Discussion and criticism of GOC-K & SiR Union

[Jean-Serge]

No, but with no communities in these countries, these would not be the prioritary translations.

[Barbara]

^ You mean "priority" translations, Jean-Serge. Hmm, well we are still drumming our fingers on the formica countertop, waiting for this to be issued.

[Jean-Serge]

Meanwhile you can order drinks...

[Maria]

Meanwhile you can order drinks...

St. Peter encourages us to remain sober and watchful.

[jgress]

Meanwhile you can order drinks...

St. Peter encourages us to remain sober and watchful.

Obviously by "drinks" he meant Shirley Temples and ginger ale...

[Benjaminw1]

Wine maketh glad the heart of man...

[Maria]

Drum Roll:

Here is the final document in English translation:

http://www.ecclesiagoc.gr/images/storie ... inalEN.pdf

• The True Orthodox Church
  and the Heresy of Ecumenism

  Dogmatic and Canonical Issues

  I. Basic Ecclesiological Principles

  The True Orthodox Church has, since the preceding twentieth century, been struggling steadfastly in confession against the ecclesiological heresy of ecumenism (1) and, as well, not only against the calendar innovation that derived from it, but also more generally against dogmatic syncretism, (2) which, inexorably and methodically cultivating at an inter-Christian (3) and inter-religious (4) level, in sundry ways and in contradiction to the Gospel, the concurrency, commingling, and joint action of Truth and error, Light and darkness, and the Church and heresy, aims at the establishment of a new entity, that is, a community without identity of faith, the so-called body of believers.

The four footnotes in this document listed above give extensive definitions of ecumenism, syncretism, inter-Christian, and inter-religious. These extensive footnotes were not found previously in the original document, and these are extremely helpful in defining vague English words and in preventing ambiguity.

Skipping down to Paragraph 10, which now appears quite clear and definitive, one finds the canonical teachings of the Orthodox Church which condemn any Bishop who barefacedly preaches heresy or who is in communion with others who so preach.

• 10. Every Bishop who proclaims “heresy publicly” and “barefacedly in Church” (17) and who teaches “another Gospel than that which we have received” (18) or is in syncretistic communion with those of other beliefs or religions, doing so persistently and continually, becomes a “false bishop and a false teacher” (Canon XV of the First-Second Synod), while those Bishops who commune with him, indifferent towards, tolerating, or accepting his mentality and these actual declarations of his, “are destroyed together with him” (St. Theodore the Studite), thereby ceasing to be canonical (19) or in communion (20) with the Church, since the Catholicity of the Church, Her unity, and Her genuine Apostolic Succession, which unfailingly guarantee the Bishop's status as canonical and in communion with the Church, are founded on, flow from, and are safeguarded by the “correct and salvific confession of the Faith.”

• II. Ecumenism: A Syncretistic Panheresy

Skipping down to Paragraph 11:

• 11. The Orthodox ecumenists, (27) and especially the more extreme among them, having suffered the pernicious effects of corrosive syncretism, think that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ has, supposedly, lost Her Catholicity, by reason of theological and cultural conflicts and divisions; they propose and aim at its reconstitution by way of a union by compromise of the divided parties, Orthodox and heretics, which would supposedly restore Eucharistic communion, without, of course, a common confession of Faith, evidently in line with the model of the Unia. Other, more moderate ecumenists are content to number the heterodox among the Orthodox, speaking “on behalf of the whole Body of the Church,” the heterodox supposedly being within the boundaries of the Church, since these ecumenists, as advocates of the “broad Church” or the “Church in a broad or in the widest sense,” do not deem the charismatic and canonical boundaries of the Church (28) equivalent, inasmuch as they find and acknowledge the existence of “Churches” and “Divine Grace” and “salvation” even outside the confines of the Truth and the True Orthodox Church (ecclesia extra ecclesiam, extra muros [a church outside the Church, outside the walls (of the Church)]).

This section appears to be rewritten with careful clarifications and definitions of terms once again to prevent ambiguity.

Note: I am typing these comments as I am reading the document, but personally, I am extremely thankful that this newly translated ecclesiological document has been so carefully and so thoroughly researched. It is a blessing for True Orthodoxy.
Praise the Lord!

• II. Sergianism: An Adulteration of Canonicity

Skipping down to Paragraph 6, I now understand precisely what Met. Demetrios of the GOARCH has been doing when he attends the Democratic Conventions to offer godless Sergianistic prayers, which were pre-approved by Democratic secular humanists. World Orthodox were delighted to see his appearance and a large portion did not even question this watered down and blasphemous prayer; blasphemous in that it denied the Divinity of Christ and mentioned the brotherhood of man, a freemason idea.

• 6. Anti-Ecclesiastical Sergianism, having long ago incorporated within itself a worldly spirit, unscrupulousness, deception, and a pathological servility towards the powerful of this world, continues to betray the Church, now no longer for fear of reprisals from atheistic rulers, but for the sake of self-serving and secularist motives and under the cloak of supposed canonicity, still peddling the freedom of the Church in exchange for gaining the friendship of the powerful of this world, with all of the concomitant material benefits and, to be sure, prestigious social status.

Again, skipping to the end of this section, to Paragraph 10: one finds clearly stated the obligation and necessity to WALL OFF from heretical bishops.

• 10. Walling off from fallen Shepherds, who are henceforth characterized as “false bishops” and “false teachers,” is a binding obligation for true Orthodox in a time of heresy, for the safeguarding of the uniqueness, unity, and Catholicity of the Church, for a confessional witness to the Faith, and also for a saving call to repentance, missionary in nature, directed towards those who have deviated and those who commune with them

It is getting late, and I have not read the entire document, but I wanted to share my enthusiasm and gratitude that our Fathers in Christ have written so clearly. This document is very much needed today.