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@runbox.com

jurisdiction: ROCA under Vladyka Agafangel

who did not submit to the RocorMP union in 2007

DISCLAIMER

◎



End Times Study

Updated 2024
Recommended Books on Eschatology
Teachings of the Orthodox Church

These 4 books have all that God has revealed at this time.  Anything more is probably conjecture or comes from demons (i.e., Nostradamas).


Antichrist

Fr. Boris Molchanoff

The contemplation of the "end times" presents the believer with two serious traps to be avoided: on the one hand, the tendency to dismiss all such contemplation as "idle speculation" concerning which little or nothing can be known; on the other, the temptation to seek to know or claim to know far more than is allowed to man, to know that which is known only by the Father. Fr. Boris' treatise steers a good course between these, and guides the reader to a sober contemplation of the dreadful reality which must indeed be faced even in our times, whether they are truly the "last days" or not.


Update 2024: This article was serialized in Orthodox Life magazine

     https://orthodoxlifemagazines.blogspot.com

OL 1980 (3)

OL 1980 (4)



•••

Apostasy and Antichrist

Compiled from a multitude of sources and translated from the Russian, this slender volume presents the core of traditional Orthodox perception of the end times and the general apostasy which is to be expected -- and which, indeed, it seems we are experiencing. Much food for thought, shying away from any vain attempt to know the "times and seasons" which can be known only to God.
https://app.box.com/s/uza8r9ws53eanr1fk77sky0nfia30066

•••

A Ray of Light: Instructions in Piety, and The State of the World at the End of Time

Archimandrite Panteleimon

A compilation of the traditions of the Church concerning the end-times, supplemented by the posthumous prophecies of Nilus the Myrrh-streamer of Mt. Athos. Lucidly translated from the original Russian text, as prepared by Fr. Panteleimon, published at Holy Trinity Monastery in 1946.

Ray of Light sample pages:

   https://app.box.com/s/d7gslfgd9dbf987tbg2vrjddyv9zk5q8

HTM description:

    https://web.archive.org/web/20211021200425/https://www.holytrinitypublications.com/a-ray-of-light


Update 2024 May: Currently OUT OF STOCK

   https://bookstore.jordanville.org/9780884650478

It seems the book has been out-of-stock for a year now....  

Check other sellers, Amazon, etc.  Neo-SJKP might still have some copies tucked away — reference item #2580.   If you can't find a copy for a reasonable price, then contact me.  I can lend you my copy for now while it is unavailable.

  If this book remains out-of-stock for much longer, I will scan my copy and share it with others. 


•••

The Apocalypse
Abp. Averky
Translated and with an introduction by Fr. Seraphim of Platina of blessed memory, this detailed commentary on the Book of Revelation (more accurately, the Apocalypse) by one of the spiritual giants of our age is perhaps the only reliable guide readily available in English to an Orthodox understanding of its complexities. In reading both the commentary and the book, it is wise to remember that it required seven centuries for the Church to reach oneness of mind that this book was indeed to be regarded as part of Holy Scripture. 
•••

God gives us prophets in every age, including this one.  We can expect that every age will also have its false prophets.  There have been some already proven false prophecies coming out of contemporary Mt. Athos.

A prophecy that I heard years ago, but seems to have disappeared, is that the Theotokos will leave Mt. Athos in the end times, and she will make Diveeyvo her final domain.

But we do have on record today that Diveeyvo will be the only place on earth where Antichrist won't touch.  St. Seraphim and others will resurrect there, and this is known as the Diveeyvo Mystery.  There is a report of this in St. Seraphim of Sarov's life written by Helen Kontzevitch.

•••

World Orthodoxy does not approve of end times study.  They discourage it and even ridicule it.  Part of the reason is because end times study is a testimony against world Orthodoxy: world-wide apostasy has been predicted and they are fulfilling this prophecy now.  But another part of the reason might be well-meaning, because people have a tendency to get superstitious and fanatic about end times predictions, such as to fear the number 666.   The remedy for this fear is not to avoid the subject, but to study it properly – to learn the truth so wild imagination does not kick into gear.  Christ said that the Apostasy must come before Antichrist, and Antichrist must come [and reign] before Christ's Second Coming in Glory.

Trust God, and ask His help to prepare for the end times.  The real preparation we need is to study the Fathers and strengthen our faith and prayer life.