“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, July 9, 2010

Inexplicable Correspondence!


The latest letter from the Metropolitan, sent first class by the proistameno of Prophet Elias only, is both surprising and baffling. (Why are we still waiting for the last letter from the Metropolitan a portion of which was read at the last general assembly?) Surprising because it lacks the venom of his previous letters and baffling because I have no clue why it was sent. The letter implies that unseemly things have been written about the late Bishop of Olympos, Demetrios and have come to the attention of the Metropolitan of Denver.

I believe that the proistameno of Prophet Elias only, in his efforts to (mis)inform the Metropolitan about the happenings in this community, has yet again done a masterful job of providing this (mis)information resulting in the above letter which is very baffling. No one has spoken ill of the late Bishop of Olympos, Demetrios. Only the letters written at the time he was responsible for the "Greek Archdiocese Western States District" have been disseminated.

Your Eminence, all correspondence between this community in 1964 and the late Bishop of Olympos, Demetrios clearly shows he is "responding to the wishes of his superiors."
The proistameno of Prophet Elias only, in his quest to take control of money that was raised for specific purposes, has provided this (mis)informaton forcing Your Eminence to write a letter which makes absolutely no sense. As has been stated, no one has "besmirched" the name of the late Bishop of Olympos, Demetrios. Reading your letter, I believe that you have been badly misinformed.

Yannis Armaou

P.S. Your Eminence, as you state in your letter, you served at Holy Trinity which was the only church in Salt Lake City at the time. It is now a Cathedral.....
Clearly the existence of two Proistamenoi is only on paper. The proistameno of Prophet Elias only dictates (I believe even to you) what happens in our community.

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