WARNING

NOT EVERYTHING THAT

CALLS ITSELF ORTHODOX IS

TRULY ORTHODOX


The above warning was given to me when I first met Orthodoxy in 1986. Today [2009] it is even more perilous, even more difficult to find the Royal Path. For one thing there is a far greater abundance of misinformation. And many materials are missing, and other materials are being rapidly rewritten. For another thing there are fewer than ever guides remaining on the Royal Path, especially who speak English. Hopefully this website will be a place where Newcomers to the Faith can keep at least one foot on solid ground, while they are "exploring."


blog owner: Joanna Higginbotham

joannahigginbotham@gmail.com

jurisdiction: ROCA under Vladyka Agafangel

who did not submit to the RocorMP union in 2007





Orthodox Prophets

Website Review
orthodoxprophets.blogspot.com

I can't recommend this blog. 

Prophets do not arise outside the Church.
Most heterodox believe that prophets are basically chosen at random, whether they be referring to the Old Testament Prophets or modern-day psychics.   This delusion is a facet of a ubiquitous delusion which includes the ideas that the Bible maybe just rained out of the sky onto everyone, and that Jesus' mother was an ordinary peasant woman chosen at random with no special ancestral preparation.  This delusion is caused by an inability to discern the Church and the boundaries of Church, whether this be the Old or New Testament Church.  While this delusion can be found in the lowest levels of world Orthodoxy, it is not found in Royal Path Orthodoxy [and neither in the super-correct Churches].  

A less common delusion is found in both heterodox and Orthodox. 
Heterodox who believe they are prophets –when this is not just an overactive imagination or wishful thinking– can actually be some kind of [false] prophet, such as the charismatics who "get words."   They confess that their "gift" was received outside the Orthodox Church and, in fact, insist the Church has nothing to do with it.   In the case of Orthodox who believe they are prophets, they are are deceived by demons.  They believe that their "gift" was given to them within the Church, usually as a reward for their ascetic labors.  In Orthodoxy this is called "prelest" or "plani," and the root cause is pride, as described in St. John Climacus' The Ladder.

Anybody who has not been rescued from the first delusion, and especially one who might suffer from the second delusion as well, should not be baptized into the Church.  This is partly because it is much more difficult to cure this malady when the the victim of this delusion does not recognize the ultimate authority of the Church, but instead thinks himself a higher authority than the Church.  

There was good reason back in the old days why the Church forbade the younger in the Faith to teach.   The younger in the Faith do not yet have understanding which is developed after Baptism.  This is a convert pitfall that Fr. Seraphim Rose labeled: knowing better, trusting oneself.   The prescribed cure is humility. 

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Real Orthodox prophets are never self-revealed and known only to a few pious faithful during their lifetimes. 

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The best way to learn about Orthodox prophets is in reading lives of saints.   The life of St. John of Kronstadt comes first to my mind as he is a modern prophet.  Avoid reading anything from the new Mt. Athos, anything after 1900.

At this time [January 4, 2012] I can recommend this blog for the subject of Orthodox prophets:
The blog owner is in an untrustworthy jurisdiction [vigante, Milan], but this does not effect the superior quality of her blog [at this time].


labels:  delusion,  prelest,  incomplete conversion