Tag Archives: Justin Martyr

Cannibals and Montanists

by Mark Arey | български | ქართული | Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски

pizza

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

QAnon and “Trumplicals” (I just can’t use the lovely word “Evangel” to reference them anymore.) They both seem to have come out of nowhere, unleashed on the nation’s consciousness by the presidency of Donald Trump. But they were there all along, hiding in plain sight in the history of American Christianity.

I wish the “Qs” could find their way to the Second Apology of Justin Martyr or the Embassy for the Christians of Athenagoras of Athens. If they had any understanding of the past, they might see how charges of perversion and cannibalism were used against the early Christians. But, they’ve jumped right in, spurred on by their hatreds and fears, throwing in the “blood libel” against Jews for grotesque measure. All of this dread of being devoured from the new cult of “Q.” They still can’t figure out what to do with John 6. Don’t they get that Orthodox and Catholic are “munching” on the Body of God at every Eucharist? Should we be prepared for our churches and synagogues to be invaded like pizza parlors, by armed fanatics searching for an abattoir of horrors?

Continue reading →

On Ecumenoclasm: Salvation for Non-Christians?

by Paul Ladouceur

last judgment

Early Christian thinking on non-Christian religions was conditioned by the official paganism of the Roman Empire, Greek philosophy, Christianity’s relationships with Judaism and flourishing mystery cults. Later, Orthodoxy had extensive historical experience, often but not entirely negative, as a religious minority under non-Christian regimes in Persia, the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire. Christian communities under Muslim rule were frequently in a survival mode, which made theological reflection on the meaning of religious diversity in God’s plan for salvation next to impossible. Only in recent times have Orthodox begun to consider the theological significance of religious diversity, especially as Orthodoxy is increasingly challenged with this reality both in countries of Orthodox immigration in Western Europe and North America, and increasingly in countries of Orthodox tradition. Continue Reading…