Faith Issues - Tasbeha.org Community https://tasbeha.org/community/categories/faith-issues/p59/feed.rss Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:01:41 +0000 Faith Issues - Tasbeha.org Community en-CA The Orthodox Church's perspective on Suicide https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/2121/the-orthodox-church-s-perspective-on-suicide Mon, 18 Jul 2005 00:30:03 +0000 2121@/community/discussions
The crux of the problem as I see it, is that many choose to make themselves an authority such that their opinion becomes elevated above that of the Church. This is, strictly speaking not Orthodox. A healthy debate on doctrinal/moral/spiritual issue, is one which involves Church tradition and which appeals to the Church’s authority; a superfluous debate is one which neglects Church tradition and opposes Church authority.

I will thus now put forward the Church’s opinion on this matter, and if others would like to engage with the following authorities then please feel free to do so. If someone would like to share other Church traditions or authorities that need to be taken into consideration, then by all means, please feel free to share them with us.

To summarise the Orthodox Church's position on this issue as established by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, His Grace Bishop Youssef, Fr Tadros Malaty, the Church Canons, the Church Fathers, and the views of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, as shown in the material pasted below:

1) Suicide is murder, and a direct contravention of the sixth commandment.

2) Suicide means that one dies in their sin, and hence is incapable of repenting; as such the Church refuses to perform a proper burial and even refuses to pray over the deceased.

3) Suicide is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, for one has resisted God's Grace and died in sin without repentence.

4) The only exception to all of the above, is if the suicide victim commited such an act due to serious mental illness or disorder.

5) God alone knows all the facts of the suicide victim's circumstances, and thus He alone judges according to His infinite wisdom, mercy, and justice. As such, we should not conclude upon the fate of a particular suicide vitcim, we only speak in general according to Church tradition and authority.

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His Holiness Pope Shenouda III states in his book The Ten Commandments Volume III, in Chapter 6 Committing Suicide:

"Suicide is a form of murder. Man does not own his own life nor does he have the liberty to do anything he likes with it. It is owned by Christ, for when He redeemed our lives by His own Blood, He bought man's life which then became His. He created it from nowhere. It is a gift that cannot be thrown away, but should be used for the glory of God's name. That is why the Church does not conduct a funerary mass for an individual who commits suicide, simply because death takes place after the commission of a crime of murder. Such a person dies after committing a sin which he does not give himself a chance to repent for. Still, we can make an exception to this rule in the case of a person who proves to be completely insane when committing suicide, since an insane person should be absolved from whatever wrongdoing he does.

In addition to the crime of committing suicide, we also have other crimes such as losing hope and getting filled with despair...Hope is one of the three major virtues mentioned by St Paul in: "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13). A pious man should never lose hope for God's mercy. So, if ever one commits suicide, this means one has lost all hope and has fallen to the pit of despair which in itself is a sin. It also signifies that one has lost hope for God's mercy and for His power to interfere and to dispose of desperate situations. All this is nothing but lack of faith in God's love, care and attention.

Committing suicide also signifies lack of endurance. It also signifies disbelief in life after death. A person committing suicide believes that death is going to help him put an end to all his trouble, which is not true, for if he ever believed in life after death, he would be aware that by killing himself he would go to hell where he is liable to find endless torture. Therefore, committing suicide does not end one's problems, but rather brings up worse problems and more complicated dilemmas. It is as if one came out of a pit to fall into a deep well! The one who commits suicide never thinks of life after death, for if he knew about it he would be afraid to kill himself.

Committing suicide is neither a spiritual nor a practical solution for problems. A person who commits suicide often has a nervous or mental health problem and is unable to think
properly. His mind may get perplexed or stagnate before a problem. He is unable to think but gets confused and incapable of finding a way out. Thus, he commits suicide. Suicide is an actual destruction of the soul.

His Holiness reiterates and makes explicit the Church’s position on those who commit suicide in his book Many Years With People’s Questions, in Chapter 33 Those Whom The Church Does Not Pray For, pages 151-153:

Who commits suicide has lost faith in the other life thinking that death will end his troubles. He does not believe that death opens before him another life in which he is received as murderer and will go to Hades and will suffer torments harder than his troubles on earth. If he has such a belief he would fear death instead of seeking it as a solution.

And:

The only exception for not praying for the person committing suicide is the case in which his madness is established.

If the person who commits suicide has complete mental disorder, he will not be responsible for his behaviour. Likewise, if he has no will nor freedom, because responsibility requires that one be wise, free and willing.

And:

We leave the matter concerning the person who committed suicide in God's hands who is the Most Merciful. We should trust that when God judges anyone, He takes into consideration all his circumstances; whether the mental, psychological or nervous. God judges according to His limitless wisdom and knowledge. This is beyond our responsibility as Church.

According to this last paragraph as quoted from His Holiness; there are many factors to take into consideration which God alone according to his infinite wisdom may know, and hence justification of the proposition that we cannot conclude on matters regarding anyone’s eternal fate, even if they have committed suicide, for to put it bluntly, we are not God.

As His Holiness stated above, the Church does not pray over the one who commits suicide. According to the Church canons, purposeful suicide and the assistance of such an act are depicted as grave sins. According to Canon 14 of St Timothy of Alexandria, the perpetrator of calculated suicide who “has done so as a result of human offense or for any other reason due to weakness of will” i.e. performed out of despair, resentment or any other incident of faintheartedness, should not be granted a proper Orthodox Christian burial or even a liturgical ommemoration .

According to Fr Tadros Malaty in his commentary on The Epistle of St John (2001), page 54:

“The tradition of the Greek Fathers stated that the sin which leads to death is the sin which one deliberately commit and with no repentance. That is why the church does not pray for those who commit suicide, for they insist to be in despair.”

His Grace Bishop Youssef of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, states in relation to the matter of suicide:

1. Suicide: This is not a simple sin but a compound one . It includes breaking of more than one commandment given to us by the Lord our God. A person who commits suicide has rejected life and thus rejected God's love. He has lost trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Suicide involves committing a double murder or killing; not only his own body but also his soul. The Holy Book of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit., therefore, damaging this Temple is a sin.

Suicide is an act of despair and loss of hope. St. Paul says, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom 5:5). So losing hope is rejecting the Holy Spirit and His work in us, which is really a sort of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Source: http://suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=632&catid=372

His Grace Bisho Youssef elaborates upon his position in his article titled Suicide:

The Church teaches that all life is sacred, that through His death on the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ had transformed suffering so that all people could draw closer to God and others through it, and that people who killed themselves prematurely are rejecting the power and love of God. Further, the Orthodox Church purports that people who take complete control of their lives are blocking out God and every other human being. One who commits suicide is completely self-absorbed and denies the possibility that God can take care of their difficulties and transform them into something positive and meaningful. A person who commits suicide has rejected life and God's love.

……

The sixth commandment states, "Thou shalt not commit murder." The Holy Bible strictly forbids murdering anyone. Those who commit suicide will be judged as murderers (of themselves). Suicide is actually worse than murder for in killing another human being one is killing only the body, whereas in suicide one is killing both the body and the soul. Suicide prevents the possibility of repentance thereby jeopardizing salvation. This is contrary to the will and authority of God. The seriousness and permanence of suicide has to always be remembered.

I Corinthians 6:19-20 states that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, thereby damaging this Temple is a sin. Broadly applied, anything that damages this Temple, smoking, drinking, and suicide, all are considered sinful. Galatians 6:7-8 states "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

Suicide is a violent act against the teachings of the Church. Matters of life and death are not ours to control. The exception to suicide being an "uncontrolled" act of violence against God, is the mentally ill person who cannot reasonably assume responsibility for his actions. A mentally ill person is responding to hallucinations, delusional thoughts, or other bizarre thought processes.

......

With this blatant disregard of life, and the lack of conscious repentance associated with suicide the Orthodox Church cannot pray over the body of a suicidal individual who has induced his own death.

Source: http://www.suscopts.org/literature/literature.php?subaction=showfull&id=1076781246&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&

St. Augustine along with many other early Church Fathers , determined that the act of suicide was an unrepentable sin, and hence blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. He viewed the forbiddance of suicide as the natural implication and extension of the fifth commandment. Augustine condemned five different motivations for suicide: 1) guilt over sins of the past, 2) a desire to go to heaven, 3) to escape from or avoid temporal earthly difficulties and problems, 4) to evade the sinful actions of another, and 5) to avoid committing sin.

Though not a canonised Saint of the Orthodox Church, Thomas Aquinas had later defended the prohibition of suicide in Augustine’s footsteps, upon three grounds: 1) Suicide is contra to natural self-love, which has the aim to preserve us, 2) Suicide damages the community which the individual was a part of, 3) Suicide violates our very duty to God, for God has given us the gift of life and in taking our lives we interfere with and violate His right and prerogative to determine the duration of our earthly existence.

The early Church Father St Jerome categorically stated that Christ would not receive the soul of one who commits suicide. [Saint Jerome, Letters 39:3, translated by Charles Christopher Mierow (Newman Press: 1963)]. St Ambrose and St Jerome make however an interesting exception to their otherwise absolute and inclusive condemnation: those who commit suicide in order to preserve their chastity.

It should also be noted that the Coptic Orthodox Church’s stance on this issue is the same as that of the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:

Suicide is the taking of one's own life. The Orthodox Church has, over the centuries, taught that we do not have the right to take our own lives, since life is a gift from God which we are called upon to preserve and enhance. Hence, the Church considers direct suicide, when a person destroys his or her life with his or her own hand, to be the most serious kind of murder, because there is no opportunity for repentance. The canons and practice of the Church thus prohibit a Church burial to a person who has committed suicide. However, if it can be shown that the person who has committed suicide was not mentally sound, then, upon proper medical and ecclesiastical certification, the burial can be conducted by the Church. In cases, however, where the deceased held a philosophical view affirming the right to suicide, or allowed despair to overcome good judgment, no such allowance can be made.

Source: http://paul.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7101.asp

And:

The Orthodox Church denies a Church funeral to a person who has committed suicide, unless a doctor certifies that such a person has lost his or her sanity. Physician-assisted suicide is considered the same as suicide.

Source: http://www.goholytrinity.org/sacramental/sacramental13.php

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Peace.]]> Romans chapter 1 https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5988/romans-chapter-1 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:28:07 +0000 f753789 5988@/community/discussions
can someone pls clarify this Bible verse for me..
..is it talking about homosexuality?
and what is the deal with natural and unnatural?..i am kinda confused..
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Romans 1:26-27

in addition i find it worthy to mention that later on in Romans 1
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,[c] wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,[d] unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
it is interesting how disobedience to parents is put in the same category...as all those other things (i.e. haters of God..etc) meaning that this sin has its same severity to all those other sins stated..
kinda a scary thought..

anyways..i have a question about this portion too...what would be considered evil mindedness? or examples of it..

thanx in advance
keep me in ur prayers..(finals!!)
-sister in Christ]]> Religious Pluralism https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5904/religious-pluralism Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:46:51 +0000 duck 5904@/community/discussions
Thanks in advance,
Pray for me ]]> ananias and sapharia https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5979/ananias-and-sapharia Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:49:06 +0000 f753789 5979@/community/discussions
i have a question..that i dont think there is necessarily an answer for..but i would kinda like to hear thoughts about it if not answers

question:

y were ananias and sapharias' sin treated like it was in the old testament "the wages of sin is death" ..i know death here can also mean eternal condemnation..however my question is y didnt they get a chance for repentance ...wasnt that the whole purpose of the crucifixion ..for God so loved the world that he sent is only begotten son to forgive us our sins and to give a 2nd opportunity to enter into His kingdom that he has prepared b4 the foundation of earth...which no eye has seen nor ear has heard..neither has come on the thought of man..

thanx every1  in advance..cant wait to hear the replies..
keep me in ur prayers
-sister in Christ]]> Judas & communion? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5968/judas-communion Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:00:13 +0000 Meena_Ameen 5968@/community/discussions LIFE? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5919/life Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:40:45 +0000 andrew8345 5919@/community/discussions
God Bless.]]> Questions regarding Christianity... https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5961/questions-regarding-christianity Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:09:54 +0000 jsangel_23 5961@/community/discussions out of the blue some user on youtube asked me to teach him about Christianity so i agreed. i'll keep adding what he asks hopefully. so his first q is:

Where in the Bible did Jesus claim to be God?

thanks guys
GBU alll
and p4m]]> Why and do they? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5921/why-and-do-they Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:27:13 +0000 copticsledge 5921@/community/discussions The Holy Spirit https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5955/the-holy-spirit Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:01:01 +0000 Meena_Ameen 5955@/community/discussions ]]> Question Related to the Devil https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5946/question-related-to-the-devil Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:54:27 +0000 PopeKyrillos 5946@/community/discussions
PK]]> Luck!! https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5947/luck Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:07:08 +0000 5947@/community/discussions
They say that one should never over-congratulate themselves nor over-berate themselves as what happens to us in life is 50% luck and 50% our own will. We cannot be in control of 100% of our lives; some of us were born into prestige, some were born into poverty. That was just our luck (bad or good) that decided who will be our parents.

Or is it? Do we believe in "luck" or is everything "God's will"
What can we say is attributable to "Luck" , and what is "God's will"?
Does "luck" even exist for a christian?? Does the Coptic Orthodox Church believe in "Luck"?

What do you think also?]]> Theft.. Catholic teaching vs Orthodox.. only for those who willl not get confuse https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5949/theft-catholic-teaching-vs-orthodox-only-for-those-who-willl-not-get-confuse Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:55:21 +0000 mikeforjesus 5949@/community/discussions
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14564b.htm

I read the first line and the first paragraph or the first big area of text.. after that is a space..

I found this reading very insightful and good news to me..  One thing I learned if the only is that the catholic church believes to steal when in danger of dying or suffering from any form of extreme necessity .. it is not stealing.. and you do not have to make restitution afterwards..

and

"For the notion of theft, the unwilingness of the owner to part with what is rightfully his, is essential. If he be content, or if under some circumstances he can legitimately be presumed to be satisfied with what is done although perhaps displeased at the manner of its doing, there is no theft properly so called. Moreover his unwillingness must be reasonable, not simply insensate close-fistedness"

"Moreover his unwillingness must be reasonable, not simply insensate close-fistedness"

that line is interesting to me..



Do we have lengthy moral explnations of sins like theft....... ?




]]> Numbers 31: Killing Non Virgins https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5864/numbers-31-killing-non-virgins Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:21:45 +0000 5864@/community/discussions
The Lord asks that they kill EVERYONE, and EVERYTHING, only leaving virgin girls.

My questions are as follows:

a) If you are going into war to kill a nation, then how would you know if a woman is a virgin or not?
b) Why is killing allowed here in cases of adultary and fornication, yet forbidden later on in the New Testament?
c) Vengence is wrong; isn't it? Why is the Lord encouraging vengence against the Midian People?
d) Moses tells them: whoever has killed anyone of the midians, should be purified? I don't understand, why? God told them to kill the Midians, and now they are impure for doing so?
e) Then he tells them :"Save for yourselves every girl that is a virgin" - isn't that like stealing? They aren't yours?? How can you keep a woman that is not yours??

Thanks


here are the Bible verses pertaining to this incident:
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people."
3 So Moses said to the people, "Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the LORD's vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel." 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. 10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. 11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, 12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho. [a]

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. 16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

19 "All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives. 20 Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood."

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, "This is the requirement of the law that the LORD gave Moses: 22 Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead 23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp."

]]> the gospal of luke https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5942/the-gospal-of-luke Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:19:48 +0000 bigeee 5942@/community/discussions i feel so stressed https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5937/i-feel-so-stressed Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:55:28 +0000 bigeee 5937@/community/discussions I never really understood the point or the message of this verse https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5931/i-never-really-understood-the-point-or-the-message-of-this-verse Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:33:24 +0000 gregorytheSinner 5931@/community/discussions but can anyone explain the verse that says this:

"Against you only have I sinned and done evil against you, that you might be just in Your sayings, and might overcome when You are judged."

I mean when is God judged, or in a position of weakness that he might need to "overcome?"]]> the gospal of john https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5910/the-gospal-of-john Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:45:45 +0000 bigeee 5910@/community/discussions Need more Clarification in Verse https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5927/need-more-clarification-in-verse Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:01:21 +0000 madcow043 5927@/community/discussions The Rosary for the Coptic Church https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/1950/the-rosary-for-the-coptic-church Sat, 25 Jun 2005 10:57:07 +0000 kimit 1950@/community/discussions speaking in tongues https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5895/speaking-in-tongues Thu, 01 Nov 2007 02:09:32 +0000 Meena_Ameen 5895@/community/discussions
so basically i dont know what going on and i really need help, because i know that his mom speaking like that and not being able to control it has nothing to do with God but probably the devil.]]> The Holy Theotokos St. Mary https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5879/the-holy-theotokos-st-mary Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:27:25 +0000 Severus 5879@/community/discussions
I was just wondering about what we mean when we say that St. Mary is the mother of God. Is it safe to say that she is the mother of God the Son?

How can God the Father have a mother, if he created all of the cosmos, and everything? If God the Father was born, that would mean that he is limited, but we know that this does not make sense. Likewise, God the Son was not limited. There is a limit to our fragile human understanding and explanations. But the main issue is this: Can we call St. Mary the mother of God the Son? Or just the Mother of God?

Please pray for me.]]> Levels to Heaven https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5868/levels-to-heaven Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:29:51 +0000 Basant Tawfik 5868@/community/discussions Hey! Wutz up everyone? ??? :D I want to know, are there levels to heaven? ??? I have heard that there are, but i wanted to make sure. ;)]]> My life w/ Him https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5899/my-life-w-him Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:29:45 +0000 Maryann23 5899@/community/discussions
And for certain big decisions that we have to make throughout the course of our lives .. how can we know what God wants us to do? Will He make sure everything works out according to His will somehow so long as I stay close to Him, love Him, and essentially seek His will for my life?  ]]> explain the meaning.. https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5902/explain-the-meaning Fri, 02 Nov 2007 06:06:39 +0000 mikeforjesus 5902@/community/discussions

?
]]> Dont understand this verse.. https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5896/dont-understand-this-verse Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:23:59 +0000 Meena_Ameen 5896@/community/discussions It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

k so if you are unfamiliar with what is going on in this verse, Jesus just said that he who doesnt eat of his flesh or drink of his blood has no life in him... the disciples are saying this is hard saying, who can hear it.... the verse i dont understand is the part in red

I was looking for where i can find the meaning of this verse and on one website i believe the person explaining the verse was protestant becasue this is how this verse was explained... it was broken down first

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

It is the Spirit — The spiritual meaning of these words, by which God giveth life.

The flesh — The bare, carnal, literal meaning, profiteth nothing.

The words which I have spoken, they are spirit — Are to be taken in a spiritual sense and, when they are so understood, they are life - That is, a means of spiritual life to the hearers.


so what this man is basically saying is that... when Jesus said that verse he meant that the flesh and blood he will give us is NOT communion, and that Jesus is saying NOT to take what he said literally but his words are spiritual. and if you take the literal meaning of it, it means nothing...

this ofcourse is against what the orthodox church believes because we believe that he was talkking about communion.. but i dont know how our church would explain that verse in red.. does anyone know?
]]> hey Christians https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5831/hey-christians Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:14:25 +0000 donia_kiwi 5831@/community/discussions Which book of the Bible do you think gives the best overview of God's message?
]]> Some nice video's about Orthodox prayer https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5808/some-nice-video-s-about-orthodox-prayer Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:38:58 +0000 mmatt95 5808@/community/discussions
Why we Orthodox Christians pray?

Orthodox Prayer, How to pray? An Orthodox perspective

EDIT: I made a decent url for the first time, special thanks to someone (i.e. Kefas) ;D]]> Filthy and Unclean https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5767/filthy-and-unclean Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:38:02 +0000 5767@/community/discussions
I was having a chat (AGAIN!) with muslims, and they asked me about my faith. They said that in Christianity, we do not respect women.

I said :"huh!! U must be joking? Tell me where we do not respect women?".

Then they came out with this verse from Deutronomy, but they read it in Arabic. It says that if a woman has her period she is "NAJESSAH" (which means filthy).

I said.. " no .. in the english, it means UNCLEAN, why does the arabic have NAJESSAH (filthy) as a translation? This is therefore not a good translation".

They said :"Its a Christian Bible, and it is how it is translated".

Can someone check for me in the arabic bible: Are women really filthy in arabic and yet "unclean" in English?? If that's the case, God save the Queen!!

Then they said :"Why did saint paul mention that women should SHUT UP in church". Well, I have no idea.

Can someone just give me good (bible referenced) answers for these questions??

Thanks]]> What does fasting and praying mean? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5829/what-does-fasting-and-praying-mean Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:03:56 +0000 Hezekiel 5829@/community/discussions
At one occasion, our Lord told his apostles,that it is only through Praying and Fasting that is possible to expel the weird demon that was possessing a man. In other words, we all need to Pray and Fast when we have tremendous problems that seem unsolvable,so that the Lord has mercy on us.

As a layman, I can take my AGPEYA and try to pray 7 times a day and ask ther Lord for his help. However, I do not understand the Fasting part. What did the Lord mean by FASTING in cases of difficulties and hardship? To get my current problem solved, I would be prepared to go to the extreme or at least try as much as I could. Please share how best one could fast, while praying?

regards,]]> Do we belive in the Big Bang theory or not? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/5785/do-we-belive-in-the-big-bang-theory-or-not Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:11:55 +0000 epshiri 5785@/community/discussions maybe not? ???]]>