someguy wrote:Maria wrote:
Furthermore, this cult confuses the Synod of Archbishop Stephanos with that of Monk Kirikos. It is Monk Kirikos who believes in the light switch theory, certainly not Archbishop Stephanos.
Ah ok understood, as I thought the disagreement of the original three bishops which began the GOC was of the light switch grace theory of the state church and that bishop Matthew maintained the clearcut approach while the other two agreed and then flip flopped... Which is why I also thought the followers of the Matthewite synod/s endorsed the same?
If St. Matthew had truly believed in the Light Switch Theory of Grace, then he would have received the three repenting bishops with Chrismation and Absoluton, but he only received them with priestly absolution. Furthermore, if he had believed them to be without grace, then he would not have accepted consecration by them in the year 1935.
It is interesting how both the Greek New Calendarists and the Greek Old Calendarists accused each other of schism.
Think: This was a shock for both sides.
The New Calendarists bishops of Greece did not think that the laity and priests would revolt, but St. Nectarios and St. Matthew had prepared the way. St. Nektarios by his voluminous writings against Ecumenism, the New Calendar, and the modernization of the priests (no facial hair, no frocks, and secular educations with Master of Divinity and Ph.D degrees) and St. Matthew, St. Nektarios' spiritual son, by his fiery sermons educated the people. St. Cosmos of Greece and many other itinerant preachers (humble priest monks) had prepared the way and had preached the truth throughout the villages and cities of Greece.
The Greek New Calendarists were using false theology to mislead the sheep saying that the laity and the priests should obey their bishops unquestionably (infallibly) as "where the Bishops are, there is the Church" or "where the Bishops are, there is Christ." The Masonic Greek New Calendarists were approaching Rome and desired Orthodox-Roman Catholic-Protestant unity in a worldwide spirit of Ecumenism, which would ultimately destroy the Church., and bring on the reign of the Antichrist. So, the masons reasoned that when the Old Calendarists dared to separate over the Calendar issue, that these Old Calendarists were actually separating from the Church and from Christ Himself.
Ask yourself, why are the Masonic forces throughout the world trying to bring on the reign of the Antichrist? This spirit of the Antichrist was not only prophesied by St. John the Theologian in his book on Revelation, but also was written and preached by the Evangelists using the very words of Christ more than 2000 years ago. In fact, it seems like these masons are desperately trying to bring to fruition the satanic plots to destroy the Church and to rebuild the New Temple of Jerusalem on or before the 2000th year of the death of Christ. That would be sometime before the year of 2033. With the worldwide push for ecumenism, a one-world church, modernism, hedonism, and satanism, we are not far from the end-times.
Please realize St. Matthew and the priests and laity with him did not teach the light switch theory of grace in the year 1924, nor did they accuse the New Calendarists as being without grace. New Calendarists who steadily joined the True Orthodox were not at that time required to be chrismated. The True Orthodox believed that these New Calendarists were in serious error, and that the laity and priests should not attend the services of the New Calendarists because these New Calendarists were not following the True Calendar. It was after 1937, 13 years later, after the brutal imprisonment of GOC nuns, monks, priests, and bishops, after the violent murder of laity, monks, and nuns, and after the violent murder of several GOC priests by New Calendarists bishops, that St. Matthew could see the depth of iniquity within the Greek New Calendar bishops. Then, yes, it was obvious that there was no more grace in their sacraments.
The Traditional Orthodox Church of Greece, which developed as a priest-laity association headed by St. Matthew when he was a hieromonk (archimandrite), started with humble Greek parishes (both the mainland and the Greek Isles) led by devout priests and laity who knew that something was wrong with the New Calendar. Remember that when New Calendar was imposed on these people in 1924, about 800 parishes resisted, no small number, and that their resistance bore fruit on the Feast of the Holy Cross according to the True Calendarist, September 27, 1925, when the Holy Cross appeared in the sky over their humble church in Athens. Police who had come to arrest the Old Calendarists instead converted at this brilliant and miraculous Sign of the Holy Cross, which turned the night skies into daylight.
Fast track to 1935, ten years from the apparition of the Holy Cross in the night time Athenian sky.
Three New Calendarists bishops repented and joined St. Matthew. Oral tradition tells us that St. Matthew heard the confessions and gave priestly absolution to these three bishops, who then issued a public statement denouncing the New Calendarists. From what I have learned, St. Matthew did not chrismate these three repenting bishops. Two of these bishops had received their consecrations before the year 1920 before the imposition of the New Calendar, so their orders were valid. The other bishop had been consecrated after the unilateral imposition of the New Calendar, so the two bishops laid hands on this bishop. Then the three bishops together consecrated a new synod of bishops including St. Matthew to establish the Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (the GOC).
