Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: avo@icad.com (Alex Orlovsky) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: re: Purgatory Message-ID: Date: 22 Feb 90 09:19:35 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: ICAD Inc., Cambridge, MA Lines: 51 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , Mac Horton writes: > >rejected by Protestants, so that's why you didn't find it. By the way, >I believe the Orthodox accept these books -- I'd appreciate correction >if I'm mistaken. > > As a point of information, we Catholics don't refer to them as >"Apocrypha"; for us they are simply Scripture, not different from any >other books of the Bible. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox have almost the same definition of the OT canon. We also agree that the name "Apocrypha" is not appropriate. The fathers of the Church applied this term to writings which, for one reason or another, would cause the faithful to stumble. The term recommended nowadays by RC and Orth. alike is "Deuterocanonical." The broad (49 book) and narrow (39 book) OT canons are also referred to as Alexandrian and Palestinian, although these names suggest a rigid a line of geographic demarcation which may not have existed. In the early Church there was a lot of debate about the OT canon. That famous son of Alexandria St. Athanasius maintained that the narrow canon was Scriptural, but at the same time his own writings are peppered with quotations or allusions to the other ten books. He may not have considered them to be Scripture, but he clearly believed that they could help confirm the faith, which is *not* the case with apocryphal literature. Modern Orthodox liturgical practice uses Deuterocanonical elements. In Matins on Holy Saturday, for instance, we sing the Song of the Three Holy Youths in its entirety. When done in canonarch style, it is unsurpassed for encouraging congregational singing. >Purgatory is believed to be a temporary place/condition. > Before I step down from the soap box, let me add a few remarks on Purgatory. In the Orthodox Church there is disagreement on some aspects of what happens after death. While some Orthodox espouse a purgatory-like stage and others vociferously denounce any thing that smacks of Purgatory, most are very reluctant to make dogmatic pronouncements on a subject about which precious little is known and is frankly not an essential aspect of the Faith. The Orthodox do, however, pray for the dead, at every service as a matter of fact. Christ triumphed over death, thus the dead in Christ are still very much members of his Church. If it makes sense to pray for anyone, then it doesn't matter whether that person is dead or alive. The same eternal God hears. "Praise ye the Lord and supremely exalt him, unto the ages." Song of the Three Holy Youths