Orthodox Christian Life
Archim. Epiphanios Hadjiyiangou
AUTHOR'S PROLOGUE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
About two years ago, the book Orthodox Christian Life was circulated in Greek, which is an interpretation of Christ's famous Sermon on the Mount. Since the content is considered important and useful not only to Greek readers but also to non-Greeks, the book was translated into English by the English-speaking nuns of St. Augustine's Monastery in Florina.
I warmly thank these sisters for their effort in translating the book, as well as the abbess Syngletike, for giving her blessing to them.
I also wish to thank Katerina Michail for editing the translation.
I hope that God will bless this effort, so that as many souls as possible can be benefitted, for the glory of God.
INTRODUCTION
The written law of God
St. John Chrysostom says that we shouldn't really need God's written law; that our life should be so pure that the Holy Spirit should talk directly to our hearts and transmit God's will to us. That's how God spoke to Abraham, Moses, the prophets, the apostles and all the saints. But when people strayed from the correct faith and way of life, then God needed to reveal his will to us in writing.
The law of God is found written in the Scriptures: the Old and New Testaments. The law of the Old Testament is imperfect, it was given to somewhat limit evil and prepare the world to accept the perfect law of the New Testament.
The Sermon on the Mount
The whole of the Holy Gospel, as the Apostle Paul says, is God-inspired and profitable (2Ti. 3:16). However one of Christ's sermons is especially important, being a summary of all his moral teachings, and this is the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon the Lord supplements and perfects the law of the Old Testament. It is considered the most important of Christ's sermons, the "diamond of divine teaching," because it presents us with the divine commandments, in accordance with which a Christian should live so as to inherit eternal life. The sermon is found in chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is this sermon that we will examine, God willing, in this book.
BISHOP'S PROLOGUE
His Eminence Metropolitan THEOCLETOS
of Florina, Prespa & Eordaia
This book is dedicated to my spiritual father, the greatly toiling hierarch Metropolitan of Florina, Prespa and Eordaia Augoustinos Kantiotes from whom I was taught the genuine Orthodox spirit and how to live a Christian life.
My Beloved,
It has been said, that if the mighty nations-those who want wars- applied the Sermon on the Mount given by our Lord, there would not be catastrophic wars, together with their grave consequences.
The Lord's Sermon on the Mount is a fantastic constitution of government for people, countries and societies. It is safe to say that governing is begun by the unit of all societies, which is ourselves. From this point -ourselves- the sanctity of a society begins. Are we personally sanctified? Then society is sanctified. Is each one of us corrupted one way or another by a variety of sins? As a consequence, society is then corrupted. Then we begin to seek who will be the first 'wolf' for our fellow man, who will first 'devour' the other and steal his goods, his homeland, his house, his family, even his culture, since wars destroy civilizations that existed for centuries. That's how our society becomes a jungle and nothing stops us from acting like wild beasts. Who gains from the mountainous pain, with its rivers of blood and tears? What a shame all that is! How guilty are the rulers of the planet! The strong shall be vanquished, because the almighty God is with us!
However! Christ came into the world to change it, so that his blessed kingdom could come, so that the lost Paradise could be found once again. The stable of Bethlehem would become a Church. We should all become children of the light-giving Church.
This holy purpose serves the present writing of our beloved Archim. Epiphanios Hadjiyiangou, head of the cathedral of St. Panteleimon, Florina, and preacher of the truth of the holy Gospel. As bishop of this distant diocese, I bless both the writing and the writer. I hope from the depths of my heart that this book will benefit souls, for whom the Lord Jesus was sacrificed on the Cross.
Pages: 230
Dimensions: 14 x 21 cm.
