HOLY
TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
CELTIC
ORTHODOX BENEDICTINE FATHERS
Toledo,
Ohio
Home
Page http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church
Bishop
Brian J. Kennedy, O.S.B.
The
common error in the church today is the belief we have a reasonable hope all men
will be saved. Belief in Universal
Salvation is popular because the church has lost its sense of sin. In ancient times, all Christians new
that what Christ taught was true. Christ taught that men were evil [Greek
poneros; Matthew 7:11].
Christ,
said repeatedly and emphatically that all would not eventually be saved, but
that the punishments of hell were unending. He referred to the unrighteous being
bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12, 22:13,
25:30), with no suggestion that this punishment will be temporary. In His parable about Lazarus and the
rich man, He explicitly said that there was a great gulf fixed between paradise
and the place of punishment, so that none may cross over from the place to
punishment into paradise (Luke 16:26), and this is an odd thing to say if in
fact everyone in the place of punishment will indeed
eventually cross over into paradise.
Finally He referred to the fire of Gehenna as
“the eternal fire.” And in His
parable on the Last Judgment, He ended by saying that “these [unrighteous] will
go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew
25:46). The same word—“eternal”
(Greek “aionion”)—is used to describe both the
punishment of the wicked and the life of the saved, so if the life
of
the
saved is unending, so must be the punishment of the wicked. The fire of Gehenna is real and eternal.
This
truth has a moral dimension, and an urgent one. We are, all of us, fallen human beings
with temptation to sin ever close at hand and the devil also close to confirm
our decisions to rebel against God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.
THERE
ARE FOUR ENDS OF MAN: DEATH, JUDGMENT, HEAVEN OR HELL
The
real truth is that all will not eventually be saved, and that the conviction
that they will contains subjective spiritual dangers for some as well as being
objective heresy. God calls us to
hate sin and to war against it, not because it impedes our eventual arrival into
the Kingdom of Heaven, but because it will prevent it altogether. All will not be saved. The gate to life is small and the way is
narrow that leads to it and few are those who find it (Matthew 7:14). All the more reason for us to repent and
walk in truth and righteousness and enter by that small and narrow
gate.
When
we stand before God in judgment, we will be judged for our sins of “commission”
as well as for our sins of “omission”.
In other words, we will be judged on what we did and what we failed to
do.
Christians
who vote to legalize same sex marriage are voting to cast their own soul into
the eternal fires of hell.
Christians who vote for a political party or candidate who supports
abortion and infanticide have voted to spend eternity in separation from
God. It is not enough to avoid
these sins in our personal life, we must speak out against these violations of
God’s Law in the public forum and in the voting booth.
THE
WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH (Romans 6:23)
Christian
leaders who speak out in favor of Liberation Theology are misleading the people
of God and should not be followed, but rejected for the devil’s minions they
are. For information on
Liberation Theology see: http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/liberation.html. Perversion, sexual assault on minors,
changing church teaching from that which was believed everywhere by all men at
all times, is a mark of surrender to the world, the flesh and the devil. People follow errant teachings will join
their leaders in Gehenna.
The modern
church is a combination of politics and religion, paganism and Christianity. The
modern church places entitlements above service; Law above Grace. It is a
manmade institution that exists counter to the church of the Apostles. It is most properly called the counter
church.
Wrapped
in the mantle of religion, politics becomes holy and an exercise of divine
authority. The divine right of Kings becomes the divine right of clergy to
change and nullify God’s Word, to meet the needs of their political agenda.
Religion becomes impotent as the power of politics becomes solidified. Like the Rabbi who blesses pork and
calls it fish, the modern church blesses pagan practice and calls it
Christianity. Paganism has succeeded in the church more than Biblical
Christianity could ever hope to prosper.
Pagan practices appeal to the emotion, not the mind. Emotionalism has been allowed to
replace the Holy Spirit. Beautiful
to look at, lovely to hold; pagan practices can give that warm, cuddly feeling
sought by those lacking spiritual discernment. Apparitions on demand, supposed visions
from heavenly personages combine to give a false sense of security to those on
the precipice. Millions call good,
bad; and bad, good. Millions call
error, truth; and truth, error.
Millions go to hell with the blessing of the counter church. There is an old adage that says it is
not what you look at that is important, but what you see. People naturally seek a moral compass
and direction from the “leaders of the church”. As the people see clergy dressed in the
attire of the Imperial Roman Court or the clothing of the Byzantine Empire they
are suitably impressed with this ostentatious demonstration of presumed
authority. When these regal
authorities speak, the world listens. The claims to divine authority, evidenced
by their vestures and clerical adornments, are amplified by titles designed to
impress. The people are told not to question, just obey. Pay, pray and obey
becomes the express ticket on the glory train. As they look, they no longer see
a man before them but a quasi-divine authority with the power to save or
condemn. Forced to admit to the
human frailties of these leaders as they are discovered having immoral sex with
persons of the same or opposite gender, stealing from the church funds and
living private lives inconsistent with their divine vocation and calling; seeing
the clergy often living the good life of the rich and famous off the back of the
church faithful who sacrifice to donate “for the good of Holy Mother Church”,
the aberrant behavior and scandalous events are seen through rose-colored
glasses.
Rather than
admit that Satan and all that is evil have entered into the church, even to the
highest levels, the abomination is seen as a ‘personal moral lapse’ of the
individual clergy. When the evil is
so all pervasive and extends to the entire world; when new cases of clergy
sexual abuse or theft is seen as a cliché it is no longer a personal moral
lapse; it is a sign of a corrupt institution, it is a sign of the counter
church. The clergy are much too busy expanding their power base or satisfying
their basest instincts to be of service to the church or a shepherd to souls.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
The
church established by Christ sets man free; the counter church established by
man makes bondservants of all. It
is not numerous laws that will set man free; it is the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
UNIVERSAL
SALVATION
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/universal_salvation.html
OUR
APOSTOLIC LINE OF SUCCESSION IS ACCEPTED BY WORLD ORTHODOXY.
REMEMBER
AS YOU READ THESE LETTERS OF AFFIRMATION THE BISHOPS BEING ACCLAIMED AS PART OF
WORLD ORTHODOXY WITH GRACE FILLED AND SPIRIT FILLED ORDERS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO
ANY OLD WORLD PATRIARCH, YET THE PATRIARCHS ACCEPT THEM AS EQUAL BISHOPS IN THE
LARGER CHURCH WITH THE SAME APOSTOLIC MISSION.
LETTER
OF RECOGNITION FROM THE O.C.A.
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/oca_recog.jpg
LETTER
OF RECOGNITION FROM ALEXANDRIA
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/alexandria.jpg
LETTER
OF RECOGNITION FROM THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/greek_orthodox_affirmation.jpg
WE
ARE SUCCESSORS TO THE APOSTLES, IN UNION WITH THE ORIGINAL 12 AND ALL THOSE WHO
CAME AFTER THEM AND WITH ALL THOSE WHO WILL COME AFTER US.
APOSTOLIC
SUCCESSION
http://www.celticorthodoxy.com/bkceltic-orthodox-church/succ.html
______________________________________
HOLY
TRINITY CELTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH
CELTIC ORTHODOX BENEDICTINE
FATHERS
IS
A NOT FOR PROFIT CHURCH CORPORATION
UNDER
SECTION 501 ( c ) 3 OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
.
