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Other Articles of Interest Explaining
Differences |
Will
the Heterodox Be Saved? - By
Archimandite Philaret, (His Eminence, Metropolitan Philaret, of blessed
memory). This article answers the questions: "If the Orthodox faith is
the only true faith, can Christians of other confessions be saved? May a
person who has led a perfectly righteous life on earth be saved on the
strength of his ancestry, while not being baptized as Christian?"
Orthodoxy
and Jehovah’s Witnesses - By Archimandrite Alexander
Mileant. Missionary Leaflet #E66, Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Church,
Los Angeles, CA
Mormonism
- By Fr. Alexey Young. Missionary Leaflet # E66, Holy Protection
Russian Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, CA.
The
Enticement of the Occult - By Archimandrite Alexander
Mileant. Missionary Leaflet # 62E, Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Church,
Los Angeles, CA. | Article
from another site.
Astrology
is Astrolatry - By Father
Alexander Karloutsos,
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, New York, NY.
Articles from Orthodox America - Posted on the web site of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (also
known as the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia).
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Seventh-Day Adventists - Although Seventh-Day Adventism espouses basic Christian doctrines--belief in
the Trinity, the virgin birth and Resurrection of Christ, the Bible as the word of God--and is considered by
some "main line" Christians to be simply another Protestant denomination, it is distinguished by a number
of points that justify its classification as a cult.
Christian Science - Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, developed a religious methodology
that was an astonishing mixture of primitive psychology, New England Transcendentalism (especially
Emerson and Thoreau), a few accidentally discovered truths, and what we today would call "positive
thinking," self-hypnosis, and a smattering of New Age ideas. These writings were revised and refined
throughout her life and, under the title Science and Health, became the supplementary scriptures of
Christian Scientists.
Theosophy - According to J.K. Baalen in The Chaos of Cults, "Theosophy, or Divine Wisdom is the apostate
child of Spiritism mixed with Buddhism. It is far more complicated and more intricate than Spiritism; at
the same time its world and-life view is more complete and fascinating." The founder of Theosophy was
Helena Petrovna Blavatskaya, known to her followers as Madame Blavatskv or simply "H.P.B." Born in
Russia in 1848, she was the daughter of noble parents, granddaughter of a princess and, through the
Dolgoruky family, a descendent of the 12th century saint, Michael of Chernigov. In her youth she rejected
Orthodox Christianity and, in fact, proclaimed "a venomous hatred of Christianity" throughout her whole
life.
Rosicrucians
- Rosicrucians believe in spiritual and physical evolution, occultism, reincarnation, some
forms of astrology, and vegetarianism. "Moreover, man must learn to use the pituitary...and the pineal
gland, two small organs in the brain. He must thus become a clairvoyant, which is far more difficult than
becoming a medium." Nothing in the Rosicrucian philosophy--which claims to possess the "secret of the
ages" -is built upon Jesus Christ and His revelation to man. Rosicrucians teach that Christianity has
perverted and suppressed "ancient truths." They deny the historic definition of the Trinity and the divinity
of Christ, declaring that the Son of God was only "a spirit be longing to our human evolution...The Christ
spirit which entered the body of Jesus...was a ray from the Cosmic Christ. We may follow Jesus back in his
previous incarnations, and we can trace his growth to the present day.''
Transcendental Meditation - One of TM's most insistent claims has been that it is not a religion, that there
is no need to modify one's religious beliefs in order to be a practitioner. The TM Book contains
endorsements by a rabbi, a Lutheran minister and a Roman Catholic priest. More recently, however, the
Roman Catholic Church issued a 23-page document warning that methods such as TM can "degenerate into
a cult of the body." The mainstream Protestant fundamentalist magazine, Christianity Today, has sounded
a similar note of caution ("Dabbling in the Danger Zone," March 5, 1990).
Count the Number of the Beast: "666" - by
Rassophore-monk Vsevolod.
Islam - The article states: "Islam's fatal flaw, of course, is that it worships a false god. Ecumenists would
have us believe that all religions are basically the same, and that if we would only lay aside the
interpretations, traditions, and other human accretions that create our differences, we could all stand on
common ground. This, certainly, is the vision of proponents of the New World Order. As Christians,
however, we cannot subscribe to such a monstrous proposition, for it would be tantamount to denying
Christ. Holy Scripture says plainly: Christ and the Father are One (John 10:30), and Whosoever denieth the
Son, the same hath not the Father (I John 2:23). Christ Himself is the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father except by Him (John 14:6). In Him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily
(Col. 2:9)."
What
About….Freemasonry? - According to an official statement of the Church of Greece in 1933,
"Freemasonry constitutes a mystagogical system which reminds us of the ancient heathen
mystery-religion and cults--from which it descends and is their continuation and regeneration. This is not
only admitted by prominent teachers in the lodges, but they declare it with pride, affirming literally
Freemasonry is the only survival of the ancient mysteries and can be called the guardian of them-the
Masonic Lodge is nothing else than the caves and the darkness of the cedars of India and the unknown
depths of the pyramids and the crypts of the magnificent temple, of Isis, etc." And, "Freemasonry is a
mystery religion quite different, separate, and alien to the Christian faith." |
Unitarian Universalist Origins: Our Historic Faith - Unitarians are not Christians by any stretch of the imagination. According to this article of the Unitarian Universalist Association's official web site, "Unitarians and Universalists have always been heretics. We are heretics because we want to choose our
faith, not because we desire to be rebellious." Also, "The denomination has affirmed the rights of
bisexuals, gays, lesbians, and transgendered persons, including ordaining and settling gay and lesbian
clergy in our congregations, and in 1996, affirmed same-sex marriage." Finally, the Unitarians claim that
its "history has carried us from liberal Christian views about Jesus and human nature to a rich pluralism
that includes theist and atheist, agnostic and humanist, pagan, Christian, Jew, and Buddhist."
Also, "Today we are determined to continue to work for greater racial and
cultural diversity. In 1977, a women and religion resolution was passed by the
Association, and since then the denomination has responded to the feminist
challenge to change sexist structures and language, especially with the
publication of an inclusive hymnal. The denomination has affirmed the rights
of bisexuals, gays, lesbians, and transgendered persons, including ordaining
and settling gay and lesbian clergy in our congregations, and in 1996,
affirmed same-sex marriage."
Will You Meet the Lord in the Rapture or in Reality?
Part 1 |
Part 2 - An article written by an Orthodox
nun exposing the foolishness of the protestant rapture theory from
Orthodox Life Magazine.
Speaking
In Tongues: An Orthodox Perspective - By Fr. George Nicozisin,
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, New York, NY.
The
Significance of Apostolic Succession in Heterodoxy - From
the Journal of the Moscow
Patriarchate, October 1961.
The
Use of the Term “Heretic” - An Excerpt from
The
Non-Orthodox: The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church.
The
Non-Orthodox: The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church
- By Patrick Barnes
Differences
Between Orthodoxy & Roman Catholicism -
By Father Michael Azkoul, St. Catherine Mission, St. Louis, MO
The
True Nature of Heresy - By Archbishop Chrysostomos
of Etna.
St.
Mark of Ephesus and the False Union of Florence - By
Archimandrite Amvrossy of Pogodin, M.Sc.Eccl., D D.
Are
Protestantism and Roman Catholicism Heretical? -
The
Position of the Orthodox Church.
The
Blessed (Saint) Augustine of Hippo - His Place in the
Orthodox Church: A Corrective
Count
the Number of the Beast: 666 - From Orthodox Life.
Cults
and Sects - From Orthodox Life.
Original
Sin According to St. Paul
Concerning
Faith and Baptism - By St. John of Damascus (8th cent.)
- From his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, Ch.
9
The
Marian Apparitions: Divine Intervention or Delusion? -
By
Mirian Lambouras. This is a lengthy essay (30+ pages) surveying Marian
apparitions in the Roman Catholic Church. Mrs. Lambouras took up this research
project after discovering that many Orthodox Christians have come to accept
these apparitions as being from God. She was alarmed to learn that so many
are making pilgrimages to these sites.
Faith
and Science in Orthodox Gnosiology and Methodology -
By
The Very Rev. Prof. Dr. George Metallinos
The
Transformation of Hellenistic Thought on the Cosmos and Man in the Greek
Fathers - By Father Gregory Telepneff and Bishop [now
Archbishop] Chrysostomos, (The Patristic and Byzantine Review, 1990,
IX, 2&3).
Encyclical
of the Eastern Patriarchs (1848) - A Reply to the
Epistle of Pope Pius IX, “to the Easterns.”
Patriarchal
Encyclical of 1895 - A Reply to the Papal Encyclical
of Pope Leo XIII (1895) on Reunion.
A
‘New Mary’ for a New Age? - By Peter Jackson. Reprinted
(with slight editing for the Internet) from Orthodox Life, No. 1, 1997,
pp. 18-22.
A
Comparison of the Mysticism of Francis of Assisi with that of St. Seraphim
of Sarov - Originally printed in Synaxis: Orthodox
Christian Theology in the 20th Century, Vol. 2, pp. 39-56.
Papism
as the Oldest Protestantism - By the Blessed Fr. Justin
(Popovich)
The
Ascetic Ideal and the New Testament: Reflections on the Theology of the
New Testament - By Father George Florovsky. This is one
of the most important articles a Protestant inquirer to Orthodoxy could
read. It is a lengthy survey of almost the entire New Testament. The author
demonstrates that in each book the Orthodox doctrines of synergy and theosis
are taught. He interacts constantly with the theology of Luther and Calvin,
as well as the book Agape and Eros, by Anders Nygren.
Salvation
by Christ - By Carmen Fragapane. A very thorough article
explaining the Orthodox teaching on Theosis and the doctrine of salvation.
Part of a continuing series in response to the Protestant Reformed publication
Credenda/Agenda.
Selected
Excerpts from the Three Answers of Patriarch Jeremiah
II to the Lutheran Tubingen scholars regarding the “Augsburg Confession”
(16th century).
The
UnReformed Truth - Orthodoxy Exonerated in the Light
of the Apostolic Faith. A Response to the Calvinist journal Credenda/Agenda.
Numerous articles critiquing Calvinism from an Orthodox perspective. This
is a work in progress....
On
the Reception into
the Orthodox Church - By
Archimandrite Ambrosius (Pagodin). Originally published in Russian in
Vestnik
Russkogo Khristianskogo Dvizheniya (Messenger
of the Russian Christian
Movement) Paris-New
York-Moscow,
Nos. 173 (I-1996) and 174 (II-1996/I-1997). [Another
source - Translated with permission of the author by Alvian N. Smirensky.]
The
Toronto Blessing - By Dick Needham. A critique of this
Protestant Charismatic phenomenon. This originally appeared in The Shepherd
in three parts from December 1995 (Vol. XVI, No. 3) to February 1996 (Vol
XVI, No. 5).
Speaking
In Tongues: An Orthodox Perspective - By Fr. George Nicozisin
Chalcedonians
and Monophysites: Do We Share the Same Beliefs? -
this is a very helpful
introduction to, and overview of, the history and terms of the Christological
controversies. The author also expertly critiques the current Orthodox
"dialogue" with the Non-Chalcedonians, exposing its largely dubious
nature.
Eastern Orthodoxy
and "Oriental Orthodoxy" - Answers
the questions: Why are the Coptic Orthodox called "Oriental Orthodox"?
What do they believe that is different from Orthodoxy as we "Eastern
Orthodox" practice it? Why are so many New Calendarist jurisdictions in
America anxious to have ecumenical dialogue with these people? Lastly, how do
you traditionalists view the Oriental Orthodox?
Memorandum
of the Sacred Community of Mount
Athos Concerning the Dialogue Between the Orthodox and Non-Chalcedonian
Churches - This is the article of the
co-president of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the
Orthodox and nonChalcedonian churches, the Most Rev. Damascene, Bishop of Switzerland,
which was entitled, The Theological Dialogue of the Orthodox Churches and the
Oriental Orthodox Churches: Thoughts and Perspectives [Episkepsis #516 /
March 31, 1995] gave impetus to more disquiet on the part of the Holy Mountain
regarding the development of this theological dialogue.
Copts
and Orthodoxy
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