Joy / Spring is Coming (I Think for Real, This Time)

Well, I just wanted to update on a few things and then talk about joy a little.  As for the update, I can finally note that spring is here, or will be very soon.  It's been sunny for perhaps a week, and I finally saw the thermometer above 10C (50°F) today--actually, at 18 (64.4°F) in the heat of the day!  As I was still wearing my heavy winter wear for the morning walk to school, I was quite warm (a bit hot, that is) walking back after school in the direct sunlight (that aforementioned 18C was without direct sunlight on the thermometer).  That was a big jump from yesterday (it probably got above 10C in the sun, and perhaps in the shade, too, but never when I happened to see the thermometer), and the few bits of snow left on certain shady roofs this morning are all but melted completely (most of the last bits on the ground were gone by yesterday afternoon, but there are a couple spots still on the ground).  The mountains are gorgeous, snow-capped and sunny, with occasional shadows from nice, fluffy white clouds.  One of the more minor things (as opposed to the people, uniform Orthodoxy (at least, in theory), traditions, culture, et cetera) I'll miss when I leave will be the surreal natural beauty I've seen pretty much everywhere I've been so far here.


The coming of sun and warmth coinciding as it has with the beginning of Great Lent, with its penitential and somber character, has given me a lot of occasion to consider emotions.  How are we supposed to feel now, during Lent?  The conclusion, of course, is that it depends on us.  The Orthodox Church has never said that if you feel happy it's a good sign of the Spirit resting on you or anything like that (nor that it means it's in earthly comforts or ignorance of sins, either)--nor indeed that being gloomy is anything like the repentance we're called to (not that sadness can't, of course, make things more real and clear to us, either).  Emotions, of themselves, don't matter; it's what they lead us to that matters.  The things is, in Orthodoxy we have something called "spiritual tears," to weep unceasingly over our sins, as a gift given to certain saints.  Then we have "spiritual joy," a gift given to other saints in unceasing rejoicing over His love and forgiveness.  Both are in awe of standing before the Creator (as we always are; if only we could recognize it!), and they're not even mutually exclusive.  All the saints were granted joy in God by first realizing their entire lowliness and having great sadness over their sins.  Compare St. Paul's "rejoice in the Lord always" (Php 4:4) and St. Chrysostom's dying words, "Glory to God for all things!" with the prophets' exhortation to turn to God with weeping in sackcloth and ashes, and you see that both are acceptable if done for and in God's will--there's excessive sadness (despondency, or even despair, leading us to reject God's power to save us and thereby rejecting the open Hand offering Salvation) and excessive joy (a sort of "everything will turn out fine" attitude without any will or effort to actually work for Him).  Luckily, there's an easy way to tell if we're in the extremes or the right path--do we find ourselves wanting to do, and actually doing, the things that lead to Him--prayer, ascesis, forgiveness, patience, chastity, temperance, self-sacrifice, and so forth--less, or more?  Unless we are tainted with pride (i.e., in so much as we may do such acts to further our own sense of self-importance)--and we all are to some extent, and thus must be careful--this is a perfect test and measure when we're unsure.


So in Lent we should feel as we ought--sad if we aren't doing as we ought (are we ever?), and happy, hoping in Him Who is always our Helper, Comforter, and Guide.  And depending on our spiritual situation and our soul's inclination we'll likely feel one or the other more; most of us are not constant in either, but tend to fluctuate.  What we can't do is let the worldly situations around us affect us as if they really mattered.  So it's sunny and warm--if we pay attention to it at all, let us rejoice that God is giving a reprieve from the difficulties of cold, and lament that it is harder to chastise ourselves as we can naturally do very easily in accepting the cold with patience and enduring it.  So it's cold--endure and gain a crown through this self-chastising patience and rejoice in it, but be on guard constantly, or you will fall; for when difficulties are greater, it's easier to give up our efforts and seek only passing comforts.  So you're surrounded by people--rejoice in your ability to commune with these images and creations of God, other parts of the whole of the Body of Christ of which you are a part; but lament the distractions and worldliness and outright sins that may arise between people, and guard that you not fall into sloth or gluttony, and not judge nor be vainglorious--and watch always that you not by being used to company become unable to labor in spiritual efforts when alone or become bored or despondent when these distractions are taken away.  So you're alone--rejoice that you're freer from distractions from the true joy found in prayer and spiritual efforts, and be ever watchful lest you fall into delusion, pride, vainglory or judgment, or by becoming used to solitude cannot behave with self-sacrificing patience and generous love and forgiveness toward others, and in general order your schedule to please your will.  It is the same with all things, even those most of us view only as joys or only as sorrows--we must both rejoice and lament, ever understanding both aspects of the issue, both watchful and even fearful over our sinful inclinations, and unworried and joyous in hope in God.  I have had some periods in my life of real inclinations toward both despair and excessive and imprudent happiness.  In the last few months, I have become more and more rooted in joy, as it turns out, but think (and prayerfully hope) it, by the Grace of God and the guidance of the Church, to finally be a more real and meaningful state, and not imprudent, but based in the peace He gives.  Now I'm truly the greatest and first of the wretches on this earth, as He shows me more and more as time goes by; I could always be wrong about this, and could easily fall away from it, if it is real.  But He never deserts us, and thus we should never desert hope.  Whether I am led to lamentation or thanksgiving, I care not, so long as the peace which comes with it from God and makes it not in vain, but rather sanctifies it, "redeeming the time" (Eph 5:16,  Col 4:5), remains.  But now, in my great joy and hope in God, I'll simply leave you with these most inspirational true words; "Glory to God for all things!"


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Reflections on a Funeral

To bury a man is truly something.  This is one of a handful of most important times in someone's life.  Everything becomes very real and clear.  The vanities of this life are truly nothing--whether we had pleasures or pains, they're all over.  This is the moment of truth, what our lives have been moving toward, what we've been preparing for--the moment when the old order passes away, we are shown laid bare our hearts, and we begin to partake in what will be made full for us at His Second Coming, as our heart has inclined and decided.  All this life is vain, yet amid the sadness of seeing one leave there is the hope and promise of resurrection.  Read Ecclesiastes and you will understand how I felt there--he writes in hatred and sadness over the vanity of this life, but not despairingly, but with hope in the life to come and the true mercy of God.


His name was Zviadi.  I didn't really know him--I had met him once, but didn't really remember it.  He died the day before yesterday, and I didn't know the funeral was today until I arrived at Church for Saturday Vigil.  There were more people in the Church grounds than I had ever seen there before (perhaps excluding Nativity), and that certain peaceful stillness that comes with the most important of matters was in the air.  The service in Church was just finishing, and soon they brought him out to be buried.  We Orthodox believe in the Resurrection of this body at the Second Coming (though it will be changed, and become as Christ's Resurrected Body), and thus do not cremate our dead.  But we also know the way of things in fallen creation, and neither do we try to cling to the dead nor deny His power to change our bodies in the Resurrection, as the Egyptians did by sending off the body embalmed and preserved (and even with "gifts" that they would then have in their supposed afterlife).  Rather we try to keep away from embalming and, as the Church always has, bury the body quickly, accepting the reality of its repose.  I have never seen a dead man before my own eyes before, and it was not as I expected.  I expected to be shocked, perhaps disgusted even--and I was rather struck by how natural it was--for unfortunately, it is natural to fallen creation.  We live, but then, inevitably, we die, and all is made suddenly real and, for them, revealed.  To see the reposed's body is an affirmation impossible to ignore, that this is not all there is, and this vain life will not continue in its repetitions forever.  He didn't look at all "like he was sleeping," as I've heard that some people say at funerals--he looked dead (I'm sure he wasn't embalmed, and he had stitches on his head, having died in a car crash); but not at all like a mere shell for the soul, but rather like a person, awaiting a final awakening and healing of all corruption.  He was in a white burial shroud with the proper cross and writings; prayers for his soul, and a respectful sendoff for him.  His family was given a chance to give the final kisses, cries, and shouts out for and to him before they covered his head with the shroud as well, put on the lid, with St. Nino's cross carved out on the top, and then lowered him.  We threw our handfuls of earth on the grave and thus said goodbye for the remainder of our lives here on earth before shoveling the rest on top--and there is something to be said for naturally shoveling out the grave and filling it by the hands and sweat of real people, who are thus respecting and praying for him, giving a little small labor forth in the hope of his salvation.  The cross went into the ground, and that was it--the end of a life on this earth; the beginning of that life where all is revealed before its Creator.


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

Spring is Coming...?

Since it's been a strange and impressive winter this year, I thought I'd give a quick update.  The last four days or so it's been sunny most of the time (it rained and snowed one evening and night, but not too much), and there's a lot of places on the ground without snow now--but there are also a lot with snow.  Basically, places people walk a lot and certain places that get the sun pretty much all day long are without snow; even so, the yards and fields pretty much all still have snow, even though many of them do have sun all day long--and all the roofs still have at least a little snow on them.  Today was warmer than the last couple (unfortunately, less clouds means really cold temperatures at night, however--I remember seeing -7C (19°F) before going to bed a few days ago, which would not have been the coldest it got in the night).  I was even able to go outside for a couple minutes this afternoon without my gloves or coat without freezing (or, I should say, without the bigger of the two coats I wear together--I haven't taken off the smaller one, even inside, for pretty much all the time I've been in Ch'ik'aani since early January).  And today I even had pointed out to me a few tiny flowers which had been hiding under the snow (there would normally have been flowers here for a month or so already--it's been a cold, snowy year).  Hopefully that's a sign of warmer weather to come.  Don't get me wrong, I love snow--but when your house has one small woodstove (and that's not uncommon in the villages), it can really wear on you.  But, of course, difficulties are good for our souls to overcome--so what will be, will be, and glory to God either way!


In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

"Love Wins," A Critique: "Here is the New There"

Well, I certainly agree we must be most caring with children, and careful to give as good an example as possible to them.  They are born pure--where does the corruption come from later on? The corruption in all of us and all creation around them.  I don't think it's a hyperbole Jesus uses at all with the millstone 'round the neck and the casting in the sea (Lk 17:2, Mt 18:6), however--indeed, worse than that, those who put stumbling-blocks in the paths of the pure in heart and do not repent have rather plunged themselves, and drowned themselves, in the murky depths which David so often uses as a metaphor for all lawlessness, and thus will--again, if unrepentant--live forevermore in torments far worse than drowning, by their free choice of this separation from God.


Wow, you must have an earthly view of heaven.  I was beginning to think good of your thoughts, saying we need to get away from the dualistic view of heaven as a completely different location. Indeed, it is true that even now, before the fulfillment of all in Christ's Second Coming, there are heavens and earth, and the Garden of Eden in a somewhat in-between state, both material and incorrupt.  And Heiromonk Seraphim of Platina (whom I personally believe to be a saint, along with many other Orthodox, though he's not officially canonized as of yet; read about him on Orthodoxwiki and Wikipedia) would suggest that they are physically located places, heaven up from the surface of the earth (certainly, one definition of the heavens is the physical cosmos above and surrounding the earth, though that's only the most basic of all the word's meanings), and hell down--yet still, that's missing the mark of importance.  It's all about participation in God, and all location is secondary; participation in God as much as we can in this life is a foretaste of heaven even here on corrupted earth, and rejection of Him is the very separation which, in its fullness, is hell itself.  The same Fr. Seraphim even suggests that according to our lives and the level of our love for Him, not all will immediately be with Him in heaven itself after His next Coming, but some on the newly-incorruptible earth (he cites the beatitudes' distinction between the poor in spirit's "kingdom of heaven" and the meek's "earth" (Mt 5:1-12), also bearing in mind that perfection in Orthodoxy is not static, but a movement ever toward the more perfect in God, Him being inexhaustible, and thus we being able to grow even closer to Him there; also keep in mind that it's been a while since I've read the book in question, The Soul After Death, and I may misrepresent him slightly; if so, please forgive me, as I don't have the book with me), some being in Eden, some heaven, and still some higher, as we see in the Scriptures and patristics mention of at least three tiers of heaven (2 Cor 12:2).  But of course (a) again I should stress that though all will be perfect and completed then, perfection is, in Orthodox terming, not static, but a state of perpetually increasing closeness with God (which would then include place), and (b) we can't think of these places or this hierarchy in any earthly sense because it's completely beyond our base [fallen] human understanding.  But like I said, I was starting to think good of your thoughts--certainly we can't think about physical "harps and clouds and streets of gold, everybody dressed in white robes," for we will have bodies as Christ's human body after the Resurrection--material yet not with our dead coarseness, under our control to appear and disappear or pass through locked doors at will, not needing food or drink yet able to partake of it, able to change to be unrecognizable to human eyes, having mastery over creation even as Adam and Eve did not yet have before the fall--that is, being the plant of which this body here on earth is only a seed, as St. Paul alludes to (1 Cor 15:35-56), by partaking in the nature of the Resurrected Kernel of Wheat Who is Christ (Jn 12:23-26)--and what resemblance do plant and seed have?  If having only seen seeds, who could comprehend what a plant would be?  For then you ruin your image by saying this:  "Does anybody look good in a white robe?  Can you play sports in a white robe?  How could it be heaven without sports?  What about swimming?  What if you spill food on the robe?"  Really?  That's your idea of heaven?  I realize there's likely some hyperbole in your response, but you can't attack worldly thinking with worldly thinking and think to win in anything.  Of course they're not physical white robes--they're robes in a mandorla, spiritually white, pure as God can make them, "whiter than snow" (Ps 51:7 (LXX); Is 1:18).  And I realize you're saying they're not physical white robes, but not with any form or even pretense of theology, but using only human logic as pertains to practicality in this human, fallen state, which Christ clearly teaches will be totally different after His Coming (for one example amongst many, when talking to the Sadducees about marriage (Lk 20:27-39)).  And you really think that instead of pure contemplation of God and worship of Him, singing with joyful exultation "Holy, Holy, Holy" with the Cherubim and Seraphim, we will prefer vain sports which many here on Earth have already stopped watching as a vain, fickle, human competition with no ultimate end, goal, or purpose, between two imperfect and variable opponents [not that I'm saying there's anything inherently wrong with playing or watching sports; don't get me wrong]?  Or that One able to appear at will or walk on the stormy waters (Mt 14:22-33, Mk 6:45-52, Jn 6:16-21) and rebuke them to peace (Lk 8:22-25) wouldn't be able to swim in a robe; that we that will be vouchsafed this same mastery over the material elements and are rather than such material pleasures as these given the all-surpassing pleasures of pure joy in God could be unable to do such a thing or inconvenienced thereby?  [Indeed, wasn't Peter vouchsafed this same gift, so long as His eyes were on His Lord (Mt 14:22-33)?]  Or that we who will be able to change appearances as Christ did when walking with His disciples (Lk 24:13-27) won't be able to prevent a stain?  If you believe that Christ was made flesh and Resurrected it, that He will come to abide in us, and we in Him, as Christ Himself states (Jn 15:1-10; Jn 6:56; Jn 8:31; see Nm 31:22-24 for an interesting type thereof (fire being God and waters of separation sin and the results thereof that can lead us back to Him), as St. John affirms (1 Jn chapters 2-5, 2 Jn), and all the saints fully confirm and expand upon, and that there is something after this physical life, that He will come again and make all things new and perfect--if this is so, then it is obvious that the body we will have is, as the saints say, the same which Christ showed forth after His Glorious Resurrection.  Only one gravely misled, ignorant, or naïve could ask the questions you do here, at least, with any seriousness, if indeed he has read and believed in the Gospels and all the New Testament, even if without the good guidance of the True Church.  But indeed that is why this guidance is so important; it is easy to be misled by the plethora of churches and ideas swarming about, or simply by our own thoughts and perceptions; indeed, we with so little knowledge of the spiritual world can perhaps all too easily make things this-worldly in our thoughts without such guard-rails as the writings of the saints, as especially for beginners in the spiritual life, that's all we know.


As to being separated from loved ones who may go to hell, should we be vouchsafed a place in heaven, it is a good point.  It's not that we won't care, and it won't matter to us that they're in hell; perfect love for others makes that impossible (indeed we see from the saints' lives, both here on earth and after their repose, that they constantly pray not only for others, whether asleep or still in the flesh, but often very fervently for those in the foretaste of hell).  [As an aside, I offer this, from The Soul After Death, by the aforementioned Fr. Seraphim of Platina.  It concerns both prayer for those in hell, and importance of commemorating the dead specifically in the Eucharistic Liturgy of the Church.
     How important commemoration at the Liturgy is may be seen in the following occurrence: 

     Before the uncovering of the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (1896), the priest-monk 

     (the renowned Starets [Spiritual Elder] Alexis of Goloseyevsky Hermitage, of the Kiev-Caves 
     Lavra, who died in 1916) who was conducting the re-vesting of the relics, becoming weary 
     while sitting by the relics, dozed off and saw before him the Saint, who told him: "I thank you 
     for laboring for me. I beg you also, when you will serve the Liturgy, to commemorate my 
     parents"--and he gave their names (Priest Nikita and Maria) [which were formerly unknown, 
     and later confirmed by finding of the private commemoration book the saint used when still 
     living on this Earth]. "How can you, O Saint, ask my prayers, when you yourself stand at the 
     heavenly Throne and grant to people God's mercy?" the priest-monk asked. "Yes, that is 
     true," replied St. Theodosius, "but the offering at the Liturgy is more powerful than my prayer."  
     Therefore, we see panikhidas and prayer a home for the dead are beneficial for them, as are 
     good deeds done in their memory, such as alms or contributions to the church. But especially 
     beneficial for them is commemoration at the Divine Liturgy. There have been many 
     appearances of the dead and other occurrences which confirm how beneficial is the 
     commemoration of the dead. Many who died in repentance, but who were unable to manifest 
     this while they were alive, have been freed from tortures and have obtained repose. In the 
     Church, prayers are ever offered for the repose of the dead, and on the day of the Descent of 
     the Holy Spirit [i.e., Pentecost], in the kneeling prayers at vespers, there is even a special 
     petition "for those in hell."

     St. Gregory the Great, in answering in his Dialogues the question, "Is there anything at all that 

     can possibly benefit souls after death?" teaches: "The Holy Sacrifice of Christ, our saving 

     Victim, brings great benefits to souls even after death, provided their sins (are such as) can 

     be pardoned in the life to come. For this reason the souls of the dead sometimes beg to have 

     Liturgies offered for them[...]The safer course, naturally, is to do for ourselves during life what 

     we hope others will do for us after death. It is better to make one's exit a free man than to 

     seek liberty after one is in chains. We should, therefore, despise this world with all our hearts 

     as though its glory were already spent, and offer our sacrifice of tears to God each day as we 

     immolate His sacred Flesh and Blood. This Sacrifice alone has the power of saving the soul 

     from eternal death, for it presents to us mystically the death of the Only-begotten Son" 

     (Dialogues IV: 57, 60, pp. 266, 272-3).

     St. Gregory gives several examples of the dead appearing to the living and asking for or 

     thanking them for the celebration of the Liturgy for their repose; once, also, a captive whom 

     his wife believed dead and for whom she had the Liturgy celebrated on certain days, returned 

     from captivity and told her how he had been released from his chains on some days--the 

     very days when the Liturgy had been offered for him. (Dialogues IV: 57, 59, pp. 267, 270).

     Protestant theologians find the Church's prayer for the dead to be somehow incompatible 

     with the necessity of finding salvation first of all in this life: "If you can be saved by the Church 

     after death, then why bother to struggle or find faith in this Life? Let us eat, drink, and be 

     merry..." Of course, no one holding such a philosophy has ever attained salvation by the 

     Church's prayers, and it is evident that such an argument is quite artificial and even 

     hypocritical. The Church's prayer cannot save anyone who does not wish salvation, or who 

     never offered any struggle for it himself during his lifetime. In a sense, one might say that the 

     prayer of the Church or of individual Christians for a dead person is but another result of that 

     person's life: he would not be prayed for unless he had done something during his lifetime to 

     inspire such prayer after his death.

     St. Mark of Ephesus also discusses this question of the Church's prayer for the dead and the 

     improvement it brings in their state, citing the example of the prayer of St. Gregory the 

     Dialogist for the Roman Emperor Trajan--a prayer inspired by a good deed of this pagan 

     Emperor.
I also remember, though I can't find it, reading about a saint who had a vision revealing the state of a loved one, after this person's repose:  that of torment.  The saint prayed fervently, locked alone in her cell (a monk or nun's private room or living space, from the Monastery of "Kellia" in desert Egypt), for 90 days, and was vouchsafed a vision showing their improved condition, but that they were still not in heaven.  Long story short, she ended up spending three 90-day periods doing this, until being shown the person's condition in the foretaste of eternal joy.  (I could have gotten a couple details wrong; forgive me, if so).]  So we see that real love means, of course, caring very dearly about the state of others (indeed, we should care about it more than our own state).  But nonetheless, they who are in torments chose that, and cannot come to heaven if they're unrepentant--i.e., if they can't turn to God.  For to go to heaven, one must want to--which is to love God and want Him.  If a king threw a banquet (see Lk 14:16-24 for my inspiration here) and invited all, but some hated his good will and to be at his table (though he gave only gifts and love thereat) and wanted, because of this, to stay alone and bitter at their own homes, or, wallowing in their own empty lives, were too lazy to get up out of their boredom and mundane activities and prepare with proper cleansing and clothing and go to the house of the king, well what is the king supposed to do?  Bind and drag and force-feed them?  Just as that is not love cannot God lovingly do this for those choosing to torment themselves in hell.  For God, in His surpassing power, could--but love cannot be forced, or rather such a love is not real love, and as God perfectly loves all, He will not bind and drag them to Him to partake of gifts they have despised as from one they have despised and wish never to look upon.  [Indeed in a more striking example, see Mt 22:1-14, in which Christ explains that to ignore the feast is further to hate the king and his messengers, and such, by their hate-filled actions (with lack of any reason therefore), throw themselves to the obvious condemnation.  When we kill on this earth we go to jail or are killed.  But when we attack goodness, Christ God Himself, in our hearts, we think nothing will come.  Indeed, He does not return the blow, just as He prayed for those who crucified Him.  But our conscience and nature condemns us before Him, and casts us away from His presence, unable, in trembling, to behold Him, in our shame.  And if we dare try to come without such an inward cleansing and true desire for Him, it is all the same, and our shame and lack of preparation betrays us, for though He provided the garment of purity, this wedding garment, the garment of communion with God, we refused to put it on, having shoved communion with Him out of the way to make room for ourselves.  Well, we can try to ignore God here, but there His Omnipresence will be made manifest to all, and our will isn't going to magically reverse itself.  So we must strive toward this love of Him above self here and now.]  But as God is Joy will we (should we be proven among those saved, in love of Him), abiding in Him, have True, Unsurpassable, and Ineffable Joy at all times.  How will it not be mixed with sadness for those who choose death over Life?  Truly, I am no theologian, that I am given to know this--the Mysteries to come are simply so far above my comprehension that I fear to even try to come up with an appropriate answer.  The saints have expounded some on this point, but not in too great depth, to my limited knowledge, as it is a mystery, something only partially revealed as of now, as it lies in how we truly will be in the next order of things, which we can't fully know.  I have not found an explanation perfectly clear to my poor understanding (realize that I have not looked for one specifically, however), but am not worried too much about it, simply trusting that He Who promised a land of reprieve and joy will not go back on His word, though it be in a way beyond us.  We will be abiding in Joy Himself (should we be found to be true lovers of Him); this is the one thing I can with certainty say.  How could there be sadness when abiding fully in Joy and with Him fully abiding in you?  As this, i.e., true joy, is impossible to separate from love and compassion, it is difficult to grasp, yes, but that's normal of a Mystery of God.  If the saints, the Church, and God Himself say it will be perfect Joy, I need not ask how--I'll simply trust their word, as His word can never prove false.  Feeling a need to know more than this or trying to figure it out by oneself  is hubris.


Yes, you are right in pointing out that it's less a place we are looking for, but, as Christ says, "eternal life" which we "enter."  But what is life?  Well, that's a bad question.  Rather, Who IS Life?  Who is it that simply IS Who He IS, existing, or rather above existence, as Life?  Obviously, none but God alone.  Life is not a place, but above all location and even all being, material and non-material; rather His calling to us is participation directly in His Very Self--what a Mystery! what a Miracle this is!  Any why would He tell the man who asked how to attain this to go and give to the poor, and leave our the commandments of right worship of the True God, as you note?  Not because the former is more important, but because the latter is not a problem for this man.  Christ deals with us, with people, and thus, being Omniscient, gives us what we need in particular as individual sinners.  In this man's case this particular advice would likely stem from attachment to material things (worshiping creation over Creator, whether it be his own comfort he worships or the material things themselves) and/or lack of compassion on the poor--and if the latter, I would simply say, how can we love God Who we do not see when we do not love our neighbor whom we do see (1Jn 4:20-21)?  We must cut off all our own will, putting ourselves lower than all.  To do this perfectly would naturally mean we lose the ability, or at least the interest, to buy fancy things for ourselves or hold onto money, as we would give ALL away to others, as their deriving some benefit therefrom would be more important to us than our derivation of any benefit therefrom, whether greater or lesser.  Christ says very straightforwardly that if we want to perfect our love in God, trying to perfect our love for man is an integral component.  But not the only one (for even if that love did become "perfect" without God (I use quotation marks here because love, being in its greatest fulfillment God Himself, cannot be perfected apart from active searching for Him), we can't worship the creature instead of the Creator)--why did He leave out a command about the True God?  Simply, because this was a Jew who was coming to the perfect Teacher, among the faithful, asking in sincerity how to make better his faith and love.  It's obvious he was of the True Faith (though not yet fulfilled and completed in Christ's Cross and Resurrection and in the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost), and by his asking, not only so in seeming, but in his heart, it truly seems, quite unlike most of the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees we meet in Scripture.


Good point also about ages.  "This age," then, in which Christ spoke, was the age of the Jews--next, what?  The age of the Church, of course--when "all nations [or "all Gentiles"] will flow" to Him in His new Sion (Is 2:2).  But though this is beyond our understanding, as it partakes mystically of the age to come, all having been completed in reality, but not yet made manifest to all, what comes next is something far beyond anything of these ages we have now, being as they are each with an end, as it will be pure abode in Him Who IS, above existence, and Who created all existence--and thus without time, which He created for this world which He knew would fall and thus need an end, that it be renewed once for all.  This is the Eschaton, the Second Coming and the End of all temporal and finite things in deference to the Eternal One and that which He grants participation truly in His Very Self.  To say it's only limited to a happy, no-problem life on earth (not that I'm saying you're doing that, necessarily, but many certainly think this way, though most don't admit it to themselves and use the words) or something at all comparable to this life or understandable in terms of it is to be just as the Sadducees who questioned Christ (Lk 20:27-39).  No, but rather when the the prophets use imagery of earthly things, it is one of two things:  (1) reference to this present era, of the highest fullness of the Faith that can be before the Eschaton, the era of the Church, which, though not of this world, is yet carried out in this world, and (2) IMAGERY for the Eschaton, using images humans living in a corrupt world will understand by metaphor.  The Jews in Christ's time saw no Christ in Him because they were looking for an earthly one.  Now just as they tried to reject Eternal Joy, Redemption, and Salvation for passing, unsatisfying earthly ones (and were so upset when granted the former instead that they rather beat and crucified this Incarnate Joy), I fear you're trying to seek the same passing and earthly kingdom.  Inordinate love of this earth caused them to hate its very Creator without any reason; earthly reasoning in our times will of necessity have none but the same result.


And you continue to worry me more.  Of course the prophets use earthy imagery.  Who were the prophets talking to?  People already above the material--i.e., angels?  Or real, corrupt, flesh-and-blood people living and working with their hands on this very corrupt earth in order to somehow survive this fallen order, in their sins?  The reasons for specifically agricultural and nature-related images would be (a) because much of the audience would have been people working off the land and in the fields, in those times, and it would be something that would be very close to the daily lives of most, and certainly understood by all, and (b) because the natural order of things is, indeed, a clearer image of the Kingdom to come than the artificial creations we come up with and surround ourselves with in society (especially in modern times).  And what poor use you make of such a great image, the Garden of Paradise!  When do we see wine in this earth?  Not there, but after such corruption as when God had to wash some of the worse filth off of it by deluge--after corpses strewed the earth and the strength of men was failing (look at how long pre-Noah patriarchs lived and post-Noah ones) did man mike wine (Gen 9:20-21) to gladden his sorrowful heart (Ps 103:15 (LXX)).  [This is also when we are given the concession of eating animal flesh instead of only plant life (Gen 9:2-3), as was intended--though neither were intended to be necessary for our continued survival, as true man "shall not live by bread alone" (Dt 8:3, Mt 4:4, Lk 4:4).  Originally it was both our body and soul that lived in this way, but needed only the Bread Who fell from Heaven (Jn 6:32-40), but now, between the Fall and the perfection coming in the Eschaton, our bodies are thus weighed down.]  Certainly we don't see Adam and Eve chopping down trees in the Garden to build a house--what absurdity!  What need is there, when living in perfect Grace of God, to seek protection against the very elements you're given the natural mastery over?  [And further, there would thus be no need to disturb the natural and good order of thing by destroying the trees.  Even if they had wanted to do so, though, they wouldn't have needed tools, but simply to think and ask it, and it would be carried out, as these trees in truth were their servants.]  The divine text doesn't even note sleep there, other than that placed upon Adam as He took Eve from his side, for it was unnecessary and thus a complete waste of the time God gave them.  How could the goal then--I assume you wouldn't be so bold and foolish as to say there was no further point or goal for them--be to put a stop to all the fallen and evil things of the world--in your words, "War. Rape. Greed. Injustice. Violence. Pride. Division. Exploitation. Disgrace."--when there was as yet none of that, but perfection in all things?  What, God created us perfectly just to watch us fall and struggle forever to attain sinlessness, that very thing we were created with?  What sense does that make?  Is there sanity in that?  Is there any real purpose?  Is that love?  If that was His purpose, why not just create us without will, and force us to maintain our sinlessness?  No--He created us perfect; to go somewhere, yes--but to Him; to closer perfection and depths in Him!  When we achieve sinlessness on earth (if you believe Christ was truly man, and truly sinless in His humanity as well as His Nature as God, you must believe this is possible for man on this fallen earth, through His power), this is not the end goal, but merely the starting point--where Adam and Eve started out--when we are finally not scattering ourselves in many different directions, but having gathered ourselves into a whole can steer them toward a single purpose, indeed toward the same goal they had--true perfection in union with God.  What worldly nonsense the striving Christian must face and repulse to find true Christianity, born into our deluded Western world!  We can't believe the very word of our Incarnate God and Creator as it is, so we invent a thousand exegeses and fantasies to support what we want it to say, unable to humble ourselves to say that yes, the saints actually can know better than I can what the text means, and by this unwillingness to accept the Spirit through them force themselves along the arduous and soul-destroying journey of relying on fallen and corrupt human reasoning, which can only end in self-servingly proving as the "obvious" rendering and exegesis only what we want the text to say, to the extent and in the terms we want it to say it.  This is not Christianity.  This is not submission to the God Who knows and loves us and is trying to teach us infants what food is good and what is poison--for that sweet to the tongue is not always healthy, and the healthy not always sweet.  This is why the Church is necessary, that we may be vouchsafed the guidance of the Spirit, through her, when in doubt--for following our own reason alone, fallen as it is, we will never find the fullness of the Truth.

Though it seems supurfluous amidst such worldly aspirations of “heaven” as you have depicted here (as at least it is certainly so in my reading of it), I should note on this subject of anger that while there is righteous human anger, as Christ showed in overturning the tables in the temple, God cannot have passionate anger that comes and goes as it is with humans, being invariable as He IS. But this allusion to God’s “anger,” found especially often in the prophets, for the benefit of our understanding as humans (i.e., putting things impossible for us to understand in terms we can kind of understand), all the more also reveals His love. You don’t get angry at people you don’t love when they do stupid things that end up harming themselves--but you do with those you love. So even an allusion based on this, perhaps the most misused of our natural emotions, can give insight into God’s love, when understood correctly.

I really disagree with certain aspects of your interpretation of the incident with the rich young man (Mt 19:16-30, Mk 10:17-31, Lk 18:18-30)--though your interpretation has a lot of common since to it, it yet lacks their divine guidance in the Church, through the Spirit. First off, Jesus, as God and Physician of all, is always “aware that something is wrong” with each of us, and, as Omniscient God, is not "surprised" or "caught off guard" in general, except in His humanity--yet you’re placing a lot on how He would gain information in a human manner, while trying to still claim He is God--which is it? Is He or isn’t He? [Of course, He is both God and Man, and I am no theologian, to understand perfectly how they interact, but He did retain His Godhood fully while in the Flesh.]  Second of all, you assume he's wrong about keeping the commandments because you assume it's impossible to do so--which would mean (a) God is cruel, giving a law we cannot keep and punishments according to it, (b) God is a liar when He says we can keep the commandments and counsels us to live thus by them, and (c) He never really became man, not fully, or else He couldn't have kept them Himself.  Rather, we are not given to know if this man had attained that lofty goal along the path to God of sinlessness, or if he was ignorant to his sins--and this points out another flaw in your logic:  it's evident you are again equating perfection with sinlessness, but they're not the same.  God can say "if you would be perfect" to one sinless, for there's no end to greater perfection in God.  Third, having money is not an automatic sin nor even having great wealth.  It is a gift from God to be used wisely--and yes, the perfection of this is to give it freely, but as St. Niphon said,
     King Saul lived in the midst of royal luxury and he perished.  King David lived in the same 
     kind of luxury and he received a wreath. [...] Abraham had a wife and children, three-hundred-
     eighteen servants and handmaidens, much gold and silver, but, nevertheless, he was called 
     the Friend of God.  Oh, how many servants of the Church and lovers of the desert have been 
     saved!  How many aristocrats and soldiers!  How many [artisans] and field-workers! (Saint 
     Nikolai of Ohrid and Žiča, the Prologue, "January 31.")
Now this is coming from an abbot, one who has died to the world and rejected its pleasures, and thus one with no possessions truly of his own.  What do you think; were Moses and Paul wrong to praise Abraham?  What about David, or about Joseph or Job?  They all had great riches, and they did not give all away.  Are they then sinning in this?  If so, why did God restore to Job--indeed more than before--wealth which he had not before given away, and which He knew he wouldn't this time.  But if this is a sin, why not be like St. Serapion, who owned only a loincloth and could not live in any shelter whatsoever out of his non-acquisitiveness, and who sold himself into slavery to convert, by example, his owners from error?  Or like St. Vitalios, who spent his only hard-gotten earnings by paying for a prostitute for a night and spending that night praying for her, in her open view and hearing in her room, thus converting many of them from this wretched situation?  Or like St. Alypios the Stylite:
     The virtue of almsgiving so flourished in the soul of the great Alypios that, when he gave alms 
     to someone, he felt greater joy than the one who received them.  On one occasion, a poor 
     man asked him for clothing.  Without even the least hesitation, Alypios took off the tunic that 
     he was wearing and dropped it from his column.  The poor man took it and went away, 
     thanking God for this act of providence.  Alypios endured being frozen from the cold, until one 
     of his disciples, who lived in sheltered accommodation (a cell), seeing the state of the Elder 
     was in, gave him another garment with which to cover himself.  (The Evergetinos, Book III, p. 
     376-377.)?
Or John the Merciful, a patriarch who continually gave all the Church's money away to the poor, and would not even deny one who came multiple times in a day, in his love and trust in God?  He always found that the Church's funds were replenished, for God indeed sets he who was faithful over ten talents over even yet more (see Mt 25:14-30).  Paulinus, bishop of Nola, likewise gave away all, and yet even with nothing had compassion on a widow and sold himself as a slave to ransom her captive son.  If it is a sin to have wealth, these alone are saved--yet St. Nicholas of Myra is one of the most beloved saints in all Christendom, and yet while he is beloved for his mercy and charity to the poor and desparate, he gave not all away, but rather used wisely the money entrusted to him and gave alms to those in need and in his care.  This we can all do, and we must do, as tenants (not owners) of our wealth.  Most of us indeed do very little; but God can work even merely with a little.  He is God after all.  But let none think that in this I mean that we ought not try to give away all, should it not mean forsaking love for one close to us and dependent on us--Christ is clear that that is the perfection of proper use of our money, if we can truly trust in His promise to provide and take no care for the morrow (Mt 6:25-34).  Next, I must completely disagree with you saying "Jesus doesn't tell other people [to give such alms] because [greed] isn't an issue for them."  Really?  You think that you or I don't have greed?  Most all of us have some.  Until we are naked, wandering without home, food, or any possession, truly trusting only in God for everything [or embody this complete and unwavering lack of trust in what we have or the thought that we will still have it in five minutes, rather trusting wholly, unwavering, unflinchingly, in God alone for all things, through other means], it can be improved upon.  Even then, if the seed of greed in us goes unchecked, we can become greedy of something we happen upon, of silence, of our own thoughts, of time, of the warmth of the sun, or anything!  We're that wretched.  It is a passion in all of us that needs to be checked and controlled.  That's why He tells us to leave all, take up our crosses (as a symbol of complete surrender of all possessions, yes, but moreso even of personal will, as we see in Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:39,42-43), and by His subsequent voluntary death), and only thus, leaving all behind, follow Him.  Lastly, you assume this man does not carry out the advice of God.  On this, I would simply say that I don't know what he does, and don't feel a need to assume, based on what is written--all we know is that at this particular moment, he is saddened, in love of his wealth.  But I would ask, why?  After a pious life he will throw all away for this?  He came in faith and left, not thinking Christ a fool--for if so, he would have ignored Him and gone on his way, but he went sadly, meaning he took Christ's words to heart and found them difficult.  It is difficult for me to believe that he will let himself forget this command or just explain it away; he loved his wealth, but after pious living in other things, and this command which pierced his heart as only God can do, I think that in reflection he must have given it and become a pauper for Christ.


Heaven and Earth, on a different note, are not "the same place."  God will make a new heaven and a new Earth, and they will be together in unity of Will, but not the same.  We should note two usages of "heaven"--one is the physical space--the floodgates of the heavens and of the earth opened at the deluge of Noah (Gen 7:11).  This is simply the sky, space, and all things celestial. The other sense is the spiritual sense, that of spiritual height, used to illustrate closeness with God--sometimes illustratively, as God is fully Omnipresent, and sometimes literally, as, for example, Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, having "come down from Heaven" to be Incarnate, and "ascended" in the flesh (which can only be in one place at a time, though in His Godhood He is everywhere) "into Heaven" again (Constantinoplan-Nicean Creed).  But after His Coming, both Earth and Heaven will be fully purified and sinless, all its inhabitants perfectly growing infinitely closer to Him Who is Infinity Itself (or rather, I should say, beyond it).


They're spiritual crowns the martyrs and saints wear in Heaven, not physical ones.  What, you think they preferred torture over passing wealth to be given that which they derided in life?


Now you're right about taking sufferings in the world seriously--we should thirst for them as the fire that consumes our impurities and presents us as pure gold before Him.  We must cast off our wants, our ties to the corruptible of earth, and most of all, our wills themselves, to make room for His Perfect Will to abide in us.  And yes, we must not abandon those suffering (indeed this is a huge point in the prophets, that the people oppressed the widows and orphans), but we must be merciless and pitiless toward ourselves in order to make room for this mercy and pity for others.  [We certainly can't strive for personal physical comfort or complain in adversity--see rather how the righteous Job reacts to sufferings!]  Without self-abasement, which you neglect to mention, we cannot truly lovingly do the good works of mercy toward others which you suggest.  Also, your note that we cannot "create a utopia given enough time" is very important [indeed, Christ promises we will always have the poor available for us to show compassion upon (Mt 26:11, Mk 14:7, Jn 12:8)], as this hubris of man which so pervades the modern Western world cuts us off from the realization that we need God's aid and Power in all things and must continually beseech Him for it.  Indeed, it's also, retrospectively, what gave rise to evolutionism, that faith (for it's far from science, if we but look at the supports for it) which lessens God's creative power (if God is indeed thrown into the mix) and takes away all worry to change our own personal sinfulness in preference for a delusion of human self-perfection naturally over time.  Why go to God if we're already getting "better," proceeding naturally toward some sort of "perfect" super-human being?  But we are instead in corruption and decay, and even science supports this, if one would simply look at what is happening to the Earth or to our genome.  It takes true blindness to our sinfulness and weakness to believe such a thing.


Now you're right, however, that though we can't make any level of utopia here, we must bring as much of Heaven to earth as we can, doing His will on earth as it is in Heaven--for if we don't live out His will here, it's because we don't really want His Will--and we cut ourselves off from Heaven.  And if we love His Will eternally, we will naturally enact it here--our lives are one, here and then there, yes, but continuous; though they are transformed at death and again at His Second Coming, He changes us as we choose to be changed, and our works here are the proofs of our faith and our will here, which will be brought to fulfillment in the Eschaton--whether that will and faith is for Him, or for the void which is nothingness, hell.  If we free ourselves from reliance on passing, earthly things now through fasting and self-denial, the transition to the angelic state in which our bodies will no longer force us back down to earth will be a freeing experience--if we rather grow more reliant on these earthly things, it will be a renting from the body in which we hunger still for those things we have grown to love on earth, yet without chance of satiation--and thus (one aspect of) the foretastes of heaven or hell we have after death, as we await our bodies' resurrection in the Eschaton.


Why do you quote an incident of pride, for a place at Christ's right and left hands (Mt 20:20-28, Mk 10:35-45), as a model for how we should think?  Is not Christ's rebuke for this seeking of greater glory than we deserve enough for you to understand that we don't want these thoughts, but always to ask in perfect humility for the lowest entrance into His Kingdom, knowing our great sinfulness against God and how we try to bar our entrance?


No, heaven won't just be a continuation of the things we love to do here--you claim to believe it's not a static repetition of earthly life, but then fill it with earthly actions as to what we do the whole time.  Come now, pick one!  All will be new and different in perfect union with God--can you not see that it is impossible now to comprehend what will be then?  Why do you then indulge your will in trying to figure out, in vain curiosity, something about which we, living in a state and world fallen to corruption, have nothing to draw from?  It's perfection--is that not enough?  Trust the promises of God, and don't tempt Him by pretending that you, with created--and fallen--mind can comprehend the thoughts of the Uncreated and Creator of all, beyond being itself!  No; because you could not be content with this, you drew on fallen creation and thus necessarily came to the conclusion that heaven is always having what we now have in passing when sated with earthly comforts, and in believing that it is nothing more than "the endless joy that comes from participating in the ongoing creation of the world," preferring the participation in the world to the participation in God Himself (Who clearly says of Himself and His apostles that they are not of the world--or did you miss that section of the Gospels?) and, as the pagan idol-worshipers have chosen to worship creation rather than its Creator.  Will we be in harmony with all creation?  Yes.  Is that the point?  No, not in itself.  It's abiding in God Himself--what a Mystery of Love!  God Himself makes Himself accessible to us not only by things He creates, but in His Very Self, His Very Nature as God, the Energies proceeding naturally forth from Him, as Him!  Ah, what vain curiosity can lead us to--but that we could be content with the promise of God over our vain mind's doubtful questioning, "How? Why? When?" and all the rest, incessantly and for no reason other than our vain curiosities!  That is real Faith, to put aside these questions which don't yet concern us and which He deigns not to yet reveal to us--but we fallen humans have little or none of it.  [For further reading on the point of us abiding not in created things when we have perfection in Christ, but in God Himself, see St. Gregory Palamas' The Triads.]


The flames of heaven are important to talk about.  God is Fire; to the pure deifying and quickening, to the impure burning and consuming.  So yes, we must prepare and purify ourselves to meet Him.  We will be stripped of any separating veil--and those hating Him will burn, being surrounded constantly by Him; but those always starving and thirsting for Him will be filled beyond all expectation.  We show our want and intent here, and He perfects its fullness there by His power to soften or harden our hearts, according to our wish, as we see in a small type explained in the Old Testament language of God both softening and hardening hearts--for according to our wants and wills, he does not force us to change, but respects our free will to love or reject Him, in His perfect love for us.


Yes, surprise will come in our Judgment.  The saints know they're sinners and the sinners often think themselves saints.  The latter will have their deceptions stripped--the former, going to Him in hope of His mercy, while knowing their complete unworthiness, will be granted personally that which is "strange to angels and to the minds of men"--His perfect mercy.


On the timing aspect, we must note that there's a foretaste of the End, which comes with being with Christ (or not) at death.  This is "today."  Further, there's the level to which we can participate in theosis, the deification which is union with God, here in this life.  Also "today."  Then there's it's fulfillment, perfectly--at the End, the Eschaton.  That's not yet come, and is quite different, being fully completed and shown forth to all without possibility of denial or misunderstanding,  and only God knows the day and hour.


You're right--we die in this body, are separated from it, and go to God--but as yet incomplete.  Then the End, at which our bodies are raised incorruptible (see 1 Cor 15), as was the Body of Christ after His Resurrection, the plant for which this body is a mere seed, that, in our corrupt condition, must first go into the earth and die--as Christ prophesied about His Own Body, that It may germinate and spread to all of us (Jn 12:23-26).


You're right in saying Eternity will transcend time--but not only in the perfect intensity of Heaven in which we will care nothing about time; even more so because time is a limited creation God made and ordained for the right order of this present world, superfluous--or rather, incompatible--with Eternity and transcendent Perfection.  When Jesus speaks of Heaven, this intense transcendence of time is not, as you claim "our present eternal, intense, real experiences," but so far surpassing this mere type, by nature in a condition without time, that we cannot begin to truly comprehend it yet.


And now you're describing Heaven in terms of string theory dimensions.  Wow, really?  You're that quick to condescend to the mind that cannot think in spiritual terms?  How...worldly.  And more than that, using inventions of man as explanations of the Realm of God.  I thought you said we couldn't build a utopia ourselves--if you believe that, why do you think we can figure out GOD'S Kingdom with mere fallen, earthly science?  How dare you describe the kingdom of heaven in terms of man's vain theorizing and philosophizing?  How dare you condescend it to that?  Forgive me, but we cannot think in such terms.  We need to look to His revelations to us, and conform all and understand all of this world and life to that, not to reach up with understandings of this world and try to "figure out" Heaven from them, which is obviously what you've been doing the whole chapter, even in your exegesis of Scripture.  God forgive us (for I am certainly not exempt from it) for using our vain minds so unnaturally, to distort Thy revelations to us!


Summarization:  while you say you don't believe in a mere continuation of this Earth as Heaven, you surely use only earthly, worldly images to paint us such a dissatisfying "heaven" that it's remarkable you cannot see it the mere "perfection" of worldly comforts which you have fantasized about here as such.  Heaven, in reality, is so far beyond this and so opposed to the world, as Christ explained in His statements about the world's hatred of Him and His people (not only by murdering and slandering and all the like, but in every turning to earthliness and mammon instead of Him), that we cannot talk about it except apaphatically, as what is isn't like, or we will fall into error, wrongly trying to figure out and state what it really is in essence, a complete impossibility for us fallen ones.


I am left spent and dissatisfied after writing this--it will be tiring to finish the book, but as I was asked to and began to do so, I should now finish.  Don't expect it all at once, though.


Until next time, with love in Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter

"Love Wins," A Critique: "What About the Flat Tire"

As to the question of who is saved and who is not, you are right in saying we have no confirmation of who is in heaven and who in hell, for the most part.  There are the select few saints that so outshined most of us in life that the Church formally declares them such, but these are certainly not all the saints of heaven.  And as for those in the foretaste of torments, there is still time, until Christ's Second Coming, for repentance--little chance though there might be for some of those there.  But "Does God punish people for thousands of years with infinite, eternal torment for things they did in their few finite years of life?"  Well, the question in itself shows a legalistic view of things.  If justice is that every bad thing has an equal and opposite good, then punishing infinitely for a finite evil is impermissible.  But this is not so--darkness is not the opposite of light, but the absent void thereof; cold is the absent void of warmth--and so is sin the absent void we necessarily turn to when we turn from God [for there is nothing else than God Himself, and His creation, and if we turn from this natural order and worship something nonexistent, or even some part of creation as if it was God, it at least does not exist as God, and thus we have turned to something not real, not existent--void itself].  But also, if thinking in a legalistic way, any finite good (small though it be in comparison with our sins) cannot be rewarded infinitely.  Rather, we must realize this life is merely a testing-ground.  God gives us Goodness, indeed His Very Self, but also allows us to turn away if we wish--and this life becomes a testing ground as we go back and forth until we choose to make our lives truly founded in One or the other (that is, Good, or Its absence) and we advance in whichever it is that we chose.  God does not wish to torment any of us, and He never does--we do it to ourselves.  We have heard the Truth, if not in words then in our hearts alone (Rom 2:12-16; Jer 31:34), and when we choose to turn from Good, we choose to turn from God.  But God does not leave His good children, thirsting for Truth, in darkness, but had promised a time when all will be revealed and "every knee will bow" (Rom 14:11, Php 2:10, Is 45:23).


As such, those who deluded themselves into thinking they loved goodness will see their deception and their hatred of the God fully revealed and extended to them--and this Love will be a burning flame tormenting them for eternity because God gave them their choice to love evil rather then Him, in His Love.  And to those who love Him, this Love will be a flame of Warmth and Grace for all eternity.  So the "why this person and not that one" question has nothing to do with our actions or intellectual beliefs of themselves (though these are proofs of love or the lack thereof, generally speaking), but is answered in whether we love the God Who is Love or not.  But we can't think that because we like warm fuzzy feelings it means we love--nor even are a few good deeds proof of salvation, in our great ability to turn to ourselves first and become prideful or vainglorious over the vast minority of good things we do for others.  Just as such, just because we say Christ is Lord in mind is not enough--some that said "Lord, Lord" to Him still yet did not know Him (see Mt 7:21; Mt 25:11).  It is true, it is much more than either of these, found in distrusting one's own will and despising every passing comfort as something which makes us draw closer to love of self and worldliness instead of the surpassing God above all Creation [while loving all the gifts He gives us, when enjoyed in the proper way and with thankfulness].  (To make things painfully clear, though Orthodox Christians believe that the Orthodox Church is the one true Church, they are very clear on saying that not all Orthodox Christians are saved, and not all saved are Orthodox--we even have a couple saints that were not part of the canonical Orthodox Church, few though they are that we have canonized formally (one example that comes to mind is St. Isaac the Syrian--he was a bishop in the Persian church, which was not necessarily technically split from the Chalcedonian Church (or at least, not at the time that he was bishop; my history on this is not perfectly well-informed, I'll freely admit), but often was somewhat Nestorian in its theological tendencies).)


As for the age of accountability question, this is a good point.  As I stated, we are here for a test of what we want--purity and love, or corruption and decay.  We are born, though in fallen nature, without sin, and pure.  As a child we emulate our parents and others, and do not fully understand--and if we do bad things, it is not of evil intent, and any ill done is to the fault of those who taught us to act thus.  But we do reach a time--around 7 years old--when we begin to understand truly the difference between things done from love and for God and that which is foreign and alien to Him.  Then we begin to make our choice, and then can we begin to be held accountable.


But, of course, we cannot draw from that that the loving thing to do is kill them and send them pure to God [as pure, cold logic might sometimes want to do, in ignoring the Law written on our hearts and in our consciences].  Firstly, God is more powerful than us, [indeed, being Power itself, in an ineffable way, whereas we have absolutely no power whatsoever without Him, all power being from and a part of Him,] and can take them when He wants--to kill someone in order to send them pure to God is to ignore God's will and infinite wisdom for our own, which cannot be better than waiting for His will to be done.  Secondly, the child could grow up to do great good and help many souls toward God--if we could not grow toward God as adults, and help others toward Him, there would be no hope, and it would be better to be slain as infants--but we see that this happens when we grow, and give glory to God there for.


In a sense, yes, there is a time window for us in which to make our choice--[primarily] our lives here on this Earth.  We come to see, in our pure formative years, what evil and goodness are; in all our remaining time, we make a choice.  Maybe we live short lives and never find the Church.  Maybe we're so turned off from Christianity by bigoted or hate-filled so-called "Christians" that we can't see the true purity and love of the real message (for a very real example of this, listen to the episode "The Story of Joe" on the Steve the Builder podcast on Ancient Faith Radio [I can also note that he has an episode complimentary to this series, in the episode "Love Wins: An Orthodox View of Salvation," visually representing the Orthodox view of salvation, in a nutshell, versus some of the same sort of mainstream protestant theologies Rob Bell is also arguing against (remember to listen to the audio introduction before watching the video)]).  But the fundamental choice between God and void is more simply fundamental than this--the Church is not the end, but the perfect means and guide to the true end, union with God by His abundant Grace.  If one dies young, we cannot wonder what would have otherwise happened--God knows, and perfectly.  He takes some people in sin and hatred--though not wishing the death of any sinner, but rather that he turn and live (Ez. 18:21-32)--knowing that some will not turn truly to Him, given all eternity.  Satan saw God past any means by which most of us do, yet he chose not to love Him.  Further, death is a gift, that humanity see an end, fear, and turn toward the true reality which will be revealed to us then.  [It is a limit to the possibilities of our estrangement form Him and sinfulness on this Earth, to our oppressive influence upon others, should we choose to hate God, and is further given that we may not be stuck in this banal reality forever, but move to real union with Him (hence why Adam was cast out of Paradise, that he could not eat of the tree of Life and thus live eternally in this corrupted state (" 'Now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'--therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden" (Gen. 3:22-23), and all after him thus, but that he would have a chance to shrug it off at death and take the new Life given to him in the grave 5000-some-odd years later by Christ Himself).] He gives it that we may have an end and limit to sins, that we not grow fainthearted, seeing the years we still have to endure. So some who would later grow faint of heart are taken sooner; some truly able to persevere stay longer; but even in this latter case, He is not cruel, as to keep forever from Him those who wish to depart to Him.  Some are taken in sins, either because they would never turn to Him, because they would otherwise mislead many away from Him, or both. But His Judgment reigns supreme, and is not according to what we deserve, but is lovingly merciful, a Father granting embrace to those who wish, and to those who hate Him reluctantly (to use human imagery) giving them even these base desires, after they have proven that is truly what they want.


As for salvation in a moment, being "born again" once and for all with no chance of change, or its similar counterparts in certain Protestant denominations--according to Orthodox Soteriology, it's heretical.  [There is also an interesting article online, based on "The Heresy of Salvation in a Moment" by the Coptic Orthodox (this is Oriental Orthodoxy, not the same as the one Church of the Eastern Orthodox) Pope Shenouda (who fell asleep March 17 of this year), about the works that proved the saving faith of the good theif, as a related subject.]  First of all, this sort of salvation in a moment would suggest that "getting into heaven" is all that's important, and that it's either impossible or unimportant to improve beyond this--this generally being combined with a rather earthly, pleasure-seeking view of what "salvation" really is.  This is just as self-centered as earthly living, with only a different time frame.  Rather, we should pray, 
     Be it unto me according to Thy will, O Lord! If Thou wouldst grant me light, be Thou blessed; if 

     Thou wouldst grant me darkness, be Thou equally blessed. If Thou wouldst destroy me 

     together with my lawlessness, glory to Thy righteous judgment; and if Thou wouldst not 

     destroy me together with my lawlessness, glory to Thy boundless mercy!  (St. Basil the Great, 

     A Lament for Sin).

[It further makes it easy for us to say or think of ourselves that our sins are "nothing special;" that "I am sinful like everyone [else]" (from a leaflet published on Mount Athos, given on page 23 of this document on confession from St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church), when instead our sin needs to be taken extremely seriously, as the mortal ailment which turns us from God that it is.  God would not ask for sinlessness if it was impossible, and certainly not punish because of falling short of it.  And if Christ was truly man, in his fulfillment of sinlessness, then it is possible for us as well--through Him able to live in the perfected nature He gives after our baptism, which is His Resurrected body, and as a gift able to abide in His Grace, His Very Self as God--to live without sin.]  Salvation is based not on something said or done, but how we are, and thus what we truly want.

As for the message of the Gospel, it is love, simply put--but not an earthly love.  Heaven is a big part of it, but heaven is not about a place (though it can accurately refer to one, or even distinctions therein, e.g., being in rapture in the "third heaven" (2 Cor 12:2)) as much as it is simply abiding totally in in God and Him in you.  This is the message--not just going to a happy place without pain, but pure abode in God Himself.  As such, we can have heaven to a powerful extent even here on earth--this life and the next aren't polar opposites, but distinct parts of a contiguous whole--but its full consummation does indeed await the good hour appointed by God for His Second Coming.  That's why we mush strive always for closer union with Him here--that's what it's all about, and if we are negligent in it, it's a sign of illness which needs to be fought off--for if we don't fight it, we'll have it revealed to us in the end that we loved earthly comfort and distractions more that Love--i.e., God Himself.  If that's not enough, we always have the motivation of not knowing if we're going toward heaven or hell, not being able to trust ourselves to give an answer, but Christ the True Judge alone.  We have the examples of the saints--the more exalted they are now, the more they debased themselves as the worst of sinners in their lives.  This is not a coincidence.  [I should note that this does not mean we should loathe ourselves, as this is hatred of part of God's Creation, and leads into despair and the egotistical thought that our sins are greater than God's mercy.  However, we should realize that we can do nothing, but only God can do good in us, and that whatever we do that is good is from Him alone (the most we can say of ourselves is that we agreed to be used as instruments of good), and that of ourselves we do only evil, for all done without Him is inherently evil, even if good in appearance.  Thus we should loathe our own wills, doing our own thing, and not following only His will.  There is never room to boast in ourselves--even if we become sinless, we are only doing what we were created and commanded to do, and furthermore, what is natural to our originally created nature, the one we have taken on, perfected, in rising from the waters of baptism.  There is no amount of sinlessness we can accomplish that can erase a single sin we have done, and only the gift of remission from He Who sacrificed Himself, though sinless and not needing to die, can cleanse and perfect us.  Thus we can boast in the Lord, even if not knowing we personally are saved yet, knowing He is good and perfect, and will do what should be done in all things.  But we can never boast in ourselves, nor love ourselves or our gifts from Him more than as good creations of God, which we have unfortunately corrupted by sin as the bad stewards we are; we must stop corrupting them, turn to Him, and without any defense of our own, but trusting in His mercy, ask for cleansing.]


Now, the point of false christs is a good and very important one.  There are so many antichrists and false religions and interpretations of Christ that it's amazing that amid all these there are any true Christians left--that's God's Grace alone, and a proof of His love and perpetual efforts at guiding us aright.


As for our salvation being in other's hands, it is--in God's.  But we are responsible, in how we respond to His call.  Our salvation is also in other people's hands, and theirs in ours.  There's no such thing as "just me and Jesus," for as the Body of Christ we are all connected, helping our weaker members as a part of ourselves (the real meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mk 12:31; Mt 22:39; Lev 19:18)--not to love them like you love yourself, but because they are a part of your very self, and you of them).  And we must trust God that when we need help, He will give us the aid we seek, whether directly or by giving the needed strength to those here on earth who can help.  Thank you, Mr. Bell, for--though Protestant and without the guidance of the True Church that you are--noticing that most obvious fact which so very many Protestants ignore:  the "personal relationship" with Jesus paradigm is modern and alien to the Bible and Biblical thought.


Now, as for salvation being a gift versus our works, it's both, in a sense.  Believing and confessing faith are works in a sense, and loving is also so--and it most necessary, at least a measure thereof and want for more--for true salvation.  But the gift is this--we have only to realize that nothing we could do, even this very confessing of faith or love, could give us salvation, but only His free gift alone.  And when we know this and truly want this gift, He gives it freely, even though all the love we pitiful creatures can muster still makes us not a bit worthy of salvation in itself.  As to works in general, despise them not--as long as you don't put your hopes in your works, you're fine.  Without works, faith is dead, as St. James says (James 2:14-26, and in general the spirit of  the epistle as a whole, which is all about the different works which prove or perfect our faith, or which do the opposite).  Don't even put your hopes in your faith--for one thing, it is a work, in a sense, and further, it's not pure--even if it was, it wouldn't be enough to remit your sins and grant perfection and salvation.  If you're saved, it's a free gift.  And debasing yourself in this way, and putting all your hope in Him, you're already beginning to understand what salvation really means, truly understanding that all goodness is God's action, and that we are nothing in anything we do apart from that; further, better seeing and understanding His Goodness, Love, and Mercy--drawing closer to the real salvation that is union with Him, becoming by grace all He is by nature.


As for saying about Jesus and the centurion  that He's "amazed" (the text of the Bible says "marveled," in the NKJV and RSV, for comparison (Lk 7:1-10)), we should note that this can only be as far as in His humanity, or as an expression using human terms to speak of something beyond our understanding in His divine approval; for how could an Omniscient God not know this beforehand, lack of knowledge and surprise being essential to "amazement"?  But I am not one to talk with much knowledge or eloquence about how Christ's two natures worked and interacted in synergy, and fear lest I fall, using my fallen reasoning; I direct you to the saints of the Orthodox Church for better understanding of this, from those who truly and more fully experienced Him.


Who you are is what saves or destroys, but what we say stems naturally from this.  [St. James, in his epistle, is very clear on this:
     If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. 

     Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. 

     Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned 

     by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and 

     boasts great things.     See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The 

     tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the 

     course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and 

     creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the 

     tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with 

     it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth 

     proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring 

     send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear 

     olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.  (James 3:2-

     12).

So who you are is what saves or destroys, but our confessions of faith or lack thereof, or our words that prove love or hatred, stem from this choice and want of our soul, and prove us.]  Or rather, Grace alone saves, for what we are--sinners; everyone imperfect, even if having been granted, by much sweat and tears and longing, sinlessness here on earth--has no power to do this.  But if we realize our lowliness and His Perfection and want to turn to Him, then we have salvation.  Forgiveness is indeed the fast track to salvation, for if we achieve perfect forgiveness, the God who cannot lie will forgive us all (Lk 6:37).  And so with judgment--for He told us we will be judged with the judgment by which we judge (Lk 6:37).  [The Orthodox have a very real example of this in one of our saints, an unnamed monk:
     This monk was lazy, careless, and lacking in his prayer life; but throughout all of his life, he did
     not judge anyone. While dying, he was happy. When the brethren asked him "How is it that
     with so many sins, you die happy?" he replied, "I now see angels who are showing me a letter
     with my numerous sins. I said to them, Our Lord said: 'stop judging and you will not be
     judged' (St. Luke 6:37). I have never judged anyone, and I hope in the mercy of God that He
     will not judge me." And the angels tore up the paper. Upon hearing this, the monks were
     astonished and learned from it. (Saint Nikolai of Ohrid and Žiča, The Prologue from Ochrid, 

     March 30.)

Or another account, perhaps of the same saint, from the Gerontikon (as given in the Evergetinos, Vol III):

     Near a certain Elder there dwelt a negligent brother who had lived in asceticism for only a 

     short time.  When he was about to die, some of the brothers came to sit beside him in order 

     to comfort him, while the Elder, seeing him departing from the body cheerfully and joyfully, and 

     wishing to edify the brothers who were present, said to him:  "Brother, we are all aware that 

     you were not very zealous in your asceticism, and so how is it that you are making your final 

     journey so eagerly?"  The brother replied:  "Believe me, Father, what you say is true.  

     Nevertheless, since I became a monk, I am not conscious of having judged or harbored a 

     grudge against anyone.  And if I ever did have a disagreement with anyone, I immediately 

     reconciled with him.  Therefore, I plan to say to God:  'Master, Thou didst say:  "Judge not, 

     and ye shall not be judged; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven" ' (St. Luke 6:37)."  The Elder 

     said to him:  "Peace be with you, my child, for you have been saved without effort, by not 

     condemning others."  (p. 20).

I can also say that personally, this is where I put all my hope.  I am still not assured of my salvation, for I know that my forgiveness is imperfect.  But I ask always for real forgiveness and lack of judgment, as they are true measures of love.  And even if I am damned by my lack of forgiveness, I now know why, I know that real forgiveness that I do not show fully, which He gives to us and asks us to accept.  This gives me great joy, knowing truly His forgiveness, and hope, as I know that if I really want it, it will be given; if I do not, He does not give it, in His perfect Judgment and Love for us, and it is only because of my own choices that it could be withheld.]  For most, perfection in either of these (lack of judgment or forgiveness) is lacking, and we must fall down in contrition over our inability to attain to these.  [But even so, it gives us great hope, and we, though contrite and penitent, can never become despairing or despondent if we keep this in mind, for it reminds us of the perfect love of God, and allows us a reprieve from any torment; simply stop, and forgive all, truly being at peace with all. From Saint Theophan the Recluse,"You read [in your prayers]: 'forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors'--forgive all in your soul, and having forgiven everyone everything in your heart, ask for forgiveness for yourself from the Lord[...] then you will be truly praying" (On Prayer, Homily 1 (the other homilies in the series can be found online by typing "Theophan" into the "Author Filter" of the "Patristic Texts" page of Monachos.net). Also from St. Theophan:

     "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you;  But if ye 

     forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 

     6:14–15).  What a simple and handy means of salvation!  Your trespasses are forgiven under 

     the condition that you forgive the trespasses of your neighbour against you.  This means that 

     you are in your own hands.  Force yourself to pass from agitated feelings toward your brother 

     to truly peaceful feelings--and that is all.  Forgiveness day--what a great heavenly day of 

     God this is! If all of us used it as we ought, this day would make Christian societies into 

     heavenly societies, and the earth would merge with heaven.  (Thoughts for Each Day of the 

     Year:  According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God, "Cheese-fare 

     (Forgiveness) Sunday.")

And even if we aren't saved, we can still give glory to God for His righteous judgment in our case, and even more so for the many who will be saved through so handy a means, those who truly chose to make their lives center around love, indeed living the life of love that Love Incarnate commanded for us.  We can give glory to Him for giving this easy yoke equally and freely to all, this easy means of salvation which is a constant joy and comfort here, and abiding in which we can abide in Him, giving glory in Him giving us all the opportunity in this, and the choice to reject or accept it.  And if we can constantly give glory to Him in this, likely we put it into practice, and thus save ourselves, loving others, living in complete humility, and rejoicing always in the Lord (Philippians 4:4).]

You have many questions on how we are saved--if we were perfect we would fulfill all the virtues and many of the paths to salvation simultaneously.  But each being different, the battle of each is different, and so each person's way of life toward salvation, if indeed the soul chooses salvation.  But in the end, all these paths and methods [and truly, if we look in the lives of the saints, we see a plethora of different modes of life, all of them holy in the end, in the very same holiness, as God is One,] are all the same--all God, all Love, all Light--and infinite virtues coming forth from Him, sanctifying this multiplicity of different lives and making many paths acceptable to Him, even while they are all one straight and narrow way (Mt 7:14), Christ Himself, the only Gate to Salvation (see Jn 10:1-10).

As you note, the demons know who God is.  But only in mind.  Those who do not love cannot really understand what love is, sadly enough.  We choose, and when we choose evil, we delude ourselves so badly in order to be able to continue in the ill choice and not see the obvious error that we forget what good really is--and evil is to us good, and good evil (Is 5:20-21; see also the many Biblical quotes shown forth on this webpage illustrating the same).  Ah, how we delude ourselves!  But though intellectually we may have no clue as to who Christ is, our heart knows its Father and maker (see Rom. 2:12-16; Jer. 31:34 and its quotations in Hebrews; think of the simple fact that we're created in His image, and called to move toward His likeness; and that we are called to understanding of God through all Creation as a testimony to Him; all of which the Bible and the saints of the Church affirm (e.g., St. Athanasius the Great's On The Incarnation of the Word of God, or the readings in the Wisdom of Solomon about the perversion of idol worship, creation being made to lead us up to Him)).  Do we know Him perfectly?  No, not yet--but let none say that he chose evil in ignorance.  It is in our heart, and indeed the choice of evil is incredible in that it is against nature, a choice of void over substance, a choice of alien nature over the only nature we were created and began life with.  [Even if we grew up in this earthly life knowing only pain, and we cannot think to bring forth any purely good actions, there is always an inward choice between two things, that more evil and that more good; even if life has made it nearly impossible to live out the virtues--because of some sort of childhood abuse, for example--one can still choose to move toward goodness or greater evil, and regardless of the impossibility for other people, in such a situation, to judge this inclination based on such a one's actions, this inclination of the heart toward or against Him is what will be laid bare and will condemn us before the Judge Who sees all--or it will justify us there.]  But even though our nature screams out to us to choose good, oh how we let this void that is evil into our hearts!

But there's always hope, because Love, God Himself, is also Pure Power over all difficulty, and is ready to help us, should we start to turn to Him.

And with that thought I conclude my response to the first chapter of the book.

In Christ,

Teopile/Theophilos Porter