And the secularization of the Western World
The western world has entered a period of decadence and decline, departing far from her Christian roots. With the European Union denying the historical and cultural Christian heritage of her member states, a secular based world view reigns dominant. This, together with the mass immigration of peoples from Islamic countries at a time when the birth rates of indigenous peoples are at an all time record low, threatens the very existence of Western civilization.
The naive would have us believe that we are living in an age of enlightenment, with borders falling, people uniting. They ignore the plight of the Coptic Christians of Egypt whose churches are being burned down in record numbers, young Coptic women being kidnapped and raped, and priests, bishops and anyone identified as Christian being fair game for assaults and murders. They ignore the growing persecution of Christians throughout the Middle East.
The government of Saudi Arabia has been building Islamic centers near university communities throughout the United States and Western Europe. While allegedly pushing for “Islamic rights”, they are wooing young westerners into Islam. While demanding Muslims be allowed their five times a day worship periods in the work place and on campuses, they forbid Jew and Christians the right to build synagogues and churches in Muslim countries.
Political figures throughout Western Europe and the United States have taken to calling anyone who raises a word of alarm as bigoted Islamaphobes, while ignoring the outright persecution of Christians throughout the Muslim world. It has become commonplace for attacks against Christians in Muslim countries to be written off as the acts of a few extremists, yet we hear no condemnation from imams of the growing discrimination experienced by Christians. If attacks against Christians are simply perpetrated by a few Islamic extremists, why don’t the imams raise their collective voices in decrying the violence of their co-religionists against their Christian neighbors?
Perhaps it is time to demand a church or synagogue be constructed in every Muslim country before any new mosques can be constructed in our cities. If Saudi Arabia wants to continue funding the construction of new mosques in the United States, perhaps we should demand the right to build churches in Saudi Arabia.
It is important to remember that Islam cannot be separated from politics. Sharia law, which is constituting the political and social frame of Islamic teaching, is incompatible with Democracy. The Arab Spring proved this fact with the Islamic unwillingness to allow Coptic Christians the freedom they deserve to practice their faith openly. To compare Islam with Fascism is not too far fetched. Remember, Afghanistan was once a Buddhist nation, and Turkey and the Sudan were Christian nations. Islam makes no room for any form of religion other than Islam. The Western secular view of religion can not survive the growth of a faith that is both a political ideology and a religion. Nor can we as Christians refuse to share our faith by being complacent. Ministry is not about tickling ears, but tapping souls into awakening to the truth.
Christianity’s decline must be reversed and the only way this can happen is if those who are still practicing Christians become missionaries and give witness to Jesus Christ. Muslim immigrants who’ve moved to this country should not be shunned, or asked to leave our shores. They do, however, deserve the chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Muslim understanding of Christianity has been tainted by false teachings masquerading as Christian. This false image of Christianity, together with the climate of decadence embraced by a secularized western world, offers nothing to a follower of Islam. Only a loving witness to the truth, that in Christ we have a direct link to a personal God Who loves us and offers something that is life changing and eternal, has the draw that will bring Muslims to Christ.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Monday February 26, 2018 / February 13, 2018
Second Week of the Great Lent. Tone five.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Strict Fast (Bread, Vegetables, Fruits)
Venerable Martinian, monk, of Caesarea in Palestine (422).
New Hieromartyrs Basil and Gabriel priests (1919).
New Hieromartyr Silvester (Olshevsky) bishop of Omsk and Pavlodar (1920).
New Hieromartyrs Zosimas, Nicholas, Basil, John, Leontius, Vladimir, Parthenius, John, John, Michael priests and Eugine deacon, and Martyr Paul, Virgin-martyrs Anna, Vera and Irina (1938).
Blessed Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Bogucharsk (1950).
The holy woman Zoe of Bethlehem and Virgin Photina (5th c.).
Venerable Eulogius, archbishop of Alexandria (607-608).
Venerable Symeon the Myrrh-gusher, prince of Serbia (1200).
Synaxis of All Saints of Omsk Metropolia.
St. Martin the Merciful.
St. Modomnoc, bishop of Ossory (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
Apostle and Martyr Aquila, and Priscilla (Greek).
St. Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria (385).
St. Joseph of Volokolamsk (1515).
St. Castor of Karden, hieromonk and missionary (Germany)
St. Ermenhilda, abbes of Ely.
St. Huna, priest-monk of Huneya.
Translation of the relicts of St. Edward the Martyr, King of England.
The Scripture Readings
Isaiah 4:2-5:7
The Renewal of Zion
2 In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious;
And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing
For those of Israel who have escaped.
3 And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. 6 And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also made a winepress in it;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it waste;
It shall not be pruned or dug,
But there shall come up briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
Genesis 3:21-4:7
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Cain Murders Abel
4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Proverbs 3:34-4:22
34 Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools.
Security in Wisdom
4 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
2 For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
3 When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
5 Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
10 Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.
11 I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,
And when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they do not sleep unless they have done evil;
And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
Thank you so much Abbot Tryphon! I often post why you write on FB and this one is going up for sure! So well thought out and well written. God Bless you! Hope to make it that far West and North someday !
Thank you Father for a most excellent article. This is a message that sadly we rarely ever hear from church leaders while those who do speak out in an effort to warn and inform, are drowned out by naive politicians and a hostile media.
It’s deplorable.
It is so refreshing to hear and receive your messsge , while the church worldwide, with only a few exceptions, appears to have its head in the sand. Why oh why has it not stood up to the persecutions of our Christian brothers and sisters.?
What a bold thought it is to suggest no more mosques to be built until corresponding churches are allowed in Moslem countries. Sadly it would take politicians with more backbone than what is currently on offer today to see that ever happening, but Bravo for a wonderful suggestion. God bless you father. I do hope and pray others will be as honest and brave to speak out as you have here.
Well said. Thank you!
They will know us by our love, for each other and also by our Love for them. We need to be prepared to give a testimony of our faith, whenever a door is opened for us to do so, as you say. Dear Abbott Tryphon, could you write for us a concise an accurate testimony of our Faith? We also need to be armed with the readiness to hear what the Holy Spirit will give us to say. “Dear God, You yourself pray in me”.
Thank you for your excellent article. We need to hold God’s peace in our hearts. He is counting on us.
Fr. Bless. This is a message that needs to get out to the mainstream and the politicians. There are other groups that are talking about the lopsided push of rights for Muslims in Canada and the US, the goal of Sharia Law, some are credible and some are right-wing with no credibility. Much as the youth in Florida are standing up for stricter rules on guns at the grassroots, so too at the grassroots this message needs to be brought forth. While it is highly unlikely that Muslim countries will allow Churches, the message of the creep of Islam into the US with favor, while other religions, especially Christianity is derided, needs to be heard and considered.
Lord have mercy.
Thank you, Abbot Tryphon. You are certainly a witness to the truth and the light of Christ in these dark times.
Father Bless. I am most grateful for your message in today’s Morning Offering. We in the West, Orthodox or otherwise, need to wake up to the reality we all face from the encroachment of Islam into our homelands. I invite anyone who may be sceptical of this, to conduct their own research into the projected demographic changes coming to the West, especially to Europe. May Christ our Lord continue to guide and strengthen us.
Oliver’s comments ‘ hit the nail on the head ‘…..
however, our politicians don’t have backbones……
… And Isaiah 3 tells us, that we get the leaders we deserve. It comes from OUR living. Thank you for this blog.
Dear Fr. Tryphon your message on Islam is off of its mark. I do not share your opinion and these are the reasons why: extremism exists in most religions history shows this, Christianity and Islam can/have/do coexist, and “indigenous people”.
Islam teaches similar tenants to Christianity, and their foundation stems from similar roots. I believe there are those that choose to use _____ (fill in the blank with any religion) to achieve their extremist desires. It was only 100 years ago Christians in America allowed slavery to exist for 400 years with the words from scripture to back their claim of Master-Servant ways.
I was raised in a country in East Africa where both Christianity and Islam coexisted peacefully. There is a common respect between both and that could be true here in America. Coexisting is possible.
You made another point about “indigenous people…and the decline of western civilization” (paraphrased) It is important to recognize the true indigenous people of this land are not Westerners but Native Americans, I find this to be the first error in this argument. You are of Norwegian decent and I am of East African let us give credit to who credit belongs to, our Native American brothers/sisters. The decline of Native Americans began 600 years ago as a result of the atrocities committed by Westerners.
I totally want Christianity to flourish but allow it to be through living by the way of the cross, and not by talking down of other religions or ethnicities.
I am not writing this because I believe my words will have a profound effect on your views, I know you to be an intelligent, prayerful human being that I love, but I do hope you see the contradictions in your argument. Forgive my brevity.
Dear Efrem,
You are correct, there are extremists who claim to do things in the name of God, or gods, or some religion. Their actions show that they are not true to their religion, and are off track, using it as a guise to do as they wish. In most cases, this was not the whole religion, but certain groups only. In other cases, this was widespread everywhere in the religion. This is particularly true in the strains of Islam coming forth today. For example, “Christians” didn’t allow slavery as a whole, certain groups misread and used scripture for their own ends, and other Christians worked to abolish slavery, run the Underground Railroad, etc. Today while slavery is against the law in most countries, there still exists in the Middle East, Africa and other countries as people seek to abuse their fellow citizens and others for their own profits. Yes, long ago, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in relative peace in some countries. There is one God (the Trinity) which walked with the Jews , of which Christ’s incarnation and our salvation and healing was prophesied, and the new covenant brought to the Jews, then the Gentiles through Christ, Christianity being the continuation of God walking with humanity. Then came Islam, an amalgamation of the two, but very different. Many other times Muslim rulers made Jews and Christians second class citizens. Mostly, it was conversion at the point of the sword for extended centuries. The way to turn a person’s heart to God is not through conversion at the point of a sword, it is through sharing of a message about God and love. There are some Muslim led countries that have a secular government allowing coexistence, and others do not. As we have seen many of those with a secular governments are under siege by ISIS and others pushing a hard line form of Islam. While many wish to live as peaceful Muslims, the fact is that Sharia Law is at the core of Islam and is not compatible with Democracy. Hardline ideas are spreading. What Abbot Tryphon is pointing out is that hardline Islam is spreading in Europe and America. There are cases in Canada where schools have rules not allowing any religious groups to have clubs or pray on campus, etc. So that no one is offended and there are no problems. Then the rules are changed to allow Muslims to do so, but not other religious groups, especially Christians. Those type of things that are unbalanced and unfair. If one points it out, then they are accused of being “Islamophobia”. The push for Sharia Law in Europe and even America and Canada is being made. Will we modify the basis of our countries to have a dual track legal system? Can Islam coexist in a secular, democratic society? While as an Orthodox Christian I see our country is decadent and in decline, and I would agree with Muslims for more modesty, we live in a society where each is free to believe and live as they choose. Perhaps the grand experiment of strength in diversity will not succeed as in reality, peoples with different ideals, especially ideals that say those who do not believe as they do are infidels and should be killed, cannot co-exist.
The most poignant and sad fact is exactly what Abbot Tryphon points out in the below paragraph. If Islam is truly peaceful, then why don’t Imams speak out? Are they afraid? We have seen some instances of everyday people who are Muslim, either religiously or nominally, speaking out and aiding those who have been hurt by Islamic extremists, such as in the San Bernardino shooting, but rarely do leaders of mosques, the counterparts of Abott Tryphon, do so.
“Political figures throughout Western Europe and the United States have taken to calling anyone who raises a word of alarm as bigoted Islamaphobes, while ignoring the outright persecution of Christians throughout the Muslim world. It has become commonplace for attacks against Christians in Muslim countries to be written off as the acts of a few extremists, yet we hear no condemnation from imams of the growing discrimination experienced by Christians. If attacks against Christians are simply perpetrated by a few Islamic extremists, why don’t the imams raise their collective voices in decrying the violence of their co-religionists against their Christian neighbors?
Lord have mercy on us all.
Dear Suzie,
Forgive my brevity I don’t want to take to much time from my initial points but I will provide a few points on your response to me.
1. I am not saying that Christians as a whole agreed on slavery, some slaves themselves practiced Christianity for generations prior to being enslaved. Christianity has been practiced in Africa since the time of Our Lords Disciples (Mark in Egypt, the conversion of the Ethiopian by Philip the Evangelist etc). In short, some of those enslaved were Christians. My point is that the majority of Western Christians agreed with slavery and nearly all benefited from it.
2. Yes some abolitionists were white, but not many, most were people who looked like Harriet Tubman.
3. You used the word “misread” to represent Westerners interpretation of the Biblical views on slavery. I would use the word naive in describing your interpretation. Westerners used the Bible to justify their place of power, wittingly.
4. You point out slavery still existing in the Middle East and Africa; it also exists in America the only difference is now it has a different name “Human Trafficking”. In California last year nearly 500 people were arrested for modern day slavery of children. Slavery is happening in our own cities, research it.
My point is that this article/blog “Islam” is hypocritical and attempts to place blame elsewhere besides on ourselves as Orthodox Christians. Accountability or Admiting Guilt/Shortcomings is much more difficult to do, it is always easy to point the finger at the “Other”. I will end off by simply using the scripture “Take the beam of wood out of your eye, then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.”