The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28, verse 2:” And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it“
christianity
Or what impression could you get ? Here is an excerpt from a recent post (in english translation) from a blog written by the Russian Orthodox theologian Andrey Kurayev:
Three Russian attempts to convene a General – Ecumenical – Council to Russia
Already in 1397 there was an idea of convening a General Church Council to Rus. It was actually a Lithuanian idea.
The Metropolitan of Kiev and all of Russia, Kirian (who had lived in Moscow), turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Antonio, along with the Lithuanian prince Jagello from Smolensk. Then the purpose of the Church Council was to unite with the Catholics.
The Patriarch was not against it, but said that times were rebellious and warlike, and that no one would come (especially not from Egypt). “Yes, and even in peaceful times, Russia (“Rosias” in Greek) is an inappropriate place for a General Church Council”.
The second attempt to convene a General Church meeting took place in 1448.
And now before our eyes, Moscow is conducting a third approach to the theme – in the form of a call to gather an All-orthodox Church Council to address the actions of the Constantinople Patriarchy in Ukraine…
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(This post is reblogged from: http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/01/moscow-to-follow-attack-on-jehovahs.html )
Paul Goble
Staunton, January 6 – Aleksandr Panchenko, a specialist on religious minorities in Russia who lost his job at St. Petersburg State University when he failed to find the texts of Pentecostals extremist, says that Moscow’s massive attack on the Jehovah’s Witnesses will be followed by attacks on other groups that the authorities consider unacceptable “sects.”
There is no legal definition of “sect” in Russia or anywhere else, largely because the authorities want to define it as fits their needs, including some groups while excluding others that are very similar. But for 20 years, the scholar continues, the Russian government and the ROC MP have promoted “an anti-sectarian mythology” (svoboda.org/a/29655864.html).
In the midst of all the heavy processes and more or less subtle particularities that are taking place in Orthodoxy, between Moscow, Kiev and Constantinople, there are some fatal factors that, maybe, should not be ignored.
One of them may be these words of Feodor Dostoevsky from 1877, which are sometimes heard about:
“Одним словом … рано ли, поздно ли, а Константинополь должен быть наш, и хотя бы лишь в будущем только столетии! Это нам, русским, надо всегда иметь ввиду, всем неуклонно. Вот что мне хотелось заявить, особенно в настоящий европейский момент .. ”
(Достоевский: “Дневник писателя Январ – Август 1877 года)
Transl: In one word … if it happens soon or if it is delayed, but Constantinople must become ours, if only in a coming century! We should, all Russians, all without exception. always have this in mind. That is what I would like to say, especially in this present, European moment ..
(Dostoevsky: “The author’s diary January – August 1877″)
What was the “European moment” 1877 ?? There were new, promising winds blowing at that time, however, not so much in Russia, even though the serfdom had been abolished.
A general, “unifying church council” for Orthodox believers in Ukraine, with Constantinople’s envoy as moderator, will start on November 22, according to Credo.press.
112.International
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Hopefully, the gospel will prevail over church politics – “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel ..” ( 2 Tim. 2:8)
Some links on this case: Credo, Voanews, Reuters
- What may be the worst Church-split in Orthodoxy ever..
Update 2018 10 18: A short video with english subtitles from the pressbriefing after the Russian Church’s Synod in Minsk the 15th of October
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