ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="doctitle" --> <title>The Voice Of Orthodoxy</title> <style type="text/css"> <!-- body { background-color: #ecedf2; } .style81 {color: #0C5ADC; font-weight: bold; } .style82 {font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; } --> </style></head> <BODY LEFTMARGIN=0 TOPMARGIN=0 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0> <table width="784" height="111" border="0" align="center" bordercolor="#E9E9E9" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td height="45" bgcolor="#9999FF"> <p align="center"><font size="+6" COLOR = #990000> THE VOICE OF ORTHODOXY</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="45" bgcolor="#9999FF" valign="top" > <p align="center"><b><font size="+2"> <i>A Bimonthly Conservative Journal To Defend The Apostolic Faith, Morals And Canons Of The Ancient Orthodox Church.</b></i> <strong> <table width="784" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align = "left">Volume : XIV</td> <td align = "center">MARCH - APRIL 2010</td> <td align = "right">Issue : 2</td> </tr> </table> </strong> <marquee scrollamount="2" direction="left"><i>ORTHODOXY: THE TRUTH BEARER; FOR REQUESTS CALL: 773-480-7273</i></marquee> </p> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="784" height="758" border="0" align="center" bordercolor="#E9E9E9" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td width="164" height="182" rowspan="2" valign="top" bgcolor="#9999FF"><br /> <table width="96%" height="75" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#9999FF"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="153" valign="top"> <table> <tr> <p><img src="../../images/st.mary.jpg" width="153" height="209" /></p> </tr> </table> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="14"><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="98%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="15%" height="16"><div align="right"> <div align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="2"><width="8" height="9" /></font></div> </div></td> <td align="justify" width="85%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333333" size="2"><a href="../../default.html">Home</a></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="14"><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="98%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="15%" height="16"><div align="right"> <div align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="2"><width="8" height="9" /></font></div> </div></td> <td align="justify" width="85%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333333" size="2"><a href="../../current.html">Current Issue</a></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="21"><table width="99%" height="18" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="15%"><div align="right"> <div align="justify"><font color="#333333" size="2"><width="8" height="9" /></font></div> </div></td> <td align="justify" width="85%"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#333333" size="2"><a href="../../archives.html">Archives</a></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </br> <font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Sponsors &gt;&gt;</strong></font><br /> <table width="98%" height="159" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" bgcolor="#ecedf2"> <tbody> <tr bgcolor="#eef5f9"> <td width="149" bgcolor="#ecedf2" height="23"><table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td><div align="justify"></div> <font color="#333333" size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" class="style45"><b>Coming Soon..</b></font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="EditRegion13" --> <table width="620" border="0" align="center"> <tr> <ul><h1><font size="6" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"><b>Anathema: The Word and It s Meaning</b></font></h1></ul> <br> <p align="center"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"><b>By Saint John Maximovitch</b></font> <br></p> <p><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"><i>Our father among the saints, John Maximovitch, was a diocesan bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) who served widely from China to France to the United States. Countless miracles have been attributed to this holy bishop, both during his lifetime and since his repose. During this year, we will be offering some of his Pre-Lenten and Lenten themed sermons for your reference. Read them reverently. <br> </i></font> <br></p> <p><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">The Greek word  Anathema consists of two words:  ana which is a preposition indicating movement upwards and  thema which means a separate part of something. In military terminology,  thema meant a detachment; in civil government  thema meant a province. We currently use the word  theme, derived from  thema to mean a specific topic of a written and intellectual work.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"> Anathema literally means the lifting up of something separate. In the Old Testament this expression was used both in relation to that which was alienated due to sinfulness and likewise to that which was dedicated to God.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">In the New Testament, in the writing of the Apostle Paul it is used once in conjunction with  maranatha , meaning the coming of the Lord. The combination of these words means separation until the coming of the Lord; in other words  being handed over to Him (1 Cor 16:22).</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">The Apostle Paul uses  anathema in another place without the addition of  maranatha (Gal 1:8-9). Here  anathema is proclaimed against the distortion of the Gospel of Christ as it was preached by the Apostle, no matter by whom this might be commited, whether by the Apostle himself or an angel from the heavens. In this same expression there is also implied:  let the Lord Himself pass judgement , for who else can pass judgement on the angels?</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">St John the Theologian in Revelation (22:3) says that in the New Jerusalem there will not be any anathema; this can be understood in two ways, giving the word anathema both meanings:</font></p> <blockquote> <ol type="1"> <li><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">there will not be any lifting up to the judgement of God, for this judgement has already been accomplished; </font></li> <li><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">there will not be any special dedication to God, for all things will be the Holy things of God, just as the light of God enlightens all (Rev 21:23). </font></li> </ol> </blockquote> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">In the acts of the Councils and the further course of the New Testament Church of Christ, the word  anathema came to mean complete separation from the Church.  The Catholic and Apostolic Church anathematizes ,  let him be anathema ,  let it be anathema , means a complete tearing away from the church.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">While in cases of  separation from the communion of the Church and other epitimia or penances laid on a person, the person remained a member of the Church, even though his participation in her grace filled life was limited, those given over to anathema were thus completely torn away from her until their repentance. Realizing that she is unable to do anything for their salvation, in view of their stubbornness and hardness of heart, the earthly church lifts them up to the judgement of God.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">That judgment is merciful unto repentant sinners, but fearsome for the stubborn enemies of God.</font></p> <blockquote><p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"> It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God & for our God is a consuming fire (Heb 10:31 ; 12:29).</font></p></blockquote> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">Anathema is not final damnation: until death repentance is possible.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"> Anathema is fearsome not because the Church wishes anyone evil or God seeks their damnation. They desire that all be saved. But it is fearsome to stand before the presence of God in the state of hardened evil: nothing is hidden from Him.</font> <br></p> <p><font size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L">Source:</font></p> <p><a href="http://preachersinstitute.com/2010/02/anathema-the-word-and-its-meaning-st-john-maximovitch/" target="_blank"><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Nimbus Roman No9 L"><u>http://preachersinstitute.com/<WBR>2010/02/anathema-the-word-and-<WBR>its-meaning-st-john-<WBR>maximovitch/</u></font></a> <br> <br></p> </table> </body> <!-- InstanceEnd --></html>