Lessons In Orthodoxy - Lesson 1: Trinity & Incarnation

By Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou @ All Saints Cathedral, Camden, London, UK, 2013

[@bbwphantom]

Great easy to understand video. Many times I have discussions with non-Christians, or people unsure of their own faith, this vid inspired me to continue evangelization.

[@bbwphantom]

Watch the vid, I think you are misunderstanding the nature of the Trinity

[@ricardooliveira9774]

@@bbwphantom This guy just keeps spamming, he probably doesn't want to understand anyways.

[@lounaannajung4454]

Please make a playlist for this! It will be great for people who want to listen to the whole series

[@xmc7189]

Very well explained. Thnks father.

[@moasaad]

Well presented! 🙏🏻🕊

[@ZZZELCH]

This was fantastic

[@nickvoutsas5144]

We don't live in a fallen world because we sinned but rather we live in darkness so the light of God can be revealed to us so as to become children of the light. If you were to be God then the only thing that would be beyond you would be the free will of something you created to love you.

[@MegaTRUTH007]

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. 2 Colossians 2:8

[@crookedman3484]

what do you mean that we can become God?

[@larrycera1943]

Theosis/deification. Orthodox soteriology based on grace as being the uncreated energy of God (which is why the essence/energy distinction is so crucial to understand Orthodox theology. Grace is not some created accident but God Himself, as the uncreated light on Mount Tabor was not some created effect, but the visible glory of God). George Mantzarides’ book is slim and profound on this topic as it culminated in the teaching of our father among the Saints, Gregory Palamas

[@first_namelast_name3760]

2 Peter 1:4 King James Bible Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

[@Johnathan909309]

Orthodoxy is the only true Christianity that teaches to escape all passions and let's be real Catholicism and protestantism fuels passions rather than has you conquer them and that's why people think Christianity is "dead" nowadays in the western world because western Christianity is truly all heretical and hypocritical in one way or another. I thank God that he pulled me from that world and into the true church!

[@damienwilson5633]

Are you being ironic Ms Socrates?

[@christopherfaustino8318]

genesis to revelation,no trinity found.try to research philos trinity.

[@haze1123]

Jesus prayed with tears in his eyes and begged, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” But Jesus is equal to the Father? That makes no sense. None.

[@andys3035]

This has nothing to do with equality but rather Jesus voluntarily giving himself for the purpose of saving humanity. It makes it even more shocking that he is equal with the Father and yet humbles himself to enter our human existence to suffer with us and for us. This is what love in action looks like. Jesus didn't just sit enthroned disengaged with us, he becomes man in order to destroy death and redeem what was lost through the fall of Adam.

[@haze1123]

Ah, but belief in the Trinity means that Jesus, The Holy Ghost, and The Father are all equal in power and have always coexisted. That's the idea. I don't understand this Roman concept, but there it is. Personally, I think that Jesus was a man and was the Messiah of Israel who The Father raised from the dead and ascended to Heaven. Jesus serves the Father. The Holy Ghost serves the Father. Jesus and the Holy Ghost lead us to the Father. There is only one God: The Father, YHWH. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5

[@andys3035]

@haze1123 it's not a Roman concept. And what you "personally" think what Jesus was is pointless because that's your opinion. Read John 5:16-23. Jesus does the very same work as the Father. The Jews respond to His claims by seeking to kill him. Or John 2:19 where Jesus says he will raise himself. So did the Father raise him or did he raise himself? It's not either/or, it's both/and. Romans 8:11 says the Holy Spirit raised him. Either way you go, you can't get around the Trinity.

[@haze1123]

I do have my own opinions and I disagree with the ancient Roman bishops in certain areas. To "do God's work" does not make you God. Jesus hinted at being the Jewish Messiah, which inflamed the Pharisees. Jesus said he would raise the "temple" back in three days. No, Jesus did not raise himself from the dead. He begged the Father to take the cup from Him. He commended his spirit into the hands of the Father. The Father used the Spirit to raise Jesus just like the Father used the Spirit to create the world. The Spirit does God's work, that does not make the Spirit God. It emanates from God. It is God's will made manifest. The Father is Jesus' God as is made clear in John 20:17: “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (The Father: Jesus's God and Your God.) Very, very clear.

[@oliveinsat566]

​@@haze1123 The Spirit emanating from God is of the same essence as God. That is what is meant by "God the Holy Spirit." PLEASE be VERY careful with this part of the Trinity as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. It is the greatest sin one can commit.

[@sulaxana7847]

In Islam, God (the father to you) is the one and only God, the son, is Isa/jesus is the prophet of God, and the holy spirit (rohul Kudus) is from God Comand- Angel Gabriel/with Angel Gabriel (Jibril). And we pray and worship only to God.

[@xmc7189]

This video is about Christianity not islam!

[@joshvarghese2314]

Allah is one of the multiple gods that Qureshis worshiped, Muhammad made him the one god. Allah had 3 daughters according to the Qureshis, and is mentioned in the Quran, the only thing Muhammad did was to say that Allah had no daughters and that he was the only god, and that all other gods such as Hubal were not real. Zoroastrians also believe in one God, doesnt mean they worship the one true god of the Jews and Christians.

[@sulaxana7847]

@@joshvarghese2314 Well that is forbiden In Islam. "O people of the Book, be not excessive in your Faith, and do not say about Allah anything but the truth.The MasīH ‘Īsā, the son of Maryam, is only a Messenger of Allah, and His Word that He had delivered to Maryam, and a spirit from Him. So, believe in Allah and His Messengers. Do not say “Three”. Stop it. That is good for you. Allah is the only One God. He is far too pure to have a son. To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. And Allah is enough to trust in." An Nisa 171 (translation)

[@joshvarghese2314]

@@sulaxana7847 do you agree that the Qureshis worshiped Allah and believed he had 3 daughters even before Muhammad was born?

[@sulaxana7847]

@@joshvarghese2314 some qurasy was pagan, after the influence of persian merchant, they put idol in Makah

[@claudiozanella256]

What I'm wondering about, honestly, is how in the third millennium we still are discussing about such a large display of nonsense, which is also clearly contrary to the gospels: 1. the Son has his origin in the Father, but the Father has NOT his origin in the Son. This means that the Father is the ORIGIN of EVERYTHING, including the Son, whilst - on the other hand - the Son IS NOT THE ORIGIN of all. Thus they cannot be co-equal as stated by the doctrine. 2. God having a God-Son in the LITERAL SENSE is ridiculous: He would be of course a "demi-God" and the people would still keep praying to the only one real God, the ONLY REAL ORIGIN of everything: his Father 3. it is ridiculous and OFFENSIVE to state that God is made of "substance", 4. therefore is nonsense to state that Father and Son are made of a SAME substance 5. even if they were made by a same substance, they still are TWO DISTINCT Persons as long as they have two DIFFERENT MINDS. 6. it's absurd having TWO almighty persons in the universe: if One of them wants the moon white-painted, what will the other Person do in this regard, can He change that color? Logic allows at most ONLY ONE omnipotent person to exist, because omnipotence is an UNCONDITIONAL power 7. the "omnipotent Lord who gives life" is an ABSURD INVENTION: an omnipotent God totally UNKNOWN in the scriptures !! 8. it's ridiculous to state that the almighty God is NOT SUFFICIENTLY ALMIGHTY and He needs to be helped by a God's Helper 9. it's lying to state that Jesus is almighty when Jesus states exactly the opposite “ I from myself am not able to do a thing” (John 5:30). 10. it's lying to state that Jesus and the Father are co-equal when Jesus states THE OPPOSITE "My Father is greater than I", probably Jesus is better informed on this topic. 11. it's FALSE to state that the Father and the Holy Spirit are co-equal when ONLY the Father know the future "..but only the Father knows" 12. if the Father teaches the Son things, then they don't even share the same information, therefore they cannot be a "same God" when Father and Son EXIST AT THE SAME TIME. (But they DO NOT). 13. In the gospels Father and Son NORMALLY TALK as it happens with TWO common different persons "thank you for hearing me...". If the Father existed now in a NORMAL form, then we surely had TWO Gods, that is POLYTHEISM. But God is ONLY ONE ! 14. it is clear from the gospels that only one relationship Father-Son exists. Jesus states: "I am not alone because the Father is with me." Without the Father, Jesus would be ALONE, not with a third Person. Thus Jesus clearly states that THEY ARE ONLY TWO: NO TRINITY EXISTS. 15 it's lying to state that THREE Persons are in heaven, when the gospels clearly state who is there:"ye shall see (1) the SON OF MAN sitting on the right hand OF (2) POWER and appearing in the clouds of heaven." Thus, they are TWO INSTEAD, but since the POWER is not God, ONLY ONE Person is in heaven: Jesus. Three persons are NOT in heaven, but the Trinity inventors don't care: they don't care, either of logic or scriptures. The Trinity is an invention, but Jesus is God and the only Savior.

[@revelation2-9]

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Three persons. One Nature. One God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the Truth of the Gospel as laid out by the church fathers, saints, and martyrs in the name of Christ. Your rambling not only contradicts itself, but is an insult to those who died for Christ.

[@claudiozanella256]

@@revelation2-9 You are just mixing things, my concern is not to assess what my relationships with the martyrs of the Church should be, but the search for the Truth. I appreciate and love those people. However, they died for Christ, not for the Trinity, which was INVENTED later. Indeed - as today - many of those martyrs thougth that the Holy Spirit were a kind of "magical fluid" descending from the sky and giving them awesome capabilities (talking in tongues for example). When the first basis of that unfortunate theory was issued (325 a.d.) the Fathers of Christianity were SAFE, because the emperor himself was a christian. No "Lord who gives life" and who got the same power of the almighty God exists, sorry. My only concern is the Church of Jesus Christ: in these difficult moments for Christianity it is high time to get rid of that falsehood. That doctrine ONLY exists because it's strongly protected as a dogma, without that protection it would immediately disappear as a soap bubble, because nonsensical and contrary to the scriptures.

[@revelation2-9]

@@claudiozanella256 Except Our Lord literally referenced the Eternal Father in Heaven. John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 14:6-11 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. Matthew 11:27 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 17:25-26 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

[@larrycera1943]

@@claudiozanella256 you might want to try reading the fathers of the church, and specifically John of Damascus On the Orthodox Faith. I suspect you don’t know as much as you think you do

[@larrycera1943]

@@claudiozanella256 you’re denying the divinity of the Holy Spirit, thus saying that a creature can somehow bring you sanctity. Similar reasoning dispels the Arianism of denying the divinity of Christ. All of the errors that people propound as “reasonable” today have been debunked by the fathers, the renewal of said heresies is only due to the ignorance of the fathers’ teachings in the West (except for Augustine, who’s triadology was hardly in line with Cappodocian triadology which was accepted in conciliar dogma