Search results

So, whenever anyone doesn't like a Canon, all they have to do is claim that it's being interpreted too rigorously? How convenient and arbitrary. What criteria would one use to make this determination? You either believe in the teachings of the Canons or you don't.

That's appeal to consequence, which is a fallacy. Church teaching is what it is. The Modernists today have no regard for the Canons, for Scripture or for the Tradition of the Church. I'm not accusing you of Modernism. The young man you speak of committed his sins before baptism. These canons...

The Church has enough fasts. Why would Elder Ephraim want to improve on the Church calendar of fasts, as if the Holy Spirit didn't get it right the first time? And the very notion of marital fasting implies that the couple is doing something wrong by being married. This is abuse and sounds a bit...

Who drove to a monastery with a truckload of loaded firearms? The evidence only shows that Scott had a gun. It is very important to be as accurate as possible on line, because rumors and slander can result. As for Elder Ephraim if he did in fact have two refrigerators with imported cheese, and...

Appeal to a conspiracy theory is in fact an informal fallacy. You have committed this fallacy when you suggest that the Holy Fire is fake. Conspiracy theorists tend to overlook the high degree of improbability with large scale conspiracies. You recommended an article about logical fallacies on...

I believe Elder Ephraim's monasteries have been targeted by modernists, ecumenists, and jealous people, but nevertheless, according to one source, Elder Ephraim taught that if we marry, we will probably go to hell. I don't know if he really believed this though, because there is so much gossip...

I don't know how read you are in logic, but you made a mutually exclusive claim, and actually did in fact appeal to a conspiracy theory. It is a conspiracy theory to allege that the Holy Fire is not real. And it is mutually exclusive (contradictory) to claim that it is accomplished by...

You're assuming that this teaching is the source of my concern. I read material where he allegedly stated that most married people go to hell, and he gave a demeaning and Gnostic type interpretation of marriage. But I am being honest when I say that I don't have proof that this information is...

The Orthodox Church is guided by the Holy Spirit, and accepts prayers to saints; and the history of the Church vindicates this practice. The saints are alive and deified in Christ. I wouldn't pray to any person unless he/she has been canonized.

You're giving a conspiracy theory, which is a fallacy. The Orthodox Church accepts the miracle of the Holy Fire. What is Greek fire and Byzantine pyrotechnics? The Holy Fire occurs in Jerusalem. And how would you explain the spontaneous ignition of candles inside and outside the church? This is...

Today, we have the historical method so we know what is history in the ancient world. I read your section on the Gospel of Mark. Here are some details about GMark that I would like to share. The New Testament scholar William Lane Craig said that most scholars believe the Gospel of Mark is...

I have mixed feelings about Elder Ephraim. Several years ago someone online claimed to be Scott Nevins, the man who later committed suicide near Elder Ephraim's monastery. I don't know if this is true, but he said this about Elder Ephraim: "He's no ascetic either! He has two refrigerators full...

Probably Howard Storm, former atheist.

Did Elder Ephraim give this interpretation, that you two communicated wordlessly, or is this just something that you believe?

Remember, the three children of Fatima had a simultaneous vision of hell. There's no such thing as group hallucinations in the psychological literature. These children really saw something. I've listened to a lot of NDE hell testimonies. Many people have died and claimed to be in hell, and were...

It sounds like telepathy. I'm curious what he actually communicated to you.

I would like to hear about the miracle of Elder Ephraim. I had an instant answer to prayer, once when I prayed to Saint Phanourius, the patron saint of lost items. One time I lost my drivers license, and could not locate it anywhere. I prayed to St. Phanourius for help, had barely finished the...

Critical scholars not only believe that Paul wrote First Corinthians, but they also believe that First Corinthians 15:1-3 is rooted in an Aramaic creed, dating from 1 to 5 years after the crucifixion. 1Corinthians 15:3-5: “ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how...

Critical scholars (Christian, Jewish, Atheist, Agnostic, Liberal) grant seven epistles as authored by Paul (they are Pauline): Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon. Using the data granted by these scholars, we can build a case for the...

The Roman Catholic collar is in fact a symptom of modernism, but many Orthodox believers today are desensitized to these innovations. The problem with these clergy is that they do not trust the Holy Spirit and the tradition of the Church, so they take matters into their own hands, and...