Greetings OrthodoxChristianity.net, I am from San Diego, California
I noticed a thread from here was referencing my website, so I thought it might be good to make some comments. I am at an introductory level to the strict Old Believers from Russia known as the Pomorsky. I appreciate this opportunity to express a few things about matters of Faith, as matters of Faith matter more to me than anything else. The few people today that have heard about Old Believers drastically misunderstand the position they take. The Internet is truly not the best forum for straightening out all the issues, but perhaps one or two people might begin to have a better grasp of issues if we can go over them.
Anyone can test and prove things well enough to find the truth. If people care to know specific sources of mine I will be glad to work at offering them. Several things should be understood from the start. The English language was always forbidden by the early Christians to use in prayer, worship or scripture, because it is a tradition of men made by witches. English simply does not have the tools to properly express the things of God. Man generated electricity is strange fire like the strange incense warned against by the prophets of old. Petroleum products, like plastics, synthetic clothing and man made chemicals are the remains of the damned dead people, plants and animals from things like the flood and Korah, etc. They are black and stink, spiritually defiling and ungodly. It is the demons that carry the data/voices back and forth between computers/telephones. It is the demons who inspired people to use such things because they will ultimately be part of what is known as the Mark of the Beast. These things are simply not Christian.
Having said that it must be understood that we all must start somewhere. Truly, Pandora’s box has been opened, so I for one intend to use all at my disposal, to use the wickedness all around me against itself. At least until I find a way of escape or find a truly safe spiritual harbor from which to live. So, in the meantime I will use such things as are compromising, simply because we are all presently in this compromise to begin with. The most loving thing there is would be for those that find a glimmer of hope in such times as these to offer it to all those around them. As it is said of the Church Fathers, “silence of consent” so how can anyone keep quite with such wickedness all around us? For me the following words from the “English” Gospels by Christ are loud and clear, “They who are offended by Him will be sifted; but whom He shall judge they will be utterly destroyed”. Matt. 21:44 Better to be offended now than judged later! Computers are metal that thinks, something which is unnatural and dangerous, so beware.
The good Old Russian Faith is something worthy of discussion on any forum, sadly few recognize this fact. The reason for this is that it is now the only currency in the economy of salvation, a point which should matter to everyone on earth. For those that think that hydrogen cars are the solution to our problems, I would say think again, as they too use much wicked petroleum.
We all make our choices, as for me I want to simply learn how to obey God. I have found the strict Old Believers to be the last Christians and worthy of following their good example. It should be clarified that the “Official Russian Church” are those who departed the established Christian Faith, not the Old Believers. How can the Old Believers have caused any schism if all they are doing is keeping that authentic Faith which was originally given to them?
The rest of the “Orthodox world” at the time of Nikon had long gone into the Great Apostasy with the Latin’s. What Nikon did succeed to Latinize the Russian Church in many and various areas doctrine and practice. Faith and practice cannot be separated, as much as the some would like us to think. So the truth is that Nikon made the schism, not the Old Believers.
The last person with an original idea was Adam, and that was a bad one. People today wrap themselves up so much that they miss the forest for the trees. So all this witchery about plagiarism is really just that, witchery. Thinking that a person must be original is somebody else’s delusion. As for me, my only desire is to be having the opinion God has given us all to be having. May all our words be only that which might convey godliness to others. Such things are what make this life paradoxical and oxymoronic, in our blind eyes. The jurisdictional issue is something really of the past, today the only jurisdiction that matters is the jurisdiction of God.
The most unloving thing of all is to practice that which is departing from the established faith. These can be seen in the innovations with the sign of the cross, the transvestites and cross dressers (men that cut their beard, women that wear pants), being in communion with the Latin’s for centuries as the impostor Orthodox Churches have truly been in, the shortening of worship services, the Latinizing of books and languages, the contrariness of Processions, corruption of iconography…the list goes on and on. There are not different ways to heaven, as the Nikonites suppose. The two-fingered sign of the cross is specifically the early Christian way and not only the Old Believer way, the Greeks passed it on to the Russians from the start.
For instance, the two finger sign of the cross is not imagination, rationalization or innovation; but the three finger sign and the neo-orthodox priestly blessing all started by the influence of the Latin Crusaders when they sacked Constantinople. We can clearly see where it all started. There were other heresies which began at this time, such as God the Father icons and Augustinianism (calling Augustine holy). People who do not have a right hand wherewith to sign themselves are simply not expected to be signing themselves. God is more than able to complete that which we are unable to do ourselves in this temporary life. What is clear is that we do not have the privilege to contradict the established teachings of the true Faith.
Some people have an erroneous idea that all the redemptive acts (particularly the Crucifixion of Christ) cannot be remembered. I tell you the truth, that all the redemptive acts of God will be eternally remembered. So it has always been correct, from the beginning of Christianity, to sign oneself placing the two natures of Christ on the Holy Cross for our protection against the evils in this world. As a matter of fact it is heresy to place the Trinity on the sign of the cross, as heretics do.
Hyper-ritualism is that which those in the Great Apostasy are currently doing, the neo-Orthodox with their Latinizations and all others who pervert the truth. It is clear that heretics have no Grace, but nobody has ever shown me where the strict Old Believers practiced any heresy. There is only one conclusion a person can make. Obedience to godly examples is life, contradictions of God caused death. Godly ordered things are not at all mechanical but they certainly are precise in nature, though at times they are mysterious. But satan has always given impostors, also called magic. Woe to all those who mistake one for the other, there are no excuses to remain in errors. Heretics separate themselves from Christ and the Mysteries.
It is a misnomer that the strict Old Believers were ever separated from the Mysteries. They have never lacked anything. The neo-orthodox are not the Church. To follow the neo-orthodox in their innovative Latin practices is ludicrous. I would never desire such for my worst enemy. Heresy is contradicting Christ, His Apostles and the teaching of the Holy Spirit through the good councils. Even the Nikonites recognized they were wrong to call the Stoglav a forgery, but the Council of 1666 is unquestionably a robber council. It is significant that the 1666 council was not one year earlier or one year later. One contradiction with the robber council is that they began accepting the sprinkle baptisms of Latin converts. It is not the earthly end of a practice but the contradiction of established faith and practice that is Heresy.
By nature humans are forgetful, so by the mercies of God He repeats Himself often, and hears those who repeatedly entreat Him. So we should not be so critical of good repetitions. I am really amazed at the comments I see on this forum. The form of the blessing cross and the personal sign of the cross were identical through the ages, this age of Great Apostasy is certainly no time to be creating our own ideas about how blessings and personal gestures should be done. All the Greek Orthodox clergy that I have seen, which are hundreds, all bless according to the neo-orthodox Latin heretical fashion, not the good old way. And for the record, Old Believers most certainly are offended at the western Protestant ideas, so it is not honest to relate Protestants to Old Believers.
Avvakum, one of the greatest of Old Russian writers, was a most amazing clergy person, who never joined the Nikonite heretics. He continues to be a great example of the Orthodoxy that neo-orthodox have lost. People should learn more about him. When people express the old Christian form of the sign of the cross as 5 fingers is simply a way of expressing the fullness of Orthodoxy, compared to what is lacking in the neo-orthodox practice. Expressing false teachers as wolves in sheep clothing comes from the greatest example, Christ Himself. So, to think of the devil as a wolf is most appropriate indeed. Imitating Christ is not being a robot, but imitating the devil is unquestionably the worst thing anybody could do. The purpose of the devil is to have everything to do with everything, so that he can confuse everyone. Do not underestimate the devil, thinking that he would not impersonate his own demise, for that is exactly what he has always done from the beginning. Faith and practice cannot be separated, we cannot be imitators of heretics and be faithful to Christ at the same time. This is why doing the sign of the cross correctly is of such importance.
The reasons why I desire to be like the last good Christians, the strict Old Believers, is simply because I want to obey God. It is more than evident that they are the last good example of the one and only Faith which God gave the human race for salvation. The Old Believers have themselves given more than ample good reasons and I do not think myself greater than them, I bow to their good example and offer them to anyone who would care enough to really look. Maintaining the Faith given once for all mankind is not attaching anything, to the contrary, the Nikonites attach a multitude of things, just look and see for yourself. Actions speak louder than words. What people do, as far as placing the Trinity on the Cross, is louder than their denials of it. So Nikonite heretics can deny that they continually practice the heresy of putting the Trinity on the Cross, but in all honestly they are two faced, for what they do betrays them. The Nikonite motives are impious and lazy, to say the least. The very substance of the Faith stands or falls on what might seem like the smallest of points. If we do everything right, yet faith in one thing, we are guilty of doing everything wrong. A half truth is an entire lie. Repentance is Life and anyone can be doers of this. This is why the heretics have no excuse for continuing the way they do. Differences are acceptable only if they do not contradict the truth.
Heresy is not genuinely beautiful, even if it might seem so for a moment. It is sin through and through. Sin is sin, heresy is heresy. False ecumenism is when any heresy is accepted. There is really not any simpler way to say it. Bathing has been known a pagan custom which we would do well to avoid. Washing to get clean is another thing all together. I am guessing that many people do not understand things, but they should. To usurp God with devilish traditions of men like pharmaceuticals is unthinkable. God gives, God takes away. By no means should anyone, especially women, be going to beaches to sun bathe and strut around half naked, etc. God’s people perish due to lack of knowledge.
The Church of the Nativity in Erie, Pa. (and other similar kinds of “old believers”) are to be understood as “unionists” that have compromised their good roots. Due to such tendencies the earth swallowed hundreds of their family and neighbors. We should all take to heart such warnings. But there most certainly is room for anyone to come to a whole hearted repentance, but they will be the few who are willing to depart from the Great Apostasy.
This is a crazy mixed-up time when most people think that heretics are nice while at the same time ignore any hint of genuine goodness. There are degrees, those who more closely mimic the truth will endure more weeping and gnashing of teeth due to the fact that they should have known all the much more. For my part I cannot imagine how anything would persuade me to rejoin the desperately counterfeit neo-orthodoxies of my past. The delusion is certainly very great for so many to be in such confusions.
Everyone gets at least a couple things right which shows that there are no excuses for not getting the rest of the Faith right. All of us should understand that even the holy Apostle Paul used the pagan idea of an “unknown god” to spark and awareness of the truth. There is no problem in using the right things that those in error do realize, so that they might come to the knowledge of the truth. Being all things to all people, as it were. But we should not take this too far, thinking that the last few people should risk what little example they have in order convince this unwilling last generation of unfaithful people to be faithful. btw, the strict Old Believers already gave a thorough anathema and response to the Nikonite and neo-orthodox centuries ago, in what is known as the “Pomorsky Answers” which to this day there has never been a thoughtful rebuttal, simply because there is nothing good that the heretics could say. That document is one of the best documents I can think of, one which I suggest all people of goodwill learn. It is certainly part of the one standard of God to use all available references against the tide of wickedness.
The worst of trolls are those who parade as being Orthodox but are still light years away from ever having it. Being banned from talking to a group of heretics is a good thing, after all, just how long should we continue with them? In the end God will judge us, on that fearful day who of us is proud enough to say they will remain standing? I am the worlds worst speller, typist, reader and writer, but I trust that you all can get my points. I suggest that all Internet forums are trolls themselves. Who caught who here? The vast multitudes of people today will never be convinced of the truth because they are all happy in their various heresies. The only reason I continue to offer such study notes is because there are a few who actually appreciate it and care, perhaps even here. Something to take serious note of is that fake sacraments and fake altars make a fake church, better to be cautious about such things lest we find ourselves in a worse spot than we were before. To me, commitment to the original is what true love is all about. Chrysostom does not condemn those who reject the erroneous episcopacies of the last days for Chrysostom says concerning the Antichrist, “he will be seated in the temple of God, not that in Jerusalem only, but also in every Church.” Commentary on 2 Thess. 2:3,4. Chrysostom is not alone in expressing this view. When a good Christian is martyred they do not cease being a good Christian, likewise with the episcopacy, the fact the last ones were martyred in no way causes their faithful office to end. The eternal liturgy continues with all those who worship in Spirit and in Truth. Most people should find the truth believable but they simple refuse to, it is their choice.
About eating meat. In the Acts of the Sainted Apostles we can find a passage which says that all Christians must abstain from idolatry, blood and sexual immorality. So it goes that it is still required that good Christians “bleed” animals according to the command of God. Sadly, meat today, in our markets or restaurants, is most commonly electrocuted in order that all the blood remain inside the animal. Something to think about is that if we desire to obey God rather than men that we should not be eating such meat at all.
It does not take a rocket scientist or genius to see that compromising people like the Nikonites have caused all the confusion in this world. The Truth is never confusing. Those who have so long been in the confusion of this world may find the Truth confusing to them, it is no wonder. But the fact remains, error makes more error, confusion brings more confusion. Step back and think again and you might see things more clearly.
How are Nikonites and Latinizers not heretics?
How can there be any good earthly bishops during the age of this Great Apostasy?
This entire post is a response to the thread from here which has been referencing my website.
I am more than willing to talk to anyone, anytime.
Forgive, John
http://MyMartyrdom.com(619) 243-6252