“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,

and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But it shall not be so among you:

but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, KJV)


The word the Athenians used for their Assembly was Ekklesia, the same word used in the New Testament for Church
(and it is the greatest philological irony in all of Western history that this word,
which connoted equal participation in all deliberation by all members,
came to designate a kind of self-perpetuating, self-protective Spartan gerousia -
which would have seemed patent nonsense to Greek-speaking Christians of New Testament times,
who believed themselves to be equal members of their Assembly.)

- Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter




ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΟ: THE GREEK SECRET


Friday, October 19, 2007

"Sowing More Discord" - Some Thoughts from the "Protestants"

The letter from our Metropolitan was delivered by fax on October 12 and will ultimately be distributed at both churches on October 21, in addition to being included in the November issue of the Messenger. In spite of the accusation that the "spirit of Protestantism" has infiltrated our community, the Metropolitan bases his assessment yet again on misinformation.

The phone calls the Metropolitan refers to were made only after the parishioners in question spoke with both assigned clergy. The then proistameno (the now-proistameno SOLELY of Prophet Elias) knew that the Metropolitan would be called and tacitly gave his approval. Therefore, the authority of then-proistameno of the entire Greek Orthodox community of Salt Lake city (the now-proistemeno SOLELY of Prophet Elias) was in no way usurped. If he claims otherwise, he is not telling the truth.

For the record, the Metropolitan did not speak with those who are mentioned in his recent letter. He only received voice messages. Instead of speaking only to the now-proistameno of Prophet Elias and perhaps LISTENING to a VARIETY of members from his flock, rather than pontificating blindly, he would finally come to see the full picture. On second thought, why would we want to know all the details from all parties involved when knowing only half the details better serves our agenda?

What is happening in this community is reprehensible on many levels. We have ourselves to blame for allowing the lies and deception to continue. The now-proistameno SOLELY of Prophet Elias said at the last parish council meeting that "we (the community) have become a laughingstock throughout the country." We would only ask, "under whose command have we become a laughingstock?"

No comments: