English Corner

[Florin-Ionut]

În prealabil postat de mirela.t

Today is Wednesday, July 24th. Miercoles :)

PS: correct is "anyway", without "s" at the end. but this is a mistake many native do. :)

My teachers were Microsoft Outlook and movies with subtitles. I wasn't that lucky to learn English is school. I actually started after I graduated the faculty.

"Anyway" is a dialect form if I understand well: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anyways .

[tabitha]

Ionut, don't worry I was not pointing fingers!!
You are good if you learned all these by yourself.
It just scratches my ears when I hear "anyways".

[Florin-Ionut]

În prealabil postat de mirela.t

Ionut, don't worry I was not pointing fingers!!
You are good if you learned all these by yourself.
It just scratches my ears when I hear "anyways".

No, this site is good because it has an auto-correct tool embedded. :) It's good to know for the people that want to practice here.

Who knows, maybe in the future we will meet someone interested to get information from us about Orthodoxy, as it happened for me several times in the past. Without the "technical" terms, we cannot touch the subject. This is the main reason I opened the thread.

And, of course, the ignorance and the lack of [theological] knowledge are ones of the primary sins, for which we are going to be judged in the end...

[tabitha]

Yes, merriam Webster is a very good dictionary. You can also hear the word, beside spelling.

On the other hand, are you sure ignorance is a big sin? There are so many simple saints! Are we going to be judged for lacking theological knowledge?

[Florin-Ionut]

În prealabil postat de mirela.t

Yes, merriam Webster is a very good dictionary. You can also hear the word, beside spelling.

On the other hand, are you sure ignorance is a big sin? There are so many simple saints! Are we going to be judged for lacking theological knowledge?

Mirela,

I found this assertion is Philokalia and it is not doubtful. I don't have time now to search for quote.

The Fathers cannot be accused of ignorance. I remember a story about two theologists going to put some difficult questions to an old monk and he could not respond to any of them. They retried and retried with other queries and still, no success. Then one of them asked him how it's possible to be so advanced if you don't have scriptural knowledge and so on. Then the Elder told them: ask me about how to fight against the sins and I will teach you.

EDIT: And, by the way, it depends if we have or not access to the books, if we have time to read, if we have the capacity to compile the information, to memorize and so on. Only God knows exactly what He is expecting from us to do.

[tabitha]

What you say it's very contradicting by itself.
Maybe even Philokalia has errors, who knows?
Only God is perfect !

[tabitha]

Here is a beautiful prayer of Fr. Sofronie Saharov:

Thou, King of Peace, seest into the depths of hearts and innermost parts. Thou knowest my poverty and mindlessness. Thou knowest my blindness and ignorance, but Thou seest my heart's desire and my soul's sickness and sorrow are not hidden from Thee.
Hearken then unto my prayer, and by Thy Holy Spirit direct me to the true land. Whenever my corrupt will should lead me along strange paths, then I pray Thee, SPARE ME NOT, but by constraint bring me back to the path of Thy Holy Commandments. By the power of Thy Love, let me follow in Thy footsteps, wherever Thou goest.
Protect me from every soul-destroying word and deed, from every agitation of heart and mind which may sorrow Thy Holy Spirit or grieve my brother. Teach me what it is fitting to say and how to fittingly say it. If it be Thy will that I keep silent, give me the sense to keep silent in the spirit of peace, not like those who outrage or trouble my neighbor. Order me in the ways of Thy statutes and even until my last breath do not let me deviate from the light of Thy commandments, so that Thy commandments shall be the sole law of all my being, both now and ever.

[tabitha]

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; being of one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made;

Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from the Heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man;

And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried;

And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into the Heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;

And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end;

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life; Who proceedeth from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spoke by the Prophets;

In One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead,

And the life of the age to come. Amen.

[Florin-Ionut]

În prealabil postat de mirela.t

What you say it's very contradicting by itself.
Maybe even Philokalia has errors, who knows?
Only God is perfect !

Hi Mirela,

I idea is that the most important knowledge is the one that helps you to reach the Heaven. Those two theologists were looking for answers that actually they did not needed.

You were asking about the simple Fathers; well, they follow a simple life, with modest information about the Bible (let's suppose), but they are friends with God, praying for all of us. This is what we should do as well, because learning Greek and Hebrew languages and studying the Bible in original do not automatically save us from the evil.

[Florin-Ionut]

Several years ago I was in Belgium where I rented an apartment together with an Indian colleague. He was a "Worrier of Sick", wearing a turban and doing his prayers every day with regularity.

One day he asked me to tell him something about Orthodoxy. I couldn't tell him much, because at that time I was in apostasy and my English didn't help.

What would you answer to him, considering the fact that the guy does not know anything about Christianity?