tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3548492826544686793.post980494669868674353..comments2010-09-04T11:27:36.812-04:00Comments on PadreTex: Is God at Work Again?Fr. J. Guy Winfreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16978403559266817219noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3548492826544686793.post-68151067395498998962010-07-10T00:40:54.060-04:002010-07-10T00:40:54.060-04:00Thank you Father for clarifying your understanding...Thank you Father for clarifying your understanding of the term "Orthodox taliban". I understand what groups you are referring to when you use that term. While I wouldn't use the term "taliban", I would certainly agree that their theology is perverted.<br /><br />Also, I appreciate the way that you defined the two positions within Orthodoxy in regards to the Roman church. I feel like you were fair, which unforunately, I don't find very often on either side. Too often you have one side lambasting the other side as "modernists" and the other lmabasting the other as "angry zealots." While I think there are modernists and angry zealots, I think they are the exceptions. While we disagree on our understanding of sacraments outside of the Orthodox Church, I readily admit that your view has a history in the Church<br /><br />Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised with your response. It was very balanced. A breath of fresh air. Thank you!<br /><br />John<br /><br />P.S. As a former anglo-catholic, I was deeply moved by your post "I've been in a nostalgic mood lately." The English tradition is hauntingly beautiful. There is something about it that reaches down into the very soul and settles there.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651360653391208140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3548492826544686793.post-41023876226433626152010-07-09T22:40:36.940-04:002010-07-09T22:40:36.940-04:00Fr. John:
I just want to add my warm agreement to...Fr. John:<br /><br />I just want to add my warm agreement to everything you said. Especially the final sentences.timothyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01685125002450507287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3548492826544686793.post-67087180975397300472010-07-09T14:01:20.920-04:002010-07-09T14:01:20.920-04:00The blessing of the Lord!
The phrase Orthodox tal...The blessing of the Lord!<br /><br />The phrase Orthodox taliban was not my own, it was the Archbishop of Cyprus' term. He used it to refer to some of the more radically "conservative" monastics. For example, there are those who insist not only that converts should be baptized, but even those who are already Orthodox since birth and join their monastery should be baptized there at the monastery. Were they not already Christian? Are the Sacraments of the Church only effective at that monastery? On the one hand, that is sacrilege, and on the other a perverted ecclesiology which would imply that one must be a monastic to be saved. That was formally condemned in the Ecumenical Councils (in relation to marriage). I wouldn't draw out any particular group as a member of such a description, but rather it is a pervasive spirituality and ethos that is not truly Christian--though it would claim the contrary.<br /><br />My view of the Roman Catholic Church is perhaps unique and is certainly colored by my experience and relationships. But when one looks at the Orthodox Church's expression as found in her liturgical life one finds a very confused and contradictory thing. There are some Orthodox who receive Roman Catholics by complete baptism. These are very few in the United States, but they exist. There are some who receive them by chrismation, and again others who receive them by a profession of faith with no sacramental initiation. The same is true of priests who have become Orthodox who were formerly Roman Catholic. Some insist on re-ordaining them whilst others only have them concelebrate with the bishop who vests the priest. Orthodoxy seems divided in our estimation of the Roman Catholics. On the one hand it might seem as though they are not thought of as Christian and on the other it seems they are thought of as priests who only need to be reconciled.<br /><br />So what do I think? I tend to think the latter. I accept that the Catholic Church has bishops, priests and deacons and the sacraments. But I would say that we have become separated from a common altar which is a scandal.<br /><br />I hope that helps. I'm glad you're a reader, it's nice to know that some one out there is reading this.Fr. J. Guy Winfreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16978403559266817219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3548492826544686793.post-27869163376225231292010-07-09T00:01:07.641-04:002010-07-09T00:01:07.641-04:00Father, bless!
Father, may I ask, with all sincer...Father, bless!<br /><br />Father, may I ask, with all sincerity, what do you mean by "Orthodox taliban"? How would you describe the group that meets this description? The reason I ask is because I personally cannot think of any large contigent in canonical Orthodox that would warrant such a description, but perhaps I'm wrong. I've been known to live under a rock. <br /><br />Also, what is your view of the Roman church? Do you consider it part of the Church of Christ? <br /><br />I ask these questions because I'm curious. I'm not asking to trap you or to labast you with polemics, as some are apt to do. I have been reading your blog for the past two months (I think) now and will continue to do so.<br /><br />Thanks in advance!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651360653391208140noreply@blogger.com