PROLOGUE
The
blessed Elder Porphyrios
(1906-1991) did not
deliver public sermons
and homilies. However,
he did have innumerable
conversations and
discussions with his
spiritual children and
his visitors. In them,
he would teach the
truths of our faith and
the in-Christ way of
life, in the manner
befitting the needs, the
spiritual state and the
potentials of each of
his interlocutors. Of
course that did not
involve any adaptation
of the teaching, but
merely a modification of
the method utilized – in
accordance with the
words of the Lord: «
I have many things to tell
you, but you cannot bear
them yet.» (John 16:12)
and of the Apostle: «I
have fed you with milk,
and not with solid
sustenance, for you were
not able yet, but
neither are you yet able.
» (1 Cor.3:2)
These personal lessons,
the way they were
preserved in the
memories and sometimes
in the notes of his
interlocutors, have
begun to be collected
and printed in books,
such as the ones we have
already published (Cl.Ioannides
“The
Elder Porphyrios –
Testimonies and
Experiences”, 4th
ed. 1994 and An.Tzavaras
“Remembrances from
the Elder Porphyrios”
5th ed. 1994)
and other ones that we
are preparing for
publication, one of
which we are hoping will
come into circulation in
February of 1995 (Con.
Yannitsiotis
“Near
the Elder Porphyrios
–
a spiritual child
remembers”.
Apart from his teachings
that have been preserved
in memories or in notes,
there are several which
have been preserved as
audio recordings. These
recordings were made by
his interlocutors or a
person who was also
present at the time, and
many of them have been
delivered to us, per the
wishes of the blessed
Elder Porphyrios, who in
his handwritten Will had
decided that our
Hermitage was to be
responsible for
everything that
pertained to him, and as
such, for the overview,
the possibility of
publishing and the
related responsibility
for the circulation -or
not- of these
conversations of his,
depending on their
content.
Some of those
recorded
conversations are of a
general interest and as
such are useful and
beneficial, which is
why, after being
pressured by a large
number of Christians, we
began to publish them in
books accompanied by
audio tapes. When
publishing these tapes,
we removed the voice of
the Elder’s
interlocutors as it
might possibly reveal
the identity of the
speaker – something that
for various reasons is
not adviseable – at
least for now.
We have already
published the following
books: “Christ is
everything” and “Sweetest
Jesus” and are now
circulating the book “The
Orthodox spirit is the
true one”, along
with the related tapes.
The recording that
accompanies this book
contains two of the
Elder’s conversations.
The first was with
certain youngsters who
had been attracted to
oriental religions. The
second one was with
certain Holy Mountain
fathers who had been
drawn to our Christ. In
the first conversation,
which took place in
September
1989,
the Elder commenced with
the reciting of the
Creed, thus
categorically and
undeniably stating that
he is an Orthodox
Christian and that he
has nothing to do with
other religions and
teachings, of which
several followers
respected him as a
teacher. The visitors
with whom the
conversation took place
are the kind that
respected and loved the
Elder very much, and who
continue to love him.
But, to avoid giving
them the impression that
his receiving them with
love (the way he
received everyone, for
that matter), was also
his admission of their
convictions or even
their quests, he
explained very clearly
that only “the Orthodox
spirit is the correct
one” and that “all the
other spirits are
spirits of deception”.
During that conversation,
the Elder expounds
several important truths
of our faith, which are
useful to all of us.
(…)
It is our hope that this
publication will be
greatly beneficial and
we ask for your prayers
that the Lord will
condescend to the
continuation of this
endeavour, if it is in
accordance with His holy
Will.
THE CONVENT
The
Orthodox spirit is the
true one
•
First
conversation
- Elder: I
believe in one God,
Father Almighty, Creator
of heaven and earth, and
of all things visible
and invisible. And in
one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of
God, begotten of the
Father before all ages;
Light of Light, true God
of true God, begotten,
not created, of one
essence with the Father
through Whom all things
were made. Who for us
men and for our
salvation came down from
heaven and was
incarnate of the Holy
Spirit and the Virgin
Mary and became man. He
was crucified for us
under Pontius
Pilate, and suffered and
was buried; And He rose
on the third day,
according to the
Scriptures. He ascended
into heaven and is
seated at the right hand
of the Father; And He
will come again with
glory to judge the
living and dead. His
kingdom
shall
have
no
end….
He is the One we
believe in. So, in our
faith, it says that
He is the Founder of
the Orthodox faith and
that all other religions
are not the same as this
one. There is only one
religion: The Orthodox
Christian faith, and
that Orthodox spirit
is the true one. All
the other spirits are
spirits of deception and
their teachings are all
jumbled.
Here, the God of the
Orthodox faith is indeed
God, Whom, even if we
call “Love” the way the
Scripture says, it is
the same thing. God
is
called
“Love”.
And
whoever
has
love,
is
of
God.
Well,
there are many who say
“So,
God is love, you poor
thing? Is
that
how
God
is?”
But
God
IS
love.
However, He is not ONLY
love; He is also
righteous. He is
righteous;
He would not elevate a
robber, a thief, who
lives off others to a
higher spiritual state…
You might ask
“but,
if He is love?”
Well, that is our faith.
And that is how it
should be, if we are to
confess God’s
attributes, the way they
are.
These are the qualities
of the Divine. But we
don’t know: God may very
well put everyone in
Paradise - even all
those of the other
religions. But that
isn’t written in our
papers. And neither
should we believe it -
even if God can accept
all of them as His
children. Are you
listening?
- Visitor:
Yes, Elder, of course.
- Elder: That’s
what we believe. But –
you may say – why can’t
we all say that we’re
His children? No!
We
can’t
say
that!
That’s
how
we
should
preserve
it
inside
us.
It’s another thing
altogether, what God
will do during the
Second Coming. We must
not presume it inside us
from now, and place
everything at the same
level. We
must
keep
it
that
way
inside
us.
But you may say
“it’s
only human”…
Well, that’s how we
understand it and that’s
how the Scripture
presents it – how we
should understand it.
How it will actually be,
God doesn’t tell us.
No-one can understand
how God is.
- Visitor:
Yes, Elder.
- Elder:
Anyway, that’s how I
believe that things are
(...) If you confuse me,
what will become of me?
- Visitor:
Elder, is it ever
possible for us to
confuse you?
- Elder:
There are the
faithful.
They will ask here and
there, and they will ask
“what are those
youngsters? – There they
are – up there; they
gave us their phone
numbers….. Oh dear, no –
they are involved with
gurus and yogists and
things, and they preach
those things! And the
Elder said so and so…
Ah,
so they are the Elder’s
children!….”
Oh my God!!
- Visitor:
I know what you mean,
Elder. Of
course
not!
- Elder:
Yes,
of course you know!
How I wish that you do
truly know… And it is
for that reason, because
I am and Elder, that I
must be honest. I have
so many people who
contact me… You have no
idea… everybody,
everybody knows my phone
number – you should come
and see: they ring me
from all the kingdoms of
the world… South Africa,
Capetown, Johannesburg,
America, Canada, I don’t
know where else…. from
all over the world… can
you
imagine, if there were
rumors that I have a
“free spirit” and that I
acknowledge all
religions? Well, I
don’t. Regardless who
tells me – even if an
angel comes and tells me
– that “the way
so-and-so believes is
the right way”, I will
say “No, you are lying.
You are not a benevolent
spirit. You are an evil
spirit for saying so.”
That’s what I will say
to the angel… I
won’t
believe
it…
(…)
Of course I don’t
want you propagandizing
here and there, saying
that “all religions are
one, there aren’t any
differences between
them, all of them are
God’s, you can go to any
one of them, and you can
worship any God you
want…” I don’t want
such things – I can’t
tolerate them. That’s
how my spirit is. (…)
I have spent time in the
desert, I have
struggled, I have
fasted, I have endured
deprivation, vigils,
nakedness with tattered
garments, and all of
this for the love of
Christ. And I lived
among saintly people.
But they were Orthodox
Christians. Do
you
understand?
I
can’t
do
otherwise.
I have comprehended
Orthodoxy, that’s how
things are… And the
devil does exist, and
everything that is
written in the Bible
also exists the way it
says... the devil and
hell and everything… But
notice how beautifully
it presents everything
and how that notion of
justice that we refer to
is fulfilled. An
attribute of God’s
justice: allowing us to
see that we are
believing in the devil…
we say that the devil
exists, and he does
exist indeed… he is the
opponent spirit. So,
what
does
our
faith do?
It
comes
along
and…..
are
you
listening?
- Visitor:
I’m
listening,
Elder.
- Elder: …it
comes along
(when
you read the Bible)
and says: «my children,
be careful; we need to
make sure we cling to
Christ and become
saints, and enter His
Church and all who are
in His Church become one
body… that is, all the
Orthodox Christians.
And when we accomplish
that, then, for us who
have succeeded in
entering the Church,
there will be no death,
no hell, no devil for
us…» It says so in the
Gospel. Have
you
found
it?
They
can’t
find
it.
It’s there, but you have
to have the spirit of
God to understand it.
Anyway, it comes along
and it takes you
there…you believe it,
exactly the way it is –
that there is no
death…. Don’t
you
like
a
religion
like
this?
- Visitor:
I like it,
Elder…how
can I not like it? But I
feel that when we have
love, we understand
others too. We don’t
believe that Muslims are
faithless.
- Elder: Look,
that’s what I was trying
to say. We understand
them and we can see, but
we still say: they are
faithless, they don’t
believe in the true
God. Do you
understand? Man has
manufactured numerous
“gods”, so gods are
plenty. Even those
prodigals, the atheists,
they too believe in a
god – of course not in
the true God – they
believe in the flesh, in
passions, in material
things, in… well they
all believe in
something, even though
they claim that God
doesn’t exist…they all
worship something.
“Whatever one worships,
that it what he becomes
a servant to”. That
means if you are – for
example – a fornicator,
well, you are a servant
to the flesh, to
matter. Do you
understand?
- Visitor:
That is so.
- Elder:
It’s an entire system.
You need to study it and
not frivolously say
things that aren’t
correct. We can’t just
say what the one or the
other says…we simply
can’t… We need to see
where the truth is, and
the truth is in
Orthodoxy. I have lived
it and by the grace of
God, I have come to know
it. And I have lived
among saintly people,
who are inside that
spirit of truth. There
are many lights around
that one can see and
become impressed, but
only one Light is the
true one. We
need
to
ponder
over
things
like
these.
And even if you say:
“But you are deluded!”
well, all I can say is,
it would be a blessing
if everyone got caught
up in such a delusion,
and imagined and thought
about God the way that I
do. It’s besides the
fact, that I haven’t yet
become the way I
should….but I do
struggle and want to
(…).
There is another spirit
however, which is called
a wicked spirit and it
will be sure to say: “I
will humiliate that old
man…all those people
running to him and
becoming sound and
learning this and
that!” There is such a
thing as a wicked spirit
– it does exist.
- Visitor:
I know it does, Elder.
- Elder:
Yes.
And
it
can
be
abolished.
But it will be abolished
one day, when everything
comes to an end and we
all go to a new Creation
– the way that our faith
believes. If you want
to talk about these
things little by little,
you should study them
little by little – think
about them, and you will
eventually see that it’s
worth worshipping the
only true God, our Lord
Jesus Christ.
It is not for everyone
to say:
"I
have been sent by God
and I bring a new truth,
which suits today’s
world.” God’s truths –
the way He has
pronounced them from the
very beginning – are the
only ones. There are no
other truths – new ones
– just because the world
has “progressed” and
science and man have
travelled to the stars!
Do
you
understand?
- Visitor:Yes,
Elder.
- Elder:
If one does reach the
stars and says:
“There are people up
there too….” and we
actually see them, my
thoughts won’t be
spoiled, because I will
simply say that Christ
is up there also; God is
there also. He has been
there too. Haven’t you
heard the words “the
King of the heavens”?
- Visitor:Yes,
Elder.
- Elder:
The King of the heavens
is the Holy Spirit, and
that’s how we, in our
church, begin our
rituals and the
sacrifices. We
say…let’s see…”O
heavenly King, the
Paraclete, the Spirit of
truth, Who are
everywhere and fill all
things; the Treasury of
blessings, and Giver of
life: come and abide in
us, and cleanse us from
every impurity…” Go to
Orthodoxy, my children.
You are good souls, and
I love you. You might
ask: Why are you taking
us in from there? Well,
it was God’s move that
brought you to me. But
the thing is,
you spurn me: “Sai Baba,
and that guy and the
other are good, and
Mohammed is good, and
this one is good and so
is the other.”
Understand? Then
you
might
ask:
“Should
we
fight
them?”
Hey,
who’s
fighting?
Our
faith
doesn’t fight against
anyone.
Can’t
you see that we are so…
that we don’t even go to
vote, nor have any
political parties, and
that we pray for
everyone? Why
shouldn’t you approach
the Church?
Hey, (..name..), come
to your senses, don’t
look in that other
direction.
A lady had rung me one
day and read
from the Bible
the part that said:
“Bring upon them woes,
Lord; bring woes upon
the illustrious of the
earth.” So she says to
me: “What on earth are
these words? Could God
say things like that?”
So I tell her, “Look
here, this Book was
written in a different
language, and the
mentality of those who
wrote it was along these
lines: “Lord, make them
all good; educate them,
bring them onto Your
path.”
- Visitor:
I see, Elder.
- Elder:
Only the Gospel is so
clear and beautiful. The
other texts are
difficult like that.
You need to have a
spirit of God to explain
them. That’s why she
takes those words (and
you too may also take
those words) and thinks:
“Hell? Devil?
All
those
things?
No way! There is no way
that I will believe in
the Devil! What are all
these things? They
are
ridiculous!”
And yet, you ask me, and
I say: The Devil does
exist. But you might
say: “Just now you told
us that the Devil
doesn’t exist.” Well,
you see we need to get
to that point where –
with the grace of God –
the Devil will be
abolished for us, and so
will death and hell.
Then we will be able to
live in God’s bliss, and
never have to think
about death... even when
you reach the end of
your life, and your one
foot is in the grave so
to speak… You may plant
fig trees, walnut trees,
cypress trees…cultivate
orchards for your
fellow-man; you may even
build churches, again
with your one foot in
the grave. Why
do
you
do
that?
Out
of
love.
Deep down, you believe
that death doesn’t exist
and you want your
fellow-man who will come
back here to find
something, to become
good, to not become
thieves and steal from
each other. That’s why
you plant those fruit
trees and the walnuts
and the figs. That’s why
you build a church and
everything else… Out of
love. You don’t go to a
Turk and kill him, just
because he is a Turk.
All the other things are
human – they are
necessities. You might
ask why there must be
wars… well, if we do
those things I just
mentioned and have only
one faith among us, we
won’t fight, we won’t
wage wars against each
other…these will all be
eliminated.
Well, that’s what they
say, but it’s not like
that… what’s the use of
one (religion)? We
here, the Greeks, have
one faith. We are
Christians. If there
are some foreigners,
they are few; however,
nowadays you can
nevertheless see how we
devour each other and
have splintered into a
thousand pieces. And
even from us Greeks – us
Orthodox Christian
Greeks – there are those
who have become atheists
and who knows what
else… Only Christ’s
faith unites people, and
we should all pray that
they come to this
faith. That is how
unity can be achieved,
and not by believing
that “we are all the
same” and that “all
religions are the same”…
They are NOT the same
thing…
- Visitor:
But don’t all religions
teach love, Elder?
- Elder:
Bah! What kind of love
do they teach? Don’t be
so gullible! Hush now!
True love is only
Christ’s love. Don’t
imagine that it’s like
parents who love their
children.
- Visitor:
What about us, who have
been born under those
vibes?
- Elder:
Hey,
forget
about those Sai Baba
vibes! Stay away from
those things – they
aren’t what you think
they are; they are
another thing
altogether. The truth
is the way it says in
here. It’s not the way
you think it is, my
daughter. Anyway, you
should take measures and
also talk to the other
youngsters. And find
that other lady also
(note: the one mentioned
earlier, who quoted from
the Bible and
misinterpreted its
words), and tell her
that “This is
what the Elder said”.
(What on earth was she
talking about?)
- Visitor:
No, she probably knows
it’s so herself…
- Elder:
I don’t know what more
to say, except that we
need to become
Christians. Leave Sai
Baba out of it. Perhaps
God may even enlighten
him too, to become a
Christian. And then, he
will take God’s spirit
and go and preach
Christianity… you never
know… Have you any idea
how many this has
happened to? If there
is a receptive soul… and
you know that God is
omnipresent… He is the
sublime “nous” (mind)
that is aware of
everything…. No need to
say anything; God knows
best and He arranges
things, except that we
can’t see it. Because
when He does appear and
seeks to straighten out
each and every one, then
they will each leave the
path that they have
marked out for
themselves. That’s what
the “mark” is about:
That man is free to
choose the one path or
the other – of his own
free will. And that
free will is what God
respects.
He respects man’s
decisions – He can’t say
“Hey, where are you
heading? Come over
here!” And you may ask
here, is a person who
commits a murder and
tortures another person
also a “man of God”?
Well, he might just be a
man of God, but the
spirit that possesses
him and leads him into
committing that evil is
the devil’s spirit. It
is not the benevolent
spirit of God…
You should come here
again, so we can talk
about these things….
- Visitor:
Yes, Elder…
- Elder:
I am illiterate – don’t
imagine otherwise – I
have not gone to any
schools; I have been
raised in the desert and
have practiced obedience
to two venerable
elders. You might say:
“Tell
us what you can!”
but the other thing is,
dear (…) I am not
eloquent. I am a
90-year-old man and I
tire easily. Sometimes
when I am awake – like
now that I have just
awoken from a brief nap
because I kept a
night-vigil last night –
I have a bit of
strength, enough to
talk… Just think about
that,
dear
(…).
Anyway, you should sit
down and read the
Gospel… read it, many,
many times. There is no
way that you can claim
“I’ve read it”. The
Gospel contains
treasures and it solves
every problem. It is
philosophical, truly
philosophical. It is a
philosophy – a
philosophy through
revelation; it is the
highest possible
philosophy.
Regardless of the fact
that the world is
nowadays trying to
dedicate itself to
material things…to
disregarding the spirit,
disregarding values… All
these values have
gradually been shaped by
man; they were shaped by
man, with the grace of
God: the family and all
those other nice,
beautiful things… If we
turn our backs on them,
life here on earth
becomes chaos. It will
turn into hell, with
narcotics and all those
things... Man begins to
focus on pleasures;
that’s how he wants to
achieve satisfaction.
Just take a look – can’t
you see all those
youngsters who commit
suicide, who go crazy?
Just go to psychiatric
wards, and you will see
youngsters, 15-16-20
years old… 25-30 years
old… living in torment!
You will probably say:
“Why doesn’t God see
that?” Well, God DOES
see them. But
God
cannot
intervene.
However, it is possible,
through God’s plan, for
things to turn out so
that people can attain a
realization, see the
chaos right before their
eyes and say: “Whoa!!
We are diving into
chaos, we are losing our
way!! Get
back!
Get
back,
all
of
you!
We have been deluded!”
And then they will
return to the path of
God and the Orthodox
faith will shine forth.
That is what we strive
for, and that’s the way
we want things to
happen, little by
little, with the grace
of God. God works
secretly; He doesn’t
want to influence man’s
freedom. He allows
things to develop in
such a manner that man
will slowly get to where
he should be….
There… these things I’m
telling you are on the
spur of the moment…
- Visitor:
I
know,
Elder
- Elder: Yes,
but….God
must give me strength so
I can say these things
to you sometimes…
Whereas nothing can come
from those other things…
they resort to tricks
and things like that…
but in our faith, we
have everything. Do
you
understand…
- Visitor:
Yes,
Elder.
- Elder: Everything…
Even materializing etc
among the saints.
But there are two kinds
of materializations:
The bad kind and the
good kind. Understand?
- Visitor:
I do.
- Elder:
For sure,
it is possible for one
to say a prayer for
those who don’t have
(edible) oil and are
suffering because of the
shortage – he opens his
hands and the other
person’s jars suddenly
fill with oil. Well, a
guru can also do
something like that -
another materialization
- but it won’t be the
same. It won’t be
through a benevolent
spirit, because as we
said, the evil spirit
does exist, and evil has
the power to bestow the
person (who believes in
evil and who lives evil)
the power to do evil.
That is the reason for
the existence of so many
sorcerers, gurus, fakirs
and who knows what
else…..
- Visitor:
That’s true, Elder
- Elder:
They are of the evil
spirit.
- Visitor:
And how are we people
supposed to perceive
that?
- Elder:
Ah, well, you simply
study the Gospel. Take
it, study it, whenever
you say that “everything
is at the same level,
everything is the same”…
just study the Gospel,
learn it well, and
should you have any
queries, come here and I
– the illiterate and
humble one - will give
you the help you need.
I don’t boast that I am
a Christian, I don’t
proclaim I’m an Orthodox
– I desire it, I want
it, I struggle to be, I
try my very best, but I
haven’t yet become a
Christian Orthodox…
That’s how I feel, and
it is a truthful
feeling. Are you
misinterpreting what I’m
saying here?
- Visitor:
Elder, all the things
you say are truths.
- Elder:
Yes, but that makes me
so happy… I personally
believe these truths… I
really believe them,
like that…. Even if an
angel came to me and
said: “What are you
talking about, old man?
Things aren’t like that
– all religions belong
to God, and all the
gurus and yogis and
fakirs and sorcerers and
minstrels are God’s
people”, I would reply
“Yes, they as people are
God’s, but their works
are the devil’s”.
- Visitor: I
see,
Elder…
- Elder:
Forgive me for speaking
like that to you. You
are young people; you
are good youngsters and
quiet ones. But, so
what if you are? Does
that mean that everyone
who is good and quiet is
also living the truth?
Quite often, we often
see people who seem
quiet but really
aren’t…. anyway, you
should come again, so
that we can discuss
this… I can’t right
now….. What
can
I
say?
We
need
to
interrupt
now….
Do
you
know
how
much
that
pains
me?
Very,
very much…
you have no idea how
much I love you…
very,
very much…
You’ll probably say “Why
don’t you pray to God to
enlighten us?” Well, I
do pray, but I’m not
that strong. You may
perhaps persist (on your
views) and yet, I may
not know what God has in
store for you…
Nevertheless, the truth
is here. You must learn
it. You must study it
well, and if the spirit
tells you “this is a
false religion”, then
leave it, and go with
Sai Baba. What does Sai
proclaim – God’s “new
envoy”, who brings the
new truth which
currently suits the
world? To have complete
freedom; that God is
love; that fear is
nowhere to be found; get
yourself girls and have
a good time…..
- Visitor:
No, Elder, he is very
strict; he is very, very
strict….
- Elder:
He may well be. But we
need to verify that… Oh
never mind,
dear
(….),
you don’t understand my
words now… let it go…
- Visitor:
I understand, Elder, I
do understand….
- Elder:
Yes, I know you do
(understand)….
- Visitor:
I am not defending
anyone.
- Elder:
But I do know, with the
grace of God – now -
what Sai or the others
are what they are…
Understand?
Anyway,
dear
(….)….
Look, there are Masons,
there are all sorts of
things and people
believe them all, and
they go along with Satan
and they have all sorts
of satanic events and
mysterious things,
because they exist, and
Satan exists, and
mysterious things exist…
evil things. I must
leave you now my dear
(….) and I pray that God
will enlighten you.
These things need to be
discussed at any rate,
but I must leave you now
and I pray that God
enlightens all of us, so
that we get to know Him
and love Him. That’s
what I pray for… Have a
good day…
- Visitor:
Thank you, my Elder.
- Elder:
Forgive me if I have
sorrowed you. That’s how
it came to me; don’t
think that….
- Visitor:
How can you say such a
thing, Elder? Even when
you scold, it is balsam
to the soul.
- Elder:
Everything becomes
sanctified when there is
Grace. Get along now…
good day, good day to
you… may God be with
us….
- Visitor:
Thank you, my Elder.
- Elder: My humble
prayers with you…
- Visitor:
Bless us…
•
Second conversation
A few days later there
was another conversation
with the Elder
Porphyrios, with one of
the people of that same
group of visitors. In
this conversation, the
following exchange was
also recorded – among
other things that were
not of general interest:
- Elder:
And what can I do with
you now? I held back…
I held back…
but now the time has
come and I will tell you
straightforwardly. I
don’t say things in an
eloquent manner, but how
else can I speak? How
gently can I say what I
want?
- Visitor:
Thank you, my Elder,
thank you.
- Elder: I’m
telling you, that...
I personally love you
very much…. And that my
love has not diminished
on account of these
things. I may of course
complain a little,
worrying why such good
youngsters are involved
in such fallacies and
aren’t Orthodox
Christians… I feel truly
sorry… but I do pray
that God will enlighten
you so that you realize
our faith – Orthodoxy -
has nothing to do with
other religions.
But nowadays, everyone
has all sorts of
mentalities… different
people, even older ones,
who don’t even believe
that God exists… they
are of the opinion that
there shouldn’t be many
religions because they
cause divisions among
people and generate
hostility among them.
So, everyone – young and
old and nations and
entire … are striving to
ensure the creation of
one religion. And it
will be accomplished in
such a way – by claiming
that “all religions are
the same”; that “we
shall form a new
religion”…
This is being
done by something they
call Zionism. I don’t
know if you’re familiar
with the term, eh?
- Visitor:
No, I haven’t heard of
it.
- Elder: Yes…
and they are working
hard towards that
purpose. That people
ought to leave them (the
old religions)… and
replace them with a
good, new religion. And
put aside things like
“hell exists” and that
“there is a Satan” etc…
unlike Orthodoxy, which
has reported Satan
dogmatically. Aren’t you
aware of all these
things, you poor souls?
If you don’t acknowledge
the existence of Satan,
you aren’t Orthodox. Do
you believe that Satan
exists?
- Visitor:
I do believe that Satan
exists… the term itself
I believe was coined by
the Church, and it
implies something
negative – what we
generally call “evil”...
- Elder:
Yes, evil. But a
spirit of evil really
does exist.
- Visitor:
Yes,
yes.
Evil
spirits
do
exist.
- Elder:
Just as angels and
saints exist, so do
devils.
- Visitor:
Of course. What have we
also been saying, Elder?
- Elder:
Yes, but I remember the
young lady saying “Oh
no, no, no…. I don’t
want Satan, I don’t
believe in him….I
don’t…”
- Visitor:
It’s the word “Satan”,
Elder. There’s
a
difference.
- Elder: See?
That’s
the kind of thing that
spoils us….
- Visitor:
It’s the “evil spirit”,
so to speak.
- Elder:
Well, it’s the same
evil spirit that I’m
referring to.
Satan is the evil
spirit. Whether you
call it “evil spirit” or
“Satan”, it’s one and
the same.
- Visitor:
Oh, OK
Elder. You have
clarified it now.
