River of Fire by Dr. Kalomiros

Book Review

http://www.euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8776&start=7

Question about writings on the ROAC USA website:

I read the "River of Fire" awhile ago... For the sake of clarity, can someone please indicate what is unorthodox about it? I am not defending it - I sincerely do not know.

Answer:

The most troubling aspect of the Kalomiran view of hell is the notion that heaven and hell are the same objective reality experienced subjectively. Several questions arise as a result: How are the scriptural references to heaven and hell as physical places compatible with this view? If indeed the experience of heaven and hell entirely depends on our personal response to God's love, what prevents the worst sinners from being receptive to it and what prevents the recipients of salvation from rejecting it after death? If hell's torment is solely caused by hate against God, how did the rich man in the parable of Lazarus cry out to Father Abraham, "Have mercy on me"? Is this reflective of hate against God?

In addition, Dr. Kalomiros introduces yet another heretical statement: "God never hates, never punishes, never takes vengeance." Is he familiar with the Bible or the Church Fathers at all? The Scriptural references replete with mentions of divine wrath and eternal punishment will obviate the need to quote all the verses in it. For convenience’s sake, I am quoting the following two verses from Revelation, 20:9-10. “(A)nd fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” It is evident in these Bible verses that the destructive fire originates from God, not from His creatures. Of course, this is not to portray God as a Christian equivalent of the Hindu goddess Kali. Rather, it is a reiteration of another significant aspect of divine justice besides correction. Namely, retribution. As for his patrisitc references, let us examine the very words of the saints, whom Dr. Kalomiros chose for his article. St. John of Damascus writes, "A judge justly punishes one who is guilty of wrongdoing; and if he does not punish him he is himself a wrongdoer." St. Symeon the New Theologian writes, "(If I)depart from this life still defiled, I shall be fit to suffer derision on the part of God and His angels and be cast into eternal fire with the demons."

In my opinion, the River of Fire is a well-wrapped deism. By stripping God of His ultimate authority to execute justice and judgment, Dr. Kalomiros reduces God into a mere clock maker and elevates us men to the status of the sovereign overlord of our own fate. In his stark portrait, the farthest extent of God's role is the creator of the law. He is a passive and powerless lawmaker. As for the enforcement and execution of justice, they become our sole responsibility. Isn't there something fundamentally wrong with this humanistic picture? It is important to remember that God's law first went into effect before there ever was its violation. This alone demonstrates the supreme sovereignty of God. While we provide the essential ground for God's justice to be carried out, the end result, however, is God's active governance at work in response to our transgressions. It is this aspect of divine sovereignty and our subjection to it that Dr. Kalomiros loses sight of in determination to "peculiarize" Orthodox Christianity at all costs.

The idea of God as espoused by Dr. Kalomiros is an industrial printing press. While its main function is to provide invaluable information in the form of written media for all people, some in their carelessness may fall into it and die; the machine is not to blame for it simply did its own job. The major problem with this view is that we are in full control of our destiny and God plays no part in it. Why is it wrong for God to render judgment against those who continue to disobey Him? Why is it wrong to have fear of God? What's Dr Kalomiros's objection to the wrath of God? I do believe that God's love fills both heaven and hell but love sometimes is expressed in the form of violence and fear. Out of love for Father, our Lord overturned the tables of money changers and merchants at the temple; out of love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, St. Nicholas punched the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicea. If they had just stood there in indifference, would that have demonstrated their fervent love for God and humanity? Far from it.

Also see this refutation, recommended and approved by this blog:

http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/articles/207/“-river-fire”-revisited/

The Other-Worldliness of Holy Orthodoxy

Eugene Rose  Lay Sermon  Jan. 1964

It is often said of Holy Orthodoxy that it is “other-worldly.”  This is true, and it is its strength; but the full significance of this fact is often forgotten or neglected even by Orthodox Christians themselves.  It means that we believe in and govern our lives by invisible realities, that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (II Cor 5:7).  It means that our daily lives are an unseen warfare, “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12).  It means that we daily pray to and receive help, in the battle against the invisible enemy of our salvation, from supernatural beings of whom the world does not even recognize the existence: from the Most Holy Trinity, from the Mother of God, and from numerous angels and saints.  It means that we live by standards that are often not merely beyond the comprehension of the world, but are directly opposed to the wisdom of the world; that we do not find the end of life in success, prosperity, and earthly happiness, but rather welcome - if these be God’s will for us - affliction, sickness, pain, humiliation; that we do not indulge the passions of the natural man but, with the aid of the disciplines provided by the Church, crucify them, knowing that “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13).  It means that we do not lay up treasures for ourselves on this earth that will be destroyed, but that we keep always in mind the final destination of the soul; that we try to live in such a way that we may escape the dreadful flames of Hell that await those who reject our Lord or are careless in serving Him, and strive with all our might to be among those to whom our Lord will say, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25:34).

http://www.roca.org/OA/63/63h.htm

“God is Fire”

Eugene Rose  Lay Sermon  Nov. 1963

“God is fire”: in these words the Chosen One of God, St. Seraphim of Sarov, reminds us not only of the splendor of the Divine Glory, but also of our own opportunity and hope; for no one can approach God who does not himself become fire.  This is no mere figure of speech, but a spiritual truth demonstrated in the lives of many saints.  Christian hermits who would otherwise have frozen to death in winter frosts were kept warm by inward spiritual fire; and even the layman Motovilov, by the special grace of God, was permitted to experience this warmth in the presence of St. Seraphim and to see the Saint as though in the center of a dazzling sun. 

Such fire, as St. Seraphim tells us, is the tangible manifestation of the grace of the Holy Spirit; it was given to the Apostles at Pentecost and is given anew to every Orthodox Christian in Baptism.  In our spiritual blindness and coldness we neither see nor feel this fire, save perhaps in rare moments of fervent prayer and communion with God, and even then in small measure; but no one can approach God except through this fire.  When our first parents were expelled from Paradise, God set a fiery sword to guard the Tree of Life; and even today, in the prayers before Holy Communion, we pray that the fruit of the new Tree of Life, the Most Holy Body and Precious Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will not burn us in our unworthiness.  St. Seraphim said, “Our God is a fire which consumes everything unclean, and no one who is defiled in body or spirit can enter into communion with Him.”  So it is that the damned in Hell would experience nothing but pain even in the very presence of God; they are unclean, and the Divine Fire can only burn and torment them.  Yet the very fire that burns the unworthy can also consume impurities and make worthy those who, though unworthy, still love God and desire to be His sons.  We pray before Holy Communion, “May Thy most precious Body and Blood, my Savior, be to me as fire and light, consuming the fuel of sin and burning the thorns of my passions, enlightening the whole of me to adore Thy Divinity.” 

St. Seraphim compared the Christian believer to a lighted candle that kindles other candles without diminishing its own light, thus helping to distribute the heavenly riches of divine grace.  So must the Christian believer be, burning with love of God and zeal to serve Him, and filled with the fiery Presence of His Holy Spirit.  If he is such a flaming candle in this life, he shall be something even much greater in the next life; “then,” our Lord tells us, “shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13:43).  In our present unworthiness we can hardly conceive of such a state; for “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor 2:9).  Such a state is the goal and meaning of the Christian life; it is what every Orthodox Christian lives for. 

Christian Love

Eugene Rose  Lay Sermon  Sept 1963

Of no subject did our Lord and His Apostles speak more often than of love; love is the very foundation of the Christian life.  “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (I Jn 4:16).  It is the greatest commandment of our Lord, and the chief sign of his followers.  “A new commandment I give unto you: that you love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jn 13:34-35).

Today, when the spirit of Antichrist prevails in the world, men again speak of love; many who call themselves Christians cooperate with unbelievers and pagans thinking to build a “new age” of “brotherly love” and “peace on earth.”  But these are a worldly “love” and “peace” that are no more than a deceptive imitation and mockery of true Christian love and peace.  “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth?  I tell you, nay; but rather division” (Lk 12:51).  The lot of the Christian in this life is one of constant warfare with the world and its temptations; and even love, if it be not the love of Jesus Christ, can be such a temptation.  “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37).

Christian love seems difficult to the world, primarily because its reward is not in this life, but in the life to come.  Those who preach worldly “peace” and “love” do not believe in the future life, or else they believe in it half-heartedly, regarding it as something vague and distant.  For the Orthodox Christian, on the other hand, the whole meaning of love resides in its fulfillment in eternal life.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16).  The worldly man, if he loves his fellow man, does so out of pity for his weakness and mortality, and from concern to make his short life pleasant while it lasts; such love has no power over death, and it ends with death.  The Christian, however, loves his fellow man because he sees in him one created in the image of God and called to perfection and eternal life in God; such love is not human but divine, seeing in men not mere earthly mortality, but heavenly immortality.

Our Lord has warned us: “Ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake” (Matt. 10:22), and in time of persecution Christians may well be tempted to doubt, to fear, and even to hate in return.  But Christian love, which is not bound by death, is powerful enough to overcome these temptations.  Our Lord has commanded us: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you” (Mt 5:44).  In these commandments the standards of the world are reversed and overthrown, and the way is opened to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is to be an eternal Feast of Love.

Orthodox Prophets

Website Review

orthodoxprophets.blogspot.com

I do not recommend this blog. 

Prophets do not arise outside the Church.

Heterodox believe that God calls His prophets out of the general population, as it appears to them that this is how the Old Testament Prophets were chosen.  But not so.  Even the Old Testament Prophets were not merely "believers" in the God of Abraham, but were also members in and of the Jewish Temple.  

Remember that we define "prophecy" as the word of God.  It can be past, present or future.  Moses, for examples, prophesied of the past – telling us of the beginning of creation.  

Just as the Old Testament prophets were within the boundaries of the Jewish Temple, New Testament prophets arise only from within the boundaries of the Church, which is the Church established by Christ while He was on earth, and is "begotten" of the Jewish Temple.  Remember that Christ was born a Jew; he referred to the Jews as His people.  Later, when the Jews rejected Him, he called the Gentiles.  Prophets who were born Gentiles  became members of the Church before they became prophets.  

Misunderstanding about this is rooted in an inability to discern the boundaries of the Church.  There are other wrong ideas stemming from the same root, such as the idea that the Bible just rained out of the sky one day onto everyone, and that everyone has the right to interpret it in his own way, regardless of what the authors really mean.  The inability to discern the boundaries of the Church is found everywhere in heterodoxy; it can also be found in the lowest levels of world Orthodoxy; it is not found in Royal Path Orthodoxy.

  

When this delusion is found in Orthodox. 

Heterodox who believe they are prophets –when this is not just an overactive imagination or wishful thinking– can actually be some kind of [false] prophet, such as the charismatics who "get words" or psychics with crystal balls, tarot cards, or a "familiar spirit".  They confess that their "gift" was received outside the Orthodox Church and, in fact, insist the Church has nothing to do with it.   This is demonic deception.  A demon pretends to be the "holy spirit", or a type of "spirit guide", or "angel", or even the person's own "mental powers".

Sometimes an Orthodox person can come to believe he is a prophet.  This is also demonic deception.   The deceived one believes he was given a gift from God, within the Church, usually as a reward for his ascetic labors and prolonged prayers.  In Orthodoxy this delusion is called "prelest" or "plani," and the root cause is pride, as described in The Ladder, by St. John Climacus.  But this is a separate case from the unbaptized charismatic or psychic. 

We must come into the Church with nothing.

A Baptismal candidate who believes he has charismatic gifts from God, or psychic abilities, should not be baptized into the Church.  This is partly because it is easier to cure this malady before baptism rather than after.  The Baptismal candidate needs to do a "self-emptying" and a willful submitting, – similar to Christ, our baptism is an image of His crucifixion and resurrection.  If the baptismal candidate is holding something back, such as a secret "friendship with the holy spirit", then he cheats himself out of a complete conversion.  When the Church tells him that his "friendship with the holy spirit" is demonic, he does not believe the Church.  How can he be healed if he can not believe the Church?   How can he submit himself to a Church he does not completely trust?

What if somebody is baptized while still holding onto charismatic gifts?  Is it too late for him?  No.  But it takes more humility than most can muster.   My observation is usually either that the person leaves the Church, or he goes "underground" with his charismatic gift and keeps it hidden.  They are just so sure they are right, and separating fact from fiction is too confusing, and seems suicidal to them.

Are all charismatic gifts demonic?  Yes.  Can't there even be one good charismatic incident where it is not demonic?  No.  Are all supernatural occurrences demonic?  Be on the safe side, assume so.   Let the Church judge what is supernatural [lying signs and wonders] and what are true miracles of God.  There was one exception – an occurrence outside the Church that is deemed by the Church to be of God, and this is a good study, because it shows how you how to look deeper and gain discernment.

http://startingontheroyalpath.blogspot.com/2012/12/john-smirennikov.html

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There was good reason why back in the old days the Church forbade the younger in the Faith to teach.   The younger in the Faith do not yet have understanding which is developed after Baptism.  This is a convert pitfall that Fr. Seraphim Rose labeled: knowing better, trusting oneself.   The prescribed cure is humility. 

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Real Orthodox prophets are not self-revealed and known only to a few pious faithful during their lifetimes.

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The best way to learn about Orthodox prophets is in reading lives of saints.   The life of St. John of Kronstadt comes first to my mind as he is a modern prophet.  Avoid reading anything from the new Mt. Athos, any "elder" born after 1875.  Instead read the Optina Elder series.

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Related posts:

  http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/search/label/Orthodox%20Charismatics

  http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/search/label/False%20Elders

  http://startingontheroyalpath.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-world-orthodox-catechumen.html

3/31/13