We Don't Need to Lie

 

One of the pages on FB that I follow posted the above meme. If one were to look at the bottom they could see that this was originally posted by another page called TRT World. I've added a link to their original post for any who want to check it out.

There are a few things wrong with what TRT reported, the first being the dating of the manuscript as from the 1st Century AD, when the Daily Mail reported on this manuscript back in 2012, they dated it as being 1500 years old - which if accurate, means the manuscript dates back to the 6th Century AD. In reading the article from the Daily Mail, one can see an emphasis is placed on St. Barnabas. And if one were so inclined, just a little bit of digging will offer this other article from the Daily Mail which states the manuscript is the Gospel of Barnabas.

The Gospel of Barnabas is a pseudopigraphical work dating from the Middle Ages. Wikipedia has this to say about the Gospel of Barnabas,

On Iconoclasm

Some time ago I did two posts defending the use of Icons in Orthodox worship. The Orthodox Church, and therefore the Early Church, used Icons in their worship from early on. Saint Luke is said to be the first iconographer, making an icon of the Theotokos. But there is a period when the Church did not use Icons, and in fact forbade their use. This period came to be known as the Iconoclastic period.

On Celtic Christianity

For those of you who have bothered to read my about me page, you'll remember that I was researching and looking into Celtic Christianity. For those who haven't bothered to read my about me page... Now you know.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Today we celebrate 1) the first Sunday of Great Lent, and 2) the Sunday of Orthodoxy - when the Church celebrates the triumph of the use of icons.

Christianity without Repercussions: Prayer pt 2

In the last post of this series, I covered how we Orthodox pray in just about everything that we do, trying to reach a point of praying without ceasing. I also wrote about how using formal prayers - and set times to pray - are biblical and were also used in the Early Church. I will cover why we pray to (and for) the dead, saints, angles, and the Theotokos.

Christianity without Repercussions: Faith Pt. 1

In my last post in this series I touched upon the difference between the Orthodox view of Salvation and the Protestant/Evangelical view of Salvation. I still have a lot to delve in to on the salvation end of things (such as the difference in the views of atonement), but I'm going to leave those alone for right now and focus on the Faith aspect of things.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Triumph of the Icons

The Sunday of Orthodoxy is the first Sunday of Lent (which started last Monday for us Orthodox folk). This day commemorates the triumph of the iconodules (or iconophiles) over the iconoclasts. Basically, icons were removed from parishes for a number of years and then after a long struggle the icons were replaced. I'll explain a bit more below.

In Defense of Icons Part 2

Veneration of Saints and Icons.

Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council

In Defense of Icons Part 1

For many Protestants one of the biggest stumbling blocks that keeps them from the Orthodox Church is the use of icons. I hope to present in this post and the ones that follow this post a decent exegesis of why the Orthodox Church uses icons and how icons can and should be used by Christians every day in their private prayers. Please, if you have any questions, leave a comment and I will try to answer you as best as I can. This falls into the Meaning of Orthodoxy series.