Videos from the Conference "The Orthodox Church of Antioch from the 15th to the 18th Century"

The Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology has just finished conducting a major conference entitled "The Orthodox Church of Antioch from the 15th to the 18th Century: Towards a Proper Understanding of History". They have very graciously put up videos of all the sessions on YouTube. I especially encourage you to watch the presentations by Constantin Panchenko (at the end of the Opening Ceremony), Carsten Walbiner (Session One), Hasan Çolak (Session Three), and Ioana Feodorov (Session Four).

Opening Ceremony:

Opening remarks by Fr Jack Khalil and Prof Elias Warrak [in Arabic]

His Beatitude John X: Opening Remarks [in Arabic]

Constantin Panchenko: Unia of Florence and the Church of Antioch, A Retrospect [in English]

Session One: The Historical and Political Context

Tom Papademetriou: The Ottomans and the Orthodox Patriarchates (15th to 18th Centuries) [in English]

Christos Arambatzis: Méthodes d'instauration de l'union écclesiastique et réactions au Proche Orient pendant le XVe -XVIe siècle [in French]

Carsten Walbiner: The Impact of Greek Thinking and Greek Prelates on the Patriarchate of Antioch in the 17th and Early 18th Centuries

Session Two: Relations with the Other Orthodox Churches

Giannis Bakas: The Historical Relations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the Church of Antioch and their Collaboration, the Case of the Metropolis of Aleppo [in Greek]

Vera Tchentsova: The Relations of Athanasius III Dabbas, Patriarch of Antioch, with Moscow [in English]

Session Three: Relations with other Peoples

Fr Chrysostom Nassis: A View from Without, The Church of Antioch through the Eyes of Seventeenth Century Anglican Divines [in English]

Hasan Çolak: Orthodox Responses to Catholic Missions in the Patriarchate of Antioch, Institutionalization and Centralization [in English]

Andreas Müller: The Greek-Orthodox Church of Antiocheia in Modern Western Literature, An Overview [in English]

Session Four: Intellectual Activity and Culture

Martin Lüstraeten: Which Typikon? The Typikon of Malatiyus Karma as an Attempt to Unify a Liturgical Tradition [in English]

Ioana Feodorov: Printing for the Arab Christians in the 18th Century: Antim the Iberian, Athanasios Dabbas, and Sylvestros of Antioch [in English]

Elie Dannaoui: The Syriac-Arabic Liturgical Manuscripts in the Rum Orthodox Church of Antioch, A Survivor of an Extinct Tradition

 

Session Five: Domestic Affairs

Fr Bassam Nassif: Pastoral Renaissance under Three Patriarchs of Antioch: Euthymius Karma, Macarius Zaim, and Athanasius Dabbas [in Arabic]

Fr Saba Nasr: Antiochian Manuscripts of a Historical and Theological Response to the Events and Results of Ferrara-Florence [in Arabic]

Fr Harith Ibrahim: "Cutting Sword": An Apologetic Manuscript by Hieromonk Maximos [in Arabic]

Session Six: Patriarch Sylvestros: Life and Works

Symeon A. Paschalides: "A Living Saint of the Church." Patriarch Sylvestros of Antioch (1724-1766) and the Signs of Sanctity in his Church Ministry [in English]

Archimandrite Policarp (Chițulescu): Patriarch Sylvestros of Antioch as a Defender of Orthodoxy: A Survey of his Anti-Catholic Books Printed in Iași (Moldavia) in the mid-18th Century [in French]

Mihai Țipău: The Rediscovery of the Arabic Book of Psalms Published by the Patriarch Silvestros in 1747 in Bucharest [in English]

Session Seven: Relations with Rome

Fr Spiridon Fayad: Unknown Icons of the Iconographer, Patriarch Sylvestros of Antioch (+1766) [in Arabic]

Fr Michel Najim: Uniatism in Contemporary Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue [in Arabic]

Souad Slim: Three Orthodox Manuscripts from Balamand in Reply to the Catholic Claims [in Arabic]

 Session Eight: Roundtable [multilingual]

Fr Jack (Khalil): The Transfiguration in the Teaching of the Apostle Peter

 Arabic original here.

The Event of the Transfiguration in the Teaching of the Apostle Peter

We read in the first chapter of the Second Epistle of the Apostle Peter a passage that summarizes our steadfast faith in the Lord Jesus as God and Savior and how we act according to His calling us and choosing us to be a chosen people and holy nation for Him.

God has promised us that in His kingdom we will be partakers of the divine nature and He has given us everything for life in knowledge of Christ.

On the basis of this profound knowledge and deeply-rooted faith, we flee the corruption of lust which is in this world, we expend every effort and offer in our faith virtue (2 Peter 4-5) so that we may bear fruit for the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Peter does not stop reminding the faithful of the necessity of remaining steadfast in virtue and truth.

Truth, in the language of the Bible, is God's will, which we do not disappoint if we rely on it as the path for our life.

The Apostle is eager to remind because he feels the approach of his departure from this world and the end of his mission of sharing the good news of what he witnessed with his own eyes and heard himself from Christ.

The Apostle had already informed them verbally of his having beheld the greatness and glory of Christ-- that is, His divinity-- but he repeats the account of the transfiguration that he witnessed on the holy mountain in the company of James and John, because of the importance he attaches to this event on a personal level.

We thank God that we have in this passage an additional narrative of  the Transfiguration alongside the narrative of the Gospels, which makes for multiple testimonies, confirming the historicity of this event according to the standards of historians.

Nevertheless, believers do not need every letter written about Jesus to be confirmed, "for prophecy never came by the will of man," as the Apostle Peter says.

The event of Christ's divinity showing forth before the eyes of His apostles is a sign of power and proof of the never-ending life in Him.

The Apostle Peter looks at this event as a lamp shining forth in a dark place. That is, he walks in life following the light of this event, until daybreak.

Followers of Christ in every time and place must remember these things in order to struggle in virtue and persevere in truth.

The showing forth of Christ's divinity, His cross and His resurrection from the dead, unlike Greek mythology and the mythologies of ancient peoples, are not "fabricated myths" where we do not know who saw them or who reported them. Rather, they are established events that were witnessed and reported by servants of the word and eyewitnesses to them.

We believe that "holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" and they reported the glory that they saw and the voice of the Father which they heard, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased."

This beloved Son is the truth in which we abide by faith, love and virtue.

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil)

Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology-- Balamand

Fr Jack (Khalil): The Feast of Pentecost

Arabic original here.

The Feast of Pentecost

It is the fiftieth day, which was the second most important feast in the Old Covenant, which was celebrated on the fiftieth day or, after seven weeks, from the Feast of Passover (Leviticus 23:15-16, Deuteronomy 16:9-10), so it was also called the "Feast of Weeks" (cf. 2 Chronicles 8:12-13).

On the fiftieth day, all members of the people were to appear before the Lord in His temple (Exodus 34:22-23). The people kept this feast just as it kept the Sabbath and it was not permitted to undertake any work, but rather they had to go to the House of the Lord to offer thanks.

The Arabic word 3ansara [i.e., Pentecost] comes from the Hebrew 3asrit, which is derived from the Hebrew verb 3isar, which means 'to gather, to collect'.

The word means "gathering," which in the usage of the Old Testament indicates the "feast," a day when the people gather in joyous celebration of thanksgiving to God. According to later Jewish tradition, Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day after the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt.

Then, after the Savior's ascension, the fiftieth day acquired a new meaning with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whom Christ had promised to the Apostles. The Apostles looked out in prayer and patience for the fulfillment of Christ's promise to them (Acts 1:4, 14) and the Holy Spirit came upon them like power poured out within them. On the fiftieth day, the Holy Spirit revealed Himself in person, enlightening the minds and hearts of the Apostles and changing their life. He likewise made them worthy of the hard work of evangelizing, to which they were committed until the last breath of their life, becoming witnesses to God the Word incarnate who conquered death, so that the borders of the Church might extend and encompass the corners of the earth, as Christ our God commanded.

At the completion of the days of celebrating glorious Pascha, as the souls of believers are immersed in holy joy on account of Christ's resurrection and ascension to heaven, the spiritual exultation reaches its peak on the Day of Pentecost. The fathers of the Church gave great importance to this feast in their sermons, which abounded in explanations of the holiness of this day. Just like the great Feasts of the Lord, the Church dedicated an entire week to celebrating this feast and singing its hymns.

When the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and upon us who are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, Christ came to be within us by His Spirit who dwells within us (Romans8:9-11), enlightening out minds, speaking to us, inspiring our thoughts, encouraging us to everything that is peace, love and holiness, and making "everything work together for the good of those who love God." By the grace of God's spirit, the concern of those who believe that Christ is the Savior of the world turns from that which is fleshly and selfish, fixed on earthly benefits, fragile material security and bodily pleasures to that which is spiritual, directed by the voice of the Spirit, who, if one loves and follows Him, one experiences power, happiness, peace, tranquility, and holiness that the world is unable to give.

The Holy Spirit has given us a new spiritual law that achieves justification from sins and holiness and guarantees salvation if we faithfully follow this way of life, obeying Christ who dwells within us by His Spirit and bearing witness in the world by word and deed.

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil)
Saint John of Damascus Theological Institute

Archim. Jack (Khalil): "The Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness"

Arabic original here.

"The Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness"

The four evangelists agree that John the Baptist was the voice crying out prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah (40:3). According to the Apostles Matthew and John, the Baptist himself was the one who announced that Isaiah's prophecy was being fulfilled.

The prophecy appears in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 40, which announces the consolation of Jerusalem. Its context is very important for understanding the message that the Baptist wanted to deliver by declaring that the prophecy was being fulfilled. The Prophet Isaiah had previously informed the King Hezekiah that his people would be taken captive to Babel and enslaved there (39:6-7). After that, he announced God's visitation to Jerusalem and His pardon of its sins (40:2) and His coming there to save it (40:5, 9-10).

He told of the voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord (40:3). The Baptist's indicating the fulfillment of this prophecy is in harmony with the main idea of the message that he brought, that he was at the forefront of God who had drawn near to "save His people from their sins." The Baptist's indicating the prophecy about the voice crying out in the desert bears his declaration to Jerusalem and to all the nations over the generations, that God has visited His people and stretched out His hand to point with His finger to show us Jesus, the Lord of Glory, saying "Behold your God" (40:9).

As for the main idea of the prophecy about the voice crying out, it must be pointed out that that the reading of the Masoretic text differs from the translation of the Septuagint, the reading on which the four evangelists relied. According to the Septuagint, the phrase "in the desert" grammatically modifies the word "voice", so the sentence is "a voice crying out in the desert," while in the Masoretic text the phrase belongs to the main clause. That is, "in the desert prepare the path of the Lord."

Whatever the case may be, it is established that what the Prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming of our God to His people has been fulfilled. Wherever the term "wilderness" may be in the formulation of the phrase, its theological meaning remains undistorted, just as the Prophet Isaiah intended.

What, then, is the meaning of the "wilderness" emphasized by the Prophet Isaiah?

In order to answer this question, we must remember that it was in the desert that the covenant between God and His people was established. It became God's promise to them and they learned to live according to the covenant's law.

The life of the wilderness made its impression on the Jews' spiritual experience. For this reason, the desert transcended its geographical definition to take on a theological meaning. It is the way of life of the covenant between God and His people. It is the emptying in which man finds no help apart from God.

He ate from the provision that God gave him, drinking His water and warming himself from His heat. The experience of the wilderness is summarized in the Holy Bible by liberation from cares, abandonment of all human guarantees, absolute reliance on God and remaining in His presence.

When the Baptist said that he was the voice crying out in the wilderness, he was addressing to us the announcement that the fullness of time had come and that "He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in," (40:22), God the Word, who created everything, had become incarnate and come to dwell among us.

In the wilderness, John cried out to remind us that we attain knowledge of God when we rely on Him alone and nothing else and that we are made holy by His blessings when we are freed from earthly cares and live before Him according to His Gospel.

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil)
Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil): Working together with Christ

Arabic original here.

Working together with Christ (2 Corinithans 6: 1-10)

Today's Epistle reading comes directly after a very profound theological teaching.

It is preceded by a touching discourse on the faith, in which the Apostle explains the greatness of God's grace that is directed to all humans so that they may transform out of their selfishness and fleshly self-love through participation in the event of Christ's death and resurrection. Our God in whom we believe is the God who came down and became "sin" and "condemnation" for our sake, so that in Him we may become God's righteousness (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21).

This event constitutes the essence of the Gospel to which the Apostle Paul was consecrated to preach and from which he draws all his decisions.

Therefore he says at the beginning of this Sunday's reading, "We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain."

These words epitomize the Apostle of the Gentiles' feeling of responsibility because of his certainty that his partner in work in none other than the almighty God and that his sole purpose is for grace to be fixed in those who have accepted the Gospel and have started the path of change in their life and their priorities. For their part, the believers must not disparage the grace of salvation that they have attained "at an acceptable time" for God.

When grace descends, we must not oppose it. The Apostle Paul reminds us of this, that we are not the ones who determine the appropriate time for God's work in our life and the time of our repentance.

The matter of times and seasons is in God's domain, since He is the one who is pleased, "at an acceptable time and in the day of salvation," to incline toward our misery and rescue us.

When grace touches our hearts, we must not harden our hearts, we must not procrastinate or delay. The Apostle continues, highlighting the responsibility of the evangelist to uphold believers in grace.

He says, "We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed." That is, that there not be suspicions about the motives for service that would scandalize the faithful and limit the enthusiasm of their commitment to their baptismal vow. For this reason, the Apostle informs the faithful of Corinth about his constant eagerness, along with his companions, to be truly servants of God. To achieve this endeavor, the Apostle does not care about his own personal needs, his circumstances or the hardships he is subjected to, since his inspiration his Christ who came down for our sake.

On the other hand, the Apostle struggles so that the clay vessel of his body may be pure, "in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left."

In this way, there does not remain any doubt about the credibility of his message to the faithful, who see his devotion, his self-denial and the holiness of his way of life among them. The enthusiasm of his spiritual struggle springs from his apostolic zeal and his love for the one who sent him, Jesus Christ, and nothing separates him from them.

He bears human ignominy for the sake of divine glory, curses and evil report for the sake of the praise that comes from God.

Perhaps some of them thought he was deluded, but he was truthful. He did not strive for fame, but rather wanted to remain unknown, so that he may be "known by God," as he says elsewhere.

He realizes very well that life is not in scrambling for money, power or lusts, but rather in dying to sin with Christ.

No matter how painful and burdensome the persecution and punishments, they will never be able to destroy him. He likewise proudly expresses his happiness at the sorrows that afflict him and the poverty that he experiences because of the grace of God that passes through him in order to reach people is a fortune by which many are enriched.

People see him stripped of the possessions that give their owner a sense of security, but he possesses the heavenly treasure, "here neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:20).

We learn from the Apostle Paul that the service of the New Testament requires a firmer dedication than the consecration of the Levites and priests in the Old Testament. It requires wakefullness, struggle and holiness in order for us not to set obstacles before God's holy work. The Apostle Paul teaches us the priorities that must direct our thoughts and behavior. If these prevail among brothers, then peace be unto them and blessed are they, because their light will shine out before people and they will be confirmed in grace and will praise our Father in heaven.

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil)
Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil): "Belive in the Lord Jesus Christ and You Will Be Saved"

Arabic original here.

"Belive in the Lord Jesus Christ and You Will Be Saved" (Acts 16:31)

After extensively expressing the futility of the Mosaic Law for justifying man, focusing his confrontation with the Law on circumcision, which is the sign of the Covenant, the Apostle Paul stressed that faith in Jesus Christ is the sole standard for justification.

He then epitomized this truth, saying "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6). What is this faith that has become the precondition for entering into God's New Covenant?

Faith is man's response to Christ's word (cf. Romans 10:17). Christ speaks, placing His word on the toungues of His apostles (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20, 13:3) because the apostle is the servant of God's work (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:18), inasmuch as he transmits the call to the peoples to improve their relationship with God. But God Himself is the one who preaches and calls to this (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

When he says, "As though God were pleading through us" and "we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God," (2 Corinthians 5:20), the Apostle Paul is clearly emphasizing that God waits for man to accept His work; God, who loves mankind and is all-good, who made His Son "who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21), did not stop at this sacrifice, but continued His initiative and here He invites man to accept the gift. For this reason, the Apostle Paul does not hesitate to say, "Now all things are from God" (2 Corinthians 5:18) because God offered His Son in order to justify man and instead of waiting for an appropriate offering on the part of man, you see Him inviting man to accept the good things that He offers him freely (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:20).

Man's awaited response is not, however, in keeping the commandments that address fleshly man in order to realize justification, lest he fall into an ignorance resembling the ignorance of the Jews who attempted to atattain their own righteousness (cf. Romans 10:3). But in what pertains to God's salvific work, Christ is the standard of justification through faith and the Law alone, without Christ, cannot justify any person (cf. Galatians 3:21 and 8:3), "for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4; cf. Galatians 3:24).

So man must hear Christ's word and learn the word of the Gospel of salvation so that he will end up with strong faith and the open confession that Christ is Lord.

This epitomizes the experience of faith and this experience explains the statement that "faith comes by hearing" (Romans 10:17). The experience of faith begins by accepting the word of the Good News (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:11, 14) and ends with obedience.

Through the interconnected relationship of faith in Christ and obedience to Him, Christ becomes man's Lord and Savior. The Apostle Paul states that he has received grace and apostleship from Christ in order to establish "the obedience of faith" among all the nations (Romans 1:5, 16:26). When man accepts Christ and confesses Him as Lord and Master of his life, his acceptance is then transformed into submission and his confession into commitment to Christ's word. This truth is made even clearer in the Apostle Paul's expression, "... for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ" (2 Corinthians 9:13).

So the Apostle Paul does not consider faith to be mere intellectual acceptance and declaring that "Christ is Lord", but rather faith for him is man consecrating his entire life to God (cf. Philippians 3:7-8) and obeying His word and His will. This is what must be manifest in man's relationships with God, with his brothers in humanity and with creation.

Faith, as obedience, is a different way of life from the path of sin (cf. Romans 6:16-17). When one believes, he is committed to teaching what he has heard and accepted. And faith, as obedience, is man's total submission to the one who has become master of his life to the point that all self-reliance is excluded, lest he falls into bosting of his own abilities, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded" (Romans 3:27).

This faith is the precondition for justification from sins. That is, salvation from sins and the judgment that they entail. Justification is not accomplished by striving to apply the works of the Mosaic Law and all its obligations, but through faith (cf. Romans 3:27) which is, before all else, submission and obedience to Christ, who forgives sins freely.

He who believes in the Lord Jesus entrusts Him with his whole life and so he does not live, from now on, except for Christ who lives in him, and he is saved.

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil)

Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology

Fr Jack Khalil: A High Priest Like This

Arabic original here.

A High Priest Like This

Today we commemorate the translation of the relics of the doctor of the Church, John Chrysostom, the faithful shepherd who served and toiled in imitation of the Good Shepherd and the hierarch who served the mysteries of Christ Jesus, the Great High Priest. Therefore the Church has arranged a reading from he Epistle to the Hebrews where the author of the epistle presents Christ's salvific priestly work by His sacrifice that He offered for the forgiveness of sins.

The Apostle compares Christ, the chief priest whose virtue covers the heavens, in whom there is no evil, stain or sin, to the chief priests who served according to the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament, who afterwords resisted Christ's salvific dispensation. The latter are people who performed the law in order to serve the temple made with hands, while people suffer from their weaknesses.

But Christ is completely different from them and no one resembled Him apart from the king of peace, Melchizedek.

In the previous verses, the Apostle had compared Melchizedek, the priest and king, who has no father or mother, alive, a priest forever, and Levi, the father of the tribe of priests who performed the law.

From Psalm 110:4, he concludes that Christ's high priesthood was not established according to the human commandments of the law (Hebrews 17:16), but according to the divine promise to be a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, to whom the patriarch Abraham submitted.

The Apostle observes in the previous verses that the promise was given after the law, so why did he liken Him to the order of Melchizedek instead of saying according to the order of Levi? In the passage read today, he explains the reason: Christ's priesthood is not like the Levite priesthood.

The Levites performed the law, but He came according to the divine promise. They offered sacrifices daily for their sins first, then for the sins of the rest of the people, but Christ is without blame and without sin and He offered His blood as a single eternal sacrifice.

They serve in a temple made by human hands, but the eternal Son sat at the right hand of the great throne in heaven, performs the liturgies in the true tabernacle, not the shadow of it (that is, the temple of the law), which God established, and grants forgiveness of sins to believers.

Chrysostom was a hierarch. He stood in the place and likeness of Christ. He derived his priesthood from Christ's priesthood because he offered the one, sole sacrifice that Christ offered once, which is forever placed on the heavenly altar in the true tabernacle.

He worked and toiled in Christ's vineyard. He fought the good fight, imitating the God Shepherd and faithful High Priest. So if it is fitting for us to have a High Priest like this who has realized perfection (Hebrews 7:11-19), then Chrysostom refused to be anything but like Him, following every day the way of perfection through the cross. There is no priesthood except that which is in the likeness of the great High Priest and there is no priest except the one who imitates Him, is united to Him, is filled with His Holy Spirit and is pleasing to the Father in everything. We celebrate Chrysostom because he, as a person like us, became a hierarch worthy of serving the sacrifice of the New Testament, which Christ serves upon the heavenly throne.

Archimandrite Jack Khalil
Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil): The Orthodox Tradition

Arabic original here.

The Orthodox Tradition

Many people unjustly accuse the Apostle Paul of innovating in the faith, to the point that some people ignorantly regard him as having established Christianity in its current form.

Objective study, however, makes it clear that the Apostle Paul adhered to the words of the Lord Jesus, which were transmitted by those who had witnessed the Word with their own eyes and served it during the time it was preached earth, just as the Church has preserved it since the Apostolic Era.

The Apostle Paul teaches us in today's epistle [1 Corinthians 15:1-11] to remember that we have received the deposit of true faith by which we are saved if we hold fast to it and preserve it as a guide for our life.

The first thing that we learn from the words of the Apostle Paul is that the principles of the faith are not subjective, in the sense that they do not depend on what we find attractive or what we reject in them. We receive the faith as the apostles handed it down and we must hand it down just as we received it.

Otherwise, its ecclesial character disappears from it and it becomes an individualistic faith. In other words, the orthodoxy of the faith that the Church has taught us across the generations disappears, transformed into the faith of this or that person...

The chosen vessel Paul did not want to innovate a faith particular to himself. Nor did he inquire with his mind about the foolishness of the preaching that the wise men of this age did not comprehend. Rather, he also accepted, as he himself affirms in today's epistle, the foolishness of the cross that the Church preaches.

He accepted the wretched foolishness that brings people heavenly peace and joy and grants them healing, the splendor of salvation and the earnest of the Holy Spirit.

The Church has not known intellectual disdain for the "foolishness of the cross" like what we are witnessing today. Some have called the current era the "post-truth" era, in the sense that truth has become what I myself see to be true, not what has been made as clear as the sun.

People today do not flinch from denying objective truth and offering excuse after excuse to justify what they say and win if someone tries to argue with them.

But their rebellion against God's truth came generations before this and perhaps the truth has lost its luster in our days because people have loved falsehood more than truth and heresy more than the truth of the Gospel.

We preserve our ecclesial identity to the degree that we keep the tradition that we have received.

The orthodoxy of our church has been kept through worldly codes and canons only in name. Orthodoxy of faith is tied to intellectual submission to the apostolic tradition that does not change, does not develop and does not increase or decrease because we have received it from the One who does not change, but rather "remains the same yesterday, today and forever."

Therefore we submit to the faith and do not scorn it. We preserve the faith and do not subject its sanctity to our intellectual pride.

Perhaps our deep understanding of the faith begins with submission to what we have received, so that we may know and understand... A language is not understood if one has not learned it first.

The Apostle Paul hands down to us what he himself has also received and accepted: the Lord Jesus died as was buried and arose victorious.

In response to those who deem these words to be foolishness, the Apostle Paul takes recourse first of all to the proof of the Holy Bible, which had previously witnessed to God's salvific dispensation (cf. Romans 1:1-2).

For those who do not grant any significance to the Bible, the apostle affirms that hundreds witnessed the Lord risen and glorified.

The truth of the Gospel is not an intellectual system. Rather, it is an event that has entered into humans' history, shaped their present and alone guarantees their future.

Archimandrite Jack (Khalil)
Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology