The Imperial Sacred Decree of Sultan Selim Concerning the Renovation of the Monastery of Xeropotamou (Issued After He Saw the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in a Vision)

 

INTRODUCTION

The Xeropotamou Monastery, whose katholikon (main church) is dedicated to the memory of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (9/22 March), experienced abandonment three times in its long history: in the 14th, 16th, and 18th centuries, and an equal number of times it was rebuilt.

The reconstruction of the 16th century came about in one of the most unexpected ways: through Selim I (1512–1520), known as Yavuz (“the Grim,” meaning harsh or unyielding). In the monastery’s archive there exists a ḥatt-i şerif (imperial sacred decree) of Selim. Its date and content are Muslim, but its conclusion is Christian.

“It is written,” the document says, “that the Muslim who persists in overturning this present ḥatt-i şerif of ours we consign to eternal anathema.”

In the document of 1517, Selim grants large donations and many privileges to the monastery.

What exactly happened with Sultan Selim I — whose donations and concessions gave the monastery “breathing space” for a century and a half — is described by Gerasimos Smyrnakis in his book The Holy Mountain (1903):

The Christian Commandment of Love Is a “New” Commandment: Chapter 1 - Comparison With Pittacus, Solon and Thales

Mosaic of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece

...Chapter One: A)

Chapter One: B) Comparing the Christian Commandment of "Love" With Pittacus, Solon and Thales

a) Pittacus of Mytilene died in 570 BC. This "sage" from among the famous "seven" is credited with many edifying sayings, instructive for any time. Among these are, for example, are the following: "forgiveness is better than revenge", "do not slander not only a friend, but also an enemy", "do not do what you condemn in others", "love your neighbor, even if he slightly oppresses you", "forgiveness is better than repentance", "even the thought of evil will not be hidden from the gods", "know thyself" and many others.[28][29] Honor to this pagan thinker, who rises against revenge, against slander, against even evil thoughts. This is a profound sermon! Honor to him, who preaches forgiveness, love for one’s neighbor (even if one does not reciprocate love in return), self-knowledge, and an equal standard for evaluating one’s own and others' actions.

All of this is remarkable, provided that the aforementioned sayings truly belong to Pittacus,[30] and not to a later period, as some suppose — namely, not to any other individuals (for instance, the saying 'know thyself' is also attributed to Chilon, 560–556 B.C.).[31] However, what is interesting for us is the very content of the sayings, which we will now turn to.

The Christian Commandment of Love Is a “New” Commandment: Chapter 1 - Comparison With Confucianism

Introductory Remarks

Chapter One: A) Comparing the Christian Commandment of "Love" With Confucianism

So, what do we find in Confucius (551–479 BC)? A great deal of commendable insight. According to Confucius, "We must love others as ourselves; we must wish for them what we wish for ourselves." With the presence of such love, "the entire world will resemble one family, all people will embody one person." Such phrases and thoughts fill the moralistic Chinese texts: “Xiao,” “Lunyu,” “Mencius,” “Zhongyong,” “Daxue,” “Xiaojing,” “I Ching,” “Wujing,” “Shijing,” “Chunqiu,” “Zhu Xi,” “Liji”.[9] When reading such reflections on love, one cannot help but recall the New Testament sayings: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Gal. 5:14; Matt. 22:35–40; Luke 10:27; James 2:8; 1 John 13:34–35; 1 Cor. 13; Eph. 5:2; Col. 3:14; Gal. 6:2; 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 John 4:7–9, 11, 12, 16, 20, 21, 2:10, 11; 1 Pet. 1:22, 3:8–9; 2 Pet. 1:7; Heb. 13:1…), "Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them" (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31; Acts 15:20). If the word of God commands us to "do good to all" (Gal. 6:10), then we also read in Confucian texts that "one must love all"[10] and similar sentiments.

The Christian Commandment of Love Is a “New” Commandment: Introductory Remarks

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bronzov

The Christian Commandment of Love Is a “New” Commandment: 

(Againse Haeckel, Saladin, etc.)

By Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bronzov (1858—1919/1937)

Content

Introductory Remarks 

I. Comparison with the Christian Commandment of "Love" in the Teachings of A) Confucius, B) Pittacus, Solon, Thales, C) Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, D) Sextus the Pythagorean, E) Aristippus of Cyrene, F) Isocrates.

II. Comparison with the Christian Commandment of "Love" in the Teachings of A) Buddhism, B) Vedaism, C) Brahmanism, D) Peripatetics, E) Stoics, F) Essenes-Therapeutae, G) Hillel

III. “Babylon” and the Christian Commandment About “Love”

IV. Moses and Christianity on the Question of "Love" - The Christian Commandment of "Love" is a "New" Commandment, "Practically Feasible," "Reasonable, True"

Concluding Words

Introductory Remarks

The commandment of Christ regarding love, referred to as "new" in the Gospel (John 13:34), is indeed such. The pre-Christian world truly did not know it. This is what I will reply to my correspondents who ask me about this point, and I hope to support my response with concise but documentary evidence.

It is true that Ernst Haeckel, to whom correspondents refer, considers this commandment to be pre-Christian, calling its proponents "Confucius, Thales, Pittacus, Solon, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Aristippus, Sextus"1 – but it is also true that this professor is grossly mistaken in this case (as well as in many others). The "merit of Christ"2 thus remains undeniable, even after Haeckel's assertions. It will undoubtedly remain so in the future – always.

Haeckel is not independent. He refers to the well-known "most frivolous" work of Saladin (= William Stewart Ross), Jehova's gesammelte Werke (Jehovah's Collected Works),3 the extreme lack of scientific rigor of which has already been sufficiently established in science by such authoritative figures as Dr. Friedrich Loofs,4 Dr. E. Dennert,5 Dr. Vitus Biander,6 Dr. Jos Engeit,7 and many others.8 However, since Haeckel's ideas are quickly spreading, including among us in Russia through Russian translations of his works (between 1906 and 1908), and since they confuse, as mentioned above, some, and perhaps even a very large number of individuals, the exposure of the falsity of these ideas is undoubtedly an important and urgent task.

Of the ten sages listed above, indicated by Haeckel, Confucius stands out, three (from among the famous “seven”) sages Pittacus, Solon and Thales stand out, Socrates, his student Plato and the latter’s student Aristotle stand out, and Sextus the Pythagorean, Aristotle and Isocrates stand out each.

Notes:

 

1. E. Haeckel "World Riddles". St. Petersburg. 1906, p. 184.

 

2. Ibid. 

 

3.  We have in our hands 2 Auflage, Zürich (year of publication not indicated).

 

4. In his work "Anti-Haeckel" (5th Aufl Halle, 1906), see especially pp. 27–39, etc.

 

5.  In his book, Die Wahrheit uber Ernst Haeckel und seine Welt rátsel (Halle, 1908), see pp. 149 et seq.

 

6.  In his research "The Naturalistic Monism of Neutrality or Haeckel's Weltanschauung". Paderborn, 1907, pp. 334–335.

 

7.  In his works: "The Naturalistic Monism of Haeckels". Vienna, 1907, pp. 314, 316, 317.

 

8.  Read, for example, Prof. T.I. Butkevich’s “Philosophy of Monism” (Kharkov 1900), pp. 64, 63.

 

Chapter 1

 

The First Anniversary of the Tragic War in the Middle East (October 7, 2023)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

As we all remember, on October 7th 2023 Hamas gunmen entered the Jewish Kibbutz and the cities of southern Israel and spread death, abuse and rape at a Festival where young people danced for peace! That day 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 were kidnapped.

From that day, a horrible war began in the Middle East between Israelis, Hamas and Hezbollah of Lebanon; other countries, such as Iran and Yemen, also got involved in it. In a central newspaper article on October 7, 2024, one year after the start of the war, the results of this horrible war were written.

"Since this day last year (October 7, 2023) 1.9 million Palestinians, 1 million Lebanese and 60 thousand Israelis have been displaced. Hamas has launched 12,000 rockets at Israel and Hezbollah 8,000. Iran 500 missiles and drones. Israel has already spent 67 billion dollars on the conflict and the economy of Gaza has shrunk by 86%" (TA NEA, p. 2, Monday 10/7/2024).