Above is a great lecture by Sam Shamoun on baptism. Sam Shamoun is one of my favourite Youtubers and he’s a great. I also admire the fact that he doesn’t tolerate people going off-topic or being sectarian in the chat. I’d recommending watching at least two of his videos every week.
St. Anthony of the Desert
When I first started this website five years ago, I had a more negative view of Protestants. I still do hold to a very negative view of the reformation as it was a state sponsored looting operation but there are Protestants out there that have a deep love for Jesus Christ and the sacred Scriptures. Now, I don’t believe in fake unity at the expense of truth, however in this day and age I think there is reason for us to team up in combating the constant evil that is taking over North and South America, Western Europe and other parts of the world. I want to offer some advice to Protestants to help them with their spiritual lives. I have five pieces of advice.
We often hear from Muslims that Muhammad and his early followers were descended from the Ishmaelites. Obviously Islam doesn’t come on the scene until the 7th century. We don’t know much about Arabia prior to Islam. Most of our information comes from secondary accounts and modern day archeology.
I have some advice for people who want to do apologetics. First, I must ask a question. How long have you been a member of your religion? If it’s not five years, then I firmly believe that you shouldn’t be an apologist. Five years from when you may ask? Five years from the day you were formally received in is the answer.
In the Bible in Exodus 3 and 4 we have the story of Moses and the burning bush. God appears in it before him and identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He also tells Moses that he has seen the oppression of his people in Egypt and will deliver them into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
The Holy Theotokos
After contrasting the views of Zechariah in Surah 19 and the Gospel of Luke, we will now discuss the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary is given the title Theotokos which literally translates as God bearer. In Greece to this day the Virgin Mary is referred to as the Theotokos. Members of the Eastern Orthodox Church who speak English as a first language refer to the Virgin Mary as Theotokos. An Arab friend of mine who was raised in the Antiochian Orthodox Church told me that in the Arabic liturgy they transliterate the Greek word into the prayers. The Russian Church refers to her as Bogoroditsa and I assume the other slavic churches use that or something similar. I’m not sure if the Georgians have their own word or use Theotokos. Greek Catholics use the word, and I would imagine that at least some Oriental Orthodox do as well.
Because my website is starting to get traction, I’m getting a lot of emails. One that I recently got was from a Canadian Catholic. I asked him if I could respond to the email in a post and he agreed so here is the email and my response.
Icon of St. Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary
I had some dialogue with two people after my recent post on the second Council of Nicaea in 787 AD and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. They both pointed out to me that this doesn’t refute the Eastern Orthodox position because they believe that the Virgin Mary was made spotless and Immaculate at the annunciation.
The Hagia Sophia in Iznik
There is a church in Turkey that I want to visit and that’s the Hagia Sophia. I’m not referring to the grand former Church in Istanbul(which I also want to visit) but one in the little town of Iznik. Iznik is the municipality once called Nicaea. The famous city where two Ecumenical councils were held; the first in 325 AD and the second in 787 AD. Like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, this one is also now a Mosque/Museum.
I’m very careful about the arguments that I use when dealing with Islam or any other religion. There are arguments out there that will stump the average Muslim, but when used on a Muslim who knows their faith will be shredded. Enter Jay Smith’s coin argument.