem arising which was more difficult to solve. The Latin and Greek divisions many. It seems as though the world at that time was naturally dividing East from West. The Crusades began, ripping apart the Holy Land as the Islamic forces invaded her. Rome had set aside her Bishop, as Head of State, to protect Rome from falling to ominous powers. This was not allowed by the Church so the Eastern Church urged the Pope to give up this power. The Massacre of Latins of 1182, the sacking of Constantinople by the Roman Empire in its attempts to end Byzantium, and the following attacks by the Ottoman Empire, sealed the fate for the East.
Another unfortunate event occurred during this time which further separated the West from the East. Within the Western Church, what is described as the “Filioque” or “and the son” was inserted into the Nicene Creed which gave sway to a host of innovative descriptions of the Holy Spirit, making this personality of the Trinity less than He is. Although this may a simple case of linguistics, the Eastern Church had had enough and formally decreed a separation from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054 A.D.
While the Roman Catholic Church and the West went through the Medieval Ages, another Schism, Inquisitions, Reformations, New World Discovery and the Renaissance, the Eastern Orthodox Church remained unchanged. There was no Martin Luther in Greece. When Istanbul became Constantinople, Orthodoxy was seeing a new era of Christianity reaching deep into Russia and Asia.
Let us look at one more very important fact before moving on. Up until reformers left the Catholic Church, as a whole, something called Apostolic Succession (probably coined later) was a concept people were familiar with in the West as well as the East. It means that there is a direct lineage of the Christian Priesthood which dates back to the Apostles. This was important because, the concept carried with it the idea that the church doctrine and interpretation of the Bible was passed down from Bishop to Bishop since the time of the Apostles. Within the Roman Catholic Church one can find this lineage passed from St. Peter down to their current Pope, from Antioch there was St. Paul, Alexandria there was St. Mark, from Greece there was St. John, Ethiopia there was St. Philip, and so on - down to their current Bishops. Is it true? Well, if we use the understanding that it was what Christians everywhere believed in every time, then one comes to the conclusion, Yes. How can one deny what is still evident? The Church still remains in the places I have just mentioned. The Eastern Orthodox Church is unchanged and the Holy Spirit guides Her through History without separating from Scripture, Church Doctrine and Tradition. This is promised by Christ Himself that He would preserve His church until the End. Within Orthodoxy, no one Bishop is above another, although the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople is considered “First among Equals”. This used to be the title reserved for the See of Rome, until the dreadful time mentioned above.
The history of the Church does not imply a change, but a maturity through the development of the culture of Christianity. Like a baby, she was born with little experience and little question to the world around her. As the Church grew, she was confronted with the perils of mankind’s separation from God, dealing with the world. Her saints became many, her liturgical year and calendar of services became filled with commemorations of Martyrs and Blessed Patrons. The lives of so many, helped her to develop and grow in Wisdom and Truth. By the Holy Spirit moving through her, she was strengthened in faith. God has preserved Her inhabitants. The false teachings have fallen away, while that which is True remains constant. And She awaits the coming day of Christ’s return with fruitful branches, ripe for the harvest.
Fifth, Tradition – The Foundation of Faith
2 Timothy 1:13 – 14 “Hold fast to the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keeping by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.”
This pattern of words is the very interpretation of scripture which was given to the Apostles concerning the Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s incarnation. It was then passed on to those who were appointed as Bishops of the different Churches of the Faith. They were given this charge by the laying on of hands, by the Apostles, to carry on the Holy Tradition of Christ’s teachings, in expectation that it would follow down to this very day. How else would any heresy be fought off? How would our Church have prevailed against the centuries and the Gates of Hades not overcome it, if not for the Holy Tradition being passed on and protected by the Holy Spirit?
St Clement of Rome (cir. 96 a.d.) writes:
“The apostles have preached the gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ [has done so] from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. Both these appointments, then, were made in an orderly way, according to the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand. And thus preaching through countries and cities, they appointed the first fruits [of their labours], having first proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who should afterwards believe. Nor was this any new thing, since indeed many ages before it was written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus says the Scripture in a certain place, I will appoint their bishops in righteousness, and their deacons in faith…
Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect fore-knowledge of this, they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. We are of opinion, therefore, that those appointed by them, or afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole church, and who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ, in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry. For our sin will not be small, if we eject from the episcopate those who have blamelessly and holily fulfilled its duties.” – St. Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 42-44
We know by the Scriptures and the writings of the Early Church Fathers that our lineage of Faith is blessed by the Holy Spirit. The Lord gave us the promise of a continued priesthood and He has not failed. For if we are to ask, how we are to believe them, we fall into a great folly. We find ourselves in question of the very Bible itself. It is by these same men that the Holy Bible was passed down, translated and interpreted to us in this very day. To refute their claim of Apostolic Succession and Tradition is to refute our belief in the Bible. How then can we justify our belief? How can we claim to have the true writings, passed down through the centuries? How then can we ascertain that that which we believe, is true at all?
Titus 1:5-9 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I command you- if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”
Sixth, A Call To Arms
In this age of great Apostasy, when every man is tempted to his utmost in his daily life, there is an opportunity for fervor. The enemy has splintered the Church of Christ into more than 7oo different denominations. Ironically, the word of God is known throughout all the Earth, and yet we are outnumbered sorely by those who would rather seek a life of self-servitude.
Where is the great mystery of God’s Sacraments? In Orthodoxy. Where are the Martyrs for the faith of Christ and the Priests of His church? In Orthodoxy. Where has been secured the teachings of Christ, with no false doctrine? In Orthodoxy.
In America the call is barely heard due to the outpouring cry for “More”, by it’s people. The world is in turmoil and the terrors are worse each year. Everyday a man loses his faith and allows his heart to grow cold from the great pressures of Humanity.
We in the Church of Christ must not allow this to happen to ourselves. We must not lean on our own understanding or fall into the snares of the enemy. We should believe in sincerity that the true faith has been preserved unchanged throughout the ages. We should know how easy it is to stop up our ears with the opinions of Man.
This is not the Life called for us. We are partakers in the great Mystery of Faith and our hearts must continually be renewed by the Holy Gifts. Is our church providing us with the scriptural interpretation as set forth by the teachings of Christ? (Luke 24:27) Is our Baptism and Chrismation consistent with the teachings of the Church, or simply regarded as a symbol? Are our connections to the Body of Christ living branches of the Tree of Life, or have they been cut off from His grace? How can we know for sure? These are questions every Christian must answer for himself if he is to hold himself in accordance with the unity of faith. It is by their fruits that you will know them.
So let us lift up our hearts unto the Lord in all honesty and rejoice! For He has granted us Great Mercy! He has made His face to shine upon us although we are not worthy of His love. He has set aright the fallen and trampled down the gates of hell by His own death and restored unto us the joy of our Salvation, by His resurrection.
Christ is Risen! Xristos Anesti! Hristos Vaskresi! – Amen.
