Having only a passing acquaintance with the testimonies of alleged abductees, I will have to take Archbishop Chrysostomos' distillation of the common features of these experiences (derived, it seems, primarily from John E. Mack) at face value. Of course the article is far too brief to be regarded as anything but the musings of a concerned pastor, and I think it is understood by everyone here that there is no authoritative Orthodox position. But the abductees' experiences as he relates them, and as I have heard related elsewhere, if they possess any veracity at all, do seem to betray a marked demonic element. I frankly find this explanation more plausible than the idea of these being creatures from another galaxy/ physical dimension, etc.
As the Archbishop points out, the lives of the saints are replete with instances where the demons both manifest and
act physically, in order to cause both spiritual and physical harm. So that aspect of the encounters is easy enough for me to accept. Also, these experiences tend to cause people to become psychologically unhinged, more or less, which is certainly indicative of demonic activity.
What is curious to me are precisely the elements that, AFAIK, are unique to these modern encounters: the presence of strange (to many abductees' minds', more advanced) technologies, and esp. the pronounced emphasis on genital/ reproductive manipulation/ experimentation. I am not fond of speculating, but it does bring to mind the idea that the devil is always attempting to incarnate (i.e.- AntiChrist.)
In short, I tend toward agreement with Archbishop Chrysostomos' thesis, with the reservation that I simply do not know enough.
Since you posted it and asked us to discuss, what do
you think?
By Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/alien_abduct.aspx
After reading the article, I'm somewhat getting the gist that the Archbishop was referencing that Aliens were demons, or at least Orthodoxy Abductions by Aliens had some kind of demonic affect.
I'm not sure whether or not to give him credence on the article, or think "what the heck is an Archbishop doing writing about this".
There are documentaries on the subject on youtube about Aliens being demons...
Discuss?