26 December 2017. Points to Ponder… Bishop Lazar On This and On That

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Editor:

Continue to pray for Bishop Lazar. He’s recovering from his stroke and doing as well as one can expect. I agree with the following excerpts. I concur with Vladyki Lazar… there’s nothing worse than an earnest and unsmiling “moral” prig… I do daresay that I’m not alone in thinking that way.

BMD

Proof-texting is simply silly. You can contradict any set of proof-texts that sectarians come up with by using another set of proof-texts. There’s nothing that you can argue from proof-texts that you can’t disprove using another set of proof-texts. No single verse or a random collection of verses, removed from the narratives of which they’re a part, has any meaning at all, no matter how pretty or lofty it may sound.

Let me respond to some critics who reply that one must vote for Republicans because they’re (so they claim in order to get votes) “anti-abortion”. That position makes one ill. What moral value is there to be anti-abortion whilst promoting a healthcare system that leaves millions of children unable to receive healthcare so that many of them will die? What moral value is there to a blind focus on that single issue, totally disregarding their denial of climate change, with a mindless disregard for the already-born, and for future generations of children who will dies horrible, painful deaths, while Evangelicals and others hold a gross superstitious denial of man-induced climate change and a religious reverence for corporate profits margins? Why is it that when one talks to these people about the plight of the already-born, one’s words only irritate them or fall on deaf ears altogether? Pro-life has become a fetish rather than a sincere belief because those who are single-issue voters demonstrate a callous indifference to the plight and future of the already-born children of our world. Not looking at the broader picture and voting for already-born children, and future generations of children isn’t moral, it’s utterly shameful and despicable.

It’s difficult to assess which group is most responsible for modern atheism… rightwing “Christians” or televangelists. Rightwing Orthodox clergy contribute as much as any sectarian (or, one might say any “other” sectarian) religious group to driving young people away from Christ. Likely, however, televangelists contribute more to the growth of modern atheism. Certainly, rightwing “Christians” contribute their share, however.

The notion that the world will end when Christ returns is certainly not an Orthodox Christian idea. In fact, the world won’t end at all. The love and glory of Christ Jesus will embrace and transfigure our world and universe. God won’t destroy the works of His “hands”, which he called “very good”, but will glorify it in transfiguration. Perhaps this is why the Symbol of Faith (Creed) and a number of mistranslated verses in Scripture speak of “THE AGE TO COME”, not “the world to come”. Perhaps, the Holy Synod might consider putting the original words at the end of the Symbol of Faith in our service books so the Creed could have a more authentic rendition.

Bishop Lazar Puhalo