It was just brought to my attention that Norman Vincent Peale attained the 33rd degree in Freemasonry in his life. While I am not an authority on Freemasonry and know very little, I will nonetheless cease the posting of quotes from his book Treasury of Courage and Confidence as The Church forbids membership in Masonic Lodges.
I will leave the posts on indefinitely, as a personal reminder to me of spirituality not sanctioned by the Church, or rather, in this case, spirituality which the Church warns about, can be benign and actually good. But as I get to know me a little better, I know that I can easily be deluded and I am painfully learning to tread the path our Great God and Savior has established once and for all in the giving of the Faith to us.
Also, I believe I have gotten a more significant glimpse as to what strata and sub-strata the Enemy may be directing his assault towards us and frankly, if I am anywhere near correct on this glimpse, I am scared. Really scared. But this throws me back upon our Holy Faith with greater desperation.
To me the challenge lies therein: How do I learn to circumscribe the entirety of my life with this Faith? What fences must be built and patrolled? How do I deepen repentance as all the while the love for this world tugs at me in one direction and the desire for loving Him grows- then flickers-then grows again and leads me toward Him once again in the other direction?
Perhaps there is only one way: in the plea for mercy to Him that I, a sinner, may be found in Him and revealed in Him on that Day.
May it be so, amen.
Patriarch Kirill offers condolences after Azerbaijan Airlines crash in
Kazakhstan
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On the morning of December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying
from Baku to Grozny, Chechnya crashed near Aktau in western Kazakhstan.
22 hours ago
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2 comments:
Freemasonry seems to be more to do with the occult than with Christianity. Nevertheless, it is based on a belief in God and most members probably consider themselves as Christians but it certainly is not a church as such, and I believe it would not claim to be so. Most members would see it as no more than a men's club with harmless rituals. It seems to focus on worldly ends rather than correctly on spiritual ends, although rapped in a spiritual cover.
I believe that one key problem is the lack of clarification as to the Orthodox teaching of the Church. It fails to distinguish heresies from each other and in forming a close fraternal bond with other members, it fails to realise that such a bond should only occur in the Church; not among members of different Creeds and based on a Freemason creed, I think such a thing exists.
There may be more to it than this, and there probably is, but I think what I said above is safely accurate about the matter.
I have read Norman Vincent Peale and I didn't realise that he was a Freemason. Nevertheless, he may have written many good things but these should be taken with a large grain of salt and not relied on for guidance in life. This, I believe, also applies to all writings outside the Church; they can contain some/much profound wisdom but they can also contain things that should not be heeded. All must be considered in light of the Fathers and not relied on as authoritative sources for our lives. I don't think though that being a Freemason necessarily makes ones writings any more susceptible to error than anyone else outside the Church.
Dear Monk Patrick,
Thank you for your response.
This Freemasonry stuff has only recently come to my attention. I believe that there is much more than meets the eye along these lines but to speak with certainty is rather difficult.
I did not know, for instance, that George Washington and many of the Founding Fathers of this nation were also Masons. The city of Washington D.C. is laid out in Masonic patterns. The symbolism on our money(U.S.$). There is so much more that I cannot even begin to relate it.
One thing that is becoming more apparent to me that anywhere where great money and power is concentrated, the Evil One is very involved.
I have much more I'd like to discuss, but only with your interest.
As I stated in my original post on your site, these matters may very well travel back far into history, at least into the splitting of Christianity.
Like I said, to gain an accurate barometer to judge such matters is difficult, but I think in some measure we Christians must open our eyes to this realm and understand to some extent the workings of power and its effect on those who hold it and wish to keep it. The inherent danger in delving into such matters is that one can easily become obsessed and see the Devil in all things and I should think that our Enemy would be well pleased at such unmitigated attention as fear and delusiion creep into the life of one such occupied.
Any further thoughts you may have would be greatly appreciated.
In Christ and in fellowship,
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