InChristAlone's Blog

[InChristAlone]

I want to start this blog to share some interesting facts that I find recovering the roots of my Christian faith. It may turn out to be too simplistic. But I am a simple man. So bear with me, please.

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I have never pondered the idea of sin. We all know: sin is sin. It means:

a) an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law;
b) an act regarded as a serious or regrettable fault, offence, or omission.

We know that the Gospels were written in Greek. So I wondered what word the four evangelists had used in Gospel, talking about sin. I was surprised to know that the original meaning was a bit different. The Greek word hamartia (ἁμαρτία) is usually translated as sin in the New Testament. “Hamartia” means "to miss the mark" or "to miss the target.” In other words, God is our target. Sin is an action that doesn't lead us to God.

Orthodoxy also understands sin as a disease of the soul, an illness or infirmity, a condition where the soul is lacking in God's grace. Union with God, which is made possible through Christ, is the ultimate medicine. The mysteries of the Church are vehicles leading towards union with God. The healing takes place in Holy Baptism, the Holy Mystery of Penance, Holy Unction and by worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist: The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.

Jesus forgives our sins through the sacramental power given to the Church, first to the Apostles, then to their successors, right down to the present day, when He told them: "After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:20-23

PS There are about seven different Greek words for sin, each one having a slightly different meaning.

1. You already know the first word, "hamartia" = "to miss the mark". This is the general Greek word for sin. It's used 221 times.

2. "Hettema" = "diminishing what should have been given full measure".

3. "Paraptoma" = "falling when one should have stood". It means an unintentional slip. Example: Eph. 1:7, KJV = We have "the forgiveness of sins (paraptoma), according to the riches of His grace".

4. "Agnoeema" = "ignorance when one should have known". Example: Heb. 9:7, KJV = "the errors (agnoeema) of the people".

5. "Parakoe" = "to refuse to hear and heed God's word". Example: 2 Cor. 10:6, KJV = "disobedience".

6. "Parabasis" = "to intentionally cross a line". Example: Heb. 2:2, KJV = "every transgression (parabasis) & disobedience (parakoe) received a just recompense of reward".

7. "Anomia" and "paranomia" = "lawlessness, or willfully breaking God's written rules". Example: Titus 2:14 KJV = Jesus gave himself for us in order to "redeem us from all iniquity (anomia)".

[OBW]

An interesting place to start. And one that I had some view into a year or so ago.

It seems that there is some evidence that the Greek word does not actually have the implication of "miss the mark," but that the word that was translated into may have that as one of several meanings that came along over time. So, while we have so often used the archery definition, the real meaning may not really be that, but rather to violate the rules.

Not saying this is simply right and the old thinking is wrong. But it may be.

[InChristAlone]

Originally Posted by OBW

An interesting place to start. And one that I had some view into a year or so ago.

Thank you, OBW. I'm sorry for the late reply. I didn't have Internet access for the last few days.

Originally Posted by OBW

It seems that there is some evidence that the Greek word does not actually have the implication of "miss the mark," but that the word that was translated into may have that as one of several meanings that came along over time. So, while we have so often used the archery definition, the real meaning may not really be that, but rather to violate the rules.

Wish we knew Greek. I've checked the definition from Wikipedia and some other sites.

This one is from Wiki:

"The Biblical Greek term for sin is αμαρτία (amartia) which means missing the mark, it means that our aim is out and we have not reached our goal, our fullest potential. As in Western Christianity, in Eastern Orthodoxy, the goal is union with God. Orthodoxy also understands sin as a disease of the soul, a condition where the soul is lacking in God's grace. Union with God, which is made possible through Christ, is the ultimate medicine."

BTW, I was also surprised to know in the Orthodox Church there are no “categories” of sin as found in the Catholic Church.

In the pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic catechism, sins were categorized as “mortal” and “venial.” In this definition, a “mortal” sin was one which would prevent someone from entering heaven unless one confessed it before death. Not only were such things as pride, lust, and sloth on the list of “mortal” sins, but failing to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation were also considered “mortal” sins. A “venial” sin, according to this line of thinking, did not jeopardize one’s salvation. While stealing a car might be considered a “mortal” sin, stealing a candy bar was not. While a “venial” sin did not jeopardize one’s salvation, it still needed to be confessed and still may have had time in purgatory attached to it. Another way to see this distinction in Roman Catholic teaching—and here I simplifyy a tremendously complex line of reasoning—is as follows: If one commits a mortal sin and dies before confessing it, one would go straight to hell. If one commits a venial sin and dies before confessing it, one would not go straight to hell, but would have to spend time in purgatory before entering heaven.

[The Orthodox Church does not accept the teaching on purgatory that developed in more recent times in Roman Catholicism.]

These categories do not exist in the Orthodox Church. Sin is sin.
The Greek word for sin, amartia, means “to miss the mark.” As Christians, the “mark” or “target” for which we “aim” is a Christ-like life, one lived to the best of our ability in line with the teachings, precepts, and commandments of God. When we miss this mark, when we fail to hit this target, we sin. Murder is a sin. Pride and envy are sins. Stealing a car is a sin. Stealing a candy bar is a sin. Refusing to attend the Liturgy is a sin—but so is attending the Liturgy with hatred for others.

Missing the mark is missing the mark. If we aim at the bullseye and miss, it makes no difference if it is by an inch or a yard. In both cases, we have failed to achieve that for which we strive.

In some Orthodox catechisms one finds lists of the “seven deadly sins.” While there can be no doubt that these sins are deadly—here deadly and “mortal” are synonymous, but “mortal” is not used in the same way as in the Roman Catholic “mortal” sin described above—they are not “worse” in the ultimate sense than sins that are not on the list.

[In the quote from Fr. Harakas’ book, the use of the word “mortal” should not be understood in the Roman Catholic definition of “mortal” outlined above. He clearly defines the term as meaning “unto death,” or “deadly.”]

For example, one would not find listening to rock and roll music on the list of deadly sins. However, a person who spends all of his or her time listening to such music, to the point that he or she ignores others, isolates himself or herself from people and other activities, and becomes controlled by his or her desire to listen to such music to the exclusion of other important aspects of life, can find himself or herself in a deadly and sinful condition. Listening to the music is not the sin; the music itself is not the sin; becoming obsessed with the music—and ignoring other aspects of one’s life or the importance of loving relationships with others—is what is sinful.

I cannot produce a list of sins; there are countless things that, while not in and of themselves sinful, can lead one to sin. A list of sins implies that things not found on the list are not sinful. Such is not the case. A better way to look at sin would be the following: Are my actions, my thoughts, my attitudes, my material goods, etc. controlling me, or am I in control of them.
Here I will give you another example: It is not sinful to have a glass of wine or a can of beer. Allowing wine or beer to control me, however, is sinful. Why? Because I have the ability to control what I drink. At the same time, what I drink cannot control me—unless, of course, I allow it to do so. It would be ridiculous to think that a can of beer can force itself down the throat of a person who does not want to drink it. Whether we speak of wine, beer, watching television, giving attention to our car, gossiping, or whatever—we have the ability to control these things. What is sinful is allowing these things, which in and of themselves have no power of their own, to control us. What is even more sinful is when we fail to recognize that we are being controlled by something which, in reality, is within our control, or when we rationalize our sins by claiming “I just couldn’t help it.” Huh? Your television turned itself on and held you captive during nine hours of soap operas while you ignored the needs of your family or coworkers or neighbor?

Concerning Confession, having a list of deadly sins could, in fact, become an obstacle to genuine repentance. For example, imagine that you commit a sin. You look on the list and do not find it listed. It would be very easy to take the attitude that, since it is not on a list of deadly sins, it is not too serious. Hence, you do not feel the need to seek God’s forgiveness right away. A week passes and you have completely forgotten about what you had done. You never sought God’s forgiveness; as a result, you did not receive it, either. We should go to Confession when we sin—at the very least, we should ask God to forgive us daily in our personal prayers. We should not see Confession as a time to confess only those sins which may be found on a list.

Rather than worry about developing a list of sins to avoid, it would be much wiser to make a list of virtues and attitudes and ministries to achieve. While it is good to avoid places of temptation, it is better to seek places of inspiration. While it is good to avoid individuals who may lead you to sin, it is better to seek out individuals who will lead you to virtue. While it is good to shun those things which tend to control us, it is better to seek self control over things which have no power over us unless we give them that power.

http://oca.org/questions/sacramentconfession/sin

[InChristAlone]

I also find it interesting that in the Orthodox Christianity, the original sin concept is different from the Catholic and Protestant viewpoint.

I'm sorry, I have to copy and paste but English is not my native language. So I will never be able to be as eloquent as the author of this article:

The churches of the West- roman catholic and protestants teach that every child is born a sinner.

Western viewpoint of Original sin.
from catholic encylopaeida:-
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11312a.htm

Original sin may be taken to mean:

(1) the sin that Adam committed;
(2) a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam.

They call it “Hereditary Stain”.
This belief of the catholic church was later adopted by some sects of protestantism as well.

st. augustine’s dogma.
http://www.answers.com/topic/original-sin

“The Western tradition, both Catholic and Protestant, concerning original sin is largely based on writings by Augustine of Hippo, who concluded that unbaptized infants go to hell[3][4] because of original sin.”

Both the Protestants and Catholics in West accept the teaching of St. Augustine of Hippo. He said that unbaptised infants go to hell.

Implications of this western teaching
Since children are born as “Sinners”, they cannot be baptised or share qurbana until they are old enough to “repent” and “believe”.

This is why roman catholics give Qurbana(aadyaqurbana) to children only at 7 or 8 years of age.
And this is also why many protestant “Born again” sects dont consider a child as a christian until he is old enough to “repent” and “be baptised”.

But this is an Unbiblical teaching. The Oriental Orthodox Church doesnt teach that children are born “Sinners”.

Eastern concept of original sin is different.
“In this perspective, “original sin” is understood not so much as a state of guilt inherited from Adam but as an unnatural condition of human life that ends in death. Mortality is what each man now inherits at his birth and this is what leads him to struggle for existence, to self-affirmation at the expense of others, and ultimately to subjection to the laws of animal life.
The “prince of this world” (i.e., Satan), who is also the “murderer from the beginning,” has dominion over man. From this vicious circle of death and sin, man is understood to be liberated by the death and Resurrection of Christ, which is actualized in Baptism and the sacramental life in the church.

The general framework of this understanding of the God-man relationship is clearly different from the view that became dominant in the Christian West-i.e., the view that conceived of “nature” as distinct from “grace” and that understood original sin as an inherited guilt rather than as a deprivation of freedom.

In the East, man is regarded as fully man when he participates in God; in the West, man’s nature is believed to be autonomous, sin is viewed as a punishable crime, and grace is understood to grant forgiveness. Hence, in the West, the aim of the Christian is justification, but in the East, it is rather communion with God and deification.

In the West, the church is viewed in terms of mediation (for the bestowing of grace) and authority (for guaranteeing security in doctrine); in the East, the church is regarded as a communion in which God and man meet once again and a personal experience of divine life becomes possible.”

ie in short:

We Only inherited Adam’s punishment—Mortality(death).

We dont inherit sin, only Adam’s deficiency(death)
“Original Sin is understood differently by the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church denies that a sin committed by someone else (in this case, Adam) can be somehow “transmitted” to the rest of humanity.
Adam’s personal sin of rebellion against God was his alone to atone for.

What we “inherit” or what is “transmitted” to us is Adam’s human nature which was weakened and damaged by the passions.
Thus, we inherit the experiences of suffering and death from our first parents. It is that state of our human nature that we inherit, that is “transmitted” to us, not the actual sin committed by Adam.

Christ, the Son of God and True God Himself, assumed our human nature and transformed it with His Divinity and Saving Power by His Life, Death and Resurrection.”

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/17547.htm

The non-Orthodox teach that Original Sin is the Personal sin and guilt of Adam transmitted from him to all mankind. The Church does not agree with this teaching. Original sin is the “sinful state” of our nature with which we are born. Because of the fall, human nature is disposed toward sinfulness: human nature is corrupt and that which we refer to as man, is really less than man: human nature has been weakened, therefore, the ability to resist every temptation (without the special Graces of God) has been taken away.

The Church teaches that when man fell he did not receive Adam’s sin and guilt – but his punishment, which is corrupt human nature..
He also lost physical immortality. And since the bond between the individual soul and God was broken, there occurred an eternal separation between God and man.”

“Son shall not bear the iniquity of the father”
Man was made in the Image of God. He didnt mortality then.

However after he ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he became aware of his nakedness and he became guilty.

As a result of this a new deficiency plagued him—Mortality.

Genesis 3:19
“By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
AND TO DUST YOU WILL RETURN”.

However, we the children after Adam and Eve did not Inherit their Sin. We only inherited this Deficiency of Mortality.
God doesnt judge the child by the deeds of his parents.

John 9:1

“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been born blind.
2 His followers asked him, “Teacher, whose sin caused this man to be born blind–his own sin or his parents’ sin?”
3 Jesus answered, “It is not this man’s sin or his parents’ sin that made him be blind. This man was born blind so that God’s power could be shown in him.

” The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,
neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”–Ezekiel 18:20

A New Born Baby is not a Sinner.
“Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.” Psalm 119:73

“Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13, 14

“Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?” Job 31:15

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”. Jer. 1:5

“Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves”. Psalm 100:3

“Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? “Mal. 2:10

IT IS GOD WHO FASHIONS EACH OF US IN OUR MOTHERS WOMBS. Are we to understand from these passages that God fashions men into sinners in their mother’s womb?

We are all created upright.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Gen.1:26,27

Ye are gods; and all of you are the children of the most High. Psalm 82:6

For in the image of God made he man. Gen. 9:6

Man is the image and glory of God. I Cor. 11:7

Men are made after the similitude of God. James 3:9

The Lord formeth the spirit of man within him. Zech. 12:1

The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Job 33:4

He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. Acts 17:25

We are the offspring of God. Acts 17:29

I am the root and the offspring of David. Rev. 22:16

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Eccl. 7:29

What is Sin?
Sin is by definition, individual in nature, being either a violation of
transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4)

Sin is a violation of our conscience (Romans 14:23).

“Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:1415).

A BABY IS NOT A SINNER.

Since a baby does not even know his right hand from his left (Jonah 4:11), how
can he/she commit sin by not doing what he/she is incapable of doing?

Our sins are a result of our own lust and desires, not because of the sin of Adam.

Our spirit came from God and will return to Him (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him”
(Ezekiel 18:20).

18:3-4, Jesus declared, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.

“For such(children) is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14,

“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to
come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:3-4, Jesus declared,

“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as the little child, the
same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

“Little Children” are Sinful according to Pentecostals and Roman Catholics.

So why did Jesus tell us to be like them inorder to “enter the kingdom of heaven”?
Jesus would not ask us to be more like a sinner in order to go to heaven.

Children are innocent of sin until they are able to reach a certain level of maturity.

Do not despise that which God pronounced as good.
The doctrine of original sin is false: it slanders and libels the character of God, it shocks man’s god-given consciousness of justice, and it flies in the face of the plainest teachings of God’s holy Word.
The doctrine of original sin is not a Bible doctrine. It is a grotesque myth that contradicts the Bible on almost every page.

18:3-4, Jesus declared, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”–Matthew 18:10

Please do not despise the little infants as “sinners” . Jesus warned us against it.

You might invite the wrath of their powerful guardian angels in heaven who always behold the face of the Almighty Father. Be careful.

Children too are part of kingdom of heaven.
“Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16).

“Now they were bringing even infants to him” (Greek, Prosepheron de auto kai ta brepha).

http://www.antiochian.org/node/16904

The Greek word brepha means “infants”-children who are quite unable to approach Christ on their own and who could not possibly make a conscious
decision to “accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.” And that is precisely the problem.

Fundamentalists refuse to permit the baptism of infants and young children, because they are not yet capable of making such a conscious act.

But notice what Jesus said: “to such as these [referring to the infants and children who had been brought to him by their mothers] belongs the kingdom of heaven.” The Lord did not require them to make a conscious decision.
He says that they are precisely the kind of people who can come to him and receive the kingdom.

So on what basis, Fundamentalists should be asked, can infants and young children be excluded from the sacrament of baptism? If Jesus said “let them come unto me,” who are we to say “no,” and withhold baptism from them?

This is why we Orthodox Christians believe in Baptising Infants and in giving the Holy Communion(Qurbana) to them.

http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/o.../original-sin/

[InChristAlone]

One more article about original sin, written by a Greek archimandrite, Vassilios Papavassiliou.

"How easily we Orthodox indiscriminately adopt the language of Western theology! It is always a great temptation for those who have converted to Orthodoxy from Western Christian denominations to bring the baggage of their former allegiances with them rather than embrace Orthodoxy as something which is entirely different from the Christianity they left behind. While they may see the Western Christendom of today as alien to the Church of the Fathers, they are sometimes reluctant to accept that not everything from the pre-schism West is part and parcel of Orthodoxy. And yet, the influence of Western theology is to be found not only amongst Orthodox converts in the West, but also among those who have been brought up in the Orthodox Faith in traditionally Orthodox countries such as Greece and Russia.

Alas, we Orthodox are too quick to assume that the most ‘hardcore’ fundamentalist views among Western Christians must also be the most ‘correct’ Orthodox ones. Rarely, if ever, is this the case. Heresies always tend to be found at opposite poles. It is not unusual for one heresy to arise in reaction to another. One heresy claims that Christ is not God, another that He is not man. One heresy condemns the veneration of the Virgin Mary as Mother of God, another makes her the Immaculate Conception. One claims that man is saved by grace alone, another that he is saved only by works. Such extremes are not easily embraced by Orthodoxy.

True Orthodoxy tends to be the middle-way between the two extremes. This holds true also for the doctrine of ‘Original Sin’. “But wait!” I hear someone protest. “The Orthodox Church does believe in Original Sin!” I would hesitate to say so, at least without serious qualification. I would prefer to say that the Orthodox Church believes in the ‘Ancestral Sin’ (πρωπατορικό ἁμάρτημα). Is this mere semantics? By no means! For anyone who says ‘Original Sin’ is bound to find themselves involved in the doctrine expounded by Augustine and ever since then by the Latin Church, and not that of the Fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. I intend to illustrate that the Orthodox understanding of Ancestral Sin is a far cry from that of Augustine, and that, despite the fact that the Latin doctrine of Original Sin was never formally condemned as heretical in the East, it is, nonetheless, not that of the Orthodox Church.

Augustine and Pelagius

Augustine’s doctrine of Original Sin was born from his attempt to combat the heresy of Pelagianism. The controversy began in Rome when the British monk, Pelagius, opposed Augustine’s prayer: “Grant what you command, and command what you desire”. Pelagius was opposing the idea that the divine gift of grace was necessary to perform the will of God. Pelagius believed that if we are responsible for obeying the commandments of God, then we must all also have the ability to do so without divine aid. He went on to deny the doctrine of Ancestral Sin, arguing that the consequences of Adam’s sin are not passed on to the rest of mankind. Adam’s sin affected Adam alone, and thus infants at birth are in the same state as Adam was before the Fall.

Augustine took a starkly different view of the Fall, arguing that mankind is utterly sinful and incapable of good. Augustine believed that the state of Original Sin leaves us in such a condition that we are unable to refrain from sin. The ‘image of God’ in man (i.e., free will) was destroyed by the Fall. As much as we may choose to do good, our evil impulses pervert our free will and compel us to do evil. Therefore we are totally dependent upon grace.

So far did Augustine take his grim view of the human condition, that he argued not only that the Original Sin effects all of Adam’s descendants, but that each person is guilty of the Original Sin from birth (Original Guilt). Infants are therefore guilty of sin and thus infants who die before baptism, in which (according to Augustine) the guilt of Original Sin is removed, are condemned to perdition and cannot be saved. As if that was not bad enough, Augustine went on to formulate the doctrine of Predestination, which affirms that God has foreordained who will be saved and who will not.

Augustine prevailed and Pelagius was condemned as a heretic by Rome at the Council of Carthage in 418. It seemed that Pelagius’ views were more reprehensible to the Latin Church than the idea of predestination and babies burning in hell – views that the Latin Church was not only willing to tolerate, but even willing to champion as Orthodox doctrine!

St John Chrysostom

Between Augustine and Pelagius there appeared to be no middle-way in the West. A different view, however, was expressed in the East by Augustine’s contemporary, John Chrysostom. The dispute between Augustine and Pelagius had not reached the East, and so Chrysostom’s views were not so agitated by heated disputes and polemics. Were Chrysostom involved in the dispute between Augustine and Pelagius, perhaps his teaching on Ancestral Sin would have prevailed over both Pelagius and Augustine alike, but considering that the sole concern of the Latin Church seemed to be the condemnation of Pelagianism, it is probably more likely that he would have been condemned as semi-pelagian.[i] Whatever the case, Chrysostom’s views on the subject have never enjoyed the attention they deserve, and the heated nature of the dispute in the West meant that the doctrine of ‘Original Sin’ as expounded by Augustine was regarded as the only safeguard against the heresy of Pelagianism.

Chrysostom, while claiming that all human beings are made in the image of God, believed that the Ancestral Sin brought corruptibility and death not only to Adam but to all his descendants, weakening his ability to grow into God’s likeness, but never destroying God’s image (free will). Chrysostom is a major voice within a consensus of Greek patristic writers who interpret the Fall as “an inheritance essentially of mortality rather than sinfulness, sinfulness being merely a consequence of mortality”.[ii] Chrysostom’s position is echoed, for example, by St Athanasius the Great and St Cyril of Alexandria, who claimed that we are not guilty of Adam’s sin, though we inherit a corrupted nature; but our free will remains intact. This Greek patristic interpretation is founded upon Romans 5:12: “As sin came into the world through one man, and through sin, death, so death spread to all men because all men have sinned”[iii]. John Meyendorff explains how the deficient Latin translation of the text may have contributed to such a stark difference in the Latin interpretation of the Ancestral Sin:

‘In this passage there is a major issue of translation. The last four Greek words were translated in Latin as in quo omnes peccaverunt (“in whom [i.e., in Adam] all men have sinned”), and this translation was used in the West to justify the guilt inherited from Adam and spread to his descendants. But such a meaning cannot be drawn from the original Greek’.[iv]

St Cyril of Alexandria explained the passage in this way:

“How did many become sinners because of Adam?… How could we, who were not yet born, all be condemned with him, even though God said, ‘Neither the fathers shall be put to death because of their children, nor the children because of their fathers, but the soul which sins shall be put to death’? (cf. Deut. 24:18) … we became sinners through Adam’s disobedience in such manner as this: he was created for incorruptibility and life, and the manner of existence he had in the garden of delight was proper to holiness. His whole mind was continually beholding God; his body was tranquil and calm with all base pleasures being still. For there was no tumult of alien disturbances in it. But because he fell under sin and slipped into corruptibility, pleasures and filthiness assaulted the nature of the flesh, and in our members was unveiled a savage law. Our nature, then, became diseased by sin through the disobedience of one, that is, of Adam. Thus, all were made sinners, not by being co-transgressors with Adam,… but by being of his nature and falling under the law of sin… Human nature fell ill in Adam and subject to corruptibility through disobedience, and, therefore, the passions entered in”.[v]

St John Cassian

The East paid little attention to Augustine, and this was largely due to language barriers. For the Eastern Christians, serious theologians wrote in Greek, and they paid little heed to Latin writers. What opposition did come from the East came from some Eastern Orthodox theologians who, for one reason or another, found themselves living in the West. Amongst the most prominent was St John Cassian. St John opposed Augustine on four major points:

1) There were clearly instances where people had come to God of their own volition, who, while called by Christ and aided by divine grace, chose to change their ways (e.g. Matthew, Paul, Zacchaeus). Therefore, it is not grace alone that saves us, but also man’s willingness to repent.

2) After the Fall, Adam and his descendants retained a knowledge of good, and an impulse, however weakened, to pursue good. Man was not, as Augustine claimed, utterly depraved and incapable of good after the Fall.

3) The ‘Image’ of God in man is sick, but not dead. The divine image is in need of healing, but this healing requires synergy (the co-operation of man’s will with divine grace).

4) God wishes all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, so those who are not saved reject salvation against His will. Predestination should be understood as foreknowledge and not as foreordination.

The West condemned St John Cassian’s views as semi-pelagian, but for the Orthodox, Cassian is one of the foremost exponents of the Orthodox doctrine of theosis.[vi] His views were supported also by Theodoret of Antioch:

“There is need of both our efforts and divine aid. The grace of the Spirit is not vouchsafed to those who make no effort, and without grace our efforts can not collect the prize of virtue”.

The Ancestral Sin and Baptism

Augustine’s view of Original Sin was the reason also for his justification of infant baptism. Believing that babies are born guilty of sin, he argued that baptism was necessary for the babies’ salvation. He saw the innocence of infants purely in terms of their being physically too weak to commit sin, but equally guilty as adults of Adam’s sin.

The Greek Fathers, having a different view of the Fall and the Ancestral Sin, interpreted the purpose of infant baptism in another way, different in important respects from the familiar Augustinian and Reformed interpretations of the West. The Greek Fathers believed that newborn infants are innocents, wholly without sin. While infants inherit a human nature which, in its wholeness, is wounded by the Ancestral Sin, weakening the will and making each person prone to sin, they are innocent of sin nonetheless. In the fourth of his catechetical homilies on baptism, St John Chrysostom states, “We do baptise infants, although they are not guilty of any sins”. For the Greek Fathers, baptism, above all else, is an acceptance by the Church and entrance of the baptised person into the redeemed and sanctified Body of Christ, the beginning of a life spent in spiritual combat and instruction in holiness on the deepening journey to the Kingdom of God.

Considering the stark contrast between the Orthodox doctrine of the Ancestral Sin and the Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin, and the different understanding of baptism that these doctrines lead to, is it not surprising that some Orthodox speak of baptism in Augustinian terms – of the forgiveness of Original Sin – especially considering that the Orthodox service for baptism makes not a single reference to it? The closest we come to mention of the Ancestral Sin (Πρωπατρορικό ἁμάρτημα) in baptism is in the first prayer of the Service for the Making of a Catechumen (which was originally completely separate from the service of Baptism): “Remove far from him/her that ancient error” (παλαιά πλάνη). If one of the main purposes of baptism was the forgiveness of Original Sin, surely it would be worth mentioning in the baptism service! But the idea of ‘Original Sin’ being “forgiven” is nowhere to be found in the Greek Fathers or in the hymns and prayers of the Orthodox Church. For it is an idea which is alien to Greek Patristic thought. The Ancestral Sin is a condition, primarily of mortality and corruptibility, which needs healing, an inherited ‘illness’ which means that free will – or ‘the Image of God’ as the Greek Fathers preferred to put it – though kept intact, is in need of divine grace in order to progress along the path to attaining God’s ‘likeness’, the path to theosis or ‘deification’.

Conclusion

Bearing in mind the significant differences between the Orthodox and the Augustinian views of ‘Original Sin’, it surprises me that some Orthodox Christians are so quick to employ the term, claiming that the Orthodox Church holds to the doctrine of ‘Original Sin’, and qualifying this simply by saying that it does not embrace the doctrine of ‘Original Guilt’. I do not think that this is adequate for expounding the Orthodox position on Original Sin. Although Augustine was recognised as a saint by the Orthodox Church,[vii] it has never accepted his teaching on Original Sin. If what I have written above is correct, then the Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin is wholly un-Orthodox, and it led, I believe, to a whole series of heresies in the Latin Church, such as Predestination, Purgatory, Limbo and the Immaculate Conception. We Orthodox would do well to distance ourselves from the well-known Augustinian position on Original Sin by employing a less familiar term: Ancestral Sin. It is not merely a case of semantics. For an erroneous understanding of this doctrine has serious repercussions for our understanding of sin and the Fall, for grace and free will, for baptism, the human condition and man’s deification. In short, how we understand the Ancestral Sin has direct implications for our whole soteriology – our understanding of the salvation of man and the world."

http://pemptousia.com/2011/11/origin...ine-or-heresy/

[InChristAlone]

I have never been satisfied with my prayer life in the LRC. So when today, on Tuesday prayer meeting, we were reading another article on prayer, written by WL, I realized how little he knew about prayer. Yes, he wrote a lot about it. We have been reading WL’s articles about prayer for 2 or 3 months, every Tuesday. But to write about prayer is one thing. To understand and practice it, having communion with the Lord, is another thing.

I believe WL’s understanding of prayer affected his followers. My wife likes these Tuesday meetings. She says that corporate prayer is important. Yes, indeed. But in the LC, I find it fruitless. We are not praying but babbling. Sometimes I feel excitement but I never feel interaction, communion, with the Lord. Why? Maybe Anthony Bloom, physician, monk, and archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain, answered this question when he said:

"One of the reasons why communal worship or private prayer seem to be so dead or so conventional is that the act of prayer, which takes place in the heart communing with God, is too often missing. We all know in human relationships that love and friendship are deep when we can be silent with someone. As long as we need to talk in order to keep in touch, we can safely assume that the relationship is still superficial; and so, if we want to worship God, we must first of all learn to feel happy, being silent together...

Once the Cure d'Ars, a French saint of the eighteenth century, asked an old peasant what he was doing sitting for hours in the church, seemingly not even praying; the peasant replied: 'I look at Him, He looks at me and we are happy together.' That man had learned to speak without breaking the silence of intimacy by words."

Too many words, too much exaltation, and too many loud voices, with no awe and no reverence, prevent us from hearing His voice, whom we target all our petitions.

What are all our meetings for? To gather and shout in one accord, or to establish our common relationship with the Lord, feel His presence, and hear His voice?

As I said earlier, I am struggling with my prayer life in the LC. Therefore, a few weeks ago I started my research on prayer. Since I am a kind of traditionalist, I had to get back to my Orthodox Christian background. I must admit I was not aware of the depth and richness of the Church’s spiritual tradition when it comes to personal devotion. There are numerous books and articles about prayer and prayer life. I could have mentioned some volumes but they have never been translated into English. Anyway, from what we all can get, I believe among the best are Anthony Bloom’s books: “Beginning to Pray”, “Meditations on a Theme”, and “Living Prayer”. They all became spiritual classics in the Orthodox world.

http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Pray...=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

I’ll share a few excerpts from “Beginning to Pray”:

"If you look at the relationship (us and God) in terms of mutual relationship, you would see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does make Himself present to us for a few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer 'I am busy..."

The “madness” of Christianity

"As Christians we are always in tension — the anguish and at the same time in bliss. This is mad, ridiculous. But it is true — accepting the dark night just as we accept the brilliance of the day … But, on the other hand, the Christian is like someone who lives in three dimensions in a world in which the majority of people live in two."

On the “absence” of God:

The day when God is absent, when He is silent — that is the beginning of prayer. Not when we have a lot to say, but when we say to God ‘I can’t live without You. Why are You so cruel, so silent?’ This knowledge that we must find or die — that makes us break through to the place where we are in the Presence. If we listen to what our hearts know of love and longing and are never afraid of despair, we find that victory is always there on the other side of it.”

Meeting God

"When we read the Gospel and the image of Christ becomes compelling, glorious, … do we ever say, ‘I am unworthy that He should come near me?’ Not to speak of all the occasions when we should be aware that He cannot come to us because we are not there to receive Him. We want something from Him, not Him at all. Is that a relationship? Do we behave in that way with our friends? Do we aim at what friendship can give us or is it the friend whom we love? Is this true with regard to the Lord?"

Another good book for a beginner like me, is “The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology” by Igumen Chariton. (A spiritual anthology drawn from the Greek and Russian traditions, concerned in particular with the most frequently used and best loved of all Orthodox prayers--the Jesus Prayer. Texts are taken chiefly from the letters of Bishop Theopan the Recluse, along with many other writers).

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Prayer.../dp/0571191657

I am not asking anyone to read these books. I am just sharing my experience, some little but important things that you may already know, but which I am still struggling to learn on my spiritual journey.

I am a beginner. I’ve just started learning a way to prayer. So I compiled this post from different Orthodox Christian sources, mainly from sermons given by St. Theophan the Recluse. I am doing it for myself, my wife, my English speaking friends, and everyone who is interested to improve his or her prayer life.

I believe I can name this post by the same title that belongs to a book by Michael Keiser:

A Beginner's Guide to Prayer: The Orthodox Way to Draw Closer to God

What is prayer?

God loves all His creations, and in particular He loves each of us since He is our Heavenly Father. As it is natural for children to want to see and converse with their parents, so it should also be natural and pleasant for us to converse with our Heavenly Father and to want to be in spiritual communion with Him. This conversation with God is called prayer. According to Saint John of Kronstadt, "Prayer is a golden bond of the Christian — a stranger and wanderer on earth — with the spiritual world of which he is a part, and even more so with God, the source of life."

A very simple definition of prayer is from St. John of Damascus, “The raising up the heart and mind to God.” This raising up the heart begins with loving God. It all starts with asking Him to open your heart. Once you are united with Him in spirit and truth you will step into the realm of the prayer of silence and then later in your prayer life you will learn prayer without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

So, prayer is doxology, praise, thanksgiving, confession, supplication and intercession to God. "When I prayed I was new," wrote a great theologian of Christian antiquity, "but when I stopped praying I became old." Prayer is the way to renewal and spiritual life. Prayer is aliveness to God. Prayer is strength, refreshment, and joy. Through the grace of God and our disciplined efforts prayer lifts us up from our isolation to a conscious, loving communion with God in which everything is experienced in a new light. Prayer becomes a personal dialogue with God, a spiritual breathing of the soul, a foretaste of the bliss of God's kingdom.

Prayer is the essence of the Orthodox Christian way of life. It is the means by which one achieves communion with God. Moreover, it is the means by which one experiences the presence of God in his/her life.

Through a disciplined and regimented prayer life one enables him/herself to keep a continuous focus on Christ and His will. One is taught to pray in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, before sleep, before meals, simply, throughout the day. The Orthodox Church therefore encourages both private prayer (taking place personally and privately between God and us) and corporate prayer (taking place in the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Mysteria, and other services of the Church) as a means to this end. Whether corporate or private, prayer is understood in the Orthodox Church as the "lifting of the mind and heart to God." We turn our minds and our hearts toward Him and His will. This is accomplished by either speaking to Him with words or by standing in silence, trusting in God and being open to His will for us.

Saying prayers is not the same as praying. We pray to know God. If our prayers do not assist us to this end, then they may have become simply mechanical exercises for us; our heart and mind have lost sight of both the meaning of the words and the intent of the prayer that we utter.

How to learn to pray?

"He who is able to pray correctly, even if he is the poorest of all people, is essentially the richest. And he who does not have proper prayer, is the poorest of all, even if he sits on a royal throne."
St John Chrysostom

Prayer is the elevation of the mind and the heart to God in praise, in thanksgiving, and in petition for the spiritual and material goods we need. Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to enter into our inner room and there pray to God the Father in secret. This inner room means the heart, the core of our being. The Apostle Paul says that we must always pray in our spirit. He commands prayer for all Christians without exception and asks us to pray unceasingly.

Only the Holy Spirit can guide us to pray as we should. Just as a child learns to walk by walking, one can best learn to pray by praying, trusting in the help of God. Put your whole soul into your prayer. Think about the meaning of every word you pray. Make it your own personal prayer. Be persistent in prayer. Do not yield to carelessness or neglect. Strengthen your prayer through a lively faith in the Lord, a spirit of forgiveness toward others, and genuine Christian living.

Preparation for Prayer

Prepare yourself to stand properly before God—don't just jump into prayer after gossiping and gadding about or doing house chores. Schedule the time and rouse the urge to pray precisely at that hour. Another opportunity may not come.

Don't forget to re-establish your sense of spiritual need. Bring your need for God to the front of your mind, then begin to draw your mind into your heart by organizing your thoughts into prayer and calling forth your desire to find their fulfillment in God.

When the heart is conscious and feels the need for prayer, then the attentive heart itself will not let your thoughts slide to other matters. It will force you to cry out to the Lord in your prayers. Most of all, be aware of your own helplessness: were it not for God, you would be lost. If someone who is doomed to disaster were to stand before the one person who, with a glance, could save him, would he look here and there for his salvation? No, he would fall down before him and beg mercy. So it will be when you approach Him in prayer with an awareness of all-encompassing peril and the knowledge that no one can save you but God.

All of us have this little sin hanging about us. Though we make painstaking preparations for every other task (no matter how trivial), we do not prepare for prayer. We take up prayer with flighty thoughts, willy-nilly, and rush to get it over with, as if it were an incidental, though unavoidable, bother—and not the center of our life, as it should be.

Without preparation, how can there be a gathering of thought and feeling in prayer? Without preparation, prayer proceeds shakily instead of firmly.

No, you must determine to deny yourself this little sin and under no circumstance allow yourself to come to prayer with your heart and mind unprepared, your thoughts and feelings scattered in a dozen directions. Such a careless attitude toward prayer is a crime, a serious one—a capital one. Consider prayer the central labor of your life and hold it in the center of your heart. Address it in its rightful role, not as a secondary function!

Toil! God will be your helper. Take care to fulfill your prayer rule. If you begin to fulfill it, soon, very soon, you will see the fruits of your labor. Strive to experience the sweetness of pure prayer. Once experienced, pure prayer will draw you on and enliven your spiritual life, beckoning you to more attentive, more difficult, and ever-deepening prayer.

Introductory Prayers

The following prayers should be said each time you begin your prayers whether in the morning or evening or any other time of the day.

Begin your prayer with

In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Glory to you our God, Glory be to Thee!

Glory to the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen

Prayer to Holy Spirit

Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, present in all places and filling all things, Treasury of Goodness and Giver of life: come and abide in us. Cleanse us from every stain of sin and save our souls, O Gracious Lord.

Lord's Prayer

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

What to ask for?

St. Isaac the Syrian writes: "Don't be thoughtless in your petitions, in order not to offend God by your foolishness. But rather be wise, to become worthy of the greatest gifts. Ask for a treasure from Him Who is a stranger to stinginess and you will receive a treasure from Him in accordance with the reasonableness of your request. Solomon asked for wisdom and together with it he received an earthly kingdom because he made a wise request before the Great King. Elisseus asked for a twofold portion of grace of the Holy Spirit and his request was not refused. To ask for trifles from the King insults his dignity."

The greatest teacher of prayer is our Savior. Prayer accompanies all the important events of His earthly life. The Lord prayed, receiving baptism from John (Luke 3:21). He spent the whole night praying before He chose the Apostles (Luke 6:12). He prayed during the Transfiguration (Luke 22:41). He prayed on the Cross. The very last word before His death was a prayer (Luke 23:46).

Being impressed by the inspiring image of the praying Savior, one of His disciples turned to Him with the request: "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). And in answer to this Jesus Christ gave the prayer, short in form, but rich in content, that wonderful, incomparable prayer which to this day unifies the whole Christian world, the "Our Father," the Lord's Prayer.

This prayer teaches us about what and in what order to pray. Having turned to God, "Our Father," we acknowledge ourselves to be His children, and in relation to each other, brothers, and, therefore, we pray not only for ourselves but for all people. With the petition "Hallowed be Thy name," we ask that His name might be holy for all people, that everyone might glorify the name of God by their words and deeds. "Thy Kingdom come."The kingdom of God begins within the believer, when the grace of God, having filled him, cleanses and transfigures his inner world. Simultaneously, grace unites everyone, people and angels, into one great spiritual family called the Kingdom of God or the Church. For the good to be spread among people, one should ask: "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven;" that is, that everything in the world should be done according to the all-good, all-wise will of God, and that people should as diligently fulfill the will of God on the earth as the angels do it in heaven.

"Give us this day our daily bread;" give us today all that is necessary for our daily sustenance. What will happen to us tomorrow we don't know; we need only our "daily bread," i.e., every day that which is necessary to sustain our existence. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." These words are explained by St. Luke who states them thus: "And forgive us our sins" (Luke 11:4) — our sins become our debts because in sinning we fail in our duty and become debtors before God and man. This petition with special emphasis admonishes us to forgive our neighbor for all offenses. Having refused to forgive others, we dare not ask God to forgive us our sins and say the words of the Lord's Prayer. "And lead us not into temptation" — a test of our moral powers by means of an inclination towards some sinful act. Here we ask God to protect us from falling into sin if such a test is necessary. "But deliver us from the evil one" — from every evil and the cause of evil, the devil. The prayer finishes with the assurance of fulfillment of our request, for to God belongs an eternal kingdom, power, and glory.

Thus the Lord's Prayer, unifying within itself all for which it is necessary to pray, teaches us to place in proper order all our personal desires and necessities. First we must ask for the highest good — for God's glory, for the spreading of good among people and the salvation of our souls, and only then we make requests for our daily needs. In relation to our requests "Let us not teach Him how He should help us," says St. John Chrysostom. "If we discuss our business with those who defend us before the judges, and leave the way of defense up to them, all the more should we act likewise in relation to God. He knows well enough what is beneficial to you." Besides this, we should completely deliver ourselves to the Lord's will: Thy will be done! An example of such a prayer has been left to us by the Savior Himself. In the garden of Gethsemane He prayed: "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me," and immediately added: "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39).

How we should pray

St. Isaac the Syrian put it marvelously: "When you turn to God in prayer, be in your thoughts as an ant, as a serpent of the earth, like a worm, like a stuttering child. Do not speak to Him something philosophical or high-sounding, but approach Him with a child's attitude" (Homily 49).

When praying, it is important to turn away from our usual cares and preoccupations, collect our scattered thoughts, as if closing the door of the soul against all that is worldly, and direct all our attention towards God.

Placing oneself before the face of God and bringing to mind His greatness, one who prays must necessarily recognize his unworthiness and spiritual poverty. "While praying one should imagine all creation as nothing compared to God, and only God as everything" (St. John of Kronstadt). An edifying example of the proper attitude of prayer was given by our Savior in the parable regarding the publican who was justified by God for his humility (Luke 18:9-14).

Christian humility does not cause depression or hopelessness. On the contrary, it is linked with firm faith in the goodness and omnipotence of the Heavenly Father. Only prayer of faith is accepted by God, as we read in the Gospel: "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:24). Warmed by faith, a Christian's prayer is very powerful. The Christian remembers the command of Jesus Christ that it is necessary to pray always and not lose heart (Luke 18:1), and His promise: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7).

Do not read prayer hurriedly; pay attention to every word and let the meaning of each word enter into your heart...

Understand what you are reading and feel what you are understanding.

No other rules are necessary. These two – understanding and feeling – have the effect of making prayer fitting, and fruitful. For example, you read: "cleanse us from every stain" - feel your stain, desire cleanliness, and ask it from the Lord with hope.

When you read: "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" - forgive all in your soul, and having forgiven everyone everything in your heart, ask for forgiveness for yourself from the Lord.

When you read: "Thy will be done" - completely give up your own will to the Lord in your heart, and honestly be prepared to meet everything that the Lord is well-pleased to send to to you with a good heart.

If you read each verse of your prayers in this way, then you will be truly praying.

When to pray?

The apostle Paul teaches us: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17). It is necessary to pray during those bright, exalted moments when the soul experiences a visitation from above and soars towards heaven and feels a need for prayer. It is necessary as well to pray at all other times assigned for prayer (in the mornings and evenings) even though we are not in the mood to pray. Otherwise, the ability to pray will be lost, just us an old iron key rusts when it is not used. For our soul to preserve a pious freshness, it is necessary to set as a goal to pray regularly, despite the fact that we might or might not be inclined to. Orthodox Christians pray daily in the morning, after awakening, and in the evening before going to bed. We should also pray at the beginning and the end of every important work. In this respect a prayer book is a necessary companion.

When you are preparing to pray, stand, sit or walk a few minutes and steady your mind to concentrate on God, casting off from all earthly activities and objects. Call to mind the One to Whom you are praying, Who He is and who you are, as you begin this prayerful petition to Him. Remember, it is God Himself who you are about to talk with. Awaken in your soul the feeling of humility and reverent awe of standing before God in your heart.

As you begin to pray enter into every word of the prayer. Bring the meaning of the words down into your heart. Do not rush through the prayers like you are in a hurry to get them over with. Let them slowly drop into the depths of your heart with humility and awe of God.

Beware of the tendency to rush to complete the prayer hurriedly. When this happens you have turned your prayer into an obligation and it is no longer true prayer. Don’t worry if you catch your self doing this. It is normal at first. Just stop and slow down and proceed asking God’s forgiveness and help.

Accustom yourself to pray your own prayers. For instance: it is the essence of evening prayer to thank God for the day and everything that happened, both pleasant and unpleasant; to ask forgiveness for all wrongs committed, promising to improve during the next day; and to pray that God preserve you during sleep. Express all this to God from your mind and from your whole heart.

The essence of morning prayer is to thank God for sleep, rest and regained strength and to pray that He will help us do everything to His glory. Express this to Him with your mind and with your whole heart. Along with such prayers in the morning and evening, present your greatest needs to the Lord, especially spiritual needs. Besides spiritual needs, present your worldly cares, saying to Him as would a child: "See, O Lord, my sickness and weakness! Help and heal!" All this and the like can be spoken before God in your own words, without the use of a prayer book. Try this and, if it works, you may leave the prayer book altogether; but if not, you must pray with the prayer book, otherwise you might end up with no prayer at all.

When you finish your prayer

When you finish your prayers, do not immediately go off to any sort of work, but remain and think at least a little about what you have just finished and what now lies before you. If some feeling was given to you during prayer, keep it after you pray. If you completed your prayer rule in the true spirit of prayer, then you will not wish to quickly go about other work; this is a property of prayer. Thus our ancestors said when they returned from Constantinople: "he who has tasted sweet things does not desire bitter things". So it is with each person who has prayed well during his prayers. One should recognize that tasting this sweetness of prayer is the very goal of praying, and if praying leads to a prayerful spirit, then it is exactly through such a tasting.

Remember to make your prayer life one that is a firm rule and not something that is done occasionally or sporadically. It must be done each day morning and evening at a minimum. You need to have specific prayers that are part of your prayer rule. You need to commit to doing you rule each and every day. Think about certain personal hygiene tasks such as brushing your teeth that you do each day out of habit . You don’t forget to do them each day. The same needs to be with your prayer rule. You need to make prayer a similar habit that you never forget. Just like the hygiene activities that we do for the health of our body, prayer is essential for the health of our soul.

Nurturing the Desire for God

Do you wish to enter Paradise more quickly? This is what you must do: When you pray, do not complete your prayer before arousing in your heart some feeling toward God—reverence, loyalty, thanksgiving, exaltation, humility, contrition, or assurance and hope in God...

Carelessness and Presumption in Prayer

Well, where has your prayer vanished? It seems to have started off quite well, and you had already experienced its grace-filled actions in your heart. I will tell you where it has gone. Having prayed once or twice with warmth and in earnest, and having experienced such immediate help through prayer at the shrine of St. Sergius, you thought your prayer was forever established, and that there was no need to maintain it. You thought it would flow by itself. Expecting prayer to continue on its own, you began to rush and carelessly left your thoughts to wander unchecked. From this, your attention scattered, thought went in all directions, and your prayer was no longer true. Once, twice in such a careless manner, and prayer disappeared. Begin anew to establish prayer and plead with the Lord to help you.

A Fixed Time for Prayer

Why does haste in prayer occur? It is incomprehensible. We spend hours involved in other things, and they seem like minutes; but just begin to pray, and it seems we have stood for a long time. And then we feel we must hurry to finish as soon as possible. No benefit is reaped by praying in this way. What should one do?

To avoid such self-deception, some do this: Set a definite length of time for prayer—a quarter of an hour, a half, or a whole hour (whatever is convenient), and regulate your vigil so that the clock striking on the half hour or the hour signals the end of prayers. Then when you begin prayers, do not concern yourself with the number of prayers read, but only lift your heart and mind to the Lord in prayer, and continue in a worthy manner for the time set aside.

Forcing Oneself to Pray

You have the book of discourses by St. Macarius of Egypt. Kindly read the 19th discourse, concerning a Christian's duty to force himself to do good. There it is written, "One must force oneself to pray, even if one has no spiritual prayer." And, "In such a case, God, seeing that a man earnestly is striving, pushing himself against the will of his heart (that is, his thoughts), He grants him true prayer." By true prayer, St. Macarius means the undistracted, collected, deep prayer that occurs when the mind stands unswervingly before God. As the mind begins to stand firmly before God, it discovers such sweetness, that it wishes to remain in true prayer forever, desiring nothing more.

I have stated more than once exactly what efforts must be made: Do not allow your thoughts to wander at will. When they do involuntarily escape, immediately turn them back, rebuking yourself, lamenting and grieving over this disorder. As St. John of the Ladder says, "We must lock our mind into the words of prayer by force. "

The fruits of prayer

“We must remember that the fruits of prayer are... a deep change in the whole of our personality.” (Metropolitan Anthony Bloom)

Prayer, like a farmer, plows the field of our heart and makes it capable of receiving heavenly blessings and bringing forth fruits of virtues and perfection. Prayer attracts into our hearts the grace of the Holy Spirit, thus strengthening our faith, hope, and love. It illuminates our minds, directs our will to do good, consoles the heart in sorrow and suffering, and, in general, gives us everything that serves our true welfare.

Prayer, according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, is "the breath of the soul" and is a great blessing to us all. The ability to pray with due concentration and with the whole heart, or to have the gift of prayer, is one of the most precious spiritual gifts. The merciful God endows a person with this ability as a reward for his diligence in prayer.

Brief Prayers

Zealous Christians have a certain technique that they apply to secure the continual remembrance of God more firmly. It is the constant repetition of a short prayer, ordinarily either, "Lord, have mercy," or "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner." If you haven't heard this, then listen now. If you have never done this, begin now.

Time Will Bring a Constant Remembrance of God

We must continue to hold our attention on God during the day. To support our attention, I have said more than once: Remember God through a briefly worded prayer.

At times, it is very fruitful to substitute a few psalms for the short prayer psalms you have reflected upon thoroughly and memorized. You can do this during free moments and throughout the day's activities. Repeating memorized psalms is an ancient Christian custom that was developed and brought into the monastic rule in the fourth century by Saints Pachomius and Anthony [the Great].

After spending the entire day in such a prayerful attitude, take even more time in the evening to concentrate at prayer and increase your prostrations. Intensify your supplications to God and, having again dedicated to God's care, bed down with a brief prayer on your lips and fall asleep with it, or with the repetition of a psalm.

Which psalms to learn? Memorize those that drop into your heart when you read them. Different people are moved by different psalms. Begin with Psalm 50, then Psalms 102 and 145, the antiphons for the Liturgy; also, the psalms from the Preparation for Communion (Psalms 22, 2:3, 115); as well as Psalm 69, Psalm 4 (the first psalm of [Great] Compline [during the first week of Great Lent]), the psalms for the Hours, and the like. Read the Psalter and choose.

Having memorized all this, you will be totally armed for prayer. When a disturbing thought comes to mind, rush to the Lord with a brief prayer or some psalm, especially, "O God, be attentive unto helping me" (Psalm 69), and the disturbing cloud will immediately vanish.

The essence of prayer lies in lifting the mind and heart to God. Prayer rules are only aids to this end. We weak ones cannot do without them.

That summarizes prayer rules.

But I repeat: Remember, all of this is a guide. The heart of the matter is: Stand with reverence before God, with the mind in the heart, and strive toward Him with longing.

Be encouraged! Take up prayer more readily and continue without interruptions—and you will soon achieve your desired goal. Soon a reverent attention to the One God will be established, and with it, inner peace. I say soon, not now, or in a day or two. Months may be required, sometimes, even years. Ask the Lord and He will help.

Mental Prayer

We must strive to reach the point where our soul by itself begins speaking, so to speak, in a prayerful conversation with God and by itself ascends to Him and opens itself to Him and confesses what is in it and what it desires.

The soul must be taught how to ascend to God and open itself to Him. I will briefly instruct you how one should proceed in order to succeed in this art.

First Step: Cry out to God More Often

In order to begin this task, one must first, during the course of the day, cry out to God more often, even if only with a few words, according to need and the work of the day.

Beginning anything, for example, say "Bless, O Lord!" When you finish something, say, "Glory to Thee, O Lord", and not only with your lips, but with feeling in your heart.

If passions arise, say, "Save me, O Lord, I am perishing." If the darkness of disturbing thoughts comes up, cry out: "Lead my soul out of prison."

If dishonest deeds present themselves and sin leads you to them, pray, "Set me, O Lord, in the way", or "do not give up my feet to stumbling."

If sin takes hold of you and leads you to despair, cry out with the voice of the publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Do this in every circumstance, or simply say often, "Lord, have mercy", "Most Holy Theotokos save us”, "Holy Angel, my guardian, protect me", or other such words.

Say such prayers as often as possible, always making the effort for them come from your heart, as if squeezed out of it. When we do this, we will frequently ascend to God in our hearts, making frequent petitions and prayers. Such increased frequency will bring about the habit of mental conversation with God.

Second Step: Ascribe Everything to the Glory of God

But in order for the soul to begin crying out in this way, one must first teach the soul to ascribe everything to the glory of God, all of its works, whether great and small. This is the second way of teaching the soul to turn to God more often during the day, for if we apply ourselves to fulfill the apostolic commandment, that is, do all things for the glory of God, even "if we eat or drink" (1 Cor 10:31), then we will ceaselessly remember God in all that we do. Our remembrance of God will be accomplished not simply, but with care, so that in no case we would act wrongly and offend God by any deed.

This will help us to turn to God with fear, prayerfully asking for help and understanding. Since we are almost always doing something, we will always be turning to God in prayer. Consequently, the art of raising up the heart in unceasing prayer to God will develop within our souls.

In order for the soul to do all things as they should be done, that is to the glory of God, one must prepare from the early morning, from the very beginning of the day, before "a man goes forth unto his work, and unto his labors until evening" (Psalm 103(104):23).

Third Step: Contemplation of God

This inclination leads to the contemplation of God, and this the third way of teaching the soul to turn frequently to God. Contemplation of God is the pious reflection on divine properties and actions, and about our necessary response to them. It means to reflect on God's goodness, righteous judgment, wisdom, omnipotence, omnipresence, knowledge of all things, about creation and industry, about the working of Salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ, about grace and the word of God, about the holy mysteries and about the Kingdom of Heaven. If you start to reflect on any one of these things, your soul will immediately be filled with pious feeling toward God.

Consider, for example, the goodness of God, and you will see that you are surrounded by God's mercies, both physical and spiritual, and that you would have to be a stone not to fall down before God pouring out feelings of thanksgiving.

Consider the omnipresence of God, and you will understand that you are always before God, and God is before you, and thus you cannot avoid being filled with pious fear.

Consider the knowledge God has of all things, and you will realize, that nothing inside of you is hidden from the eye of God, and will set yourself to be strictly attentive to the movements of your heart and mind, in order not to offend the all-seeing God in any way.

Consider the righteousness of God, and you will believe that not one evil deed remains unpunished. As a result you will firmly set yourself to cleansing all of your sins in a heartfelt way before God with brokenness and repentance.

Thus, whatever property or action of God on which you reflect, that reflection will fill your soul with pious feelings and inclinations towards God. It will align all of your human substance towards God, and it is therefore the most direct means of teaching the soul to ascend to God.

The most useful and comfortable time for this is morning, when the soul is not yet burdened with many worries and work issues. Specifically, the best time is after morning prayers. Finish your prayers, sit down, and with thoughts cleansed by prayer, begin to think now about one divine aspect, and tomorrow about another, and incline your soul to this aspect. "Come", says St. Dimitri of Rostov, "come, holy contemplation of God, and let us immerse ourselves in contemplation of the great works of God", and he passed mentally through the works of providence and creation, or the miracles of our Lord and Savior, or His sufferings, or something else, and warmed up his heart, and began to pour out his soul in prayer. Everyone can do the same. The work is small; one only needs desire and resolve, but the fruits are many.

Summary
Three means to teach the soul to ascend prayerfully to God other than the prayer rule:

1. Dedicate some time in the morning to the contemplation of God;
2. Turn every action to the glory of God, and
3. Often turn to God with short prayers.

When contemplation of God goes well in the morning, it leaves a deep inclination toward thinking about God.

Thinking about God makes the soul carefully order all of its actions, interior and exterior, and turn them to the glory of God. At the same time, this sets up a state in the soul that it often will be moved by prayerful cries to God.

These three: contemplation of God, doing all to the glory of God, and frequent short prayers are the most active weapons of mental prayer and prayer of the heart. Each of them raises the soul to God. He who decides to practice these quickly attains the habit of ascending to God in his heart. The labor put into these leads to the heights. The higher one ascends on a mountain, the freer and easier he breathes. Thus it is also here: the more one does these exercises, the higher his soul ascends, and the higher the soul ascends, the more freely prayer can act in it.

Our soul by nature is the abode of the higher divine world. Our soul should always be in this world by thoughts and feelings of the heart. But the baggage of worldly thoughts and passions leads and pulls the soul down.

These methods separate the soul little by little from the earth, and then completely pull it away. When they have completely pulled the soul from the earth, then the soul lives in its own region, and will happily live on high.

Here in heart and mind, and later in actual substance it will be vouchsafed to be before the face of God in the choirs of the angels and the saints.

Personal and corporate prayer

Anyone who wants to grow closer to God must develop a disciplined prayer life. Public worship and personal prayer are the twin support beams of the spiritual life for any believer. All our growing will take place within the framework they provide. But they are not the same thing, and they are not interchangeable.

Personal prayer is just that, personal and individual. It is my own personal conversation with God, in which no one else will be involved. In personal prayer I will pray for others, but not with others.

Jesus’ teaching about prayer makes it clear: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).

Personal prayer is our own private time with our Father. Everyone feels the need for a little personal attention at times, and in prayer we get that; but it never replaces our worship in church. The oneness of being in the Body of Christ, united in faith and love with other believers, is both glorious and necessary. But an individual relationship with God is just as important. In order to be a complete Christian one must relate to the members of the Body of Christ together, and relate to God as a person. St. John of Kronstadt (1829–1908) wrote, “Why is it necessary to pray at home, and to attend divine services in church? Well, why is it necessary for you to eat and drink, to take exercise, or to work every day? In order to support the life of the body and strengthen it.” Worship and prayer are the food and drink, the work and workout, of our life with God.

Your relationship with a personal God is what private prayer is all about. There are many things required for our growth, such as reading, study, and good works. But they will bear no real fruit unless they are supported by the life of worship and prayer.

Americans are practical people. They like to know what is involved before committing ourselves to a program. It only makes sense to do things this way. Jesus certainly expressed this idea when He said, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” (Luke 14:28). So we need to count the cost. Why bother with the effort of a disciplined prayer life at all?

There are several possible answers to the question, but I find two to be persuasive: We pray as a response to love, and we pray in order to love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. . . . In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:7, 10).

God always takes the first step! We do not have to worry about getting in touch with Him, because He has already established contact with us by sending His Son to die for us. God is the primary Lover of the creation and everything in it—the One who sweeps us off our feet the first time we really encounter Him. And He does this not so much by what He does as by who He is.

For Christians, love is action, not feeling. Christian love is not the warm rush of desire and joy that can be experienced in a love affair, political rally, or charismatic power meeting. That is romanticism, not Christianity. So responding to God with warm feelings is not what prayer should be about. As we shall see, the Orthodox tradition is very cautious about such things.

Love experienced on the deep level of reality results in a conscious decision to act toward someone in a caring way and to communicate with that person. So God acts by sending His Son, the Eternal Word, to us. This is the ultimate declaration of love. We respond to the sending of His Word with our words. We pray.

The Act of Loving

Prayer is more than just our response to the way God loves us. It is part of how we love Him. Love breaks down separation because we want to be one with the person we love. If we love God, we want to become one with Him. St. Dimitri of Rostov wrote, “No unity with God is possible without an exceeding great love.” Loving and joining go together.

But you cannot become one with someone if you never talk to him. You cannot be in love with someone you do not know. Genuine lovers are always discovering things about each other. The more you know about the one you love, the more you will be in love with him.

Our relationship with God is like that, and it is not hard to understand what happens. In order to love Him, we have to trustingly open ourselves to Him, and He will open Himself to us. We become one with our Lover. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). He already knows about us (He did create us, remember), but He will open Himself to us so that we can learn as much as possible about Him. This does not mean that we will learn everything there is to know about God, but we will learn all that we can possibly absorb. We can ask no more of any lover.

Our love will express itself in a desire for knowledge and union. Prayer is the way we express our desire and the way we achieve it. To understand the need for prayer, we must realize how much we need a personal relationship with God. Prayer is the encounter between two loving persons seeking to become one: God in us, and we in Him. “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song of Solomon 2:16).

A Life of Prayer

It is difficult, if not impossible, to succeed in prayer, if we do not at the same time work on other virtues.

If we compare someone who prays to the whole body, then we see the following lesson: as it is impossible for a man without legs to walk, even if the rest of his body is healthy, so it is impossible to approach God, or reach God in prayer, without active virtue. Look in the apostolic teachings, and you will see that in them prayer does not stand alone, but together with a whole host of virtues.

For example, the apostle Paul arms a Christian in spiritual battle and dresses him in the full armor of God. Look at what this is:

The belt is truth,
the armor is righteousness,
the shoes are the gospel of peace,
the shield is faith,
the helmet is hope,
the sword is the word of God (Eph 6.14-17).

Such weapons!

After all of this he places his warrior in prayer as if in some sort of fortress: "pray at all times in the spirit with all sorts of prayer and petition" (Eph 6.18).

It is possible for prayer alone to defeat all enemies, but to be strong in prayer, one must be successful in faith, hope, truth, righteousness, and all the rest.

In another place, the same apostle adorns the soul with bridal clothing as the bride of Christ, saying,

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col 3.12-16).

In many other places in the word of God, prayer is bound up tightly with all the other virtues, as their queen, after which they all strive, and which draws all of them after itself, or even better, as their fragrant flower. As it is necessary for a flower to be covered with leaves as well as having a stem, branches and root, in order to attract attention, it is also necessary for prayer to be accompanied by other good spiritual inclinations and labors in order to blossom like a flower in the soul; faith is the root, active love is like a stem and branches, and labors of a spiritual-physical nature are like leaves.

When such a holy tree is planted in the soul, then in the morning, and in the evening, and during the course of the day, according to its state, the flowers of prayer will freely blossom and fill all of our inner chambers with fragrance.
I remind you of all of this, so that no one would think: "I labor in prayer, and that is enough". No - one must work and be zealous for all things together, both praying and working at all the virtues.

It is true that it is impossible to succeed in virtues without prayer, but it is also necessary to work at the virtues while praying, so that the prayer can show its cooperation in these virtues.

In order to succeed in prayer, one must pray, but the labor of prayer should be used as the means to virtues.

One must be concerned about all things, and always strive to be on the right side. The same thing happens in a clock. A clock works properly and shows the correct time only when all of the gears and other parts inside are complete and in their correct place, and joined together properly. This is the same in our inner spiritual mechanism: the striving of the soul will be true like an arrow, directed straight toward God, when all other parts of the soul are whole and are established in their correct places, so to speak, put in place by virtue.

Kind of Virtues that Surround Prayer

I will teach you what sort of virtues should surround your prayer, or what sort of prayerful, virtuous life a Christian should plant in himself, not in my own words, but in the words of the holy hierarch Dimitri of Rostov, who briefly lists these things in the following instructions (from Christian Spiritual Instruction, part 1, p. 288):

1. When you wake up, let your first thought be about God, your first word be a prayer to God your creator and keeper of your life, Who is always able to give life or destroy it, who can strike with illness and heal, and who can save or destroy.

2. Bow and give thanks to God Who raised you from sleep, and Who did not allow you to perish in your sins, but with long-suffering awaited your repentance.

3. Make a start for better things, saying with the Psalmist: "I said, now I have made a beginning" (Ps. 76.11) For no one completes the path to heaven except he who makes a good beginning everyday.

4. From the morning pray like the Seraphim, act like the Cherubim, and be surrounded with angels.

5. Do not waste time any longer. Do only those things which are necessary.

6. In all deeds and words, keep your mind in God; do not write anything in your mind except Christ, and let no image touch your pure heart except the pure image of Christ our God and Savior.

7. Awaken yourself to the love of God in all things, whenever you are able, especially say to yourself with the Psalmist: "in my meditation a fire was kindled" (Ps. 38.4).

8. You desire to love God, Whose visitation you always see and gaze upon with your interior eyes, therefore turn away from all evil deeds, words, and thoughts. Do, say, and think all things honorably, humbly, and with the fear of a son.

9. Let meekness with praise and humility with honor be together.

10. Let your words be quiet, humble, honorable, and useful. Let silence decide the words that you say. From henceforth, let no empty or rotten word escape your lips.

11. If something funny happens, allow yourself only a smile, and this not often.

12. You will fall into prodigality through anger, wrath, and arguing: keep yourself moderate in anger.

13. Always observe moderation in eating and drinking.

14. Be condescending in all things, and God will bless you, and people will praise you.

15. You must pray about your death, which is the end of all things.

See what sort of wonderful life is taught to the praying Christian.

It is true that in one place we have spoken more about prayer, that is, of mental and heart-felt turning to God, but in another place, other virtues have been mentioned, and yet without all of them together, it is impossible to get a foothold in prayer.

Let everyone strive in knowledge: standing in prayer and exercising is according to your instruction. How can you stand to pray if you are weighed down with intemperance, or carried away with anger, or if you do not stand in peace, or you are distracted by work and lack of attention and so on?

If we are to avoid these things, then we are to strive to attain the opposite: that is, virtue. For this reason, St. John of the Ladder speaks of prayer, saying that it is the mother and the daughter of virtues.

Hearing this, some might say, "what great demands! What a heavy burden! Where can I ever find time and the strength?"

But be strong, brethren! Very little is necessary, and one must only take up one thing: zeal for God and salvation in Him in your soul.

By its nature, the soul has much good in it and it is only misdirected into all evil things. As soon as zeal for salvation and the pleasing of God is born in one's soul, all of the goodness gathers around this zeal, and immediately no small amount of good appears in the soul. Then zeal, strengthened by the grace of God, with the help of this initial good, begins to find more goodness, and enriches itself with it, and all begins to grow by degrees.

Zeal itself has the beginnings of prayer already. It is fed at first by natural virtue, and then begins to feed on the works of virtue that it engendered, and grows and becomes strong, and blossoms and begins to sing and hymn God with a harmonious and prayerful song in the heart.

May the Lord help us succeed in this. Amen.


http://www.fatheralexander.org/bookl...ish/prayer.htm
http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Theophan-Homily4.html
http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8634
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/prayrule.aspx
http://www.antiochian.org/node/25484
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/theoph_prayer.aspx
http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Theoph...ed%20time.html
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_prayer.aspx

[aron]

Originally Posted by InChristAlone

A New Born Baby is not a Sinner.
“Thy hands have made me and fashioned me.” Psalm 119:73

“Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13, 14

“Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?” Job 31:15

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”. Jer. 1:5

“Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves”. Psalm 100:3

“Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? “Mal. 2:10

IT IS GOD WHO FASHIONS EACH OF US IN OUR MOTHERS WOMBS. Are we to understand from these passages that God fashions men into sinners in their mother’s womb?

We are all created upright.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Gen.1:26,27

Ye are gods; and all of you are the children of the most High. Psalm 82:6

For in the image of God made he man. Gen. 9:6

Man is the image and glory of God. I Cor. 11:7

Men are made after the similitude of God. James 3:9

The Lord formeth the spirit of man within him. Zech. 12:1

The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. Job 33:4

He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. Acts 17:25

We are the offspring of God. Acts 17:29

I am the root and the offspring of David. Rev. 22:16

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. Eccl. 7:29

What is Sin?
Sin is by definition, individual in nature, being either a violation of
transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4)

Sin is a violation of our conscience (Romans 14:23).

“Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:1415).

A BABY IS NOT A SINNER.

Since a baby does not even know his right hand from his left (Jonah 4:11), how
can he/she commit sin by not doing what he/she is incapable of doing?

Our sins are a result of our own lust and desires, not because of the sin of Adam.

Our spirit came from God and will return to Him (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him”
(Ezekiel 18:20).

18:3-4, Jesus declared, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.

“For such(children) is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14,

“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to
come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:3-4, Jesus declared,

“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as the little child, the
same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

“Little Children” are Sinful according to Pentecostals and Roman Catholics.

So why did Jesus tell us to be like them inorder to “enter the kingdom of heaven”?
Jesus would not ask us to be more like a sinner in order to go to heaven.

Children are innocent of sin until they are able to reach a certain level of maturity.

Sorry to come so late into an interesting discussion. I obviously agree with all the words above, which come from the holy scriptures. But I notice that the holy scriptures also say,

"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 51

And these two concepts do not contradict each other. Both, to me, are equally true, and therefore are an essential part of the human journey, or experience.

[InChristAlone]

Originally Posted by aron

Sorry to come so late into an interesting discussion.

Aron, you are more than welcome to join the discussion. I am not your equal. I don't have your knowledge and analytical skills. But at least I will be able to gain your insights.

Originally Posted by aron

But I notice that the holy scriptures also say,

"Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 51

Aron, this translation of the Psalm comes from the Masoretic text, used by the KJV, the RSV, NKJV, NRSV, and virtually all Western Bibles, English or otherwise. The Masoretic text has never been the accepted norm for the EOC, which has traditionally used the Septuagint (which is older than the Masoretic text). The emphasis of these Western editions is that: 1) in sin and/or guilt my mother conceived me; and 2) I was born guilty / in sin; etc. Although this is typical of the theology of Western Christendom, it is highly foreign to the theology of Eastern Christendom.

In the Septuagint, "sin" is in the plural form: "in sins did my mother bear me".

I found two English translations from the Bible that they use in the Eastern Orthodox Church:

1) “For behold, I was conceived in transgressions, And in sins my mother bore me.”

2) In the the Greek Septuagint Bible, it’s Psalm 51:

“For, behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me.”

I also checked the Bible in Russian and the Bible in Slavonic, they are literal translations of the Greek Septuagint Bible. (The Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. The title and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who completed the translation as early as the late 2nd century BCE. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is also called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint )

There are a few interpretations of the verse in the EOC. They are a bit different but I don't think they contradict each other.

We are responsible for the sins that we commit, not the sins of our forefathers and not the sins of our first parents. Orthodox refer instead to "ancestral sin," by which we mean our participation in the disobedience of the first Adam as inherited through death. It is a curse that the Law exposed in the inability of humans to fulfill the Mosaic Covenant. It is a curse which has been redeemed by Christ. [Galatians 3:13].

Some western commentators criticize the Orthodox understanding at this point by reminding us that,. according to Psalm 50(51):5 "behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." (NKJV: Masoretic text). As stated, this is capable of being interpreted either in the "western" manner or in the Orthodox manner. However, the Septuagint (LXX) version of the Psalm translated into English reads: "Behold I was brought forth in iniquities, and in sins (plural) did my mother conceive me." This makes it quite clear that sin is endemic to the human condition from birth to death. It says nothing about transmission, let alone transmission by sex. We must assume that the Jewish scholars in Alexandria knew what they were doing when they translated the Hebrew text into Greek. The Orthodox Church certainly accepts their scholarship and, importantly, there is nothing in Judaism then or now that comes anywhere close to the Christian west's understanding of original sin which is rather important if one wants to understand St. Paul's teaching on Adam and Christ the New Adam in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. After all, St. Paul like our Lord, was a Jew by birth and by training, adept in the Law.

This, then, is the characteristic understanding of the Fall in the Orthodox Church: sin generated by the corruption of death. In the post-Orthodox, post Christian west however, many people see death as both the natural created state of man and an unacceptable reality. This mental bind is also not Orthodox. Death, being the curse of Eden, is an unnatural enemy, neither designed into Creation by God nor desired by Him. Death, as the ultimate threat causes people to flee from their brothers, their sisters and their God in a selfish pursuit of earthly things as if these will put off the evil day. "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die," as the saying goes. This is the real death, the death of the spirit from whence death itself has cast a longer and longer shadow over the God-less secularism of western materialism.

http://www.antiochian-orthodox.co.uk...alvation1a.htm

'Conceived in iniquity' refers to the Fall. We are born tainted with iniquity i.e. original sin, but not original guilt. Of course, procreation and childbirth are not sinful, just our 'spiritual genes'. God's original intention was not so that we were born through lust and sex. It's a deviation from God's plan. But after the Fall of man, our nature became corrupt and was condemned to death. We are to born through conception, inheriting the sinful/corrupted nature of Adam's body. But it’s not a personal sin of a new born baby. And it’s not his hereditary guilt. It's rather an ancestral sin, a decease, the bondage of corruption, and the condemnation of death.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria (296–298 – 2 May 373) writes in his Commentary on the Psalms (Ps. 50:5): The original intention of God was for us to generate not by marriage and corruption. But the transgression of the commandment introduced marriage on account of the lawless act of Adam, that is, the rejection of the law given him by God. Therefore all of those born of Adam are “conceived in iniquities,” having fallen under the condemnation of the forefather.

The Orthodox Study Bible gives another interpretation: "Behold I was brought forth in iniquities and in sins [plural] did my mother conceive me." Far from seeing conception and childbirth as sinful in themselves, or as a means of passing on Adam's guilt, this passage tells us every action in this fallen world is accomplished by sinful people in sinful circumstances.

'Sinful people and sinful circumstances' applies in general to people and their actions in this world. But not to the conceived embryo/baby, since he is still pure. The only thing that we know about an embryo/baby is that they eventually inherit 'decay and death'. Each of us is born of sinful parents, into a world of sinners, affected by sin and its effects. This is what the psalm seems to be saying. Unlike the Masoretic rendering, there is no firm indication in the Septuagint that we are born already sinners, bearing the guilt of sin committed before our conception.

Probably, the main difference between the EO doctrine and the Western doctrines, is that in the Eastern Orthodox Church the inheritance of ancestral sin does not mean inheritance of the guilt of the ancestral sin, but rather of the consequences of sin, which are decay and death. Does the EO understanding contradict the Western understanding of the original sin? If we consider the guilt, I believe it does. For example, if we take a baby who inherited AIDS from his parents, the baby inherits the disease, but not the guilt, since he is not responsible for it. He is not accountable for the sin/infection because he was not even created yet. Therefore, he was not born guilty. Nevertheless, he was conceived in iniquities, and in sins his mother bore him.

To say the truth, I don't know which text is more "pure": the Masoretic text or the Septuagint. Aron, have you ever pondered over this? It would be interesting to know your opinion.