The Existence of God (Part V)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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CONCERNING THE ONE TRIUNE GOD 

The essence of God, being infinite and inexpressible "arretos," is incomprehensible to the natural man, inasmuch as "God, then, is infinite and incomprehensible; and all that is comprehensible about Him is His infinity and incomprehensibility." Nevertheless, the very God, through His natural and, more especially, His supernatural revelation, disclosed to man, insofar as he was capable of receiving it, knowledge pertaining to Him. This knowledge cannot, of course, be absolute and perfect in essence; rather, whether concerning the Divine Nature according to the Holy Fathers, or "concerning God" such must be "only partial knowledge," based on faith. For this reason, the negative attributes ascribed to God--as also the positive attributes ascribed to Him by the Holy Scripture (goodness, righteousness, wisdom, etc.), although valid and genuine, being objective reality, and not subjectively ascribed to God by us,--nevertheless neither declare nor express the nature of God. They "declare not His nature, but attributes of that nature." Consequently, although we know that God exists, we are in ignorance concerning His essence. "That there is a God, then, is no matter of doubt to those who receive the Holy Scripture...it is plain, then, that there is a God, but what He is in His essence and nature is absolutely incomprehensible, and unknowable." For this reason Saint Gregory Nazianzus characterizes God in accordance with 1 Timothy 6:16; he writes, "God is Light: the highest, the unapproachable, the ineffable, that can neither be conceived in the mind nor uttered with the lips."

Thus, it is only by means of Holy Scripture that we learn and believe: "...in One God, one beginning...one essence, one Divinity, one power, one will...made known in three perfect subsistences...united without confusion and divided without separation." Thus, the One God in essence is Trinitarian in hypostasis (or in Persons); i.e., Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Saint John Damascene)

On the World

"...God is the Creator of the world, not because of some essential need on His part, but due to His sovereign will, energy and goodness. The creation, being a sovereign act of God, is not eternal, but had a beginning in time. The Divine will and plan concerning the world existed eternally, God then realizing, bringing into objective reality the "intelligible world," substantiating it, bringing into time: the creation of the "visible world," as the Holy Fathers understood and taught. But God, freely creating the world out of nothing, by no means was dependent upon appearances, prototypes or ideas; just as He had no need of matter, instruments, labor, pain, etc. "Because God, the Creator of all, is without need, humans are dependent one upon the other...but the Maker of all needs neither instruments not matter, neither time nor labor, neither science nor study; all these could not exist without the will of God." Thus God creates: "He first conceived, and His conception was a work fulfilled by His Logos/Word, and perfected by His Spirit." The Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, creates all things." Thus the Father is "the Creator of all things," (1 Corinthians 8:6; Romans 11:36). The Son is "through Him all things" (John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2). The Holy Spirit is "εν ω τά πάντα"--in Whom are all things (Genesis 1:2). We must add here that "everything that God made was very good." Consequently, the evil which exists in the world does not come from the good God, nor did He implant it into the world, "for nothing evil was made by God."

Providence

The world was not created to be absolutely self-sufficient and independent; rather, it is of only relative independence, insufficient for the preservation and development of its creatures without the "synergia"--the assistance, the cooperation, of the Providence of God. Hence, the good God did not abandon the world which he created to its own fate, but continues, through His providence, to care for it; preserving it, governing it, and directing it to its final purpose. For this reason, we not only "confess God" as Creator, but "we understand that all are governed by His Providence only"; God "not only having brought the universe into being, but preserving and shaping...all visible and invisible creation enjoys His Providence, without which (God's assistance and co-operation) they would cease to exist, would disappear, would be annihilated."

God's preservation and governance extend throughout the entire universe, and to each being separately, so that, together with the co-operation of the Divine power and Providence with the natural and spiritual powers and laws of the universe, the plan of God is completed. Nothing in the entire universe happens by accident, unknown to the providence of God.

"Do not say that anything automatically came into being by itself. Nothing springs out of disorder, out of infinity, just by chance. Nothing brought about the universe accidentally, or out of luck, having been brought about by some evil hour or moment. Such are but the imagination of uncultured peoples. Nothing is without providence; nothing is neglected by God. The sleepless eye of God beholds all, is present everywhere, desiring the salvation of His own." But the Divine Providence, while co-operating when man does good, naturally does not co-operate at all when man, in his free choice, decides to work evil. In such an instance, the Divine Providence becomes a "concession of free will." However, "we believe that all that exists, whether visible or unseen, is governed by the Providence of God. As for evil events which occur, God foresaw them all and allows them to come about, but He does not cause them, for He is not the creator of evil, but had intended all people and events for some good purpose, God being himself absolutely good." (Source: A Synopsis of the Dogmatic Theology of the Orthodox Church by John Karmiris)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Existence of God (Part IV)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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THE UNITY OF GOD

"Therefore, we believe in one God: one principle, without beginning, uncreated, unbegotten, indestructible, and immortal, eternal, unlimited, uncircumscribed, unbounded, infinite in power, simple, uncompounded, incorporeal, unchanging, dispassionate, constant, unchangeable, invisible, source of goodness and justice, light intellectual and inaccessible; power which is not subject to any measure, but which is measured only by His own will, for He can do all things whatsoever He pleases...; one Essence, one Godhead, one power, one will, one operation, one principality, one authority, one dominion, one Kingdom, known in Three perfect Hypostases, and known and worshipped with one worship" (Saint John Damascene, Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 1:8).

The Truth of the oneness of God is so evident at the present time to human awareness that it needs no proof from the word of God or simply from reason. It was a little different in the early Christian Church when this truth had to be set forth against the idea of dualism--the acknowledgment of two gods. good and evil--and against the polytheism of the pagans which was then popular.

 "I believe in one God." These are the first words of the Symbol of Faith (the Creed). God possesses all the fullness of most perfect being. The idea of fullness, perfection, infinity, all-embracingness in God does not allow us to think of Him other than as One, that is, as singular and having one Essence in Himself. This demand of our awareness is expressed by one of the ancient Church writers in the words: "If God is not one, there is no God" (Tertullian). In other words, a Divinity limited by another being loses his Divine dignity.

The whole of the New Testament Sacred Scripture is filled with the teaching of the One God. "Our Father which art in heaven," we pray in the words of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9). "There is none other God but One," as the holy Apostle Paul expressed this fundamental truth of faith (1 Corinthians 8:4).

The Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament is entirely penetrated with monotheism. The history of the Old Testament is the history of that battle for faith in the One True God against pagan polytheism. The desire of some historians of religion to find traces of a supposed "original polytheism" in Hebrew people in certain Biblical expressions--as, for example, the plural number in the name of God, "Elohim"--or to find a faith in a "national God" in such phrases as "the God of gods," the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"--does not correspond to the authentic meaning of these expressions.

God is one in Essence and Triple in Persons. The dogma of the Trinity is the second fundamental dogma of Christianity. A whole series of the Church's great dogmas are founded immediately upon it, beginning first of all with the dogma of our Redemption. Because of its special importance, the doctrine of the All-Holy Trinity constitutes the content of all the Symbols of Faith which have been and are now used in the Orthodox Church, as well as all the private confessions of faith written on various occasions by the shepherds of the Church.

Because the dogma of the All-Holy Trinity is the most important of all Christian dogmas, it is at the same time the most difficult for the limited human mind to grasp. This is why no battle in the history of the ancient Church was as intense as that over this dogma and the truths which are immediately bound u with it.

The dogma of the Holy Trinity includes in itself two fundamental truths:

1. God is one in Essence but triple in Person. In other words, God is a Tri-unity, is Tri-hypostatical, is a Trinity One in Essence.

2. The Hypostases have personal or hypostatic attributes: God is unbegotten; the Son is begotten from the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.

We worship the All-Holy Trinity with a single and inseparable worship. In the Church Holy Fathers and the Divine services, the Trinity is often called a Unity in Trinity, a Tri-hypostatical Unity. In most cases, prayers addressed to one person of the Holy Trinity end with a glorification or doxology to all Three Persons (for example, in a Prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ: "For most glorious art Thou, together with Thine unoriginate Father, and the All-Holy Spirit, unto the ages. Amen.")

The Trinity of Persons in God was revealed in the New Testament in the coming of the Son of God and in the sending down of the Holy Spirit. The sending to earth by the Father of God the Logos/Word and the Holy Spirit constitutes the content of all the New Testament writings. Of course, this manifestation to the world of the Triune God is given here not in a dogmatic formula, but in an account of the manifestations and deeds of the Persons of the Holy Trinity.

The manifestation of God in Trinity was accomplished at the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is why this Baptism itself is called the "Theophany" or "manifestation of God." The Son of God, having become man, accepted baptism by water; the Father testified of Him; and the Holy Spirit confirmed the truth spoken by the voice of God by His manifestation in the form of a dove, as is expressed in the troparion (hymn) of this Feast:

"When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. For the voice of the Father bore witness unto Thee, calling Thee the beloved Son; and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed His word as sure and steadfast.  O Christ our God Who hast appeared and enlightened the world, glory to Thee."

(Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Existence of God (Part III)

My beloved spiritual children in Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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THE NATURE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

God in His essence is incomprehensible, God dwells "in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see," instructs the holy Apostle Paul (1 Timothy 6:16).

In his Catechetical Lectures, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem instructs us: We explain not what God is, but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God, to confess our ignorance is the best knowledge" (Sixth Catechetical Lecture).

This is why there is no dogmatic value to be found in the various types of vast and all-encompassing conceptions and rational searchings on the subject of the inward life in God, and likewise in concepts fabricated by analogy with the life of the human soul. Concerning the "fellow-inquirers" of his time, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of Saint Basil the Great, writes: "Men, having left off "delighting themselves in the Lord" (Psalm 36:4) and rejoicing in the peace of the Church, undertake refined magnitudes, measuring the Son in comparison with the Father, and granting a measuring of the Father, Who will say to them, 'that which is not subject to number cannot be measured; what is invisible cannot be valued; that which is fleshless cannot be weighed; that which is infinite cannot be compared; that which is incomparable cannot be understood as greater or less, because we know something as "greater" by comparing it with other things, but with something which has no end, the idea of "greater" is unthinkable.' "Great is our Lord, and great is His strength, and of His understanding, there is no measure" (Psalm 146:5). What does this mean? Number what has been said, and you will understand the mystery."

The same hierarch (bishop) further writes: "If someone is making a journey in the middle of the day when the sun with its hot rays scorches the head and by its heat dries up everything liquid in the body, and under one's feet is the hard earth which is difficult for walking and waterless; and then such a man encounters a spring with splendid, transparent, pleasing and refreshing streams pouring out abundantly--will he sit down by the water and begin to reason about its nature, seeking out from whence it comes, how, from what, and all such things which idle speakers are wont to judge about, for example: is it a certain moisture which exists in the depths of the earth that comes to the surface under pressure and becomes water, or is it canals going through long desert places that discharge water as soon as they find an opening for themselves? Will, he not rather, saying farewell to all rational deliberations, bend down his head to the stream and press his lips to it, quench his thirst, refresh his tongue, satisfy his desire, and give thanks to the One Who gave this grace? Therefore, let you also imitate this thirsting one" (Saint Gregory of Nyssa, "Homily on His Ordination,").

Nevertheless, to a certain extent, we do have a knowledge of God, a knowledge of oneself, and the knowledge of all of God's creation in general. "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Romans 1:20), that is, what is invisible in Him, His eternal power and Godhead, is made visible from the creation of the world through observing the created things. Therefore, those men are without excuse who, having known God, did not glorify Him as God and did not give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning (Romans 1:21). "The world is the kingdom of the Divine thought" (Saint John of Kronstadt).

God has manifested Himself yet ore in supernatural revelation and through the Incarnation of the Son of God. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the father by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (St. John 1:18).

Thus did the Savior Himself teach concerning the knowledge of God. Having said, "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son," the Savior added, "and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (St. Matthew 11:27). And the Apostle John the Theologian writes in his epistle: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us light and understanding, that we may know the true God" (1 John 5:20).

Divine Revelation is given to us in the whole of Sacred Scripture and in Sacred Tradition, the preservation, instruction, and true interpretation of which are the duty and concern of the holy Church of Christ.

But even within the boundaries which are given us in the light of Divine Revelation, we must follow the guidance of those who have purified their minds by an elevated Christian life and made their minds capable of contemplating exalted truths, that is, we must follow the guidance of the Holy Fathers of the Church, and at the same time watch morally over ourselves. Of this Saint Gregory, the Theologian instructs us: "If you wish to be a theologian and worthy of the Divine, keep the laws; by means of the Divine laws go toward the high aim; for activity is the ascent to vision." That is, strive and attain moral perfection, for only this path will give the possibility of ascending to the heights from whence Divine Truths are contemplated. (Homily 20 of Saint Gregory the Theologian)

The Savior Himself has uttered: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (St. Matthew 5:8).

The powerlessness of our mind to comprehend God is expressed by the Church also in the Divine Services: "At a loss for words to express the meaning of Thine incomprehensible Thrice-radiant Godhead, we praise Thee, O Lord." That is, having no power to understand the mystical Names of Thy three-rayed Divinity, with our hearts we glorify Thee, O Lord. (From the Canon of the Sunday Midnight Office, Tone VII. Fourth Canticle). (Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)

(To be continued)

______________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"-- Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Existence of God (Part II)

Beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

God revealed to us concerning Himself that He is "a bodiless and invisible spirit" (St. John 4:24).

What does it mean that God has neither a body, nor bones, as we have, and does not have in Himself anything that makes up our visible world, and therefore we cannot see Him?

In order to explain this, let us take an example from our earthly world. We do not see air, but we see its actions and results; the movement of the air has great power which can move huge ships and complex machines. We feel and we know that we cannot live without the air that we breathe. So also we do not see God, but we see His activity and its results, His wisdom, and power are everywhere in the world, and we feel them in ourselves.

The invisible God, out of love for us, at various times appeared to righteous people in a visible form -- in images, or, reflections of Himself, that is to say, in such a form that they could behold Him. Otherwise, they would have perished from directly beholding His Majesty and Glory.

God said to Moses, "there shall no man see me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). If the sun blinds us with its brilliance, and we cannot look upon this creation of God lest we are blinded, then how much more so, on God Who created it. For "God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5), and He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16).

God is Eternal (Psalm 89:3; Exodus 40:28)

All that we see in the world began at one time or another. It was born, and at some time it will also come to an end, it will die, it will be destroyed. All that is in the world is temporal; everything has its beginning and its end.

Once there was no Heaven, there was no earth, no time, but there was God because He has no beginning. Having no beginning, He has no end. God always was and always shall be. God is outside time, God always is. Therefore, He is called eternal.

God is Unchanging (James 1:17; Mal. 3:6)

There is nothing in the world constant or unchanging everything constantly changes, grows, ages and disintegrates. One thing is replaced by another.

Only God is constant; there is no change in Him. He does not grow, does not age. He in no way, and on no account and at no time ever changes. Just as He always was, so He is now, and so He shall remain forever. God is always the same. Therefore He is called unchanging.

God is Omnipotent (Genesis 17:1; Luke 1:37)

If a man wants to make something, he needs material; without material, he cannot make anything. With paint and canvas, man can paint a beautiful picture; from metal, he can make a complex and useful machine. But he can never make, for instance, the earth on which we live, or the sun which gives light and warmth, and many other things.

 Only for God is everything possible; there is nothing that He cannot do. He wished to create the world and He created it out of nothing by His word alone. God can do all that He wishes.  Therefore He is called Omnipotent.

God is Omnipresent (Psalm 138:7-12)

God always, throughout all time, is present everywhere. There is no place in the world where He is not present. No one can hide from Him anywhere. God is everywhere. Therefore, He is called Omnipresent.

God is Omniscient (1 John 3:20; Hebrews 4:13)

Man can learn many things, know a great deal, but no man can know everything. Moreover, man cannot know the future, and cannot hear everything and see everything.

Only God alone knows everything, what was, what is, and what will be. For God, there is no difference between day and night. He sees and hears everything at all times. He knows each of us, and not only what we do and say, but also what we think and what we want. God always hears everything, sees everything and knows everything. Therefore, He is called Omniscient (knowing all things).

God is All-Good (Matthew 19:17)

People are not always good. It often happens that a person does not love someone else.

Only God loves all of us and loves us perfectly, not as a man loves. He gives all that we need for life. All that we see in the heavens and on the earth was created by the Lord for the good and benefit of man.

This is how one bishop teaches about God's love for us: "Who gave us life? The Lord! From Him, we received a rational soul that can think and learn. From Him, we received a heart that is able to love. Around us is the air, without which we cannot live.

"We are always supplied with water which is as necessary for us as the air. We live on the earth which supplies us all the food that is necessary for the maintenance and preservation of our life. We are supplied with light without which we could not do anything for ourselves. We have fire with which we can keep ourselves warm when it is cold and with which we can prepare the food we eat. All this is the gift of God. We have a father, mother, brothers, sisters, and friends. How much joy, help, and consolation they provide for us! But we would not have any of these were it not pleasing to the Lord to give them to us."

God is always prepared to give us everything that is beneficial to us, everything good, and He takes more care for us than the best father does for his children. Therefore God is called All-Good, or Most-Merciful. We call God our Heavenly Father.

God is All-Righteous (Psalm 7:12; Psalm 10:7)

Men often tell lies and are unjust. But God is perfectly just. He always preserves righteousness and He judges people justly. He does not punish a righteous man without a reason, and He does not leave a man unpunished for any evil deed unless the man himself corrects his life by repentance and good deeds. Therefore, God is called All-Righteous and All-Just.

God is All-Sufficient (Acts 17:25)

Man is always in need of something, therefore he is often dissatisfied.

God alone has everything and is not in need of anything for Himself; on the contrary, He gives everything to all. Therefore, He is called All-Sufficient.

God is All-Blessed (1 Timothy 6:15)

God is not only All-sufficient, but He always has within Himself the very highest joy -- complete blessedness, the very greatest happiness.

Therefore, God is called All-blessed. We can never find true joy in life, except in God alone.

We call God Creator, or Maker, because He created all things, visible and invisible.

We likewise call God Almighty, Master, and King, because He, by His Almighty Will, rules and reigns and directs all that was created by Him, holding them in His power and authority.

We call God Divine Provider because He provides for all things and takes care of all things.  

Our Knowledge of God
The Dogma of Faith

The first word of our Christian Symbol of Faith (Creed) is "I believe." All of our Christian confession is based upon faith. God is the first object of Christ belief. Thus, our Christian acknowledgment of the existence of God is founded not upon rational grounds, not on proofs taken from reason or received from the experience of our outward senses, but upon an inward higher conviction which has a moral foundation.

In the Christian understanding to believe in God signifies not only to acknowledge God with the mind but also to strive towards Him with the heart.

"We believe" that which is inaccessible to outward experience, to scientific investigation, to being received by our outward organs of senses. Saint Gregory the Theologian distinguishes between religious belief--"I believe in someone, I believe something." He writes: "It is not one and the same thing 'to believe in something' and 'to believe something.' We believe in the Divinity, but we simply believe any ordinary thing" (On the Holy Spirit," Part III, p. 88).

(Sources: The Law of God and Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)

(To be continued)

__________________________

"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Existence of God

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

Who is God?

God is He (we know He is a "He" because Jesus referred to Him as a Father) Who made the world and Who made everything in it visible and invisible. He is our Father in heaven. Of course, one may argue that that is a very limited argument for someone who does not believe. So the question is: How can one at least listen to the arguments that God exists; in our day, perhaps that argument may come from science itself. If it indeed a revolutionary experience to see that in our century, science has resurrected God beyond anybody's expectations. Let us what they have to say:

Scientists are hard to work in a committee, an academic friend once told me, because they often change their minds when they see new evidence. I was reminded of this a few months ago when I saw a survey in the journal Nature. It revealed that 40 percent of Americans physicists, biologists, and mathematicians believe in God and not just some metaphysical abstraction, but a deity who takes an active interest in our affairs and hears our prayers: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This percentage, it turns out, is exactly the same as it was in 1916 when an identical poll was taken. Strikingly, as the nation's intelligentsia has turned toward atheism, man in the scientific community have struck to theism. They apparently haven't changed their minds about whether God exists.

But should they have? In the 19th century, religious orthodoxy endured blow after blow at the hands of science. Geologists fatally undermined the literal truth of Genesis, making a mockery of Bishop Usher's calculation (arrived at by totting up the "begets" in the Bible) that the creation took place in 4004 BC. Chemists demystified life by synthesizing its organic molecules in the lab. Darwin and Wallace's theory of evolution seemed to banish Divine Providence from the sphere of nature once and for all, replacing it with the groping of blind science. "There is no God and the ape is our Adam" cried a vexed Cardinal Manning.

The quasi-scientific 19th-century school of thought known as materialism, which held that matter is the fundamental and final reality, excluded the possibility of an immortal soul. Man was a machine; the brain produced consciousness as the liver secreted bile. And if matter was eternal, as the laws of conservation suggested, it made no sense to suppose that a creator could have brought the material universe into existence es nihilo at some point in the past.

Newton had thought that the deity's role was to make occasional adjustments to the solar system lest it runs down, an idea that Voltaire and the other philosophers of the Enlightenment found congenial. But Newton's 19th-century successors demonstrated that a clockwork universe was actually self-sustaining; no divine help was required to keep it operating smoothly. When Napoleon asked Laplace where God fit into his equations of celestial mechanics, the great physicist coolly replied, "Sir, I had no need of that hypothesis."

It was this new spirit of scientific rationality that allowed Nietzsche to declare that God was dead. By the turn of the century, skepticism about the claims of faith had become the norm among thinking types, including scientists. As far as the typical intellectual was concerned, religion was at best a socially necessary fiction. At worst, it was dangerous humbug-the opiate of the masses.

But if the scientific findings of the 19tth century eroded belief in God, those of the 20th century have had just the opposite evidential force, although few intellectuals outside science have come to terms with this. Traditional arguments for the existence of God, which seemed outmoded a century ago, have had new life breathed into them.  

Take the "cosmological argument." Why does the universe exist at all?

Philosophers of an Aristotelian kidney reasoned that it must have an external cause-a creator, namely God. By the 19th century, the cosmological argument had ceased to be taken seriously. If the universe has always been around, the revised thinking went, then maybe its existence was just a brute fact requiring no further explanation.

In this century, however, it has been discovered-much to the surprise of scientists like Einstein-that the universe hasn't always been around. Rather, it suddenly exploded into being some 15 billion years ago in a flash of light and energy. The abrupt emergence of a world out of nothingness with the big bang bears an uncanny resemblance to the Genesis command: "Let there be light..." Atheists now had some explaining to do.

Then there is the "argument from design" the claim that nature is so wondrously fashioned that it must have been the handwork of a Divine Artificer. The wing of the eagle, the shape of the orchid, the swiftness of the antelope: all these weren't produced by a beneficent deity, submitted 19the century Darwinists, but by random mutation and natural selection. Since then, critics of a religious bent have sought to show that the theory of evolution is false or at best, incomplete. The biochemist Michael J. Behe argued that gradualist Darwinian processes could never have given rise to the intricate molecular machines of life.

How can there be God?

There can be one God, because He revealed Himself to Adam and Eve, to Moses and to the Prophets, and, especially, because He appeared in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Can we know through common sense that there is God?

Yes, we can know through common sense and reason that there is God because everything around us proves that the is God. Nothing can come to existence by itself; a house requires a builder; a watch needs a watchmaker. So, heaven, earth, and all things visible and invisible (Angels) presuppose a Creator.  The fact that there is a certain order in the universe also proves that the order was designated by a very intelligent Mind. That Mind is God.

Do all people everywhere believe that there is God?

Yes, everywhere and always people believed that there is God. History and anthropology/sociology teach us that there were no people who did not somehow believe in God. That God, however, may not have been the True God that Christians believe.

What is conscience?

Conscience is a voice in man which says: "this is right" and "that is wrong." From a biblical standpoint, conscience is:

Witness: Romans 9:1: "I say the truth in Christ I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit."

Does conscience prove that there is God?

Yes, because it presupposes "someone who" will reward good actions and punish bad actions.

How does God differ from man?

God is a Spirit. He is Everlasting, Perfect, Infinite, Creator, and Master of all things. Man has a body, he dies, he is not perfect, etc.

Why do we say God is a Spirit?

We say God is a Spirit because He has not a body. But as people could not understand Him, they thought of Him as having a body, like a man.

Where is God?

Because God is a Spirit, He is everywhere. He is Ever-present.

Does God see everything?

Yes, God sees everything-the past, the present, the future, and even all our secret thoughts.

What else is God?

God is agape (love). He is also Almighty, Merciful, Righteous, Unchanging, Immortal, All-Wise, Self-sufficient.

Does God care for everything?

Yes, God cares for everything. He governs with righteousness, with wisdom and kindness. This is what we call Divine Providence.

What is a Mystery?

A Mystery (i.e., a secret) is a Truth of God that we cannot fully understand but must believe it. It defies explanation and understanding. It cannot be proved by any means except through faith.

Which are the chief Mysteries of the Christian faith?

The chief Mysteries of Christianity include the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, the Mystery of Incarnation, the Mystery of Redemption, the Mystery of Resurrection, and others.

What does the Mystery of the Holy Trinity mean?

The Mystery of Holy Trinity means that in God, there are Three Divine Persons, really distinct, yet equal: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

What is the soul?

A soul is a spirit that has understanding and free will and never dies.

Why do we say that the soul is the "image" of God?

We say that the soul is the "image" of God because the soul is also an intelligent spirit and free and it never dies, as God never dies.

Are we sure that we have a soul?

Yes, because, otherwise, without a soul, we could think no moral or good things and we would not have willpower to act freely.

Why did God make us?

God made us to know Him, to serve Him and to be happy with Him forever.

When did God make the first man?

God made the first man after He previously prepared His earthly abiding place (i.e., the Universe).

How did God make the first man?

God made the body of the first man with earth and then He breathed His spirit (a soul) into that body.

Did God abandon man after his first sin?

God did not abandon man after his first sin; He promised to send down someone who would save him.

Who was that?

He was Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, who was made man.

(Source: A Catechetical Handbook of the Eastern Orthodox Church)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

December 12 - Saint Spyridon the Wonderworker (Part II)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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THE LIFE OF SAINT SPYRIDON THE WONDER-WORKER (Part II)

The First Ecumenical Synod was victorious against the heresy of Arius. Thereupon they were giving thanks to our Lord and Savior, having the Saint in great regard; not only the people and the hierarchs marveled and honored him but also the Emperor to a considerable degree. He besought Saint Spyridon to always entreat God on his behalf. Since the Synodical sessions had finished, Saint Spyridon went directly to his See and homeland.

When Saint Spyridon arrived in Cyprus, he found that his daughter Irene had reposed. She was a virgin who had never known a man, and she had kept her virginity inviolate that she might present it to her heavenly Bridegroom Christ. The bereaved holy man endured this affliction courageously, as one sensible and prudent. A few days after Irene was interred, a tearful woman approached the Saint and excitedly said, "I entrusted to thy late daughter's care certain articles, that is, expensive gold jewelry. But her repose came so quickly thereafter that I had not the opportunity to inquire where she deposited them."

Now Irene, for greater security, had buried the articles. The Saint carefully and diligently searched his entire house, but he was unable to find the jewelry. Saint Spyridon then went to the tomb of his daughter, followed by some other persons. Then, as though Irene were still alive, he began asking her, "Irene, my child, where didst thou put the woman's gold jewelry?" The dead daughter answered with a lively voice and disclosed a certain place. "That is where I have hidden the articles, my father." All those who clearly heard Irene were filled with dread and terror at that prodigious wonder. The Saint, as though he were master of life and death, spoke again to his girl, saying, "Be sleeping, child, until the Lord should raise thee at the universal resurrection." Saint Spyridon then went to the spot disclosed y his daughter and found the gold jewelry. This furnished proof of that phenomenal miracle.

The miracles performed by Saint Spyridon are just too many to enumerate. However, I will mention a few of them.

The Saint Resurrected Mother and Child

After the Saint left the palace, a certain Christ-loving man wished to offer the Saint hospitality in his home. While he was there, a certain barbarian woman, who could not speak Greek, entered. She bore in her arms a dead infant whom she laid at the feet of Saint Spyridon. Tears welled up in her and flowed abundantly, as she was making signs and gestures to the Saint that he resurrect her child...He, therefore, went to his knees and poured forth tears that moistened the floor below, entreating with faith the Merciful Physician to resurrect the child of the distressed mother and to show her to be "enjoying herself over children (Psalm 112:9).

The Saint kept praying. The Lord hearkened to Spyridon and raised the formerly dead child in a miraculous manner. The child began crying for food and for his mother. When the mother beheld her beloved child alive, she breathed her last on account of this unsurpassed event and her immeasurable joy. So the Saint again lifted his eyes heavenward and entreated Him Who grants life to the dead mother and said, "In the name of the Lord, rise." She straightway rose up, as though from sleep, and took the child into her embrace. The holy man then ordered both the woman and the deacon not to reveal this miracle to anyone.

The Miraculously Filling Church Lamp

On another occasion, as the Saint was chanting Vespers (Esperinos), the lamp was about to be extinguished, which would interrupt the divine office. He stood there grieved as he looked at the waning lamp. Straightway, an invisible power filled the lamp with oil to overflowing, so that some spilled on the floor. Consequently, the church servers brought in after jar after jar, and the jars were being filled by the overflowing oil. Thus with the miraculous filling of many vessels, even as it happened in ancient times for the widow by Prophet Eliseos, the abundance of grace that dwelt of grace that dwelt in the holy bishop was made manifest.

Saint Spyridon healed Emperor Constans of a grave sickness, seeing and hearing Angels, foreseeing future events and penetrating the secrets of the human heart. He turned many to the True Faith and did much else. By God's power, he made rainfall in a drought, stopping the course of a river, raising several of the dead. He dressed so simply that once when he was invited by the Emperor to the imperial court, a soldier took him for a beggar and struck him a blow. The meek and guileless Spyridion turned him the other cheek.

The Miracles of Saint Spyridon

In the days of old, the island of Kerkyra (known in modern times a Corfu) was stricken by a severe famine, and many necessities of life were lacking. On Great and Holy Saturday, the Saint appeared to the captains of certain nearby vessels and informed them of the serious need, and they brought wheat to the island. Therefore, the Holy Pascha was celebrated on the previously afflicted island with great splendor and joy with the provisions bestowed by the Saint.

Plague

At another time, a plague menaced the city of Kerkyra, and everyone, whether stricken or not, flocked to the shrine of Saint Spyridon, for there was a grave concern that the entire city would be contaminated. Yet, many of the pious people were not harmed in the least, and straightway, through the Saint's intercession, health and well-being were restored to the island.  

On the 12th day of December, in the year 348 A.D., Saint Spyridon gave his soul into the hands of God. He was 78 years old. He bequeathed his sacred relics to the island of his birth, as a consolation for the faithful and as a fountain of healings. Upon his repose and up to the present day, his boldness before the Lord is even greater than when he was alive, as he has been shown to be a wellspring of miracles.  

Saint Spyridon's presence has especially been felt on the island of Kerkyra (Corfu) where his holy relics are now found. More than 16 centuries have passed, and he has remained unravaged, being entirely incorrupt. He remained at Trimythous until the middle of the 17th century on account of barbarian raids. It then pleased God that the holy relics should be translated to Constantinople. The Saint was discovered to be whole and incorrupt, by the grace of Christ, and his skin was intact and supple.

Upon the fall of Constantinople--worthy of tears on Tuesday morning, the 29th day of May, in the year 1453 A.D., by the Islamic forces, a certain priest, Father George Kalohairetes, took up the holy relics of Saint Spyridon and bore them away to the island of Kerkyra (Corfu), lest the Moslem Turks should destroy the holy relics. His reliquary was placed in a small room of his church in the Capital city. It is opened daily for public veneration. His feet are exposed, and many Orthodox Christians kissed them. The reliquary bearing the Saint is carried about the city during his feast day. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos 

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George