
Life Line	March 15, 2006	Volume 3: Issue 2

Dear Reader:

With the Lenten season upon us we as Orthodox Christians are reminded that, though, at times, the world seems to be collapsing all around us, in actuality, we are blessed to be living in an era of hope and extraordinary potential made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For this we are eternally grateful, ever vigilant, and invigorated with great hope in humanity and the blessed Trinity. May the love of God the Father, the strength Holy Spirit and the gift of the resurrection be yours forever and ever. Amen. As always, we invite you to continue sharing your questions or comments on any issue facing us as Orthodox Christians by e-mailing: info@light-n-life.com.

Sincerely in Christ,
The Staff at Light & Life Publishing

By Anthony M. Coniaris

       Someone said, "Easter is the one day in the year when anyone may attend church without incurring any suspicion that he is deeply committed to Christian faith and life."
       And yet Easter is the highest holy day of our Orthodox Christian faith. Without the resurrection of Jesus, life has no meaning. Referring to the burial of our body after we die, Pascal said, "The last act is bloody, however fine the rest of the play. They throw dirt over your head and it is finished forever." Without the resurrection, the ultimate end of man is nothing more than a shovel full of dirt over a dead body. Without the resurrection of Jesus, to use the words of Eric Hoffer, "We are condemned to death at birth, and life is a bus ride to the place of execution. All of our struggling and vying is about seats on the bus, and the ride is over before we know it."
       Death surrounds us. Daily we hear of war. The globe is overloaded with nuclear arsenals of death and destruction. Diseases old and new stalk our land, leaving death in their wake. Oppression and injustice rob human life of its fullness. Death is present in so many forms we could despair.
       If we are indeed part and parcel of a meaningless universe, the kind in which Jesus could be murdered on a cross with no resurrection, then being depressed only makes good sense. For, indeed, we have something to be depressed about.
       Father Dimitrii Dudko said, "What sense is there if everything ends in death? A person dies and that is it. One can only really speak of life if life is eternal."
       And that is why Easter is the festival of festivals for Orthodox Christianity. It is the festival of the most radical, decisive and ultimate deliverance and joy this universe has ever seen.
       Meliton of Sardis in a memorable Paschal letter written in the second century explains the reason for this Paschal joy by placing these words in the mouth of the Resurrected Christ:

Come to me all-you families of mankind, sullied with sin, and receive the remission of sins. For I am your forgiveness. I am the Pascha of salvation. I am the Lamb sacrificed for you. I am your redemption. I am your life. I am your resurrection. I am your light. I am your salvation. I am your king. I lead you to the heights of heaven. I will show you the Father eternal. I will raise you by my right hand.

Father John Meyendorff explained what the centrality of Pascha in the
Orthodox Church means:

that in the midst of a world dominated by death, there is one single and unique hope: the Risen Christ:
that in the midst of a world conscious of its mortality and therefore determined by fear of death, there is a solution: life
that in the midst of a world which continually offers man false securities, such as power, money, illusions of “social” or “scientific” progress, there is also an offer made by God Himself: that of eternity and joy in Christ.

       There are those who say, "I believe only in the spiritual resurrection of Jesus," to which we reply, "There is no such thing as a spiritual resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus did not go into the tomb. It was His body that was laid in that sepulcher. His Spirit was alive as He descended into Hades to bring salvation to the Old Testament saints."
       It was not a ghost that walked out of that tomb. It was the whole person of Jesus Christ - body, soul, and divinity. Following the resurrection, Jesus ate and drank with His disciples even allowing them to touch Him to see that He was not a ghost. … for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have, he said in Luke 224:39.
       We live in the dark labyrinth of death. We seek desperately to discover the fabled lost thread of Ariadne, that will lead us to the way out, to the exit. That precious thread of Ariadne that leads us out of the dark labyrinth of death is none other than the Risen Christ. He is the exit from the dark tomb of death to life. This is expressed so well in the Orthodox icon of the Resurrection which shows the Risen Lord reaching down into the labyrinth of Hades to lift Adam and Eve and with them the rest of mankind from death to life.
       I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the ages to come, we proclaim in the Nicene Creed. Pascha involved the raising of the body of Jesus and it will involve our bodies when He comes again to raise us from the dead at the General Resurrection.

The Lenten Spring
by Thomas Hopko

Recommended by: Dan Christopulos

       “Joy is at the heart of everything in the Christian life, and Great Lent is no exception.” The words that begin the second meditation in Fr. Thomas Hopko’s book The Lenten Spring, might seem counterintuitive to us as Orthodox Christians in the new world. And yet, as the author demonstrates throughout the forty meditations, this theme of joy, and brightness and light, is one that permeates the prayers, the fasting, and the almsgiving of Great Lent.
       How often have we heard fasting described in terms of “giving something up for Lent,” or as a means to mortify our flesh? Or, been exposed to therapeutic theories that espouse the psychosomatic benefits of abstinence (from food and other indulgences) recently popularized by Hollywood stars who ascribe their new “health” to such practices. But, as the author explains, “The lenten spring is welcomed by Christians in the Church not as the time for self-inflicted agony or self-improving therapy. It is greeted as the sanctified season consecrated to the correction, purification, and enlightenment of the total person through the fulfillment of the commandments of the crucified God.”
       If one does not fall into the typical western society oversimplifications of fasting (and hence Great Lent), stated above, there is the equally pervasive temptation among faithful Orthodox to experience Great Lent with a darkness, gloom, sentimentality and sadness that we mistakenly appropriate as proper Lenten piety. Again, the author cautions, “How distressing that so many take this time…as a season for sentimental devotions, anxious introspections, and pietistic pseudo-sufferings ‘together with Jesus.’”
       After reorienting us to the true nature of this period, supported by Holy Scripture and the Church’s hymnology, the author accompanies us on our Lenten journey as a seasoned guide, pointing out, through his meditations, all the beauty and joy that is ours to experience as we go to up to Jerusalem with our Lord.
       Drawing upon his vast experience as a pastor and professor, the mediations are profound and yet accessible for all Christians. One by one they unfold as spring flowers blooming and ushering in the lenten spring. The book is an ideal travel-guide for all who undertake this yearly lenten journey to the cross and the empty tomb.

The Resurrection and Modern Man
by Ignatius IV Patriarch of Antioch

Recommended by:
Alex Goodwin

       “Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev 21:5). There are books that are so profoundly and beautifully written that their contents and wisdom alter your perception and understanding of all that is. By examining this sublime statement of the Father and the divine purpose of the coming of the Son The Resurrection and Modern Man is one such book. The author, Ignatius IV Patriarch of Antioch, is the one hundred and seventieth Patriarch after Saint Peter and has grafted a work of seminal importance regarding the Orthodox view of the resurrection that transcends space and time, shattering the earthly bounds that stifles and kills modern theology.
       In a concise 97-page volume His Beatitude Ignatius IV has woven an intricate tapestry of words that express the resurrection not in terms historical occurrence or cause and effect phenomenon affecting only the realm of the physical, but as an ever present and future present act of creation at work in the realm of the spirit. The church, he argues should not merely exist in the past, but also in the present and the future. Not in attempt to attain sociological or anthropological relevancy but to embrace reality through an appreciation of, and an existence in, the Holy Spirit, which is and will be at work for all time. This “prophetic theology” breathes life and relevancy into what it means to be Christian. “It is because God comes as man that man cannot really be himself unless he is deified.”
       This is a bold yet gentle restatement of truths that have been forgotten by the West and lost to the distraction of man’s perplexing fascination with the scientific analysis of the physical world. This book will invigorate the spirit and is perfect for Lenten reading. It goes well beyond simple commentary, revealing a way for us to emerge from the shadows and to immerse ourselves in the creative light of the Holy Trinity.

Copyright © 2006 Light & Life Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of these articles may be reproduced by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of Light & Life Publishing.

Q: There seems to be a growing attitude of disbelief in any kind of evil force or even the devil as a reality; what do we believe as Orthodox?

A: There are many of us who find it hard to believe in a personal force of evil, Satan or the devil. Though the Church has taught the existence of a personal devil from its very beginning, the one very clear and obvious thing to even the most sophisticated of us, is that the power and force of evil is very real. From "sophistication," many who have denied both God and the devil have now fallen into the service of evil and submitted themselves to its power. Some of these have "rediscovered" the devil and turned to Satanism and devil worship. A recent issue of a national news magazine highlighted the resurgence of occultism in our cultivated, highly educated and technological society. It is a sad commentary on our secular society, which seeks to push out the influence of Christian faith from its public life, for in the place of the religion of Christ, there now appear the covens of superstition and devil worship. Long ago the New Testament book of 1 Peter gave the necessary direction to all Christians:

Awake! be on the alert! Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, prowls round looking for someone to devour. Stand up to him, firm in faith . . . and the God of grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ, will. . . restore, establish, and strengthen you on a firm foundation. He holds dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8-11)

The church's continuation of the work of Christ as the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Light, the salvation of men from evil and of Christ's victory over death, sin and evil, clearly make it violently and sharply opposed to all forms of occultism. We see this in the theology of the Church, which explains the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ as victory over the force of evil in the life of mankind. The exorcisms of the baptismal service and the joy of the midnight Resurrection service point to this fundamental enmity between the church and any movement which would identify itself with the powers of evil. In the words of the Apostle John, "the Son of God appeared for the very purpose of undoing the devil's work" (1 John 3:8)..

"Contemporary Moral Issues
Facing the Orthodox Christian"
by Stanley S. Harakas

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