EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). This Easter Helleniscope has a special gift for all of you!!… I am sure we will all enjoy the many Easter delicacies tonight and tomorrow – and there are so many and so delectable… However, the spiritual food presented in the videos below is unparalleled by any you may have tried before. Metropolitan of Mesogaias Nikolaos (whom Helleniscope has repeatedly proposed as the only worthy hierarch to lead Orthodoxy in America – i.e., not simply the GOA) is inspirational and motivational beyond description.
Three of the first four shorter videos describe episodes from the life of Saint Paisios, with whom Nikolaos lived for six months on Athos. In the fourth, Nikolaos explains how he became a priest…. I strongly recommend watching the full video, or at least the first hour. It’s teachable and gratifying…
Above all, Nikolaos demolishes the Catholic and Protestant approaches to Christianity in such a disarming but straightforward way that would leave you speechless!… (go to minute 24.30 or so of the main video for more than 12 minutes).
PS. I have set the videos with English subtitles. In case you cannot see them, please go to YouTube settings and adjust it.
April 19, 2025, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
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VIDEO #1 – AT SAINT PAISIOS’ CELL
2) SAINT PAISIOS AND THE REAL SPLITTING OF THE ATOM (OR ATOMIC FISSION)
3) MESOGAIAS NIKOLAOS: I AM NOT ASHAMED TO TELL YOU HOW I BECAME A PRIEST…
4) SAINT PAISIOS AND THE HORSE FLY
5)THE WHOLE 2-HOUR LECTURE
I must forever remember what Metropolitan Nikolaos said:
“I Am Not A Christian, I Want To Become One” …
bc — I am not a monastic,
I want to become one‼️
Surprising, that a bishop would declare that he is not a Christian. Jesus said” If you confess me before men I will confess you before the Father if you deny me before men I will deny you before the Father.” Possibly he means I wish I were a more faithful Christian.
JK you have to watch Nikolaos more closely – especially when he distinguishes Orthodox from Catholic and Protestant approach to Christianity. The Protestants as he says they consider themselves already saved “by their lord and savior”. We Orthodox have a long uphill battle to give…
JK, He is not the only one that says this. There were holy fathers that were monks that said they want to become monks. They were very humble and very holy. It is us that think we are christians that are not real christians that we should really concern ourselves with.
JK,
Helleniscope’s observation is correct here. You are applying a Western lens to interpret Eastern Orthodox monastic tradition and thought. You miserably fail to recognize that Nikolaos is actually quoting St. Porphyrios (and many others prior to him) who frequently used the same statement long ago «προσπαθώ, μα δεν έχω γίνει Χριστιανός Ορθόδοξος»
https://www.pemptousia.gr/2015/07/thriskeftiki-i-ekklisiastiki-anthropi/
Are you also publicly calling St. Porphyrios a “denier of Christ”? Let’s see you defend that one, buddy…
And with such Protestant-style “selective theology”, by ignoring the remainder of scripture, you fail to interpret this statement as Nikolaos “trying not to be like” those who will hear the words “Truly I do not know you”…those people also call themselves Christian, but undoubtedly their names were not written in the Book of Life, because they were hypocrites…
The bishop to blame in this situation is not Nikolaos, but rather any bishop that has allowed and continues to allow premature conversion of Protestants / Catholics to Orthodoxy who have never really “shed” their Protestant / Catholic “Western skin of heresy and toxicity”, because this imports minds and mouths into the Church body that actually poison the flock with false Western interpretations…and by the way, speaking of the definition of the word “false”, there is a Commandment that says “thou shalt not lie…” False preaching is equivalent to lying…
The words of Metropolitan Nikolaos are contrasted with those who claim to be “genuine” or “true” Orthodox:
“Ultimately, perhaps what is needed mainly in inter-Christian relations, is not the relentless rebukes of the ‘delusions of the West’, nor exuberant manifestations of immature friendships, but rather the outspoken confession of the Orthodox faith and our humble invitation towards Westerners.”
https://pemptousia.com/2014/07/metropolitan-nicholas-of-mesogaias-encyclical-on-ecumenism-and-the-recent-meeting-between-the-ecumenical-patriarch-and-the-pope-in-jerusalem/
Well spoken. And it verifies what he and many other true Orthodox have said. Especially the basic tenet that nobody is “saved” but we are all in an uphill battle to “become Christians”. As long as we repeat this basic tenet there will be always a distinct, unified and “magnetic” Orthodox Faith. We have seen how “magnetic” it is by the attraction of many new converts and especially the youth recently.
Agreed. Of course the “exuberant manifestations of immature friendships” is one of the recurring hot topics in the Helleniscope comment universe the last couple of years…..True Ecumenism leaves the door open (“without rebuke”) to all (for a RETURN TO ORTHODOXY) WITHOUT compromising Orthodoxy (i.e. “outspoken confession”). Unfortunately, that’s NOT what we have been seeing by a lot of hierarchs the last few decades…Orthodox hierarchs kissing the Pope’s ring in a subservient manner is a disgraceful sight…unwarranted compromise (“oikonomia”) has become the norm, and tradition has become the exception across a wide spectrum of practices, especially in the diaspora…
I thought we died to ourselves, put on Christ in baptism, then sealed with the Holy Spirit, thus becoming Christians. Of course, baptism does not seal our salvation; we must choose to live in Christ. Also, what do we do with Acts 11:26 where we are taught that the disciples of Christ were first called Christians in Antioch? I have not yet watched the videos, but I know Metropolitan Nicholas and have heard him preach. There is such a thing as “rhetoric,” which is used in the Church, and which St. John Chrysostom championed.
Kkp, I agree with you. This statement is a denial of the sacrament of baptism. I have read St Porphyrios and have no recollection of him claiming not be a Christian. At best, this is some form of false piety. Surely the preponderance of Christian throughout history claimed to be Christian.
JK, why are you hiding behind your finger? Do not confuse the blessing or the sacrament with the conscientious life of a Christian. Look around you and take down a list of so many in this Church who have failed in the most essential virtue of Christian Faith: Humility. Not to go any further… All those are baptized!! Murderers are baptized for goodness sake!!
Nick, you are correct. We all fail and fall short of glory of God. I only need to look at myself and see my shortcomings but I identify as a Christian. It is alarming to me to hear a bishop say he is not a Christian. We have a history of martyrs who gave their lives because they confessed to be Christians. Now if the bishop is stating that he wants to be a more faithful Christian that is understandable. We are called to “grow to the fullness of stature in Christ.” I guess since he is the overseer of churches those churches should not be called Christian.
JK, Nikolaos is an exceptional orator standing up there with the best Orthodoxy had to offer through its long history. Let me share with you what my late mother – a very devout Christian and deeply faithful – said when she first heard in her late 70s Met. Nikolaos speak on the radio: “God please give ears to hear him talk until I die…” If we are unable to discern an oratorical “trick” that Nikolaos used to make his teachings penetrate, then we will probably miss the essence of anything he or anyone else of our Fathers have to teach…
JK,
I already wrote above that Nikolaos was actually quoting prior saints, such as St. Porphyrios, and even St. Paisios, (and earlier Fathers) who often used the same phrase. As a result, whatever you are misinterpreting about Nikolaos, you are also misinterpreting about major saints of the Church. That’s a terrible and embarrassing position to take. Legalism is a major Protestant trait that leads to scriptural misinterpretation, and you are exhibiting it perfectly with your rhetoric right now. Now, after this has been pointed out to you, the best advice to follow is written by you above… ” I only need to look at myself and see my shortcomings…” You should definitely take time out and self reflect, because you are 100% off track on this one…
Marcos, I have read “Wounded by Love” and St Porphyrios does not state that he is not a Christian. I am familiar with STS. Issac the Syrian, Chrysostom, John of Kronstadt, Basil and have thoroughly read the Philokalia and never once encountered the statement of the BP. Please show me your references. And please do don’t discard the things I say as Protestant. I know it is convenient, sloppy and lazy to do so. I am as Orthodox as you are.
It’s great to read, but it’s best to “understand that which you are reading” (Acts 8:30)
Here’s a question we frequently ask Protestants who believe that they are “saved” already:
– When St. Peter denied Christ 3 times…at that moment, if he had died, would he have been “saved”? Protestants “short-circuit” with that one…
Also, consider why Christ told the Apostles to forgive “seven times seventy”…
Also, try hard to remember what all those Orthodox books you read said about the purpose of Repentance-Confession after Baptism.
And what about those who will hear “Truly I do not know you”, and will claim that “but we did all these things in your name” (a.k.a. calling themselves Christians)?
Anyone who is Orthodox shouldn’t have ANY trouble understanding that ONLY Christ was perfect, and that the quest for achieving a state as close to being an “ideal Christian” as possible is a life-long battle with passions. Feeling that someone is not an “ideal Christian” is not a sin, even if they are a bishop. The implied word “ideal” may not have been used by Nikolaos, but it was clearly implied for all logical Greek-speakers who heard this statement. This concept may not be easy for someone who only relies on the English language to digest, but it is quite clear to native Greek speakers, who Nikolaos was primarily addressing.
So why are you among the only few that have misinterpreted the Orthodox context of what Nikolaos is saying? That’s the root cause of your troubles…we’ve talked about it before…you are handicapped because you’ve spent your entire life relying upon English instead of investing some of your God-given intellectual talent to learn some Greek, too, and avoid the Protestant legalist interpretation traps that are associated with that risk of reliance upon English. These were your own life-long prioritization decisions…one can counterargue that it was your own form of “laziness” (not anyone else’s) that imposed interpretive comprehension restrictions upon your universe, if you want to look at the mirror and be brutally honest with your own self. We will always keep going around in vicious circles on this one but all roads lead to this same conclusion.
And by the way, if you do insist on another recent example, the 2nd series of the Life of St. Paisios that just aired during Lent in Greece has this embattled quote as being said by St. Paisios in response to a visitor on Mt. Athos that asked him, “what are you doing here alone on this mountain…” 25% of Greece was watching this show, but the neither the Greek Synod nor the religious newspapers complain like you are right now, because everyone understood the nuance in the original Greek.
And unfortunately for you, St. Porphyrios was blind for a large part of his later years, and barely had a 2nd grade education. He didn’t write first-hand accounts. We are relying on people who wrote on his behalf, or wrote their first-hand accounts of what he said. Much of what we have about St. Paisios is also from first-hand accounts and witnesses (to be fair though, some later accounts conflict with older ones so a bit of discernment is required), although he wrote several letters, and had a bit more education that St. Porphyrios. That’s also why the mini-series from his life includes a lot of quotes that may or may not be in books, including the one you are questioning now…
Your standard of sainthood is linguistically limited. How do you account for the multitude of Russian, Serbian, Roumanian and middle eastern saints who knew no greek.
JK,
I remind you in case you “forgot” that the apostles’ native language wasn’t Greek either… Markos will give you the proper answer soon – but I would suggest to go back and read his answers on similar comments you made in the past. And then please comment in good faith.
JK,
We are at least in the “double-digits” of times that you have made the same statement on your linguistic restriction theory. Do you really think that the counter-response will be any different this time? Here’s to refresh your memory:
1) This discussion was about the problems of relying upon the weaknesses of English. All the saints you mentioned above have nothing to do with English.
2) The Slavic people were connected to Cyril and Methodius. for about 450 years, Constantinople had a say in the election of their metropolitans, which clearly also implied a “control” over the bishop’s understanding of scripture. In fact, exchanges of correspondence that still survive between Russian metropolitans and Constantinople were actually in Greek, so guess what that means? Your worst nightmare. Many of the educated church leaders of Russia knew (and several continue to study today) the original Greek texts.
Likewise in Romania there survive plenty of manuscripts from the 15th, 16th, 17th centuries that are in Greek, although in Romania, which is a Latin-based language, we can also argue that Latin, which is much more rich and accurate than English was also used to prevent dogmatic “interpretational slippage”. Romanian autocephaly wasn’t granted until much later in history, so connections with the Greek-speaking synods were always close. And Theophylact was the Archbishop of Ochrid (now Bulgaria / Skopje) around 1100 AD, and we all know who he was, and what language he wrote his New Testament Commentaries in…Theophylact is a prime example of exactly how the Byzantine Empire continued to ensure that the gospel was spread to all nations (without misinterpretation).
3) As for the “middle eastern” saints you are referencing…check your sources again. Antioch and Jerusalem are both historically Greek Patriarchates, and despite the fact that the last 150 years or so there has been a tendency for an every day increase in the use of Arabic, the current Patriarch of Antioch was not only a Mt. Athos monk, but also studied Theology at the University of Thessaloniki…that should add some more details into your nightmare, too… Should I also mention that the Patriarch of Serbia studied Theology at the University of Athens? We are not saying these things to claim an ethnic or linguistic superiority over anyone else in the world. Not at all. However, the plain history of the matter is clear…the overwhelming majority of heresies over the centuries have occurred over interpretational misunderstandings of Scripture (in Greek), even during the days when both sides of the controversy spoke Greek (Arius, etc). As a result, the only defense against heresy is to understand the real meaning of the original text, as well as the real interpretations of the Church Fathers, which were largely in Greek. It’s a good and commendable thing for all church leaders (and educated intellectuals like yourself JK) to study the original text of scripture and scriptural interpretation, not matter what the surrounding flock speaks each day. That minimizes the risk of possibility of future heresy.
4) Finally, I have asked you multiple times in the past, and you don’t want to answer, but I’ll bring up this example again…the “μενουν γε” translation paradox in English…why is it translated in an opposite meaning in Luke 11:28 (“rather”) compared to Rom 9:20, Rom 10:18, and Phl 3:8 (indeed/verily/doubtless)?
Is it perhaps that the word “rather” better “fit” the Protestant teachings about the Theotokos, and they “had to fix” the translation as such? On the Greek side, we don’t really encounter the use of “rather” as an explanation for μενουν γε…So keep up your hopes that great saints will one day emerge who rely upon that blatantly incorrect English dogmatic interpretation…(there are other examples like this speckled throughout English translations, by the way, but this is a basic one to bring up)…
JK, You identify a Christian, but are you a Christian? What is a Christian to you? Do you do all the things that are required? Have you changed your life so drastically that you imitate Christ? Are you Christ like? I think you are missing the point and you misunderstand what this bishop and many of the saints of our Church said. MANY of them absolutely did say the same thing. That’s because they understood being a Christian differently than what you understand it means. Please be careful, for your own sake of judging a bishop without understanding what he is talking about.
Sandy, are you a Christian? I do not do all the things I am required to do. How about you? I sin and repent and accept Gods forgiveness through the sacrament of confession. I confess my faith in Christ and believe in His resurrection.
Please tell me which saints said they are not Christians and where I can find those references?
JK, I was born into an orthodox family and was baptized orthodox as an infant, but I am not a Christian. I go to Church, fast, do the bare minimum like everyone else, but I am not a Christian. Many saints felt the way the bishop feels, and said this out of humility, not because any of they were less of a Christian than you are. That’s where you are missing the point. You’d have to read more than a few books to get to the bottom of this. And fyi, not everything is in a couple of books about those saints you mentioned. There are several books on St. Paissios and I doubt very much you read all of them.
Unfortunately, he uses tricks to communicate. I hope he hasn’t confused people. I can’t imagine Jesus or the apostles tricking people, to use your language.
These are not tricks – Jesus used parables and all kinds of other rhetoric and metaphors…
Additionally, I am not saying that he is a bad hierarchy.
Markos, you are missing my point. There is multitude of saints who did not know Greek. Theophan the Recluse, Seraphim of Sarov and John of Kronstadt are a few. I am certain , with your vast knowledge, you could name others.
Additionally, I stand by my conviction, as stated in previous posts, that heresy is not a function of faulty translations but rather fault hearts.