Proof That God Is One and Not Many (St. John of Damascus)

 

 By St. John of Damascus

We have, then, adequately demonstrated that there is a God, and that His essence is incomprehensible. But that God is one and not many is no matter of doubt to those who believe in the Holy Scriptures.

For the Lord says in the beginning of the Law: "I am the Lord your God, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt. You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:2-3).

And again He says, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4).

And in Isaiah the prophet we read, "For I am the first God and I am the last, and beside Me there is no God. Before Me there was not any God, nor after Me will there be any God, and beside Me there is no God" (Isaiah 43:10).

And the Lord, too, in the holy Gospels speaks these words to His Father, "And this is life eternal, that they may know You the only true God" (John 17:3).

A Linguistic Distinction Between Orthodoxy and Religions

In Greek grammar, we use the word γένος (gender), therefore there are three genders, which are: αρσενικό (arsenikó) meaning “masculine,” θηλυκό (thilikó) meaning “feminine,” and ουδέτερο (udétero) meaning “neuter.” These genders characterize nouns, adjectives, articles, and some pronouns and participles.

All the religions in the Greek language belong to the masculine gender (or neuter according to some variants of these):

The Muslim Village in Crete Every Christian Feared and Avoided

Grantos was a small settlement south of Megali Vrysi in the prefecture of Heraklion on the island of Crete.

Its existence is associated with a lot of stories about its inhabitants who not only changed their faith during the Turkish occupation from Orthodox Christian to Muslim, but also became the most bloodthirsty and dangerous in the region.

The presence of the village is recorded during the Venetian occupation when in 1583 it had 34 inhabitants. During the Turkish occupation it was a purely Turkish village with 35 Muslim inhabitants.

This village had gained a bad reputation because of its inhabitants who are said to have been so cruel that any Christian who happened to pass by there was terrified, hence why the place was called Grantos, which indicates it was a place where bad things happened to you. The Muslims of the village put the Christians to the test and made them regret the time and the moment they found themselves in their way. Therefore, it is speculated that the village was named Grantos.

Erdogan Inaugurates New Mosque Next To Greek Orthodox Church in Taksim Square

The newly-built Taksim Mosque, located in the center of Istanbul, at Taksim Square, was built right next to the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, and was inaugurated today, 28 May 2021, by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, after Friday morning prayers. The inauguration also took place on the eve of the anniversary of the Fall of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, which is consciously commemorated every year by the Turkish President.

Since becoming Mayor of Istanbul, Erdogan has repeatedly insisted that a mosque is absent from Taksim Square, where the only visible religious building there is an Orthodox Christian church (the Holy Trinity Church). Holy Trinity Church was erected in 1880 and is considered the largest Greek Orthodox shrine in Istanbul today. It was the first domed Christian church that was allowed to be built in Istanbul after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

A Tomb Venerated by Muslims for Generations in Turkey Is Actually the Tomb of the Ancient Greek Boxer Diagoras

It has long been known that Muslims in Turkey were taught to not acknowledge the Greek and Roman history of Turkey, claiming that their ancestors have lived there for thousands of years, of which they are direct descendants. Archaeology however easily disproves this theory, and below we have one example how mistakes like this when uncovered become a source of shock to locals.

In 2018 an Islamic holy site once believed to be the tomb of a Muslim holy figure was actually built for a famous Ancient Greek boxer.

Local worshippers had "sacrificed goats and chickens" at the Turkish tomb for decades – but now fear that their prayers were in vain.

The 2,400-year-old tomb was revered by local people in the Marmaris district of Turgut, but archaeologists recently confirmed that the tomb actually belonged to a boxer called Diagoras of Rhodes.

Did Patriarch Athenagoras Serve as a Rabbi for Jews?

 

Many things have been written about the former Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and his ecumenist activities, some of which can be viewed as positive steps, but there are also things so cringeworthy awful that one can hardly believe they are true without seeing the evidence first. One of these things is the claim that he had once served as a Rabbi to Jews at the same time he was a Metropolitan for Orthodox Christians.

As evidence for this claim, we are told to look into the archives of the New York Times, specifically for the issue dated November 25, 1940. The title of the article is "GREEK JEWS HERE PRAY FOR VICTORY". I decided to look it up to see what I would find. After paying a subscription fee, here is the article:

The Hindu and the Holy Trinity

St. Gabriel the Fool for Christ and Confessor of Georgia

 

A Hinduist doubted the Orthodox doctrine of the Holy Trinity by contrasting it with the Hindu representation of the three persons of the divinity which are in harmony but are not of the same essence.

"You are wrong, my brother," replied Elder Gabriel, "our teaching has nothing to do with that which is human. It is all revealed by God. How can it therefore be wrong? However, because you are unable to understand it, I will give you a tangible example."

Was Saint John of Kronstadt an Anti-Semite and Pogromist?

There is no evidence - neither in the texts of Father John of Kronstadt, nor the memoirs of his contemporaries - where he would have expressed something anti-Semitic. As for being called a "pogromist" - it is exactly the opposite. When in 1903 there was a terrible pogrom in Chisinau, Father John, together with Bishop Anthony Khrapovitsky, signed a sharp statement - "Word on the Chisinau Events", where he very harshly condemned the pogroms from a Christian standpoint. Furthermore, this text was later disseminated by Jewish societies, which attracted the attacks of extreme reactionaries on Father John.

Study Finds Many Spiritual Practices Boost Narcissism and Feelings of Superiority

 

Study: “An Exploration of Spiritual Superiority: The Paradox of Self‐Enhancement“ 
Authors: Roos Vonk and Anouk Visser
Published in: European Journal of Social Psychology
Publication date: October 1, 2020

A new study has found that some popular forms of spiritual training — such as energy healing, aura reading, and, to a lesser degree, mindfulness and meditation — correlate with both narcissism and “spiritual superiority.”

An implicit feature of spiritual training is that it allows its adherents to distance themselves from their egos, and thereby from things such as the need for social approval or success. By encouraging self-compassion and non-judgmental self-acceptance, spiritual training should presumably make people less concerned with such things.

Saint Paul, Having Converted to Islam, Repented and Became a Monk on Mount Athos, and Returning to Tripoli to Confess His Christian Faith, Was Beheaded at the Age of 28 in 1818

 

 

 

Holy New Martyr Paul of Peloponnesos (+ 1818)

Saint Paul, Martyred by the Turks in Tripoli in 1818, Being Rebuked By His Dead Mother When He Converted to Islam

 

Holy New Martyr Paul of Peloponnesos (+ 1818)