Reblogged from Bishoy & Amanda's Blog - Our Coptic Orthodox Faith!:

Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind.

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Reblogged from Bishoy & Amanda's Blog - Our Coptic Orthodox Faith!:

The following passage comes from the book "Jesus: A Dialogue With the Saviour" written by a monk of the Eastern Church:

"Blood flows from your forehead, from your hands, and from your scourged body (O Lord). It flows slowly in long streams. It is going to flow from your open side as though your heart were bursting under the pressure of Your suffering love.

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Hey Guys St Shenouda’s Monastery is running a brilliant competition that focuses on composing new church hymns, based on the patristic writings dealing with the life of St Shenouda the Archmendrite.

So if you have any ability or God Given Talent in composing hymns, CLICK HERE for further details.

Good Luck!

Hey everyone, today’s post comes from Ryan Rivera, who has become the sites newest contributor, Enjoy the Read!

God wants us to be happy, and to find happiness in all of our endeavors. And yet it’s not uncommon to find anxiety standing in the way. Anxiety is an issue that can hold us back from living the life that God wants, which is why it is in your best interest to find a source of treatment that can help you live within the path He has set out for you.

But what is perhaps most interesting about anxiety treatments is that trust and faith in God can actually be all of the treatment you need. Yes, there are medicines and therapies available, and certainly talking to someone when you need a helpful ear can be advantageous, but the truth is that God’s love has also provided us with most of what we need to cope with our anxiety symptoms.

The Causes of Anxiety

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7) 

One need only look at the causes of anxiety to see how God plays an important role in treating it. Some of the most common causes of anxiety are:

• Fear
• Problems Coping
• New Things/Change
• Lack of Personal Control
• Loss of Perceived Social Support

All of these are some of the most common causes of anxiety in men and women of all ages, and yet each of these can be improved with a greater connection to God.

• Fear – God’s love is there specifically for us not to be afraid. When one subjects themselves to God’s will, there is no reason for fear. As it says in Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.” God has a plan, and as long as you live within God’s laws and believe what He wants you to believe, fear is an emotion that will no longer hold any weight. Truly giving yourself to God in this way can be difficult, and is often a lifelong process for people. Nevertheless, the more you accept God’s will, the easier it becomes.
• Problems Coping – Even those that have devoted themselves to God experience stress, because stress is a natural body emotion. It’s how you deal with that stress that matters. Developing healthy coping strategies is important, and when you trust in God, He becomes your coping strategy. As it is written, “when anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Psalm 94:19). Prayer and the teachings of the Bible show you how to live within God’s love, and that itself has a powerful effect on the way stress affects your life.
• New Things/Change – Change can be physically and emotionally scary for people. But God helps with that as well. When you trust that everything is within God’s plan, then change is simply another step on the journey, and less likely to take over your emotions. As it says in Jeremiah 29:11-12, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
• Lack of Personal Control – “A man cannot discover anything about his future” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). One of the most profound causes of anxiety is when you do not feel in control of your life. This is often caused by abuse, or by problems arising around you that you were unable to stop. This is also cured by God. The truth is that we are never in control of our lives. He is. And if we feel that we’re suffering from a loss of control, we can help reduce this by changing our mindset about the importance of control in our lives.
• Loss of Perceived Social Support – Finally, friends and loved ones are always a source of comfort, and if you are not feeling supported by your friends and relatives, it’s possible to feel anxiety as well. But God loves you and will always love you. Even if your friends and family are not supplying you with the support you feel you need, God does, and God always will once you let Him in. “The Lord watches over all who love him” (Psalm 145:20).

Anxiety has a lot of different causes. But the more you accept and live within God’s love, the less of an effect these anxiety causes will have. Accept and love God, and you’ll find your anxiety slowly starts to go away.

About the Author: Ryan Rivera knew his anxiety was caused by a lack of acceptance and without a feeling of being supported. He writes about anxiety and better living at www.calmclinic.com.

Sixth century Alexandrian Theologian, Scientist & Philosopher

By: Fr Anthony St Shenouda

When we speak of the church fathers we immediately think of St Athanasius, St Cyril, St John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, and the many other well known patriarchs & deans of the School of Alexandria. Only recently have I come across a man who has been very influential in Coptic Church in the sixth century, yet virtually unknown to many Copts today. He was no patriarch, or a priest or even a monk, yet his theological, philosophical, and scientific, writings have been very influential in his time and only started to resonate its effect in the late 20^th century in the scholarly field.

John Philoponus[1] was born from Christian parents in Egypt around the year 490 A.D. He received his philosophical learning at the pagan school of Alexandria, which was rising to prominence over and against the declining school of Athens which shut down by an edict of Justinian in 529 A.D. He received his learning from Ammonius Hermeion a skilled pagan philosopher. John’s youth was not spent in barren academic learning but he belonged to a group of committed Christians in Egypt along with St. Severus of Antioch who later on become the non-Chalcidonian patriarch of Antioch. This group of Christians – like the first seven deacons in Acts – embarked on charitable works; building churches, and holding heated discussions with non-Christians.

At the age of 27 he started writing his series of commentaries on Aristotle’s work. In this work he did not only prove himself to be successful in his Christian life and learning, but his success in religious life was reflected on his secular learning. In his commentaries he refuted Aristotle’s concept of “eternity of the world” in which he scientifically and philosophically proved that the world had to have a beginning and that beginning took place in Genesis’ creation narrative. L.S.B MacCoull[2] further suggests that in another work he published a “path breaking rejection of the steady-state universe in favour of a ‘big bang theory’ consistent with the Christian doctrine of creation.”

Also in his commentaries on Aristotle’s work he argued against Aristotle’s theories of motion, hinting to a theory that was eventually developed by later great scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Isaac Newton. He argued against the common Aristotelian theory of the time that there is a duality between that which is heavenly and that which is earthly. Philoponus also argued that the light of the heavens with that was produced by creatures upon the earth both belonged to a wholeness that was the creation of the logos of the creator[3] against the Aristotelian theory that they were separate.

John Philoponus in his defence of Christianity in the scientific arena did not only offer original and clear arguments against common misconceptions in the field of science in his time but he also laid the foundation for modern scientific methods with compelling influence upon the scientific culture down to our present time.

“However, of greatest important is Philoponus’ cosmology, based upon his monotheism. Believing that heaven and earth were both created by God ex nihilo he vehemently attacked Aristotle’s assumptions with regard to the eternity of the universe and its dichotomy into a heavenly and sublunary region. In particular he tried to disprove by physical considerations Aristotle’s belief that the sun and the stars consisted of aether, and claimed that they were sources of fire of the same kind as terrestrial fires, being like those subject to creation and decay. Moreover, he declared that all matter everywhere is nothing but tri-dimensional extension and in this respect, too, there is no difference between heaven and earth. Philoponus’ philosophy found no echo in his time, and twelve hundred years had to pass until the impact of Galileo’s ideas brought about a complete change in scientific thought.”[4]

John Philoponus did not only leave his work on the scientific front, he also contributed immensely to the Christological controversy of his time. In the aftermath of the council of Chalcedon many attempts were taking place to reconcile the two parties of the controversy. Justinian the Roman emperor at the time who sided with the Chalcedonians, asked John to come and debate the issue in person. But to our good fortune Philoponus declined the offer, but he set out to write down his theological position as a representative of the non-Chalcedonian church. This document “The Arbiter” comes down to us in Syriac and was recently translated to English by Uwe Michael Lang[5].

In the Arbiter Philoponus has strongly defended the non-Chalcedonian position without attacking the opposing party. He emphasises the fact that two sides are believing the same concept yet one emphasises unity of natures in fear of duality and the other emphasises duality of natures in fear of confusion. This is how he explained it:

Our contemporaries, who contend on the holy Incarnation of the Logos, the majority of them, as it were, except for a few in number, while their opinions largely agree, are only opposed in words to each other; while the one side has agreed to say that after the holy union, which is beyond reason, of the Logos with humanity, they confess one composite nature of Christ, the others have decreed that after the union nonetheless two natures ought to be predicated, and not one. A sign that their opinions, as I have said, do not conflict with each other is the fact that the majority of our contemporaries do not say these things in controversy. Rather, in every statement which is pronounced by either of them, each side avoids the absurd implications of its opinions; the one of change and alteration of the natures that have come into union, the other of a division into particular hypostases, so that each hypos­tasis would appear simply on its own, as one can hear from those sick with the impiety of Nestorius who speak of the same union only to the degree of a relationship. For the one party say they name two natures only because of fear of confusion, and the others seek to avoid the term “duality”, because they fear dissolving the union; they preserve the property of each nature without confusion, even though the one Christ is recognised by them as the end-product of their composition. Thus the denial of the absurdities believed to attach to each of these propositions is a proof, I think, of agreement in doctrine. You will not find that this happens with the other heresies. For each of them embraces as true doctrines the points criticised by those of orthodox views and they champion them and imagine that their opponents act impiously. But I hold it to be a feature of the piety of lovers of truth that each of them can introduce matters which unite the separation created by such controversial language.

Further down in his argument he explains that the one-nature formulation makes sense logically and soteriologically. The church he says would never have disunited if the formulation of “two natures of Christ” had never been perpetrated. Philoponus also explains well how with a “composite one” we can speak of certain parts of the composite without having to assert their unity. This letter caused him to be declared a heretic by the Chalcedonian party in their second council of Constantinople in 553 A.D.

In another polemic work against Chalcedon Tmemeata he attacks the notion of the primacy of the Pope of Rome in ecclesiastical matters, which started to surface at the council of Chalcedon. He argues that his primacy is a mere custom, supported by the greatness of the city of Rome because of its imperial authority and not in accordance with any ecclesiastical order.

There are many writings by John that are extant and that deal with various aspects of Christian life, for example on Pascha, which he describes the events of the first Eucharistic service on Holy Thursday, affirming among other things that Christ used leavened bread. There is also his commentary in Genesis, in which he among other things discusses the nature of angels.

John’s fate is not certain in the Coptic tradition. It is claimed with some evidence that he was condemned for heretical views on the resurrection, which also may explain his absence from Coptic Church liturgy books. Yet his legacy will be like that of his Alexandrian predecessor Origen, who’s some of his disputed works condemned him a heretic yet his influence in biblical exegesis is very clear in the writings of many of his orthodox contempories.

Philoponus’ work[6] from the sixth century can help us in thinking about our Christian views on scientific matters today in the 21^st century. His works can also be a common ground of discussion with the Eastern Orthodox church especially that they have recently lifted the condemnation of his work “the Arbiter”.

To sum up, this very little known great figure of our church is worthy of notes. He lived in a world that was overcome by pagan philosophies and scientific beliefs that directly attacked Christianity, while the church was in turmoil over the Christological controversy. This environment is very familiar to us today in many ways. Despite the many challenges he faced he found ways to reconcile scientific methods with Church beliefs on one front and participate in theological debates when need arose.

The commentary of the Coptic Funeral Rite of the Patriarch spoken as if it was from the mouth of HH Pope Shenouda III.

Once again as much confusion has arisen this is NOT HH personal will rather it is the Commentary to be read at the funeral of every Patriarch!

The words I am going to say are the words from His Holiness Pope Shenouda talking to his children, these are words of comfort and condolences to you all

I am your father and teacher, all of you my children, listen to my commandments, for I ask you my beloved children, preserve and look after the faith of the Holy Trinity.
I ask my beloved children, love one another with a true love. 
I ask you my beloved, do good with all of humanity.
I ask my beloved children, do not let the world deceive you.
I ask you my beloved children, do not fall short or “be not eager” in the service of the Lord.
I ask you my beloved children, to pray unceasingly and tirelessly.
I ask you o my beloved children, preserve your tongues from causing any division.
I ask of you my beloved children, to preserve the Holy Baptism that was granted to you.
I ask of you my beloved children, preserve your bodies pure for the Lord.
I ask of you my beloved children, do not ever let your lamp go out but let it give off light
I ask of you my beloved children, preserve the commandments that God gave to you.
I ask of you my beloved children, that the fear of God be within you.

God is witness, my beloved children, that I did not keep any of God’s words from away you…that I never ever slept my children, and i have no blame with anyone of you…that if you preserve and keep what I have told you, you will crush the head of the serpent and dragon. So hence, if you preserve and keep what I have said to you, you will eat of the goodness of the earth. So hence, if you preserve and keep what I have said to you, the shinning Cherubim will guard you. So hence, if you preserve and keep what I have said to you, you will never lack Heavenly gifts.

I ask of you my beloved children, to ask of Christ for my soul, that it may have comfort in front of Him, that he may not count my short falls, unknowingly and unwillingly.

(Then he directs his talk to the Bishops, clergy and priests)

I ask for your love and I plead to your reverence, to absolve me. And now, I am far from you and left you, and I cannot see your faces. And now I ask of you all, that you exhaust yourselves in prayers for me, remembering me in the Holy Liturgies, that my Master may accept me to Him, and forgive me.

And I ask Christ, the Great Shepherds of Shepherds, that he may elect for you a righteous shepherd according to His Will and heart, that he may shepherd you and your matters and watch for the salvation of your souls.

“Pray for those who persecute you”

Matt 5:44

A soldier made it his practice to end each day with Bible reading and Prayer. As the others gathered in their barracks and retired for the night, he’d kneel by his bunk. Some of them saw this and began to mock him. But one night, the abuse went beyond words. As he bowed down to pray, one soldier threw his boots and hit him in the face. The others jeered, looking for a fight but there was no retaliation. The next morning when the boot thrower woke up, he couldn’t believe what he saw. There at the front of his bed were his boots – polished and returned.

Imagine shining the boots that kick you! That calls for grace. It means deciding what your response will be before the offence comes!

Why did Jesus pray from the cross, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do”?

Because he understood that people who have been raised a particular way, who are driven by certain forces, who have preconceived ideas, need God. And he saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate the mercy of God.

This requires more than church on Sunday Religion. It calls for a Christ like, example setting, love-displaying response that makes others sit up and take notice.

Your rights and your ego are NOT the issue, the one you represent is!

^“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8