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Christ is Risen!

April 20, 2014 / / 6 Comments

Christ is risen from the grave!  Trampling down death by death! 

And upon those in the tombs bestowing life!  

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The Christus Victor theme is a prominent one in Scripture.  Apostle Paul wrote:

For he [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

(I Corinthians 15:25-26)

The icon to the left shows Christ as the Vanquisher of death.  We see Christ standing on top the shattered doors of hell and death lying in abject defeat.  We also see him pulling Adam and Eve from the tombs into everlasting life.

The Christus Victor theme is also prominent Athanasius the Great’s On the Incarnation:

So has death been conquered and branded for what it is by the Saviour on the cross.  It is bound hand and foot, all who are in Christ trample it as they pass and as witnesses to Him deride it, scoffing and saying, “O Death, where is thy victory?  O Grave, where is thy sting?” (§ 27)

If, then, it is by the sign of the cross and by faih in Christ that death is trampled underfoot, it is clear that it is Christ Himself and none other Who is the Archvictor over death and robbed it of its power.  Death used to be strong and terrible, but now, since the sojourn of the Saviour and the death and resurrection of His body, it is despised; and obviously it is by the very Christ Who mounted on the cross that it has been destroyed ad vanquished finally.  (§ 29)

Wishing you a blessed and joyous Pascha!

 

 

Why Christ had to Die

April 18, 2014 / / 16 Comments

 

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Athanasius the Great’s theological classic On the Incarnation contains passages that explain eloquently the significance of Christ’s death on the Cross.  In this blog posting I highlighted certain phrases to bring to the reader’s attention important themes in Athanasius’ exposition on Christ’s death in § 20.

Universal salvation: Christ died for all that all men might be saved.  No limited atonement here!  The early Church then and the Orthodox Church today emphasizes God’s philanthropia – his love for the human race.

Incarnation: Through the uniting of the divine Word with a mortal human body Christ destroyed death.  The God-Man died on behalf of all; the goal here was “the death of all mankind” and not his own individual death (§ 22).  Death was incapable of containing the infinite Life of the divine Word and so was “blown to smithereens.”

Release from Satan: As a result of Adam and Eve’s sin all humanity became enslaved to Satan who had the power of death; so when Christ died on behalf of humanity he paid in full the ancestral debt owed to the devil and when Christ destroyed death he nullified the devil’s number one weapon.

Here, then, is the second reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all, surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man’s account with death and free him from the primal transgression.  In the same act also He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first-fruits of the resurrection.

Thus it happened that two opposite marvels took place at once: the death of all was consummated in the Lord’s body; yet, because the Word was in it, death and corruption were in the same act utterly abolished.  Death there had to be, and death for all, so that the due of all might be paid.  Wherefore, the Word, as I said, being Himself incapable of death, assumed a mortal body, that He might offer it as His own in place of all, and suffering for the sake of all through His union with it, “might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver them who all their lifetime were enslaved by the fear of death.”

 

 

ClustrMaps Reset

April 17, 2014 / / 2 Comments

 

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Dear Folks,

I just got word that the ClustrMaps feature will be reset around April 23.  This is a plug-in feature located in the right column showing a map of the world with red dots.  If you click on the map you will be taken to another page that shows where at-the-moment visits are coming as well as a state by state, and a country by country breakdown.

This feature helps me to track visitors from around the world.  The basic idea is each unique visit shows up as a red dot.  Multiple visits turn into bigger size dots.  The ClustrMaps plug-in shows overall number of visits and where the visits originate.  My understanding is that the dots represent the location of the ISP than the individual user’s computer.

In March 2014 the OrthodoxBridge received over 100,000 visits.  Thank you very much!

A state by state breakdown shows California and Texas to generate the most visits. Pennsylvania, which has a sizable Orthodox population, was at one time running a strong second.  My home state, Hawaii, showed 875 visitors as of today.  Mahalo!

Going down the country listing is fascinating.  One big surprise were the 40+ visits from the Holy See (Vatican City)!  It makes me wonder who in the Vatican likes to read the OrthodoxBridge?  I would like to say “Thank you!” to our secret lurker in the Vatican.

And a heartfelt “Thank You!” and “Mahalo!” to all our readers around the world.

Robert Arakaki

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