Mankind
is being split in twain. Some are
embracing again the old traditions as much as they can; others are rejecting
whatever is left of them.
On
the former:
. . . I
think that what [Hank] Hangegraaff is doing is actually very predictable. He of
course has his own personal reasons for making the change from the Protestant
church to the Orthodox Church, but his conversion is actually part of a trend
that is going on worldwide; and this trend involves nothing less than a return
to traditional ways of life and belief, what scholars call
retraditionalization.
What we have to understand is that decades of
secular globalization have actually detraditionalized cultures and societies,
replacing traditional ways of life with more globalistic and consumer based lifestyles.
So while traditional societies believe that every person born into the world is
born into a moral obligation to conform their lives into a harmonious
relationship with the divine meaning and purpose inherent in the world around
us, globalistic secular societies reduce the human person to a sovereign
individual who has no moral obligations apart from that which one chooses for
oneself. And so globalistic secular societies tend to be very hostile towards traditions,
since traditional conceptions of say religion, gender, and sexuality are now
considered unduly oppressive, intolerant, and unjust.
Now the fact is that decades of this secular
globalization has
reignited and reawakened a hunger and a longing for traditional ways of life and society. It’s not just a matter of Farmers Markets being set up to counter the anti-communal effects of the local mall; globalization provokes similar sentiments that create a groundswell of support for a return to far more traditional and religious ways of life.
reignited and reawakened a hunger and a longing for traditional ways of life and society. It’s not just a matter of Farmers Markets being set up to counter the anti-communal effects of the local mall; globalization provokes similar sentiments that create a groundswell of support for a return to far more traditional and religious ways of life.
For example, we’re seeing nothing less than the
re-awakening of Byzantine-inspired Christian civilization in Eastern
Europe. Not only has Russia rebuilt over 15,000 churches
since the end of communism, but a recent survey found that 30 percent of
Russians would like to see a return to some kind of monarchical rule comparable
to the Tsars. Just a few months back, the Catholic Bishops of Poland, in the presence
of President Andreiz Duda and many Catholic pilgrims, officially recognized as
the King of Poland and called upon Him to rule over their nation, its people
and their political leaders. You have Hungary reincorporating
Christianity into their constitution. You have the president of Moldova saying
that his country has no future without Christianity. You have polls that
indicate that the Orthodox Church is the single most trusted institution in
nations such as Georgia and Bulgaria.
And we’re finding that this retraditionalization is
particularly evident among young people. When Pope Benedict brought back the
Latin Mass, also known as the Tridentine Mass, it was expected that the congregants
showing up for its revitalization would be people over 60, who are old enough
to remember their Latin from before the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s
that replaced the Latin Mass with vernacular worship. Instead, to everyone’s
amazement, the majority of congregants showing up were Catholics in their
late-teens and early twenties.
And when asked about this, priests such as the Rev.
Christopher Smith in South Carolina,
who conducts a Latin Mass, note that young people see a great sense of beauty
and reverence and devotion, and also a sense of historical continuity. They’re
enamored with praying the same prayers that saints from 1,500 years ago were
praying when they went to Mass, in the same language. And Fr. Smith has further
noted that attendance at his parish’s Latin Mass has grown from about 60 to
more than 300 worshipers.
Moreover, you have the renaissance of classical
Christian education throughout the nation, which of course involves the
revitalization of Latin and Greek as well as theology as the queen of the
sciences and the reading of the literary classics. You have a mass boom in homeschooling
both here in the States and in Russia.
You have a return to big families, where it’s no longer an anomaly among
conservative Christians to have 6, 7, or 8 children. In fact, the Amish are doubling
in population every 20 years. You have the advent of Prayer Book Presbyterians
and churches rediscovering the liturgical calendar and practicing things like
Ash Wednesday. And the hottest thing in Christian circles right now is what’s
called ‘The Benedict Option,’ a communal lifeworld modeled after the tradition
of St. Benedict.
Now this retraditionalization is not only going on
in formerly Christian civilizations; we’re seeing the advent of Sharia councils
in the U.K. that arbitrate between conflicts among Muslims, the revival of
imperial Shintoism at the highest levels of the Japanese government, a
revitalization of Confucian philosophy among Chinese officials, Hindu
nationalism in India, Islam in Turkey, and on and on and on.
And of course, we have a tsunami of nationalist
populism sweeping throughout Europe and the U.S., all of which involve some
form of reawakening localized traditions, customs, languages, ethnicities, and religions
as mechanisms of resistance against secularizing globalist tendencies.
. . .
Source: Steve Turley, http://katehon.com/article/hank-hanegraaff-converts-eastern-orthodoxy-heres-why,
opened 6 May 2017
On
the latter:
Last year Harari argued that the world will
experience a radical shift in the next 200 years.
Using biotechnology and genetic engineering,
Professor Harari claimed the wealthy will transform into a new type of divine,
immortal human with complete power over life and death.
He argued that the rich are set to become God-like
cyborgs in what could be the ‘biggest evolution in biology’ since life emerged.
During a recent speech at the Hay Literary Festival
in Wales, Professor Harari said, ‘We are programmed to be dissatisfied,’ The Telegraph
reported.
‘Even when humans gain pleasure and achievements it
is not enough. They want more and more.
‘I think it is likely in the next 200 years or so
homo sapiens will upgrade themselves into some idea of a divine being, either
through biological manipulation or genetic engineering of by the creation of cyborgs,
part organic part non-organic.
The technology to do this, however, will be
restricted to the very wealthy, claims Professor Harari.
Up until now, he says society has been held
together by inventing ‘fictions’, such as religion, money and the idea of
fundamental human rights.
As long as humans believed they relied more and
more on these gods they were controllable, he said
‘But what we see in the last few centuries is
humans becoming more powerful and they no longer need the crutches of the
Gods.’
Source: Stacey Liberatore, http://www.theeventchronicle.com/science/upgrading-humans-gods-will-next-billion-dollar-industry-expert-claims/#,
opened 6 May 2017
Artificial intelligence and machine learning will
create computers so sophisticated and godlike that humans will need to implant
"neural laces" in their brains to keep up, Musk said in a tech
conference last year.
"There are a bunch of concepts in your head
that then your brain has to try to compress into this incredibly low data rate
called speech or typing," Musk said in the latest interview.
Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/21/elon-musk-on-mission-to-link-human-brains-with-computers-in-four-years-report.html,
opened 6 May 2017
The
temptation of man to turn himself into a god, into a superman, without God is stronger
than ever. However, this has already
been achieved by the saints: they who
raise the dead, heal sicknesses, are unharmed by heat, cold, etc., control the
weather, stop the sun in its path, tame wild beasts, know the thoughts of the
others, see things yet to come, see events happening in places afar off, appear
to people likewise far away, multiply food, and so on.
It
is not necessary for men and women to satanically mutilate themselves in order to
attain Godlikeness.
Resistance
to completely utilitarian, mechanical efficiency is futile. (Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek),
opened 9 May 2017)
When
we unite ourselves to God by the ways He has taught us through the Holy Scriptures, the
Holy Fathers, etc., all things are possible:
. . . God is
united to humanity in the womb of the Virgin – Adam’s human nature is made
divine in the union with God. Eve was tricked by the Serpent into thinking she
could become like God by disobeying God. In Christ the hope of our being
god-like becomes a reality for in Christ God submits Himself to taking on human
nature. Christ, the incarnate God, conforms humanity to God’s will that we
would become divine.
A pain causing lesson: we don’t become divine by
asserting our will against God but only by submitting our will to God’s will.
Source: Fr
Ted Bobosh, http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/102118.htm, opened 6 May
2017
Kevin: What is the ultimate goal of the acquisition
of divine grace for the Christian?
Fr. Michael: Simply put, it is to become like God;
to be saturated with the uncreated grace of God in a permanent and abiding way
so that “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
This is the condition of the Saints, theosis or deification.
The Fathers use the analogy of iron and fire. When a rod of iron is placed in fire for a
time, it takes on the properties of the fire, i.e. it becomes red hot. It doesn’t become fire itself, nor does it
cease to be iron; rather, the iron participates in the properties of fire. In a similar way, our humanity can
participate in God’s grace (not His essence) because of Christ’s incarnation,
death, and resurrection. This is the
ultimate “good news” of the Gospel and the goal of Orthodox Christianity. This is the purpose for which we were created.
Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/behind-the-scenes/2016/11/08/eastern-orthodox-theology-grace-shanbour/,
opened 6 May 2017
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the
Souð!
Anathema
to the Union!
No comments:
Post a Comment