Scientist and Christian, An Excellent Combination

 By Metropolitan Chrysostomos III of Mani

(Homily Delivered on June 30, 2022)

The Holy Unmercenaries Kosmas and Damian, whom we celebrate today, came from Rome and lived in the 3rd century. By studying medical science, they cured many people and even animals from their diseases. They did not receive money as a reward. They were unmercenaries. However, they would tell the healed to believe in Christian teaching.

Both were martyrs for Christ. They were even called Wonderworkers because even after their martyrdom they performed many miracles for the sick. In the Protaton of the Holy Mountain there is a wonderful fresco of them, a work of Panselinos of the 15th century.

These Saints also show us the value of the cooperation of religion and science. They were doctors, but that did not prevent them from being faithful Christians. This is a beautiful ideal. A proper scientist and a conscientious Christian. An excellent combination.

Homily Concerning Those Who Consider Science Incompatible With Religion (St. Luke of Simferopol)

Homily on Science and Religion

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on May 30, 1948)

 

"Considering modern science, as it was developed by Lamarck and Darwin, we find a direct opposite, an absolute inconsistency between the statements of science and the statements of religion in the field of basic questions of being and cognition. Therefore, an enlightened and consistent mind cannot recognize both at the same time. He needs to make a choice."

So wrote 65 years ago the famous German zoologist Haeckel, an ardent admirer of Darwin, in his then sensational book "The Riddle of the Universe", which, as it seemed, completely refuted religion. He says that all enlightened minds must choose between science and religion, reject one or the other. He considers it necessary to reject religion, for the enlightened minds of science will not be rejected.

The Six Days of Creation as Six Visions

 By Archimandrite Joel Yiannakopoulos

A look at the biblical six-day period convinces us that it is not about long periods of time, as some have believed, because the phrase "and it was evening, and it was morning, first day" shows that it excludes this idea. Nor is it about twenty-four-hour days, because the sun was made on the fourth day. So it is about six visions, enclosed in twenty-four hour time intervals, through which (I am not saying how it happened, but that) Moses saw God's action in time.

The six visions are divided into two corresponding triads of days, so that the first triad verses 3-13 has the divisions, and the second triad verses 14-25 the supplements. Specifically: The first triad: On the first day light is separated from darkness, on the second day the sky is separated from the sea, on the third day the sea is separated from the land. In the second triad we have the following supplements: On the fourth day we have the sun to complement the light of the first day. On the fifth day we have the complements of sky and sea, i.e. birds and fish. And on the sixth day we have land animals and man, as supplements to the land and plants of the third day, because on the land and through the plants both animals and men live.

Source: From Η ΠΑΛΑΙΑ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ, Τ. Α΄, Η ΓΕΝΕΣΙΣ, εκδ. ΒΑΣ. ΡΗΓΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ, ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ 1969, σελ. 46. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

A 1967 Medical Examination of the Incorrupt Relics of Saint Gerasimos

 By Demetrios Panagopoulos, Preacher

(From a sermon on February 13, 1983 or 1984)

In 1967, a committee of scientists (medical examiners) had gone to examine the relic of Saint Gerasimos (in Kefallonia) and provide a "scientific" (if possible) solution to the incorruption of the sacred relic.

They sat for several days and considered it. In the end, they compiled a report that, among other things, confessed that the incorruptibility of the sacred relic is beyond the realm of science.

But the most amazing thing of all was that their leader, who was cold and indifferent to the faith, was for twenty days locked up in his house and troubled. When he was later asked why, he confessed that while examining the relic, at one point, he felt a pulse (a sign of a living person) in the Saint's hand!

 

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

Isaac Newton's Scientific Analogy for the General Resurrection of the Dead

Isaac Newton, the famous physicist, one day passed a cemetery with his students, and some of them asked:

"How is it possible that the dead bodies, long ago corrupted, could become again bodies of their own souls?"

The next day in class Newton mixed iron particles with sand and other materials.

"Who could separate these iron particles from the sand and put them together?"

He received no reply.

Then Newton took a magnet and brought it closer to the scattered iron particles. There was a commotion of the particles. The small particles started to stick on the magnet, one after another. There wasn’t even a single iron particle left in the sand. Then Newton told his students:

"Wouldn’t the One Who gave such power to the dead metal, also give our souls the power needed for them to return to their own bodies?"

 

 

One Year Since the Beginning of Vaccination in Greece (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Indeed, a full year has passed since the day the vaccination started in Greece and I received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on December 27, 2020, as a representative of the Church of Greece, and some days later on the 21st of January 2021, I received the second dose, and glory to God I am until now in good health.

In the statements I made then and in a text I wrote I formulated the two reasons that led me to this decision.

The first reason was a thought that prevailed in me that, from our childhood and throughout our lives, we received many vaccinations, we took many medicines and so we survived so many years in life and we praise God for that. Also, we thank the scientists, who with the help of God kept us alive, to work for the glory of God and the Church, but also the good of society.

Civil Administrator of Mount Athos Says Monasteries Are Safe for Visitors, But Not Hermitages and Cells

"The image I have of Mount Athos, from the contacts with all the institutions and from the cooperation with the Health Center, is that it is not difficult to handle", reveals the Civil Administrator of Mount Athos, Thanasis Martinos, referring to the situation that prevails with the cases of coronavirus among the Athonite monks.

As Thanasis Martinos pointed out, speaking to ANT1, "at the moment we have 30-40 cases, mainly of isolated monks who live alone, and we also have 5-6 monks who are hospitalized in Thessaloniki, where we know that the situation is very difficult."

Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus: "Priests Who Oppose Vaccination Commit Fratricide"

Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, one of the most conservative ecclesiastical leaders in Greece but also one of the first who was vaccinated against the coronavirus, showed a strong reaction to the clergy who oppose vaccination through a TV interview on Tuesday morning, November 9th, saying they commit fratricide and emphasizing that they have no place in the Church.

Answering a relevant question about the abbots of monasteries on Mount Athos who are against vaccinations, he pointed out that "they all kill their brethren, the people do not understand it.... They are so selfish and egotistical that they do not understand this simple truth. Science is not from the devil, it is from God, but the devil has a great art, he is a a master artist. He is chasing us from the left with the most filthy atheism and from the right with zealotry without knowledge."

Greek Politician and Scientist Responds to Criticism After Posting on Social Media About a Miracle He Witnessed

Giannis Kallianos is a 43 year old Greek presenter of meteorological bulletins, mathematician and politician, a member of the New Democracy in the Southern Sector of Athens II. Today, he works at Mega Channel.

On October 16, 2021, the MP became the target of an arson attack on his political office in Argyroupoli. The explosion of the incendiary device caused material damage to the entrance of the apartment building. In a post on Facebook, the MP described the perpetrators as enemies of democracy.

On October 29, 2021, he posted the following on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, responding to comments made from his post on October 26th, the feast of Saint Demetrios, where he mentioned that he attended the Divine Liturgy for the feast of the Great Martyr at the Church of Saint Demetrios in Vyrona, where an icon of the Panagia has been weeping for a year:

Synaxis of All the Holy Physicians

At the session of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which took place on the 21st of July 2021, under the chairmanship Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, discussed and appreciated were the sacrificial and essential contribution of medical science and its healers in tackling the pandemic.

Therefore, it was decided to establish the feast of the "Synaxis of All the Holy Physicians" on the Sunday of each year closest to the 17th and 18th of October, when the Synaxis of the Holy Unmercennary Saints and the memory of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke the Physician are celebrated. On this day, the "Synaxis of the Holy Physicians", the Church will honor the full contribution of medical science and its healers to humanity.

Diverse Pandemics: Follow Up to the Pastoral Encyclical to Clergy Regarding Protective Measures Against the Coronavirus Pandemic (Part 1 of 2)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Dealing with intense pastoral and social issues is, in a way, risky. It is better not to touch on such issues and to deal simply with indifferent issues, but, in the end, this is also ineffective.

As a responsible ecclesiastical pastor I need to make decisions and articulate my thoughts on various critical issues in order to inform Christians. If one is an ascetic in the wilderness of Mount Athos, perhaps he would not need to intervene, but to say a word to those who ask him, according to "the Elder said". However, the pastoral ministry has obligations and duties towards the Christians who are pastored.

Thus, a while ago I wrote an Encyclical for the Clergy of my Sacred Metropolis, so that there would be no serious cases among the priests, and that this "evil" would not spread to the entire fullness of the Church, so that Christians attribute the spread of the disease to the Clergy. Those involved in social and ecclesiastical work must take action. It would be unreasonable for Doctors in Hospitals to perform surgeries or other treatments and not to take the necessary precautionary measures.

Science is in the DNA of our Orthodox Faith

 By Archimandrite Iakovos Kanakis

The relationship between Faith, Theology and Science is clarified early on, already from the Biblical texts. From Genesis, the first book of the Bible, it is clear that God created the world. How the world was created, however, is left to the reader to answer over time. It is as if God scattered His "breadcrumbs" throughout creation and called man, the "expert", to discover them. And indeed, man gradually discovered much. With wisdom, from above and beyond, he found cures for diseases, developed technology and thus made human life easier. In fact, his life expectancy increased. Today, there are even remote surgeries and so many other similar things. God has blessed science and scientists and we have so many benefits today. But the "problems" start when the roles get confused. When the scientist does not see God "behind his achievements", when he acts arrogantly like a little god, and when the theologian, on the other hand, tries to place things "narrowly" by entering fields he does not know. The same thing happens when he constantly finds "demons" in front of him, flooded with suspicions.

Pastoral Encyclical to Clergy Regarding Protective Measures Against the Coronavirus Pandemic (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Dear Fathers and Brothers,

As you know, our country and the whole world has been suffering for more than a year and a half from the so-called health crisis, SARS-CoV-2, that causes infection and the disease of Covid-19.

In this matter the State takes the appropriate measures, coordinating with the World Organizations for the health of its citizens, and the Church treats this matter with seriousness, sobriety and responsibility.

Among the measures to prevent infection and disease, and perhaps one of the most important, is the vaccine, as is the case with many other diseases. The Standing Holy Synod took specific decisions on this issue:

On January 13, 2021, it decided: The Holy Synod "closely monitors the issue of vaccinations, through the Synodal Committee on Bioethics, which, with its continuous reports, informs the Synod. In this context, the Holy Synod was informed that, following an investigation, the Covid-19 vaccines currently used in our country do not require the use of embryonic cell cultures for their production.

Vaccines and Ecclesiastical Life

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

If some research is done among churchgoers and even during their attendance at the Divine Liturgy, it will be found that all of them have various and varied diseases and, of course, they also make the relevant treatment, following therapeutic guidance.

This is evident from the fact that in every home, especially where young children and the elderly live, there are drawers and separate areas full of medicines.

We are in a time when environmental pollution is prevalent, diseases are on the rise and therefore many medicines are being taken by humans.

Scientific Evidence of a Miracle in Prokopi of Evia During the Raging Fire on August 7, 2021

On August 7, 2021 a litany took place in Prokopi of Evia with sacred relics and the large holy icon of Saint John the Russian, together with the wonderworking icon of Saints Constantine and Helen from the parish of the same name, in which the whole village participated, while it had an evacuation order given due to the raging fire which was fast approaching the village and despite the ban imposed by the government on litanies.

From here we downloaded the file (Live satellite download): https://zoom.earth/

Anyone who wants can enter the site to verify them.

Keep in mind, there was no rain in the forecast.

Encyclical from 1864 Shows the Orthodox Church of Greece Made Vaccination Against Smallpox Mandatory for All Believers

Introduction

The smallpox vaccine, introduced by Edward Jenner in 1796, was the first successful vaccine to be developed. When smallpox devastated Greece in 1864, rulers were trying to find a way to fight it, and the Greek Orthodox Church through an encyclical of the Holy Synod had addressed the local hierarchs and consequently the Body of the Church, promoting the vaccine.

With harsh expressions for the time, the Holy Synod in its encyclical characterizes non-vaccination as a deadly sin, going one step further, calling those who refuse to be vaccinated that may die from the disease as suicides.

It proves that the Church has the maturity and the tools to motivate the faithful to be vaccinated and, above all, to isolate the divergent views within it.

This flashback refutes all those who try to accuse the Church of challenging science, despite the clear statements in favor of vaccinating both by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Hieronymos of Athens and All Greece, among many other Hierarchs throughout the world.

Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia Responds to Questions Regarding Coronovirus Vaccination (Chips, Embryos, Trusting Scientists, Side Effects, etc.)

His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia, who has become a trusted ecclesiastical voice in matters related to the coronovirus due to his extensive scientific and Athonite background, ruled out the possibility of creating a "nanosphere" which could enter with the coronavirus vaccine in the body.

Speaking on behalf of the Bioethics Committee of the Church of Greece in an online meeting on "Pandemic Covid-19" organized by the Metropolis of Neapolis and Stavroupolis on January 21st, he clarified that there is no such technology that is being tested, regarding the infamous claim of "chip" implantation through the vaccine.

The Metropolitan of Mesogaia, Nicholas, in an online meeting on the issue of vaccines, added, however, that the "biggest threat from a 'chip' would be our mobile phone; everything is done better through applications than it could be done with a nanosphere that could possibly to get into my body with the vaccine."

"Glorify the Name of God Through Science" (St. Paisios the Athonite)

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The quote I placed in the title of this article are words of Saint Paisios the Athonite from a letter he wrote, which is in fact handwritten.

I say this because some people transmit words Saint Paisios delivered to them orally, which may not be preserved in their authentic expression. If even one word is changed or missing or added it can take on an entirely different meaning.

Reading the book of Hieromonk Paisios, who was a novice under Saint Paisios, titled Perfume Emptied (Μύρον ἐκκενωθέν, published by the Monastery of Saint Hilarion in Promachoi Aridaía), I noticed that he has preserved many incidents from the many years of communication with him, on various matters, and I also read towards the end that he also published two letters Saint Paisios addressed to him.

Orthodoxy and the Theory of Evolution (St. Justin Popovich)

 

A complete human anthropology cannot be discovered through scientific observation alone. For Orthodox Christians, a theological anthropology exists as well, which science must not contradict, but take into account for a true human anthropology to exist in light of divine revelation. For Orthodox Christians, human evolution as observed through science should not obscure this divine revelation. The anthropology of the Church in light of divine revelation is all that is necessary to contemplate for salvation, which means the Church should not trouble itself with scientific debates and theories, but leave those matters to the scientists alone, just as scientists should not trouble itself with matters of divine revelation as if science can ever contradict what is beyond its comprehension and observation.

 

The God-Man Evolution

By St. Justin Popovich

You ask me to answer the question, whether the scientific understanding of the evolution of the world and man can coexist with the traditional Orthodox experience and knowledge. Also, you ask, what is the position of the Fathers on this issue, and whether there is a general need for such a coexistence. In a short summary, I write the following:

The anthropology of the New Testament stands or falls on the anthropology of the Old. The entire Gospel of the Old Testament: Man - the image of God! The entire Gospel of the New Testament: the God-man - image of man! Whatever is heavenly, divine, eternal, immortal and unchangeable in humans is the image of God, the godlikeness of man.

This godlikeness of man was assaulted by the voluntary sin of the same, in partnership with the devil, by means of sin and death which stems from the transgression. That is why God became man, in order to restore His corrupt image from sin. That is why He incarnated and lived in the world of man as the God-man, as the Church, to offer the image of God - man - all the necessary means so that this deformed God-formed man can be able in the God-man body of the Church, with the help of Sacred Mysteries and virtues, to mature "to a perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). This is the God-man anthropology. The purpose of godlike beings known as humans is one: to become gradually perfect as God the Father, to become a god by grace, to attain theosis, deification, Christification, Trinitification. According to the Holy Fathers, "God became man, that man may become a god" (Athanasius the Great).

But the so-called "scientific" anthropology does not recognize the godlikeness of human existence. With this, they deny the advancement of the God-man evolution of the human being.

If man is not the image of God, then the God-man and His Gospel is something unnatural for such a man, something mechanical and unattainable. Then the God-man Jesus is a robot built by other robots. The God-man becomes a bully because He wants from people, forcibly, to become a perfect being like God. In essence we are talking about a forensic utopia, an illusion and an unattainable "ideal". In the end, it is reduced to a myth, a narrative.

If man, therefore, is not a godlike being, then the God-man Himself is unnecessary because the scientific theories of evolution do not accept sin, nor the Savior from sin. In the secular world of "evolution" everything is natural and there is no room for sin to exist. That is why it is a joke to speak of a Savior and salvation from sin. In the final analysis everything is natural: sin, evil and death. For, if everything in man occurs and is the result of evolution, then there is nothing that needs to be saved in him since nothing is immortal and unchangeable within him, but all is earthly and clay and as such are transient, perishable and perceptible.

In such a world of "evolution" there is no place for the Church, which is the body of the God-man Christ. The theology which again bases itself on the anthropology of the "scientific" theory of evolution is nothing more than a self-negation. In essence it is a theology without God and an anthropology without man. If man is not immortal, eternal and a God-man image of God, then all theologies and all anthropologies are nothing but a silly joke, a tragic comedy.

Orthodox theology and the relationship we have with the Holy Fathers is the way for our ascent to the God-man, the Orthodox All-truth. This is something in need of analysis, and is for those dealing with issues of the gospel on the planet. All the problems of the gospel are essentially focused on the problem of man. And all the problems of man are focused on one issue, that of the God-man. Only the God-man is the universal solution to the enigma called man. Without the God-man and outside of the God-man, man is always - consciously or not - transformed into something sub-human, a human effigy, a superman, a devil-man. Proof and evidence for this? The entire history of mankind.

Source: Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

George Blatzas, the Doctor of Saint Paisios, Has Reposed

George Blatzas reposed in the Lord on the Monday of Renewal Week, 3 May 2021, on the feast of his patron saint, the great martyr George.

George Blatzas was not only a leading surgeon, but also a consistent Christian and confessor of the Christian faith from his teenage years, as a mediator of the civil strife. The spiritual son of the preacher of the Metropolis of Kitros and Katerini and later a well-known missionary of Africa, Fr. Charitonos Pneumatikakis, he had a connection early with Mount Athos and especially with Saint Paisios.