My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
What makes the Orthodox Christian Church the Authentic
Church of Christ?
The answer is the Symbol of Faith or the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. The Orthodox faithful confess it individually as well as collectively at every Divine Liturgy. It says:
I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and
earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ: the Only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light; True God
of the True God; begotten, not created; of one essence with the
Father; through Whom all things were made;
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from
Heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin
Mary, and became man;
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and
was buried;
And He rose on the third day according to the Scriptures;
He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the
Father;
And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the
dead; His Kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life. Who proceeds
from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is
worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the Prophets.
In One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to
come. Amen.
The Orthodox Church of Christ is the Body of Christ, a spiritual organism whose Head is Christ. It has a single spirit, a single common faith, a single and common catholic consciousness, guided by the Holy Spirit; and its reasonings are based on the concrete, definite foundations of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Apostolic Tradition. This catholic consciousness is always with the Church, but, in a more definite fashion, this consciousness is EXPRESSED IN THE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH. From profound Christian antiquity, local councils of separate Orthodox Churches gathered twice a year, in accordance with the 37th Canon of the Holy Apostles. Such Ecumenical Councils the Church RECOGNIZED AS SEVEN IN NUMBER. The Ecumenical Councils FORMULATED PRECISELY AND CONFIRMED A NUMBER OF THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN Faith, DEFENDING THE ANCIENT TEACHING OF THE CHURCH AGAINST THE DISTORTIONS OF HERETICS. Also, THE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS (SYNODS) CONFIRMED THE DOGMATIC DECREES OF A NUMBER OF LOCAL COUNCILS, AND ALSO THE DOGMATIC STATEMENTS COMPOSED BY CERTAIN HOLY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH.
Among all the dogmatic decrees of councils, the Ecumenical Councils themselves acknowledge as primary and fundamental the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Symbol of Faith, AND FORBADE ANY CHANGE WHATSOEVER IN IT, NOT ONLY IN ITS IDEAS, BUT ALSO IN ITS WORDS, EITHER BY ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION (decree of the Third Ecumenical Council, repeated by the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Councils).
The catholic consciousness of the Church, where it concerns the teaching of faith, is also expressed in the Orthodox Divine services which have been handed down tous by the Ecumenical Church…The CONTENT OF THE ORTHODOX DIVINE SERVICES IS THE CULMINATING EXPRESSION OF THE TEACHING OF the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers of the Church, both in the spheres of dogma and of morals. This is splendidly expressed in the hymn (the kontakion) which is sung on the day of the commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils: “The preaching of the Apostles and the dogmas of the Fathers have IMPRINTED UPON THE CHURCH A SINGLE FAITH WHICH, BEARING THE GARMENT OF TRUTH WOVEN OF THE THEOLOGY FROM ABOVE, RIGHTLY DISPENSETH AND GLORIFIETH THE GREAT MYSTERY OF PIETY.”
From the first days of her existence, the Holy Church of Christ has ceaselessly been concerned that her children, her members, should stand firm in the PURE TRUTH. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth, ” writes the Holy Apostle John the Theologian. The True path of faith, which has always been carefully PRESERVED IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, from old was called “STRAIGHT, RIGHT,” in Greek, ORTHOS–that is, “ORTHODOXY. “Catholic,” meaning “UNIVERSAL” is the name applied to the New Testament Epistles (those of James, Peter, Jude and John) which were addressed not to individual or local churches (as are all the Epistles of Saint Paul, but to the WHOLE Church or to believers in general.
Orthodox Christians have given their lives to preserve and protect the integrity and purity of the Faith throughout 2,000-year history of the Church of Christ. The threats and dangers have increased over the centuries from enemies from within and without the Church. Heresies are on the abundance in our current century and still growing. The goal of heresy is the destruction of Christianity altogether by both political and secular atheistic elements within our society and our world. The persecutions against the Church of Christ have increased in number. The demands to dilute the Truth and to compromise and prostitute the Church is extremely strong and insidious. Orthodox Christians must remain vigilant and alert always and must not give even an inch to our enemies. There are those within the Church and in authority who have convinced themselves that the Orthodox Church must be changed with the times and from “a relics” of the past to become more modernized and updated to conform to an immoral and unbelieving, perverse society as the heterodox have done. To destroy Orthodoxy brick by brick from within and let anarchy and confusion reign instead. This is of course demonic and outright satanic! The Church IS CHRIST HIMSELF. This WILL NEVER HAPPEN! FOR OUR LORD, GOD, AND SAVIOR WILL NEVER ALLOW IT. “Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her that He might SANCTIFY and CLEANSE HER WITH THE WASHING OF WATER BY THE WORD, THAT HE MIGHT PRESENT HER TO HIMSELF A GLORIOUS CHURCH NOT HAVING SPOT OR WRINKLE OR ANY SUCH THING, BUT THAT SHE SHOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT BLEMISH…BUT NOURISHES AND CHRISHES IT, AS THE LORD DOES THE CHURCH” [Ephesians 5:25-29]. Jesus also said, “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HADES SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT” (Matthew 16:18).
____________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things1″
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God