Maybe I should've asked this earlier, but reading through this thread again makes me wonder: What exactly is supposed to be going on at these youth meetings? It seems like most of us agree that what is going on at them in the case of the OP's church…
That is a great question, Coptic Boy. If I knew the answer I wouldn't have to ask myself that 700 times a day, and second guess everything...but luckily, Fr. Anthony has also done a series of lectures on that, too! If you liked the relationship ones…
Why would any certain period of your life be the "green light" to do anything? The right time is God's time, not when it seems like everyone else is doing it. I didn't date in college (too busy), but I dated before and after, and I'm still wifeless.…
You raise a very good point, Ioannes. I was just trying to make a similar point to an Eastern Catholic acquaintance of mine who can't understand why I'm wanting to be Orthodox rather than Byzantine Catholic as he is: "But, Jeremy! Everything you lik…
I'm not sure Ioannes' criticism is about the language used, but just in case there are English language Coptic hymns to listen to, too...and without Western paintings in the video, either. It may be "boring" to some, but the message is anything but,…
Isn't HH's comment about what is typical or standard in America, not necessarily about what ought to be found in Coptic churches everywhere or even in a particular place?
Yes, ILSM!
Epiphania: This probably isn't the thread for it, but the short answer is that you are right about Arabic and its history in Egypt, but that doesn't mean that changing the name used in Arabic Bibles wouldn't have wider repercussions that…
[quote author=epiphania link=topic=10538.msg128184#msg128184 date=1295998871]
[quote author=christ_rose link=topic=10538.msg128169#msg128169 date=1295997164]
in our church we use the word ALLAH alot do we not??
how surprised would you be if i told …
But it still remains that the other paintings are just... prettier to look at.
That is such a subjective standard, though, Epiphania. As I was discussing earlier today with Father Peter about songs: Whose standard are we using when we say these thin…
As someone coming to Orthodoxy from Catholicism, I am not looking to join a church that is "moving forward". I am looking to join a church that is holding fast. Things are not getting any easier out there for Christians, and if you want to go with t…
I can appreciate the passion that you are feeling over this subject, Christ_Rose, but could you please not type so much in all caps? It lessens the impact of what you are trying to say and makes reading somewhat more laborious than it needs to be. Y…
You make a good point, Fr. Peter, about other Orthodox traditions, and an even better point about how the paintings used by many would not be valued even in the West where they originated. I can write from personal experience about that: For a few y…
If you are not Protestant, how could it NOT be wrong to sing Protestant songs? I am not a Muslim, so I do not sing Islamic "nashid"; I am not a Hindu, so I do not sing Hindu "bhajans"; and I am trying hard not to be a Protestant, so I sure as heck d…
Whenever issues like this come up, I always want to ask: What is missing in your tradition? I know it's not my place to put anyone on the spot, not being Orthodox myself, but really...what is missing from your tradition that you should take the pain…
[quote author=DimyanCoptic link=topic=10538.msg128107#msg128107 date=1295989224]
is this even allowed? i read somewhere that we can only use cymbals and triangles during services. this rule is for all orthodox church, not just copts.
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I don…
[quote author=Father Peter link=topic=10538.msg128093#msg128093 date=1295985680]
Generally a very simple folk style which supports the poetry of the lyrics rather than taking attention away from them. The danger, it seems to me, even in such a style…
Yikes! Some things just don't belong in certain environments, and I don't know why people can't see that. Let the Protestants sing the Protestant songs, let the Orthodox sing the Orthodox hymns. I would remind whoever is in charge of the Sunday scho…
I remember hearing once someone say that it was complete folly to direct your prayers to the Father, switch to the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
What does this mean, "switch to"?
I had written a lot more on this, but first I want to ask: If you pray o…
I would assume that it is the "Old Bohairic" pronunciation (it is lacking in the phonemes introduced by the Greco-Bohairic: [p], [v], [č], etc.), but I don't know. Here is an interesting polemical page on the different pronunciations that you might …
For any of you who are interested in Coptic phonology (sounds), there is a blog that collects scholarly/linguistic resources on that subject called, appropriately enough, Coptic Sounds. Sadly this is one area that I do not have nearly enough resourc…
Can't we separate the Jewish people from the Israeli government? In my life I have known many Jews, and maybe only 3 or 4 (> 0.001%) even care about Israel as anything other than a distant foreign country, somewhere in the world. I had one friend…
I couldn't find any patristic writing on this particular verse, either, but most of the Bible commentaries I have read on it say that the master in the parable is an allegory for Christ, and with that understanding they say that verse 27 recalls the…
It is a parable. If I tell you a story to teach a lesson to you, and that story has a child in it who is killed, does that mean I want to kill children?
As one of those non-Copts who is looking very hard at your church -- don't worry about that, Epiphania! If you speak out of love for your church, fidelity to its traditions, and a desire to share those things that you love with your friends, there s…
The good bishop is the only one who makes sense to me. I do not care for Mr. Gerges' minimalizing and obfuscating. It is good not to add to tension, but bad that he simply parrots the Muslim-created lies about Camelia Shehata and Wafa Constantine, f…
I don't teach Sunday school, but I do teach fifth graders as a volunteer tutor in Mathematics and English at the local elementary school. I wanted to quit, too, when they told me that Math would be the primary focus. I'm terrible at Math! Absolutely…
Wouldn't their willingness to go to liturgy in the face of sustained threats indicate their commitment to Christ, even if they (as a general principle) did not want to die?
From a legal standpoint, there seems to be little recourse for anyone who wants to uphold their principles in business when it comes to discriminating against a legally protected class. Though I'll add the following story for you all to mull over: A…