Topic: Anathema and the destruction of the flesh for Oriental Orthodox

[loser]

What happens when someone is anathematized or excommunicated? St paul said in corinthians "deliver such a one to satan for the destruction of the flesh." 

I was reading a story about a coptic priest who claims to have been cured of a disease after converting to eastern orthodoxy.


I am having some health problems which seem to get worse when I try to get close to God through prayer and reading the Bible.  The priests in my church say that it is just temptation from the devil. But it has been going on for many years and is destroying my life,  even my spiritual life.  For some time now I have wondered if this is because of separation from the true faith.  Could it be because Christianity is a destructive and evil faith and the Bible is satanic? Or could this be happening because of anathema. I have been given  ample evidence that
the oriental orthodox church is not the right church but I am afraid to leave because I am worried that this was all a test from God which I would fail by leaving. The most troubling part about it is that all these problems come to me BECAUSE of prayer and reading the Bible.

Please share any stories or fathers sayings that could help me.

[Salpy]

Have you seen a doctor?  If you are sick, go to a doctor.  That is what we are told to do in Sirach 38:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Sirach+38&version=GNT

It's ridiculous to think that belonging to one particular church vs another church is making you sick, or that switching churches will make you well.  OO's, EO's, and RC's all get sick, and there are stories of miraculous healing among all of them as well.

Pray for healing, but also go to a doctor and follow his advice. 

[loser]

Beleive me I have seen many many doctors. No doctor can cure what I have. It is spiritual without doubt. Only a spiritual cure will work.

[Cyrillic]

If you would have thought that the Bible was satanic you wouldn't have quoted it as an authority. Why do you think the Oriental Orthodox Church is not 'the right Church'?

[loser]

I do not want this thread to become a debate about which church is right. And I do not want people telling me to see doctors or psychiatrists. I have exhausted all that.  I would like stories or sayings of the fathers which relate  anathema and suffering and how it relates to the spiritual path and how it can be applied to the Oriental orthodix church. I do remember reading some sayings of the early church fathers which talk about there being no sacramental grace,  Holy Spirit or even salvation for heretics. Indeed it is a Roman Catholic dogma "Outside of the Catholic Church there is no salvation." And shortly after the Oriental churches are seperated from the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic church, theyre cities fall captive to the Muslims.

[DuxI]

I am having some health problems which seem to get worse when I try to get close to God through prayer and reading the Bible.

Can that be something that you make with your subconscious? I am not saying that it is such, since i do not know what your health problem is, but in some cases, a person's mind can trigger symptoms of some diseases.  

The priests in my church say that it is just temptation from the devil. But it has been going on for many years and is destroying my life,  even my spiritual life. 

It can be a temptation from the devil, yes, but, as others said, try to see what doctors will say to that too.

For some time now I have wondered if this is because of separation from the true faith.  Could it be because Christianity is a destructive and evil faith and the Bible is satanic?

Chronic illnesses are not triggered by touching the Bible or by believing or not believing in the Bible.

The most troubling part about it is that all these problems come to me BECAUSE of prayer and reading the Bible.

Is this what you think, or this is confirmed by a doctor? I have seen and read many things about illnesses, but i have never seen symptoms coming from prayer or the Bible. That can be only true if you have some form of  anxiety or fear that triggers symptoms subconsciously when you read the Bible

The best solution is to talk to a doctor. If the doctors, after all the needed examinations rule out any somatic disease, then it can be something that is not somatic, but gives such symptoms.  

[DuxI]

Beleive me I have seen many many doctors. No doctor can cure what I have. It is spiritual without doubt. Only a spiritual cure will work.

Well, doctors can not cure spiritual illnesses, that is true. But if it is psychological, then, yes, doctors deal with that.

[Cyrillic]

The Greek Pagan sophist Gorgias of Leontini died in relatively good healthwhen he was 105-110 years old. Should we now become Pagan?

Indeed it is a Roman Catholic dogma "Outside of the Catholic Church there is no salvation."

Extra ecclesiam nulla salus is a doctrine in the EO and OO Churches as well.

And shortly after the Oriental churches are seperated from the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic church, theyre cities fall captive to the Muslims.

You seem to preach a welfare gospel, which is considered to be heretical by anyone but a few Evangelical nutcases. Even then, Ethiopia was one of the few countries which held out against the Arabs and the western colonialists and it was and is OO. I'm not OO myself but you'll have to come with something better to 'prove' that they're heretical/schismatical or whatever.

[Antonious Nikolas]

Feel better, man.  I'll be praying for you.